How to Fix Really "Dark" Textures or Deep Black Shadows

After playing the game I noticed that the shadows or the colors "Black" throughout the entire game are too dark. to make this go away and make the game look 100% Better do the following:

Go into your users folder, example...

C:\Users\yourname\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect 2\BIOGame\Config

Open up the GamerSettings.ini and add this line under [systemsettings]

DepthOfField=False

If you want the game to look alot better than add the following under the same area and to me it made the game look really nice...

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_2048=(MinLODSize=64,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_2048=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)
MinShadowResolution=128
MaxShadowResolution=1024

Of course make a backup of your ini file before adding changes!! Enjoy

How to Fix Really "Dark" Textures or Deep Black Shadows

After playing the game I noticed that the shadows or the colors "Black" throughout the entire game are too dark. to make this go away and make the game look 100% Better do the following:

Go into your users folder, example...

C:\Users\yourname\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect 2\BIOGame\Config

Open up the GamerSettings.ini and add this line under [systemsettings]

DepthOfField=False

If you want the game to look alot better than add the following under the same area and to me it made the game look really nice...

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_2048=(MinLODSize=64,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_2048=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)
MinShadowResolution=128
MaxShadowResolution=1024

Of course make a backup of your ini file before adding changes!! Enjoy

[TFerretNXG]

thats not an issue you normies thats just how the art direction for the game is

[GET TO DA CHOPPA!]

Deggial, you know after removing not the whole line but just -0.004 you get the 'normal' black right? If you think it is to gray after that you simply adjust your game and monitor after that.

[Deggial]

Both the OP's and Luriam's solutions are flawed. Removing DoF makes the game look like complete garbage, and removing that line from UberPostProcessBlendPixelShader.usf makes all blacks look gray and terrible. Instead, try opening UberPostProcessBlendPixelShader.usf on steamapps\common\Mass Effect 2\Engine\Shaders with notepad and change:

float3 x = max(0,InLinearColour-0.004)

to

float3 x = max(0,InLinearColour-0.002)

or

float3 x = max(0,InLinearColour-0.001)

This way black colors will still be dark, but not too much, and DoF, which is so integral to the visuals of the game, will still be working. Oh, and remember to use ALOT of Textures by CreeperLava and some of these ini tweaks: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=411209297

They make the game look way better.

[buppypull]

Thank you Luriam

[Luriam]

If you don't want to bother with all of the above you can just download the file from here. [www.dropbox.com] Extract the file into your game folder (Steamapps\common\Mass Effect 2) and confirm replacing. Don't forget to back up your original file in case you want the old settings back.

Good luck fixing and I hope this helped!

[Luriam]

Turning off the Depth of Field fixes the problem, true. But it also makes the game look a lot less nicer. What if I told you that there is a way to fix the 'dark' shadows issue AND keeping the DoF ?

Long story short you have to edit a file located in: steamapps\common\Mass Effect 2\Engine\Shaders. The file you're looking for is called UberPostProcessBlendPixelShader.usf . Use notepad or similar programs to open the file. Find the following line: float3 x = max(0,InLinearColour-0.004) and remove the following: -0.004. It should now look like this: float3 x = max(0,InLinearColour).
Save the file and launch the game.

[SyrupBuccaneer]

Worked perfectly, thanks!

[( F.S ).captainecaverne974]

bjr je vois que tu est un fan de mass alors essaye le troisieme volet sur origine tu va halucine crois moi

[strider0075]

good idea but not really necessary, i forget which setting it is in the game but it's in the video settings. I had this issue a while back, a couple hours of playing with the settings and resetting the game a few times and the dark texture issue was cleared up. basically run through the start game, save before you meet miranda in the flesh on the medical station then use the cutscene on the shuttle as a baseline for the graphics. adjust your video settings (i want to say it's the AA setting that causes it, but it's been a while since i had the issue) till the characters are visible in that cutscene and you're good to go. the rest of the game the characters won't be shadows on the darker worlds

[aubri]

Awesome, favourited for future reference. Thanks for sharing!