Save File Transfer on Linux for All Three Games

The Mass Effect games are a good choice for any Linux user, with all three games running remarkably well in Wine or Proton once the tweaks are made to each game to have them work. However, because the file paths on Linux are different than on... Eugh... Windows... the way character save files are transferred game-to-game is more complex. This guide walks you through the process, which despite being relatively more complicated than on... Windows... is still a fairly quick and easy affair once you know where to look.

Opening

This guide is written so that early beginners to Linux can easily understand it, so forgive me if explanations are elementary or long-winded. The opening can be skipped entirely and the rest of the guide would still make sense, but the information inside may help you with troubleshooting in the future.

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As the exact way files are structured is important to how a program retrieves data and runs, Wine and Proton must both keep a... Eugh... Windows program's files exactly as they are as well as provide the necessary dependencies. For example, a Windows [*pchoo* *pchoo*] game may require access to the "My Documents" folder inside the user's "drive_c" folder, both of which are absent in Linux.

So, to run these programs, Wine and Proton use "prefixes", small file trees containing the typical base files of the Windows [*pchoo* *pchoo*] operating system, such as "drive_c", "ProgramFiles", "users", and so on. Proton automatically creates a new prefix for every game it is used to make compatible, which is just fine as each new prefix is fairly small in file size (exempting the game content inside it, of course).

To summarize, in order to run Windows [*pchoo* *pchoo*] programs without having to sully your computer with an actual installation, it simulates a little mini-W*ndows environment inside of each prefix.

Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2

While the original game's atmosphere, soundtrack, and RPG elements are considered by many fans to be unmatched by the sequels, the first Mass Effect is objectively the worst game in the trilogy because Shepard can't have sex with Tali.


Firstly, go to your home folder.



We need to access the .steam folder. This isn't an ordinary file, however: it's a hidden file, denoted by the period in front of it's file name. To make these super secret (they're really not super secret, they're just like that to prevent visual clutter whenever you go into your home folder for something) files visible, hold CTRL then press H to toggle their visibility.



There it is, the .steam folder. Now, we have to go into the compatdata folder which holds the simulated W*ndows directories for each Proton-run game.



This is where it can be easy to get mixed up without help. Unless you're Raymond Babbitt from Rain Man you probably refer to games by their titles and wouldn't bother to memorise their AppIDs, which are ID numbers used internally in Steam's database for the games in it's library. The Compatdata folder, however, only has them by their AppIDs. Mass Effect's is 17460, so go to that one.

Now, to navigate to your save files: From 17460, go to pfx, then drive_c, then users, then steamuser, then My Documents, then BioWare, then Mass Effect, and then Save.

Copy any files starting with Char_. My Shepard, Cdr. Jomari Shepard, is a skilled military engineer and king of the Space Filipinos. If you have multiple characters on your computer, there will be multiple Char_ files, so copy all of them: If you have numerous imported, then you will be able to pick which specific one you want to load upon a new game in Mass Effect 2.

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Mass Effect 2 was a significant change in direction for series, both in gameplay and narrative, as cybernetic zombie Shepard teams up with a motley crew including a terroristic megacorp senior officer, vengeful vigilante former policeman, an autistic space Romani with AIDS, a schizophrenic robot with an anti-materiel rifle, a low-IQ supersoldier space lizard, Leon: The Professional except a frog person, a psychic space paladin, said psychic space paladin's evil daughter, a hardcore veteran mercenary missing parts of his face, alien Shiro Ishii, a bipolar shotgun psyker with crippling PTSD, a thematically inappropriate master thief, and a black guy to take down various omnipresent mercenary outfits as well as the Collectors.


Now, you may have Mass Effect 2 either in physical box format like I do, digital Origin format, or one of the two digital Steam formats: Steam Mass Effect 2 (2010) or Steam Mass Effect 2 (2010) Edition, a very important distinction which I will soon explain.

If you have it in physical box format, then look inside the prefix where you installed it. Then, go to users, [NAME, which will be whatever your PC user name is set to], DOCUMENTS, BioWare, Mass Effect 2, then Save. If the Save folder doesn't have a folder named ME1, then it's not a big deal, just create a new folder named ME1 and then paste your copied Char_ files inside it. Now, when you start a new game in Mass Effect 2, your ME1 characters should be listed upon clicking the "Import ME1 Characters" button. Also, if you need to navigate via the terminal for whatever reason, remember that folders with spaces in their names need to be rendered with single commas on both ends so the computer knows it's one folder. For example,

cd Games/me2prefix/drive_c/'Mass Effect 2'/

If you have it on Origin then I can't help you because I don't have Origin and frankly think you shouldn't either, and if you have it on Steam then you must check if it's title in your library is Mass Effect 2 (2010) or Mass Effect 2 (2010) Edition. It's corresponding AppID in your compatdata folder depends on which version it is: If you have Mass Effect 2 (2010) then it will be 24980, if you have Mass Effect 2 (2010) Edition, then it will be 2362420. The Edition version replaced the original's store page in 2018, so you bought the game after that then you would have the Edition one.

(This is because the Edition version, which is more expensive but has all the DLC, is technically a re-release and internally considered a different game.)

Regardless of your version's name in the compatdata folder, the steps afterwards are the same: pfx, then drive_c, then users, then steamuser, then Documents, or the separate folder My Documents if it's not in there, BioWare, then Mass Effect 2, then Save. If there isn't already an ME1 folder, then create a new folder and name it ME1. Now, paste your copied Char_ files inside the ME1 folder. Upon starting a new game, the ME1 characters you moved should be listed after clicking the "Import ME1 Characters" button.

Mass Effect 2 to Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3 further refines ME2's gameplay, adding further depths of character building, strategy and customisation; and has a large number of excellent cinematic setpieces which add greater impact to the decisions your Shepard makes, decisions which have significant consequences for the game's characters and story. Well, up until the last fifteen minutes of the game, that is.


Note that for Mass Effect 2, characters must have finished the main story (i.e., complete the assault on the Collector Base with at two other members of the strike team alive) to be able to be transferred to ME3. Anything done afterwards will be current as of your last ME2 save, so if you finished the main game and then do the Arrival missions, the consequences of what happens in Arrival will reflect in ME3 so long as you saved after finishing the Object Rho mission.


Mass Effect 2's save data location depends on whether you have a physical copy or a Steam copy. If you have a physical box, find where the prefix you use for Mass Effect 2 is, then go into drive_c. Then, go into users, then [System Name, which depends on what you named your current computer], then Documents, then BioWare. Here, you should see a folder named Mass Effect 2, which may also include Mass Effect 3 if you used the same prefix for both games. Inside the Mass Effect 2 folder, you will see a number of other folders including one named Save. Inside the Save folder, there will be folders with the first names of Shepards that have at least finished the Collector Base, copy these.

If you have Mass Effect 2 on Steam, to reiterate from the previous chapter, start out in your home folder, and hold CTRL and press H to reveal your hidden files. Then, you go into .steam, then steamapps, then you should see the compatdata folder.

The files here are named by Steam AppID rather than title for technical reasons, if your Mass Effect 2 purchase is from prior to mid-2018 (Mass Effect 2 (2010)) then it's folder will be 24980, or if it from afterwards (Mass Effect 2 (2010) Edition) then it's folder will be named 2362420.

Now the navigation is the same regardless of edition. Go into pfx, then drive_c, then users, then steamuser, then Documents, or the separate folder My Documents if it's not in there, BioWare, then Mass Effect 2, then Save. There will be folders with the first names of Shepards that have at least finished the Collector Base, copy them. (The whole folders, not just the files inside.)

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Mass Effect 3 on Steam is odd, because, while it's now sold on Steam (which it wasn't for at least a decade after release) it still requires an Origin account to actually play, even when launched through Steam. However, Steam still runs it through Proton, meaning it will have a prefix in the compatdata folder, where it is named by the AppID 1238020. The file structure, including the location of the Save folder, is identical to ME2 once you're in the 1238020 folder, so once you get to the Save folder, paste the folders you copied.

If you have a physical/plundered copy, find the prefix you use for it. Then, go into drive_c, then users, then [System Name, which depends on what you named your current computer], then Documents, then BioWare, then Mass Effect 3, and finally Save; then, well, you know what to do.