Mass Effect 1 on PC

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Shegokigo

Shegokigo

Just picked it up (Been playing Fallout 3 between WoW/TF2/L4D for the past 2 months) and I was just curious if there were any "patches" or "fixes" I should be getting if I bought it off STEAM?

One thing I noticed right away was some very weird graphical issue with dynamic shadows, did a little research but found little in response. Any help on that front?

Otherwise I'm looking forward to a well reviewed RPG and am going in 100% blind as I really didn't read any spoilers/in depth reviews on the game at all.
 
HowDroll

HowDroll

I've played the XBox version, so I can't really help you with the patches part. Mass Effect is a FANTASTIC game, though. I really hope you enjoy it.
 
Shegokigo

Shegokigo

They had me at Alien Lesbian sex. :hump:

I seriously would have gotten into this sooner, but I have a strict "No spending over $20 for any game, ever" policy and when Mass Effect hit the $20 mark I was gifted Fallout 3.
 
B

bhamv2

I play the PC version, as far as I can recall I didn't patch anything. For some reason my game would crash to desktop every hour or so, but it's only a minor nuisance and one I can live with.

Oh, and I strongly urge you to continue to avoid spoilers. It'll make it a much better game experience.
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

I have the PC version, but I have the DVD version, not the steam version and haven't had any problems with it. Steam will automatically patch the game, so if there are any patches available, you alread have them.

Could you be more specific on what is actually happening? Perhaps a screenshot?
 
Shegokigo

Shegokigo

Screenshot will have to wait till I get home, but the best way I can explain it is thus: the shadows make the game look horrible and they do not look natural at all, in some cases distorting the face of whomever it's focused on.
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

I know it's obligitory, but I have to ask, are you using the most current drivers for your graphics card?

Also, what type of graphics card are you using?
 
D

Dubyamn

Shegokigo said:
Screenshot will have to wait till I get home, but the best way I can explain it is thus: the shadows make the game look horrible and they do not look natural at all, in some cases distorting the face of whomever it's focused on.
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Do the shadows look like hundreds of black dots on their face? Cause its the same deal on the 360 and I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it because it never really bothered me.
 
Shegokigo

Shegokigo

Bowielee said:
I know it's obligitory, but I have to ask, are you using the most current drivers for your graphics card?

Also, what type of graphics card are you using?
Click to expand...
GTX295.
Haven't checked the drivers in about a month though, will do.

On topic: I'm going nuts at work, I'm dying to get home and dive into this game. All I got to do last night was create my profile/character before having to call it a night! I love that my options in "chat" are fully voiced though. I'm gonna have alot of fun with this already I can tell.
 
G

Greendog

Just going to echo what people have said really, that this is an awesome game with a lot of twists and turns, as you'd expect with the lovely Bioware. I kind of envy you Shego, as I'd love to go back and play that game fresh without any knowledge of what happens.
 
Shegokigo

Shegokigo

Bowielee said:
do you mean shadows looking like this



If so, that's just they way they look.
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Yeah, sorta like that, a bit more distorted at certain angles.

If that's the case, I can do without them.
 
Frank

Frank

There's a way to fix the shadows so they look a lot better. It requires fucking with the config file but it's easy to do. Lemme check.

First of all, make sure that:

My Documents>Bioware>Mass Effect>Config and open up BIOEngine.ini

Search for the following line and change it to "False":

DisableHWShadowMaps=True

is the way it is.

Next in the ini file change:

DepthBias=0.030000
MinShadowResolution=512
MaxShadowResolution=2048

I did this, it makes the shadows look noticeably better. It also changes the rendering duties from your cpu to your gpu for whatever fucking reason it's set to be a cpu thing with no ingame option to change it. Lazy fucking port.
 
CynicismKills

CynicismKills

It's an awesome, awesome game, personally my favorite BioWare RPG up to this point. Dying to get my hands on ME2.

My only (non-spoiler) advice is, like every other BioWare RPG, get your Intimidate/Persuade (whichever you prefer to use) up quickly. Opens up all sorts of new and interesting dialogue options, from background info to extra money, etc.
 
Dei

Dei

The evil path is so hilarious. My husband won't play them in any game, so I played the evil line and he played the good one.
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

Is it just me, or do PC ports of console games take 10 times longer to install than games that were made for the PC?
 
B

bhamv2

I agree, the evil path is better in ME. Even the voice actors seem to be more motivated when they speak the renegade lines.

My favorite moment is when Shepard goes all "My BFF Jill" on the reporter.
 
Shegokigo

Shegokigo

So far it's been great:

Renegade is really fun to play storyline wise. I'll post a screen of my character, I'm absolutely in love with the way she came out.

Two things:
The intro main menu music reminds me VERY much of Earthbound.

The entire game has a very KOTOR feel so far, at least Eden Prime and Citadel (which is all I've seen). It's just "in the air" as you play.

Neither of those were complaints btw.
[spoiler:bfrhow0h]I feel VERY jipped by the "sex scene" between me and the consort though....[/spoiler:bfrhow0h] :eek:rly:
 
B

bhamv2

Shegokigo said:
[spoiler:1uyglbp2]I feel VERY jipped by the "sex scene" between me and the consort though....[/spoiler:1uyglbp2] :eek:rly:
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[spoiler:1uyglbp2]There are some who believed the hype and were up in arms about it. Sounds like you believed the hype and were expecting it too much. :p[/spoiler:1uyglbp2]

Also, you're not the first one to make the comparison with KOTOR. Even some of the voice actors are the same.
 
Frank

Frank

Shegokigo said:
So far it's been great:

Renegade is really fun to play storyline wise. I'll post a screen of my character, I'm absolutely in love with the way she came out.

Two things:
The intro main menu music reminds me VERY much of Earthbound.

The entire game has a very KOTOR feel so far, at least Eden Prime and Citadel (which is all I've seen). It's just "in the air" as you play.

Neither of those were complaints btw.
[spoiler:gwf5p2dy]I feel VERY jipped by the "sex scene" between me and the consort though....[/spoiler:gwf5p2dy] :eek:rly:
Click to expand...
Did you try the shadow fixes?

Also

[spoiler:gwf5p2dy]The consort isn't the scene people were pissed about[/spoiler:gwf5p2dy]
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

Actually, I tried the shadow fixes, and they didn't do anything. I ended up turning off dynamic shadows, like I did the first time I played it.

It really looks just fine without them as far as I can see.
 
Frank

Frank

That may have not been the one I used then, the trick I used actually made a difference.

I'll do some checking.
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

So, I made an Infiltrator to go down the renegade path, but my talents for sniper rifles are blacked out. Isn't that supposed to be my primary weapon as an infiltrator?
 
Gusto

Gusto

Yay, Mass Effect! There's a game I haven't played in a while. Yea the PC version tends to crash to destop sometimes and creates lazy shadows, but I had a pretty decent time with it overall.
 
Dei

Dei

Bowielee said:
So, I made an Infiltrator to go down the renegade path, but my talents for sniper rifles are blacked out. Isn't that supposed to be my primary weapon as an infiltrator?
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Usually that means you need to get enough points in the weapon above it first to unlock it. Honestly, dumping all your points in sniper rifle right off the bat wouldn't be a great plan anyways, just because usually when you open with a sniper rifle everything comes running at you.

-- Sun Jun 21, 2009 7:52 am --

bhamv2 said:
Shegokigo said:
[spoiler:c9rp65fs]I feel VERY jipped by the "sex scene" between me and the consort though....[/spoiler:c9rp65fs] :eek:rly:
Click to expand...
[spoiler:c9rp65fs]There are some who believed the hype and were up in arms about it. Sounds like you believed the hype and were expecting it too much. :p[/spoiler:c9rp65fs]

Also, you're not the first one to make the comparison with KOTOR. Even some of the voice actors are the same.
Click to expand...
[spoiler:c9rp65fs]The second alien sex scene is much better than the consort one, but you still don't really see much except some ass.[/spoiler:c9rp65fs]
 
CynicismKills

CynicismKills

Like Dei said, you might have to pump stats into Pistols first, generally about 1/3 to 1/2 way through the bar.

Also I only used Sniper Rifles in the later levels, when you get more long corridors and places to hide while Ashley could draw fire like a good decoy. :heythere:
 
CynicismKills

CynicismKills

I used the Infiltrator class, so I went with Ashley and Liara, usually. Was a good balance. I'm planning to do the evil thing next playthrough so I'll probably use Wrex and someone else for that.
 
Necronic

Necronic

Staff member
Man, I was JUST bitching to my friend about this game. Maybe its better with the PC version, but I was not a fan. Part of it was that its just not that good on a console controller and a non-hi def tv (almost impossible to read the menus.) But one the thing was, either make a shooter or an RPG. Mass effect is just a bad shooter and a bad rpg to me. Although, in fairness I think that RPGs should be more like Oblivion, where I do not have to follow this story that the game wants me to, that I can go make my own story. So I guess that that kind of RPG just isn't for me.
 
Shegokigo

Shegokigo

So far so good, on my way to Viremire (taking my time and doing all the side missions for my side characters) but I have a gripe:

I'm going Renegade (obviously) but sometimes the choice is dumb: Kill this NPC and get nothing, or allow it to live and get a ton of money/xp/items/shop/etc.

So I get shafted and have to take in some Paragon points. I think that's just a cop out, why not have a renegade version of the choice in those situations?

I'm also dissapointed in the lack of different types of outfits/weapons. One thing I can never stand about an rpg is getting a new item and it looking exactly the same as the ones before it, or no matter what armors I pick up, the character's look stays the same. All the items/armor in this game are pallete swaps so far.

*sigh* Otherwise, great game.
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

Shegokigo said:
So far so good, on my way to Viremire (taking my time and doing all the side missions for my side characters) but I have a gripe:

I'm going Renegade (obviously) but sometimes the choice is dumb: Kill this NPC and get nothing, or allow it to live and get a ton of money/xp/items/shop/etc.

So I get shafted and have to take in some Paragon points. I think that's just a cop out, why not have a renegade version of the choice in those situations?

I'm also dissapointed in the lack of different types of outfits/weapons. One thing I can never stand about an rpg is getting a new item and it looking exactly the same as the ones before it, or no matter what armors I pick up, the character's look stays the same. All the items/armor in this game are pallete swaps so far.

*sigh* Otherwise, great game.
Click to expand...
I've already played through as a paragon and I can tell you that there are probably more choices where you get nothing by going paragon, then there are by going renegade.
 
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