Nightsolo's Mass Effect Downloads, Hints, & Cheats

Downloads
Hints
Cheats
Tweaks

Here are some old links for grins:

• Go to Origin for Pinnacle Station.
• Go to Bioware for Bring Down the Sky.

• Mass Effect Modding Guide
• ME3Tweaks Mod Manager - works for ME1, despite the name
• Black Market License
• Casual Hubs
• Charted Worlds - makes most of the maps in my guide obsolete
• Faster Airlock
• Faster Elevators
• Galaxy Map Trackers
• Keepers Finders
• ME1 Recalibrated
• N7 Mako
• Vignette Remover
• XP Rescale
• Trilogy Save Editor
• A Lot of Textures (ALOT)
• A Lot of Videos (ALOV)
• Mass Effect Updated/Improved Textures Mod (MEUITM) [and possibly No Brows Fix]
• Glowing Weapon Lights Remover
• Goodbye Lens Flares
• MERLIN

• SliderRegular.zip (21 KB) - The Mass Effect Font (used for titles in this guide)
• Config.zip (40 KB) - Backups of the orignial configuration files, on the off chance you screwed yours up. They go in C:\Users\Username\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Config\
• MassEffect.zip (12.5 MB) - Backup of the original .exe, on the off chance you messed yours up.
• laa_2_0_4.zip (14 KB) - Probably not needed, but you can apply it if needs must.

• Saving:
  • I'll only mention this once: Save often.
  • Quick Save before every conversation. It'd suck to screw one up only to have to reload from a slot you saved an hour or more ago.
  • Use the Save Menu to save in new slots on occasion. These saves stay with your character, so they won't overwrite other games. But don't keep too many slots, as there is a limit!
  • I recommend saving in a new slot when you first land on a plot planet and before starting every major plot point.
  • Save your save games. You can import them into Mass Effect 2, and your choices will affect many of the side-missions, and some other subtle options.
  • Keep a text file with your save games, in which you'll keep notes about what you did in each, and what your Shepard looks like. This makes choosing imports to ME2 easier, as well as for a New Game +.
• Exploration:
  • When exploring a planet in the Mako, often times it takes longer to go over a mountain than around it. Especially on those planets with really steep and sharp mountains.
  • Sometimes while exploring a planet in the Mako, it may be quicker to return to the Normandy and re-land than going over a mountain again.
  • While in the Mako, if you find yourself near the red zone on the minimap, drive into it, and after a couple of warnings you'll be instantly returned to the starting point for the planet.
  • When you're looking for a hidden asteroid, don't move the mouse. Just sit still and stare at the asteroid belt until you see a small bright flashing light.
• Combat:
  • Use your Abilities often. They make combat easier, especially on the higher difficulty levels.
  • Fire your weapons in short bursts. They overheat quickly.
  • Take cover at the start of the fight, and only lean out to attack. Stay in cover to recharge your shields and let your weapons cool down.
  • Do position your squad mates strategically. You can also use them as shields or order them to run head-first into the fray.
  • Your squad mates revive after combat ends, but if you die, you'll have to resume from your last save.
• Leveling:
  • Enemies level up at the same rate as you do, so the game is consistently challenging. This also means you need to keep your gear upgraded.
  • Equip better items as soon as you can, as enemies level up at the same rate as you, and therefore combat will get way harder if you don't.
  • In order to get to level 60, you'll need to start a New Game +. Even if you scan every scanable celestial body, open every container, kill every enemy, and complete every Assignment, you'll be short about 86,000 XP, or 3 levels.
  • In order to get the most XP, you'll need Decription and Electronics to loot stuff. If your Shepard doesn't have those skills, bring along squad mates who do. If those skills are still too low, note where the container was and come back to it later. You may also want to take control of squad skill point distribution until those skills are maxed out.
• Loot:
  • Item levels (of newly looted stuff, not what you've already got) advance at the same rate as your character advances in level, but they all reduce to the same amount of Omni-Gel regardless of item level.
  • Loot Everything. If you hate the Decrypting game, turn loot into Omni-Gel to bypass a lock. Otherwise, keep the items and sell them for cash, which you'll need for buying Licenses and stuff.
• Gameplay:
  • Read the manual. It's in the directory where you installed the game.
  • Every time you play the game, take different squad mates with you to hear different banter.
  • On Paragon vs. Renegade. Personally, I've found it very difficult to be consistently one or the other. The game seems to be made for a combination of the two. I find some situations are better with a Paragon response, and others just beg for the Renegade option. I'd go so far as to say the experience is better with whatever mix feels good at the time. In any case, don't sweat your decisions - just have fun. It is, after all, a game.
  • Download and install the Bring Down the Sky and Pinnacle Station downloadable content. They're fun!
  • It is possible for your squad mates to trap you. When that happens, draw then holster your weapons, and they'll spread out.
  • Occasionally, a squad mate will stop following you. When that happens, Save and then Load that save, and they'll resume following you.
• System:
  • If you're alt-tabbing back into the game and the mouse pointer disappears, alt-tab back out, and as you tab back in, keep moving the mouse and it'll show up.
  • To disable the intro movies, go to [C:\Games\Mass Effect\BioGame\CookedPC\Movies] and rename or delete BWLogo.bik, db_standard.bik, and ME_EAsig_720p_v2_raw.bik
  • To disable the relay movie, rename or delete GLO_01_Relay.bik
  • The game likes to reset the config files, (in C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Config), so after you edit them, be sure to open their properties and check the "Read Only" box. Otherwise, your changes will have been for naught.
  • If you find a face you like from ME2 or ME3, use the Face Code Converter to get close. (I found this somewhere, but have no idea who made it.)
  • These are the closest sliders for the ME3 default female Shepard that I can figure, though there is also the mod FemShep Appearance Consistency Project

          Face:  7  4  3  1
          Head:  1 20 20 20  1  7  8
          Eyes:  8 10 16 16 16  1  4
          Jaw:  31  1  9 18
          Mouth: 1  1  1 19 13
          Nose:  5  5 14
          Hair:  3  2 16  6
          Makeup:1  7  6
         

Note 1: I haven't tested all these codes, so use them at your own risk.
Note 2: If you want to get REALLY crazy specific with the cheats, see this guide: Mass Effect Wiki.
Note 3: These are NOT Case-Sensitive.

Fly	Enable fly mode
Ghost	Walk through walls
SuperSpeed	Shepard moves really fast
Walk	Return to normal speed and on foot
Teleport	Move player to location in crosshairs (in the game world, not on the map)
SpawnVehicle	Spawns a Mako at the cursor's location
upgradevehicle 6 vehthrusterforcebooster	Triples the power of the Mako's thruster
GiveBonusTalent T	Gives Shepard a bonus talent, see list below for talent numbers to replace T
AdjustCredits #	Increments or decrements the party's credits, replace # with a number preceded by + or -
InitCredits #	Sets the party credits, replace # with a number
GiveXP #	replace # with desired number of experience points
SetParagon #	replace # with desired number of paragon points
SetRenegade #	replace # with desired number of renegade points
GiveTalentPoints #	replace # with desired number of talent points (46 to fill)
Set BioAttributesPawnParty m_TalentPoints #	replace # with desired number of talent points for active squad mates and Shepard (20 to fill)
ce hench_picksquad	Select a new squad from the selection screen
InitGrenades #	Set number of grenades, replace # with a number
InitMedigel #	Sets amount of medi-gel, replace # with a number
InitSalvage #	Sets the amount of OmniGel, replace # with a number
UnlockAchievement A	Unlock Achievements, see list below for numbers to replace A
GiveSuperArmor	Shepard gets Super Armor
GiveSuperGun	Shepard gets Super Gun
GiveAll	gives you everything except for armor
GiveAllArmor	Give all Armors
GiveAllXMods	Give all Weapon and Armor Mods
GiveAllBioamps N	Give Bio Amps, replace N with manufacturer name
GiveAllOmniTools N	Gives Omni Tool, replace N with manufacturer name
GiveAllArmor N	Give all armor, replace N with manufacturer name
GiveAllArmorHuman N	Give all human armor, replace N with manufacturer name
GiveAllArmorKrogan N	Give all krogan armor, replace N with manufacturer name
GiveAllArmorQuarian N	Give all quarian armor, replace N with manufacturer name
GiveAllArmorTurian N	Give all Turian armor, replace N with manufacturer name
GiveAllWeapons N	Give all weapons, replace N with manufacturer name
GiveAllGrenades N	Give all grenades, replace N with manufacturer name
exec filename.txt	Execute a script. You can put many (as many as you like) of the above commands in a single text file, then place that text file in the [Binaries] folder. In game, run this command (for example "exec cheat.txt"), and everything will execute as if you had typed it all in manually.
Show Fog	toggle fog on/off

Manufacturer names for replacing N:
Aldrin, Ariake, Armax, Armali, Devlon, Elanus, Elkoss, Geth, HK, Kassa, Rosen, Serrice, Sitta [sic], Haliat, Jorman, Batarian, Cerberus, HKShadow, Spectre01, Spectre02, Spectre03

To give yourself a specific item, type:
GiveItem person level type Manf_manfname_thing_name

person is either Self or Target. To give something to a squadmate, turn so the targeting bracket higlights the squadmate you want to give something to.

level is the level of the item in digital numbers, not roman

type is one of the following: Assault_Rifle, Sniper_Rifle, Shotgun, Pistol, Bioamp, Omnitool
Armors are HumanL, HumanM, HumanH, QuarianL, TurianL, TurianM, TurianH, KroganM, KroganH

Examples: (for specifics, see the upgrades page)
GiveItem Target 10 Assault_Rifle Manf_Spectre03_Weap will give the targeted squadmate a level X HMWA Assault Rifle.
giveitem self 10 bioamp manf_serrice_bioamp
giveitem self 10 omnitool manf_serrice_omnitool
giveitem target 10 TurianM manf_kassa_armor_colossus
giveitem self 10 x_armor_shieldVI
giveitem self 10 x_Gammo_HE
giveitem self 10 x_wammo_Harpoon
giveitem self 10 x_wgear_frictionlessMAT

Talent numbers for replacing T:
Note: The game won't let you use more than 6 at a time, so if you're full, adding more won't do you any good.

7	Assault Rifles
14	Shotguns
21	Sniper Rifles
49	Throw
50	Lift
56	Warp
57	Singularity
63	Barrier
64	Stasis
84	Electronics
86	Damping
91	Hacking
93	Decryption
98	First Aid
99	Medicine

Achievement numbers for replacing A:

1	Medal of Honor
2	Medal of Heroism
3	Distinguished Service Medal
4	Council Legion of Merit
5	Honorarium of Corporate Service
6	Long Service Medal
7	Distinguished Combat Medal
8	Medal of Valor
9	Pistol Expert
10	Shotgun Expert
11	Assault Rifle Expert
12	Sniper Expert
13	Lift Mastery
14	Throw Mastery
15	Warp Mastery
16	Singularity Mastery
17	Barrier Mastery
18	Stasis Mastery
19	Damping Specialist
20	AI Hacking Specialist
21	Overload Specialist
22	Sabotage Specialist
23	First Aid Specialist
24	Neural Shock Specialist
26	Scholar
27	Completionist
28	Tactician
29	Medal of Exploration
30	Rich
31	Dogs of War
32	Geth Hunter
33	Soldier Ally
34	Sentinel Ally
35	Krogan Ally
36	Turian Ally
37	Quarian Ally
38	Asari Ally
39	Power Gamer
40	Extreme Power Gamer
41	Renegade
42	Paragon
43	Paramour
44	Spectre Inductee
45	Charismatic
46	Search and Rescue
47	Colonial Savior
48	Undisputed
49	New Sheriff in Town
50	Best of the Best

BACK UP THE ORIGINAL FILES BEFORE ALTERING THEM!

The game likes to reset these files to their defaults, so after you edit them, be sure to open their properties and check the "Read Only" box.

Disable the intro movies by deleting or renaming C:\games\Mass Effect \Biogame\CookedPC\Movies\
BWLogo.bik
db_standard.bik
ME_EAsig_720p_v2_raw.bik

BioCredits.ini
Alter the amount of time it takes the end credits to scroll:
fScrollTime=516
The song is 497 seconds long.

BioEngine.ini
Increase number of sound chanels to prevent sound clipping:
MaxChannels=64

Make shadows look better:
ShadowFilterRadius=5.000000
DepthBias=0.006000
MinShadowResolution=32
MaxShadowResolution=4096
ShadowFilterQualityBias=4

Improve quality of textures:
Trilinear=true

Improve game performance with no loss in quality:
BIOVertexShaderVersion=vs_3_0

Force the game to use higher quality textures:
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Diff=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Norm=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Spec=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
This fixes Garrus' low-quality face, without texmods.

BioGame.ini
Enable AutoSave:
m_bDissableAutoSave=FALSE
m_fAutoSaveTime - change the interval of saves

The ratio of XP earned while in the Mako compared to on foot:
m_fVehicleExpScaleFactor=1.0
1.0 is equal, 0.5 would be half as much as on foot, 2.0 would be double what's earned on foot.

Change the amount of stuff you can carry:
m_nMaxCredits=99999999
m_nMaxGrenades=90
m_fMaxSalvage=9999
m_fMaxMedigel=90

Change the color and transparency of subtitles:
m_colSubtitleColor=(R=204,G=255,B=255,A=255)

Change how long after an NPC's last line of dialog before the conversation wheel appears:
m_fShowLastLineOffset=0.0
0.0 helps prevent choosing the wrong thing when skipping through dialog.

Removes the time limit for ability cooldowns:
m_bSkipPowerCooldown=TRUE
Note that this also removes cooldowns for enemies. I.e. Geth will pop out shields instantly and all over the place.

Corpses behave more realistically:
m_bAllowPhysicsOnDeadBodies=true

How long before corpses disappear, in seconds:
m_fCorpseCleanupFirstAttemptTime=60.0

Enable cover system for squad:
m_bEnableLeaning=TRUE

Disable Tutorials:
m_bForceDisableTutorials=TRUE

Alter the gravity while in the Mako:
DefaultGravityZ=1800
Setting this higher will cause the Mako to not bounce nearly as much.

BIOGuiResources.ini
Change the amount of time that notifications appear on screen:
fPassivePopupDisplayTime=1f
This is for the grey boxes on the middle right of the screen for achievements, loot, etc.

BioInput.ini
To Fix the Field of View (FOV), add the following line:
Bindings=(Name="F11",Command="set BioCameraBehaviorFollow CAMERA_FOV 100 | set BioCameraBehaviorZoom CAMERA_FOV 40")
Once you have started or loaded a game, get to a point when you can run around (not in menu and not during conversation), and hit the F11 key. You only need to do it once, and the FOV will be changed permanently until you exit the game. Unlike the wrong FOV fix, it never gets canceled, does not ruin cutscenes, and you don't need to fix it from time to time.
You can add other lines with other key bindings with different FOV numbers, too.

Increase game speed by a factor of 10 while holding the middle mouse button:
Bindings=(Name="MiddleMouseButton",InputMode=BIO_INPUT_MODE_NONE,Command="SloMo 10 | OnRelease SloMo 1",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)

BioParty.ini
Increase the number of items you can carry, and change the warning message:
m_nMaxInventoryItems=999
m_nMaxInventoryWarningThreshold=950

How long after killing the last in-range enemy before combat mode ends:
m_fCombatCooldownTime=2
In seconds.

Squad's percentage of health when resurrected:
m_fPercentHealthOnResurrection=0.4f

last modified 30 June 2021