For some reason, the original Mass Effect has a hard time adapting its textures to modern machines, resulting in everything looking muddy and outdated. This is a common error nowadays and there’s a way to fix it without the use of mods or any third party programs. For those who still can’t play the game on its High-Ultra textures even if it says so on the OPTIONS MENU, here’s the fix:
1. Go into the My Documents–Bioware–Mass Effect–Config folder and open the BIOEngine notepad file.
2. MAKE A BACK-UP COPY OF THIS FILE. In case the config doesn’t work for you, you can easily restore default settings. Good to keep a backup of any Ini changes anyway.
3. Scroll halfway down to the section entitled “[SystemSettings]” (without the quotations). Change “Trilinear=FALSE” to “Trilinear=TRUE” (again, without the quotations).
4. Two sections further down the document you will see the “[TextureLODSettings]” (without the quotations). Replace the top 11 lines (12 including the section title) with the following:
[TextureLODSettings]
//TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize =4096,LODBias=0)
//TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1024,M axLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
//TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4 096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_LightAndShadowMap=(MinLODSize=1024,Ma xLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize =4096,LODBias=0)
//TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=40 96,LODBias=0)
//TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,L ODBias=0)
//TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4 096,LODBias=0)
//TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1024,Max LODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
//TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=40 96,LODBias=0)
//TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxL ODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
5. Save the file and load the game. You should immediately notice an improvement in the textures.
If this doesn’t work, don’t panic!
You could try to one of the best graphics mod for ME1? This is the mod: http://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect/mods/1/
The mod is amazing. Everything looks better and all textures have been improved, even the Normandy. Give it a shot. It’s an easy install.
But…
If you really want the game to force its best textures without the mod, try this:
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Diff=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLOD Size=512,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Norm=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLOD Size=512,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Spec=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLOD Size=256,LODBias=0)
You’ll get consistently high character detail – albeit some lowered performance, of course, since it’s using high-res textures everywhere. This is the only way I know of to fix Garrus’ buggily low-res face without resorting to special mods.
By Maulclaw