Steam Community :: Guide :: Better Looking ME2, Updated GamerSettings.ini

Store Page

Mass Effect 2 (2010)

All Discussions Screenshots Artwork Broadcasts Videos News Guides Reviews

Mass Effect 2 (2010) > Guides > GregDave's Guides

93 ratings

Better Looking ME2, Updated GamerSettings.ini

By GregDave

Want a better looking ME2, higher quality, and less dark models without running a modded game? This GamerSettings.ini config is for you.

Instructions

1. Backup C:\Users\%username%\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect 2\BIOGame\Config\GamerSettings.ini before making changes.
2. Open GamerSettings.ini in Notepad and delete all except the [AppCompat] section, you will need to keep these settings. This section is generated based on your unique hardware.
3. Paste in the recommended config below in Notepad. Delete the provided [AppCompat], you will use your settings from step 2. Delete a line from [Engine.ISVHacks] section based on your Graphics Card. Keep UseMinimalNVIDIADriverShaderOptimization=False for Nvidia. Keep DisableATITextureFilterOptimizationChecks=False for ATI.
4. Run Mass Effect 2 and notice the improved look, and specifically character models.

This is an older game, and these settings assume your hardware can handle the game scaled up. If you experience performance issues or have any problems, revert to your original GamerSettings.ini.

CREDITS

- Blazor26 for better character quality, and shadow quality and Asmodean[www.overclock.net] for all other ME2 tweaks.

Recommended GamerSettings.ini

[SystemSettings]
Resolution=_1920x1080
ResX=1920
ResY=1080
FullScreen=True
AllowD3D11=True
BorderlessWindow=True
QualityBloom=True
FilmGrain=True
MotionBlur=True
DynamicShadows=True
LightEnvironmentShadows=True
MaxCharacterCinematicLightingPasses=3
EnableLightEnvSHLights=True
MaxAnisotropy=16
DisableAudio=False
StaticDecals=True
DynamicDecals=True
DynamicLights=True
CompositeDynamicLights=False
DirectionalLightmaps=True
DepthOfField=True
Bloom=True
Distortion=True
DropParticleDistortion=False
SpeedTreeLeaves=True
SpeedTreeFronds=True
OnlyStreamInTextures=False
LensFlares=True
FogVolumes=True
FloatingPointRenderTargets=True
Trilinear=True
OneFrameThreadLag=True
UseVsync=True
UpscaleScreenPercentage=True
EnableHighPolyChars=TRUE
SkeletalMeshLODBias=-1
ParticleLODBias=-1
DetailMode=5
ShadowFilterQualityBias=2
MaxMultisamples=8
MinShadowResolution=128
MaxShadowResolution=1024
AllowShadowVolumes=TRUE
bEnableVSMShadows=TRUE
AmbientOcclusion=True

[SaveGames]
Location=

[AppCompat]
MeasuredCPUScore=199.972443
CompatLevelComposite=3
CompatLevelCPU=5
CompatLevelGPU=3
GPUVendorID=4318
GPUDeviceID=4487
CPUNumLogicalProcessors=4

[D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice]
MaxTranslucencyLayers=4
MaxTextureSize=4096
DisableHWShadowMaps=False
BIOPixelShaderVersion=ps_3_0
BIOVertexShaderVersion=vs_3_0

[Engine.Console]
ConsoleKey=Tilde

[Engine.GameEngine]
bUseTextureStreaming=True
bUsePostProcessEffects=True
bEnableBranchingPCFShadows=True

[ISACTAudio.ISACTAudioDevice]
MaxChannels=64

[TextureLODSettings]
TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Spec=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_LightAndShadowMap=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=4096,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=4096,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=4096,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_AmbientLightMap=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Diff=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Norm=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Spec=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_512=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_256=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_128=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_64=(MinLODSize=64,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_512=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_256=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_128=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_64=(MinLODSize=64,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_GUI=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_1024=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_1024=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_APL_128=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_APL_256=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_APL_512=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_APL_1024=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_1024=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Promotional=(MinLODSize=2048,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=-1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character_2048=(MinLODSize=64,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_2048=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

[Engine.ISVHacks]
UseMinimalNVIDIADriverShaderOptimization=False
DisableATITextureFilterOptimizationChecks=False

Award

Created by

GregDave
Offline

Category: Modding or Configuration

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

20 Mar, 2015 @ 11:02pm

24 Sep, 2016 @ 11:50am

7,397	Unique Visitors
88	Current Favorites

Guide Index

Overview

Let me know if you have a question or comment.

Comments

Let me know if you have a question or comment.

57 Comments

< >

Felix Mortus 9 Jan, 2023 @ 3:57am

Something in here is causing some serious lagging, is it because my games heavily modded out, or could it be that I used this in LE2?

The One 5 Jan, 2021 @ 1:11pm

There is NO GamerSettings.ini anywhere in my ME2 folder....
What gives O.o

Abdu 22 Apr, 2020 @ 3:32am

Thanks for this guide.

Hey I have question:

EnableHighPolyChars=TRUE

Are you sure the engine will detect that commend even if the "TRUE" word is in capital?

Caramel КурскУкраїна 17 May, 2019 @ 5:28pm

Also, MotionBlur and FilmGrain are used to hide graphic imperfections and frame drops on consoles - unless you fancy those effects as cinematic, setting them to false actually improves graphics. Other than that, nice settings!

Caramel КурскУкраїна 17 May, 2019 @ 5:24pm

Put everything from under [TextureLODSettings]
On top, under [SystemSettings] section,
Else it gives blurry textures for some reason.

AvrorA 14 Jan, 2018 @ 3:51am

Thx, game looks much better even without Alot's textures pack.

λ☭λ SλKÉ λ☭λ 3 Dec, 2017 @ 9:00pm

Apologies in advanced just so all the haters don't have a good reason to act fools.

Not sure how anyone managed to find this helpful. Aside from the countless conflicting commands and pointless commands, after removing all the "junk" from the lines and adapting it to my unique hardware specs, the game crashes on loading. *slow clap*
About all this is useful for is listing the available things that can be adjusted.

HazyJ28 26 Oct, 2017 @ 11:13pm

Nice guide,thank you for the post. But this game is all nostalgia at this point. Anyone

who is going to Play ME2, has prob done so already. After considering doing this, I think I'm going to keep the game the way it is. Brings back those memories from a time when story>graphics.

pepoluan 17 Jun, 2017 @ 7:06am

To add:

If you have Nvidia Graphics *and* you follow the tweaking as described (in great detail) here:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1608196/how-to-improve-image-quality-in-pre-dx10-games-with-nvidia-inspector

You should be able to set "AmbientOcclusion=False" -- if you follow the above guide, AO will be performed by Nvidia's GPU/Driver instead, and this makes the game run smoother as it does not have to compute AO on its own.

Dagurssen 🪶 16 May, 2017 @ 12:14am

To those of you who are confused, I have done hours of research and come up with what works for me and what should also work for all of you. There is a difference between the GamerSettings.ini file and the Coalesced.ini file. Remember that. Tampering with the Coalesced file WILL screw your game up. Don't even touch with with NotePad ++. So far as I've experienced, there is only one working way to edit Coalesced.ini and that's to use the Mass Effect Coalesced Editor. Editing the values here will not screw your game up and will allow you to retain your personally preferred settings. Link is below for the editor.

http://social.bioware.com/project/1854/

Pertaining to the GamerSettings.ini, as far as I've gone, tampering with it does not break the game so, simply put, you can replace your original with what's above. Just remember to use your original AppCompat data!

Happy editing, guys!

P.S. Turn off Mouse Dampening and Mouse Smoothing in the Coalesced file. :)

< >