Mass Effect 2 tweaking...

Discussion in 'Games, Gaming & Game-demos' started by syklonis, Jan 27, 2010.

  1. Darren Hodgson

    Darren Hodgson Ancient Guru

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    I believe the MaxMultisamples setting sets the highest level of AA you can use but in order for it to work you still need to force it through your graphics card drivers. I'm not absolutely certain but I've never been able to activate AA in UE3-based games just by increasing that setting from 1.

    Ditto for the MaxAnisotropy setting too (you need to force AF).
     
  2. EarlZ

    EarlZ Guest

    I've been doing some personal testing on my own in regards to the graphics settings what I've seen so far that really works is the following

    Trilinear=True
    MaxAnisotropy=16
    DepthOfField=False

    The 3 listed above have the most noticable impact on image quality the following listed bellow is just a bunch of voodo or no noticable difference in image quality based on my own observation


    And here are the settings that I dont see any noticable impact on image quality
    QualityBloom=True
    MinShadowResolution=32
    MaxShadowResolution=4096
    DynamicLights=True
    ShadowFilterQualityBias=2
    DirectionalLightmaps=True
    CompositeDynamicLights=True

    If anyone has a comparison shot that clearly shows the difference, please do post here.
     
  3. EarlZ

    EarlZ Guest

    Same problem when you goto the heretic space station, you get a split second of the modded loading screen and everything else is black.. I didnt make a backup of the loading files :biggun: but i think they are on the installation disc but im wondering w/c loading file it uses.
     
  4. mudkips

    mudkips Active Member

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    Donno if I saw it here or not but to fix the long loading issue while avoiding the modded videos if you have a dual core system is to;


    Start the task manager

    start ME2 (main menu screen is fine)

    alt tab to the task manager and set affinity to one core by un-checking one of the cpus and apply it.

    Then go back to the affinity setting and re-enable the disabled cpu.

    Tab back into the game and your loading between game segments should be dramatically shorter. On the Normandy my loads are 2-3 seconds max.
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2010

  5. XLR8

    XLR8 Member

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    original files are in disc 1 (data\movies.rar)
    you can found out what file the game is loading via process monitor (I suggest you leave only file system activity enabled).
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2010
  6. EarlZ

    EarlZ Guest

    :stewpid:


    This is not about the loading speed in the normady, even a single core can load it 1-2seconds, its is about the loading speed OUTSIDE the normandy.
     
  7. EarlZ

    EarlZ Guest

    How do i do this under windows 7 ?
     
  8. XLR8

    XLR8 Member

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    you need to download process monitor, I'm using XP but I believe it should work under windows 7 just fine.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2010
  9. exaslave

    exaslave Member Guru

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    Yes the ones in the normandy do not take long at all, it is the other times like just making a quicksave F5 then pressing F9 to load it that uses a load screen that should not be needed that bothers

    Those 10second load actually take about 3-4seconds on my slow HDD so changing that load screen makes it much faster specially with Lavans mod with a quick save/load which is instantly but I like the "Mass effect 2" animation so I just kept the load_f99.bik for that

    I tried the cpu affinity tip without a change
     
  10. Morel

    Morel Member

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    Then why do they install a version of OpenAL.dll in the binaries folder? ;)

    Thats the annoying thing with the Unreal Engine.. It's been modified and hacked so much over the years that every game that uses it has totally different abilities and limitations.. lol
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2010

  11. mudkips

    mudkips Active Member

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    Many people with dual core CPUs have had issues with loads even on the Normandy. This workaround dramatically improves load times for a segments of the game on dual core systems. Max load time for me anywhere is around 6-8 seconds.

    Troll harder next time.
     
  12. ScoobyDooby

    ScoobyDooby Guest

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    I have no loading troubles on my dual core.. Works just fine. Only time it takes a bit is when i go to land on a planet or something. Normandy is a second tops.. Never takes longer. Pretty sure this is not a "core" issue
     
  13. EarlZ

    EarlZ Guest

    Again this is not about the normady nor about dualcore systems or about people who have glitch with the loading times, if you have 8 seconds load time anywhere then thats really a long wait compared to the 1-2seconds the modded loading screen works, Learn to read better next time :banana:
     
  14. mudkips

    mudkips Active Member

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    No its not a core issue, its a game issue, some people like me had 20-30 second load times and the work around I posted cut significant time for quite a few people. I am fully aware some don't have this problem of if they did they this fix wont work for them as is the nature of the PC.


    Some have black screens with those modded load screens, the work around I posted was a alternative without modding anything.
     
  15. EarlZ

    EarlZ Guest

    Yes they do have black screens, but using the animated mass effect 2 logo also fixes the issue.
     

  16. Morel

    Morel Member

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    Actually the problem is that on some levels (most notably the IFF "You have to take a shuttle") mission is that while the movie file plays it's streaming/loading data for the mission. If you use any other .blk file other then the one that is specifically used for that mission (The Joker missions use their own special ones too) Sometimes (or everytime) it won't load the mission correctly.

    Problem is solved by replacing the shorter blk's with all the original ones..:)

    There is also commands in the ini files that makes allows you to skip every movie.. Even the opening one. :)

    As for what commands work I'll get some side by side comparisons in a sec.
     
  17. EarlZ

    EarlZ Guest


    We would love to know those commands!
     
  18. Morel

    Morel Member

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    Ok.. Here is my settings currently.

    [SystemSettings]
    Resolution=_1680x1050
    ResX=1680
    ResY=1050
    DisableAudio=False
    FullScreen=True
    BorderlessWindow=True
    FilmGrain=False
    MotionBlur=False
    DynamicLights=True
    DynamicShadows=True
    EnableLightEnvSHLights=True
    MaxAnisotropy=16
    MaxMultisamples=16
    QualityBloom=True
    MaxCharacterCinematicLightingPasses=5
    Trilinear=True
    MinShadowResolution=64
    MaxShadowResolution=8192
    DepthOfField=True
    UseVsync=True
    bSmoothFrameRate=False
    Distortion=True
    FogVolumes=True
    FloatingPointRenderTargets=True
    EnableHighPolyChars=True
    SkeletalMeshLODBias=0
    ParticleLODBias=0
    ModShadowFadeDistanceExponent=0.200000
    DepthBias=.0030000
    ShadowFilterRadius=2.000000
    ShadowTexelsPerPixel=2.000000
    AmbientOcclusion=True
    bEnableVSMShadows=True
    bEnableBranchingPCFShadows=True
    bEnableForegroundShadowsOnWorld=True
    bEnableForegroundSelfShadowing=True
    DetailMode=5

    I removed some un-needed lines, and I'll fully admit It's a work in progress.. Also some of the changes here will increase GPU load by a decent amount.. However my 4870 handles it just fine so far.. But some heavy combat areas may give problems due to shader increase..

    Comparisons..

    Default Settings
    [​IMG]

    My Settings
    [​IMG]

    To Enable TRUE AA with ATI cards (using control panel) rename masseffect2.exe to UT3.exe. Then use ATI Control panel and force it with the Edge Detect method (don't go above 4 unless your PC is a monster... ;))

    To Enable 3D Sound

    first thing is that you must get your cards name using the ALCapsviewer to show you the actual literal name of your soundcard so it doesn't default to the generic wrapper (Creative Labs Drivers are horrible!!)

    Then add the lines below (don't know if the last line is needed yet)

    [ALAudio.ALAudioDevice]
    MaxChannels=128
    UseEffectsProcessing=True
    TimeBetweenHWUpdates=15
    MinOggVorbisDurationGame=25
    MinOggVorbisDurationEditor=4
    DeviceName=SB X-Fi Audio [AC00]
    bSurroundMode=True

    Note your sound card's name / max channels / timing may be different. I can verify that I my sound is truely Surround.. Not the best implementation of it I'll admit but i'm still tweaking.. :)

    Oh Just for Fun..

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2010
  19. Redemption80

    Redemption80 Guest

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    It looks like DOF is off on the second one, or is it motion blur on the top one?
     
  20. EarlZ

    EarlZ Guest

    These lines have no noticeable changes on the image quality , unless ofcourse someone can show the obvious differences with a high resolution shot ( 1600x1200 or higher )


    Im already getting 5.1 sound with my X-Fi + Z-5500 ( 6Ch direct ) would i still need to apply the tweaks above, do they improve the 5.1 sound positioning ?

    Where in capsviewer can i see the name of my X-Fi card and also it only shows that I have EAX2.0 this must be the effect of not having direct sound anymore under Windows 7 ?

    Also where are the commends to disable the video ?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 4, 2010

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