Mass Effect playthroughs... What do you guys think I need?

[CohhCarnage]

Hey guys!

So, I've downloaded ME 1, 2 & 3 for the PC via Origin...

What else do you guys think I need?

Texture packs? Mods? Any other stuff?

Haven't played these on PC yet so open to any suggestions!

[Hypno15]

For one and two there are a few texture packs you can get, but not beyond that.
For three on the other hand I believe there are multiple texture mods but I believe there are many mods which add new things to the game which were originally scrapped from it, so you may want to look into those to see if there is anything you want to include.
But honestly the games and their DLCs are fine by themselves

[nimajnebkh]

This may be a silly question... but are you planning to run all the DLC? I'd put them at...

necessary:
Lair of the Shadow Broker
Citadel
Leviathan
Kasumi
From Ashes

Encouraged:
Bring down the sky
Arrival
Overlord
Omega

Skip:
Pinnacle Station

[Baze_Ezra]

Personally I would say Arrival is at least as necessary as LotSB,

Reason (seriously a spoiler) [+] Show

as it links into the next game directly.

ME1 DLC's are (mostly) pointless.

As for texture packs and mods. There's probably a few texture packs bouncing around, but the only game which really needs them is ME1. Other than that, the games are best enjoyed in their vanilla state.

[Rhyoden]

The best mod i know of any of the games is Mass effect 1 with a mod called "Mass Effect 1 Updated/Improved Textures Mod" there is a few steps (updating the exe to use more than 2gb, some minor config file editing) but installing the pack is a quick and easy process, just point the installer at the mass effect directory and it does all the work for you. Also should be noted that the only place this mod can't change is the character creation screen will be a tad fuzzy, this is an error with some textures causing a shimmering so the offset of that bug is to use lower quality textures rest of the game is amazing. I'll keep a look out for any more good mods and be sure to post here.

http://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect/mods/1/?

Mass Effect 2 has longer load times because it waits for the animations on screen to finish this mod shortens those wait times to make for a smoother gameplay experience.

http://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect2/mods/2/?

Mass effect 2 mainly has player character texture mods and some of the links are directed incorrectly but still the comparison is quite a leap forward.

https://www.facepunch.com/threads/10520 ... exture-Mod
http://captainjl.kikaimegami.com/Mass%2 ... ffect%202/ is where some are if the links don't work.

Finally Mass Effect 3 has a large scale texture mod that looks pretty great called ALOT that has over 400 textures mods within it, so should be great

http://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect3/mods/363/?

[nimajnebkh]

You're probably right about Arrival... I just wan't extremely fond of the gameplay for it, so played only once.

[cellstern]

For my own playthrough of the game i installed the MEUITM mod which is a big retexture mod and in the words of the maker
"I'm trying to fix some of the "uglies" in ME1 and give it the polished look the epic story line deserves." and he details what he has retextured and updated so far.
It should be on nexus mods for mass effect 1 in the models and textures category if you are interested

[Baze_Ezra]

Kasumi and Zaeed are both interesting side quests. Also the extra companion DLC in ME3 whose name eludes me gives some nice lore if you don't figure it out from the other two games. But he is in no way critical to the story as certain people have claimed in the past.

I've only done he asteroid DLC from ME1 and if you don't enjoy driving the Mako just don't bother with it.

Other advice: If you want a challenge in ME2 and ME3 - avoid using heavy weapons or Geth weapons.

I don't know if it can be fixed with mods (but I hope it can) - if your class can't use assault rifles, most cutscenes will randomly have you holding one. That to me would be the main thing to mod in ME2 and ME3 if you can.

[DaPerkins]

Yeah all the story DLC mods are a must since they give you some tiny bonuses throughout each game. Not huge but just lil bits to help out. Lair of the shadow broker is likely my favorite of the DLC for ME2 and Citadel for Mass Effect 3.

Do you still get the war asset for pinnacle station in ME3 if you haven't done the mission? Not that you will be running short of war assets from everything else.

[Timofann]

must have this Cohh pls here link to a mod http://www.moddb.com/mods/mass-effect-3 ... ma-mod-v12
[MEDIA=youtube]X9NJkILiz2s[/MEDIA]

its a lighning mod for all mass effects gives no performance drops and good view if you worried about movie like black bars on top and the bottom dont worry! mod has an option without them
As for dlc i recomend all of them even new characters in me 2 because they add more content in me 3 also the most AWESOME dlc "Citadel" must be done after all the quests before last mission. If you dont screw up quests in me 3(believe me you can you need to do them in time before some story missions)and if you done all correctly youll gett full team in Citadel DLC
P.S Also in me 1 aster each story mission visit citadel new events and quests appear !
P.P.S And Arrival dlc for me 2 better be played after main story because reasons big reasons dont wanna spoil much(adds more hype for me3 basicaly) as for me better suted for the story because make connection to me3 prevents missconections in the story
also put your points into intimidation or persuation for charisma cheks it will be neded to make an amazing story

[Ainadak]

Not sure if this matters at all (especially given that the ME1 run has started), but I kinda thought Cohh was a looking a bit uninspired with the combat. I just thought I would let you know that there is apparently a way to boost your difficulty without going through the veteran run first. This method uses a console command to give yourself the "I beat it on hardcore" achievement, which should let you go to insanity if you so chose.

I'll love the playthrough regardless of the difficulty though. = )

The process is:

1) Open the file
....Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Config\BioInput.ini

2) Locate
[Engine.Console]
MaxScrollbackSize=1024
HistoryBot=-1

3) Add a line at the end to match
[Engine.Console]
MaxScrollbackSize=1024
HistoryBot=-1
ConsoleKey=Tilde

4) Use Tilde to open up the console

5) Type the following command into the console
UnlockAchievement 7

Source for information:
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/PC_Tweaks

[Crit_c]

[QUOTE="Ainadak, post: 30893, member: 59966"]Not sure if this matters at all (especially given that the ME1 run has started), but I kinda thought Cohh was a looking a bit uninspired with the combat. I just thought I would let you know that there is apparently a way to boost your difficulty without going through the veteran run first. This method uses a console command to give yourself the "I beat it on hardcore" achievement, which should let you go to insanity if you so chose.

I'll love the playthrough regardless of the difficulty though. = )

The process is:

1) Open the file
....Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Config\BioInput.ini

2) Locate
[Engine.Console]
MaxScrollbackSize=1024
HistoryBot=-1

3) Add a line at the end to match
[Engine.Console]
MaxScrollbackSize=1024
HistoryBot=-1
ConsoleKey=Tilde

4) Use Tilde to open up the console

5) Type the following command into the console
UnlockAchievement 7

Source for information:
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/PC_Tweaks[/QUOTE]
Is that with steam? Cause typically with steam games you have to change the .ini file in the Documents/MyGames/[game] folder & the .ini in the steamapps/common/[game] folder cause one rewrites the other when you start the game up, unless both match each other.

[Ainadak]

[QUOTE="Crit_c, post: 30905, member: 62435"]Is that with steam? Cause typically with steam games you have to change the .ini file in the Documents/MyGames/[game] folder & the .ini in the steamapps/common/[game] folder cause one rewrites the other when you start the game up, unless both match each other.[/QUOTE]

I didn't even consider that as I am both not an expert and when I played ME it wasn't through steam. However, a source quickly found online presents the method above as an "alternative" method (which I guess maybe means it works). The primary method is doing the same thing in the steam related config folder.

Navigate to "Steam\SteamApps\Common\Mass Effect\BioGame\Config" in your Program Files folder.

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... =130640340

Thanks for the check Crit_c!

Edit: I forgot to mention that there is a difficulty option in the settings, so I think you might be able to adjust difficulty mid-run. However, Cohh had more trouble in today's fights, so maybe veteran is good?

[kOme9]

Just wanted to drop what i think that would be the cherry on top, [USER=7]@CohhCarnage[/USER] SweetFX and ENB, which combined with the MEUITM mod makes it the perfect combination for visuals. It's only 4Mbs and it's superquick to install. Just copy/paste. Worked perfectly for me.

http://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect/mods/54/?

I highly recommend you giving it a try! OpieOP

[Nimbal]

Apparently, there's a fix for the missing eyebrows for some female NPCs:

http://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect/mod ... id=1&pUp=1

(Look for "No Brows Fix for female NPCs" in the download list)

[1Arcite]

Mass Effect 1 main page for mods: http://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect/mods/1/?

[DaPerkins]

Sadly this week has kept me busy missing a lot of the play through but I can’t wait to watch some this weekend! What are you guys thinking of the renegade view?

[Crit_c]

Does anyone know the 4GB RAM unlock mod that Cohh is using? I haven't been able to find it.

[mikedarg]

Cohh, could you give us the links to the two mods you are using for your ME 1 play through.

Thank you very much. (｡◕‿◕｡)

[Twisted_Steel]

Don't know if this is the best place to put this but didn't want to start a new thread for it.

If you are planning on doing the ME2 and ME3 DLC's there is an order (or a way that makes more sense) to do them.

ME2
Kasumi - Recruit right away, Loyalty after Mordin recruitment.

Zaeed - Recruit right away, Loyalty sometime before Horizon.

Crash Site - Pretty early. I like to do it right after visiting Anderson.

Firewalker - When ever but i like to get it out the way early

Overlord - Before Derelict Ship.

LotSB - Before Final Mission, can also be done after. Several bits of dialogue in the DLC change depending on whether it is pre or post Final Mission.

Arrival - After Final Mission, as the final thing you do in ME2.

ME3
From Ashes - right after Priority: Palaven. You can do it earlier, but you can't use the squaddie you pick up till after Palaven.

Omega - early on sometime after you've done all the merc missions for Aria.

Leviathan - after you've done both the monastery in asari space and Priority: Thessia. (Mostly because there are enemies that show up in Leviathan that you wouldn't have encountered until after the monastery/Thessia.)

Citadel - after you've done every other mission and are ready for the final point of no return.

Definitely install the extended cut.

Hopefully i didn't miss anything. I tried not to drop any spoilers.