PC Tweaks (Mass Effect 2)

Mass Effect 2 is based on Unreal Engine 3 and many settings can be modified in a way similar to Mass Effect, allowing the user to mod, tweak or cheat. Mass Effect 2 doesn't have the in-game console that Mass Effect did, but a multitude of effects and in-game commands can be activated through editing configuration files.

Backup Your Career
Using the modifications described in this article may alter your career permanently. It is recommended to backup your career for the option to revert back later on. The career files are found in the folders given below:


 * On Windows XP/2000:
 * On Windows Vista/7:

Replace X with the drive letter where your Windows system is installed on (usually C:), and replace [username] with the username that you are logging into the system with.

The career folders are named in the format  (first name, psych profile/history, class, date of creation). The  folder contains the Mass Effect save files transferred over by Mass Effect 2 Configuration Utility.

Backup Your Profile
There is also a profile file normally called  under the same folder in   that you may want to backup. This file stores your achievements and bonus power unlocks.

Coalesced.ini
Editing the  configuration file is the main method of tweaking, modding, or cheating Mass Effect 2. This file is not located under your Documents folder; it is found under the folder where you installed the game.


 * Default location:

When you have located the file, there are two important points to take note of before you do actually do anything with it. Also, you may want to reconsider whether you are willing to edit configuration files you are not really supposed to touch.
 * 1) Make a backup before you even move your cursor over it.
 * 2) You cannot edit it with Notepad, or the game will crash on load.

When you have this down – and understand the potential unwanted effects on your career/profile – you can start experimenting. If you want to edit the file manually, you will need a text editor that can handle UNIX-format files (e.g., Notepad++) and a way of "rebuilding" Coalesced.ini after your edits; the method is described here. If you made your changes and can't compile the file try using this one, works great even if you previously edited Coalesced.ini in Notepad. A far easier approach is using a specific application such as the Mass Effect 2 Coalesced Editor for making changes. Another rebuilder created by Corvin666 also exists and is simply known as the ME2Fixer.

[SFXGame.BioActivePower]
Changing m_bSkipPowerCooldown from FALSE to TRUE causes non class specific powers to instantly recharge for both the player and the AI (you will likely die before being able to take cover if you become exposed to an enemy with tech or biotic powers when using this).

BIOInput
This section is where binds can be added to the game (or removed. Be careful when doing this.) There are several subsections which describe key bindings during various "modes" in the game.

Bindings format
To add a new bind to any of the above sections, use the format

Ctrl, Shift, Alt commands are optional, if they are not specified default value is "False". The most common use for this is to bind a command to the press of single or combination of keys.

Example Bind
Adding this to the [SFXGame.SFXGameModeDefault] section will allow the player to take screenshots while on foot by pressing F8

Binding Text Files
Bindings can be extremely long and cluttery in your C.ini, and it's awkward to quit the game, edit C.ini and restart just to use a one-time upgrade for a single game. An elegant solution is to simply bind a key to a text file, like so:

Now, open your Mass Effect\Binaries folder and create a text file named "powers.txt" there. Anything you would put in the quotes in the [Command=" "] part of a keybind, you can instead simply type in this text file, and the game will execute that code when the key is pressed. What's particularly nice is that you can edit this on-the-fly, ALT-TABbing out of your game and then back in once you've edited and saved the code you want.

Useful Screenshot Commands
Many of the same commands from Mass Effect are available in Mass Effect 2. The following commands are particularly useful for taking screenshots.

Unlock All Achievements
Example(Single Achievement):

Full Version(All Achievements):

Unlock All Upgrades
Example(Single Upgrade):

This code will unlock the Submachine Gun Damage at 5/5.

The following code is a full unlock for the upgrades listed below. Does not include ship upgrades.

Full Unlock(Including Squad Upgrades):

After using this code, any additional upgrade that will be collected while playing will be added as a extra upgrade.
 * Example: 5 Heavy Weapon Ammo Upgrades unlocked by " " will give +75% H.W.Ammo. Any additional H.W.A.Upgrade will give +15%. If all the 6 standard H.W.A.Upgrades are collected, that will result in a total of +165% H.W.Ammo (11 H.W.A.Upgrades).

If there are already 6 H.W.A.Upgrades unlocked before a code for 5 H.W.A.Upgrades is used, the 6 H.W.A.Upgrades will be reduced to 5.

Images:

Calcified Endoskeleton (Bovine Fortitude)

Quarian Shield Capacitor (Cyclonic Array)

Ship Upgrades
It is highly recommended to NOT use the codes below, because those may be unlocked but during the Suicide Mission they won't have any effect and squad members WILL die. Also the facial scars can't be healed.

Talent Points
Example:

Level Up
Example:

Morality
Example:  or

Power Cool Down
This ONLY works for common shared skills & bonus skills. This will not work with class specific skills, I.E.: "Infiltrator Cloak".

Example:

God Mode
Example:

Ammo, Medigel And Credits
Example:

Weapon Properties
In the subsections dealing with weapon properties, there is a "base template" section in [SFXGame.SFXWeapon] that defines general weapon properties, which are then overridden by specific weapon settings in the other categories if necessary.

At least the following settings can be used (added if not existing by default):

Change Player Shield Recharge time
You can modify shield recharge time to increase/decrease combat pace to suit your play style:

[SFXGame.SFXShield_Energy_Player] The time shield needed to fully regenerate (in seconds).

The time before shield start regenerating (in seconds).

Change the values to 0.0 will cause shield unable to regenerate.

Editing Shepard Template Face Codes
You can add or remove custom Shepard pregenerated codes in the game:

[SFXGame.BioSFHandler_NewCharacter] {facecode} {facecode}

If you have Kasumi DLC installed removing standard face codes will not work, because of rewriting section by DLC .ini file. In this case you have to modify DLC .ini directly.

Unlocking Weapons
Weapons can be unlocked by the same method (binding a custom command to a key in Coalesced.ini). Say you want to unlock the Geth Pulse Rifle:
 * 1) Find the   section under.
 * 2) Add:

The same process can be applied to other weapons and research upgrades. Unlocked weapons will stay unlocked for subsequent play-throughs for the current career, and it is possible to get all Collector Ship weapons (although you must still have the proper class to actually equip them).
 * To unlock all normal weapons, add:
 * To unlock all heavy weapons, add:
 * To unlock all Collector Ship weapons, add:

Unlocking the Collector Ship weapons for all squad members requires a different method, as the weapons are flagged as "special" and do not appear in the normal selection. This is actually more related to changing squad weapon loadouts.
 * 1) Find   under
 * 2) Find the entry:
 * 3) * If you change this into:, then the M-76 Revenant will be available to all squad members who can use assault rifles if you have unlocked the weapon either by playing or the command give above.
 * 4) * If you change it into:, then the M-76 Revenant will be always available to all squad members who can use assault rifles.

You can use the same method to unlock the other super weapons for your companions. The M-300 is  under   and the M-98 is   under   (the   codes are, of course,   and   as you discovered above).

Unlocking Bonus Powers
[SFXGame.BioSFHandler_NewCharacter] Change the AchievementID parameter to

Unlocking Squad Appearances
[SFXGame.BioSFHandler_PartySelection] Change the PlotFlag parameter to

Changing Squad Weapon Loadouts
You are able to define which weapon classes are available to which player classes and companions. Say you want to give Jacob access to assault rifles:
 * 1) Open   and find the   section under.
 * 2) Find the entry that says:
 * 3) Change the entry into:

This will unlock assault rifles for Jacob in the loadout selection screen. Next the player classes; assume you don't like how the heavy weapon looks on your Soldier's back and would rather revert to a "traditional" Mass Effect style weapon loadout:
 * 1) Open   and find the   section under.
 * 2) Find the entry that says:
 * 3) Change the entry into:

This would remove the heavy weapon from Shepard, leaving him with small arms only. You can use the same principle to achieve any configuration, but don't try to add more than five weapons. See unlocking weapons on how to unlock Collector Ship weapons for squad members.

Unlimited Ammo
There are three ways to enable unlimited ammo: By using second and third you won't able to reload your weapon. That will result in inability to make progress in the Lazarus Project medbay (the door won't unlock until you reload). The bInfiniteAmmo tweak will force you to empty your clip in order to leave. Once your clip is empty, the Shepard will reload the pistol and the door will be opened.
 * 1) Open the properties of a weapon (e.g.,  section under   for the M-15 Vindicator) and change   into  . The weapon will now spend ammo from the magazine and has to be reloaded, but spare ammo will never decrease. Other weapons are unaffected.
 * 2) In the  section change   into  . None of your weapons will spend any ammo when firing and don't need to be reloaded. For M-920 Cain do the same in [SFXGameContent_Inventory.SFXHeavyWeapon_NukeLauncher].
 * 3) Changing the "shoot" combat binding to read  will reset the player's spare ammunition every time the fire trigger is pressed. This affects heavy weapons and DLC weapons that are not in Coalesced.ini. This line can be found under the BioInput tab; contained within the [SFXGame.SFXGameModeBase] section.

Toggle Command Menu
Modifying this line of code inside Coalesced.ini may crash the game's API or prevent it from loading.

The default method to view the HUD screen is to press and hold a key until you want to return to the "action". A different approach is to toggle the HUD so it will stay on by pressing a key, and return to the game when the same button is pressed again. To enable Command Menu toggle find the line in [SFXGame.SFXGameModeBase] section.

and change it to

Tools and useful Links

 * ME2Fixer
 * Mass Effect 2 Coalesced Compiler
 * Mass Effect 2 Coalesced Editor
 * Mass Effect 2 Coalesced.ini Mod Manager
 * gibbed's Save Editor (February 10, 2010)
 * Texmod
 * Extended list of functions