PC Tweaks

Mass Effect was built from the Unreal Engine (UE) 3 games engine, which allows many modifications by the user to enhance the in-game graphics and controls.

Mass Effect's in-game configuration options have very little tweaking possibilities and only support basic graphic and key mapping. This article intends to serve as a guide to players who want to have more control on game performance and personalization, by highlight options which players can tweak to better suit their needs.

Back up your data
All of the changes that are described in this article should only be tested on the files in the documents folder:
 * On Windows XP/2000:
 * On Windows Vista/7:

Notes:
 * replace X with the drive letter where your Windows system is installed on, and replace [username] to the user that you are logging into the system with.)
 * Make sure to make a copy of any file you are about to change.

To ensure that your gaming experience will not be damaged, make sure to back up every file that you are about to change. A good way to do this is to copy the Mass Effect or Config folder to a safe place. Alternatively, you can archive the folder to avoid confusion.

The Mass Effect game will read the files inside the Config folder. If it fails to do so, or if the files have illegal data, the game will read the default files that are located in the folder where you installed your game. By default this should be located at:  Those files will have a slightly different name than the files in the Documents folder, and will be prefixed with the word default (to avoid editing them by mistake). Be sure to leave those files alone, unless you know what you are doing.

Understanding the writing style
The configuration files implement the CamelCase writing style for functions and variables names. For example: the 'Caps Lock' key will be written as CapsLock, 'Right mouse button' will be written as RightMouseButton, etc.

Data types
Generally, there are three types of data used in the configuration files:
 * Strings - Any sequence of letters or symbols (generally enclosed with quotation marks). These have no prefixing.
 * Floating points - Any number with decimal point. These will be appended with the letter f.
 * Boolean - a Boolean data type is a true/false variable and can only accept True or False.

Game Patches
BioWare have released two patches that fix several issues that customers addressed on the ME Forums. Installation of a patch will overwrite changes made to the configuration files, and update their version (indicated at the bottom of each file).

Input File (BioInput.ini)
This file is separated into six sections:

Device Input [Engine.PlayerInput]

As noted above, this section deals with the way the controls work:

When making numerical changes (if any) experiment until you get the desired result.

Player Input [BIOC_Base.BioPlayerInput]

This section has many behaviors that can be changed. It is advised to leave any line that does not start with the word 'Binding' alone. The exceptions to this are:

Changing anything other than the recommended behaviors can cause severe gameplay bugs!

Binding overview
The binding of new keys, or changing behavior of existing keys is handled in the following way:
 * Name: Define the key that will execute the behavior.
 * InputMode: Defines the engine predefined inputs. Should not be changed.
 * Command: The command you want to assign to the key.
 * Control, Shift, Alt: Does the key work in combination with one of these keys. Make sure to only set True/False here.

Generally, you only want to alter the Name and Command, unless you have a specific behavior you want to achieve.

Key combinations
When binding a key with Control, Shift, or Alt combination in addition to the same key without that combination, make sure that the declaration with the combination precedes the one without. For example:

Mass Effect comes with a set of commands that can be executed through the console or bound to keys, most are hidden and can only be found through trial and error (and some can also be found on discussion boards on the internet).

Please note, that changing critical game-play keys may cause you to not be able to interface with objects, start conversations, etc. There are also some keys that control several action and sub-actions, removing parts of the binding command can cause that key to stop behaving as expected.

Common Tweaks
Toggle HUD

Skip Cutscenes

Quick-slot keys

Squad Commands

Quickload

Screenshot Aids
High resolution screenshots

Flying Camera

Hiding the interface

Bug workarounds
Teleportation

Summoning the Mako

Super speed

Framerate
[Engine.GameEngine]

Sound
[ISACTAudio.ISACTAudioDevice]

Misc. Graphical Settings
[SystemSettings]

[D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice]

Character Behavior
[BIOC_Base.BioActorBehavior]

[BIOC_Base.BioPlayerController]

Inventory
[BIOC_Base.BioInventory]

Conversation
[BIOC_Base.BioConversation]

Misc. Behaviors
[BIOC_Base.BioPawnBehavior]

[BIOC_Base.BioPawn]

Cooldown
[BIOC_Base.BioActivePower]

Merchants
[BIOC_Base.BioWorldInfo]

Saves
[BIOC_Base.BioSaveGame]

Weapon Light Colours
[BIOC_Base.BioWeapon]

BIOGuiResources.ini
[BIOC_Base.BioSFHandler_CharacterRecord]

[BIOC_Base.BioSFHandler_HUD]

[BIOC_Base.BioSFHandler_Shop]

Inventory
[BIOC_Base.BioPlayerSquad]

Additional resources
Beyond changes to the configuration files, it is recommended to set your graphics card driver and settings to enhance graphic quality and performance. Below, are some recommendations for further readings:
 * Tweak Guides:
 * Guide to Mass Effect configuration
 * The TweakGuide Tweaking Companion
 * ATI Catalyst Tweak Guide and Nvidia Forceware Tweak Guide
 * The Gamer's Graphics & Display Settings Guide
 * Mass Effect Community:
 * Mass Effect community support
 * PC Version General Discussion
 * PC Technical Support