Mass Effect 3 Graphics Settings

Effect

It's common knowledge by now that BioWare is developing another entry in the Mass Effect franchise. While the platforms 'Mass Effect 4' is going to be on hasn't been revealed, people are assuming (me included) that it's for next-gen consoles.

EDIT#3: I was able to change the settings however they were for the general computer and did nothing to change how the Mass Effect games were functioning. The problem is localized with them and no other games that I have on my laptop are having this issue (TOR included). Here's the bad news: as with so many games nowadays, Mass Effect 3 is a console-first title. The PC version is a port, and that means you won't get a lot of control over graphics quality. Face still feeling tired after the whole Mass Effect: Andromeda debacle? Well, the earlier, better games haven’t stopped existing, y’know. Maybe revisiting them with a slightly more 2017 look will scratch your itch. For instance, with these mods that add over 3,000 replacement, higher-res, 4K-friendly textures to Mass Effect 2 & 3. Texture packs are.

If you're like me, chances are you're curious as to what a next-gen Mass Effect game would look like. Fortunately for us, artist Baolong Zang has created what could easily be what a next-gen Mass Effect game would look like. Made using Epic's Unreal Engine 3 with DX11 features, it looks infinitely better than what we see in a Mass Effect game now and this is still a work in progress.

Here's the short video showcasing the highly-detailed character model.

I particularly like how he rendered the hair and facial features. If you didn't tell me this was computer-generated, I would have even assumed this was a photo of a real person.

It's also worth noting that Zang created this using Unreal Engine 3. However, future Mass Effect games will be made using DICE's Frostbite 2 engine. Could it look as good as the video above? Seeing how gorgeous Battlefield 3 looks on Ultra settings on PC, I'd say it's a given.

Regardless of platform and game engine, I think we just witnessed what a next-gen Mass Effect game would and could look like. And to be honest, it's making the wait for next-gen all that much harder.

Do you think next-gen Mass Effect games will look like this or even better? What nitpicks can you see in this early mock-up video?

Source: DSOGaming

Mass Effect 3 Graphics Settings

My recommendations for a pretty game, without the use of code injectors. These will likely be modified from time-to-time, so check back, occasionally.

The original Mass Effect was, in retrospect, something of an experiment. Hindsight shows us that the formula for the franchise hadn’t quite been perfected, yet. This has led to some divisiveness in the community about the merits of the grandfather game. Whatever your feelings on its presentation, its art aesthetic has stood the test of time, 8+ years after its initial release. It benefits tremendously from a few easy modifications.

If you have a PC, Mass Effect 1 can be made to look near-brilliant.

Graphics

Here’s what I recommend:

Install the MEUITM Mod

It’s simple to install, and the difference will astound you.

The MEUITM Mod

Includes application executable and instructions. Get it at Nexus Mods.

Adjust your settings in the Nvidia Control Panel

I tend to like Mass Effect 1 (and other games) to have high-contrast, moderately high gamma, and lower-than-average brightness, which makes colors rich and vibrant while keeping shadows dark and deep.

Resolution

Enabling Full range can darken your blacks and allow deeper gradient ranges; this is a simple, subtle change.

Color

Settings

I’ve elected to use Nvidia Settings; the second screenshot below shows the settings. These can vary greatly, depending on your monitor and your own personal preferences. Spend some time adjusting to your personal taste.

3D Settings

Ambient OcclusionPerformance
Anisotropic Filtering16x
FXAAOn

Mass Effect 3 Graphics Mod

Anti-Aliasing

You should enable the in-game Anti-Aliasing (in the in-game Display / Graphic Options menu) to prevent jagged images. However, this is not perfect, as it only applies to some objects in the foreground, in most cases.

The version of Unreal Engine used in the Mass Effect trilogy does not support traditional anti-aliasing methods that would be applied via the Control Panel. In the best case, if you attempt to Override or Enhance the setting, your game will look no different. In the worst case, it can cause a crash or strange graphical anomalies.

Nvidia introduced a simple, fast, and decent-quality alternative called FXAA for situations where standard AA was impractical or impossible. This is a general filter applied to the entire scene. It works without issue in all 3 Mass Effect games, and has minimal impact to visual quality (some people even prefer the very-slightly-blurred appearance, but you will need to decide for yourself.)

Additionally, modern Nvidia cards can perform what is called DSR, Dynamic Super Resolution. It renders your game at a high resolution, like 3840 x 2160 (4K) and then scales it down to your monitor’s native resolution (like 1920 x 1080) and adds a slight Gaussian filter (you can control the strength of the filter via the Control Panel.) In the process, it not only smooths and enhances textures, but it effectively removes jagged lines from objects.

If you are streaming or need the extra processing power, you should enable FXAA, instead of DSR. (If you are using a native 4K display, then DSR will serve no purpose and you might simply turn on FXAA.)

Mass Effect 3 Pc Graphics Settings

Vertical Sync

Mass Effect 3 Graphics Settings

You should enable V-Sync, in the in-game Display / Graphic Options menu, to prevent image tearing.

Much of what was written above (Resolution, Color, Anti-Aliasing, and Vertical Sync) also applies to ME2 & 3, because they use the same engine. Ambient Occlusion is not supported in these games, and I don’t advise forcing it through any other method.

Nexus mods also has a texture mod tool that can be applied to ME 2 & 3, called ALOT. Be warned, though, ALOT is alot more work to install, even with it’s newest installer package, and it requires a significant time investment, as well as hard drive space. Unlike MEUITM, the creator of ALOT has curated some but not all textures and many of the best textures must be downloaded and installed separately one-by-one, due to creator rights. The tool does assist in keeping track of which ones have been installed, and does do the installing for you. Many of the textures in the core ALOT package were taken directly from MEUITM, as well, as some textures are shared between all 3 games.