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Mass Effect 3 PC Thread: Fixing Bioware's broke-ass console port, now with holstering

mileS

Member
Maybe try a global search for a coalesced.bin file? May take a while.

under my EA folder... blah I swear I checked it, maybe I got confused with the 4 other EA folders I have all over my computer.



Anyways, I tried forcing 4xMSAA with my ATI 5850. Really big performance hit it looks like. Maybe because I still had in game AA on as well? I'm not sure, but I don't remember ME2 taking a hit like this from forcing AA.
 

Megasoum

Banned
I can't get the game to launch if I have Radeon Pro open. Anybody else have the same problem?

The game will show up in the task bar for 2-3 seconds and then dissapear without any errors or anything else. The moment I close RP the game works perfectly.

I remember having a similar problem with Mass Effect 2 that I fixed by disabling the steam overlay but obviously this doesn't apply to ME3 (I did disable the origin overlay tho but still no go).

Any solution out there?
 
What should I sent this to if I have a 1GB GPU?

900 is fine.

Here's what RadeonPro looks like for Super Sampling.

me3radeonproffj8s.png

Thanks Sinatar, added to the OP!
 

Erebus

Member
So if I understand that right, I have to press 1 on the numpad every time a cut-scene starts to switch the FOV back to default?
 

Clydefrog

Member
I'm still confused how nvidia inspector works. I just choose my application from the drop down list, click Apply Changes (plus change whatever I want), and load the game via Origin? Do I need to disable all AA and anything else in-game? How do I know nvidia inspector is actually working?

<-- noob with a GTX 570 who really doesn't know how to use it
 
Quick question:

Do any of the fixes in the OP improve the texture detail on clothing?

It's honestly the only big problem I have, some of the clothes are hilariously poor.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Quick question:

Do any of the fixes in the OP improve the texture detail on clothing?

It's honestly the only big problem I have, some of the clothes are hilariously poor.

Have to wait for higher res texture mods for that, just like we did for ME1 and ME2.
 
Have to wait for higher res texture mods for that, just like we did for ME1 and ME2.

Bummer. They're just so much worse than the last game I had hoped there was a setting to make them not garbage.

It's like having the lowest res texture setting on any other PC game that does have the option to choose. :\
 

SRG01

Member
So I wasn't crazy when I thought this game looked like crap during first boot. Was ME2 better looking than this? Or am I crazy?

Also, did they change some of the cover controls? Does anyone have an alternate keyboard setting to use instead of Spacebar?
 

Megasoum

Banned
I can't get the game to launch if I have Radeon Pro open. Anybody else have the same problem?

The game will show up in the task bar for 2-3 seconds and then dissapear without any errors or anything else. The moment I close RP the game works perfectly.

I remember having a similar problem with Mass Effect 2 that I fixed by disabling the steam overlay but obviously this doesn't apply to ME3 (I did disable the origin overlay tho but still no go).

Any solution out there?

Ahhhh found the problem. The game crash if you run radeon pro while playing in windowed mode (even borderless). Switched to Full Screen and now it works.
 

Uriah

Member
Does origin have cloud saves? Because I was going to start this on my desktop, but I will only have my laptop with me on vacation.
 

Jtrizzy

Member
I'm still confused how nvidia inspector works. I just choose my application from the drop down list, click Apply Changes (plus change whatever I want), and load the game via Origin? Do I need to disable all AA and anything else in-game? How do I know nvidia inspector is actually working?

<-- noob with a GTX 570 who really doesn't know how to use it


I know how it feels, which is why I love when post people post the inspector shots. Inspector overrides everything as far as I can tell. I've found the best way to learn it just to spend time tweaking. This may sound obvious, but look for jaggies and drops in frame rates to give you an idea of what is taxing and what isn't. Obviously you will want to go back to the same area over and over with a save state.

For example, in Skyrim you should be getting 60 pretty much everywhere (except for the stuttering) But if you go to the water wheel at Markarth or the over look in Whiterun you will see the frame rate drop. I use these two areas (along with the rest of the game that is 60) to test.


As a funny example learning about inspector, I was putting the AA bits in the AA flag field at first.
 

Megasoum

Banned
Awesome. Thanks for the reply. It won't cause a problem if I only have a Mass Effect 2 save on my desktop will it?

You mean to import it? Nahh

You need the ME2 save when you first create your new game in ME3 but once that's created and you had at least one ME3 save on your computer (or the cloud) you don't need your ME2 profile anymore.
 

Jubern

Member
I might be asking for the impossible, but does anyone know if it'd be possible to hack the holster command back in the game?

It's kind of driving me crazy. And it's not like the animation isn't there anymore, it rather looks like only the command is gone, no?
 

Moaradin

Member
I might be asking for the impossible, but does anyone know if it'd be possible to hack the holster command back in the game?

It's kind of driving me crazy. And it's not like the animation isn't there anymore, it rather looks like only the command is gone, no?

It's probably possible for someone to mod the game to allow holstering, but since it's not officially in the game, there probably would be no animation for it. It would just jump from combat stance to the safe zone stance. I guess that's still better than nothing though.
 

Clydefrog

Member
I know how it feels, which is why I love when post people post the inspector shots. Inspector overrides everything as far as I can tell. I've found the best way to learn it just to spend time tweaking. This may sound obvious, but look for jaggies and drops in frame rates to give you an idea of what is taxing and what isn't. Obviously you will want to go back to the same area over and over with a save state.

For example, in Skyrim you should be getting 60 pretty much everywhere (except for the stuttering) But if you go to the water wheel at Markarth or the over look in Whiterun you will see the frame rate drop. I use these two areas (along with the rest of the game that is 60) to test.


As a funny example learning about inspector, I was putting the AA bits in the AA flag field at first.

Thanks for the tips, dude
 

Lime

Member
It's probably possible for someone to mod the game to allow holstering, but since it's not officially in the game, there probably would be no animation for it. It would just jump from combat stance to the safe zone stance. I guess that's still better than nothing though.

I wonder what's the command or trigger for alternating between these two zones. The command line for rotating the camera is the same across the two modes: PC_LookY and PC_LookX.

Anybody familiar with UDK programming to know how to toggle the safe zone controls?

Btw, the animation is still at times present in the game, e.g. during cutscenes/dialogue when Shepard & Co. equips their weapon before a battle. Holstering is basically just reversing that particular animation tree.
 
I'm still confused how nvidia inspector works. I just choose my application from the drop down list, click Apply Changes (plus change whatever I want), and load the game via Origin? Do I need to disable all AA and anything else in-game? How do I know nvidia inspector is actually working?

<-- noob with a GTX 570 who really doesn't know how to use it

Yes... and turn off AA in game. That's it.

Change Multisampling AA to 2x, and Sparse Grid SSAA to 2x. Then set your LOD bias to -0.5000. Apply changes.

Make your Inspector look just like this.

iTjlUTqnFMg9p.jpg
 
Shouldn't a 570 be able to handle higher settings?

Sure... if you don't want a rock solid 60 FPS. If you go to 4x MSAA + 4x SGSSAA, your FPS will be 50~ on avg... on a highly OC'd 570. My 570 avgs 50-55 FPS with 4x MSAA + 4x SGSSAA @ 1080p with a 940 Mhz core/2210 Mhz RAM OC. Stock 570 is running at 732/1900...

Should we be turning off the in game AA settings anytime we are forcing it through Inspector?

Yes, because in-game AA is post-processing AA and looks like junk/makes stuff blurry.


What's the preferred fov for 1920x1080?

For this game, I think 80-85 FOV @ 1920x1080 looks best. Otherwise you see how weird Shepard's ass/hips move when walking around. It looks robotic.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Sure... if you don't want a rock solid 60 FPS. If you go to 4x MSAA + 4x SGSSAA, your FPS will be 50~ on avg... on a highly OC'd 570. My 570 avgs 50-55 FPS with 4x MSAA + 4x SGSSAA @ 1080p with a 940 Mhz core/2210 Mhz RAM OC. Stock 570 is running at 732/1900...

ME3 is that much more demanding than ME2 then? Didn't expect that much of a change is all.
 

SlickVic

Member
Keyboard & mouse is just as good as ME2. Scratch that, its better. Mouse wheel works in menus and windows now!

Some people just can't stand playing with that and want a controller, that's all.

Also seems you can double click on stuff in menus now too. You know, things that should've been standard in ME2, but I'm glad it's fixed for ME3. Only thing still missing to me are keyboard shortcuts for all the submenus, but honestly the lack of scrollwheel and double click annoyed me a lot more in ME2.
 
great thread, playing ME3 on PC and definitely want to squeeze something better than what i'm seeing from my 7950

I have 8gb RAM, what's the poolsize value for me?
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
There's a few changes, but yes, it does perform worse than ME2 does with the same SGSSAA settings.
Well, damn. Maybe a future driver will improve things.

Still need to power through ME2 before I start ME3, hopefully some high res textures mods are out by then.
 

hlhbk

Member
Wow there is a big differecne turning on SGSSAA! That being said I am getting in the 40's on the in game cutscenes only using 2x SGSSAA. My specs are:

Intel Core I7 2600k
Nvidia GTX 570
8 GB RAM

Is this normal performance?
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Wow there is a big differecne turning on SGSSAA! That being said I am getting in the 40's on the in game cutscenes only using 2x SGSSAA. My specs are:

Intel Core I7 2600k
Nvidia GTX 570
8 GB RAM

Is this normal performance?
Sounds like it, given BoobPhysics101's response to me a few posts above. Maybe we'll see better performance in a future driver version.
 

Jtrizzy

Member
Hey I noticed that you have the threaded optimization set to on. Should that be on in the Global settings? It's set to default.
 

hlhbk

Member
Sounds like it, given BoobPhysics101's response to me a few posts above. Maybe we'll see better performance in a future driver version.

I get a perfect 60 FPS when using 4x multisampling and 4x supersampling. Would I see just as much improvement doing it that way?
 
Added this to the OP:


If you want to disable Mass Effect 3's built in Vsync and use D3DOverrider's Vsync + Triple Buffering, add this to Gamersettings.ini

Code:
ForceFullVsync=False
UseVsync=False
 

moop1167

Member
I was the first one to put that SGSSAA compat bit in the official ME3 thread and no one gives me credit!!

FOR THE RECORD, you don't need to use SGSSAA to get rid of the aliasing. Only use SGSSAA if you have a good system because it can get pretty resource heavy. I am using 4xAA + 4xSGSSAA on dual GTX 580's and I have a steady 60 fps, so you can use that as a benchmark.

If you want to force normal MSAA or supersampling, then use the default Mass Effect 1/2 bits that Inspector has built in, and it'll still look pretty good but give you better performance.
 
I was the first one to put that SGSSAA compat bit in the official ME3 thread and no one gives me credit!!

FOR THE RECORD, you don't need to use SGSSAA to get rid of the aliasing. Only use SGSSAA if you have a good system because it can get pretty resource heavy. I am using 4xAA + 4xSGSSAA on dual GTX 580's and I have a steady 60 fps, so you can use that as a benchmark.

If you want to force normal MSAA or supersampling, then use the default Mass Effect 1/2 bits that Inspector has built in, and it'll still look pretty good but give you better performance.

Actually, for the record, normal MSAA + supersampling transparency AA DOES NOT WORK. It just lowers performance but reduces jaggies in no way at all. The Mass Effect 1 + 2 compatibility bits do not work on Mass Effect 3.

The only AA for Nvidia that works is the SGSSAA custom bit. So yes, you do have to use SGSSAA to get rid of jaggies unless you use super high resolutions for downsampling purposes.
 
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