Sunday, May 19, 2013

Mass Effect

Mass Effect 1 - by mana84

BEFORE:

AFTER:


Last updated on May 19, 2013:
- added optional autohotkey scripts to switch crosshair on/off with rightclick


Description:

- Smoke, fog and ghosting effects are fixed
- Lighting and shadow issues are fixed
- Crosshair and enemies indicators can be switched on/off with 'F5'/'0' keys
  (by default you can use nvidia's sight but you can switch it off and enable crosshair by pressing F5)
- 2 depth/convergence settings based on which crosshairs presets is enabled
- Sniper scope fixed with a preset set on the 'F4' key. You can now aim effectively with sniper scope by selecting sniper with F4 (its default key), then you can return to default selecting another weapon by pressing F1, F2 or F3.

This is a rewritten and improved fix for the first Mass Effect.
I'm learning new things and I'm trying to improve my old fixes... if anyone founds other issues please make me know. Unfortunately I can't use last dll for this becouse it seems to stuck while loading.

How to install/play:
- Extract "MassEffect_fix.zip" archive in your "..\Mass Effect\Binaries\" directory of the game. If you have steam version it should be "..\Steam\SteamApps\common\Mass Effect\Binaries\".

F5/0 - keys switches between preset crosshair and enemies indicators on/off. it comes with related suggested depth/convergence settings. (but you can still edit them ingame and save with Ctrl+F7).

9 - key switches to a depth/convergence preset that is more confortable while watching cinematics

F1...F4 - keys are used to select weapons ingame by default, I've added presets to be able of use a special preset for snipers (default F4). You should return with default preset by pressing F1/F2/F3 after using the sniper.


Download:
MassEffect_fix.zip

Optional:
Mass Effect fix Depth Hud Version - Hud is pushed into depth
Right-click laser sight. Instructions are included. doesnt work anymore with new drivers.
Launch "RightMouseStatic.ank" OR "RightMouseNvidia.ank" to enable crosshair (static or nvidia's) while aiming with rightclick.
If you want to use nvidia script you have to change sight hotkey in nvidia control panel with "."

Update 5-30-19: Using last version (140302) of HelixMod. Last Mana84 version

68 comments:

  1. Woah, sounds nice. I will definitely check it out.
    Will take down old link and replace in a few mins.
    Out of curiousity what headers did you search for in pixelshaders to fix shadows. Might help me out if I need to fix some of my stuff.

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    1. I'm glad you like this, I should tweak mass effect 2 fix too when I've done with this. In this game I searched for "ScreenToShadowMatrix" in pixelshaders ;)

      Delete
  2. Just started a new game with my biotic. Only clich I came across so far is when I use Throw or Barrier power the screen goes a blackish static messy for a second or two.

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    1. thanks for reporting! I'll test this evening/night.

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    2. Issued found and fixed! Please delete old files and redownload the new archive, some files needs to be deleted.

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    3. Thank you Mana84! Works just fine now. Great work, great work :)

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  3. Many thanks, this fix work for me in ME2.

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  4. Nice job Mana84, you've done it again :-)

    The approach to fix shadows you use - shifting x in the ShadowMatrix transform - I've tried this before on GTA4 (and did again just now) and it does not work for that game. Have you had any further luck with it?


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    1. I was stuck with gta and decided to improve other fixes before giving it another try... I should release an improved version of my old Blur fix soon, then I'm planning to improve ME2 and Gta4.
      I'll make you know if I'll make any progress with gta ;)

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    2. Thanks, I'm going to have another look as well. I keep getting the same result whereby the shadows are no longer at screen depth, but don't seem to correctly use the depth parameter.

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  5. Archive updated with biotic power issues fixed. Some files are deleted so you need to delete your old folder and re-extract the new archive. Added a new preset for cinematics, it's activable with '9' key.

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  6. Awesome! but I have some problems...

    in Dx9Settings.ini I added the following:

    Under [General]
    ProxyLib = D:\Steam\steamapps\common\mass effect\Binaries\d3d9_fxaa.dll
    UseEndScene = false

    But it doesn't seem to work for some reason.. The path is correct and so is the file..but is not loaded... Any idea why this happens?

    Best Regards,
    Helifax

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    1. whats up helifax, I never tried anything with a dash in name. Rename it something else like gibbrish.dll
      make a copy of dx9setting.ini then and put it one/two levels up. I wrote about it in the guide. http://helixmod.blogspot.com/2012/08/guidehow-to-install-helixmod-game-fixes.html

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    2. Lots of useful stuff in tools section if interested as well just updated, I figured id just mention since your a bit more techie then average user.

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    3. Yes I read it..what I dont actually understant is make a copy of dx9setting.ini then and put it one/two levels up..

      Levels up, as Directory hierarchy?

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    4. Bah..were's the edit... yes...that was it..I moved it up next to LAUNCHER.EXE and did the TRICK...bahhhh I hate UE3 , specially older versions of it...reminds me of the problems we had when we developed our game on it...way to many search and config files..bah:)))

      Big thx:)

      Best Regards,
      Helifax

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    5. damn same time,

      Psh you should love UE3. I just found out all UDK games "can" become 3d vision ready.
      Then again I think you hate it mainly as a widescreen gamer.

      Delete
  7. Great job with this, thanks.

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  8. Thanks ! At last going to play this game in 3D Vision :-)
    However, I still have an small issue with enabling / disabling nVidia laser sight with the given tool, as when I replace nvstres.dll then 3D Vision is totally broken. Maybe you could provide a new dll compatible with the latest drivers ? Or tell us how to hack it as you did maybe :-)

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    1. thanks for reporting, sorry but I didn't tried the tool lately (I only tried with my first ME1 fix last year), like you said we probably need to edit new dll to make it compatible with latest drivers. I'm not the author of that tool and I can't remember who made it tbh, eqzitara added it to the page in my old fix and I've just added it back in the new page. I believe He hex-edited nvstres.dll removing the "stereoscopic laser sight is on/off" messages. I'll see what I can do for it or I'll pm eqzitara to see if we can contact the author.

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    2. Something is changed with new drivers and I can't find how to edit nvstres.dll. I've added two autohotkey scripts to have two options if you want to enable crosshair only when aiming with rightclick. Launching RightMouseStatic.ank will enable game crosshair while rightclick is down and disabling it while up. RightMouseNvidia.ank will do same thing but with nvidia's sight.. the only issue here is we have to live with the annoying "stereoscopic 3d laser sight is off/on" message.

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    3. Thank you for the nvidia's laser sight autohotkey script Mana, but actually the alc.exe provided at first worked perfectly, we just had to live with the "stereoscopic 3d laser sight is off/on" message.
      Having some good time with this game !

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    4. Ok good to know, didn't tried to use alc.exe... unfortunately I haven't the got time to play becouse I'm too busy lately. Have you tried my static crosshair script too? It doesn't have any message and seemed to be very playable to me. I could convert it into exe if anyone would like this.

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  9. My monitor keeps getting a black screen, any solutions to this problem? It can't be hardwared based because other games like Skyrim and borderlands rund perfectly on 3D. And even Mass effect one before, now whenever I launch ME1, m,y monitor turns black, any ideas as to why?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Origin?

      When you get an issue as soon as start up. It means something is conflicting with the d3d9.dll. Like an overlay or one of the "store fronts" like steam/origin.
      Go through this, http://helixmod.wikispot.org/How_To_Install
      If it still doesnt work let me know.

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    2. Am I supposed to still turn of the Dynamic Shadows like the Nvidia Overlay says. Or does this fix it?

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    3. Fixes.

      We have nothing to do with nvidia.

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  10. These are the settings I use in the dx9settings.ini

    [General]
    DefVSConst1 = 250
    DefVSViewSizeConst = 254
    OverrideMethod = 0
    Preset1Key = 4
    Preset2Key = 5
    Preset3Key = 112
    Preset4Key = 113
    Preset5Key = 114
    Preset6Key = 115
    Preset7Key = 6
    Preset8Key = 71
    Preset9Key = 72
    DefPreset = 1

    It changes F5 to mouse button 4 (to see in game crosshair)
    it changes 9 to mouse button 5 (cinematics)
    it changes 0 to middle mouse button (remove in game crosshair)

    IMPORTANT:

    You can use a hex editor to remove the "laser sight on/off" message when using alc.exe

    The following DLL's are located in your windows/syswow64 folder (64bit) or windows/system32 (32bit)

    nvwgf2um.dll
    nvd3dum.dll

    Edit them using notepad++ and the hex editor plugin.

    When editing look for the keyword "laser sight" and you'll find it. Just use the spacebar to erase the line including the %s. at the end.

    This results in the "stereoscopic laser sight on/off" green message to go away, all that is left is rectangular black box but that is barely noticeable in game.

    I am also the author of alc.exe , please ask me any questions. My forum account was Jenson @ this post:

    https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/486051/3d-vision/auto-laser-crosshair-v1-0b-automated-ease-of-use-for-nvidia-39-s-3d-crosshair-tieing-nvidia-3/1

    ReplyDelete
  11. Recently upgrade my rig, and now have 3D Vision. Thought I would try this awesome classic in 3D. The lights seem to be broken. The biggest (or at least most noticeable) offenders are the track lighting aboard the ship. Can anyone else confirm this issue, or is it an isolated occurrence on my end. Using driver version 335.23 on April 4th, 2014.

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    1. I know what your talking about it don't panic but its ghosting. Its a really rare cicumstance. Its got like perfect contrast.
      If you tweak your contrast you will see its better but again don't have to since its only this circumstance.

      http://3dvision-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/torchlight-stereo-3d-ghosting.jpg
      ---------------------------------------------------------
      Also something new users dont know about is something called convergence. Im just mentioning it cause its important. It makes games really appear "3D".
      nvidia control panel->set up stereoscopic 3d->manage 3d hotkeys->advanced [enable]
      I recommend changing the keys for convergence to something more convenient.
      Get into game and hold down the increase key for like up to 20 secs till you see screen shift.
      Here is some pictures to show the difference convergence can make.
      http://ramblingsofa3dgamer.blogspot.com/2013/08/convergence-comparison.html

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    2. Thanks for the info. Cheers.

      Delete
  12. Hey, just tried to play this and it crashed on launch - latest driver.

    Any thoughts?

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    1. Tried without the fix, and it launched fine.

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    2. Also tried using the latest version of the DLL, and it crashed on launch.

      Delete
    3. Delete shaderoverride leave d3d9.dll.

      If it doesnt launch problem is on your end. Go through this.
      http://helixmod.blogspot.com/2013/07/installation-known-issues.html?utm_source=BP_recent

      Delete
    4. Thanks eqzitara.

      Tried deleting shaderoverride, no change
      Disabled Steam overlay (no other overlays enabled), no change
      No other DLLs installed
      Verified game cache
      Deleted game config files so they were recreated with defaults, no change
      Using the latest beta drivers

      Did you confirm that it's working with the latest driver, or could this be another casualty?

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    5. Deleting dx9settings.ini also had no effect.

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    6. You can ask on steam forums but if deleting shaderoverride does not solve issue its something on your end. Game hasn't been updated in like 10 years.
      There is no fix in place if you delete shaderoverride so there is no reason it shouldn't launch.

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    7. If you played with the dll's though one of makes the game take long to launch. Can't say if thats the case though.

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    8. There's no fix without the shaderoverride, but it's still forced to load the dll (and apparently failing at that). I guess I could try a driver reinstall/downgrade, but I'd rather not go through that unnecessarily. So you're saying it's working fine for you on the latest drivers then?

      Delete
    9. Its on your end, it cant be drivers cause it works here and game wouldnt work at all if it was driver.
      Not loading DLL for one person but works for others means there is a conflict. Probably an OC software or FPS.
      Anywho I will do this, this time. Next time you got to figure out what it is cause this took me like 15-20 mins.
      Delete your d3d9.dll and dx9settings.ini
      Install this file.
      https://s3.amazonaws.com/eqznew/1/New+folder+(2).zip

      Launch helixmodlauncher.exe
      play game. Might take an extra min to load game.

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    10. Oh wow - thanks eqzitara, you didn't have to do that! All I wanted was definite confirmation that it wasn't a driver issue, you're too kind. :)

      Works perfectly, thanks! I might see if I can continue to narrow down the issue as well. I'm not running any overclocks, overlays, framerate software, additional DLLs, or anything else I can think of that could interfere, so it's a bit strange.

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    11. I've now tried reverting to 332.21, disabling SLI, deleting everything and redownloading (from Steam), compatibility mode for XP, running as admin, killing every process on my PC that wasn't absolutely essential to basic function...any other ideas for things to try? Windows 8 64-bit.

      I'd love to nail down the cause of this issue, even if I can play with the injector version you put together.

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    12. Out of curiosity, are you running Win7 or Win8? I'm wondering if it could be a Win8 problem.

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    13. 7 but I doubt your the first 8 to try ME in 3D.

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  13. Worked it out, it appears to be a problem with Steam. Details here.

    https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/758587/3d-vision/mass-effect/post/4254216/#4254216

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  14. looks awesome, thank you!

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  15. Nothing happens when I do press F5-F0 etc....F1-F4 works great but can't get rid of crosshair

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  16. Sadly, the UI bugs out big time when using either of the fixes. All of the icons disappear, such as the skill icons in tactical mode/quick bar and the little u-shaped arrow that works as "back" button in the menus.

    Removing the fix returns these icons. Is it possible to pinpoint the culprit?

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  17. Just as btw - the water effect on Virmire breaks 3D with unintentional doubling.

    I doubt anyone really cares and it's not a long stretch of the gameplay, but just in case anyone ever wants to perfect the fix.

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    1. I just had the same issue. It's a shame, since I managed to play the entire game in 3D up until this part with only minor issues.

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  18. Hey bro Thanks you for making these fixes. I figured I had to try after seeing your before and after previews with my 3d vision.

    However After extracting the zip file to said location. Binaries folder. The game now crashes upon start up. Any idea how to fix the crash. Thanks

    Thanks again for the work you are doing regarding improving in game 3D vision.

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    Replies
    1. Just found out that deleting steamgameoverlay.dll in steam app folder will do the trick :D

      Thanks

      Delete
  19. Attempting to start the game (installed with Origin client) with either one of these (both the main one, and also the depth HUD version) on Windows 10 Pro causes the game to freeze at the initial BioWare logo screen. Is there a possible DirectX 12 conflict causing this?

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  20. I have windows 10 and the latest Nvidia 3d driver with a MSI 1060 6gb. I cannot get Mass Effect to boot into 3D mode with the fix. I boot through the Origin client. Earlier, I had the same problem as Ian. It would freeze at the same spot. Now at least it boots but will not start the Nvidia IR light. Any suggestions?

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    1. Just tested this again using Origin version on Win10 1607. Working great here, looks perfect.

      That suggests there is a problem on your machine. When 3D does not engage at all, that is usually a driver problem. Try reinstalling the driver, but be sure to use DDU for a clean install.

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    2. Thanks bo3b for your response. I'll give it a try

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    3. By the way, thank you everyone affiliated with this web site for your work on 3D. it's a fantastic way to game. Much more immersive and enjoyable.

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  21. the dynamic shadows still dont work for me, im using windows 10 1709 with a sli 980.

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    1. Try disabling SLI to start with. There are sometimes problems with 3D and SLI. This game is so old a single 980 will be fine at max.

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    2. that's the thing already tried just the one 980 and the shadow were still....off. all the shortcuts work so i think its at least loading.
      thanks for the reply i'm happy playing with no shadows would be nice for them to work for me.

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    3. Also tested the Steam version here under Win7, and it's also working correctly with dynamic shadows enabled.

      Not sure about the lame-o FCU version. Maybe try turning off the Win10 DVR and game-mode trash. Disable Overlays, any injectors.

      The only way this wouldn't work is if the shaders are modified somehow, changing the hash. Put it back to stock game if you've added mods. Outside of that, you need to give me more information.

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    4. ah i have installed ALOT of textures and the MEUITM, which introduces reshader, i didnt realise that thought it was just a texture pack... going to uninstall it and see if that helps.

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    5. yeah it was how i installed the mods, there was a full auto way and the install the different mods separately...i was lazy first time round, all working now thanks for all your efforts in in the fixes!!

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    6. I'm having the same issue after installing the mods from here: http://www.skyrim-beautification-project.com/me1/.

      The problem also occurs even without the reshade profile or other injectors. I believe it has something to do with the runme.exe or the masseffect.exe being altered.

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    7. Nevermind. It was a conflict with the dinput8.dll mod from http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Mass_Effect. The 3D fix now works :)

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  22. oh and thanks for fixing so many games to have lovely 3D!

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  23. "Update 5-30-19: Using last version (140302) of HelixMod" Not sure what was the point of that update. HUD is completely broken with that version. "Last Mana84 version" still works fine though.

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