Mass Effect for PC!!

[SpaceAlex]

The AA enabling option only works with a GeForce 8 series or above, and seeing that my shiny new GeForce 9800GTX Black Edition is still boxed and not running in my new rig which I am currently building, means that I have no way to enable AA with my dated GeForce 7800GS AGP card.

 

I wouldn't even try enabling AA on that card.. not in this game. I expect that when people complain about the lack of AA in UT3 engine based games, they don't have anything less than a GF8 in their PC box. There's just no point in trying to enable it on lesser cards. Who wants to play at 10 FPS anyway?

 

If you're replacing your current system, I would suggest that you stop playing ME until you get your new PC up and running. It will be a totally new experience.

[Ghost Down]

The game runs smooth on highest settings and everything maxed, but I just can't play a game without AA. Guess I'm a jaggy-phobic

[Astor]

What's the texture pop-in like for the PC version? I have it on the 360, and it can get quite heavy at times. Did they fix that for the PC version?

[SpaceAlex]

What's the texture pop-in like for the PC version? I have it on the 360, and it can get quite heavy at times. Did they fix that for the PC version?

 

It takes around 1-3 seconds on my machine, depending on the size of the level. And it happens only when you load a save game or a new level. It's barely noticeable.

[Astor]

Sounds like they've improved it, at least. On the 360, if you go into an area too quickly everything looks like melted plastic for a time .

[SpaceAlex]

Sounds like they've improved it, at least. On the 360, if you go into an area too quickly everything looks like melted plastic for a time .

 

The Xbox simply is not powerful enough to deal with it. There's not much Bioware could do to improve it on the console.

[mimartin]

Sounds like they've improved it, at least. On the 360, if you go into an area too quickly everything looks like melted plastic for a time .

My first XBox 360 did this really bad, but after the XBox itself melted down the next 360 I purchased had very little texture pop-in problems. Have not played Mass Effect yet on the unit MS set me in return for my first.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Anyone got advice about which profession is most beginner friendly, allowing you to learn the game without too much frustration?

Soldier all the way. Though, as you are undoubtely used to, you won't get the benefits either from techs (skills) nor biotics (magics), but, playing at normal, you'll rarely die as long as you don't make a run for it on the middle of the battlefield.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

Pfeh. I can't even get past the prologue in this game!!! On the CASUAL level!!! I always end up dying somehwere near the cargo train station or trying to find the explosives.

 

Yes, I am the worst gamer you ever saw. Please help!!!

enable the console and use givesuperarmor and/or givesupergun. the super armor is a fugly shade of yellow though :/

 

 

Anyone got advice about which profession is most beginner friendly, allowing you to learn the game without too much frustration?

i agree with ctrl, biotics are incredibly underpowered and can basically just push things around while dealing negligible damage.

[mur'phon]

Lift is however a usefull ability,takes foes out of cover and make them sitting ducks.

[mimartin]

Anyone got advice about which profession is most beginner friendly, allowing you to learn the game without too much frustration?

Cannot believe I missed this question from the person that gave me all that advise on Oblivion. Sorry. My excuse is I've been lost with my little wood elf in Morrowind lately.

Soldier all the way. Though, as you are undoubtely used to, you won't get the benefits either from techs (skills) nor biotics (magics), but, playing at normal, you'll rarely die as long as you don't make a run for it on the middle of the battlefield.

I agreed with Ctrl_Alt_Del. If Mass Effect PC is like Mass Effect 360 then do soldier and unlock weapons skills to use as a bonus talent later with a tech or biotic PC.

 

i agree with ctrl, biotics are incredibly underpowered and can basically just push things around while dealing negligible damage.

I agree with the assessment early in the game. At the later stages biotics become overpowered IMO.

Lift is however a useful ability' date='takes foes out of cover and make them sitting ducks.[/quote'] Agreed really like Lift, but for total destruction Singularity is where it is at.

 

stoffe, no matter what you choose I believe you will be alright. I completed the Hardcore achievement with a Sentinel. So I’m sure you will have no problem with whatever class you have chosen. When you get to the point to pick your Specialization Class, then depending on what you are now, you may want to choose wisely. Good luck.

[mur'phon]

Well, singularity is technically superior, no argument there, but I play as a infiltrator, and singularity+sniper=broken monitor:D

[stoffe]

I got started with a soldier since it seemed like the most straightforward choice, not requiring as much knowledge of the game to use effectively. So far it's been going fairly OK, though I haven't gotten very far yet; recently arrived at the Citadel station. Fighting from cover takes some getting used to, though it seems like my squad mates have that problem as well. While I dive for cover they stay out in the open, making no effort to avoid enemy fire.

 

Unfortunately the game seems to be incredibly buggy. In the short time I've played I've gotten several General Protection Faults crashing the game and one graphics driver related bluescreen. And every now and then the game comes to a screeching halt for 20-40 seconds where nothing at all happens, after which, if lucky the game continues as normal, or if unlucky it crashes. (Almost like it's getting stuck in an infinite loop and won't continue until it times out.)

 

Can't remember having had this much trouble with any other game before.

 

Those problems aside, the game has been pretty fun so far (aside from all the armor options I've encountered being ugly ). Seem to be mostly a paragon personality so far, don't now if that's going to cause any trouble. Some of the squad members seem to be a bit more renegade-ish in nature.

 

Character creation took a while to get a character who looked somewhat decent; you have to admire nature for getting it right so often. Very easy to make ugly or freakish faces. But it's still a shame you can't go back and tweak afterwards. It's hard to get a real impression of how the character will look in-game from the character generation preview.

[Miltiades]

Is it normal that I'm getting owned each and every time on Eden Prime at the detonators? I'm playing with an Infiltrator. It's kinda unsettling to not get through the very first level of the game.

[mimartin]

Is it normal that I'm getting owned each and every time on Eden Prime at the detonators? I'm playing with an Infiltrator. It's kinda unsettling to not get through the very first level of the game.

Infiltrator would be difficult the first time through without a bonus talent. My advice is to use cover and go slow. There is no shame in running off and living to fight another day. Look around find every upgrade possible and change upgrades, armor and weapons as available. Give your Soldier companion the best rifle and use both companions’ abilities to their fullest. Don’t change ahead to the next round of enemies until your abilities have had a chance to recharge. It will get easier and the Infiltrator is a fun class, you just have to be careful until you get leveled up. Mind what your Commander and the other NPC are skilled at and use those weapons only, especially early in the game.

 

Don't know about achievements with the PC game, but on XBox 360 you unlock the achivement for difficulty settings as long as you change it before you leave Eden Prime. So you could reduce the difficulty then change it back before you complete Eden Prime and still get the credit (If it is the same as the 360). If that is what you are trying to do just remember not to even look funny at the difficulty setting after you leave Eden Prime.

[Miltiades]

Ah, I always pick the difficult classes first. I'm still a bit lost when it comes to giving everyone the right weapons and such, and how to use the party effectively, but I'll get there.

[stoffe]

Infiltrator would be difficult the first time through without a bonus talent. My advice is to use cover and go slow. There is no shame in running off and living to fight another day.

 

There is a certain sense of urgency at that place though, since you need to disarm all 4 nukes within a few minutes. Makes it hard to take it too slow.

 

It was tricky, though I got past it by hiding behind cover just up the stairs from where you arrive and sniping the nearest batch of enemies, and then running to the next cover across the bridge, near the next nuke and have my squad cover me while I disarmed it. I got in quite a few lucky shots though, hard to hit with the sniper rifle when you have no training in it.

[mimartin]

There is a certain sense of urgency at that place though, since you need to disarm all 4 nukes within a few minutes. Makes it hard to take it too slow.

Forgive me I forgot how difficult it was the first time through and not know where the nukes are. After you know where they are, it seems way easier to keep covered. I got lucky on that part too my first time through . I had difficuty on the tram to get to that part.

 

You'll run into other real and percieved time restrants in the future so be careful.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

There is a certain sense of urgency at that place though, since you need to disarm all 4 nukes within a few minutes. Makes it hard to take it too slow.

You'll notice there's plenty of time at that moment. But yes, the first time, it looks it will all come down.

 

hard to hit with the sniper rifle when you have no training in it.

Considering you won't be able to target at all without training...

[Serpentine Cougar]

How much replay value does ME have? When you finish the game, are you left itching to go back and start it again to try out something different?

 

The main story is actually fairly good but too short. I finished it in 9 hours while KoToR took me 20+.

Really? KotOR took me somewhere around 66 hours to complete. Maybe Mass Effect would take me longer, as well.

 

Which brings me to the Side quests of Mass Effect. [...] Fly to planet X and kill everything in generic building A/B. Erm, some variation? Ok here you go: grind 40 different minerals... WHAT?!

Are the side quests really that bad? Does anyone else have opinions on this?

[mimartin]

How much replay value does ME have? [/Quote] I played it 10 times straight. Reading this thread I’m itching to go back and play again, but I busy in Morrowind right now. I forcing myself to hold out getting the PC version as long as possible, but it calls out my name every time I drive passed Best Buy.

 

When you finish the game, are you left itching to go back and start it again to try out something different?[/Quote] I was. I tried different classes, settings and planets in different order. You get some very funning dialogue depending on when you go to certain planets.

 

Really? KotOR took me somewhere around 66 hours to complete. Maybe Mass Effect would take me longer, as well.[/Quote] Even knowing were everything was on my tenth play through it took me 45 hours, but if you want to skip dialog and the side quests the nine to twelve hours is believable. That is the beauty of Mass Effect to me, that it is up to the player the amount of time the want to invest in the game.

 

Are the side quests really that bad? Does anyone else have opinions on this?

Depends. I enjoyed some of them. There is a lot of driving around looking for things and it does get tedious. The interior of building are the same and that become tiresome, but there are many Easter Eggs (Watch out for the “shifty cow”) to be found not to mention the money and experience points to be earned. I like leveling up, so I always do the exploitation missions. Could the side quest have been better, sure! IMO they are still playable.

[Miltiades]

I got through it. *Warning: noob comment* I forgot to give my characters any talent points, since they were already at level 3 and I had no idea! *End warning*.

 

Anyway, the only thing difficult battle I've encountered is against the Krogan Battlemaster on the planet where you save Liara. I think I've done that 15 times before just switching difficulty to casual and ending it rather quickly. The fact that the guy rushes to you and can kill you with two melee hits of his weapon is frustrating, even more so if you thought disabling his biotics would make him an easy target.

[Char Ell]

I got through it. *Warning: noob comment* I forgot to give my characters any talent points, since they were already at level 3 and I had no idea! *End warning*.

Yeah, I can see how that would make the job more difficult.

 

I too died several times before I was finally able to take out the Krogan you refer to. I finally figured out I could backpedal and dodge him long enough to take him down. And at close range like that I also learned using a shotgun is a viable option, even though I had no skill points for it.

 

I decided to just use the default soldier character for my first playthrough of MEPC. Have had a tough time figuring out how to effectively use my squad members. They seem to get taken out fairly easy in some situations. I've got as far as picking up my last party NPC and returning to the Citadel but have decided I don't want to continue playing until the Bring Down The Sky DLC gets released so I just started my second playthrough as an Infiltrator. I do have to say that I can, with some difficulty, use the sniper rifle even though I have yet to assign any skill points to that weapon. I just need to make sure I stay out of the range of enemy weapons so I can have the time necessary to get my wobbly sights on them.

[SpaceAlex]

Are the side quests really that bad? Does anyone else have opinions on this?

 

Some on the Citadel are great, but those on other planets are pretty generic, yes. There certainly could be done a lot more in that regard, but it would take another year or two of development to make everything work. KOTOR's setting made it easy to include more side quests, since most planets are inhabitable in the Star Wars universe, thus one can place a dozen of side quests on each planet. On the other hand, In ME's universe very few planets are inhabitable (the game's trying to be as realistic as possible), so making side quest is not as easy as it was in KOTOR. Even the main quest planets are mostly hideouts of your enemy, not planets where people live their daily lives. What Bioware could do with this kind of setting is make those side quests on all of those planets that you can visit more detailed (so that you don't just shoot things and move out), but, like I've already mentioned, that would take another year or so of development. Bring Down the Sky might very well be what I have in mind, but since the add-on is not yet available for the PC version, I can't really comment. From what I've heard about it though, it seems to be better than most side quests in the main game.

 

Still a great game though, and well worth your time.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Really, pick all the side planets and glue them in one, because you'll have a lot more fun on the Citadel than on the other dustbowls. Especially when, around your third side planet, you'll notice they're the same all over again.