Mass Effect 1 Restoring game to orignal version? (ME1)

[IronEE]

So I'm posting here because for some reason I can't access the Mass Effect 1 site forum. I added a dozen or so mods to ME1 and when I tried launching it there were some errors with textures or something. I'm not much of an expert. So I wanted a fresh start again. I tried uninstalling several times in Origin, restarting my PC and reinstalling it several times. Now I'm getting different errors when I try to start ME1 so I'm guessing there's still something from the mods left behind and I don't know how to get rid of it. The error message I get now is:

 

"Attempting to load unused mip #0 for Texture2D

BIOG_HMM_ARM_MED_R.MEDa.Iconic.HMM_ARM_MEDa_Ico_Spwr_Stack"

 

Followed by a long list of other errors of the game trying to unpack it.

 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

(P.S. I've included a PNG of my mods archive folder encase anyone was wondering what I tried)

[LadyMilla]

https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/forum/954-general-mass-effect-1-discussion/

 

UPDATE: The reported issue (your inability to access ME1 General Discussion) has been escalated to the Administrators.

Hopefully they can fix the issue.

[SojournerOne]

Hi, I believe you may have some incorrect strings in your BIOEngine.ini file, which is located in your ...Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Config folder. This can happen due to some mod authors including INI file changes with spelling errors and other typos.

Make sure you have some kind of code editor installed, such as Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code, or Notepad++. This is just a good principle for those who mod.

• Open your BIOEngine.ini file, and activate the Search/Find function (usually located in the Edit Menu / often activated with the CTRL+F shortcut.

• Search the file for [TextureLODSettings]

• You have a couple options depending on what your intentions are. If you have been installing retexture mods with the intent of playing ME1 at 4K, then you will have to look at the following text, compare it with what is in your BIOEngine.ini, and try to figure out where the errors are. There may be spaces " " where there shouldn't be. There may be spelilng mitsakes or pun(ctuation symbols in t=he wrong places. There may be numbers that are factored incorrectly (all numbers should be a factor of 16 -- 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, up to 4096). You may not want to change the values from what BioWare (or from what the authors of a lot or MEUITM) intend, since that will change the resolutions at which the ME1 game engine will stream the related textures.

For instance, If you changed a MaxLODSize value from 4096 to 2048, any textures tagged within those groups will be limited by half. If you increase a MinLODSize value up, the game engine will not be able to adaptively downsample a texture to a lower value in order to reduce your GPU memory load. In some cases, one of your mod's authors may have put a value in for a MinLODSize that prevents the game engine from accessing a required texture, so it will try to load a resolution that doesn't exist. This is the most likely scenario that you are facing. If you can find a copy of a properly configured INI file from someone who has the same texture mods installed, you can use that as a compare to figure out exactly how yours should look.

• Otherwise, if you are impatient, you can opt to replace the entire section with the following information. These are the default values that come from the BIOC_Base.u file when the game first installs. They should at least allow you to start the game:

[TextureLODSettings]

//TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_LightAndShadowMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=16,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=2)

TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(MinLODSize=16,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=2)

TEXTUREGROUP_AmbientLightMap=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Diff=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Norm=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Spec=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_512=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_256=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_128=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_64=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=64,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_512=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_256=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_128=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_64=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=64,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_GUI=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_1024=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_1024=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_128=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_256=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_512=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_1024=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_1024=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Promotional=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

 

Now, unfortunately, you will be back to the issue of having textures appear low-res, especially in certain cases related to well known texture bugs that prevent that game engine from streaming certain texture maps at their intended resolution (Garrus, armors and clothing, etc), but at least you should now be able to start the game, which would be the point of trying the above values out.

I went through my [TextureLODSettings] after a lot had installed, compared a lot's/MEUITM's values to the defaults, and tweaked mine so they would default to streaming at 1K resolution by altering some of the MinLODSize values to 1024. Some of the level textures do need to be able to go up to 4K such as TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap which is why I left the MaxLODSize alone in most cases. I think a lot and MEUITM change the MinLODSize values to 4096 which is just excessive for my needs and for my GPU's computational capabilities.

You may have to end up doing something similar with your INI after you copied the above values in, going through and trying values out in small handfuls at a time, checking to see if the game runs, and so on.

 

EDIT: Wow, why does Nexus use white as alternating color in the Code markup? Impossible to read!

 

Also, if you want, you can try my values on for size; they are higher than the defaults:

 

[TextureLODSettings]

//TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_LightAndShadowMap=(MinLODSize=2048,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=2)

TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=2)

TEXTUREGROUP_AmbientLightMap=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Diff=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Norm=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Spec=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_512=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_256=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_128=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_64=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_512=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_256=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_128=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_64=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_GUI=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_1024=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_1024=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_128=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_256=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_512=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_1024=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_1024=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Promotional=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

Edited September 15, 2019 by SojournerOne

[IronEE]

 

Hi, I believe you may have some incorrect strings in your BIOEngine.ini file, which is located in your ...Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Config folder. This can happen due to some mod authors including INI file changes with spelling errors and other typos.

 

Make sure you have some kind of code editor installed, such as Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code, or Notepad++. This is just a good principle for those who mod.

• Open your BIOEngine.ini file, and activate the Search/Find function (usually located in the Edit Menu / often activated with the CTRL+F shortcut.

• Search the file for [TextureLODSettings]

• You have a couple options depending on what your intentions are. If you have been installing retexture mods with the intent of playing ME1 at 4K, then you will have to look at the following text, compare it with what is in your BIOEngine.ini, and try to figure out where the errors are. There may be spaces " " where there shouldn't be. There may be spelilng mitsakes or pun(ctuation symbols in t=he wrong places. There may be numbers that are factored incorrectly (all numbers should be a factor of 16 -- 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, up to 4096). You may not want to change the values from what BioWare (or from what the authors of a lot or MEUITM) intend, since that will change the resolutions at which the ME1 game engine will stream the related textures.

For instance, If you changed a MaxLODSize value from 4096 to 2048, any textures tagged within those groups will be limited by half. If you increase a MinLODSize value up, the game engine will not be able to adaptively downsample a texture to a lower value in order to reduce your GPU memory load. In some cases, one of your mod's authors may have put a value in for a MinLODSize that prevents the game engine from accessing a required texture, so it will try to load a resolution that doesn't exist. This is the most likely scenario that you are facing. If you can find a copy of a properly configured INI file from someone who has the same texture mods installed, you can use that as a compare to figure out exactly how yours should look.

• Otherwise, if you are impatient, you can opt to replace the entire section with the following information. These are the default values that come from the BIOC_Base.u file when the game first installs. They should at least allow you to start the game:

[TextureLODSettings]

//TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_LightAndShadowMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=16,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=2)

TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(MinLODSize=16,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=2)

TEXTUREGROUP_AmbientLightMap=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Diff=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Norm=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Spec=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_512=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_256=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_128=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_64=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=64,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_512=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_256=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_128=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_64=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=64,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_GUI=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_1024=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_1024=(MinLODSize=8,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_128=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_256=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_512=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_1024=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_1024=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Promotional=(MinLODSize=32,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

 

Now, unfortunately, you will be back to the issue of having textures appear low-res, especially in certain cases related to well known texture bugs that prevent that game engine from streaming certain texture maps at their intended resolution (Garrus, armors and clothing, etc), but at least you should now be able to start the game, which would be the point of trying the above values out.

 

I went through my [TextureLODSettings] after a lot had installed, compared a lot's/MEUITM's values to the defaults, and tweaked mine so they would default to streaming at 1K resolution by altering some of the MinLODSize values to 1024. Some of the level textures do need to be able to go up to 4K such as TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap which is why I left the MaxLODSize alone in most cases. I think a lot and MEUITM change the MinLODSize values to 4096 which is just excessive for my needs and for my GPU's computational capabilities.

 

You may have to end up doing something similar with your INI after you copied the above values in, going through and trying values out in small handfuls at a time, checking to see if the game runs, and so on.

 

EDIT: Wow, why does Nexus use white as alternating color in the Code markup? Impossible to read!

 

Also, if you want, you can try my values on for size; they are higher than the defaults:

 

[TextureLODSettings]

//TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_LightAndShadowMap=(MinLODSize=2048,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

//TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=2)

TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=2)

TEXTUREGROUP_AmbientLightMap=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Diff=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Norm=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_Spec=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_512=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_256=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_128=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_64=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_512=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_256=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_128=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_64=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_GUI=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Environment_1024=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_VFX_1024=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_128=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_256=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_512=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_APL_1024=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Character_1024=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

TEXTUREGROUP_Promotional=(MinLODSize=512,MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0)

Sorry for the late response, been busy. Thank you! I copy and pasted your Texture LODS, I got errors. I tried the default ones and now the game runs! Modding seems a bit challenging for ME1 since there's no tool like mod manager and you have to manually go in and mess with the files. I'm a novice in terms of modding in this fashion so how could I know if there's errors and typos?