Characters become black polygons

[jariahxsynn]

When you arrive at Peak 15 on Noveria all character models (shepard, allies and enemies) become black polygons. Uninstalling and repairing the game doesn't work, anyone know a fix?

[EA_David · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the update. There's a bit of a workaround, it essentially involves turning off certain lighting in the affected sections.

In your Windows go to My Documents/BioWare\Mass Effect\Config and open BIOInput.ini with notepad. 
Look for the [Engine.console] line and add the following text: ConsoleKey=Tilde

Save and start the game. 

Once in-game turn on the console by pressing tilde (the key above Tab and below Esc) and type: viewmode unlit

You can swap it back afterwards with: viewmode lit

I know it's a little involved but I hope this helps. 

[EA_David]

@jariahxsynn Hey, it sounds like a rendering issue. I'm not sure why it would only show up a bit into the game. 

Can you try a clean driver reinstall to start?

https://help.ea.com/en-za/help/pc/finding-devices-and-updating-drivers/

[jariahxsynn]

No good. I even went into my drivers dashboard to see if anything would change but nothing. I's really weird though, the area I'm in and one other location further in does this as well.

[EA_David · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the update. There's a bit of a workaround, it essentially involves turning off certain lighting in the affected sections.

In your Windows go to My Documents/BioWare\Mass Effect\Config and open BIOInput.ini with notepad. 
Look for the [Engine.console] line and add the following text: ConsoleKey=Tilde

Save and start the game. 

Once in-game turn on the console by pressing tilde (the key above Tab and below Esc) and type: viewmode unlit

You can swap it back afterwards with: viewmode lit

I know it's a little involved but I hope this helps. 

[Fred_vdp]

This is a compatibility issue with the AMD FX processor lineup. The lighting at Peak 15 and on Ilos is handled by the CPU instead of the GPU, and the FX CPUs stopped supporting this particular method. I don't think AMD, BioWare or Demiurge ever commented on this, but AMD's FX CPUs came out after the game, so it looks like AMD is to blame.

The workaround David posted is the only way to get around this apart from swapping your motherboard and CPU.

[jariahxsynn]

I did as you said but but I can't open the command line with the tilde key. Perhaps I did something wrong somewhere? (I accepted it as the solution because I know it should work)

[holger1405]

@jariahxsynn

You ConsoleKey=Tilde entry in the "BioInput.ini" must look exactly like this: (the two other lines are irrelevant)

You did saved the "BioInput.ini"?

If you use a non US\English Keyboard use the "Tab" key instead.

[jariahxsynn]

Thanks alot, turns out I had the command in the wrong spot.

[holger1405]

@jariahxsynn

You're welcome, have fun gaming.

[Vellu78]

Alternatively, you can use this mod to fix the issue (without having to disable lighting, which does look kinda ugly).:

http://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect/mods/71/?

Simple drag&drop install too. Adds other visual enhancements aswell.