Mass Effect 2.

[Mario]

Here is the official Mass Effect 2 readme file.

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Mass Effect 2™
ReadMe file - November 2009
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Contents:
- System Requirements
- Digital Retail Installation
- Installing Mass Effect 2
- Uninstalling Mass Effect 2
- Optimizing Gameplay
- Cerberus Network
- Game Known Issues
- Online Ports
- Support & Troubleshooting
- Final Special Thanks from BioWare


System Requirements
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Minimum System Requirements
* Windows XP, Vista, or 7
* 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo Intel or equivalent AMD CPU
* 1 GB RAM (XP) or 2 GB RAM (Vista, Windows 7)
* NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or better with 256 MB of video memory (7300, 8100, 8200, 8300, 8400, and 9300 are below minimum system requirements)
* ATI X1600 Pro or better with 256 MB of video memory (HD3200, and HD4350 are below minimum system requirements)
* Shader Model 3.0 required
* 100% DirectX compatible sound card and drivers
* DirectX August 2008

Recommended System Requirements
* Windows XP, Vista, or 7
* 2.6+ GHz Core 2 Duo Intel or equivalent AMD CPU
* 2 GB RAM
* ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, or better recommended
* 100% DirectX compatible sound card and drivers
* DirectX August 2008

NOTES: For the best results, make sure you have the latest drivers for your video and audio cards.

Laptop or mobile versions of the above supported video cards have not had extensive testing and may have driver or other performance issues. As such, they are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.

Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.


Digital Retail Installation
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Please contact the digital retailer through whom you purchased this game for instructions on how to install the game or how to download and reinstall another copy of the game.

Note: If you’d like additional information about your game as well as tips and patches please visit www.ea.com or www.eastore.com.


Installing Mass Effect 2
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To install Mass Effect 2 just insert the Mass Effect 2 DVD #1 into your DVD drive and follow the on-screen prompts to install the game.

If the AutoPlay screen does not automatically appear after inserting the Mass Effect 2 PC DVD into your DVD drive, follow these steps:

1. Close all running programs.
2. Ensure that the Mass Effect 2 PC DVD #1 is in your DVD drive.
3. Double-click My Computer on your desktop.
4. Double-click the DVD icon.
5. Double-click on the Setup.exe icon to launch the installer.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the game.


Uninstalling Mass Effect 2
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To uninstall Mass Effect 2 under Windows XP:

1. Access the Mass Effect 2 Uninstaller in one of the following ways:
- via the Mass Effect 2 Launcher
- from the Mass Effect 2 Start Menu item (if selected at install time)
- from the Control Panel's "Add/Remove Programs" applet
2. Run the Mass Effect 2 Uninstaller
3. Follow the on-screen instructions.


To uninstall Mass Effect 2 under Windows Vista or Windows 7:

1. Access the Mass Effect 2 Uninstaller in one of the following ways:
- via the Mass Effect 2 Launcher
- from the Mass Effect 2 Start Menu item (if selected at install time)
- from the Control Panel's "Programs and Features" applet
2. Run the Mass Effect 2 Uninstaller
3. Follow the on-screen instructions.


Optimizing Gameplay
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Mass Effect 2 will attempt to read the system specifications of the computer at game startup and automatically choose graphic options appropriate for the hardware. These settings are chosen based on your CPU's ability to complete a computation task quickly, and the device ID of your video card.

If you would like to set graphics settings to your own values that won't be chosen by the game, you can do so via the options GUI or the configuration utility.

The following settings have the most impact on frame rate:

Resolution - This significantly affects performance and has the greatest influence on how smoothly the game runs. The lower the resolution, the better the performance.

Windowed Mode - If this option is on, the performance can be reduced, especially if other applications are running as well. We highly recommend that all other applications be shut down when playing Mass Effect 2.

Dynamic Shadows - This significantly affects performance on machines between the minimum and recommended system specifications. Turning this off will increase performance.

High Quality Bloom - This moderately affects performance on machines between the minimum and recommended system specifications. Turning this off will increase performance.

Anisotropic Filtering Level - This moderately affects performance on machines between the minimum and recommended system specifications. Turning this off will increase performance.

Film Grain - Turning this off will increase performance slightly on machines near our minimum specifications.

Motion Blur - Turning this off will increase performance slightly on machines near our minimum specifications.


Cerberus Network
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Mass Effect 2 comes with an activation code for the Cerberus Network. This feature allows players to gain access to additional bonus content which is downloadable from the EA Store. In order to activate the Cerberus
Network, follow the main menu prompts and create (or use an existing) EA Online account. Once this is complete, use the activation code included with your copy of Mass Effect.

This code is designed for one-time-use only. If you have purchased a pre-owned copy of the game, you may purchase a new activation code from the EA Store.

Game Known Issues
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Mass Effect 2 does not run optimally on a computer with a single core CPU. We recommend that Mass Effect 2 PC is not played on a system with a single core CPU.

On some video cards (NVidia 7000 series), Mass Effect 2 may display bright white spots on some parts of the floor or walls. This issue can be avoided by turning off the "Texture filtering - Anisotropic sample optimization" setting in the NVidia Control Panel.

Online Ports
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To enable online functionality, the following ports must be opened on the client PC.

TCP 42100
TCP Port Range 15200-15300
TCP Port Range 9945-9994
TCP 80


Support & Troubleshooting
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U.S. & Canada
http://support.ea.com/

United Kingdom:
http://support.electronicarts.co.uk/

Australia:
http://www.electronicarts.com.au/en-au/support/

Europe:
http://eusupport.ea.com/


Final Special Thanks from BioWare
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A special thanks to the fans and friends of BioWare. Your thoughts and feedback on our website forums drive us to make great games.