Mass Effect games stuck on splash screen

This is incredibly stupid. I can't even get any of the games from the new Legendary Edition to launch.I start up the launcher just fine, but when I try to open the first Mass Effect, it gets stuck on the splash screen. When I switch tabs and switch back, the splash logo goes black, and then nothing happens. I tried waiting 30 minutes for it to load, but nothing happens.

My PC is more than capable of handling this game, and I have the latest drivers for my GPU. I tried running an SFC scan to repair any issues in Windows, but there were none. I tried repairing the game installation, but it came back with no issues.

Here are my specs:

Windows 10 Home 64-bit, latest version

Windows Defender antivirus, latest version

Nvidia RTX 2060 Super, latest drivers

32 GB of RAM

Intel i5-7600k CPU

Game is installed on a 1 TB M.2 drive

Is anyone else having these issues? Does anyone have a fix for this? Its insane that this game came out in an unplayable condition.

me legendary edition

puzzlezaddict
4 years ago
@Valravn_Black Please disable Origin in-game: hover over your username, select Application Settings, then the Origin in-game header, and disable the option at the top.

If that doesn't make a difference, try editing one of the games' .ini files to force it to open in windowed mode. Start with ME1, and open this file path:

[install path]\Mass Effect Legendary Edition\Game\ME1\BioGame\Config

Copy GamerSettings.ini to your desktop, so you have a backup. Then set BorderlessWindow and Fullscreen to False, and try to open the game. If that alone doesn't help, set ResX to 1600 and ResY to 900. I'm not saying you need to play like this going forward, just that it might help to force the game to open in a smaller window.

Your dxdiag doesn't list any MELE errors, which is either very strange or just an indication that the game isn't actually crashing. But please check the Reliability Monitor for any related errors. Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart of errors and updates with a column for each day.

For any recent errors that mention Origin or the MELE, or any that happened at the same time as you tried to play, please right-click on the entry, select "View technical details," copy the info, and paste it into a reply here.

54 Replies

puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 years ago
@Valravn_Black The game does run pretty well for most people, and most of the people who can't get it to run eventually identify the cause as a system issue. So please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
Valravn_Black
4 years ago
Thanks for the quick reply, here is the DX diag info.
DxDiag.txt95 KB
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 years ago
@Valravn_Black Please disable Origin in-game: hover over your username, select Application Settings, then the Origin in-game header, and disable the option at the top.

If that doesn't make a difference, try editing one of the games' .ini files to force it to open in windowed mode. Start with ME1, and open this file path:

[install path]\Mass Effect Legendary Edition\Game\ME1\BioGame\Config

Copy GamerSettings.ini to your desktop, so you have a backup. Then set BorderlessWindow and Fullscreen to False, and try to open the game. If that alone doesn't help, set ResX to 1600 and ResY to 900. I'm not saying you need to play like this going forward, just that it might help to force the game to open in a smaller window.

Your dxdiag doesn't list any MELE errors, which is either very strange or just an indication that the game isn't actually crashing. But please check the Reliability Monitor for any related errors. Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart of errors and updates with a column for each day.

For any recent errors that mention Origin or the MELE, or any that happened at the same time as you tried to play, please right-click on the entry, select "View technical details," copy the info, and paste it into a reply here.
GR13VER
4 years ago
I am also having the same problem except with Mass Effect 2 and 3. ME1 runs fine but when I try to run ME2 or 3 aftrer the spash screen, I'm just return to the game select menu. I tried changing the resolution and windowed mode in the BIOgame.ini but no luck. I've attached my Dxdiag report here if anyone could have a look.
DxDiag.txt108 KB
Valravn_Black
4 years ago
Thanks Puzzlez, forcing windowed mode as you described fixed the issue. The game loaded just fine, and after setting it to fullscreen in the game settings, I was able to load it again from the launcher. Thanks for your help!
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 years ago
@Valravn_Black Glad to hear it. Have fun playing.

@GR13VER The dxdiag crashed while running, and the section about your graphics device is missing some info as well. So please start with a couple basic checks of your Windows system files:

Hit Windows key-X

Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator),” whichever option is offered

Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes into the window, and enter

The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here

After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again

Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator)”

Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes into the window, and enter

Post the message you receive here

Please also let me know if there's a reason you don't want to update Windows past build 1903. That build is out of support now, and other system software (including your graphics driver) may no longer be fully compatible. It would be a good idea to update even without any obvious issues, and the old version of Windows can't be ruled out as a contributer to your inability to play.
GR13VER
4 years ago
@puzzlezaddict OK I'll try this and get back to you. About the Windows update, I'm not sure why. I update Windows whenever I get the prompt and do not have any to update windows atm.
GR13VER
4 years ago
@puzzlezaddict OK so I ran both commands and the first went to 100% with no problem and the second completed and stated this message: "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations."
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 years ago
@GR13VER Does the game work now? If not, it may be worth force-updating Windows; in fact, it's probablhy worth doing anyway. Considering how old your current build is, the most reliable approach would be to do a repair install via an in-place upgrade. You don't need a USB stick, and you shouldn't lose any data, although it's always a good idea to back up anything critical beforehand. Here's a good guide:

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/16397-repair-install-windows-10-place-upgrade.html

In case it's not clear, you can download the Media Creation Tool here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

and create an ISO by selecting the option to burn to disc but skipping that last step. That will leave you with an ISO you can mount internally.
holger1405
Hero+
4 years ago
@GR13VER

Do you get a Windows feature update offered if you search for updates?