13

It seems that, unlike the first game, Mass Effect 2 (inexplicably) has a save limit. I currently have 50 full save slots and the game will not let me make any others. In ME1, there was a PC tweak where you could edit a .ini file in order to increase the number of allowed saves. However, I can't find anything in the ME2 PC tweaks that will let you do the same, maybe because the configuration files are in a different format for this game.

Is there any way for me to increase the number of allowed saves without endangering my save file(s) for import to ME3?

Improve this question
7
  • I was going to say "yay for crap console ports", but 50 doesn't seem like a traditional console limit. Yay for developers who do stuff for no good reason?
    – Matthew Read
    Feb 27, 2012 at 22:41
  • 1
    I agree that this is stupid and hope there's a workaround, but I still have to ask - why do you need 50+ save files anyway? You're not seriously going to play through ME3 50+ times, right?
    – Shinrai
    Feb 27, 2012 at 23:28
  • 1
    @Shinrai The limitation is on a per-character basis, so it you actually could have 50+ ME2 imports. But I think she just meant she didn't want to accidentally blow any old saves away. And ME3 aside, one reason you might do it is if you're saving at every major decision point.
    – Sterno
    Feb 27, 2012 at 23:33
  • @Matthew It's especially baffling because a limit this low didn't exist in ME1, and you could, in fact, turn off save limiting altogether.
    – FAE
    Feb 28, 2012 at 0:22
  • @Shinrai I had over 130+ saves at the end of my ME1 playthrough. I'm one of those people who saves before every major decisions/purchases/dialogue choices, at the beginning of worlds, after mission wrapups, before leveling a companion, etc. Sometimes, I do it just before cinematics that I'd like to go back and watch again or before bits of dialogue so I can see what the options in the other tree are. Also, if I decide to go back and change a decision, I don't necessarily have to do the entire game again.
    – FAE
    Feb 28, 2012 at 0:23

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
8

Well, hopefully you'll find a better answer, but one workaround is to simply back up some of your older saves to another directory.

On Windows 7, my saves are stored in

C:\Users\MyUserName\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect 2\Save\John_12_Soldier_260110

That last bit differs on a character-by-character basis. You could grab the .pcsav files from there and move them to a backup directory. Now you've got some archived saves and free slots. If you want to restore them later, you just drop them back in (though you probably need to make sure you aren't bringing the total over 50 if you do).

Improve this answer
2
  • After doing some research, it looks like this is the only option for ME2.
    – SickHippie
    Feb 28, 2012 at 0:51
  • There's at least one mod out there for this but I can't get it to work so I can't verify its functionality, so accepting this one as it's the only way to get around it for now. I'm at 110 saves on just my first playthrough! Agh!
    – FAE
    Feb 29, 2012 at 1:21
8

Epic Legion has created a program that will remove the limit of 50 saves on the PC version of Mass Effect 2. It also can open the ingame console plus other tid-bits of cool stuff if one so desires.

The program is called the PCC PATCHER
located here.

PLEASE NOTE: You must have the version 1.02 ME2 Executable for this to function.

Here is how to open and use its functionality:

  1. Download & extract the enclosed folder from the linked zip file to your Mass Effect 2 Binaries folder: Usually located here: Program Files\Mass Effect 2\Binaries
  2. Open the PCC PATCH folder and drag the enclosed files directly into the ME2 binaries folder.
  3. Double click the "PCCPatcher.exe" that is in the binaries folder now and then proceed to the below instructions once the program has opened:

In the open PCC PATCHER PROGRAM

  1. File > Open engine
    usually located here: Program Files\Mass Effect 2\BioGame\CookedPC
  2. File > Open SFXGame
    usually located here: Program Files\Mass Effect 2\BioGame\CookedPC
  3. Basic Mods Tab
  4. Select the tick boxes that you want for your game.
  5. Main Tab > Save Packages
  6. Run the newly unofficially "Patched" Mass Effect 2 and enjoy the enhancements.

This is not mine - the credit goes to phoenixofthunder. I just copied the above from the official ME2 forums.

Improve this answer
0
2

For Mass Effect 2, you can use a tool called ME3Explorer. Even though it says "ME3" in the name, it works with ME2 as well.

  • Download the release from github (I used v4.1.1) and extract somewhere.
  • Open ME3Explorer and then open the "Package Editor" (PCK icon).
  • Now from File > Open and find the game install location, then open this file: {your game folder}\Mass Effect 2\BioGame\CookedPC\SFXGame.pcc.
  • Backup your entire {your game folder}\Mass Effect 2 folder for safe-keeping, or just the above file if you like to live dangerously.
  • Click "Exports" and then scroll to number 33791, or search for Default__SFXSFHandler_PCSave.
  • Select this entry and then on the right, click on the "MaxSaves" IntProperty and change it from 50 to 5000. Click Set.
  • File > Save
  • Close the package editor, and then close ME3Explorer.

When you run the game, you should be able to create new save games.

Note: there is another entry that is similarly named but seems to have no effect: 33082 "Default__SFXSFHandler_Save". This also has a MaxSaves value, but I left this unchanged and was still able to create new saves after changing MaxSaves in "Default__SFXSFHandler_PCSave" as described above.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .