Can't save game in Mass Effect

When i play the game, i can't save it.

nothing works, normal menu save or quick save

it initially worked the first few saves and now it doesn't, and my only saves are auto saves.


i heard it has something to do with where Bioware stores the save files

i have C: as my system drive and installed mass effect in D:.

does anyone have a solution to this problem?

 

Did you by any chance use a crack? Because currently the only people having problem saving are those that used the crack. It apparently works up until the Citadel, then only auto-saves work.

 

People on the BioWare forums are complaining about this as well.

Save is disabled for some reason, and the galaxy map is unusable.

First I thought it was because of my cracked .exe. But then I used the original one, and same result.

 

its not the crack, retail versions has it too.

i read http://masseffect.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=631434&forum=127&sp=15

but am confused as to what the solution that kevsteele guy means

i'm on XP

 

The people with retail versions evidently are having problems with any saves when they install the game to a different drive from their My Documents folder. That's the solution KevSteele gave, if you have for example Mass Effect installed on drive R, you'd make R:\My Documents the default My Documents folder in Windows, which should fix the inability to save. But those people's problems don't allow them to save anything at all, like character profiles, some graphics options, etc, which doesn't sound like the issue you're having.

With the cracked .exe, everything works until you hit the Citadel, something in there breaks the save ability, and the galaxy map is borked. cdnalsi, do you have the retail? What's your scenario to get here? It's hard to sort through and figure out if the legit retail really does have problems or if it's the pirates claiming to be retail. (Not saying you are, just that others around the web you can't tell)

 

Not true. All three copies (home, office PCs (Vista and XP) and Laptop (Vista)) of my install are on drives other than my C drive where my documents is located and I don't have any problem saving at all.

 

same^

mine is on my X drive, i put all my games, music and movies on there and i have no probs at all

 

Yeah I have the retail. I just grabbed the cracked .exe because everybody on the bioware forums has problems with SecuROM.

But then again, I ran into the same random can't save, can't use galaxy map thing...

I have the game installed into C:\ so that shouldn't be a problem with the My Documents folder. I've been researching this continuously since I bought the game.

It's really driving me nuts, not so much because I paid for the game, I like to have a nice collection (Bioshock, Oblivion, Crysis, Assassin's Creed and so on) but because I can't play the game proper.

I guess we'll just have to wait for an official BioWare patch..

 

Also, if you got the retail copy, why are you running the hack .exe at all since the retail install allows you to run the game without the disc in the drive.

 

cdnalsi,

Back up all your save files and reinstall the game. Then fire it up without the cracked .exe and report back as to whether you can access the galaxy map and saves or not. There will definitely be a crack fix out in the next few days, but since you're legitimate retail, you shouldn't have to wait to play your game.

 

Wait, so if you have the cracked version, what happens when you get to the Galaxy? Does the whole game just stop or can you just not save anymore.

 

@Wiz33 I'm running the cracked .exe because of an issue which at first I thought it was saferun.exe and saferun.dll as explained here:
http://masseffect.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=631461&forum=127&sp=30

It seems the DVD is badly pressed. But then after I succesfully installed the game, it crashed right after starting the .exe. That's why I thought I'd try the cracked one, because I knew there are a lot of SecuROM problems, read the BioWare forums, you'll see.

@Jlbrightbill: I reinstalled the game like 8 times already. Same thing happens over and over again. Just in a random manner. Once I could save my game on the first go, until I exited, loaded it back. Can't save. Can't even use the god damn Galaxy Map that I could before I exited the game.

Something's fishy around here, and I'm waiting for a proper cracked .exe or an official BioWare patch.

edit: @XPS1330:
I've been reading about the crack, and everybody has the same problems I have. Minus the fact that I can replace the .exe with the original, and then get random results (the retail errors). Sometimes I can access the Galaxy Map, sometimes it just goes dark, and I can only right-click my way out of it. No landing on planets, no nothing.

Just a quick example: With the original .exe:
Go on the ship. Fine, go to the Galaxy Map, explore, land on Whatever planet, do a quest, go back on the ship, go to the Galaxy Map, not working. Hey! I can't even save.

I have to resort to stupid console gimmicks to bypass the Galaxy Map, and travel in the Citadel to get the auto-save to kick in??

With the cracked .exe, It worked beautifully when I first replaced the original exe. Saving, Galaxy Map, everything just fine. I exit the game, next time I want to start it: "Your game has been compromised. Please reinstall". I did that like 8 times already!

That's just insane!!

 

It could be a combination of both. Mass Effect retail seems to have problems but they pop up at different times for different people. Cracked version has quirks too, but the end result is always you get to the galaxy map and can't open it and can't save. For some who blocked all the Mass Effect .exe's in their firewall from a fresh install, they can keep saving up to the galaxy map, as long as they don't quit the game. Most people got around this so far though by using the rapid transit system which initiates an auto-save.

XPS1330,

You hit E to open the galaxy map, your audio flickers and stops, and the map is black with just the heading visible. So you hit Q 3 times and exit out of the map, and can't go anywhere.

The current workaround for some is to enable the console and use a map command to jump yourself to the next planet, but you could accidentally miss a game trigger and completely screw up the story line. I jumped one character to a planet I knew I had missions on and played to the next auto-save, but my 2nd profile I'm keeping on the ship until the map works. And as a side note, I know of at least a couple people who got so annoyed their pirated game stopped working and were having withdrawal they went and bought the game to keep playing because they couldn't wait for a crack fix.

 

Now I really don't want to talk s**t but I'm really pissed off, because if I didn't pay for the game, I would just wait patiently for a scene release or fix or whatever.

Usually, when I buy (good) games, I just use the crack for the NO/CD/DVD stuff, I like to keep my discs clean and organized.

But now, there's no difference between the retail and the cracked pirated version.

I have buyers remorse now

No, really, but this is ridiculous. They have to sort it out!

 

It does seem though that this is a larger issue than just a crack problem. You said you reinstalled and still can't get it working properly, maybe that's part of the copy protection, who knows.

 

this is weird.

i got to the icey planet (some planet that starts with an N) and when i was driving the car, i could save, but once i approached the station, i couldn't anymore


To the people whose copies are working, is it just because you can't save during lengthy parts of the game? or can you save anytime (excluding when you're in combat or such)?

 

You cant save period? Saving is disabled while enemies are around,once you clear the screen its active again, if your in the mako sometimes you need to exit it to get the save function reabled, but thats been rare for me.

 

like in that snowy planet, i cleared the rooms leading up to the reactor. i wanted to save after completing that puzzle to activate the holo lady but couldn't, when i died later on (trying to restart the reactor)

i mean, there ain't no enemies anywhere near me in the reactor puzzle solving place

i ended up having to start from the outside of the building again.

 

On a few occasions I've needed to holster my weapons to enable saving.

 

SOLUTION to the problem posted on Mass effect forums:

http://masseffect.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=631434&forum=127&sp=15

I don't think this solves the Galaxy map problem though.

 

1. i use the crack.exe
2. the galaxy map is screwed but can be used to travel to planets (not landing)
3. jumping using console works.
4. save game is tricky, in the icy planet i could save while in the port - even had auto save kick in beforea a shootout. however, once out in that 6x6 tank i can save (quick/standard) but on loading it always end up in the port garage inside the tank.
5. inside the reactor saves were disabled at all time.


i would buy the game but living in Asia i will not be able to activate it.
already send a letter to EA, they are "very very sorry".
anyone think i can activate via proxy ?

got my cd key activation went with no problem, never trust an EA employee
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