Mass Effect 2 Gibbed Save Editor Change Romance

Most information in this guide comes from my own 'trial and error' testing, but now it's time to expand. Know any trick with the Gibbed's Mass Effect 2 Save Editor not mentioned here? Well, just post it to: okogawa@hotmail.com with topic: 'Gibbed Guide' and the name I'll post under credits.

Getting this hair style was my first introduction to hacking Mass Effect with the Gibbed Save Editor. After following a simple tutorial, I had changed her hair. And because I liked the idea of my Shepard looking not quite 100% normal after the Lazarus Project, I gave her a pair of glowing white eyes to go with the trauma of being brought back. Use the masseffectsaves.com website that Tanka mentioned. Gibbed (the guy who made the DA:O and DA2 save game generators/editors) also has an ME2 save game editor. I believe if you import a saved game from ME1 to ME2 and then use Gibbed's editor, you can change plot flags for your character's decisions from ME1 as well.

[00] Credits
[01] How to open and edit Mass Effect 2 savegames
[02] How to locate and modify general aspects in a savegame
[03] How to change the name of your character
[04] How to change your class mid-game (and/or give yourself talent points)
[05] How to change your hair (only female hairs so far):
[06] How to change 'colours' on hair, eyebrows, eyes, skins, etc

Mass Effect 2 Gibbed Save Editor Change Romance Free


[06a] Special builds
[07] How to save your face (for later use):
[08] How to 'import' (i.e. replace) a face:
[09] How to get the vanilla hero male/female poster face:
[10] How to change your in-game gender:
[11] How to romance same gender crew members NOT intended by Electronic Arts/BioWare
[11a] Route 1 (the most easy one)
[11b] Route 2 (Advanced)
[12] Extras
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[01] How to open and edit Mass Effect 2 savegames
  1. If you have not done so, download Gibbed's Mass Effect 2 Save Editor
  2. locate and load the savegame you want to edit
    Each Mass Effect 2 career have it's own unique directory. under Windows XP you can find the directory root folder here:
    ../Documents and Settings/YourComputerID/My Documents/BioWare/Mass Effect 2/Save
  3. Make modifications and save the changes, then click on the 3rd icon (top left) that looks like an ancient 3.5' floppy disk, a window will pop up. Now you can change folder, overwrite or simply give your modified savegame a new name. If you give your save a new name, follow the naming restrictions to be safe i.e. if you do not want to overwrite your (example) Save_0001.pcsav save, then just save it as Save_0002.pcsav - when making major changes, try to not overwrite your original save if you messed up without knowing it.
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[02] How to locate and modify general aspects in a savegame
  1. open Gibbed's Mass Effect 2 Save Editor and load the savegame you want to modify
  2. click the 'Raw' tab
  3. under '[-] 2. Squad' click on '[+] Player' to expand the branch
  4. Here you will find lots of good stuff to modify.
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  1. Under the 'Raw' tab, '[-] 2. Squad', and a expanded '[+] Player' located the 'First Name' field.
  2. Left click on the field that contains the actual name, and simply change it.
  3. Save and load your savegame into the game to see the changes.
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[04] How to change your class mid-game (and/or give yourself talent points)
  1. In-game calculate how much 'Talent Points' your character would have after a respec and write it up, then load the savegame you want to modify with Gibbed's Mass Effect 2 Save Editor.
  2. Under the 'Raw' tab, '[-] 2. Squad', and a expanded '[+] Player' located these two fields directly under [+] Appearance:
    Class Friendly name
    Class Name
  3. In order to now change your class to a new one replace the actual class data in Class Friendly name and Class Name fields with this information:
    To become a Sentinel
    Class Friendly name: 93951
    Class Name: SFXGame.SFXPawn_PlayerSentinel
    To become a Soldier
    Class Friendly name: 93952
    Class Name: SFXGame.SFXPawn_PlayerSoldier
    To become a Engineer:
    Class Friendly name: 93953
    Class Name: SFXGame.SFXPawn_PlayerEngineer
    To become a Adept:
    Class Friendly name: 93954
    Class Name: SFXGame.SFXPawn_PlayerAdept
    To become an Infiltrator
    Class Friendly name: 93955
    Class Name: SFXGame.SFXPawn_PlayerInfiltrator
    To become an Vanguard:
    Class Friendly name: 93956
    Class Name: SFXGame.SFXPawn_PlayerVanguard
  4. Your talent points will reset to 'null' after a class change in the editor, so locate the field 'Talent Points' and enter the memorized number of your actual character (or cheat away with a bigger number).
  5. Save and load the savegame and then distribute the talent points to your new class. You have to re-drag most battle icons since your class change often use new ones.
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[05] How to change your hair (only female hairs so far):
If you have more hair codes (especially males) post them to okogawa@hotmail.com with topic 'Gibbed haircodes'. Also post a 'signature' name if you want to be credited.
  1. Under the 'Raw' tab, '[-] 2. Squad', expand '[+] Player', expand [+] Appearance and then expand [+] Morph Head:
  2. Under 'Hair Mesh' replace the right field with any of these meshes you cannot get in the normal face builder:
    Important: Might be wise to copy your orginal settings so you later can change back.
    BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mom.HMF_HIR_Mom_MDL
    BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Cyberbabe.HMF_HIR_Cyb_MDL
    BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Ashley.HMF_HIR_PROAshley_MDL
    BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Sexy.HMF_HIR_Sxy_MDL
    BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mohawk.HMF_HIR_Mhk_MDL
  3. Locate the 'Texture Parameters' field, click the right field (Collection) [...]
  4. Locate these four fields and change the 'value' to:
    For the 'BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mom.HMF_HIR_Mom_MDL'
    Hair_Diff: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mom.HMF_HIR_Mom_Diff
    Hair_Norm: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mom.HMF_HIR_Mom_Norm
    Hair_mask: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mom.HMF_HIR_Mom_Mask
    Hair_tang: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mom.HMF_HIR_Mom_Tang
    For the 'BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Cyberbabe.HMF_HIR_Cyb_MDL'
    Hair_Diff: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Cyberbabe.HMF_HIR_Cyb_Diff
    Hair_Norm: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Cyberbabe.HMF_HIR_Cyb_Norm
    Hair_mask: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Cyberbabe.HMF_HIR_Cyb_Mask
    Hair_tang: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Cyberbabe.HMF_HIR_Cyb_Tang
    For the 'BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Ashley.HMF_HIR_PROAshley_MDL'
    Hair_Diff: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Ashley.HMF_HIR_PROAshley_Diff
    Hair_Norm: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Ashley.HMF_HIR_PROAshley_Norm
    Hair_mask: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Ashley.HMF_HIR_PROAshley_Mask
    Hair_tang: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Ashley.HMF_HIR_PROAshley_Tang
    For the 'BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Sexy.HMF_HIR_Sxy_MDL'
    Hair_Diff: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Sexy.HMF_HIR_Sxy_Diff
    Hair_Norm: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Sexy.HMF_HIR_Sxy_Norm
    Hair_mask: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Sexy.HMF_HIR_Sxy_Mask
    Hair_tang: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Sexy.HMF_HIR_Sxy_Tang
    For the 'BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mohawk.HMF_HIR_Mhk_MDL'
    Hair_Diff: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mohawk.HMF_HIR_Mhk_Diff
    Hair_Norm: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mohawk.HMF_HIR_Mhk_Norm
    Hair_mask: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mohawk.HMF_HIR_Mhk_Mask
    Hair_tang: BIOG_HMF_HIR_PRO.Mohawk.HMF_HIR_Mhk_Tang
  5. Save and load the Savegame in ME2
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Gibbed Mass Effect 2 Editor


[06] How to change 'colours' on hair, eyebrows, eyes, skins, etc
Interesting facts: Many don't notice it, but ME1 facial options contain broader colour ranges than the ones offered in ME2. For some very strange reason BioWare decided to normalize colour ranges for ME2. Thus, before Gibbed's Mass Effect 2 Save Editor, then only way to get Freemen (Dune) 'blue within blue' eyes was to make a character in ME1 and then import it into ME2 *without* doing extra modifications in the new facial editor. After lot's of tweaking here is my results...
  1. Under the 'Raw' tab, '[-] 2. Squad', expand '[+] Player', expand [+] Appearance and then expand [+] Morph Head:
  2. Locate the 'Vector Parameters' field, click the left field (Collection) [...]
  3. Then decide on what you want to change:
    How to change eye iris-colour:
    1. Find the field: 'EYE_Iris_Colour_Vector' and press the (on the right side) '[+] value' field to have it expanded.
    2. Enter a new eye iris colour.
    If you get any interesting eye, hair or skin colours feel free to post the colour codes (with description) to: okogawa@hotmail.com with topic 'Gibbed colour codes'. Also post a 'signature' name if you want to be credited. If you make a interesting 'build' feel free to forward it as I posted on my 'Quarian' example.
    Important facts: At first the numbers can look quite overwhelming, but they are actually simple R G B values that can be rounded down or up.
    To get you started I'll post some interesting eye iris colour values (don't be afraid to experiment yourself). Please be advised that I'll post 'direct' colour ranges (example): '0,9, 0,0, 0,0, 1' which you translate to this for the expanded '[+] value' field:
    A: 1
    B: 0,0
    G: 0,0
    R: 0,9
    Red eyes (normal): 0,1, 0,0, 0,0, 1
    Red eyes (light): 0,9, 0,0, 0,0, 1
    Red eyes (glowing): 0,10, 0,0, 0,0, 1
    Red eyes (spooky): 0,20, 0,0, 0,0, 1
    Blue eyes (unnatural): 0,0, 0,0, 0,1, 1
    Blue eyes (artificial): 0,0, 0,0, 0,9, 1
    Blue eyes (glowing): 0,0, 0,0, 0,10, 1
    Blue eyes (spooky): 0,0, 0,0, 0,20, 1
    Purple eyes (light): 1, 1, 6, 1
    Purple eyes (glowing): 1, 1, 10, 1
    Grey eyes (normal): 0,7893139, 0,7372048, 0,6592241, 1
    Gray eyes (nearly white) 0,9893138, 0,9372048, 0,9592241, 1
    White eyes (glowing): 10, 10, 10, 1
    White eyes (spooky): 20, 20, 20, 1
    Yellow eyes (glowing): 10, 10, 0, 1
    To get totally unique 'black alien eyes' (more blackish than Drell) change:
    Field: EYE_Iris_Colour_Vector: 0, 0, 0, 1
    Field: EYE_White_Colour_Vector: 0, 0, 0, 1
    To return to the original eyeball colour:
    EYE_White_Colour_Vector (original value): 0,7893139, 0,6372048, 0,5592241, 1
    To change skin colour find the field: 'SkinTone'
    Vampire skin: 0,9592996, 0,7488649, 0,6083597, 1
    Normal skin (whitish): 0,9592996, 0,6488649, 0,5083597, 1
    Normal skin (basic): 0,7592996, 0,3488649, 0,2083597, 1
    Normal skin (lighter): 0,9592996, 0,4488649, 0,3083597, 1
    Gray skin: 0,3488649, 0,3488649, 0,3488649, 1
    Eyeball skin: 0,7893139, 0,6372048, 0,5592241, 1
    Ice queen: 1, 1, 4, 1
    Hair and eye-brow colour:
    1. Find the field: 'HED_Hair_Colour_Vector' (hair colour) and 'HED_Addn_Colour_Vector' (eye-brows) and press the (on the right side) '[+] value' field to have it expanded
    2. Enter a new colour...
  4. Save and load the Savegame in ME2
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Quarian build (look under extra section on my Tali in-game face images):
Field: EYE_Iris_Colour_Vector: 5, 5, 20, 1
Field: EYE_White_Colour_Vector: 5, 5, 20, 1
Field: SkinTone: 0,6893139, 0,6372048, 0,9893139, 1
Field: HED_Hair_Colour_Vector: 0,6893139, 0,6372048, 0,9893139, 1
Field: HED_Addn_Colour_Vector: 0,5893139, 0,5372048, 0,8893139, 1
Vampire build:Editor
Field: EYE_Iris_Colour_Vector: 0,20, 0,0, 0,0, 1
Field: EYE_White_Colour_Vector: 0,7893139, 0,6372048, 0,5592241, 1
Field: SkinTone: 0,9592996, 0,7488649, 0,6083597, 1
Field: HED_Hair_Colour_Vector: 0,7893139, 0,6372048, 0,5592241, 1
Field: HED_Addn_Colour_Vector: 0,7893139, 0,6372048, 0,5592241, 1
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[07] How to save your face (for later use):
  1. open Gibbed's Mass Effect 2 Save Editor and load any savegame with a face you want to 'store'.
  2. click the 'Toolbox' tab
  3. click the 'Export' button.
    Move out of the savegame directory and make a new folder in the Save-root folder called 'Faces'.
  4. Save your 'face' with an self-explanatory title so you know what it is.
[Top]Romance
  1. open Gibbed's Mass Effect 2 Save Editor and load any savegame where you want to 'change' the face in.
  2. click the 'Toolbox' tab, and press the 'Import' button.
  3. Enter your 'face directory' and load the face you want.
  4. Save your changes.
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[09] How to get the vanilla hero male/female poster face:
  1. open Gibbed's Mass Effect 2 Save Editor and load any savegame where you want to have the 'poster face'.
  2. Under the 'Raw' tab, '[-] 2. Squad', and a expanded '[+] Player' expand '[+] Appearance', locate the field called: 'Has Morph Head', and change 'True' to 'False'.
    Interesting facts: to change the 'poster face' back to the 'playermade' version, just change the 'Morph Head' field back to 'True' and import a new face. WARNING: Failure to import a face after this change will lead to a corrupted savegamee if you SAVE the changes before importing!
  3. Save and load the savegame to see the changes.
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  1. open Gibbed's Mass Effect 2 Save Editor and load any savegame you want to genderchange.
  2. Under the 'Raw' tab, '[-] 2. Squad', and a expanded '[+] Player' locate the field called 'Is Female'.
  3. If you are a 'male' in game, change 'Is Female = False to True'
  4. If you are a 'female' in game, change 'Is Female = True to False'
  5. Save and load the game.
Interesting facts: You might encounter 'head' glitches' when changing gender! If you only changed your gender to just 'activate' a romance flag (I'll explain more about that later) don't worry about it. Activate the romance, save the game, then load the editor and gender change back.
Important facts: *IF* you receive a headglitch and plan to play 'a bit' longer or 'permanently' as a new gender, just fix the glitch with the instructions above on 'How to 'import' (i.e. replace) a face' and 'How to get the vanilla hero male/female poster face'. Remember that player generated faces are different for male/female so make sure to have some alternatives in the 'face' directory, or simply use the vanilla poster faces.
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[11] How to romance same gender crew members NOT intended by Electronic Arts/BioWare
Optional: In Mass Effect 2 go to Options/Gameplay and turn on: Subtitles
The only 'same gender' romances which have full recorded voice (Jennifer Hale) is the Morinth and Kelly Chambers ones. All other 'non-intended' romances lack Mark Meer/Jennifer Hale voice-overs. In order to be able to 'experience' a non-intended romance (F/F or M/M) you MUST turn on 'Subtitles' in the game.
You can romance these characters as a female Shepard:
Tali'Zorah nar RayyaGibbed mass effect 3 romance
Subject Zero
Miranda Lawson
You can romance these characters as a male Shepard:
Garrus Vakarian
Thane Krios
Jacob TaylorGibbed
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Play the game with the 'BioWare intended gender' for a romance i.e. male for Tali, then when you get mission to cross into the Omega-4 relay do NOT do it, instead SAVE THE GAME and 'genderchange', then load the genderchanged savegame and open the galactic map, now manually enter the Omega-4 relay. Romance will play out perfect, even after you defeated the collectors and decide to 'keep playing'.
To understand what I talk about, download my F/F Tali romance savegames and read the readme:
URL: http://www.mediafire.com/?nzj1hmutmmn
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[11b] Route 2 (Advanced)
Due to the complicated nature and crash issues many people have had with it, please follow Route 1 if possible, else do as this:
Play the game with the gender you want, then do NOT click on the 'personal topic selection' when talking to crew members you plan to romance UNTIL you have done their personal quest. Also, you MUST save your game before you actually (do NOT overwrite it) talk to this person. Now, change your gender to the BioWare INTEDED one for the romance i.e. if you want to romance Tali, be a MALE when you talk with her. When the romance is triggered, change back to your (in this case female) gender and keep playing. Repeat this step when needed i.e. most romances force you to 'genderchange' at least 2 and 3 times to 'advance it'. In Tali's case it's two times. Failure to genderchange at proper time WILL lead to nasty issues. If you think this is to messy, then go Route 1 instead.
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Here you have some eye-candy images from my F/F Tali romance:
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
To see Tali's real in-game face browse my Tali-face image folder
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Be safe all!
Okogawa