Mass Effect 2 (PC) has still not even been released and we’re already getting bombarded with questions from avid followers of the game. We’ve already made a post highlighting some of the common problems people seem to be having with ME2 but here’s another popular question that was directed to our E-mail inbox; How do you change the in game language in Mass Effect 2? Usually, you should be able to do this during the installation process. In case you missed it, you can still change the language without having to reinstall the entire game (which is a good thing because ME2 installer takes a lot of time too).
This is done by editing a game configuration file which is a pretty straightforward task.
- Browse to your Mass Effect 2 installation directory and look in the ‘data’ folder.
- Open sku.ini file with a text editor such as Notepad. Make a backup of this file before you alter it – this way you can revert to original if anything goes wrong.
- Edit the [SKU] section of the file so that it looks like the text below:
[SKU]
SKU=
VOLanguage=INT
TextLanguage=INT - Save and close the configuration editor.
VOLanguage parameter controls the voice language in Mass Effect 2 while TextLanguage controls which language in-game text are displayed. In the above example both are set to INT which is the language String in ME2 for English. If you want to switch to another language simply alter the sku.ini file, replacing the INT parameter with a language of your choice. Here are some language strings that are compatible with ME2:
- FR - French
- IT - Italian
- DE - German
- SP - Spanish
- INT – English
Note that above are languages that are bundled with MULTI5 version of the game. There may be additional languages in other versions (feel free to post working lang strings in comments). Obviously, this method will only work in Multilanguage versions of Mass Effect 2. If your copy is localized and does not include additional languages, this will not work.
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Don't work on my version. I have the international installed (as well as the russian and so on), I never had the choice of the language which is quite infuriating since I hate the french dubbing...
Thanks anyway
yes it doesn't work!!
better do not play with those files;
when you install the game the first interface got between 6 and 8 flags. choose the desired language and the game will the proper localized files.
Try ENG instead of INT.
It worked fine on my PC. Thanks for the info.
The trick described in the article above also works for the Polish version of the game (and may work for other east-EU countries as well). The Polish version already includes the english audio pack, so if you change VOlanguage to INT you will get english voiceovers.
To get english subtitles as well you have to change TextLanguage to INT and download the english version subtitle file (BIOGame_INT.tlk) and put it in the "Mass Effect 2\BioGame\CookedPC" folder.
You can find an english subs file here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Z6QJORVS
Thanks for the link Amarinth.
Up to that point I was struggling with the CCE version and when I set it to INT it only got me numbers for text.
Kinda strange when there's an "english" folder on the second dvd of the release.
So basically I bought the game, then I spent more than an hour installing it, getting it to talk (subtitles, no audio in Hungarian in the language I prefer practically hacking the thing) and finally launching it.
Somehow I'm geeting the feeling that I became the ultimate loser with the "bought" part.
The string for spanish is actually ESN
This worked to change the interface to English (but not the configuration utility) after I installed the German version (I wanted to hear the German VO actors, and I can't stand Martin Sheen) but after loading my ME1 save (English, and I didn't actually test it before) and tried to start a game, it stays in English audio/English subs even after I deleted the ME1 save and started a fresh game.
The string for german is DEU