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The Mass Effect Community Thread
- Thread starter shinobi602
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In Mass Effect 4, I would love to explore Citadel of this scale.
Make that 8 gb ram count Bioware.
Always liked that other art of the Citadel :
digoutyoursoul
Member
For me, as a gamer since the SNES days, it's the best ip I've played. It has it faults of course and I know many on GAF find piss samples more enjoyable than Mass Effect but I just took to it from the start.
When I saw that X06 walkthrough trailer I went out and bought a 360 the next day and from the art style, the uncharted worlds (with that track playing in the background ) to the characters over the three games, Mass Effect is the franchise for me above all the other brilliance such as the Uncharteds, Marios, Star Fox, GTAs I have been fortunate enough to play over the years.
When I saw that X06 walkthrough trailer I went out and bought a 360 the next day and from the art style, the uncharted worlds (with that track playing in the background ) to the characters over the three games, Mass Effect is the franchise for me above all the other brilliance such as the Uncharteds, Marios, Star Fox, GTAs I have been fortunate enough to play over the years.
One thing that has always irked about the franchise is that the characteristics noted in the codex does not really match up with the aliens especially when it comes to combat. They all tend to fight like a humans.
Perhaps they'll get close to this:
http://i.minus.com/ibzZ1gzX0ffgCQ.gif
Or this:
http://i.minus.com/ibsgXRoHhz7xh5.gif
Or if we are very very lucky, at least for the NPCs with top priority something like this:
http://i.minus.com/ivy0WOfrd9qjz.gif
Perhaps they'll get close to this:
http://i.minus.com/ibzZ1gzX0ffgCQ.gif
Or this:
http://i.minus.com/ibsgXRoHhz7xh5.gif
Or if we are very very lucky, at least for the NPCs with top priority something like this:
http://i.minus.com/ivy0WOfrd9qjz.gif
Barrow Roll
Member
You guys are crazy if you think a random throwaway NPC is going to go beyond the character creation assets. If the new character creator is amazing then we'll see some amazing NPCs.
You do realize I wrote "top priority" NPCs...
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
gettin them scoops
EDIT: Actual info:
Mako and planet exploration confirmed. Alert the gaming press.
My dream ME4 would be a game with the size and scope of Mass Effect 1, touring the new galaxy now that the threat of the Reapers is forever over, maybe actually elaborate on the concepts of technological singularity and the inevitable war between organic and synthetic, with Mass Effect 2's strong focus on characterization. It'd probably be a good idea to make the game smaller scale, as it's hard to top the extermination of all organic life.
Also, Volus squadmate, please.
Also, Volus squadmate, please.
shinobi602
Member
lolwat
Frostbite 3+ next-gen, I expect NPCs to look vastly superior to what we got in ME1-ME3.
Yes, yessssssssss
They need to do better with NPC models esp, the ones who will speak. Granted it is better than Kotor where it was galaxy of clones but it still has some ways to go esp. in the dead eyes department:
A lot of things like skin and eye shaders are largely automatic technological effects as long as you apply materials correctly, so that's something you should see across the board.
While this is true, the "detail" (like creases on the skin, asymmetry) in Beyond is pretty much next gen in itself for main characters with perhaps better lighting and polys. And that level of detail will not be seen in regular NPCs due to its time consuming nature. That is why it makes me wonder why is not there a middleware that acts like a randomizer of faces drawing from a set of existing parts and putting them together encapsulated within certain parameters.
Also, while the next gen brings us a greater capacity to draw more polys on screen, clever design of NPCs can negate the necessity to dump more triangles to make them look better. Here's an example from PS3 version of deus ex human revolution:
http://i.minus.com/ieHKGoDBjwBao.gif
Returning to the point, I would say that the main characters, with whom the protagonist can be foreseen to stick with beyond ME4, deserve that kind of attention.
And I really hope they get the human female models right this time. Both Ashley and Miranda's models were unsettling.
Previous entries into the franchise relied on an automated context sensitive animation system for parts spent in dialogue mode. I saw the Krogan and Vega do same moves with their hands during certain dialogue sequences. Once you realize that it's the same animation system overlayed upon all characters, it can be immersion breaking, especially if the pattern emerges easily or is readily identifiable. Perhaps next gen, they can increase that number to avoid early detection by keen observers. Ultimately, the "Dead eyes" is a part of that problem.
Barrow Roll
Member
I did not, my apologies.
Like I said, if the character creation assets are amazing, and assuming that all NPCs are just made out of the character creator again, then the NPCs will likely look great. Of course they'll look better than ME1-3, it's next gen.
Here's hoping.
Kadayi
Banned
I wouldn't hold out for photo realistic skin etc. Any game where there's a lot of interaction means that they need to maintain a consistent level of detail across the whole and even with next gen I doubt they're going to want to sacrifice too much RAM on that vs the general appearance of characters as well as variety in terms of the environments.
I expect a lot more options in terms of haircuts, facial arrangement etc, etc, but I doubt you'll have much freedom to terms of character build as the game will be 'hero' orientated, however I hope the same rules don't apply to NPCs.
I expect a lot more options in terms of haircuts, facial arrangement etc, etc, but I doubt you'll have much freedom to terms of character build as the game will be 'hero' orientated, however I hope the same rules don't apply to NPCs.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Photo realistic textures, sure, but lighting/shadows/shaders that greatly enhance the appearance of skin, absolutely. Like Nirolak said, a lot of improvements that come with moving to a fancy new engine aren't necessarily things that artist need to slave away on or juggle with tight hardware resources. Their effects and shaders coded into the bank-end of the engine and fairly easy to implement. Give a slight subsurface scattering look to skin should be effortless on Frostbite 3, and help Mass Effect 4 avoid that gross plastic look.
Ugh. Lets not do that.
I would prefer something like what L.A. Noir tried to do, but in space.
The problem is that they already did this. It was called the war between the Geth and the Quarians.
Just one major reason that the ending to ME3 made no sense.
That's what I meant. If this is such a huge problem, one of the primary concepts behind the series, maybe it should be elaborated upon. I honestly do think it's a really cool idea, but the slipshod presentation of the topic, exploding it from a minor subplot that was already resolved to
the entire motivation behind the Reaper's galactic genocide
So Patryn kind of brought this up in the other thread, but I had been intending to for a day or so now after reading EatChildren's thread and looking at EA's financial materials/statements.
I feel that March 2015 is actually a pretty likely release date for Mass Effect 4, based on the following (sometimes long) reasons:
EA's interim CEO (and old CEO) has set the company back on its old mantra of having top line (revenue) and bottom line (profit) growth every year. Given that during his 7 year tenure he most achieved this, he presumably has set up EA's release slate very specifically with this goal in mind.
Now, as of this current fiscal year (March 2013-April 2014), EA is releasing a grand total of three non-annualized games. Those games are FUSE, Battlefield 4, and The Sims 4. Given that FUSE was projected to sell nigh zero copies, we can assume it was irrelevant in any year over year title slate decisions since he took over. The Sims 4 is a casual oriented game releasing after the holidays and at the end of the fiscal year, so between tail end sales and inevitable expansion packs, it's relatively easy to see how Maxis could manage year over year growth. EA Sports' revenue growth will presumably be centered entirely around marginal increases to their annual sports titles and the addition of UFC.
Now, this leaves us with the EA Games label, which BioWare is once again a part of. While EA is effectively only releasing one non-annualized title in it this year (lol holy shit), that title is going to sell 18-20+ million copies. This means that despite the extremely low title count, EA actually needs a highly impressive line-up to grow year over year. As of today, the only EA Games label titles we know slated for next fiscal year (April 2014 - March 2015) are TitanFall and Dragon Age 3. Dragon Age averages around 4-5 million copies an entry, and given that Peter Moore kept comparing TitanFall to Gears of War positioning wise, presumably they're hoping for at least 4-5 million by the end of the fiscal year there as well.
So this leaves us at about 8-10 million so far, and even if we assume EA is optimistic, at most 12 million in projected sales. We have an 6-10 million unit gap to fill at this point. EA has said Visceral's new IP is unveiling soon, but as a new IP not made by the creators of CoD, they probably don't expect more than 3 million units for the first one. The only other possible launches in that window consist of Mirror's Edge 2 (which has a release date of "when it's ready"), Battlefront 3 (which is still in the rough concept phase as of today, so fairly unlikely), and Mass Effect 4, which will have had 3 years of development at that point, and Yanick insisted it's been in development for quite a while when Shinobi complained the game would be years away. Given Mass Effect 3 seemingly also did around 4-5 million copies, by having the four I mentioned plus maybe some other notable game (or just lots of Battlefield DLC money), they could feasibly be aligned for growth that fiscal year.
On top of that, BioWare actually has three series now, so they can't shove all of them in different fiscal years given EA assigns 2 year cycles for projects once they're up and running, and usually new IPs are the things that get the longest development cycles at just about every publisher. A three year development cycle on Mass Effect 4 also only puts them at 6 months less than Dragon Age 3 had, and that game had to switch engines mid project and rework the engine to have all the functionality they needed for RPGs, which saves the BioWare Montreal a fair amount of time.
And here is what has been presented as skin so far in Frostbite 3 in various degrees of quality and competence:
I feel that March 2015 is actually a pretty likely release date for Mass Effect 4, based on the following (sometimes long) reasons:
EA's interim CEO (and old CEO) has set the company back on its old mantra of having top line (revenue) and bottom line (profit) growth every year. Given that during his 7 year tenure he most achieved this, he presumably has set up EA's release slate very specifically with this goal in mind.
Now, as of this current fiscal year (March 2013-April 2014), EA is releasing a grand total of three non-annualized games. Those games are FUSE, Battlefield 4, and The Sims 4. Given that FUSE was projected to sell nigh zero copies, we can assume it was irrelevant in any year over year title slate decisions since he took over. The Sims 4 is a casual oriented game releasing after the holidays and at the end of the fiscal year, so between tail end sales and inevitable expansion packs, it's relatively easy to see how Maxis could manage year over year growth. EA Sports' revenue growth will presumably be centered entirely around marginal increases to their annual sports titles and the addition of UFC.
Now, this leaves us with the EA Games label, which BioWare is once again a part of. While EA is effectively only releasing one non-annualized title in it this year (lol holy shit), that title is going to sell 18-20+ million copies. This means that despite the extremely low title count, EA actually needs a highly impressive line-up to grow year over year. As of today, the only EA Games label titles we know slated for next fiscal year (April 2014 - March 2015) are TitanFall and Dragon Age 3. Dragon Age averages around 4-5 million copies an entry, and given that Peter Moore kept comparing TitanFall to Gears of War positioning wise, presumably they're hoping for at least 4-5 million by the end of the fiscal year there as well.
So this leaves us at about 8-10 million so far, and even if we assume EA is optimistic, at most 12 million in projected sales. We have an 6-10 million unit gap to fill at this point. EA has said Visceral's new IP is unveiling soon, but as a new IP not made by the creators of CoD, they probably don't expect more than 3 million units for the first one. The only other possible launches in that window consist of Mirror's Edge 2 (which has a release date of "when it's ready"), Battlefront 3 (which is still in the rough concept phase as of today, so fairly unlikely), and Mass Effect 4, which will have had 3 years of development at that point, and Yanick insisted it's been in development for quite a while when Shinobi complained the game would be years away. Given Mass Effect 3 seemingly also did around 4-5 million copies, by having the four I mentioned plus maybe some other notable game (or just lots of Battlefield DLC money), they could feasibly be aligned for growth that fiscal year.
On top of that, BioWare actually has three series now, so they can't shove all of them in different fiscal years given EA assigns 2 year cycles for projects once they're up and running, and usually new IPs are the things that get the longest development cycles at just about every publisher. A three year development cycle on Mass Effect 4 also only puts them at 6 months less than Dragon Age 3 had, and that game had to switch engines mid project and rework the engine to have all the functionality they needed for RPGs, which saves the BioWare Montreal a fair amount of time.
And here is what has been presented as skin so far in Frostbite 3 in various degrees of quality and competence:
60 FPS cross-gen:
BioWare cross-gen, probably 30 FPS:
Next-gen only, probably 30 FPS, seemingly using TressFX for hair as well. I'm guessing this is some kind of semi-realtime but not totally realtime mode:
https://twitter.com/KenThain/status/357248164035690496
Well, at least it's something. I guess it confirms there isn't going to be multiple race choices for the campaign?
Well, at least it's something. I guess it confirms there isn't going to be multiple race choices for the campaign?
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Yeah, but I figured that was a given. The logistics of a cinematic driven, voiced protagonist across multiple species didn't seem plausible. Unless they spent a heap on voice filters.
I'd imagine that at best you could have the various species that don't have voice modification, but that's about it.
As it stands that would pretty much limit you to humans and Asari, unless I'm blanking out on a species.
Well, I mean, the Krogan don't have a ton of modification, but they all sound gruff.
Turian might not be too hard.
Don't they all have voice modifications though? Except Asaris and Salarians maybe.
But yeah, i doubt we'll get something else than a human hero. And it's probably better to stick to one specific main character to make sure the story and cutscenes don't suffer from it.
patjburns89
Member
It's a small thing, but it's kinda cool seeing devs being able to openly (well, relatively) talk about the game they're working on in the early stages of development.
I really hope Bioware knocks it out of the park with this and DA3. Everyone loves a comeback story.
I really hope Bioware knocks it out of the park with this and DA3. Everyone loves a comeback story.
funkystudent
Member
I just hope they drop paragon/renegade in favour of a system with more grey choices. I dont want my character limited to being ether space jesus or a intergalactic hitler again.
I hope so but highly unlikely. In all fairness, I thought that some of the Renegade dialogue choices in ME3 were much more sensible compared to the occasional destructive stupidity of ME1 and ME2's renegade choices if I remember correctly.
AJ_Wings said:
Yeah, some of the ME3 renegade options(or rather interrupts) were a bit too...evil. Whether it was shooting
Mordin in the back
killing Samara's daughter
Renegade Shepard is supposed to be a badass, not a heartless asshole.
It depends on the game i suppose. Games in general loads very fast on my PC with 8gb of ram, but its with current gen games that were made for PS3/Xbox 360 in mind, so i have no idea how its going to be with next-gen.
Hopefully, not 30 secs loading screens.
shinobi602
Member
Love reading that in-depth analysis Nirolak
All makes sense too, very plausible. I was worried initially when first seeing their design doc pass only last month, but given what Yanick said coupled with your analysis, an ME4 release in 03/2015 after a holiday 2014 DA3 release makes sense. Especially when you take into account Dragon Age: Origins' release (11/2009) to ME2 (01/2010), about 2 months.
shinobi602
Member
sono
Member
Great picture, the guy reading the paper just complements it perfectly
In Mass Effect 4, I would love to explore Citadel of this scale.
Make that 8 gb ram count Bioware.
Quite the similarity between that and Elysium.
EDIT: Also, it's not 8GB for game development. 5GB for Xbone and unknown for PS4.
While this may be true, I will be playing Mass Effect 4 on a high end PC. ^_^
That said, even on Xbox 360 Psycho's face looked pretty good, so I wouldn't be overly worried.
On the one hand, the XB1 forces you to install games, the PS4 fully caches games to the hard drive, both blu-ray drives are faster, and engines like Frostbite 3 stream every frame so they don't need to load in giant chunks.
On the other hand, 5-7 GB of RAM is a *lot* to fill, even from a hard drive.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Here's the thing with Mass Effect: BioWare were wrestling with Unreal Engine 3, built for hardware specs with a very low ceiling. I expect Mass Effect 4 to be a next gen only game, not cross gen like Dragon Age 3. With that in mind, the ceiling on next generation consoles blows current generation out of the water. The leap in visual fidelity should be gigantic.
I hope you're right. And if you're right, i will have to either seriously upgrade my PC or buy the PS4 version. I love playing Mass Effect with a keyboard and mouse, but if the system requirements gets ridiculous... i guess i wont have much of a choice here. My PC already have trouble running Bioshock Infinite with ultra details, and that will probably look like nothing compared to a real next-gen(no cross gen) game.
anarckitty
Member
Who is the black dude to the left of Jacob, and what has he done with my Kaidan?
CharmingCharlie
Member
Not sure if you are serious but just in case you are the black dude is your shuttle pilot Steve Cortez and there is no sign of Kaiden because he was a tad bit atomized by a nuke on Virmire in this play through because Ashley is there.
Oddly enough of all the characters in Mass Effect I absolutely hated and detested Kaiden the simpering shit. I mean I wasn't a big fan of Jacob but even he didn't illicit the amount of loathing I had for Kaiden. I don't know why it is but I just found Kaiden so damn pathetic and "teenager" like that I wanted to give the Nuke on Virmire a medal posthumously for doing the galaxy a favour.
shinobi602
Member
My body is ready sir.
Kaidan's personality also barely changed during all 3 games compared to most other characters. He is as shitty and boring in ME3 as he was in ME1.
shinobi602
Member
I want bionic powers that breaks glass, bends metal and destroys foundations of buiildings.
I want to wreck shit in ME4.
I tried bud
I want bionic powers that breaks glass, bends metal and destroys foundations of buiildings.
I want to wreck shit in ME4.
After having played ME1 recently, i noticed how our Biotic powers (like Throw) could actually move some of the smaller boxes and stuff. Something that wasn't even possible in ME2 and ME3. Same with the fences and such that could be moved when Mako ran over them. There is also animated skyboxes in ME1, while its all static in ME2/ME3. Palaven burning during the moon mission felt disappointing for example. All that non-animated fire on the planet kinda killed the immersion. Felt like i was looking at a big painting instead of a planet in ruins.
Even though all ME games share the same engine, it still feels like ME1 is using a different one than ME2/ME3 because of small stuff like that. The later games looks better, but its like they sacrificed the more minor, but still nice, details.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
If I recall correctly, BioWare did want to have biotic powers rip apart the environment, but could never get it working on console limitations and UE3.
I am new to the forum, I tried to put this up as its own thread. Sorry for Trolling this feed, LOL.
I recently got the PS3 for The Last of Us. Now that its over I am in need of another game in the same format that I can sink my hours into Now. Any suggestions? (Both on games and on how I can get to the status of posting my own feed)
Thank you NeoGaffers,
TheOptimusKnight
I recently got the PS3 for The Last of Us. Now that its over I am in need of another game in the same format that I can sink my hours into Now. Any suggestions? (Both on games and on how I can get to the status of posting my own feed)
Thank you NeoGaffers,
TheOptimusKnight
Kaiden and James. Lol. Got rid of them as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
I'm not sure why you're asking this here, do you want us to convince you to buy the Mass Effect Trilogy? Because it's nothing like The Last of Us. Sure you could probably spend 100 hours playing all 3 games just once, each games last a good 30 hours at least if you do everything, if you want to spend a long time into a franchise.
So why not ask in the Last of Us thread?
I thought James was done pretty well. How did you get rid of him?
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