I haven't played Witcher 3. But in SWTOR it's the Imperial Agent storyline. You're undercover as a double agent and are mind-controlled by the Republic spies so that whenever you report to the Empire, you can't report anything which would harm the Republic. So the dialogue wheel has options which would reveal the mind control or tell the Empire about the Republic's plans, but all that comes out is "Still investigating. Nothing to report." Stuff like that.
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The Mass Effect Community Thread
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I haven't played Witcher 3. But in SWTOR it's the Imperial Agent storyline. You're undercover as a double agent and are mind-controlled by the Republic spies so that whenever you report to the Empire, you can't report anything which would harm the Republic. So the dialogue wheel has options which would reveal the mind control or tell the Empire about the Republic's plans, but all that comes out is "Still investigating. Nothing to report." Stuff like that.
That sound like a not very fun & not very user friendly way to play multiplayer. They should just keep their multiplayer mode similar to what ME3 had.
That actually sounds pretty cool. I just brought up TW3 in reference to the idea of dialogue not matching up with the choice on screen. Like selecting "no" making Geralt say "fuck you".
I think that's what they're going to do, but blown out a bit.
Some of the Mass Effect 3 MP maps were in the single player campaign as side missions. For example Firebase Reactor is the location for N7: Fuel Reactors. The Mass Effect: Andromeda campaign could have a similar overlap with the lone exception being that you can now bring friends in while you are completing that mission in the campaign.
There's no real dialog once you land in the mission area. Everything would be handled before entering the location.
It's not unique to W3 though, like I said in the last page, Mass Effect is even worse.
Of course it's not unique, I just find W3 the most memorable with how ridiculous it can get.
That would lead to a disjointed experience for the multiplayer experience (constantly being kicked and having to rejoin), and encourage a design that would encourage a clear separation of action and story, which would lead to less story/dialogue in the middle of missions.
Again, that would be detrimental to the single-player experience in my opinion.
I would feel the same way the entire campaign was structured that way. However, if it's just a certain set of side-mission it would be fine.
The Artisan
Member
You do realize I'm talking about a hypothetical local multiplayer right?
It would not affect the story at all. Everything would be same except that the screen would be split in half and you would be issuing commands to one squadmate instead of two.
Local splitscreen leads to degraded visual performance over just single player or networked MP, I believe.
It's part of the reason why Halo 5 ditched it. They couldn't get it to work without severely impacting the framerate, as I recall. Generally the tradeoff for having a stable framerate is simply not pushing the graphics as hard as they would if they only had to worry about a nonsplit screen scenario, so basically the game doesn't look as nice.
I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, simply explaining why I'm opposed to it.
The Artisan
Member
If that's true then it's a very valid point. Not that I don't believe you but could you give a source for that? I think I recall naughty dog saying that they didn't want to render everything twice and that's why it wasn't in Uc2 either, but it wasn't clear to me if having splitscreen would've affected the graphical fidelity of the single player.
Hell, Uc3 and killzone 3 both had it and they outdid their predecessors. Iirc gears of war always does it and they're among the best looking 360 games. I'm expected GoW4 to include it too.
The Artisan
Member
That's the thing though, going off of this quote it doesn't sound like including split screen would've affected single player/online multiplayer. They just didn't want to add it because it'll look too shit as split screen for their standards.
same with cod. I personally wouldn't care if there had to be some technical sacrifice to get splitscreen as long as it is independent of single player.
The only way I can see story-mode multi working is if friends can take control of existing squadmates. Using ME1-3 as an example would be if your squad is Shepard/Tali/Garrus, your friends can take control of Tali or Garrus meaning the writing wouldn't have to change. Of course I don't imagine they'd want to do this for performance reasons.
The Artisan
Member
well yeah, that's what I meant. Perhaps my posts were a little unclear
What they were saying is that they were unwilling to compromise on the graphical vision in order to accomodate split screen at 60 FPS.
The Mario Kart example says that adding it does drop the FPS.
I said that I'm expecting they're going to start with a target of 30 FPS, so they can't really drop below that, meaning their only option to have a stable framerate for split screen is to reduce the graphical quality, thus allowing it to be rendered multiple times without a dramatic hit to the framerate.
Basically A to B to C says to me that the graphics in games that have split screen either have graphics that are not as nice as they could be in single-player due to never having to deal with rendering it twice over, or they choose to take a framerate hit when doing splitscreen.
Regardless, we're arguing over a theoretical mode that likely won't exist.
I remain convinced that such a mode will lead to a diminished single player experience. You do not. Neither of us is going to change our mind.
I think we've hashed this out enough and we can move on.
The Artisan
Member
Word yeah but again last gen games like Uc3 and Kz3 pulled it off while still being graphically damn impressive, but yeah. It's probably not even going to happen in Me4. Let's move on.
JohnnyFootball
GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Are we arguing for a COOP experience in Mass Effect Andromeda?
No.
Please for the love of god NO.
No.
Please for the love of god NO.
The Artisan
Member
what multiplayer experience did ME have to offer?
And relax, Johnny. We just got done talking about it.
No because no? Coop by having humans take control of existing AI-controlled squad mates would have changed nothing. I think it's obvious they won't do it but let's not pretend it would affect anything.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Yeah, I'm not opposed to letting people take over the squaddies during a fight, but... it seems like it'd be kinda messy? There'd be nothing for them to do on the Normandy, so they'd have to load into each mission, which would probably be kinda awkward.
Nostremitus
Member
Why though? If you don't like it, just don't use it...
ME:3 multiplayer was great.
I'd love to be able to play through with my wife. We both love Mass Effect.
Well personally I didn't like how some levels in the singleplayer were obvious multiplayer maps.
crazyrabbits
Banned
All things considering, I think I liked ME3's side missions just a bit more than ME2. The latter had a lot of side missions, but most of them were very short affairs. There are only four I remember offhand (redirecting the missile launch, powering the Atlus to break through the rocks blocking your way, the abandoned ship and the rocky valley where you can go kill a leader of the Blood Pack) that were memorable in any way.
I liked what ME3 did, insofar as trying to change things up mid-mission (Cortez not being able to pick you up immediately because he's being shot at, that mission in the reactor with the radiation and choice to send a squadmate with the Alliance officer). Didn't really work, but it felt a bit more active and tense, which I liked overall.
I think that was simply them trying to repurpose the MP levels to add some more sidequests for single-player.
It doesn't really bug me, because all those missions were totally optional, useful only for raising your War Assets. I found them enjoyable, as well.
The Artisan
Member
I didn't see this post till now, but like, why? I don't see what the issue would be. If there's another controller connected, then just like on any other mission, player 1 goes to pick his two squadmates, and on the "are you sure?" prompt, right below there could be a "allow splitscreen gameplay?" option which would then give control of one of the squadmates to the second player. and it would be just that, an option.
exactly. you already nailed before what I wanted, anyway. i'm not sure what you thought I meant in the first place.
why is it awkward? it would be the general drop in, drop out splitscreen. what comes to mind is that really old spiderman game where player 1 and 2 would be spiderman and venom respectively. but if there isn't a second player, things would continue as normal. second player would only be there for combt.
right on, man. i suppose I am old enough to get married but I just don't have that love or money in my life yet, but being a gamer is definitely a part of me. I wonder how that will be when and if I ever get a wife. she may hate and cringe on it, or love it and embrace it like yours does.
AnathemicOne
Banned
So Mass Effect trilogy (for PC) still doesn't have all Mass Effect DLC? Is there any compiled product out there that does?
No. The only Bioware products that have done this is DA:Origins Ultimate Edition (pre-Bioware points?), and DA: Inquisition (post-Bioware points). At least Inquisition is a sign they're open to doing compiled/GOTY editions of future games.
The Artisan
Member
so if we're not playing as the guy from the trailer, is it really just nothing more than sort of a concept trailer? just showing what we're in for?
or maybe it is canon and the n7 guy is just another character in the game we will come across
or maybe it is canon and the n7 guy is just another character in the game we will come across
The Artisan
Member
well, all we do know is that we won't be him.
What would be bad about it being a concept trailer?
There wasn't really anything that unique or amazing about the guy in the trailer as compared to other characters in Mass Effect. I mean, he's not even a character and more just a visual.
The Artisan
Member
well no I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. Just wondering if the n7 had any hidden meaning other than you reminding us of what's to come.
George Oscar Bluth II
Banned
I think the N7 dude will be either an antagonist or someone who died during first contact with Andromeda natives. Your commanding officer maybe. I don't think the new playable Jesus will be N7.
Orange and black default colour scheme for our character which is basically the same as the ARKCON insignia. I think they'll be an explorer that has been trained in combat, not really a soldier in the military. Part of the intergalactic NASA or something.
Orange and black default colour scheme for our character which is basically the same as the ARKCON insignia. I think they'll be an explorer that has been trained in combat, not really a soldier in the military. Part of the intergalactic NASA or something.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Assuming that the Alliance government was not, in fact, intact at the time the Ark was sent out.
As the Alliance was still intact for the entirety of ME3, barring the Refusal ending, it had to have been.
Yes, most of the government died, but the chain of command held and it never really collapsed.
Nostremitus
Member
I always figured that finding someone who shares your interests is integral to finding a spouse. We have always gotten along because we share our hobbies. We don't get mad at each other when one of us goes on a gaming bender because we both understand, lol.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Technically, yeah. I'd say that at the point the games starts, the Systems Alliance as a functioning government is effectively blown up. The Parliament in Alpha Centauri is destroyed, and so is high command on Earth. That's all I meant.
But N7 is definitely still a thing (he realizes) because that's who we spend a fair bit of time playing as in Multi. So moot point
I missed this, but yeah my wife and I never argue about gaming. It helps that she prefers handhelds and I prefer consoles.
Hell, she's currently working on an Aigis cosplay outfit for PAX East.
Considering that they also tried to do one for DA2 I'd say this something that only DA team believes in for some reason.
The Artisan
Member
word, yeah. as long as something more urgent comes up and both you and her can divert attention, it's all good.
on a side note, i wouldn't mind if my spouse didn't wanna join as long as she didn't like despise it. but her wanting to join it would be just so much more fun.
At the very least it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that the removal of Bioware points from DA with Inquisition means no Bioware points for Andromeda. Then, at least the DLC may go on sale like every other product on Origin.
I'm not really talking about the physical survival of the Systems Alliance, but more the structural. We don't know exactly what happens when a group boards the Ark or potentially joins its fleet. Maybe a new Citadel Council becomes the de facto government. Does an alliance styled government make sense with such a small concentrated population? Stuff like that.Technically, yeah. I'd say that at the point the games starts, the Systems Alliance as a functioning government is effectively blown up. The Parliament in Alpha Centauri is destroyed, and so is high command on Earth. That's all I meant.
But N7 is definitely still a thing (he realizes) because that's who we spend a fair bit of time playing as in Multi. So moot point
There's interesting material there. I hope it's mined for some good stories. In many ways Andromeda could resemble the start of Alpha Centauri.
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