Mass Effect

[Hill-Shatar]

Given that I am posting the opinions of people tonight, I ran out of room in the above post. Let it be noted that any relevant news will be immediately linked to the top post.

Originally Posted by ACesion

Here are just some ideas i thought would be cool if they were featured in Mass Effect.This may be a bit long.

-Customization of all aspects of your character such as hair color
Armor/equipment color
Group insignia
Customize weapons with different add ons to make its Effects and power change different weapons could have Different amount of hardpoints for add ons
If you have a house then customize it in a simish way as far at the layout of your house

-Customization of ship
Weaponry
Design or color as well as insignia to match your team one
Control over the item in your ship

Things that would be cool
Fly your ship
Free Exploration of enviroment morrowind status
vehicals
first person perspective throught whole game even in vehicals and cinimatic parts of the story
No levels just graduale improvements techniques and attacks could be learned through trainers
No classes, allow people to become whatever they want by prosuing thier intrests
If you have ships or Vehicals should have hardpoints in which they take more dammage ie if the shield generator of a ship was destroyed it should lose its shield or if a gun was hit it is destroyed or a vehical can lose a tire etc.
Death could be handled by cloning
An active economy like in gazzilionare if anyone has ever played that game.
many professions such as mining and creating item
Characters should be active during battle if you shoot and enemys foot his walking is impeeded or if you throw a grenade a rock may shoot off and hit an enemy the blood from the enemy then splashes onto the soldier next to him
Characters also need active maping in which when they get shoot blood does not only sqirt out but gets on thier armor and such
Randomly generated quests such as a kill x at y location and several differnt varients
Landscapes that react to differnt forces a grenade creates a hole not just a bumpmap
limited ammount of items to carry and weapons should be shown on character, on his back or leg item limitation by space and weight
Eating and sleep cycles night and day should be a must
THe character should change in apearance as he progresses hair gets longer gets a tan or buffs up
optional things to do such as mini games when you just want to chill out
HUD should be built into the item meaning if you have no helment there is not hud but if you have an epiece thier is and the info given depends on the complexity of the item if you can use vehicals or ships the hud should be built in like the dash board of a car
and lastly it should feel realistic

I told you it was long anyways if you have anything else just add it or if you have complaint to something just state why its not a good idea well anyways those are my two cents for making this game cool some of it may have been confusing but whatever. THe game seems to be shaping up cool but just to put that added edge on it some of these ideas may help and Multi-player for the love of GOD they could be the other people in your party.

[Hill-Shatar]

From the administrator of Xbox Evolved... elsewhere.

Hi! I run a website called Xbox Evolved, and I would just like to let you guys know about some info I got with an interview with the CEOs of Bioware and the Producer of Mass Effect! Also let me say, not only are the people at Bioware nice on the internet, in real-life they are unbelievably nice

You can read the interview here: Click Here I'm sorry if any of this info is old to you, after all I'm just a guy who loves Bioware games, you guys are the hardcore so you might have already heard it somwhere! Anyways:

-Your lead character is completely customizable all the way down to the face.
-Difficulty settings are likely
-On the rumor going on about JE2 being on PS3 (I wrote these questions originally in early October), all Ray had to say was "we're working on not just one, but two Xbox 360 titles. Enough said " So hopefully that should put that rumor to rest, unless they plan for it to be multi-platform, but I really doubt it.
-More details on the game, including Live features will be revealed soon
-The entire Mass Effect trilogy should see Xbox 360 release, and the story arc for the games is pretty much complete.
-Uses a special dialog system
-Surprising to me, according to Greg, developing for Xbox 360 only has one huge difference to him, and that is the increase in horse power.
-Your squadron/party can have up to three characters in it at a time, AI will control them, but you can switch over to them to directly control them, or you can give them orders to make AI do what you want.

No, the unofficial FAQ has not been updated. Trust me, I check daily.

I have been updating the top post, so check whenever you want, but also remember that some of the sites listed are adding little tidbits weekly. You know, like today we have begun such-and-such and the like.

[TonyMontana1638]

Any news of Mass Effect coming to the PC? I wasn't planning on buying an XBox 360 until absolutely necessary (ie when the price drops at least 100 bucks), but I can't miss out on a bioware game that sounds this promising.

[Hill-Shatar]

They are continuing to keep Mass Effect an exclusive Xbox 360 title, for reasons unknown to me, as I did not major in economics in University.

From what I see, many have voiced there opinions both here and elsewhere that they are making a major mistake by keeping this to the Xbox 360. Whether or not they maintain that (ie The first titles make enough money that Bioware wants to extend to the more avid RPG players in the PC department) is unknown, however, there is always hope. Titles have always switched to other platforms, so you can never be sure.

I have already been keeping an eye out anyways, so rest assured, I even here a rumour, and it will be posted here... mostly because I do not like the idea of buying a console system for one game, perhaps two, if Jade 2 is going to be as good as 'they' say.

[TonyMontana1638]

Thanks Hill, I shall wait with baited breath for any news .

[Hill-Shatar]

Well you welcome Tony, but I think you may be holding your breath for a while.

Well, today I am going to be searching for any articles that GameBanshee News may have missed and add them on under GameBanshee News.

Out of curiosity, who is currently reading any updates, since I regularily update the top post, I just want to make sure that people are actually checking to see if it is... updated.

Anyways, other than that, if there is anything people want me to specifically search for, go right ahead and PM me, or, for convienience, post here...unless you are too shy.

EDIT: Also found this --> Also known as: Mass Effect: Chapter 1, BioWare RPG [Untitled Project]

EDIT again: Sorry, I could not find anything new.

[TonyMontana1638]

I'm checking the Mass effect updates here, along with the Dragon age, witcher and (infrequently, but still) Dark messiah updates. Don't worry Hill, your efforts have not been in vain .

[ch85us2001]

Originally Posted by Hill-Shatar

From what I see, many have voiced there opinions both here and elsewhere that they are making a major mistake by keeping this to the Xbox 360. Whether or not they maintain that (ie The first titles make enough money that Bioware wants to extend to the more avid RPG players in the PC department) is unknown, however, there is always hope. Titles have always switched to other platforms, so you can never be sure.

I don't mean to spam your thread hill, but it's my duty and calling.
IMO, there keeping it on the Xbox 360 because there in Microsofts backpocket.
Xbox likes to slap this nice little "Only on Xbox" tags on games.
Therefore more people will buy an Xbox 360 to play this game (they hope).
Bioware probably hopes this works in reverse to.
But, that's just my speculation and Xandax will probably crush my hopes and dreams with a nice little article or piece of logic as soon as he sees this. j/k.
This game *does* look like it *may* turn out better than I originally thought though .

[Hill-Shatar]

No, you are right, but a lot of us try to be optimistic.

This game, along with others, is going to be Xbox 360 exclusive. The console is supposed to be impressive technologically, but from I read, the PS3 is apparently going to be far superior. Whether or not this is true, I do not know. All I know is that Mass Effect is a game that is worth keeping an eye on.

As long as Microsoft has this game, and others, then they hold a lead over the market. These games are actually going to be using Xbox's technology to the limits. Considering the graphics being used in some of the games for this console on release date, that is saying something.

From what I see, this nice little group of games popping up only for Xbox 360 is a great way to increase profits for the game. It is a serious pain for PC players, however.

On another note, not much has popped up lately. Searching around the internet has actually brought up little. Going to go on a search for more soon.

[Hill-Shatar]

Well everyone, this is quite the news. GameBanshee now has a subsite dedicated to Mass Effect!

[ajdaha]

Let me start by saying that, I have been playing Bioware games since early 2003.
Its clear that Bioware developers are fans of motion pictures as they try to make their games feel very much like an entertaining and emotionally involving movie.
However, you have to understand that these are games and games are better than movies. There is a reason that games were invented, its to give us world to excape into. Not just a world we can watch.
My point is, that even though the story was great in your previous games, like Kotor II, one important element was missed. The gameplay.
In this next game, I believe you have a hit as you are basically combining everything that has made other sci-fi movies succesful. And the concept art is simply stunning, the vividness of one particular concept piece (the one with the outdoor swimming pool) makes me want to help you out so that you can get this vision out to the public in the absolutely best manner possible.
Just please, remmember, include a dynamic world, one with which we can interact. Static objects are a major downer for games, remeber that you have the Xbox 360, its a powerful machine, dont put it to shame, like so many of its games are doing. I want to be able to jump when not in combat. If I have some sorts of phsycic powers (i'm not sure how dark matter powers shall work) I want to be able to use my abilities dynamically outside of combat. Like the G-gun in HL2.
PS: About PoV, I think the 3rd person view is good, maybe if you could, a third person view with a cross-arrow can be used. I'm not a big fan of the first person view.
Anyway, good luck, I dont usually post about developing games, but I have been charmed by you, and I hope you take the right path.
: )
(PPS: almost forgot, I dont like micromanaging the team. I dont like having a team at all. Could you make it so that if we play without a team we can become more powerful, - team members than a person playing +team memebers.) otherwise I feel like I am almost forced to play with them to become as powerful as possible.
: )

[TonyMontana1638]

Yay! A subsite that contains all of the exact information that we get here thanks to Hill .

I have an announcement to make: I AM GETTING AN XBOX 360!!!!
... Or well at least my friend is, he stayed inline from 8 in the morning till 8 at night to get one, and, naturally, I'm gonna be using it more than he is!!!
I may actually get to play this game sometime!

@ Ajadha: What's wrong with parties? I think they definitely add more to the experience than going it alone (take Morrowind for example). It forces Bioware to create more personalities, stories, etc. for these characters: what was the best part about BGII for example? The story and ungodly amount of gameplay, yes, but also the NPCS! They gave the game so much more depth, made it so much more immersive! All of the best mods for the game that are being/ have been created are created NPC characters that make you wanna go back and play again, just so you can figure their story out! In all honesty I enjoy team-rpg types more than solo ones...

[Hill-Shatar]

Yay! A subsite that contains all of the exact information that we get here thanks to Hill .

It was Buck all the way.

I wouldn't mind if they made it possible to go wtihout parties in some areas of the game, or at least have actual AI's for the party members.

[ajdaha]

Yes this subsite shall be home to much good I can see.

About parties: Sure, its good when you wish to enjoy a storyline that involves multiple characters to enjoy it from, but I really dont like having to pick these characters up (like in the Kotor games). Since they are not my character they end up (for me at least) absorbing some of the attention and involvement that I would give to my main had there been no party at all. As an end result they ended up taking away from my experience with the main. I'm sure this is the opposite reaction that was expected when Bioware decides to include multiple characters to control.
The party members at least in Kotor (I and II) weren't important when you advanced to the higher levels, they ended up as nuisances as I took the time to choose their skills at level up. I found that I really didn't care about them, because the game didn't make use of their skills at the turning points in the story, that's something that I hate. If you do make team members a must, could you at least make sure that unlike every other rpg game to date the actual skill levels of all the characters make some sort of a change in how people react to you. I mean if you're in a bar and you're bulging with muscles you wouldn't expect a loner to start a fight with you. And in the same way, when in between a major boss batle, if with one single shot I decrease the enemies health to half its original, I expect that enemy to run for his life! Not continue his egotistic laughter and keep swinging at me.
You made a good start with Kotor, with the persuade system and things like that. But maybe (and I know I sound like a certain kid in an orphanage) you could add some more?
Good luck...

[Phreddie]

Hill, in the xbox evolved section you quoted above the "we're working on not just one, but two Xbox 360 titles. Enough said " part, unless that is a hint at JE2 (has that been anounced yet?) it is possible he could be refering to a KOTOR 3? or am jujst being to hopeful?

I like the Idea about vehicles, the only problem would be combat with that.. ridding around on an uncahrted world, you might run into a few hostile creatures... could you just run them over, or shoot them out the window? i tihnk id like futuristic drive bys...