The trailer was *amazing*. I'm trying to get it on Live too, but my Blue Dragon download seems to have taken all night. -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_mad.gif --<br><br>I'm just glad to see it'll be out this year still. I didn't think there was really any chance MS would put it out in August or Sept. with Halo already coming out.
Mass Effect
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November's good - as long as it's before Thanksgiving. I always take that week off and hole myself up with a game... this looks to be a perfect candidate.
Some new pictures! Bioware knows how to make nice shots. Really hoping for a PC release down the road.<BR><BR> View image: http://www.31012.com/images/massn1.jpg <BR><BR> View image: http://www.31012.com/images/massn2.jpg <BR><BR> View image: http://www.31012.com/images/massn3.jpg <BR><BR> View image: http://www.31012.com/images/massn4.jpg <BR><BR> View image: http://www.31012.com/images/massn5.jpg <BR><BR> View image: http://www.31012.com/images/massn8.jpg <BR><BR> View image: http://www.31012.com/images/massn7.jpg <BR><BR>Some of the textures still need more work, but the variety is very impressive.<BR><BR>Especially how big this game is supposed to be, and seeing those massive space battles from the trailer adds even more to that.
What's the fuzzy stuff along the top of the handrails in the second pic? Is that supposed to be reflection or is that some type of growth?
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dlr(2):<BR>What's the fuzzy stuff along the top of the handrails in the second pic? Is that supposed to be reflection or is that some type of growth? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>it looks to me like the water shader is glitching and using objects in the foreground for refraction, but i could be wrong.<BR><BR>Both the rails and her leg appear to be refracted in the water well behind.<BR><BR>Otherwise... HOT DAMN! Although in the 2nd to last pic, the guys face makes the fact that his suit is lower resolution REALLY stand out.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dlr(2):<BR>What's the fuzzy stuff along the top of the handrails in the second pic? Is that supposed to be reflection or is that some type of growth? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>It looks to me like an optical effect of the water behind the railing.<BR><BR>I guess they weren't kidding when they said the game would continue to look better as we near release. The detail in the normal mapping is incredible. Also, is this the best shot we've seen so far of the machine-zombies?
Everytime I see new shots for this game I wonder how in the world it fits in 7.4 gigs. The videos even moreso than the screens.<BR><BR>This and Oblivion (slightly over 4 gigs) really show that size isn't an issue unless you want to make a bullet point in a preview. I'm curious to see how many DVDs Crysis ships on. If it's less than three, PS3 looses ALL creditibility of needing Blu-Ray for this gen imo.<BR><BR>It's hard to imagine how much better it will get in another three months. I hope they put all their effort into cleaning up the few odd low res textures (like mentioned), and iron out the plot and ending as best they can.
Apparently there's a in game video being played now on gamespot?... not nearly as cool as a playable demo (though I am a little confused about the whole thing). <br><br>I got excited in the confusion and don't have the marketplace but it turns out I am wrong about everything. I had thought they stealthly released a demo, and it turns out it's just another video, albeit a very impressive one.<br><br>F'n thread title at neogaf. Thought I edited quick enough (hopefully you were the only casualty -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif --), read my post again. For what it's worth (hardly anything compared to a real demo) this sounds like more than "just another video." We'll see. I'll post a link when I see one.
DEMO OF MASS EFFECT?!?!? WHERE?!?!?!<br><br>Wait, it's just another video. And you made me cream in my pants for nothing. -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif --
It sounds like it's the best video of Mass Effect released to date. Looking like I'll find out tomorrow morning.
Watching the video on Live gives me shivers. I can't wait for this game. Gah. Me WANT NOW DAMMIT.
ya see, the gfx are amazing, i agree, but the game also seems sterile. It isn't fantastic the way that Darnassus or Ironforge are... it's epic but from the SS's and videos, it's soulless.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by hello world:<BR>ya see, the gfx are amazing, i agree, but the game also seems sterile. It isn't fantastic the way that Darnassus or Ironforge are... it's epic but from the SS's and videos, it's soulless. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>yes, you can definitely tell all this from a few videos. Given biowares track record, I'm going to go ahead and say you're probably wrong about this
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dlr(2):<BR>What's the fuzzy stuff along the top of the handrails in the second pic? Is that supposed to be reflection or is that some type of growth? </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>I think it's bird shit... Seriously, look at pavement... there's white spatters all over it.<BR><BR>This game looks <B>AMAZING</B>.<BR><BR>I think they might be pushing it too hard though. This is an action-RPG - and the frame rate just seems to chug too much. Hopefully that'll be tightened up by the time the game ships though.<BR><BR>I wantssss it. I wantsss it sssoooooo badly. Dead Rising and Gears of War gave me an excuse to buy my 360 but this game is the REAL reason I bought it.
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by NinjaMutha:<br><blockquote class="ip-ubbcode-quote">
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by hello world:<br>ya see, the gfx are amazing, i agree, but the game also seems sterile. It isn't fantastic the way that Darnassus or Ironforge are... it's epic but from the SS's and videos, it's soulless. </div>
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<br><br>yes, you can definitely tell all this from a few videos. Given biowares track record, I'm going to go ahead and say you're probably wrong about this </div>
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<br><br>All forms of logic are lost on hello world, just ignore, it's for the best. Clearly he didn't see the same 2007 E3 video everyone else did, that was anything but soulless. I imagine he has no intention of watching the video released tonight either when gamespot puts up the download tomorrow, he'll just complain more about it.<br><br>And then when every site gives it a 9+ / 10 review and it gets GOTY 2007 (this is speculation, but don't be surprised), he'll still say it's boring.<br><br> <blockquote class="ip-ubbcode-quote">
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I think they might be pushing it too hard though. This is an action-RPG - and the frame rate just seems to chug too much. Hopefully that'll be tightened up by the time the game ships though. </div>
</blockquote> <br><br>Apparently the video on the marketplace or where ever it was doesn't show as much slowdown as we've seen before... well I'm hoping. There were tons of comments praising how unbelievably smooth the animation is. I'll see for myself soon enough. They have 3 months to optimize this game, but by the size of it, 3 years probably wouldn't be enough -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif -- <br><br>I can't wait to see the map zoom out, then out, then out again. Damned elusive video link!
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by NinjaMutha:<br><blockquote class="ip-ubbcode-quote">
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by hello world:<br>ya see, the gfx are amazing, i agree, but the game also seems sterile. It isn't fantastic the way that Darnassus or Ironforge are... it's epic but from the SS's and videos, it's soulless. </div>
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<br><br>yes, you can definitely tell all this from a few videos. Given biowares track record, I'm going to go ahead and say you're probably wrong about this </div>
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<br><br>All forms of logic are lost on hello world, just ignore, it's for the best. Clearly he didn't see the same 2007 E3 video everyone else did, that was anything but soulless. I imagine he has no intention of watching the video released tonight either when gamespot puts up the download tomorrow, he'll just complain more about it.<br><br>And then when every site gives it a 9+ / 10 review and it gets GOTY 2007 (this is speculation, but don't be surprised), he'll still say it's boring.<br><br> <blockquote class="ip-ubbcode-quote">
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I think they might be pushing it too hard though. This is an action-RPG - and the frame rate just seems to chug too much. Hopefully that'll be tightened up by the time the game ships though. </div>
</blockquote> <br><br>Apparently the video on the marketplace or where ever it was doesn't show as much slowdown as we've seen before... well I'm hoping. There were tons of comments praising how unbelievably smooth the animation is. I'll see for myself soon enough. They have 3 months to optimize this game, but by the size of it, 3 years probably wouldn't be enough -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif -- <br><br>I can't wait to see the map zoom out, then out, then out again. Damned elusive video link!
The new E3 video on the marketplace still chugged too much for comfort. But they say most performance optimization takes place in the last month of development, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.<BR><BR>And... even if they don't fix it, I'll still buy it. I no longer have willpower where Mass Effect is concerned.
This game, despite everyone else trying their damndest to overshadow it, is still the thing I'm most excited about in video games period right now.
I hope the game doesn't suffer too much from the same-character-model-everywhere effect. It'd be OK with the aliens that don't look to human, but with ones like the blue-skinned chick, lack of variety in character models would stand out and be a bit.... odd, given how good/realistic the character models look.
I love the way in the video when the ground vehicle lands in the water after being dropped from the ship, you can see a big splash and then the water is dripping off the sides of the vehicle. The attention to detail in the game is awe-inspiring.
Don't get me wrong. This game looks amazing. I just finished reading the novel. It's good, not as good as the Fall of Reach, First Strike or Ghosts of Onyx mind you. But decent. (Even though the plot is so simplistic I read it in about 4 hours.)<BR><BR>The one thing that irritates the living HELL out of me in the preview trailers is the GODDAMN TWITCHY SHADOWS. I HATE THAT. Every time someone moves their head a quarter of an inch you get bad tesselation of the shadows and they look all "flickery." If you watch the in-game stuff for Too Human you don't see that. Why is it so hard to fix that?!
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">And... even if they don't fix it, I'll still buy it. I no longer have willpower where Mass Effect is concerned. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Not even a little. <BR><BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">This game, despite everyone else trying their damndest to overshadow it, is still the thing I'm most excited about in video games period right now. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>There were other games that justified my 360 purchase, but this is now and has always been the reason I was going to own one.
EDIT: It appears I was misinformed. To avoid confusion, I'll just leave the url to the older interview:<BR><BR>www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibcpOX4R3vk&mode=related&search=
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by lapsus calami:<br>Interview with the project director from yestreday. (Original Gamespot link is down.)<br><br>This just gets better and better. </div>
</blockquote>don't do that to me! both gamespot and youtube are on the proxy (pronounced: nazi) list.<br><br>WHAT DOES HE SAY!? -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif --
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by lapsus calami:<br>Interview with the project director from yestreday. (Original Gamespot link is down.)<br><br>This just gets better and better. </div>
</blockquote>don't do that to me! both gamespot and youtube are on the proxy (pronounced: nazi) list.<br><br>WHAT DOES HE SAY!? -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif --
Gamespot uk feed of it, decent quality:<BR>http://uk.gamespot.com/video/930279/6174539/mass-effect-stage-demo-1#<BR><BR>Finished watching it, what tiny little spark of fear I had that it might suck was firmly extinguished. Well almost, the combat looked a little disconnected from what was actually happening, but that might have just been me not understanding what was going on. <BR><BR>The game is finished, you can play from beginning to end multiple times, they just wanted the extra time to polish. Now that's how a classic is made.
aC<BR><BR>Off the top of my head, things that stood out to me included:<BR><BR> - ethical system more "grown up" (his words) -- expect genuine dilemmas, expect to make sacrifices<BR><BR> - some dialogs contain options for violence (opt to just cold cock a guy)<BR><BR> - he makes the galaxy sound <I>absolutely enormous</I>; 3D galaxy map with multiple layers<BR><BR>[edit: typo]
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">he makes the galaxy sound absolutely enormous; 3D galaxy map with multiple layers </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>I'm hoping that this is a sign of future DLC for Mass Effect. They could, conceivably, continue adding new planets to explore with their own missions, side quests, items, and so on. How sweet would that be?
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm hoping that this is a sign of future DLC for Mass Effect. They could, conceivably, continue adding new planets to explore with their own missions, side quests, items, and so on. How sweet would that be? </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Cha-ching! It prints money!!!!
Just to clarify, Gendal's link and mine are to two separate clips ('though the interviewer is the same).
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Semi On:<BR>There were other games that justified my 360 purchase, but this is now and has always been the reason I was going to own one. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Same here. I was originally leaning towards getting a PS3 first. And then, oh, look... Mass Effect. Hmmm. Bioware. Xbox360 only? Hmmm.<BR><BR>So, yeah, now I have an Xbox360. Granted, it wasn't the -only- reason I went with the 360, but it definitely played a part in my choice.
IGN Hands-on preview from E3 with the latest build of Mass Effect.<BR><BR>Apparently, it looks really really nice, but there are some hitches and framerate stutters here and there.<BR><BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Though it looks good, it's clear that the extra months being put into the game before its November release. The game still has noticeable hitches that seem to occur most during camera changes and story sections. Characters will stutter or jump and the framerate occasionally drops.<BR><BR>BioWare's Greg Zeschuk explained to IGN where the game is in its development cycle and why the little bumps are still in the game. The content, he explained, is finished. However, since the game is entirely streaming, where you put the content on the DVD itself can effect how it runs. Placing everything in a place where it can easily load whenever it is needed is a tricky task and one the team is currently working on. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>So apparently the big thing right now is figuring out where to put everything on the disc so it'll run smoother when streaming. Hopefully, they can fine tune this by November. I'm sure that the extra time will help them put the final spit and polish on the game for its release.
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by lapsus calami:<br>Just to clarify, Gendal's link and mine are to two separate clips ('though the interviewer is the same). </div>
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<br>Oh I thought you where linking the demo they did yesterday on gamespot live. This new video is much, much cooler than that old developer interview -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif --<br><br>You see bits of combat, the gigantic spore like universe map, driving the mako? around with it's jump jets, etc. It's an absolute must watch if you are drooling over the game. <br><br>The link again:<br>http://uk.gamespot.com/video/930279/6174539/mass-effect-stage-demo-1#
<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div>
<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by lapsus calami:<br>Just to clarify, Gendal's link and mine are to two separate clips ('though the interviewer is the same). </div>
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<br>Oh I thought you where linking the demo they did yesterday on gamespot live. This new video is much, much cooler than that old developer interview -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif --<br><br>You see bits of combat, the gigantic spore like universe map, driving the mako? around with it's jump jets, etc. It's an absolute must watch if you are drooling over the game. <br><br>The link again:<br>http://uk.gamespot.com/video/930279/6174539/mass-effect-stage-demo-1#
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Occulis Fremeni:<br><blockquote class="ip-ubbcode-quote">
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">he makes the galaxy sound absolutely enormous; 3D galaxy map with multiple layers </div>
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<br>I'm hoping that this is a sign of future DLC for Mass Effect. They could, conceivably, continue adding new planets to explore with their own missions, side quests, items, and so on. How sweet would that be? </div>
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<br><br>Well, it was originally announced as a trilogy of games. So perhaps some of those parts of the galaxy are accessible in the later two games...<br><br>Oh, and DLC would be a license to print money for Mass Effect. I know I'd buy em. -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_razz.gif --
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<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Occulis Fremeni:<br><blockquote class="ip-ubbcode-quote">
<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div>
<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">he makes the galaxy sound absolutely enormous; 3D galaxy map with multiple layers </div>
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<br>I'm hoping that this is a sign of future DLC for Mass Effect. They could, conceivably, continue adding new planets to explore with their own missions, side quests, items, and so on. How sweet would that be? </div>
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<br><br>Well, it was originally announced as a trilogy of games. So perhaps some of those parts of the galaxy are accessible in the later two games...<br><br>Oh, and DLC would be a license to print money for Mass Effect. I know I'd buy em. -- View image here: http://episteme.meincmagazine.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_razz.gif --
They've already said that they plan to release DLC which will provide story material linking each of the three games. I wonder how fast the next two will come after this one is in our greedy little hands? The 360 is already going on two years old. They only have a few years left until we're on to the 720 or whatever. Maybe the 3rd ME will be a 720 launch title?
I haven't followed all this closely, but has anything been said about the journal or how we are going to keep track of all of this? I did see the 'journal' on the menu in the video but that doesn't tell us how it works ... I could see myself going to the same place as a few months before and maybe not even knowing it. And how do we keep track of the main and I presume side quests?
In response to the DVD optimization, any reason that they can't just copy parts of the game to the HDD on the XBOX (of course it's be great if they just let you slap in a SATA drive and be done with it, then you could copy the whole damn game over)
Maybe because the HD isn't required? There'd be a lot of angry ass customers if this big a game screwed over the core 360 user base.<BR><BR>Game needs to work for all users, unless they're so bold to put a HD required logo on the box. But it really shouldn't be a problem.<BR><BR>I flipped through the live demo linked above (not really watching it yet, because there still hasn't been a HD link for it), and I don't recall seeing any lengthy loading periods. They probably just said that because it sounds like a good excuse, whoever's responsible for that probably does that type of thing all the time.<BR><BR>The parts of the video I watched, the facial animations are really well done, and overall it looks great. I just know the HD version will be a lot more impressive, I couldn't make out a lot of the finer details in the streaming video above, so I'm still holding off on seeing it.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Maxer:<BR>In response to the DVD optimization, any reason that they can't just copy parts of the game to the HDD on the XBOX (of course it's be great if they just let you slap in a SATA drive and be done with it, then you could copy the whole damn game over) </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>That would be the easy way of doing it, but unfortunately Bioware can't count on every 360 having a hard drive installed on it. This is the reason why the Core shouldn't have existed in the first place, in my opinion.
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