Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 40 of 49

Thread: Mass effect

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    811

    Mass effect

    Since this is the off topic thread I'd like to discuss a non-2k game. On the mass effect forums you get banned for talking about the release date. Thanks god for 2k's awsomeness, so this game is bieng pushed back further and further. when do you think it will actually come out and will it stand a chance against bioshock and the darkness?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    485
    Probably fall. Ign's last report said something about the demo being shown looking close to a final build or something like that.

    Sales wise I think ME might do better then Bioshock, seeing how KOTOR was a huge success on the original Xbox. All depends on if the public embraces a different shooter. However, everything will be crushed by Halo in the fall and especially if GTA 4 is also released.

    Forgot to talk about Darness, lol. This game might do better considering the summer drought and it's early release date. Plus, lots people loved Riddick.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    4,183
    Over here, Assassin's Creed is also very hotly anticipated.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    sleeping rough in fort frolic
    Posts
    2,364
    I'm hoping the darkness will tide me over til Bioshock arrives,I've not been that impressed by what I've seen of mass effect so far.Dark sector looks better.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Western Pennsylvania
    Posts
    1,115
    Last I heard about the Release date of Mass Effect it was going to be released in September or October, but that doesn't really bother me since I'm not really interested in Mass Effect, it just doesn't appeal to me like Bioware's other games, I know they are good they just don't appeal to me, mainly because they're like Real Time but still sort've Turn Based.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,331
    Quote Originally Posted by splicer View Post
    I'm hoping the darkness will tide me over til Bioshock arrives,I've not been that impressed by what I've seen of mass effect so far.Dark sector looks better.
    Meh, old Dark Sector looked cool, now it looks kinda boring. The video on sound recording was good though =]

    Mass Effect is one of the few games I am buying no matter what.

  7. #7
    Raveness's Avatar
    on suspension -- possible hacked account
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Vancouver, BC
    Posts
    1,873
    I'm waiting for the PC version, which comes out about 6-9 months after the XBOX360 version, so any delay is bad news

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    811
    Quote Originally Posted by Raveness View Post
    I'm waiting for the PC version, which comes out about 6-9 months after the XBOX360 version, so any delay is bad news
    Chris Priestly adamantly denies a pc version of mass effect like its his job so I wouldn't get my hopes up...

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Småland, Sweden
    Posts
    619
    Quote Originally Posted by Raveness View Post
    I'm waiting for the PC version, which comes out about 6-9 months after the XBOX360 version, so any delay is bad news
    That's very good news Any source for it?

    I was hoping for a PC version coming along eventually, but didn't expect it to be so soon. It took 2 years for Jade Empire.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    1,047
    And don't even get me started on Halo.

    I'm secretly hoping ME doesn't come to the PC. I like my social life, but I don't know if I'm strong enough to to resist ME's sweet siren song.
    Last edited by v.dog; 06-07-2007 at 06:14 AM.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    da hood
    Posts
    328
    Quote Originally Posted by v.dog View Post
    And don't even get me started on Halo.

    I'm secretly hoping ME doesn't come to the PC. I like my social life, but I don't know if I'm strong enough to to resist ME's sweet siren song.
    Haha, good thing I'm not that big of a fan of RPG games, otherwise I would probably start saving up snacks and drinks for my hermitage. However, Assassin's Creed does look interesting because of the environment and the suppossedly historical pretext it has.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    811
    This is the official statement from Chris Priestly the community coordinator for Bioware:

    Chris Priestly: "Mass Effect is planned as an Xbox 360 exclusive title. This means we are not working on a PC version and have no plans to start making one."





    Sorry guys.

    Heres a link to the official thread from Bioware
    http://masseffect.bioware.com/forums...9430&forum=104

    Or you can just go to
    www.masseffect.com
    Last edited by reaper114; 06-07-2007 at 07:53 AM.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Småland, Sweden
    Posts
    619
    Quote Originally Posted by reaper114 View Post
    This is the official statement from Chris Priestly the community coordinator for Bioware:

    Chris Priestly: "Mass Effect is planned as an Xbox 360 exclusive title. This means we are not working on a PC version and have no plans to start making one."
    Aye. Except they used to say the exact same thing about Jade Empire.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    811
    Quote Originally Posted by Freddo View Post
    Aye. Except they used to say the exact same thing about Jade Empire.
    You have to remember though that jade empire was for xbox, coding a game as big as mass effect over for pc would be the same as the company developing a new game. The simpler the game the easier it is to port, and with next gen games if you dont intend to port over the game especially one that is as massive as mass effect you probably wont.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Småland, Sweden
    Posts
    619
    Quote Originally Posted by reaper114 View Post
    You have to remember though that jade empire was for xbox, coding a game as big as mass effect over for pc would be the same as the company developing a new game. The simpler the game the easier it is to port, and with next gen games if you dont intend to port over the game especially one that is as massive as mass effect you probably wont.
    Porting over Mass Effect is probably easier, considering it's using the Unreal3 engine, instead of the Jade Empire engine that was specifically developed for the Xbox.

    From here:
    Jade Empire’s graphics engine is new from the ground up. Most of the core parts are completely different from KotOR, plus the KotOR engine had to run on the Xbox and PC, whereas Jade Empire is Xbox only.
    And Bioware didn't do the PC port of Jade Empire, but let LTI Grey Matter work on it, so they could let another development studio work on the Mass Effect port.

    And from what I've read it seems like the differences between the Xbox360 development kit and Visual Studio for Windows are much smaller than the Xbox development kit and Visual Studio for Windows. But this is not something I know of for sure.
    Last edited by Freddo; 06-07-2007 at 12:48 PM.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    17

    Mass Effect for PC

    I enquired on their forums about the pc version and an article in a UK pc gaming magazine that confirmed the pc version, but they quickly locked the thread. With the PC on the up and if it gets good reviews and circulation there is no reason why it won't come to PC. It's just a matter of waiting a while. Remember Assassin's Creed was initially 'exclusive' but if it's big enough, there is no reason to lose out on the sales from the PC.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    17
    Here is the link to the thread of the discussion. I hope I'm not violating any rules by posting it. I had started two threads, but one was closed because I was being a pc snob. I know...I know...can't help it.

    http://masseffect.bioware.com/forums...7765&forum=104.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    811
    Quote Originally Posted by Freddo View Post
    Porting over Mass Effect is probably easier, considering it's using the Unreal3 engine, instead of the Jade Empire engine that was specifically developed for the Xbox.

    From here:


    And Bioware didn't do the PC port of Jade Empire, but let LTI Grey Matter work on it, so they could let another development studio work on the Mass Effect port.

    And from what I've read it seems like the differences between the Xbox360 development kit and Visual Studio for Windows are much smaller than the Xbox development kit and Visual Studio for Windows. But this is not something I know of for sure.

    Actually that isn't right, "jade empire engine" was much simpler to port because unlike "unreal 3 engine" it didnt have hundreds of shaders customized specifically for the 360 hardware. Furthemore exclusive next gen games are extremely console specific, the games are built to work around the hardware available in that console. Unlike jade empire which features low-polygon models with simple character and environment textures, mass-effect has real time shaders, normal mapping on all characters, complex environmental particle effects and also real time rendering (not even going into polygon count). Also with more advanced A.I. comes more complex code, when in jade empire you had fairly basic character to character interaction in mass effect virtually every npc is coded with their own complex emotions, tasks, and responses to everything you do. Porting over something like this would repquire the designers to find a way to make all those xbox specific shaders work properly with a variety of video cards, and also require a very great deal of money. Furthermore :

    :Sorry but Mass Effect is only planned for release on the Xbox 360.:

    "Will Mass Effect be coming to the PC?

    Chris Priestly: As we've said before, Mass Effect is planned as an Xbox 360 exclusive title. This means we are not working on a PC version and have no plans to start making one.
    It is possible that one could be made in teh future, but it would certainly be a wait of a number of years before we even start to make one, let alone actually release such a thing.

    I'm not saying that waiting is 100% a bad idea. I never thought we would make a PC version of Jade Empire, but now we are. But if you want to wait multiple years just to find out that we are not making one, then it's up to you.

    Personally, I don't own a 360 either. But I take a look at Mass Effect which is already 3 games that I want to own (the original, plus our announced 2 sequels), I look at the content that'll be available for ME through Xbox Live, and I look at the other titles on the 360 that I'd liek to play (even though I'm a PC RPG geek, I do play a few sports games which I find work better on platforms), and I'm going to buy one.

    Whether you get one or not, it should be a careful decision for you, or for anyone. We have a number of staff here at the office with old "next big thing" consoles they bought for only 1 or 2 games gathering dust. Look at the titles available, look at your finances and see what the right choice is for you."

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Småland, Sweden
    Posts
    619
    Quote Originally Posted by reaper114 View Post
    mass-effect has real time shaders, normal mapping on all characters, complex environmental particle effects and also real time rendering (not even going into polygon count).
    Except that the shaders handled in the Unreal 3 engine is done with the Visual material editor of UnrealEd and is fully portable into DirectX by the engine. Same goes for the other grahical effects.

    Quote Originally Posted by reaper114 View Post
    Also with more advanced A.I. comes more complex code, when in jade empire you had fairly basic character to character interaction in mass effect virtually every npc is coded with their own complex emotions, tasks, and responses to everything you do.
    Which is no doubt programmed in C++, so a relatively large part of it is portable too.

    As for the statement from Bioware you keep quoting over and over again; they said the same thing about Jade Empire.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    811
    Quote Originally Posted by Freddo View Post
    Except that the shaders handled in the Unreal 3 engine is done with the Visual material editor of UnrealEd and is fully portable into DirectX by the engine. Same goes for the other grahical effects.


    Which is no doubt programmed in C++, so a relatively large part of it is portable too.

    As for the statement from Bioware you keep quoting over and over again; they said the same thing about Jade Empire.
    Ok thats great but there is still MORE TO PORT. Thats my point it doesn't matter how unrealED is portol into directx the amount of information to adjust and recode is MUCH larger than that of an ORIGINAL XBOX game. And porting has nothing to do with with what engine you're using or how you code, you have to OPTIMIZE the ENTIRE GAME to work with many different 3d cards, CPU's, and basically many different computers. Right now the game only works with the hardware of the 360, which means that they would need to spend alot of MONEY and TIME porting the game. And besides even if Microsoft was going to port this it would be years away and you would need an extremely beefy rig to run it. Furthermore Microsoft has made it clear that they are not big on porting 360 exclusives quickly (gears of war is still planned on coming to pc some day). Personally I don't think it will port over, but really, who cares? Wont you guys be too busy playing crysis to even notice?

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Småland, Sweden
    Posts
    619
    Quote Originally Posted by reaper114 View Post
    And porting has nothing to do with with what engine you're using or how you code, you have to OPTIMIZE the ENTIRE GAME to work with many different 3d cards, CPU's, and basically many different computers.
    Porting has a large part of what engine you use. The Unreal 3 engine is highly portable and available for 3 major gaming platforms. Bioware never need to code for the graphic chipset on the Xbox360, cause the Unreal 3 engine is doing all the graphic work. Neither are they if they do a PC version, since Unreal 3 and DirectX takes care of it.

    Granted, they are probably making some gfx changes with the engine, but a few changes are not much compared to rewriting the whole damn thing they had to do for the PC version of Jade Empire.

    The only question is that how portable their own code for the game is. The AI, dialogue system, and so on. The gameplay code. But considering C++ is easily the most used language in the game industry, I would say it's very portable and would with relatively ease compile on the PC since it never really deals with any hardware specific functions. Unreal 3 deals with the hardware.

    The control system and the user interface would require a major rewrite, though, but that's a relatively small part of the game code.

    And optimizing the game is really not needed either, just raise the system requirements a bit. PC games in general hasn't really been optimized since the mid-90s. Jade Empire runs fine on the Xbox that has 64MB, while the PC version uses more than twice as much.

    Quote Originally Posted by reaper114 View Post
    And besides even if Microsoft was going to port this it would be years away and you would need an extremely beefy rig to run it. Furthermore Microsoft has made it clear that they are not big on porting 360 exclusives quickly (gears of war is still planned on coming to pc some day).
    And? I never claimed we would see a PC version of Mass Effect tomorrow, but hopefully sometime into the future. But if we see the game in 2009, then it will be cheap to buy a computer that is noticeably more powerful than the Xbox360, and can handle the game. Even if you buy the most cheap new computer you can find today, it's still powerful enough to run Jade Empire which was released just 3 months ago.

    And yes, GoW for PC might be quite some time into the future, but it is coming. And that's the whole point. It also uses the Unreal 3 Engine btw.

    Quote Originally Posted by reaper114 View Post
    Wont you guys be too busy playing crysis to even notice?
    Would I be writing in this thread if I wouldn't notice? I couldn't care less about Crysis. But thanks for the prejudice.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Lisbon, Portugal
    Posts
    86
    I personally can't wait for Mass Effect. Bioshock and Mass Effect are the games that make me want to buy a 360 (though Uncharted has also captured my attention...damn you Naughty Dog)

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,331
    meh, Uncharted looks ok, but it's all eye candy at this point, the actual gameplay is nothing like my fave naughty dog games... (PS1 crash Bandicoot > Uncharted)

  24. #24
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    811
    Quote Originally Posted by Freddo View Post
    Porting has a large part of what engine you use. The Unreal 3 engine is highly portable and available for 3 major gaming platforms. Bioware never need to code for the graphic chipset on the Xbox360, cause the Unreal 3 engine is doing all the graphic work. Neither are they if they do a PC version, since Unreal 3 and DirectX takes care of it.

    Granted, they are probably making some gfx changes with the engine, but a few changes are not much compared to rewriting the whole damn thing they had to do for the PC version of Jade Empire.

    The only question is that how portable their own code for the game is. The AI, dialogue system, and so on. The gameplay code. But considering C++ is easily the most used language in the game industry, I would say it's very portable and would with relatively ease compile on the PC since it never really deals with any hardware specific functions. Unreal 3 deals with the hardware.

    The control system and the user interface would require a major rewrite, though, but that's a relatively small part of the game code.

    And optimizing the game is really not needed either, just raise the system requirements a bit. PC games in general hasn't really been optimized since the mid-90s. Jade Empire runs fine on the Xbox that has 64MB, while the PC version uses more than twice as much.


    And? I never claimed we would see a PC version of Mass Effect tomorrow, but hopefully sometime into the future. But if we see the game in 2009, then it will be cheap to buy a computer that is noticeably more powerful than the Xbox360, and can handle the game. Even if you buy the most cheap new computer you can find today, it's still powerful enough to run Jade Empire which was released just 3 months ago.

    And yes, GoW for PC might be quite some time into the future, but it is coming. And that's the whole point. It also uses the Unreal 3 Engine btw.


    Would I be writing in this thread if I wouldn't notice? I couldn't care less about Crysis. But thanks for the prejudice.
    I wont be responding to any of your posts in the future, you have gotten too hostile and any further arguing would be a waste of bandwidth and thus spam.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    485
    Quote Originally Posted by lotkrotan View Post
    meh, Uncharted looks ok, but it's all eye candy at this point, the actual gameplay is nothing like my fave naughty dog games... (PS1 crash Bandicoot > Uncharted)
    I'll wait for some more info on this one as well. The animation system sounds really interesting though and complex. Heavenly Sword is the thing that caught my eye on the ps3, I'm a fan of God of War although I haven't played 2 yet (needs times and ze moneys,lol).

  26. #26
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,331
    I never got into God of War, it just never pulled me in for some reason. I am intereted in FF13, that's about the only exclusive that has my ears perked.

  27. #27
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Canada, for one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
    Posts
    413
    [I don't think this has been posted elsewhere and this is the only ME thread I've found.]

    The E3 trailer is not to be missed: http://files.bioware.com/masseffect/...t_1280x720.wmv

    The enemy AI seems a bit thick, but the action, drama, graphics, voice acting and gameplay stages are very appealing.

    Btw, it wouldn't be in Microsoft's interest to allow Bioware to reveal anything about a PC port until they've squeezed as many new 360 sales out of this title as possible. In other words, we may only find out about a PC port after 7 November and on the day it goes gold.

  28. #28
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    I'm from Brooklyn!!!
    Posts
    7,129
    same thing with crysis, either Koreans are going to be really really stupid in the future, or Cryteck needs to fix something.

  29. #29
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Richmond, VA
    Posts
    773

    Earmuffs!

    Forgive me if you a younger player, but forget the humans, I will definitely be getting Sheppard some extraterrestrial booty.

    Even if there were no player-controlled combat at all, that game would still be amazing.

  30. #30
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,331
    Quote Originally Posted by FreshLaundryX View Post
    Forgive me if you a younger player, but forget the humans, I will definitely be getting Sheppard some extraterrestrial booty.

    Even if there were no player-controlled combat at all, that game would still be amazing.
    it's funny cause those blue aliens, they're asexual.

  31. #31
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    I'm from Brooklyn!!!
    Posts
    7,129
    Quote Originally Posted by lotkrotan View Post
    it's funny cause those blue aliens, they're asexual.
    I smell pr0nz0rz

  32. #32
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Canada, for one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
    Posts
    413
    Quote Originally Posted by lotkrotan View Post
    it's funny cause those blue aliens, they're asexual.
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../9c/Smurf1.gif

  33. #33
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Posts
    451
    Godot mentioned it, but yes, Mass Effect is released in November, as is Assassin's Creed. Of course there are the possibilities of more 'delays'

  34. #34
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    1,047
    Quote Originally Posted by FreshLaundryX View Post
    Forgive me if you a younger player, but forget the humans, I will definitely be getting Sheppard some extraterrestrial booty.
    You assume that the sexual dimorphism is the same for both species. For all you know, that Asari could be male. Even if she's not, there may be other... incompatibilities.

  35. #35
    Raveness's Avatar
    on suspension -- possible hacked account
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Vancouver, BC
    Posts
    1,873
    Quote Originally Posted by v.dog View Post
    You assume that the sexual dimorphism is the same for both species. For all you know, that Asari could be male. Even if she's not, there may be other... incompatibilities.
    You contradict yourself, saying that theres a possibility of different sex definitions, then applying one of the human definitions of it. Our "Male" may not biologically come close to their "Male". If we go by the whole masculine/feminine, that's a whole other powderkeg of xeno-relational faux-pas

    Besides who says it can't be just a funky adventure without any alien penetration?

  36. #36
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Delray Beach, FL
    Posts
    2,018
    Quote Originally Posted by Raveness View Post
    Besides who says it can't be just a funky adventure without any alien penetration?
    What would the point of that be?

  37. i am pumped for this game!

  38. #38
    Raveness's Avatar
    on suspension -- possible hacked account
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Vancouver, BC
    Posts
    1,873
    Speaking on the IP, if you are like me, you enjoyed Knights of the Old Republic, among other Bioware titles, and went wulkie at the announcement of a space opera RPG from them.

    The best analogy I can derive is a mix between Gears of War and KOTOR. Like the latter, you choose the look of your human PC, and decide who is in your party during the course of the game. The graphics look excellent.... rather bloomin gorgeous.... and Bioware promises the moon with this coming RPG title.

  39. #39
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Gem field, erasing war miners
    Posts
    346
    Also like Kotor you can choose which planets you visit and which faction you help. But another thing, Mass Effect also puts an emphasis on strategy simialr to ghost recon.

  40. #40
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    New Port Richey, FL
    Posts
    269
    Mass Effect tie with BioShock for game of the year for sure.....

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •