Mass Effect: Andromeda

[JMurder]

Today we debuted the first cinematic trailer for our next game, Mass Effect™: Andromeda. While we are still many months away from the game’s release date in holiday 2016, we’re excited to show you a bit of where we’re at. First, though, some background on the game itself.

When we wrapped up the original Mass Effect trilogy with Mass Effect 3: Citadel in early 2013, planning and design on Mass Effect: Andromeda was already well underway. We knew we wanted to start with a foundation composed of the best parts of any Mass Effect game: exciting new worlds to discover, great characters, and intense action. At the same time, we clearly wanted to expand the definition of what you should expect from a Mass Effect game.

While we aren’t ready to go into too many details just yet, as you saw in the trailer and can tell by the name, this game is very much a new adventure, taking place far away from and long after the events of the original trilogy. You will play a human, male or female, though that’s actually not the character you saw in the trailer (more on that later). You’ll be exploring an all-new galaxy, Andromeda, and piloting the new and improved Mako you saw. And through it all, you will have a new team of adventurers to work with, learn from, fight alongside of, and fall in love with.

We built this trailer in Frostbite™, our game engine, and it represents our visual target for the final game. We are thrilled by what we’ve already been able to achieve in bringing Mass Effect to Frostbite and by putting our entire focus on PC and current gen consoles. With the time remaining in development, we’re excited about the possibility to push things even more.

Thank you again for all of the support you keep showing us, and we’re looking forward to sharing more details with you near the end of the year. Until then, the teams in our Montreal, Edmonton, and Austin studios will be hard at work creating an entirely new adventure for you to lose yourselves in.

Thanks,

Aaryn Flynn, Studio General Manager, BioWare Canada

Yanick Roy, Studio Director, BioWare Montreal


http://blog.bioware.com/2015/06/15/i...ect-andromeda/
Rumor: Next Mass Effect details leaked through survey

Lead the expedition in finding a new home for humanity.

First extensive details about the next Mass Effect may have leaked through an online survey.
The information, posted by Reddit user Benjamin_Stone and summarized by NeoGAF’s EatChildren, details the game’s narrative, exploration, customization, mission types, and multiplayer.
Of course, none of this information can confirmed at this time, but it’s worth noting that Dragon Age: Inquisition leaked in a similar way, with a survey detailing the Inquistor-hero story. NeoGAF user Shinobi602, who is known to have inside information from time to time, added that “quite a few deets in there are what I’ve heard.”
Get the purported details below.
Narrative

• Premise: Set in the Helius Cluster of the Andromeda Galaxy, removed by time and space from the Mass Effect “Commander Shepard” trilogy and its ending. Play as a “Pathfinder” explorer leading expedition with the aim of establishing new home for humanity. Encounter “savage untamed lands”, “cut-throat outlaws”, and “warring alien races” in an effort to survive and colonies. Andromeda is home to a mysterious alien race, the Remnants, who’ve left their vaults and ancient technology throughout.
• Game Objective: Explore 100s of solar systems (over 4x size of Mass Effect 3) collecting resources, developing your ship, crew, and arsenal, while engaging in diplomacy in order to set up colonies, while discovering the mystery behind the Remnants and racing to secure their technology.
• New Species: Remnants, an ancient race who’ve left ruins and technology throughout the galaxy. And Khet, seemingly antagonistic.
• Squadmates: Same as previous games: make friends, take two with you on missions. Cora is able to generate biotic shields you can fire out of. Drack is a Krogan.
• Loyalty Missions: Same as previous games: complete to unlock increased loyalty and new skill tree for that character. Example: Krogan colony ship has been stolen by outlaws. Track down the ship and return it to increase loyalty with Drack. Dialogue trees and end game impacted by loyalty status.
• Dialogue: “Meaningful choices.” Deeper control over responses, such as interrupting conversation. Action based choices are physical choices to shape the course of conversation, such as pulling out a weapon and forcing them to open a door instead of attempting to do so purely via conversation.

Exploration/Customization

• Tempest Starship: Pilotable ship to discover 100s of solar systems. Customizable with trophies/loot/photos taken through the galaxy. Transition between flying ship, to landing on planet, to driving Mako, to getting out on foot, all seamless with no loading screens.
• Mako Vehicle: Upgradable with turbo boost, shield generator, hostile detector, etc. Customizable paint job.
• Planets: 100s of surfaces to explore, for discovering places to colonize, and alien vaults/outputs to conquer.
• Colonies: Build settlements on habitable planets. Able to decide what type of settlement for bonuses. For example, Recon Settlements will clear fog of war on space map and offer more strike team missions, meanwhile Mining Settlements will periodically supply crafting materials.
• Blueprints: Allow you to craft alien technology using materials for better equipment and weapons, such as a jetpack for jumping, cryo-beam to target enemies, etc.
• Crew: Customizable skill trees, gear, weapons, etc.

Mission Types and Multiplayer

• Remnant Vault Raids: Ancient ruins in two variants. Standard: Accessed by finding and activating Remnant Monoliths, explored to find a “powerful artefact”. Acquiring artefact triggers defense systems: robots, traps, and restructured layout. Rewards with valuable loot, crafting resources, and Star Keys. Orbital Facilities: Unlocked with Star Keys, provide permanent stat bonuses, and optional higher difficulty vault raids that add Khet patrols and outlaws. Rewards with rare loot and narrative acclaim.
• Khet Outposts: Optional wave-based combat challenges that reward with XP, reduced Khet power and additional narrative options in the region if destroyed.
• Strike Team: Spend resources to recruit mercenaries and develop AI controlled strike teams to be deployed on randomly generated, time sensitive missions. Include settlement defence and remnant artefact recovery. Strike Teams return 20 – 30 minutes later with XP, currency, and equipment depending on mission outcome. Spend money/resources to train Strike Team, and buy better equipment, to increase success rate and send on dangerous missions.
• Active Strike Team: See above, however you can choose to complete the Strike Team mission manually via play using your multiplayer roster of characters. Able to play co-op with friends, more friends increasing difficulty and rewards. Bonus rewards for joining another players strike team mission. XP, loot, and customization rewards for Strike Team played characters are cohesive with multiplayer specific horde mode.
• Horde Mode: Similar to Mass Effect 3: four players against waves of enemies with additional objectives such as disabling a bomb or assassinating a target. Similar XP/loot rewards to Mass Effect 3. APEX funds earned to be used in single player.

If you missed it, artwork for the next Mass Effect was shared in November.

http://gematsu.com/2015/04/rumor-next-mass-effect-details-leaked-survey

 

[Black Magisterialness]

So I have to play as basically the intergalactic Hernan Cortez?

Long as I get some Turians and Salarians and Krogans. I'm cool Or something TOTALLY inexplicable like why an android-AI like EDI has cameltoe

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

Mass Effect Andromeda: Bioware Dev Teasing Natural Connection of Environments
Good level design is harder than you’d think, Bioware is discovering.



You can say a lot of good things about Bioware’s Mass Effect games, but praising the level design doesn’t usually make that list. Mass Effect games have had trivialized and banal level design in each entry, and the issue has only gotten worse with each subsequent entry in the franchise. This is something that Bioware is looking to change in the upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda, at least if Bioware’s level & tech designer Jos Hendriks is to be believed.

“I have found that it’s actually pretty handy to try and draw out a mission in top-down rough layout sketch to break down story beats,” Hendricks said on his Twitter, tagging this, and all subsequent tweets with the hashtag #space, possibly to indicate the space setting of Mass Effect Andromeda- or to indicate the growing awareness of natural space and how it organically and spatially flows together in Andromeda, perhaps?

“Not only does it help me actively visualize what spaces the player will be going through, but also everyone working with me,” he continued. “What if you need to be in a type A environment for scene 1 to work, but scene 2 requires a different kind of space? How do you connect them? What kind of location is it? Does that dictate the general shape of how layouts work? (yes it does) Does the space connect naturally? The connective tissue of a mission or level is almost just as important as the “setpiece” moments and scenes. It needs to be convincing.

“That is also to say, I spent my day today poring over mission notes, and constructing a layout on a whiteboard to put it together,” Hendricks continued. “And now that layout is a picture in an email shared with all the people working on the mission, and we can use it as a point of reference. Because my artist needs to get a cool moment to really make something awesome, and the writing needs to be supported, and cinematics.”

Mass Effect: Andromeda is due out on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC some time next year. We don’t yet know a lot about the game, and apart from one pre-rendered concept trailer last E3, we haven’t seen a lot of it yet either.

Mass Effect Andromeda: Bioware Dev Teasing Natural Connection of Environments « GamingBolt.com: Video Game News, Reviews, Previews and Blog

 

[Black Magisterialness]

It was definitely better in ME1 when you actually landed on the planet and surveyed them and what not. Not the biggest of deals but still cool to see the planets you can land on.

Planet scanning was shytty, if it wasn't for all the loading screens it might have been more tolerable...but it was soooo shytty.

Still didn't beat it.

Halfway through it.

ME3 is one of the best games of the last gen UNTIL the end.

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

Expect Mass Effect: Andromeda news on N7 Day
The stars may be entering a partial alignment

BioWare announced via Twitter after E3 ended in June to say that we would hear more about Mass Effect: Andromeda later this year, and the most obvious time for the studio to spill a few more details about its upcoming sci-fi tale would be on N7 Day this Saturday, November 7. Well, that day is nearly upon us, and BioWare has revealed its intentions for that day –intentions which clearly specify that no major announcements whatsoever relating to Mass Effect: Andromeda will be divulged.

However, BioWare quickly followed up that statement by saying rather ambiguously that while no major news is on the way, fans will get “some surprises” on Saturday; meaning, we will hear something about Andromeda after all, it just won’t be anything Earth-shattering.

The full sentence as quoted from the BioWare blog announcement reads as follows: “And while we won’t have any major announcements for Mass Effect: Andromedathis N7 Day, keep an eye out on Saturday for some surprises that we’re sure you’ll enjoy.”

While we analyze and process the implications of that quoted prose to determine if we’re getting merchandise reveals or actual game information, it wouldn’t hurt to keep an ear to the ground to listen for any rumblings about Andromeda when N7 Day rolls around. And if N7 Day turns out not to be a very profitable gold mine of knowledge, we still have the rest of November and December for BioWare to make good on its promise to give us an info drop on the game at some point this year.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is, as of its announcement at E3, due out Holiday 2016.
http://www.thecoli.com/threads/mass-effect-andromeda.311588/

 

[Black Magisterialness]

no possible way it drops next year.

 

[Archangel]

New teaser trailer dropped today for N7 day

 

[ORDER_66]

 

[Neil Tyson]

Jennefer Hale

 

[Bryan Danielson]

no possible way it drops next year.

Bruh... Mar 2012 is when ME3 dropped..... I think 4 years is more than enough time to work on and drop a new game breh

 

[Archangel]

I pray that it drops next year. No rushes EA

 

[Bryan Danielson]

This aint now COD or Assassin Creed shyt where they dropping a game every year... matter fact... if a year is enough time for a new AC... I'm sure 4 is enough for ME I mean G whiz.... we going on like year 4 of the this gen

 

[Easy-E]

I literally just close ME2 (PC)---and come to thecoli--after I beat it and we got news!

 

[Jmare007]

New teaser trailer dropped today for N7 day

Sheppard DA GAWD(ess in the vid)

 

[hex]

So judging by the new trailer the leaked info is accurate. The Andromeda team was sent to scout new planets to colonize when the Reapers attacked Earth.

Fred.