BlahDog wrote...
Jjacobclark wrote...
can i still probe uranus?
You have to be quick though. Once the reapers take earth, you'll only have seconds to probe uranus.
OMG--So I'm at work eating lunch and just spewed Pepsi out of my nose...that was the single best response I've read on this whole 14-page chain. Jacob wins the internet--absolutely hysterical
. But now my sinuses hurt. And no one will sit near me. Still worth it...
Posting on-topic is hard after that, but I'll try..
Sometimes I think games try to create content just to make the content feel "bigger". In many ways, the Mako, Hammerhead, mineral mining, and scanning portions of both ME1 & ME2 felt that way to me. Somewhere buried in the hours of time spent in this minigame, there was genuine content. I personally loved the N7 missions in ME2 (especially the teetering ship on one lush world). But the
process of getting to the content felt precisely like the attempt was at a "longer, bigger game," rather than somehow making it a deeper, more meaningful one. I will acknowledge that at least in ME2 there was some terrific backstory on a fair number of the planets that made exploration fun for those of us who appreciate the fiction of an RPG.
So how could BW have attempted to make exploration both worthwhile and simultaneously optional?
- Given the extent of backstory on many of the planets in the systems to which you can travel, it would be great to consider minigames that involved RTS-style overlays. For example, a Turian settlement needs air assistance to eradicate an unexpected fauna invasion. The Normandy could serve both as an air-to-ground targeting system along with issuing battle orders for ground units. This would serve both to allow exploration of the fiction surrounding the ME universe, an opportunity to coordinate/have purpose for being at a certain planet, and offer a gamestyle change from RPG to RTS.
- Space flight with option for atmospheric flight (that would be a game-heavy mechanic, more of a game of its own, but would be cool for space combat). Star Wars Galaxies' space game was incredible and part of the game unto itself. Would make the Normandy less of a placeholder and more of an actual spaceship, though. Nothing on rails, please--SWTOR space combat is not my thing. But think of navigating ringed planets, planets with picket defenses (trying to sneak between pickets and avoiding both air-to-air and ground-to-air and space-to-air combat.
- It would be cool to have a more "open world" feel to the space exploration: Skyrim's wide open map is a pleasure to explore. I can fast travel to places I've been to (or take a "cab") or I can wander. The wandering takes time, but there's almost always something I bump into by pure accident (other than just the flora and fauna) that makes it feel like a real & lived in place. Admittedly, space is mostly just...space...dizzyingly empty. But you can envision some way to make this "compressed somehow" (think about how rapidly the Normandy jaunted between planets in the opening of ME1). But make it more "3d" (allow exploration within the plane of a solar system, say), and let people truly stumble over things or scan for them by a ship-level view (not this toy thing that represents a ship).
- The backstory on planets was awesome, but mattered little ultimately on what you found in ME2. Weave the backstory into gameplay. Consider a diplomatic mechanic: one that offers up interaction via comm with the planets' governments. This would work more in the ME 1&2 settings of being a spectre than it would in the context of ME3, but somehow espionage, back-handed deals, contacts with information brokers, etc--these would be great in engaging the planetary stories. I'm not necessarily talking about a mechanic that would be somehow tied to space "movement" (in fact, all of this could theoretically be accomplished via the galaxy map), but get it tied into the wonderful writing that exists for the planets.
- Have exploration impact outcomes in the game. Right now, most of the exploration served 2 functions: in ME1 they were for side quests or cash, in ME2 they were for upgrades. Exploration had no impact on paragon/renegade status and had no impact on later story arcs later in the game. Take a cue from Witcher2 where many minor choices have large impacts later in the story, often unexpectedly. Exploration then embraces the game rather than just to make it "bigger and longer".
My $0.02.
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