22 réponses à ce sujet

[Vazgen]

I decided to compile a list of features I'd like to see in ME:Next. I believe those will result in a more immersive and fun playthrough and make the next Mass Effect claim its rightful place at the top of the genre. I'll try to link as many examples as I can to illustrate what I'm talking about. So, here we go...

1. Environmental hazards. With exploration being one of the key ideas of the game, those can help to bring diversity to the planets and provide tactical challenges for the players. Examples: Acid Rain, Whiteout, Nighttime, Sandstorm, Solar Radiation. New hazards, such as extreme cold and heat, zero gravity, high pressure negatively impacting your movement speed etc.
2. Environment utilization. We should be able to manipulate the environment to our advantage. Examples: Sand gameplay (add to this throwing grenades in the sand to create clouds of dust to obscure vision etc. - also present in Spec Ops The Line), destructible cover, manipulating objects with biotics both to create and remove cover as well as simply throwing them at the enemies.
3. Customization. This should be prevalent in character creation, armor customization (mix and match armor pieces, craft ours, add mods that change the armor visually, change color), ground vehicle customization (visible upgrades - more armor = less speed and maneuverability, turrets = less speed, different types of scanners that reveal resources and enemies on the mini map, engine and handling upgrades), ship customization (visible upgrades - armor, cannons, emission dampeners, purely visual upgrades like color scheme, pattern and name), weapon customization (mods that don't have a negative impact on weapon balance like Ultralight Materials in ME3, give those both negative and positive effects), omni-tool and biotic amp upgrades to manipulate power damage, recharge speed and duration at the expense of each other.
4. Crafting system. Ties in with the point 3. Ability to craft personalized weapon mods, armor mods, weapons, vehicle repair. Have a retractable workbench built in the Mako, so you can do crafting in the field.
5. Helmet equip animation. The option to toggle helmet on and off is nice, but it would be much more immersive to have the helmet deactivate/activate during cutscenes. Examples: Dead Space 2, Guardians of the Galaxy.
6. Correct weapon equipping animations. Equip the weapons that are present in the loadout with the corresponding animations. Don't have a pistol/SMG/sniper rifle/shotgun being equipped/holstered like an assault rifle, shotgun/assault rifle/sniper rifle being equipped/holstered like a pistol/SMG etc. as well as Predator/Avenger as a default weapon in cutscenes (like this). Also, make the character actually holster a weapon when climbing ladders, not have it disappear like this.
7. Ability to holster our weapons and crouch (both present in ME1). Also, omni-tool using animation with holstered weapons. Force holster when using omni-tool for complex tasks. Not this: Geth Dreadnought, Mahavid. Better to have static animation, without the hand pointing to the object.
8. Stealth gameplay. Allow the player to perform silent takedowns with melee weapons (a knife in a boot or the omni-blade) or at least, to avoid adding new animations, to kill targets silently with a silenced weapon. Will work well with crouch ability. Example: Spec Ops: The Line, Citadel DLC
9. Redesign of tech/biotic powers. Currently some tech powers feel too similar to biotics, both are projectiles launched out of nowhere. It doesn't make sense lore-wise for both of them. And while ME1 has a perfect example of how biotics should feel like, it's not the case for tech powers. Tech mines are arguably more immersive than powers appearing out of nowhere, but it leaves a question - where are those mines coming from? We have an unlimited number of those in ME1 and limiting it would severely handicap tech characters. Hand gestures in ME2-3 are not really Here is how I suggest to redesign tech powers: Link. The emphasis is put on Tactical Scan-like animation. As for biotic powers, biotic explosions are a great way to enhance gameplay complexity. They make different biotic skills synergize with each other. They, however, came with sacrificing physics combos. I suggest limiting the number of powers that prime and detonate biotic combos at the expense of adding physics combos. Example: Pull+Throw = physics combo, Pull + Warp = biotic explosion.
10. Decision making via gameplay. We've only been able to make decisions using the dialogue wheel. And while it's a good working system, it makes decision making in the course of combat and gameplay less seamless. We have a break in combat and gameplay flow. Add the ability to make decisions by our actions, not only our words. Example: Link

[Probe Away]

Some nice ideas here. It seems like most posts about what people want in ME4 are very combat-focused, like more melee moves and better enemy AI. Those aren't bad things per se, but I'd much prefer improvements that further immerse you in the game world (like most of these).

[Vazgen]

Some nice ideas here. It seems like most posts about what people want in ME4 are very combat-focused, like more melee moves and better enemy AI. Those aren't bad things per se, but I'd much prefer improvements that further immerse you in the game world (like most of these).

Thanks! The combat-oriented improvements will be cool indeed, but without these improvements I fear they won't be enough to fully immerse the player in the game. On the other hand, ME3 gameplay with these additions can be very immersive. I actually hope we'll get both the combat and immersion improvements in ME:Next but immersion comes first for me 

[KrrKs]

I like that list. Of those points (I can't think of additional ones right now), I believe that Player-Environment Interactions ('hazards' as well as manipulation options) are the most important. Followed by customization options.

 

For (weapon-) customization, I'd also like to be able to this on the fly again -similar to ME1.

     (Crysis 1 had the best 'available options' to 'menu interactions' and gameplay effects  -ratio I've seen so far.)

 

About crafting: (Purely IMO) I've never seen a crafting system added something important to a game. The best version I encountered so far was Fallout 3/NV version of ammo reuse-ability (and that also plays with customization features).

 

Decision making via gameplay: It could be really nice. Dialogue choices however have the benefit of making it (potentially) abundantly clear what you are choosing. Gameplay alone can be deceiving sometimes.

[Vazgen]

I like that list. Of those points (I can't think of additional ones right now), I believe that Player-Environment Interactions ('hazards' as well as manipulation options) are the most important. Followed by customization options.

 

For (weapon-) customization, I'd also like to be able to this on the fly again -similar to ME1.

     (Crysis 1 had the best 'available options' to 'menu interactions' and gameplay effects  -ratio I've seen so far.)

 

About crafting: (Purely IMO) I've never seen a crafting system added something important to a game. The best version I encountered so far was Fallout 3/NV version of ammo reuse-ability (and that also plays with customization features).

 

Decision making via gameplay: It could be really nice. Dialogue choices however have the benefit of making it (potentially) abundantly clear what you are choosing. Gameplay alone can be deceiving sometimes.

ME1 on the fly system was a little unrealistic, a portable workbench mounted on the Mako can make it both realistic and seamless.

 

Crafting system works great with exploration. See Skyrim, for example, with three crafting skills, each having the potential to enhance different playstyles. 

 

I'm not really suggesting to replace dialogue via choice-making. It would indeed be deceiving and confusing at some points. I'm suggesting to have both

 

Glad you like the list, I plan to post a few more of those, on story and multiplayer first.

[ImaginaryMatter]

 

I decided to compile a list of features I'd like to see in ME:Next. I believe those will result in a more immersive and fun playthrough and make the next Mass Effect claim its rightful place at the top of the genre. I'll try to link as many examples as I can to illustrate what I'm talking about. So, here we go...

1. Environmental hazards. With exploration being one of the key ideas of the game, those can help to bring diversity to the planets and provide tactical challenges for the players. Examples: Acid Rain, Whiteout, Nighttime, Sandstorm, Solar Radiation. New hazards, such as extreme cold and heat, zero gravity, high pressure negatively impacting your movement speed etc.
2. Environment utilization. We should be able to manipulate the environment to our advantage. Examples: Sand gameplay (add to this throwing grenades in the sand to create clouds of dust to obscure vision etc. - also present in Spec Ops The Line), destructible cover, manipulating objects with biotics both to create and remove cover as well as simply throwing them at the enemies.
3. Customization. This should be prevalent in character creation, armor customization (mix and match armor pieces, craft ours, add mods that change the armor visually, change color), ground vehicle customization (visible upgrades - more armor = less speed and maneuverability, turrets = less speed, different types of scanners that reveal resources and enemies on the mini map, engine and handling upgrades), ship customization (visible upgrades - armor, cannons, emission dampeners, purely visual upgrades like color scheme, pattern and name), weapon customization (mods that don't have a negative impact on weapon balance like Ultralight Materials in ME3, give those both negative and positive effects), omni-tool and biotic amp upgrades to manipulate power damage, recharge speed and duration at the expense of each other.
4. Crafting system. Ties in with the point 3. Ability to craft personalized weapon mods, armor mods, weapons, vehicle repair. Have a retractable workbench built in the Mako, so you can do crafting in the field.
5. Helmet equip animation. The option to toggle helmet on and off is nice, but it would be much more immersive to have the helmet deactivate/activate during cutscenes. Examples: Dead Space 2, Guardians of the Galaxy.
6. Correct weapon equipping animations. Equip the weapons that are present in the loadout with the corresponding animations. Don't have a pistol/SMG/sniper rifle/shotgun being equipped/holstered like an assault rifle, shotgun/assault rifle/sniper rifle being equipped/holstered like a pistol/SMG etc. as well as Predator/Avenger as a default weapon in cutscenes (like this). Also, make the character actually holster a weapon when climbing ladders, not have it disappear like this.
7. Ability to holster our weapons and crouch (both present in ME1). Also, omni-tool using animation with holstered weapons. Force holster when using omni-tool for complex tasks. Not this: Geth Dreadnought, Mahavid. Better to have static animation, without the hand pointing to the object.
8. Stealth gameplay. Allow the player to perform silent takedowns with melee weapons (a knife in a boot or the omni-blade) or at least, to avoid adding new animations, to kill targets silently with a silenced weapon. Will work well with crouch ability. Example: Spec Ops: The Line, Citadel DLC
9. Redesign of tech/biotic powers. Currently some tech powers feel too similar to biotics, both are projectiles launched out of nowhere. It doesn't make sense lore-wise for both of them. And while ME1 has a perfect example of how biotics should feel like, it's not the case for tech powers. Tech mines are arguably more immersive than powers appearing out of nowhere, but it leaves a question - where are those mines coming from? We have an unlimited number of those in ME1 and limiting it would severely handicap tech characters. Hand gestures in ME2-3 are not really Here is how I suggest to redesign tech powers: Link. The emphasis is put on Tactical Scan-like animation. As for biotic powers, biotic explosions are a great way to enhance gameplay complexity. They make different biotic skills synergize with each other. They, however, came with sacrificing physics combos. I suggest limiting the number of powers that prime and detonate biotic combos at the expense of adding physics combos. Example: Pull+Throw = physics combo, Pull + Warp = biotic explosion.
10. Decision making via gameplay. We've only been able to make decisions using the dialogue wheel. And while it's a good working system, it makes decision making in the course of combat and gameplay less seamless. We have a break in combat and gameplay flow. Add the ability to make decisions by our actions, not only our words. Example: Link

 

 

1) For sure.

2) For sure.

3) Maybe not the ship.

4) I think a crafting system depends on the story. If it's a pre industrial or post apocalyptic/civilization setting it makes more sense, but if your setting has manufacturing companies and complicated mechanisms like space fairing vehicles and collapsible guns it doesn't make sense for a single jarhead to start building things that require factories and teams of engineers to make.

5) FOR ****** SURE!!!

6) DITTO!!!

7) Add a jump button and ability to do pull ups. Also, a better run animation.

8) Maybe

9) There's a lot to say here. I think they should take out biotic combos completely and have biotics play off each other through wacky physics manipulation and not purple explosions. Plus, give them the feel and power they had back in ME1 (biotics are powerful damnit!); perhaps balance them by giving a long universal cooldown separate from the combat and tech abilities. I think the tech abilities should focus more on affecting the environment (hacking, sabotaging, repairing, etc) and less on creating space wizards or being another combat flavor. It all boils down to making biotics, tech, and combat abilities fundamentally different from each other versus being different colored ways of killing people.

10) Yes.

 

11) Ditch the thermal clips!

[Vazgen]

1) For sure.

2) For sure.

3) Maybe not the ship.

4) I think a crafting system depends on the story. If it's a pre industrial or post apocalyptic/civilization setting it makes more sense, but if your setting has manufacturing companies and complicated mechanisms like space fairing vehicles and collapsible guns it doesn't make sense for a single jarhead to start building things that require factories and teams of engineers to make.

5) FOR ****** SURE!!!

6) DITTO!!!

7) Add a jump button and ability to do pull ups. Also, a better run animation.

8) Maybe

9) There's a lot to say here. I think they should take out biotic combos completely and have biotics play off each other through wacky physics manipulation and not purple explosions. Plus, give them the feel and power they had back in ME1 (biotics are powerful damnit!); perhaps balance them by giving a long universal cooldown separate from the combat and tech abilities. I think the tech abilities should focus more on affecting the environment (hacking, sabotaging, repairing, etc) and less on creating space wizards or being another combat flavor. It all boils down to making biotics, tech, and combat abilities fundamentally different from each other versus being different colored ways of killing people.

10) Yes.

 

11) Ditch the thermal clips!

Why not the ship? Mixing and matching different parts (not yourself but through some terminal at shipyard) to make the ship have a different model. The only problem I can see with that is that there will be no cinematic cutscenes that show the ship. However, with the possibilities of Frostbite I believe in-engine cutscenes can be just as appealing visually. And having a custom ship flying your colors and name would be awesome!

 

For crafting it depends on the items you'd be able to craft. Ship engines and mass effect cores are clearly not suitable for a single person to craft. However, custom weaponry, omni-tool modifications and ammunition crafting can be a more personal experience. Custom weapons will not be complex (maybe not even collapse) but they can have advantages such as higher ammo capacity and more damage (at the expense of collapsing mechanisms)... Dead Space has crafting. Your character is an engineer but it's not unheard of for sci-fi genre

 

I actually don't want jump animations. I just don't see the point. As for pull-up animations, it can happen similarly to climbing animations already present in ME2 and ME3. It can help to make the levels feel more linear. As for running animation, I'd prefer a quick-paced walking animation to constant jogging. A button to toggle walking on and off, a button for sprinting. I'm fine with male jogging animation, female one is atrocious though

 

Biotic explosions with non-physics powers should be fine. Warp can't really take part in physics combinations, as well as Stasis, Dark Channel and Reave. Having a few more powers like that and combine them together in biotic explosions should work quite well. I'm against biotic projectiles, ME1 had none of those and that's how it should be. 

 

I never understood why people don't like Thermal Clip system. It made the guns diverse and gameplay more interesting. In ME1 all the guns were the same and all were inferior to Spectre weapons. On higher levels gameplay consisted of filling enemies with bullets for, like, five minutes.

[ImaginaryMatter]

Why not the ship? Mixing and matching different parts (not yourself but through some terminal at shipyard) to make the ship have a different model. The only problem I can see with that is that there will be no cinematic cutscenes that show the ship. However, with the possibilities of Frostbite I believe in-engine cutscenes can be just as appealing visually. And having a custom ship flying your colors and name would be awesome!

 

For crafting it depends on the items you'd be able to craft. Ship engines and mass effect cores are clearly not suitable for a single person to craft. However, custom weaponry, omni-tool modifications and ammunition crafting can be a more personal experience. Custom weapons will not be complex (maybe not even collapse) but they can have advantages such as higher ammo capacity and more damage (at the expense of collapsing mechanisms)... Dead Space has crafting. Your character is an engineer but it's not unheard of for sci-fi genre

 

I actually don't want jump animations. I just don't see the point. As for pull-up animations, it can happen similarly to climbing animations already present in ME2 and ME3. It can help to make the levels feel more linear. As for running animation, I'd prefer a quick-paced walking animation to constant jogging. A button to toggle walking on and off, a button for sprinting. I'm fine with male jogging animation, female one is atrocious though

 

Biotic explosions with non-physics powers should be fine. Warp can't really take part in physics combinations, as well as Stasis, Dark Channel and Reave. Having a few more powers like that and combine them together in biotic explosions should work quite well. I'm against biotic projectiles, ME1 had none of those and that's how it should be. 

 

I never understood why people don't like Thermal Clip system. It made the guns diverse and gameplay more interesting. In ME1 all the guns were the same and all were inferior to Spectre weapons. On higher levels gameplay consisted of filling enemies with bullets for, like, five minutes.

 

ME4 (ME:N?) is, presumably, going to be a third person shooter with maybe vehicle segments. Because of that I think the customization should stick with with those two.

 

I guess it does depend on what your crafting. Guns and ammunition still seem to be above what a single person could do. Another objection I have is that developers implement those functions without knowing what they're doing and it ends up being a mess.

 

Jumping adds a lot to exploration as it gives another dimension of motion. It's a little thing but it really breaks the feeling of suffocating linearity (which the series has a big problem with) even if it is superficial. Pullups get a mention because so few games have that option and it really imposes that sense of linearity. I guess I should have specified, by run I mean the sprint animation. That thing is so unnatural looking. Agreed, FemChar should get her own animations, we really don't need to see this again.

 

I think all the biotics should be physics powers to some extent, it's manipulating mass and gravity after all. I think the more 'magicky' powers like Reave and Dark Channel should be ditched (by that I mean all the biotics should some what intuitively be related to mass and gravity manipulation or have an explanation to that affect). Let players get [https://www.youtube....eR_McQ]creative[/url] with the combos. The only biotic power I think should have a projectile is Throw because arcing it helps add to the fun (although maybe the 'projectile' should be more of a warping affect moving through the air rather than a purple bullet).

 

Heat management is unique and it's a good bit of world building. The problem with the ME1 weapons wasn't heat management but simply that it was a terrible execution by a developer that was doing something new. The guns were more diverse in ME2 and ME3 because they were simply more diverse, I don't think that dependent on them having ammunition. Some diversity factors like spread, accuracy, recoil, damage, and weight are independent of thermal clips or whatever.

[Vazgen]

Yes, but thermal clips add another layer. Consider Lancer and Particle Rifle in Mass Effect 3. Are they really that different? Lancer weighs less, deals more damage, has slightly lower rate of fire and is less accurate. However, with unlimited ammo, accuracy is no longer important. What's left is weight and damage. Damage can't be pushed past a certain threshold as it makes the gun overpowered (imagine Spitfire with unlimited ammo). You get only weight and it'll make lighter weapons clearly superior. 

 

Biotic explosions brought large character building potential to ME3. It has much larger capacity to support different builds with all kinds of biotic powers. Or maybe it was the sheer amount of powers and lack of protected enemies compared to Mass Effect 2. Come to think of it, protection layers should not protect against biotics. Against impacts, yes, but not against lifting of throwing them off feet. And while shields/barriers can somehow interfere with biotics since they are mass effect fields themselves, armor just can't.

[ImaginaryMatter]

Yes, but thermal clips add another layer. Consider Lancer and Particle Rifle in Mass Effect 3. Are they really that different? Lancer weighs less, deals more damage, has slightly lower rate of fire and is less accurate. However, with unlimited ammo, accuracy is no longer important. What's left is weight and damage. Damage can't be pushed past a certain threshold as it makes the gun overpowered (imagine Spitfire with unlimited ammo). You get only weight and it'll make lighter weapons clearly superior. 

 

That's not the case at all. Higher damage weapons can be offset with less accuracy, larger spread, and a more punishing recoil. Accuracy affects at what ranges weapons are effective. If a small percentage of your bullets are hitting the target it will require more time out of cover and firing, thus increasing the damage you take. Not to mention things like headshots. Inefficiently taking out enemies can cause mission failures due to timers or enemies rushing your position (ME3 for all intents and purposes had unlimited ammo for a majority of weapons and accuracy still mattered). You have a lot of variety just by trading off these stats. This isn't even getting into the weapon gimmicks (like the Particle Rifle has to be continuously fired for a few seconds to gain it's maximum affects). This isn't even factoring in heat. You can have weapons that have a very efficient method of dispersing heat but lose power or some other stat. You can have very powerful weapons generate a ton of heat.

 

The problem with the ME1 weapons is that the tradeoffs were small or almost non-existent and weapons improved in all stats as the level went up with some weapons simply boasting better stats in all areas. Mods and weapon abilities unbalanced things as well by making heat completely irrelevant past a certain point.

[Vazgen]

Accuracy penalty does not matter with unlimited ammunition. Fights will simply take longer because fewer of your shots will hit the target. Accuracy penalty makes sense for weapons with limited ammunition, because it makes you use the weapon more responsively. You get a Spitfire with a ton of ammo in Citadel DLC. Do you care about shooting it accurately? Did you care about shooting accurately in ME1? I certainly didn't, unless I used sniper rifles. 

ME3 does not have unlimited ammo. You have to switch your position to collect dropped thermal clips, and you rely much more on your powers to conserve ammo. Try not using powers and use only your weapons. You'll find yourself rushing after thermal clips quite often.

Recoil can work, but then again, there will be weapon mods that mitigate that drawback and a gun with unlimited ammunition and mod-lowered recoil is clearly OP. Mods can increase ammo capacity, but you still have to pay attention.

ME3 weapons have the following stats: 

Weight

Damage

Rate of Fire

Ammo Capacity

Accuracy

Do you suggest to remove Ammo Capacity and replace it with Heat Management? I don't see any advantage to that. I do see a disadvantage - accuracy becoming meaningless. I would've preferred much less thermal clip drops in ME3, about as much as grenade drops. 

[ImaginaryMatter]

Accuracy penalty does not matter with unlimited ammunition. Fights will simply take longer because fewer of your shots will hit the target. Accuracy penalty makes sense for weapons with limited ammunition, because it makes you use the weapon more responsively. You get a Spitfire with a ton of ammo in Citadel DLC. Do you care about shooting it accurately? Did you care about shooting accurately in ME1? I certainly didn't, unless I used sniper rifles. 

ME3 does not have unlimited ammo. You have to switch your position to collect dropped thermal clips, and you rely much more on your powers to conserve ammo. Try not using powers and use only your weapons. You'll find yourself rushing after thermal clips quite often.

Recoil can work, but then again, there will be weapon mods that mitigate that drawback and a gun with unlimited ammunition and mod-lowered recoil is clearly OP. Mods can increase ammo capacity, but you still have to pay attention.

ME3 weapons have the following stats: 

Weight

Damage

Rate of Fire

Ammo Capacity

Accuracy

Do you suggest to remove Ammo Capacity and replace it with Heat Management? I don't see any advantage to that. I do see a disadvantage - accuracy becoming meaningless. I would've preferred much less thermal clip drops in ME3, about as much as grenade drops. 

 

On my level 1 Insanity run of ME1 I did care very much about accuracy (before I had access to the unbalanced stuff), at least as much as I ever did in ME2 or ME3 (unless I was using the ME2 Mattock or WIdow). I have never ever ran out of thermal clips in ME3 except for Nomandy evac during Prologue: Earth or felt pressured to play conservatively. As I said earlier longer battles could mean plenty of bad things: Inaccuracy means being exposed to fire longer, enemies with regaining health... regaining health, timers expiring, bad guys encroaching on your position, etc. Additionally, missing means heat builds up which means you'll either overheat which is bad or have to crouch back down and wait for heat to disperce, which are as much of a hassle as picking up extra thermal clips.

 

Having health recharge doesn't mean the player character is invincible. If enemies are static and there are no time constraints you can pop in and out using cover all day (the ME2 and ME3 powers insure you do have unlimited sources for dealing damage). But a good system wouldn't have that. Enemies would rush your position and beat down your health before it can recharge. Heat management may not be as drastic (it doesn't automatically result in a game over if you overheat) but it still matters. Were you inaccurate? Well now a enemy with lots of health is standing right next to you and your weapon is about to overheat or has already done so. The problem with ME1 was that the AI was terrible and the weapons, plus mods, weren't balanced, which is a problem that could affect anything.

 

All it requires is balancing. If players are allowed to be inaccurate because their weapons technically has unlimited ammo then put in some other constraint.

 

To get to the Spitfire. I do care about shooting it accurately. If I miss I'm taking damage (unless Wrex has them distracted), too much damage and I die. If I continue missing those Cat-6 guys are going to be standing right next to me.

[Vazgen]

But limited ammunition will work the same way with your example. Instead of having your weapon overheated you'll have, say, one clip left. However, if unlimited ammo system allows you to recharge your weapon while staying in cover, limited ammunition forces you to go out and collect thermal clips. It's more challenging which is only a good thing in my book. I just don't see unlimited ammunition bringing anything new to the game. It'll only make it easier. Perhaps it can be balanced well and be a good substitute for ammo system, but why implement it if people love ammo system? ME3 gameplay is considered the best of the trilogy by many people (even those who hate the game's storyline). Why change it? What advantages does unlimited ammo system have that can make for a more fun gameplay than ME3?

I just go all Rambo with Spitfire (I killed Wrex and had Vega). I did the same in ME1 with Marksman ability. Overpower enemies with constant fire. Besides hearing that volus merchant screaming was hilarious

[ImaginaryMatter]

But limited ammunition will work the same way with your example. Instead of having your weapon overheated you'll have, say, one clip left. However, if unlimited ammo system allows you to recharge your weapon while staying in cover, limited ammunition forces you to go out and collect thermal clips. It's more challenging which is only a good thing in my book. I just don't see unlimited ammunition bringing anything new to the game. It'll only make it easier. Perhaps it can be balanced well and be a good substitute for ammo system, but why implement it if people love ammo system? ME3 gameplay is considered the best of the trilogy by many people (even those who hate the game's storyline). Why change it? What advantages does unlimited ammo system have that can make for a more fun gameplay than ME3?

 

The combat in the series has never been particularly outstanding. Even just compared to games released in 2012, ME3's mechanics come off as tepid and less sound compared to a large portion of other games that year. To me the draw of the series has always been the world building and heat sinks fit that model so much better (the thermal clips don't even follow the Codex's own internal logic, thank you Conrad Verner). Game play wise though, they are different. Different may not necessarily be better but I think they can work in this case. Those other games in 2012 broke away from well established, profitable mechanics and succeeded. At the very least the game play will be a better extension of the lore.

[N7-RED-GHOST]

 

I decided to compile a list of features I'd like to see in ME:Next. I believe those will result in a more immersive and fun playthrough and make the next Mass Effect claim its rightful place at the top of the genre. I'll try to link as many examples as I can to illustrate what I'm talking about. So, here we go...

1. Environmental hazards. With exploration being one of the key ideas of the game, those can help to bring diversity to the planets and provide tactical challenges for the players. Examples: Acid Rain, Whiteout, Nighttime, Sandstorm, Solar Radiation. New hazards, such as extreme cold and heat, zero gravity, high pressure negatively impacting your movement speed etc.
2. Environment utilization. We should be able to manipulate the environment to our advantage. Examples: Sand gameplay (add to this throwing grenades in the sand to create clouds of dust to obscure vision etc. - also present in Spec Ops The Line), destructible cover, manipulating objects with biotics both to create and remove cover as well as simply throwing them at the enemies.
3. Customization. This should be prevalent in character creation, armor customization (mix and match armor pieces, craft ours, add mods that change the armor visually, change color), ground vehicle customization (visible upgrades - more armor = less speed and maneuverability, turrets = less speed, different types of scanners that reveal resources and enemies on the mini map, engine and handling upgrades), ship customization (visible upgrades - armor, cannons, emission dampeners, purely visual upgrades like color scheme, pattern and name), weapon customization (mods that don't have a negative impact on weapon balance like Ultralight Materials in ME3, give those both negative and positive effects), omni-tool and biotic amp upgrades to manipulate power damage, recharge speed and duration at the expense of each other.
4. Crafting system. Ties in with the point 3. Ability to craft personalized weapon mods, armor mods, weapons, vehicle repair. Have a retractable workbench built in the Mako, so you can do crafting in the field.
5. Helmet equip animation. The option to toggle helmet on and off is nice, but it would be much more immersive to have the helmet deactivate/activate during cutscenes. Examples: Dead Space 2, Guardians of the Galaxy.
6. Correct weapon equipping animations. Equip the weapons that are present in the loadout with the corresponding animations. Don't have a pistol/SMG/sniper rifle/shotgun being equipped/holstered like an assault rifle, shotgun/assault rifle/sniper rifle being equipped/holstered like a pistol/SMG etc. as well as Predator/Avenger as a default weapon in cutscenes (like this). Also, make the character actually holster a weapon when climbing ladders, not have it disappear like this.
7. Ability to holster our weapons and crouch (both present in ME1). Also, omni-tool using animation with holstered weapons. Force holster when using omni-tool for complex tasks. Not this: Geth Dreadnought, Mahavid. Better to have static animation, without the hand pointing to the object.
8. Stealth gameplay. Allow the player to perform silent takedowns with melee weapons (a knife in a boot or the omni-blade) or at least, to avoid adding new animations, to kill targets silently with a silenced weapon. Will work well with crouch ability. Example: Spec Ops: The Line, Citadel DLC
9. Redesign of tech/biotic powers. Currently some tech powers feel too similar to biotics, both are projectiles launched out of nowhere. It doesn't make sense lore-wise for both of them. And while ME1 has a perfect example of how biotics should feel like, it's not the case for tech powers. Tech mines are arguably more immersive than powers appearing out of nowhere, but it leaves a question - where are those mines coming from? We have an unlimited number of those in ME1 and limiting it would severely handicap tech characters. Hand gestures in ME2-3 are not really Here is how I suggest to redesign tech powers: Link. The emphasis is put on Tactical Scan-like animation. As for biotic powers, biotic explosions are a great way to enhance gameplay complexity. They make different biotic skills synergize with each other. They, however, came with sacrificing physics combos. I suggest limiting the number of powers that prime and detonate biotic combos at the expense of adding physics combos. Example: Pull+Throw = physics combo, Pull + Warp = biotic explosion.
10. Decision making via gameplay. We've only been able to make decisions using the dialogue wheel. And while it's a good working system, it makes decision making in the course of combat and gameplay less seamless. We have a break in combat and gameplay flow. Add the ability to make decisions by our actions, not only our words. Example: Link

   

 

 

 

 11 hand to hand combat overhaul. Straight up fist fights.

    12 Player housing. The game should have more RPG Elements this would expand on this by separating work from you're characters personal life.

    13 Casual Clothing buy Jackets, Jeans and T-Shirts.

    14 You don't have to start off as a biotic you can be trained to become one.

    15 Introduce daggers.

[Vazgen]

The combat in the series has never been particularly outstanding. Even just compared to games released in 2012, ME3's mechanics come off as tepid and less sound compared to a large portion of other games that year. To me the draw of the series has always been the world building and heat sinks fit that model so much better (the thermal clips don't even follow the Codex's own internal logic, thank you Conrad Verner). Game play wise though, they are different. Different may not necessarily be better but I think they can work in this case. Those other games in 2012 broke away from well established, profitable mechanics and succeeded. At the very least the game play will be a better extension of the lore.

I just think that unlimited ammunition will make it even less challenging. How about a compromise?

Have unlimited ammunition so you shoot the gun till it overheats. Once it does though, the only way to cool it down is to replace heat sink. Have a low limited number of heat sinks (start with 2 at first, with the ability to upgrade capacity later up to 10). That'll make players pay much more attention to overheating and accuracy.

 

11 hand to hand combat overhaul. Straight up fist fights.

12 Player housing. The game should have more RPG Elements this would expand on this by separating work from you're characters personal life.

13 Casual Clothing buy Jackets, Jeans and T-Shirts.

14 You don't have to start off as a biotic you can be trained to become one.

15 Introduce daggers.

What's the point of fist fights in sci-fi setting?

You have your ship as housing. It serves as an equivalent of party camp in DA Origins and Skyhold in DA Inquisition.

Not that detailed, but buying casual clothing can be a good thing.

You can't be just trained to become a biotic lore-wise. You have to be exposed to element zero once in utero to develop biotic nodes and once more after that to activate them. You also can't use powers in any meaningful way without an implant.

I agree if what you ask is replacing omni-blade weapons with physical combat knives that serve as backup weapons.

[MrFob]

I like all of those suggestions.
The stealth gameplay is a bit tricky. When adding something like this, it's very easy to make it over-powerful when compared to the shooter mechanics (see DX:HR). I don't want to play my Mass Effect as a stealth guy all the time. Ideally, I'd like to be able to mix them up a little (although that would be difficult to do in an ROG, where you are supposed to skill your character to become an expert in one branch or theother).

As for helmet animations, after ME1, we had a thread about his and everyone (me included) wanted some cool helmet animation like the bad guys in the Stargate movie had (the helmet extending out of the suit in some cool way). Don't remember if that's what DS2 did and don't know GotG, so maybe that's what you suggested as well.

Also, a definite yes to ship customization, at least the interior (exterior may be difficult if cutscenes are pre-rendered binks again like in ME1-3). Depends on the story of course, but it could be cool to start with some almost empty hull (salvaged ship or whatever) and then build it up to a decent well equipped ship. That way, you could customize upgrades that actually help you during the game. I am thinking that because the ME2 upgrades for example were nice but you didn't really notice them until the endgame. However, you will actually have a sense of progress if suddenly, you have your own weapons bench on the ship or shop uplink or whatever.

Also, I would like to have space ballets implemented in some way. Not sure how to be honest but it would be great if we could somehow participate. Ideally, I am think something along the lines of Star Trek: Bridge Commander if anyone remembers that game but that maybe too much to integrate, especially because it should not be a key element, more like (e.g. ship battles were a side element in Assassins Creed III, havong them as central as they were in Black Flag would be too much). Anyway, some kind of space battle gameplay would tie in very well with ship upgrades.


Obviously, there is a whole lot of dreaming in this post. Implementing all of this would probably be too much for one game.

[Vazgen]

I like all of those suggestions.
The stealth gameplay is a bit tricky. When adding something like this, it's very easy to make it over-powerful when compared to the shooter mechanics (see DX:HR). I don't want to play my Mass Effect as a stealth guy all the time. Ideally, I'd like to be able to mix them up a little (although that would be difficult to do in an ROG, where you are supposed to skill your character to become an expert in one branch or theother).

As for helmet animations, after ME1, we had a thread about his and everyone (me included) wanted some cool helmet animation like the bad guys in the Stargate movie had (the helmet extending out of the suit in some cool way). Don't remember if that's what DS2 did and don't know GotG, so maybe that's what you suggested as well.

Also, a definite yes to ship customization, at least the interior (exterior may be difficult if cutscenes are pre-rendered binks again like in ME1-3). Depends on the story of course, but it could be cool to start with some almost empty hull (salvaged ship or whatever) and then build it up to a decent well equipped ship. That way, you could customize upgrades that actually help you during the game. I am thinking that because the ME2 upgrades for example were nice but you didn't really notice them until the endgame. However, you will actually have a sense of progress if suddenly, you have your own weapons bench on the ship or shop uplink or whatever.

Also, I would like to have space ballets implemented in some way. Not sure how to be honest but it would be great if we could somehow participate. Ideally, I am think something along the lines of Star Trek: Bridge Commander if anyone remembers that game but that maybe too much to integrate, especially because it should not be a key element, more like (e.g. ship battles were a side element in Assassins Creed III, havong them as central as they were in Black Flag would be too much). Anyway, some kind of space battle gameplay would tie in very well with ship upgrades.


Obviously, there is a whole lot of dreaming in this post. Implementing all of this would probably be too much for one game.

For stealth, I prefer prebuilt sequences that give you the option of using both stealth and combat. Not a fully fleshed-out stealth gameplay, since it'll be a totally new thing for ME universe. Some sections like the one in Citadel DLC where you can use both stealth and combat - that's what I aim for.

 

Bioware has a tough time with helmet animations. Just yesterday I saw a complaint about the lack of toggle helmet on/off option in Dragon Age Inquisition. Dead Space 2 did the same thing you suggested With existing tech in ME universe, helmets were equipped traditionally, like on Mars mission we see Shepard taking it off and on with his hands (where does the helmet disappear after that is a whole another question...). Such animations would make a lot more sense. Inferno Armor looks like it's built specially for those animations.

 

Interior customization could be nice, though it's a bit too otpimistic IMO. It'll have to be very limited, because building ship interior from a scratch can prove problematic for AI path-finding, lighting etc. 

 

Space battles are tricky in ME, ship's pilot is the one flying the ship and ordering him around is just counter-productive. Ship commander can plot a course and choose targets but the actual combat maneuvering is done by the pilot. I just don't see how it can be implemented in ME.

[MrFob]

Space battles are tricky in ME, ship's pilot is the one flying the ship and ordering him around is just counter-productive. Ship commander can plot a course and choose targets but the actual combat maneuvering is done by the pilot. I just don't see how it can be implemented in ME.

That's why I was thinking along the lines of Bridge Commander. You basically give orders to a bunch of officers who then carry them out. But as I said, It maybe a bit too much for ME.

As for the helmet, yea, I also think such animations would work really well in the ME universe. They really should go with that.

About upgrading the ship interior, I don't think it's a technical problem if the upgrades have pre-defined positions. I am not suggesting being able to let the player freely place them, just that they are added in over the course of the game.

[StarcloudSWG]

Crafting: 

 

NO.

 

Seriously. Mass Effect is not a medieval fantasy game. It's a modern - sci fi setting. There are such things as assembly lines and factories. You don't 'craft' anything and you *shouldn't* craft anything. What you do is you assemble components, you don't make the components yourself.

 

The system used in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3 where you have components that you can add to a base item is sufficient.

[Vazgen]

Crafting: 

 

NO.

 

Seriously. Mass Effect is not a medieval fantasy game. It's a modern - sci fi setting. There are such things as assembly lines and factories. You don't 'craft' anything and you *shouldn't* craft anything. What you do is you assemble components, you don't make the components yourself.

 

The system used in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3 where you have components that you can add to a base item is sufficient.

Crafting system is basically using those assembly lines and stations you mentioned. Fill the materials in, program the machine and it assembles a weapon mod for you. Some materials are rare and have innate properties. Common materials can be bought and found almost everywhere, rare materials are scarce and in dangerous locations but they have unique properties. 

Assembly lines and factories don't create personalized items specially for you. 

[Dashen Thomas]

IMHO the items, mods and schematics system in DA:I would work very well in ME. Based on available schematics you will purchase more or less standard weapons and armors from manufacturers. Once bought they are individual items in your inventory which you can modify further yourself to get your personalized items.

This would eliminate the problem of ME1 inventory with loads of identical items. Instead of looting individual weapons you would search for entirely new schematics or upgrades to your existing items.

[Mixon]

I want to see the only playable race - human and the default one like it was in ME1-3 and ofc with default faces and I voices, I bet this will guarant me that the game will be successful. Don't try to catch 2 rabbits. DAI already tried.