Captain: "Private, our audio simulators are down, get on station quick!"
Private: "Yes sir!" <Completely Straight Laced> "Pew, pew pew pew. Whoooosh, swish, kaboooom!"
Captain: "That sounds like a hit to the engines! Get a crew down there on the double!"
Private: "Pew, pew, shwooooosh."
....
Lol at this thread - if the space battles were realistic, they would probably be pretty boring because you wouldn't hear a damn thing. Think silent film. Except even those had music. So like, even more lame than that.
I am all for realism, I made a post about making sure the star systems are scientifically accurate or reasonably so. Ignoring such things breaks immersion. But there is a limit - and having sound in space is one of those 100% unrealistic things that are necessary because its a video game.
So....yeah...no.
While I agree for the most part, I loved that in the opening of Mass Effect 2 while Shepard makes his way through the destroyed Normandy, the only sound that can be heard while underneath the gaping hole in the bridge is the sound of Shepard's respiration. Outside his suit it was complete silence.
I thought that was a great touch.
REALISM: WHAT ANDROMEDA SHOULD BE ALL ABOUT
One of the many reasons many people love the Mass Effect franchise is because of its believability.
There are great storylines, great people to interact with, and great ambience.
I've always appreciated Bioware's storytelling; ME1 was probably the first game that put players at the helm; although it could be seen as primitive from today's standpoint, it did immerse the players in the story and made them appreciate the plot much more than they would have if not for the interactive dialogue wheel as well as the Paragon/Renegade inputs introduced in later iterations. That's probably the reason why many people have experienced an altogether different and more engaging RPG trilogy through the years with Shep and his/her team. Admittedly, the ending of the trilogy was a bit off the mark. I wouldn't call it a devasting flop; and I would certainly not call it a series-killer. The concept of Shepard's sacrifice was executed well, and I felt it was really the only way to go to conclude a plot that had grown to such voluminous proportions over the course of its synopsis. I did however, feel that the ending could have been a bit more dynamic; instead of same reactions and different color pastes, we could have had an altogether different ending; say, we could have had direct input and different choices on the strategy of the final battle on London (I figured being a legendary human commander, we would have had some sort of say, but ... well, no). The choices made throughout the five years could really have been shown appreciation and consideration. Bioware, late as it is (we figure you've already gotten past the foundations and are well into the wrap-up...considering we're only a year away from holiday 2016), here's a brief run down.
1. INVOLVING AND REALISTIC PLOT.
I honestly don't see how I'd get over the original trilogy .... and silly enough I'm waiting for a great remake of the original a few years into the future. I think that'd be a great idea. But since Bioware is going ahead with Andromeda, they'll need to make it right. I personally would really not appreciate an alternate reality timeline or some sort of leave-the-rotting-galaxy-and-go-to-mine-gold-in-andromeda type of plot jump. Milky Way has to be there; and this just has to be an expansion of galactic races onto a new world with their advent in technologies. I mean, if Earth is rotting, how the hell are we supposed to get to the Shepard memorial that's most likely built there?!
2. REAL GRIT, REAL ENGINES, REAL HEAVY BOOMS.
Now THIS IS IMPORTANT.
There was one recurring thing I didn't like about the Mass Effect trilogy. This flaw was most exploited in ME3; during its wide array of space battles and everything. I really enjoyed the militarized armies and the concept of interstellar armed forces coming together. But my god Bioware why are they all white and green and blue and red and toyish? Giant dreadnaughts better sound massive and almost fear-inducing; physics needed to be on a heavier side; military vehicles needed to be felt that way; Makos were silver plated with blue decals, armor was colorful and not really accompanying; Look at a Kwunu. Looks like a dreadnaught size designer chopstick for kids. I'm sure the codex explanations sufficed, but the theme didn't really work out. Just take a minute to remember the final flight scene. If you had a 100percent readiness, you'd see that Alliance fighter pilot gunning down that Reaper baby red eye pod whatsits with a stream of bullets. Listen to that bullet sound; and you'll know just what I'm talking about. Big bad space stuff need to be heavy and loud and imposing. The military rovers and everything need to be gritty, angry, growling, heavy, and occasionally rusty and dirty. I just want the sound job to be done right. Like the Reapers. Both from ME1 and ME3; the Reaper cries were spot on; the echoes were great and you could hear that Reaper yell from the immersive gameplay.
When I looked at the new Andromeda Mako .... it was white, it was shiny, it sounded like a battery powered Toyota concept pod. Not really a forte but I can't say I hate it. I just really wished they'd made these things more realistic.
3. DESOLATION AND VASTNESS.
I honestly think that the huge FTL-typish thing we saw on N7 Day 2014 is the huge FTL teleporter that leads to Andromeda .... link here; http://blog.bioware....1/MEScreen2.jpg..
we also need a real galaxy ... I mean, the original trilogy was great, but the galaxy map? I mean; quit insulting the Milky Way! You get from one end to the other end with simple annoying three second cutscenes and the whole thing looked remarkably like some toy board game. The galaxy is a huge huge place, and I just couldn't get that feel with the original map. Add the context that you are exploring some new galaxy, that element of fear needs to be in there. I can't simply be the adventurous joyride anymore. And by FEAR I don't mean that i-have-a-torchlight-in-a-dark-corridor-and-oh-****-a-zombie-is-crawling-out-of-that-corner fear; I mean the kind of fear associated with adventure; that fear which makes players wonder if this is really going to be round trip or a short, meaningless one way hellride.
4. REAL.
like I wrote above; it needs to be a realistic one; Andromeda needs to design the whole game world based on today and with considerations of the future; stuff that players can look at and think 'Well, that's a spot on idea for sth in the future'. I'd still like Star Trek if it wasn't for the ridiculous person-warp-thing that Spock uses to jump down upon Khan or that rather bewildering time travel concept.
The original trilogy was a great fusion of the sci fi genre that established it as an interesting interpretation of the far away future without too much gimmicks. And although I felt the 2180s timeline was a bit too close to the present for comfort, it was a good undertaking. Oh, and Bioware, no blue tint for biotics please. I mean, you could sort of create visual ripples (like heat waves from overheated rifles during reloads in ME2 and ME3) with different strengths and deepness to depict biotics. Sure, Asaris? That's fine. But Miri turning all blue wasn't a great pro in my book.
That said, I'm waiting for Holiday 2016. Don't even think about a delay 'cause we would have waited for four years straight.
TO BE UPDATED.
The only problem with your post is you're talking about realism but then bring up unrealistic things like "sound for effect" when there is no sound in space. Also Mass Effect was never about realism per say, it was as fantastic in design as star trek or star wars from the outset - the big difference was that space was made to feel more realistic in that it accurately showed scarcity and the difficulties that come with space civilization (which contrasted with the seemingly infinitely supplied Reapers made for a good backdrop for a story about survival). In many ways Mass Effect was heavily inspired by 60's & 70's sci-fi about dangerous space exploration pre-star wars when it was a mix of fantastic and believability. I don't think the series got too far away from it, Mass Effect 2 for instance was closer to the books than Mass Effect 1 in tone and violence, it just felt ever more fantastic because you were visiting planets that had been at it for thousands of years while ME1 was focused on human colonies that had only been around for 10 or 20 years.
Going forward is even more iffy if it's set after the ME3 trilogy - does FTL travel become routine because of advances based on reaper technology? If we run into increasingly ancient civilizations in Andromeda will their technology cross the "magic" barrier? I do think it would be great on a micro-level to still have grounded realism though, ie: no sound in space, stations rotating to create gravity, pod-based colonies with resource scarcity, space combat being a quick and destructive thing rather than star wars esque, etc.
I'd also like to see Bioware go the No Man's Sky/Elite: Dangerous route and have "seamless" transitions between star systems, it's a really cool feeling to jump to a system and *boom* there's a giant star in your face and you need to re-route to a planet that you barrel towards at impossible speeds before slowing down to reveal a tiny space station rotating around it.
Was there realism in the original star trek series?
As of today how many of the laughable far fetched things in that series have now come into being?
Even in this day and age technology is moving at a faster and faster rate as is the fact that things in some cases we felt we knew were true may not be true.
Sci Fi in general and sci fi in the distant future can essentially do whatever they want, bend or break many rules that they want.
Was there realism in the original star trek series?
As of today how many of the laughable far fetched things in that series have now come into being?
Even in this day and age technology is moving at a faster and faster rate as is the fact that things in some cases we felt we knew were true may not be true.
Sci Fi in general and sci fi in the distant future can essentially do whatever they want, bend or break many rules that they want.
Star Trek wasn't even realistic for the 1960's, but that wasn't the point it was about cheesy characters and cheesy plots. 
REALISM: WHAT ANDROMEDA SHOULD BE ALL ABOUT
One of the many reasons many people love the Mass Effect franchise is because of its believability.
There are great storylines, great people to interact with, and great ambience.
I've always appreciated Bioware's storytelling; ME1 was probably the first game that put players at the helm; although it could be seen as primitive from today's standpoint, it did immerse the players in the story and made them appreciate the plot much more than they would have if not for the interactive dialogue wheel as well as the Paragon/Renegade inputs introduced in later iterations. That's probably the reason why many people have experienced an altogether different and more engaging RPG trilogy through the years with Shep and his/her team. Admittedly, the ending of the trilogy was a bit off the mark. I wouldn't call it a devasting flop; and I would certainly not call it a series-killer. The concept of Shepard's sacrifice was executed well, and I felt it was really the only way to go to conclude a plot that had grown to such voluminous proportions over the course of its synopsis. I did however, feel that the ending could have been a bit more dynamic; instead of same reactions and different color pastes, we could have had an altogether different ending; say, we could have had direct input and different choices on the strategy of the final battle on London (I figured being a legendary human commander, we would have had some sort of say, but ... well, no). The choices made throughout the five years could really have been shown appreciation and consideration. Bioware, late as it is (we figure you've already gotten past the foundations and are well into the wrap-up...considering we're only a year away from holiday 2016), here's a brief run down.
1. INVOLVING AND REALISTIC PLOT.
I honestly don't see how I'd get over the original trilogy .... and silly enough I'm waiting for a great remake of the original a few years into the future. I think that'd be a great idea. But since Bioware is going ahead with Andromeda, they'll need to make it right. I personally would really not appreciate an alternate reality timeline or some sort of leave-the-rotting-galaxy-and-go-to-mine-gold-in-andromeda type of plot jump. Milky Way has to be there; and this just has to be an expansion of galactic races onto a new world with their advent in technologies. I mean, if Earth is rotting, how the hell are we supposed to get to the Shepard memorial that's most likely built there?!
2. REAL GRIT, REAL ENGINES, REAL HEAVY BOOMS.
Now THIS IS IMPORTANT.
There was one recurring thing I didn't like about the Mass Effect trilogy. This flaw was most exploited in ME3; during its wide array of space battles and everything. I really enjoyed the militarized armies and the concept of interstellar armed forces coming together. But my god Bioware why are they all white and green and blue and red and toyish? Giant dreadnaughts better sound massive and almost fear-inducing; physics needed to be on a heavier side; military vehicles needed to be felt that way; Makos were silver plated with blue decals, armor was colorful and not really accompanying; Look at a Kwunu. Looks like a dreadnaught size designer chopstick for kids. I'm sure the codex explanations sufficed, but the theme didn't really work out. Just take a minute to remember the final flight scene. If you had a 100percent readiness, you'd see that Alliance fighter pilot gunning down that Reaper baby red eye pod whatsits with a stream of bullets. Listen to that bullet sound; and you'll know just what I'm talking about. Big bad space stuff need to be heavy and loud and imposing. The military rovers and everything need to be gritty, angry, growling, heavy, and occasionally rusty and dirty. I just want the sound job to be done right. Like the Reapers. Both from ME1 and ME3; the Reaper cries were spot on; the echoes were great and you could hear that Reaper yell from the immersive gameplay.
When I looked at the new Andromeda Mako .... it was white, it was shiny, it sounded like a battery powered Toyota concept pod. Not really a forte but I can't say I hate it. I just really wished they'd made these things more realistic.
3. DESOLATION AND VASTNESS.
I honestly think that the huge FTL-typish thing we saw on N7 Day 2014 is the huge FTL teleporter that leads to Andromeda .... link here; http://blog.bioware....1/MEScreen2.jpg..
we also need a real galaxy ... I mean, the original trilogy was great, but the galaxy map? I mean; quit insulting the Milky Way! You get from one end to the other end with simple annoying three second cutscenes and the whole thing looked remarkably like some toy board game. The galaxy is a huge huge place, and I just couldn't get that feel with the original map. Add the context that you are exploring some new galaxy, that element of fear needs to be in there. I can't simply be the adventurous joyride anymore. And by FEAR I don't mean that i-have-a-torchlight-in-a-dark-corridor-and-oh-****-a-zombie-is-crawling-out-of-that-corner fear; I mean the kind of fear associated with adventure; that fear which makes players wonder if this is really going to be round trip or a short, meaningless one way hellride.
4. REAL.
like I wrote above; it needs to be a realistic one; Andromeda needs to design the whole game world based on today and with considerations of the future; stuff that players can look at and think 'Well, that's a spot on idea for sth in the future'. I'd still like Star Trek if it wasn't for the ridiculous person-warp-thing that Spock uses to jump down upon Khan or that rather bewildering time travel concept.
The original trilogy was a great fusion of the sci fi genre that established it as an interesting interpretation of the far away future without too much gimmicks. And although I felt the 2180s timeline was a bit too close to the present for comfort, it was a good undertaking. Oh, and Bioware, no blue tint for biotics please. I mean, you could sort of create visual ripples (like heat waves from overheated rifles during reloads in ME2 and ME3) with different strengths and deepness to depict biotics. Sure, Asaris? That's fine. But Miri turning all blue wasn't a great pro in my book.
That said, I'm waiting for Holiday 2016. Don't even think about a delay 'cause we would have waited for four years straight.
TO BE UPDATED.
1. INVOLVING AND REALISTIC PLOT. I think you can forget about any remake of the trilogy since MS is making the XBone1 backwards compatible so you'll be able to play the 360 version of the game on it.
2. REAL GRIT, REAL ENGINES, REAL HEAVY BOOMS. In space no one can hear you scream...because there's no air thus no sound!!
3. DESOLATION AND VASTNESS. I agree with what you wrote however the whole point of the ME gates was to get you from one point to another point in an instant no matter how far apart they were so there was no need for a huge map IMO.
4. REAL I also agree with this and that will be one of the hardest things to pull off in Andromeda IMO.
Lol at this thread - if the space battles were realistic, they would probably be pretty boring because you wouldn't hear a damn thing. Think silent film. Except even those had music. So like, even more lame than that.
I am all for realism, I made a post about making sure the star systems are scientifically accurate or reasonably so. Ignoring such things breaks immersion. But there is a limit - and having sound in space is one of those 100% unrealistic things that are necessary because its a video game.
So....yeah...no.
I have to challenge this a bit. I firmly believe that a space battle can be made exciting, even when accounting for the lack of sound in space. I refuse to believe that it's impossible.
Actually, that's easy.
Cut away from the ships and fighters flitting through space and show the CICs of the various cruisers and dreadnaughts. Hear the officers shout commands, look on a holographic map of the battle space, count the seconds as they find a firing solution and the projectiles power away, cut back to outer space and show them rip into the target, turning it into briefly flaming debris before parts of it crash into another vessel.
Cut to Engineering in a dreadnaught as it is hit, entire sections blown away, opening the hull to the merciless vacuum of space. The cold bodies of the crew drifting away among the remains of their stations, zoom the camera out to show the full damage from outside the hull, cut back in to the damage control team frantically trying to weld a breach while survivors receive medical assistance in the background.
Next scene shows the fleet admiral listening to a summary of the situation and issuing commands while another holographic overview blinks in the background. Cut to a silent view of the fleet repositioning for a flanking maneuver, see them fire into the void and cut to the targets, showing the devastating impacts.
Camera switches to a fighter pilot trying to evade an enemy fighter, dodging between the larger capital ships, alerts beeping warningly as the engine is pushed to its very limits, the pilot cursing loudly as he swings the fighter around, glimpsing his attacker for a brief moment and firing his missiles, culminating in a satisfying explosion in the distance. Just as he relaxes, his fighter is vaporized by a dreadnaught's mass accelerator that couldn't account for the fighter being in the line of fire.
Set it all to fitting music, done.
Or something like it.
I actually really liked Battlestar Galactica's approach to the whole thing, where sounds were muffled in space. Not that it's any more realistic than just having normal sounds but it was a cool effect and sort of a compromise, which allowed them to show that space is a different environment from a planet's atmosphere without loosing sound effects all together.
By the way, I might remember it wrong (it's been a while) but doesn't Firefly (and Serenity) stick with no sounds in space? Worked for them, right?
All that said, I don't mind ME having sounds in space. It works for the classic SciFi feel, the series goes for most of the time.
What about "realism" in combat ? I mean, after losing shields in armor we could be shot in the arm or leg and have to treat the injury... if not, our character could have some cool animation of being wounded or been unable to use of two handed weapons when shot in one of the arms. Ofcourse this thing would apply to the enemies too and what I would like to see the most is the enemies not fighting for all costs. I mean, if we shot a guy in the arm, he drop his weapon and start running away, or when we kill 3 of 5 enemies who attacked us, these two alive could try to run away or give up, that would be cool for making paragon-renegade decisions.
Imagine that you killed some pirates, few of them still alive wounded or something, begging for lives and its up to you if you let them go or kill them.
Imagine neutral NPCs reaction to that, they could hear stories about your merciful/ruthless actions and love/hate or being afraid of you.
Imagine the guy literally pissing his pants when we throwing him by using biotics
That would be cool.
What about "realism" in combat ? I mean, after losing shields in armor we could be shot in the arm or leg and have to treat the injury... if not, our character could have some cool animation of being wounded or been unable to use of two handed weapons when shot in one of the arms. Ofcourse this thing would apply to the enemies too and what I would like to see the most is the enemies not fighting for all costs. I mean, if we shot a guy in the arm, he drop his weapon and start running away, or when we kill 3 of 5 enemies who attacked us, these two alive could try to run away or give up, that would be cool for making paragon-renegade decisions.
Imagine that you killed some pirates, few of them still alive wounded or something, begging for lives and its up to you if you let them go or kill them.
Imagine neutral NPCs reaction to that, they could hear stories about your merciful/ruthless actions and love/hate or being afraid of you.
Imagine the guy literally pissing his pants when we throwing him by using biotics
That would be cool.
They tried that in ME2, where you could destroy the legs of mechs and they'd crawl then.
Screw realism. Where is my space bananahamock?
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