Andromeda Engine
Kahlil Algya
Procedural environment generation is an enormous feature that is extremely engineering-heavy. Environments are already one of the most expensive kinds of content to build. Normally you need designers to handle layout, environment artists to make the world look believable, prop artists to create objects to populate the world, lighting artists to make sure it looks right. It can take months to build out a single environment. When you make environments procedural, you also need all sorts of engineering to make it work as well - engine programmers, tools programmers, gameplay programmers, graphics programmers, and so on. Because it requires such a heavy engineering workload in addition to the usual environment art requirements, it means that such a feature would naturally siphon resources away from other features.
The original plan was to have a bunch of hand-crafted critical path worlds (the ones that made it into the final game), but also a near-infinite number of non-critical procedurally generated planets where players could fight bad guys, hunt for resources, find items, and so on. One of the technical goals was even to have a seamless transition from planet to spaceship (and vice versa) without needing a loading screen. Frostbite deals with large open world maps pretty well (as shown in Inquisition), but procedurally generated environments are a different beast altogether. The procedural content generation turned out to be an iceberg feature and just kept growing in size until it had consumed far more resources than it should have.
The Engine of the Creation is an ancient artifact, which can allegedly change time and space, make stars burn again, and create whole planets, and even make dead planets support life. ("In Heaven Now Are Three")
When it was examined by the Andromeda Ascendant's sensors, her equipment could not determine what kind of matter it consisted of, and the only thing that her sensors could determine was that the engines weight is apparently that of the three galaxies.
A female Vedran scientist found the Engine of the Creation during an excavation on Kerpora Ven. The scientist discovered that the engine is apparently older than the universe itself, and that it was able to create a universe. After the discovery was made, and the tremendous power that it was able to wield became apparent, she broke the engine into five parts, which she then distributed throughout the universe.
In C.Y. 10088, Beka Valentine, Dylan Hunt, and Trance Gemini tried to find the Engine. Previously, the crew had believed that the engine was located on Tarn-Vedra. The attempt to locate the planet failed due to the extreme navigational risks required. ("It Makes a Lovely Light", "Fear and Loathing in the Milky Way")
They used a map that Beka had found in the Than artifact the Hegemon's Heart, which was on on Pierpont Drift. The map lead the trio to the planet Shintaido. According to the legend, the Engine of Creation can be found only by a team, which needs to consist of three people. ("A Heart for Falsehood Framed", "Machinery of the Mind")
In a ravine the trio had to avoid triggers which were pressure sensitive; if the pressure on the trigger is reduced, poisoned darts from the mouth of a statue shot out. Beka barely survived this hazard, as Dylan had to throw Beka to the ground and use a hard backpack to block the darts.
Dylan and Beka defeat their opponents but they spare them, and in doing so they prove themselves worthy and receive the engine. However, it is so heavy that all three of them need to carry it onto the Maru. ("In Heaven Now Are Three")
Mass Effect: Andromeda is a 2017 action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. It is the fourth major entry in the Mass Effect series and was released in March 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The game is set within the Andromeda Galaxy during the 29th century, where humanity is planning to populate new home worlds as part of a strategy called the Andromeda Initiative. The player assumes the role of either Scott or Sara Ryder, an inexperienced military recruit who joins the Initiative and wakes up in Andromeda following a 634-year sleeper ship journey. Events transpire that result in Ryder becoming humanity's Pathfinder, who is tasked with finding a new home world for humanity while also dealing with an antagonistic alien species known as the Kett, and uncovering the secrets of a mysterious synthetic intelligence species known as the Remnant.
For Mass Effect: Andromeda, BioWare incorporated a lighter tone than previous installments in the series, utilized open world elements, and placed an emphasis on exploration. Many of the series' traditional gameplay elements remain, while others are modified, such as combat, which is less cover-based and more mobile. The game is the largest in the series, and offers the player the freedom to focus on either the main quest or side quests. Its score was composed by John Paesano and aims to match the game's mood by capturing the adventure of space exploration.
In contrast to the original Mass Effect trilogy, which was spearheaded by BioWare's Edmonton studio, Mass Effect: Andromeda was handled by a new team out of Montreal. The game experienced a troubled production cycle that saw many members of its leadership team depart mid-project and numerous changes in creative vision. It was built using Frostbite 3, which required that BioWare construct all systems, tools, and assets from scratch as the previous entries of the series were built using Unreal Engine 3. Following the game's release, BioWare released several patches in response to critical feedback, but decided not to release further single-player downloadable content additions.
Mass Effect: Andromeda was announced in June 2015. Upon release, it received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the game's improved combat, atmosphere and visuals, while criticizing its story, character animations, voice acting and technical issues. Following the game's disappointing commercial and critical reception, BioWare Montreal was merged into EA's Motive Studios and the Mass Effect franchise was temporarily put on hold.
Mass Effect: Andromeda is an action role-playing game in which the player takes control of either Sara or Scott Ryder from a third-person perspective.[1] Both Ryders' appearances and first names can be determined by the player.[2] The appearance of their father, Alec, is automatically adjusted based on the appearance of the Ryder twins.[3] Upon beating the game, a New Game+ is unlocked, which allows the player to restart the game with certain bonuses and switch to playing as the other Ryder, if desired.[4] Players can also choose to continue playing with their existing character and complete unfinished missions.[5]
Unlike previous installments in the Mass Effect series, where players begin each new game by choosing from six different character classes that each have their own unique set of skills, players instead have free rein to assign any skills that they want and build towards a specialty over the course of the game.[6] For example, if the player chooses to invest solely in biotic skills, Ryder will unlock the Adept profile, which results in bonuses related to that play style.[7] Experience points are earned by completing missions, and there is no cap on the number of points that can be earned.[8] Once enough points are gained, Ryder levels up, which allows for the unlocking and upgrading of skills along a tree.[9] Points assigned to each skill can be constantly reallocated so that players can experiment with multiple gameplay approaches without having to restart their games and build up their skills from scratch again.[10]
Similar to its predecessors, the player can interact with characters in Mass Effect: Andromeda using a radial command menu where the player's dialogue options depend on wheel direction.[6] Around the wheel are four types of responses that shape each conversation: emotional, logical, professional, and casual.[11] In general, conversations are based on agreeing or disagreeing with participants.[12] During some conversations, the player is prompted with an "Impulse Action" that offers an additional choice to what is available on the dialogue wheel.[13] For example, an on-screen prompt to "shoot" might appear and be momentarily selectable.[14] By conversing with non-player characters, Ryder can develop friendships and, in some cases, romantic relationships with them over time.[15] During both dialogue and quest sequences, the player is sometimes tasked with making moral decisions that do not have a clear good/bad distinction but are intended to be more nuanced, marking a departure from the Paragon/Renegade morality system of prior titles in the series.[16]
In Mass Effect: Andromeda, the player explores the Heleus cluster of the Andromeda Galaxy by selecting destinations from the inside of a ship called Tempest.[17] By having Ryder stand on the ship's bridge, the player is able to overlook the stars using a galaxy map and choose a navigation point.[18] The game features five primary planets and over a dozen hub worlds that connect the player to various quests that can be completed,[19] such as taking out hostile enemy bases or hideouts,[20] scanning for objects with useful data,[21] or completing loyalty missions for Ryder's squadmates.[22] As quests are completed, the player earns "Andromeda Viability Points", which allow for the waking of colonists from hibernation, and planets increase their "Viability Levels", which allow for the building of outposts.[18] Each planet has a boss that the player may not be able to defeat at first and may need to revisit later once Ryder has sufficiently leveled up.[20]
The game's primary planets have open world environments and can be traversed using the "Nomad", a six-wheeled, all-terrain vehicle.[23][24] While driving the Nomad, the player has the ability to scan the planet's terrain for resources and then deploy mining drones to collect them.[23] As new areas are explored, the player can find drop zones that serve as fast-travel points and allow for a loadout change.[21] To aid the player in managing quests, the game automatically logs available missions in a journal where the player can select a single quest to make active, which is then marked on the game's user interface.[25] Some planets have environmental hazards that must be accounted for, such as the planet Elaaden, where Ryder must avoid the heat to prevent taking damage.[26] Over the course of the game, the player can find blueprints and resources that are used for crafting weapons and armor.[4] All crafted items can be given customized names.[27]
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