Hmm. AnimState had a really good article up about the animation problems with Mass Effect: Andromeda, but their site has been b0rked for the past couple of days so I can't link. Basically it was a round table discussion between four animation and VFX directors who have worked on pretty big projects, and collectively they've got a lot of experience. The general upshot seemed to be that most of the issues had to do with systems like FaceFX and collision detection, plus interactions between other systems, that totally messed things up. Not the animators' fault, since a big chunk of that happens after the animations are passed on to the next step, and pathfinding of an important NPC causes the MC's eyes to track them rather than the people they're talking to/facing, or the game not registering when someone has reached the end of a slope or set of stairs, but is still trying to put the feet at ground level.

Upshot seems to be that the biggest culprit was the different teams working on the game probably didn't have nearly enough communication between each other, so everyone was working from a slightly different playbook.

They also mentioned that with 50k lines of dialogue or so, it was pretty much impossible to hard-animate the conversation scenes, as some other games do. So they were stuck doing it procedurally, which is pretty complicated.

Addition to the above, a Twitter thread by Jonathan Cooper, who worked on Mass Effect 1 and 2 on the subject of animations.

Addition to the above, a Twitter thread by Jonathan Cooper, who worked on Mass Effect 1 and 2 on the subject of animations.

That's the only proper explanation I was able to read before all those comments you posted. The interesting part for me was when he said that they must have had lowered the quality of their base algorithm since they planned to hit every line by hand.

Addition to the above, a Twitter thread by Jonathan Cooper, who worked on Mass Effect 1 and 2 on the subject of animations.

That's the only proper explanation I was able to read before all those comments you posted. The interesting part for me was when he said that they must have had lowered the quality of their base algorithm since they planned to hit every line by hand.

I noticed that too, since it ties into the hard-animating scenes in games like Uncharted. The sheer amount of interactions in ME:A (about 50k lines of dialogue, I think) forbids that unless you have a huge team.

It's interesting reading up on those issues and honestly I'm glad people are spamming Bioware with this problem, because if there is a sequel, which I think might very well be possible considering that Mass Effect 1 had a huge success jump after releasing Mass Effect 2, I believe Andromeda has the same potential. And we all know how messy ME1 was.

I still stand behind this game so far, I'll update if anything changes about that.

P.S.: Atleast it has lots of armor and weapons to choose from compared to the last 2 MEs.

last edited at Mar 27, 2017 1:11PM

They also mentioned that with 50k lines of dialogue or so, it was pretty much impossible to hard-animate the conversation scenes, as some other games do. So they were stuck doing it procedurally, which is pretty complicated.

Yet the complaints in review were the dialogues were awkward at times

Hmm...... Maybe it was mainly because of wonky animation and dead eyes.

A lot of the animation is fine to me, there are a few questionable parts of course and of course people are going to encounter bugs. Most of the videos that ive seen showing the bugs are compilations rather than one person having all those issues.

I expected another mass effect game and that is what we got, expecting a game like the Witcher 3 was a bit rediculous since CD Project Red have always strived for good character detail where as Bioware have never been known for it. Imo.

last edited at Mar 27, 2017 5:34PM

So... A bit late, but anyone's playing/finished Tides of Numenera and can tell if it's worth of succeeding Torment? Or worth the price, at least.

A lot of the animation is fine to me, there are a few questionable parts of course and of course people are going to encounter bugs. Most of the videos that ive seen showing the bugs are compilations rather than one person having all those issues.

I expected another mass effect game and that is what we got, expecting a game like the Witcher 3 was a bit rediculous since CD Project Red have always strived for good character detail where as Bioware have never been known for it. Imo.

Yeah but when you are given 5 years and $40 million dollar just in development (not including marketing), you are expected to create something really excellent if not outstanding. Witcher 3 sure had location advantage but it also had less time and less budget.

Tbh, i rather had wait for even a year more than buying an unpolished game. I hope Bioware won't fuck up with Dragon Age. The story setup for sequel is to amazing to be fucked up with.

A lot of the animation is fine to me, there are a few questionable parts of course and of course people are going to encounter bugs. Most of the videos that ive seen showing the bugs are compilations rather than one person having all those issues.

I expected another mass effect game and that is what we got, expecting a game like the Witcher 3 was a bit rediculous since CD Project Red have always strived for good character detail where as Bioware have never been known for it. Imo.

Yeah but when you are given 5 years and $40 million dollar just in development (not including marketing), you are expected to create something really excellent if not outstanding. Witcher 3 sure had location advantage but it also had less time and less budget.

Tbh, i rather had wait for even a year more than buying an unpolished game. I hope Bioware won't fuck up with Dragon Age. The story setup for sequel is to amazing to be fucked up with.

Maybe I've just been alive to long to have high expectations ; )

Also it's kind of hard to compare the costs involved in each game at the moment. We only have the 40 million development cost for ME:A and the total cost of 81 million for The Witcher 3. This was before DLC from what i read.

240 in house staff for the Witcher 3. Roughly over 200 staff on ME:A.

Woah. GTA V cost over 200 million.

last edited at Mar 27, 2017 7:33PM

The story setup for [the] sequel is [too] amazing to be fucked up with

Betcha could've said the same thing in 2012.

last edited at Mar 27, 2017 7:42PM

Also it's kind of hard to compare the costs involved in each game at the moment. We only have the 40 million development cost for ME:A and the total cost of 81 million for The Witcher 3. This was before DLC from what i read.

240 in house staff for the Witcher 3. Roughly over 200 staff on ME:A.

Woah. GTA V cost over 200 million.

Yeah but that included marketing. I'm not sire ifMass Effect has including marketing cost yet.

Ikr! It's crazy. I mean the game is good but 200 million is just nuts. Tbh, i always felt like GTA 5 is kinda overrated.

Lowkey, i liked Call of Duty Black Ops more than GTA 5 if we were on gaming forums, people would have eaten me alive :P

last edited at Mar 27, 2017 7:52PM

Yeah but without the exact facts it's hard to make a solid argument. The development costs are more important than the marketting costs i feel.

One source i looked at claims 35 million on Witcher 3 marketing cost so 46 million on development. The Witcher 3 is definitely a more superior game but the claim it cost less to make may be a bit rubbish.

As i said before i give ME:A a 7/10 but I'd give The Witcher 3 9/10.

I liked V more than IV to be honest and as for Black Ops i only liked the first one.

Both are imortant. But yeah marketing is not that important.

Internet, my friend, is a deceiving place. I took these rumors with a pinch of salt unless they show legit proof.

I'd give Witcher 3 10/10. I was hooked with it day and night. More than 226 hours recorded. Not since Skyrim i was this addicted to a game or Dragon Age 1.

Same here. Never like sequel of Black Ops. Never played GTA 4

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/a3/a3ef538b4552f94de9352dd9247ae3fc7542d85d1180fc850a3dce7469859cea.jpg

I couldn't figure out how to embed an image....

^
LOL.

anyways, playing Tales of Berseria.

It is a mix feeling so far. The gameplay is fun and engaging. But.....the story is weak and the many situations are quite cringe worthy and painfully predictable.

Will play Nier after this.

I'm of the opinion that it's almost a requirement to play Tales of Zestiria before playing Tales of Berseria. There's so much parallelism and connections drawn between the two (especially with the cast) that you'd be missing out on a lot if you didn't.

^

But i heard Zestiria has quite comolex control which can make many players frustrated. And if the story suffers as Berseria I doubt i will play it.

Berseria is worth it for Magilou alone. She's a treasure and nobody can say otherwise (they don't since everybody loves her anyways).

Magikazam!

Forget animations, the movement in ME:A sucks. Just like it sucked in DA:I. It feels so clunky and you get stuck on nearly everything. Oh yeah that happens in Battlefield too but it is not as annoying! Not a fan of it, and it sucks out the enjoyment of the game.

The combat feels pretty meh too.

Forget animations, the movement in ME:A sucks. Just like it sucked in DA:I. It feels so clunky and you get stuck on nearly everything. Oh yeah that happens in Battlefield too but it is not as annoying! Not a fan of it, and it sucks out the enjoyment of the game.

The combat feels pretty meh too.

What happened to this?

Currently have too many games that I want to play, that ME:A has to wait before I buy it and maybe it will go on sale by the time I do.

What made you buy it anyways?

Berseria is worth it for Magilou alone. She's a treasure and nobody can say otherwise (they don't since everybody loves her anyways).

Magikazam!

She alright. Though that swords guy was pretty fine character

Though that swords guy was pretty fine character

Heh. I knew you'd somehow buy Rokurou and his honorable samurai shtick.