sil
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Post by sil on Jan 8, 2017 0:46:49 GMT
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Post by giftfish on Jan 8, 2017 0:49:25 GMT
Ah, the first new non-Introduction thread. Nice work, sil. |
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sil
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Post by sil on Jan 8, 2017 1:11:47 GMT
Thanks 
The Ghosts of Antilin: Text Based Assignment (Considered Complete at time, but now I feel I could change and improve it a lot. I won't be, but I feel I could)
This is an idea for how to add the Virtual Aliens from the Cerberus News Network stories to the game. With this I’m trying to do it subtly, as they aren’t a massive part of the lore but I found the story surrounding them to be utterly fascinating and I always wanted to know what happened to them, and now I’m making it up! Here are the guidelines I’m going to try to stick to for this:
- No Fighting Missions
- No conversations
- A build up that is slow but hopefully interesting, that takes place over the duration of a chunk of the game
- Story told through use of Emails, and also the Broker and Spectre Terminals
- War Assets must be added, either negative, positive or both
- Diverse paths through the story
I want to gradually tease the idea of these being added to the game but to start off with an email that feels, at first, like it is a random bit of lore or content that doesn’t appear to go anywhere. It gives a slow start that some people might miss if they don’t pay much attention to the emails but that is fine, it’ll be their loss!I will also say that I would love to design this to include actual content in the form of conversations, and having the ability to meet one of the Virtual Aliens, or to see them on the Citadel. However, it’s obvious how difficult such things are even after all these years of research into ME3 modding, let alone finding voice actors good enough to justify it. It’ll have to be one of those “if only” things, although if it one day becomes easier I may write an alternate version of this to cover actual conversations. Also bear in mind that I don’t know the plot bools that would match up to these, it’s a work in progress but I’m very keen on what I’ve written so far, though I’m always open to constructive criticism, or to ideas for how to expand it in new ways. Obviously since this is adding an extension to the Cerberus News Network story, it won't be perfect nor will it be 100% loreful, but I've really attempted to stick to something that feels plausible as much as I possibly could.Another thing to bear in mind is that I’ve written this for the fun of it, and also for practice as I’ve never had to write something that can go in so many directions, nor told through emails and terminal choices. It’s all very new to me, but I’ve found it really fun.  . I hope you enjoy it too.Part One:The Email will be from a conspiracy nut or group, it’s one of those group emails that everyone gets so this one is not targeted at Commander Shepherd specifically. It will provide some information about the Virtual Aliens but through a lens of skepticism and disbelief. I want the player to doubt the possibility of them just a little, even if they already know through downloading the mod that there is content added for this alien race. This Email would appear in the inbox just after the Mars mission. Here is an example of what I am going for:
Email
Those “Ghosts of Antilin”
From: CitSpaceTruth.net
The date is 08/11/2185CE, the news of the day: Alien AI-Controlled Ship Makes Contact in Salarian Space. We all swallowed this news with sweaty anticipation. Would this lead to yet another war with Synthetics? It was a prospect that we all feared after the Battle of the Citadel three years ago, and still fear to this day.
Our fears were not realised on this occasion. We were told that this so-called Ark had been travelling for 8,000 years, that it held a billion people living in a computer world. That’s one billion Virtual Aliens, and not to mention that they supposedly had tech so advanced it made ours look like we’ve barely discovered fire. Should I mention that they were able to swap minds with living researchers, and that they claimed asylum in Citadel Space? 400 individuals volunteered their bodies for a few of these aliens to leave their ship and live a new life in the real world.
Since that day we’ve heard nothing. There has been no follow-up interviews, no reports, no ship sightings and the Council have been silent. They respond to no questions on them at all! Where is the Ark of Antilin? Where is the advanced technology that the galaxy was promised? Where are the Ghosts who left this ship, taking the bodies of men and women who prostituted themselves for their benefit?
They never existed! They never have! It’s a ruse by the elite who want to placate the populace as they embark on their plans offer the Geth an embassy on the Citadel. They want to replace your job with that of artificial labour. Do you want Geth building your ships, serving your drinks, delivering your shopping to the door? No! Write now to your local Councillor. Be heard! Use your mind and don’t accept Council propaganda!
Once you get this, nothing happens until Priority: Palaven is completed. Part Two:After receiving this email you hear nothing at all about this until after Priority: Palaven is completed. The next part of the chain of events that leads to the Virtual Aliens appearing is found at the Spectre Terminal. This will be a request that seemingly has nothing at all to do with the Virtual Aliens and will hopefully be viewed as just a random spectre terminal request. However, although it seems to have nothing to do with the Virtual Aliens, it will be important and without confirming this Spectre Request, nothing else happens. Choose No: An email later on, or a news message should voice acting be done, says that Synthetic Insights Ltd has been bought out by the Serrice Technology Corporation after going bankrupt. The quest towards the Virtual Aliens goes no further.
Choose Yes:A War Asset is gained, a news story is said/email received and the story towards the Virtual Aliens continues on to Part Three.
Followed By:
Followed By:
This part is relatively simple and actually returns to an obvious connection to the Virtual Aliens, this time it is the addition of the Cerberus News Network articles that deal directly with them. Many players would likely have missed them during Mass Effect 2, and all newish players will have for certain, so this should introduce them to the concept pretty damn nicely. There are two problems; Why would those suddenly appeared and how will they appear? I believe I have an answer to those.
Part Three should take place after Priority: Sur’kesh, Salarian’s there reveal some of their devious operations (the Yahg studies and potential uplifting being a good example), so it makes sense that there could be information to glean from their databanks. I’d love to put a data-pad here which points to Antilin, but that could be too much work, so instead I’m opting for an email received after you complete the mission. This Email will come from EDI, where she will mention that she came across the word while hacking the Salarian data-banks as they fought through the base.
Once you receive this email we hear nothing again until the main Tuchunka mission is completed, at which point we get an email saying;
This is then followed by the news articles from the Cerberus News Network years ago and are the place where my love of the idea of the Virtual Aliens emerged from. I found it fascinating seeing the news develop over time, hopefully reading these will interest the readers of this design document as well. Once you read the first article, be sure to click Next at the bottom of it, as that will take you to the next section. There are about 8 of them, I think.
masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Cerberus_Daily_News_-_August_2010#08.2F11.2F2010_-_Alien_AI-Controlled_Ship_Makes_Contact_in_Salarian_Space
Nothing now happens until after Priority: Rannoch is done. This is where it ramps up in speed. Because of how extensive this split will be, I’ve split Part 4 into Part 4-A and Part 4-B. The “A” Path follows the story should you Save the Quarians and Doom the Geth, while the “B” Path covers both Saving Geth/Doom Quarians and Peace Between Geth and Quarians. There may one day be a Part 4-C, with the “C” Path covering the way that would be best to see, including voice acting and such. As it would take a great deal of work, and likely undoable, I’ll leave a space to design it at a later date. Part Four-A: Save Quarians/Doom GethThis part is where the storyline actually kicks into gear and we get to see things developing at a faster rate. As said before, this follows the story if you chose to save the Quarians and wipe out the Geth. If you choose this option then the Virtual Alien assignment storyline will not go any further for the player. This is because those who would seek Shepherd’s aid will fear that he will destroy the Virtual Aliens rather than helping them. In this option the Salarian’s tear apart the Ark for their experiments, yielding new technologies to bolster their efforts in the Reaper War. However, this option does yield War Assets so those players who choose the option are not unfairly punished, it also has extensive story told through Emails, the Shadow Broker Terminal and the Spectre Terminal. It starts with an email.
You then receive the following War Asset:
Immediately after this the Spectre Terminal gets an update, this is similar to the other spectre terminal message where you have to say yes or the quest chain finishes. If you say no, then later on you’ll get the Pilot Training Simulator and Kinetic City-Shield Batteries War Assets.
Choose No:
As said, this leads to a dead-end in terms of the Virtual Aliens. The assignment has one more email and then ends there.
Choose Yes:
This leads on a bit further, starting with another email, then another Spectre Terminal and then ending in a final email and the collection of War Assets.
This gives an updated War Asset, and some other ones too:
A Spectre Terminal message follows this afterwards, but first there is a Shadow Broker message which will help influence the player in the right direction if they spot it. The Shadow Broker terminal message will be first, and then the Spectre one is immediately below it. Shadow Broker Terminal:
Emails from Dr. Jordan Detweiler to Kyra Detweiler
Letter 1: I know that you don’t understand what I did, but I need you understand why I did it. After the Geth attack on the Citadel the galaxy has been seeing synthetics everywhere. They’ve gone from being the occasional nuisance news story to the boogie man living under everyone’s bed. It is insane. The people, the media have gone insane. The Virtual Aliens are not synthetic, not really, they were once flesh and blood as we are and their only way to survive was to digitise themselves. I cannot allow them to be destroyed or enslaved by our prejudicial culture, they need the support of someone who has their best interests at heart.
Not only that, but this is the greatest first contact scenario since our disastrous first encounter with the Turians. I have to be here. Please understand that. Pass on love to your mother, and know that I will be home to see you as soon as I can.
Letter 9: I am sorry it’s taken so long to send you another email Kyra, but believe me, it has been longer for me than it has for you. I lose track of time when I’m in their world, but there is always more to see, more to learn, more to do. Our knowledge has increased tenfold in as many weeks (I think that is how many weeks it has been, keeping track grows evermore difficult) and we’ve barely scratched the surface of their technology, their culture, their history. Since Ambassador Sygan transferred to her new body we’ve spent a lot of time together. She is a fascinating specimen; each day I form new theses, and I’ve quickly amassed what could be an Encyclopedia of historical and social texts. When I can I will let you read it. I must go. All my love, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Letter 27: They lied! Integration into the Citadel was promised in exchange for the “Virtual Aliens” advanced technology, and they’ve rescinded it. The Salarian Union fully control the project now; those offered asylum have been “encouraged” to return to the ship to help their people adjust to the “transition” from the digital world to the physical. I’ve no idea what is happening to them, once they arrive they disappear. Sygen fears for the future of her people, and I can’t say that I blame her.
This is a dark day for the galaxy, when we turn on the defenceless, bringing them terror instead of hope, extortion instead of trade, savagery instead of civilisation. I hope this mail reaches you.
Letter 33: Kyra, the words I write to you now are going to be my last. I have already sent a letter to your mother, and it is my hope that you both shall forgive me. I have done something foolish, but for the right reasons and I will always stand by my choice to do it. I would do it again in an instant.
The Salarian’s have cut the power to the Ghost Ship of Antilin, the great Ark is no more. In one move, the yellow-bellied bastards have killed a billion innocents who only wished to live. They had fled the death of their world and instead found despair, enslavement and genocide at the hands of those who they desperately longed friendship with. I could not stand by and allow them to finish the job. I grabbed the Ambassador, Sygen is the last of her kind and we fled via shuttle. As we left the research base the Salarian’s were harvesting the ship for its technology, like maggots on a corpse.
Our escape was short-lived. Their fighters gave chase but they bested us and we have been crippled. Somehow we made it through the Mass Relay but life support has failed, the air is all but gone. Sygen is in cyro and I’ve ejected the escape pod with her in it, but there is no room for me. I have included her trajectory with this message.
I love you Kyra. My final request for you is to find the ambassador, she is the last of her kind and the galaxy deserves to know why. I don’t care about the damned Reaper War, some acts are too heinous, they cannot be allowed to get away with it. Once this has been read, a spectre terminal message appears. Choose No:This is the final branch of the Save Quarian/Doom Geth version of this quest, so neither option will go much further.
This will grant the following Codex Entry:
Again, this is the final branch of the Save Quarian/Doom Geth arch of the Virtual Alien mission. Though this would be the Paragon option, and morally the ‘right’ answer, it actually damages the trust between the Salarians and the Systems Alliance, weakening your position overall and threatening the stability of the war effort.
This provides the following War Assets:
And also the following Codex Entry:
This marks the end of the Virtual Alien storyline should you pick to wipe out the Geth. However, the story goes in a very different direction should you instead save them or bring peace to them both. Read on to Part 4-B to find out. Part Four-B: Save Geth/Doom Quarians OR Geth-Quarian PeaceSo for this part we’re slipping right the way back to the end of Priority: Rannoch. If you happened to save the quarians and wipe out the Geth, then you’ll have worked your way through Part 4-A. If you saved the Geth, or made peace between the two peoples, then you’ll see this part. Originally I had planned to make some of the content slightly different depending upon whether you just save the Geth or you make peace, but I feel that would add too much work for very little gain.
Unlike the last Part which began with the death of the famous Exobiologist Dr. Jordan Detweiler, this one instead begins with an email from him. As Commander Shepherd has demonstrated that he is willing to side with, or at least help, Synthetics, this puts Dr. Detweiler more at ease about contacting him for help. The Salarian threat to the Ghost Ship of Antilin remains, but this time we can try to halt it before they commit genocide against the billions locked within it. In this, and future parts, we get to see why the Omni-VI Soldier research was added, although it should be pretty obvious to anyone reading this. As said, Part 4-B starts with an email.
Email
I’ve heard you don’t fear Synthetics
From: Sender Blocked
Commander Shepherd,
My name is Dr. Jordan Detweiler. You may not have heard of me, but I’ve heard of you, especially what you did on Rannoch. Whatever the outcome of your decision, it was a bold move and must be commended. But, this is not the reason for this message.
I am an Exobiologist dealing primarily with First Contact scenarios. Roughly two years ago you might have heard of the Ghost Ship of Antilin, it was an ark full of a race the galaxy termed as “Virtual Aliens”. It is my hope that you have, as it is for their benefit that I write to you, to prevent a crime against civilisation from occurring. They are a fascinating people with technology that dwarfs our own, with the ability to transfer their consciousness from one body to another, but they are currently defenceless and at the mercy of some nefarious individuals.
The Salarians in control of the ship are preparing to turn on the inhabitants and steal the advanced tech. I doubt that the billion virtual aliens will survive it, and in a strange twist they have sent their Ambassador to the Citadel to round up the rest of their people who have claimed asylum on the Citadel. I dread to think what will happen to them if they return, I beg you to stop them from coming here, before it is too late. The Ambassador’s name is Sygen, she looks Asari but trust me, she is far from being one.
I’ve spent my life savings on bribing security to get this email through to you, and more importantly I’m staking my reputation on it. Don’t let me down.
-Dr. Jordan Detweiler
From there, you’re left with a choice; ignore it and carry on or go to the Spectre Terminal to activate the next part. I believe this should be mission-sensitive, if you go off to do a Priority mission or an N7 mission the log assumes that you said No to the Spectre Terminal message. Dr. Detweiler makes it clear that time is of the essence, so it makes sense to have it so the player needs to be quick about responding to it. The message at the Spectre Terminal is found below:
Spectre Terminal:
Track Down Ambassador Sygen
Records of the Ambassador are difficult to come by, there is little more documentation on her and the so-called Virtual Aliens other than the redacted Cerberus News Network articles that EDI managed to locate. There are obvious signs that some form of cover-up is in place, and if the email from Dr. Detweiler proves to be correct, then finding the ambassador could be the only way to prevent a terrible disaster from occurring. Authorising a search could locate this Sygen woman, and she may have answers.
Choose No:
If you choose no then the story instead goes back to Path 4-A and follows that through in much the same way; Dr. Jordan takes it upon himself to save Ambassador Sygen when she returns with her people, the Virtual Aliens are wiped out and he is killed. This is obviously not the optimal path through the storyline.
Choose Yes:
Shepherd uses his Spectre Terminal powers to seek out Ambassador Sygen, and successfully stops the 400 Virtual Aliens living secretly on the Citadel from leaving to return to the “Ghost Ship of Antilin”. Though this path is actually the best possible path, it does not seem that way when things start to go wrong, but the end is the best outcome for the story. The assignment requires you to then go to the Shadow Broker Terminal and there you’ll see this next part. This Shadow Broker Terminal message varies depending upon whether you saved the Destiny Ascension in Mass Effect 1. This should be one of the few times that the bool for that will need to be referenced. This also needs to take into account whether the Councillor was saved in Priority: Citadel II. If you saved the Destiny Ascension and Salarian Councillor survives Priority: Citadel II:If you let the Destiny Ascension be destroyed, and the Salarian Councillor survives Priority: Citadel II:If you let the Salarian Councillor die during Priority: Citadel II:This Shadow Broker Terminal message is also found at the same time, regardless of Salarian Councillor:The next part of the story follows on from those Shadow Broker messages. Shepherd now has the information that confirms Dr. Jordan Detweiler’s suspicions and must now act upon it. Not only does he need to deal with the Salarian’s plot to harvest the Virtual Aliens “ghost ship” for it’s advanced tech which will likely end with the death of all of the Virtual Aliens, but he also needs to deal with Ambassador Sygen’s attempted (or rather, delayed) murder. Not only is there multiple choices to factor in, but there is the additional problem that two people mentioned in this part actually can die in the games (Jondum Bau and Major Kirrahe), which adds further levels of complexity. This part is somewhat confusing and complicated, so please bear with me as I write it out. To make this easier to read through, I am going to make everything that happens from now on into Part 5-B1, Part 5-B2, Part 5-B3. EDIT: THIS HAS BEEN CHANGED. PART 5-B1 USES JONDUM BAU BUT PART 5-B2 USES THE SALARIAN STG. THERE IS VERY LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO, SO THE LAST PART SHALL ONLY CONTAIN THOSE SMALL CHANGES. Part Five-B1:Part 5-B1 has the pre-requisite that the Spectre, and Salarian Task Group member, Jondum Bau is alive. For him to be alive, you must have completed the mission Citadel: Hanar Diplomat earlier in the game, which I believe happens before Priority: Citadel II. In this version of the story Shepherd has the choice to offer Jondum Bau the evidence collected and to persuade him to order an offensive on the Antilin system to prevent the genocide of the Virtual Aliens.
Choose No:
This choice once more leads towards a bad ending, perhaps worse than some of the other ones. You then receive these War Assets:
Also this Codex Entry:
Choose Yes:
This option is setting the player on course for the best possible scenario for the Virtual Alien storyline. When you’ve read the email, it’ll lead onto the Spectre Terminal message regarding finding Ambassador Sygen’s attackers. It may seem like the story isn’t going 100% well because of certain parts of the email, but sometimes things have to get a bit worse before they get better. Which nets you the following War Asset:After that, you receive more emails:
The arrival of the ship in space above the station forces the galaxy to once more acknowledge their presence, and gives a more urgent need to helping them out in the next Spectre Terminal message. We're close to the end now, this Spectre Terminal message is the second to last, so the story is almost over! Choose No: This leads to a dead end for the story, but it is not wholly bad. You still earn a number of War Assets, and you’ve still managed to protect the Virtual Aliens from going extinct. They’re alive now, but in this scenario they don’t offer much to support the war effort. Their pledges are small, and then they flee the genocide raging across the stars, as they feel there is no place for them and it is too dangerous to stay both because of the Reapers -and- the Citadel. And you get the following War Assets:
Choose Yes:This will lead onto another Spectre Terminal message, the last one, in fact. But before that there are the usual, emails etc. War Asset Received:This then leads to another Email:This brings us to the finale! This is the final Spectre Terminal message and then that’s it, no more Virtual Alien storyline. This can lead to the best possible ending, should you choose yes. Choose No:This takes you back a step to if you choose not to help find the Salarian who shot Ambassador Sygen. Choose Yes:This is the best possible outcome for the storyline. You get this far, then you’ve done it. You’ve saved the virtual aliens, you’ve saved the Ambassador and though not all is well, it’s better than the bad endings. So, here are the last few bits you see. You get this War Asset:Then this Email:Which nets you these War Assets:
Which leads to the Email:And these War Assets are the last:
And this Codex Entry:And that is it. The Virtual Alien storyline is complete. Part 5-B2 is almost entirely the same, except for a couple of emails. Part 5-B2As mentioned in my edit earlier, this part no longer is specified at Captain Kirrahe and Part 5-B3 is removed. Instead this deals with using the STG alone to help the Virtual Aliens. Very little is different in this version, so I'll only post the changes here.
And that's it, that's all that needs changing for that version. This is complete. I'm quite proud of it and hopefully you've enjoyed it, although I understand that it isn't too easy to read through. I'd love to do a slide-show version to give a good representation of how it'd look, but maybe someday.
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sil
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Post by sil on Jan 8, 2017 10:23:00 GMT
Thanks for the likes Here's a problem, I can't edit my posts. I was able to just after I posted last night, but this morning I went to finish off the transfer of the Virtual Aliens storyline, the EDIT button disappeared and an alert popped up saying "Sorry, time's up!". This seems to be a bit of a serious problem for thread making, is there any way of altering that? |
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Post by ottemis on Jan 8, 2017 10:38:20 GMT
I hear you. Looking into it. Might be a good idea to move forum suggestions / improvements to Discord for the moment so the threads don't get clogged up. You can access Discord from your browser, you don't have to download the client if you don't want to.
Edit: Should be sorted, do your thang.
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Post by giftfish on Jan 8, 2017 14:58:14 GMT
Sorry, sil. The goal was to keep the settings identical to the old forum, but PBs is of course a different platform. I had the plugin for this backwards, removing editing ability and not deleting ability after 5 minutes. All fixed |
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sil
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Post by sil on Jan 12, 2017 17:50:04 GMT
The Ghosts of Antilin stuff has been posted up fully, there is a link to the exact post on the opening post of this thread. It is now a lot easier to read than it once was. Next up:
Additional Star-systems Not in the Games
The idea behind this is to try and design more star systems to the game based on the lore that comes from the Cerberus News Network messages of Mass Effect 2, and other sources as well. I’m mostly writing this when I struggle to write up a section of the mod that’ll be the first one I attempt to make. That way I keep writing, keep practicing and keep my head in the setting I'm exploring.
I’ll admit that I’ll have to make up planets for this, but I’ll do my best to make the planets feel correct for the setting and not to add anything extreme or overly lore-breaking. I care a lot for the lore, but saying that, I care a lot about exploring new stuff too! If anyone has any ideas for how to improve any of these suggestions, I’d be very happy to hear them.
A lot of these will come from the research I did in this thread
Warning: I should also mention that the numbers used for mass, distance etc. are made up. I've tried to base each roughly on some real world planets, but it's far from perfect.
Unclassified Star System: NBE-647 (Fanmade Star Name)
IntroductionThere are a couple of stories, from Cerberus News Network, that involve the Nubian Expanse cluster. Because neither story has an in-game counterpart, I think they can be put into the same system. Mostly this is because only one of them is a doomed garden world, the other is a battle that took place between Eldfell-Ashland Energy ships and a massive starship of unknown origin. I presume the massive starship is meant to be a Reaper, but the timing of it seems very wrong to me, so maybe it is another unknown enemy that was responsible. To make it an easier system to add I’m going to limit the number of planets to three, with an asteroid field and the wreckage of the Eldfell-Ashland Energy fleet.
Here are the sources I used for this, as you will see, they are entirely lawful as Cerberus News Network messages were shown in Mass Effect 2:
Although there isn’t a lot that throws the two stories together, it is possible they are linked; 433-Spidau’s star system is first discovered far into the Expanse, and then there are clashes over newly discovered asteroids on the outskirts of the expanse. I think it makes sense to put the two together, also it gives a potential for a war asset in the wreckage of the fleet.
From the Cerberus News Network messages I would assume that the star is pretty far out from the other systems on the galaxy map. I would place it to the east, as far as seems fair for a player to venture out to.System InformationStarAs this has a garden world, it wouldn’t be beyond reason to have a star that is similar to Sol, so reusing a normal yellow star seems fine to me. 113 Kerad (Fan-made)Overview
I didn’t want it to feel like too bare a star system by having only one planet, so I’ve added a couple more to go with it. They will both be generic. This one is meant to be very similar to Mercury in our system, a small world that is close to the sun and covered with craters. Nothing special about it at all. The name is taken from one of the salarians mentioned in the news stories related to 433 Spidau.
Description
433 Spidau (Canon) Overview
This planet is the most important part of this system, it is the whole reason that it might even be added to the game. The look of the planet can match any of the other ruined worlds that are in the game, it doesn’t need to look particularly special. Etamis would provide a decent enough look for the planet, maybe with thicker cloud cover to demonstrate the nuclear dust clouds.
Description
Scanning
I think this place could make use of a war asset, to justify it as a place to visit during the course of the game. From the Cerberus News Network stories, it is clear that the salarians found hidden and advanced weapons caches on the planet, likely to be weapons of mass destruction that were used to wipe their own civilisation out. I wouldn’t assign a lot of war assets to them, but they would be additional armaments for the war.
Asteroid Field (Fan-made)Overview
This is an asteroid field, there is no need for any specific asteroids that you can look at closely, but having them on the galaxy map will make the system look more realistic. I would suggest putting these at Orbital Distance 1.79 AU. 704 Jarwinar (Fan-made)Overview
This planet is there so that it acts as an asteroid collector, sparing 433 Spidau from them, allowing life to flourish without being wiped out in a collision. There is nothing special about this place, no ancient helium-3 mining colonies, no debris, just an old gas giant.
Description
Asteroid Field (Fan-made)Overview
This is much the same as the other asteroid fields in the game, they are there to make a system more interesting. This one has no asteroids that are named, it’s just an field that cannot be interacted with. However, this is the location I’m having the Quarians and Eldfell-Ashland Energy fleets getting pissy at each other over. So the wreckage will be quite nearby. I would place it at about 5.1AU from the star. Wreckage (Semi-Canon)Overview
This is linked to the news story about the Quarians and Eldfell-Ashland Energy company being at odds before a massive starship destroys the EAE fleet and the blame is pinned on the quarians until a survivor confirms it wasn’t them. The assumption, I suppose, is that the starship was a Reaper but it seems a bit random and a bit far away from everywhere else they attack months afterwards. I prefer to think of it as another alien race with a big ol’ship, but no matter what it is or isn’t, the wreckage is all that remains. I would place this just outside the asteroid field, maybe at 5.4 AU.
Description
“Months before the Reaper invasion there was a scandal involving the Migrant Fleet and Eldfell-Ashland Energy over mining rights to several asteroids rich in palladium, which ended with the EAE’s fleet being destroyed. Blame was first laid at the hands of the quarians, before survivors were picked up that claimed a massive starship was responsible.
This is the wreckage of the Eldfell-Ashland Energy fleet, these ruined starships are silent; lifepods hold the dead like coffins and there is no activity left, not even a warning beacon.”
Scanning
This gives 300 units of fuel.
Unclassified Star System: SM2183 Rua (Canon)
There is a single story on the Cerberus News Network that deals with this star system and planet, and though it is an easter egg regarding Superman, it’s still loreful too due to appearing on a console for CDN in ME2. I think it’d be wrong to consider it not worthy of being added to the game at all just because of it being an easter egg.Position of Star SystemIn Arcturus Stream (on EGM at least), south-south-east of the star system Euler is a red dot that looks like it could resemble a star shining red (although it could also be the coloured nebula behind it causing the colour. Either way, this seems like a decent place to put SM2183 Rua because it is known to be a red supergiant star. I also feel putting it into the Arcturus Stream suits nicely as the story does mention the child being brought to the local cluster, but doesn’t specify whether it means a cluster that is local, or Local Cluster. I’m assuming Local Cluster, which is near to Arcturus.System InformationStar (Canon)Overview
As specified in the news article the star here is a red supergiant. Asteroid Field (Fan-Made)Overview
A thin band of asteroids not too far out from the supergiant star. Added to make the system seem more populated, and because I guess other planets were destroyed and they could’ve ended up as a belt around the red giant. DH1993 (Fan-made)Overview
With the planets in this system I’m going to keep running with the comic theme, but not by adding in more populated worlds based on popular heroes, just using the names. In this case its Dark Horse Comics and the year that Hellboy first appeared. I’m only adding two other worlds to the system because I don’t feel it needs to be largely populated. Because this system is a red giant, I’m not entirely sure on how to represent distances etc, so I feel it best to not bother for now.
Description
DC1938 (Canon)Overview
This is the only planet in the system that is actually part of the lore, and there isn’t a great deal of lore to go with. Since DC1938 has cracked apart from the core collapsing in on itself, it cannot be represented by a standard planet from the game, and from what I recall there are no other planets in the game that have been broken apart this way. I think the best way would be to have a number of those larger “enter orbit” asteroid models to represent it breaking apart, with a marker on the map to denote the centre of where it once was. However, it will need a new visual image for when you enter orbit.
Description
MV1963 (Fan-Made)Overview
No prizes for guessing which comic company I’ve referenced here, yes, it’s Marvel and the year is the first time that Iron Man appeared in the comics. MV1963 is intended to be a gas giant, not a particularly special one but it should have evidence of mining by the species that inhabited DC1938, perhaps with automated mining rather than peopled space stations. I felt there needed to be a gas giant in the system to soak up asteroids and protect other worlds from having the life on them from being wiped out.
Description
61 Ursae Majoris System
An OverviewUseful Real World Information about 61 Ursae Majoris:Mass Effect InformationUseful Information Regarding Life-bearing WorldsUseful Information Regarding the name Sirona
What is needed for this system to work?
The Star SystemPosition
Star - 61 Ursae MajorisPlanet 1 - Rock Planet - IntarabusPlanet 2 - SironaAsteroid FieldPlanet 3 - Gas Giant - LenusPlanet 4 - Gas Giant - Iovantucarus Why add this system? Why visit it?I’ve thought this over and to be fair, there are few reasons why it should be added to the game; It is Ashley Williams birth world, which is an interesting fact but there aren’t many other reasons, there isn’t anything extremely important or unique to be found here. As a fan of the lore though, I’m a fan of seeing it, so these are the reasons -I- would want to see it:
I do think that something is needed to make it worthwhile to visit. After pondering awhile and researching about Ashley Williams, I came across an idea; the 2nd Frontier Division. This division is the one that Ashley Williams was a part of when Eden Prime was attacked and it was almost entirely wiped out by geth forces. It is not without precedent for the military to recreate a unit that has been wiped out, or even entire armies, so a single division that is almost destroyed makes sense to rebuild. The idea I have is that the 2nd Frontier Division was being reformed and trained on Sirona, as a mark of respect to Ashley Williams for her work with Shepard/death on Virmire, and that these fresh recruits have been fighting the Reapers on Sirona.
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sil
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Post by sil on Jan 12, 2017 18:45:44 GMT
Citadel: Cerberus PropagandaIntroductionThe idea for this is based on the leaked beta mission involving Emily Wong and Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani. Because of Emily Wong’s crash landing over twitter, I’ve not included her in this document. So, I apologise now to any fans of hers reading this. Instead the focus will be on Khalisah al-Jilani. Here is an overview of the assignment from the beta:
I’m going to have to change this to make it work, my aim is to cover most parts of it including Terra Firma, the investigation and Emily Wong. All of this tied up into one assignment chain, not as hard as it sounds to design, actually. The assignment takes on two stages, Stage 1 is about Terra Firma and Stage 2 deals with Khalisah al-Jilani. The sections involving Emily Wong act as a prologue and epilogue I suppose, or you could count it as a reward for completing the mission.Prologue: Emily Wong’s DeathMy thought is that an email should be added to the game to explain what has happened to Emily Wong for those who didn’t know she is supposed to be dead. The “solcomm” feed she sent out is pretty long, too long to be properly presented over emails, so instead I’ll write one that is marking her death.
This email would be received once you have completed Priority: Menae, so there is a little time between Earth being invaded and her death being ‘confirmed’. Stage One: Terra FirmaThe assignment starts once two conditions have been met; Priority: Menae has been completed and the player has already spoken to Khalisah al-Jilani. Regardless of how that ends, you’ll get the message from her, so I’ll have to keep it pretty neutral and matter of fact, to avoid needing to write multiple versions that depend on how Shepard acted with her. The email begins the assignment:
Shepard then needs to go to the Spectre Terminal and can choose to activate the evidence and allow Khalisah al-Jilani to publish her article. The Spectre Terminal message is as follows:
This leads to two different scenarios, if you authorise it then you receive another email that shows that Terra Firma have been rocked by scandals following Khalisah’s report and also another email from Khalisah which leads into Stage Two of the assignment. If you do not authorise it before Tuchunka is complete then you will get a negative war asset. The email and war asset follow.
Spectre Request Authorised:
Just so people know, I’ve loosely based this message on a cut piece from Mass Effect 2 where Charles Saracino was arrested for tax evasion. So… it’s almost loreful, well, it’s kinda loreful. Stage Two: Khalisah al-JilaniThis part of the assignment is activated when you authorise the Spectre Terminal message in Stage One of this chain. Shepherd goes to Purgatory to talk to her, you’ll find her to the left when you first enter the club (the actual club, not the entrance hall). She has her camera with her, as she always does. When you walk into the club there is ambient dialogue spoken by Khalisah to get your attention.
For the following assignment I have tried to use lines for Shepard and EDI that are pretty basic or that I’m 90% sure are said over the course of the three games. If they aren’t there, then they give an idea of the responses that could be there. Khalisah on the other hand, all her lines are taken from the games and I spent quite a long time trying to form a conversation that makes sense from them. It was not particularly easy, as she does have few lines. Here is a key for the following conversations:
Ambient line to lure in the player:
Option 1: Help Khalisah
Choosing this option leads to the rest of the assignment.
Option 2: Refuse
Choosing this option leads nowhere, Khalisah is pissed off with you but nothing else happens other than the assignment not being available.
If you chose Option 1, then Shepard needs to find the first place to hack so he can get hold of the information. The first one should be in the Purgatory area, I’m thinking the screen beside the elevator. The video would replace whatever is on there, unless that is too difficult, then perhaps have the video appearing on the omni-tool?
The next terminal video is found in the Presidium Commons beside the red Purgatory sign, where the ANN Newscaster can be seen. On the way there, in the Presidium, you’ll get the following radio conversation with Khalisah.
Terminal Video 2:
After this you need to find the third terminal, the third and last. The mission is almost over. This time the Terminal is in the Normandy Dock, there is a screen in there that would be used for it. Although as mentioned before, a vid on the omni-tool would work too.
That is the mission complete, job done, you’ve proven Cerberus are bastards and the news can spread information about it. Because of this, you get the following War Asset:
Epilogue: Emily WongSo once you’ve completed the mission you then get another radio conversation, this one is just after you get the mission complete notice. Here is what is said.
The information EDI mentions are data packets sent by Emily Wong, somehow she survived the first day of the Reaper assault and is still trying to give the people news of what is going on. For those wanting lots of stuff for Emily, you’re not getting it. I want to keep this pretty simple. First, you receive an email.
And then you receive this War Asset:
And that is that. If a modder wanted, they could go further and splice together a news terminal story using her dialogue from the previous games. But I think this is all that is really needed. So yeah, idea done.
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sil
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Post by sil on Jan 28, 2017 1:30:57 GMT
Home Worlds Mod IdeaThe idea behind this is to think up how it would be possible to show a few more of the different Home Worlds in the game. Because of the nature of the game, it will not be easy to add in different worlds, and there will be many that I cannot even attempt. But after some thought, and reusing some of the maps in multiplayer, I think it would be possible to add a few. The home worlds in Mass Effect 3 that we don’t visit are:To make it clear, I’m not writing up ideas for all of these! Just for those that could work with the maps that are already present in Mass Effect 3. I’ll start with the Elcor world of Dekuuna. Also to make it clear, I know enough to know that adding new missions is a bitch of a task, so I'm going into this assuming that people realise that as well.Dekuuna: Elcor ExtractionIntroductionAt first when I tried thinking of an idea for this in the “Exploring Ideas from an Old Bioware Thread” I mentioned reusing the Firebase Giant map to make a mission where you fight Reaper troops and we all pretend that the map is really set on Dekuuna. I wrote it and didn’t think much of it at first.
I’ve been thinking of it a bit of this, and the more I think of it, the more I like the idea of it. The map in its current state is definitely unsuitable for Dekuuna. It’s a dirty, dusty place when Dekuuna is mentioned as being very green with lots of forests and grasslands. There are a number of things that this mission will require to give it a feeling that it is an Elcor mission, and not just a repurposed multiplayer map. The most basic list of changes to make this work:That is it for the most basic version of it, but I believe a more advanced set up could be done as well, to make it feel like a more important mission. The advanced list is as follows:- Re-texturing the map
- A video that plays when entering the Dekuuna system
- An Elcor character on the ship, for brief conversation and map radio transmissions
- Datapads on the edited Firebase Giant map that paint a picture of the Reaper invasion of Dekuuna
- Bootable Loki Mechs that fight against Reapers as a side part of the mission
- Dekuuna mission is labelled on the Galaxy Map. These would turn the mission into something far more interesting and make the Dekuuna mission feel like it is of some importance, which it should. The following is a brief list of things that, in an ideal world, could be done to make this feel even more like we’re fighting on Dekuuna:- Reaperized Elcor as an enemy
- Elcor corpses on the map
- Elcor Warriors temporary squad mate
- Elcor Warriors shown battling in the distance
- A replaced skybox showing a forest, grassland or space port. In this design document I’m going to separate it into three sections; “Basic”, “Advanced”, and “Impossible?”. The later documents would include all the relevant sections of the pieces before it, so that way I won’t be repeating myself at every turn. Here we go. BasicThe idea behind basic is to do the minimal amount of work to get a Dekuuna-themed level playable in Mass Effect 3. Although a modder could probably add it in without the edits I am listing, I feel they are necessary to give the map a new lease of life for the Elcor and to give it a feel that matches them and their homeworld.
As with the current ‘Dekuuna: Elcor Extraction’ assignment, this will be given by the Elcor Diplomat on the Citadel. Nothing in this section needs to change to make this a viable level, and that goes for the “Advanced” version of this, and for the “Impossible?” version. Once you’ve been given the assignment you head to the star system where Dekuuna is, you scan the planet, this is where the assignment changes. Instead of completing it ready to return it to the Elcor Diplomat, you instead enter into this cloned version of the Firebase Giant Night map. But before we can go into that, things need to be changed in this map.
Firebase Giant Converted into Dekuuna
From now on, the assumption is that the Firebase Giant map can be ripped from the game and then put in under a new name and location, effectively rendering it as a separate map from the original, allowing both to sit in the game simultaneously. This also assumes that the map itself, once exported from the game, could have its textures locations altered, so that it can use new textures.
To make this feel like Dekuuna portions of the map will need to be edited, as at the moment it feels too much like Tuchunka that we would be fighting over. Tuchunka is dirty, but I feel that if the textures for this Dekunna level are clean, then that will go some way towards giving the map a different feel. Although I feel it is overused in the game at times, the clean feel of Citadel space might actually work well for this place. The Elcor feel like they are tied to tradition when it comes to things like their cities and migratory habits, but I expect when it comes to space defence, their allies in the Citadel are more likely to be involved, notably the Asari who uplifted them (sort of).
Many of these textures needed for the map could be taken from other places and edited to work with the new level. I’ve modded other games, primarily Warcraft 3 and Dawn of War, as well as a little bit of Total War modding, and I’m always amazed by how a texture edit can alter the look and feel of something. Texture edits are amazing things, and if a clean/crisp look is brought into this level then it will have a new feel to the place, and that in turn will help reinforce that this isn’t a level that was for Tuchunka, but is now a level on another planet. It is likely that some brand new textures would be needed, I’m thinking especially for the giant space defence cannon, but that wouldn’t be the end of the world and a talented artist could do that. There are many out there, after all.
Also you need to decide just which version of Firebase Giant should be used. I am of the opinion that to hone in that the map isn’t the same as Tuchunka, I’d go for the night-time version that was added to Mass Effect 3 in the Retaliation MP expansion, as the map at night will make it feel that little bit more separate from the Tuchunka singleplayer level.
Enemies
The obvious enemies for this map are the Reapers. The whole point of the assignment is to help Elcor warriors and people flee survive the reaper invasion on transport ships, so the Reapers are the obvious enemies to face. I would suggest that the units they use are Husks, Cannibals, Marauders, Ravagers, and Brutes. I’d leave Banshee’s out of this one, personally.
As this will just be a standard “blast’em and win” level, there is little need to do anything special with these. Just throw the enemy at Shepherd and team, and let him kick their arse.
Radio Messages
Having Shepherd fighting on a map and claiming it is a Dekuuna Space Defence Cannon is all well and good, but regardless of all the texture changes it still won’t have the Elcor feel. The proportions of the map are still more suited to the standard humanoids of Mass Effect, and there is nothing that really screams out that this is an Elcor planet. So to reinforce that we are fighting on one, something is needed. In my opinion the best option is to have dialogue of the rescue effort being broadcast over the radio as you fight.
For this, I feel there is a need to have two to three voices talking over the comms, with the Normandy patching into their comms so Shepherd can know the state of the evacuation. At the beginning of the level, if one can be found, a sentence by EDI or Joker saying that they are patching Shepherd into the comms would be great. This won’t help make it feel like an Elcor level, but it’ll make it feel more like the level belongs in the game. I would suggest 3-5 brief conversations/single sentences over the course of the mission.
It should be noted that this is the extinction of their homeworld and a desperate attempt to save as many people as can be saved. The messages should be dramatic, possibly displaying grief in this rather neutral sounding people. Here is an example script:
Radio Message 1:
Radio Message 2:
Radio Message 3:
Radio Message 4:
Radio Message 5:
Once the final radio message happens, the mission either ends, or a shuttle comes down and you have to fight to it to end the level. All in all, it’s finished.
How to Win
I imagine the level as a holding mission, you keep fighting the Reapers for as long as you can until the radio makes it clear that the Elcor Extraction is complete. At which point Shepherd gets to the evacuation point and heads off in the shuttle.
What happens next? Well, sod all really. You go back to the Citadel and you speak to the Elcor Diplomat, who ends the assignment as he did in the original game. This is the basic version of the Elcor mission, and in truth it should be more than good enough for most people. It’s still a new mission, it’s got some Elcor content, and it makes one of the assignments more than it used to be and more like an old Mass Effect 1 or 2 level. All in all, it is all good. AdvancedThe basic version of this map would be all well and good, if it went entirely to plan it would be adequate for what it is showing. I’d say that adequate is not good enough and it needs to be much better. The advanced section of this goes into that, and this is where things get much more difficult to implement for a potential modder (not that it wasn’t difficult already!).Mission Beginning and DialogueSo, how does this one begin? Exactly the same way as the Basic version; you start on the Citadel talking to the Elcor Diplomat who requests that you save as many of his people as you can. So, as any good galaxy-saving-spectre would do, you immediately leave the Citadel and head out into the galaxy. This is where things start to change. The first change is that on the main galaxy overview on the Galaxy Map there is a label pointing out where the Dekuuna level is, much like how the various N7 and Priority Missions are shown. This should make it obvious to a player that the mission is not as it once was, that it is now ‘important’ because it involves you doing more than just scanning a planet.
So, once you see it you head into the star system and arrive at the planet (which has also been marked out, much like other missions), this is where it changes more dramatically. A video is played that shows the Normandy approaching the Elcor Flotilla. I’ve seen new space based videos being handled for some of the ending mods, so I know it is doable. It doesn’t need to be some fancy new spacecraft, there are ships already in the game could be used to represent the fleet. The Elcor Flotilla is listed as a War Asset and is found at Dekuuna’s moon Oltan, so this could be shown in the background as the ships approach one another. Although the Elcor Flotilla War Asset remains, I am of the opinion that it should not be discovered through scanning as in vanilla, but instead given once the mission is completed.
Over the comms, an Elcor requests to board the Normandy, and the request is accepted (Even the Renegade option would be a reluctant yes, rather than a no). Here is an example of how the conversation could go:What happens then is that we go to the War Room and there is a brief discussion with the Elcor from the Flotilla about keeping the defence cannons going to help the evacuation to succeed. Shepherd agrees to help keep them online by going down there himself with his team. Here is how the conversation could go:This leads to an ‘Investigate’ option with a few branching paths, and a ‘I should go’ option to end the conversation.
After this brief conversation you can talk again to the Elcor from the Flotilla, who will then give an ambient piece of dialogue:The Elcor from the Flotilla will need a new voice for all of this, so to make it clear, a new voice actor is necessary, but the Elcor Operative would share the same voice as Elcor 2 on the radio from the basic version.The Battle for DekuunaWell, as has been mentioned already, the map would’ve been re-textured and this would use the same one.
So you’re heading to the landing zone now, the Shuttle then lands, and the battle begins… and it plays out pretty much the same way as it did in the Basic version. You still fight the same type of Reaper units, you still have to hold them for a certain length of time until the evacuation has finished. There are differences though, things to find on the map to encourage you to keep moving rather than holding a safe zone on the map. The first is the aforementioned Loki Mechs.
Scattered throughout the base are pairs of Loki Mechs that can be activated, there are three pairs in total. Each time you activate a pair of them, you gain 100xp and they will fight independently of your control. Once you activate the lot of them, you get a radio transmission from the Elcor on the Normandy, nothing fancy just him thanking you for improving the security of the cannon. If it is not possible to have the Loki Mech’s doing this, then I would suggest instead using the Rampart Mechs from the Omega DLC, although that means this level would require that DLC to run.The second thing to look for during the mission is a Datapad which will contain more information on how the reaper war is taking its toll on Dekuuna, but will also highlight the location of a battalion of Elcor warriors awaiting extraction. Once Shepherd locates it, and the player has read it, Shepherd will make a comment along the lines of “EDI, upload this to the Normandy”, and the Elcor on the Normandy will comment on it and thank Shepherd for the information.
The third, and final, thing to find is to upload updated targeting code into the cannon. This is basically just finding the main console and pressing A (or the keyboard/mouse equivalent, I dunno, I use the SP Controller mod!). All this needs is a comment from Shepherd or EDI about something being uploaded, a generic comment, and then the Elcor character can say something in response. Something like:That will improve the amount of assets provided by the Elcor Flotilla, as more of the rescue shuttles will succeed.Completion and RewardsOnce these have been done, or you’ve fought the Reapers for long enough, the mission will end and a shuttle will pick you up. There isn’t anymore dialogue and it all comes to a close, you then need to return the mission to the Elcor Diplomat on the Citadel, and it will end as it ever did. The only real difference is to the War Assets you get, as mentioned earlier the Elcor Flotilla is no longer given by scanning but as a reward for completing this assignment. Also, depending upon what you picked up in the level, more assets are added:
Impossible?The following section details further things that, in an ideal and perfect world, could be done to make the level feel far more like the Elcor homeworld than it does. There is a chance that some of these are actually possible to do, but I highly doubt it. I’m mostly throwing these in there for the sake of completion. So, without further ado, let’s begin:
A Map Suiting Elcor Proportions
At the moment the map doesn’t seem big enough to be designed for the Elcor to comfortably move around, so the suggestion here is to edit the map file itself to enlarge it. I think an increase to the size of the map by 20% would give the correct feel to the place, it would make the doors much bigger so it would feel like it makes sense for an Elcor to walk through them.
However, something like this wouldn’t be as easy as just expanding it by changing a few stats, it’d require hard work to make it all work right. Then you’d also have to make sure not to increase the size of the cannon so it doesn’t look overly large, cover would need to be edited as would pathing. There is an awful lot that would need to be changed to do this correctly. Unless someone out there is very patient and is skilled at editing the 3D models and the pathwork used by the game then this won’t be happening.
Elcor Corpses
Something else that would give the map the feel of an Elcor base is corpses of the Elcor that worked there. I do not think there is a single instance in the entire game series where we see a dead Elcor, so that means a new model would have to be made (likely with a new texture). I’m not certain if that would then have to be added directly to the map file model, or if it could be spawned, but it would likely be too much for a modder to bother with. I can’t see it happening.
Reaperized Elcor
You’ve no idea how much I’d love to see this! But there are so many problems with it. Enemies in Mass Effect seem to be impacted by ragdoll physics (I could be wrong, but it does seem to be something they use), but I do not think that the Elcor model would be rigged for that. Then there is the problem of a severe lack of animations, (again, unless I’m mistaken) meaning that there is no attack animation, no death animations, etc. Which are essential to turn their model into an enemy. If it doesn’t have the right animations then someone very skilled would need to create the animations which I just cannot see happening.
The only part of this that is actually do-able is to re-texture the Elcor to look huskified. This one is definitely doable, even with its current model, a reaperized texture would still look awesome and would work well. It’s amazing how much a re-texture can change something if done right.
The problem lies with the rest of the model, and for that reason I can’t see it happening. Which is a massive shame, as fighting Reaperized Elcor on the map would be a perfect way of giving it the feel of being on Dekuuna.
Elcor Squad-Mate
Considering no-one has added a new squad mate to the game, even a temporary one, I am saying this just isn’t possible yet. It would be awesome, but even beyond the fact that there isn’t the ability to add a new squad mate, there is a lot that goes against it. Lack of animations, the need for a brand new model of an armoured Elcor with a VI controlled gun on his back, and the testing necessary to make him a fair combatant would all render him even more unlikely to be added. A big shame, I think, but acceptable to accept its a lost cause.
Elcor Warriors Fighting in the Distance
This has many of the same troubles as the above idea, although they wouldn’t need animations for movement, we’d just need to see their guns firing and they’d need new models wearing armour. I can’t see it happening, but it’s nice to dream.
Editing the Skybox and Adding a Reaper
I think editing the skybox may actually be possible (if the games use it) as it would be a texture change, but if the night time version of the map is being used then maybe it is not even worth doing, as you don’t see too far at night. The reaper bit I think would be great though, having one moving about in the background, occasionally firing its weapon off or making a bit of noise. If it would have to be added to the 3d asset of the map then I doubt it’ll happen, but if it can be spawned in game (I’m assuming it can), then I think it would be possible!
Surface Gravity
The Elcor Home World has a surface gravity 4x that of Earth. I think I’ve read that Mass Effect fields can be used to simulate gravity or to reduce the effects of it, but I think it’d be interesting if Shepherd and team had a harder time of it on the surface because of the increased gravitational fields. If his motion was sluggish because of it, making his battle even more difficult that it normally would be. I wouldn’t be surprised if Reaper troops are adapted to better fight across different worlds, but Shepherd is human and his tech may only go a certain way towards helping.
If it is at all possible, which I don’t know, to be honest, I would suggest having Shepherd’s movements reduced by about 20%, to give the player the feeling that they are struggling to move because of the gravitational pull but with Reaper enemies moving at their usual speeds. It could create a very difficult level, but I love the idea of it. Rakhana: Drell ExodusWill import from old forum soon. Heshtok: Void DevilsWill import from old forum soon. Khar'shan: Pillars of StrengthWill import from old forum soon.
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. I hope you enjoy it too.
