Mass Effect Interview, Part One
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Q: What are some of the challenges of making real time combat a reality in an RPG game? How have you overcome them?
A: Generally the first time we see a working version of the combat we've designed, it's not the end of the process, it's the beginning. It takes many full iterations of improvements to a combat system to get it really (right). So we've applied that lesson to designing the real-time combat in Mass Effect.
The combat system was designed to be as accessible as the most popular first person shooters, involve cooperation of varying talents in your squad like in KOTOR, and to provide a simple way for the player to set up complex attack plans on the battlefield. By implementing our best answers to these goals, then improving them over and over again, we've been able to close in on a combat system that has the rare qualities of being both easy to use, and tactically complex.