Mass Effect - Save it for me.

Mass Effect is the game I have been waiting for since I finished Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2.  On many levels this game is everything I wanted out of a KOTOR “Sequel” and in some ways the lack of a Star Wars plot helps this game excel beyond the KOTOR series because the player is immersed in a completely new world with the future of the galaxy uncertain.  In a recent poll on 2old2play I actually voted for this game over Oblivion as best RPG (out of the two).  I'm a sucker for a good space odyssey and since a good Star Trek games has not been produces since the 1995 Interplay PC game this game fills the void.

There is one thing that bothers me about Mass Effect.  The save system.  Out of  "next gen" I have a few expectations based around graphics, sound, and game play.  Paramount of all concerns is the requirement to save at anytime anywhere.  Since this is a website for older gamers I'm sure many of you can relate to a million and one different reasons to be able to save.  Wife/Husband and kids can attack at any moment with some real world crisis or obligation that requires an older gamer to shut down the game system at a moments notice.  I remember when I was a kid I would sometimes leave the NES paused for days because a game lacked a save option.  There is no reason to turn of the save feature at anytime in game like Mass Effect.  Other games released in recent months have an even worse save setup (BioShock had 1992 save technology).  In Mass Effect the save usually disappears, when you would actually need it, before a battle.  I had one scenario where I died after a cut scene and couldn't save after the cut scene.  I had the extreme pleasure of watching the cut scene every time I died.  Aside from being able to save anytime I also expect to save as much as I want.  I appreciated BioWare's attempt to conserve space on my hard disk but the fact of the matter is that I bought the Xbox 360 with the hard disk so I would never have to worry about save space.  10 saves and only at non crucial times would not be acceptable in MS Word and I don't think it is acceptable in a game.  The save feature should never be used as a method of controlling game difficulty.

Comments welcome.

Posted by GrooveServer @ 11:23 am EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

Backwards Compatibility

Aliens vs. Predator - Extinction has to be one of the least popular games on the planet a close second would be Barbie Horse Adventures or any Cabela’s hunting game every created. What do these games have in common? They are supported by the Xbox 360’s Backwards compatibility. I don’t want my blog to turn into a rant but I would like to put it out there that a priority list should exist for games. Adding Fist full of Boom Stick last month doesn’t convince me that a priority list is out there.

MechAssault – (Game of the Year, Platnium Hit) = Not Supported

Morrowind (Game of the Year) = Not Supported

I understand each game needs code written for it to work. What I don’t know is what a game has to do to get on that list?

Any one else disappointed with the backwards compatibility? Post a comment and let me know. Maybe you love it…let me hear why.

Groove Server

Link to MS Backwards Compatibility list: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibilitygameslist.htm

Posted by GrooveServer @ 11:09 am EDT | Permalink | 6 Comments

XNA

I've started programming with C# and the XNA studio.  So far I love the whole package.  Following the brief tutorial included with the package I was able to make a 3D space ship fly around...With sound effects!  Initially I couldn’t plug my 360 controller into my computer so I had to program it for the keyboard.  Later TuckerIntensity lent me the plug and play adapter.  Now I have Force Feedback!

For my next project I'm creating a F-18 Flight Simulator game.  So far I've found the steepest learning curve to be the 3D models.

I'm using the following free software to develop with:

Code
Visual Studio Express C#
XNA Studio
DirectX SDK (Dec 2006)

Graphics
Maya (Educational Edition)
Bender
GIMP

Audio
Audacity
XACT (Included with XNA)

I'm hoping an XNA development community within 2old2play surfaces.  Feel free to contact me with any tips, comments or suggestions.

Posted by GrooveServer @ 8:58 pm EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments