Development on the upcoming newMass Effectgame seems to be progressing smoothly, with developers from BioWare and the game’s director Michael Gamble regularly assuring fans that things are going well despite internal shake-ups at the studio. While players have yet to see any definitive footage ofMass Effect 4, it’s worth pointing out that the lead team members on the game are allMass Effectseries veterans with experience working on the core trilogy as opposed toAndromeda.Mass Effect: Andromedawas an ambitious title that earned a mixed response from fans, but it had one unutilized idea that should bear fruit inMass Effect 4: procedural generation.
Procedural generation of planets was an original goal of theMass Effect: Andromedateam, but difficulties working within the Frostbite Engine resulted in the idea being scrapped. However, since the release ofAndromeda, several other space-faring sci-fi games — most notably,No Man’s SkyandStarfield— have utilized procedural generation to great effect, with the technology itself having grown leaps and bounds sinceAndromeda’s development began in 2012. Though many departures from the seriesAndromedaintroduced are perhaps better left in the past,Mass Effect 4should pick up where it left off withprocedurally generated planetsrife with opportunities for exploration and emergent gameplay.
How the Mass Effect: Andromeda Team Originally Hoped to Implement Procedural Generation
Notably, the team behindMass Effect: Andromedahad originally hoped to implement procedural generation for its open-world exploration of the galaxy, but ended up scrapping the idea mid-development. TheoriginalMass Effecttrilogyhad been developed in Unreal Engine 3, but the switch to EA’s proprietary Frostbite Engine presented a slew of difficulties that made incorporating procedural generation difficult. Still, the general premise is strong enough to warrant a second look, especially when examining how the team was planning to use it inMass Effect: Andromeda.
According to a report compiled in 2017, which included input from members ofAndromeda’s team, one of the original ideas for the game was to utilize procedural generation to create near-infinite numbers of worlds for players to explore. However, concerns over how such an approach could allow for the implementation of aBioWare-style narrative, as well as technical hiccups with its implementation in the Frostbite Engine, ultimately led to the team abandoning the idea after making some significant progress. But to many, the idea ofNo Man’s Sky-style exploration with BioWare’s production values and narrative delivery could present the idealMass Effectgame.
Mass Effect 4 Could Pick Up Where Andromeda Left Off With Fewer, but Denser, Procedurally Generated Planets
In a post-No Man’s SkyandStarfieldworld, both of which have heavily leaned on procedural generation to populate their interactive galaxies, it’s perhaps now the perfect time forMass Effectto circle back on the idea ofprocedurally generated environments. EachMass Effectgame has taken a different approach to how it handles the act of exploring the “final frontier” of space. Advancements in both graphical fidelity and processing power, coupled with procedurally generated planets, could seeMass Effect4making a claim for the best exploration in the series.
Of course, using procedural generation isn’t a catch-all for making exploration interesting, which is one area whereMass Effect 4could shine whereStarfieldstumbled. WhileStarfieldhad an impressive number of procedurally generated planets, many were barren of anything worthwhile to see or do. Instead,Mass Effect 4could utilize procedural generation to produce fewer but more densely populated worlds that give way to thrilling emergent gameplay elements and worthwhile resource gathering.
