The PC Master Race Has A New Convert

After stumbling upon the screenarchery thread on the BioWare Forum, I discovered a whole new world. The images some of the users are able to capture using DAI cinematic tools, as well as various mods, are simply breathtaking and only make you appreciate the artistry of the game even more. I didn't realise how much detail I was missing on the PS4.

My own screen captures are far less stellar, as my efforts are not only hampered by lower resolution images, but also the omnipresent labelling. Witness this beautiful shot, only to be ruined by the tactical camera label:

Cropping out the label produces less than satisfactory results:

I can't justify the cost of a gaming computer at the moment, but a girl can dream, can't she?

Meet Inquisitor Jerint Trevelyan

David Gaider and Ramon Tikaram created such a wonderful character in Dorian Pavus. Ordinarily, I don't choose to play as a male protagonist, but I made an exception for Dorian.

My Name is Rora and I Have A Problem

I tried so hard not to. I didn't even find his character design all that attractive at first. Yet the fact remains: I love Cullen.

A Cullenmancer's Lament (A Torch Song in Cm)
-Music and Lyrics by Aurora Mitchell 2015, dedicated to Ms. Brianne Battye & Mr. Greg Ellis

Like a lyrium addiction
Got a strange affliction
With the urge to write fan fiction
In graphic depiction
You've got me fixated
On pixelated you...

It should be a factor
That you're voiced by an actor
But what's most hard to tell is,
Is it you or Greg Ellis
Who's got me fixated
On pixelated you?

I don't care if I'm
Part of your harem, I'm
So intoxicated...

Gotta find a quick solution
Or I'll need an institution
A victim of my own delusion
Give me the resolution
You've got me fixated
I'm so twitterpated
It's almost x-rated...
My pixelated you!

N.B. I am not a musician. I tried to get musicians to collaborate with me, but perhaps I scared them off with my lack of experience. And skill. And talent. The following acapella track was recorded on my laptop in my bathroom because the only place I sing is in the shower (that, and because the cat wouldn't leave me alone). It is intended for people to get a rough idea of what I'm trying to achieve, but may be hazardous to their health in that their ears may start to bleed. My hope is that someone will record it properly one day.  

In Another Life, a letter to Solas inspired by Dragon Age: Inquisition

So, I finished DA:I. I specifically chose to play as a Dalish elf because I wanted to explore the Solas romance written by Patrick Weekes. Unfortunately, despite Gareth David-Lloyd's note-perfect performance, I found his character so insufferable, and, unable to romance Dorian (voiced by the delightfully mercurial Ramon Tikaram), I romanced Cullen, instead. (Though, given dialogue by the masterful Brianne Battye and an arresting, yet nuanced, performance by Greg Ellis, one could hardly call it a hardship.)

Nevertheless, after witnessing the ending, I decided as abrasive, confounding, and, well, downright creepy as Solas could be, my masochistic Inquisitor would go the distance. (You'd think with all the memories he had seen in the Fade, he'd pick up on what not to say...) The proverbial scales fell from my eyes in his final romantic cut-scene. Solas' facial expressions were so movingly rendered, every misgiving I had faded to insignificance.

In Another Life

In another life, I would have prayed to Dirthamen, Keeper of Secrets, to reveal where my Heart had hidden, to Andruil to grant me swiftness that I might soon be at his side, and, should dark Falon’Din meet him first, to turn him away and guide his steps back to me. But if there ever were gods, they do not listen, as I did not listen.

You sought to free me, but did you not understand that removing my vallaslin only bound me to you, as surely as any geas? My clansmen see my face, now a mirror of your own, and turn away. I have not even the comfort of dreams, though I sleep in the hollow your body made in our bed.

You told me to harden my heart to a cutting edge. How can I, when I still burn unquenchable as veilfire? Mythal did not speak of this price, this sorrow.

Come to me soon, Vhenan. I would tear open the heavens again if I knew I would find you on the other side.

-A letter found in the secret compartment of the desk of Inquisitor Lavellan

Addendum: It seems I have Jonathan Epp to thank for animating Solas.

The Return of the Mako

The Mako is back, sans gun, and I cannot be more underwhelmed. But wait, you say, it's customizable. Goddess, IT'S ALLIANCE PROPERTY. You'd think an army would have higher priorities than allowing their personnel to make their tanks look pretty. I could not care less what the Mako looks like as long as it is manoeuverable. The first time I drove a Mako, I managed to get hooked over some metal scaffolding while driving at ground level. (Don't ask me how. I haven't been able to reproduce it since.) Suspended at a nearly 90 degree angle, my thrusters were useless and I was forced to restart the whole disastrous mission because autosave in the original Mass Effect is infrequent enough to be practically nonexistent. My Commander Shepard was not happy.

From the footage shown at SDCC, I was unable to discern the increase in agility the developers claim distinguishes this incarnation of the Mako from its predecessor. I suppose it is too early to pass judgment. I, personally, would enjoy more banter in the Mako and the ability to see from the interior of the vehicle, as it seems we are fated to spend a significant amount of game time in it.

As for other content, I'm going to assume the new alien species we will encounter have somehow activated their own Mass Relays and managed to make their existence known without being blown away by the Alliance, the Turians or Krogan. I wonder if they will stand idly by while we strip their neighbouring planets of platinum, palladium, and iridium.

From what I've seen, the next Mass Effect isn't coming out any time soon. I'm predicting 2016 at the earliest. I'll make another prediction: I won't be pre-ordering the game.

Dragon Age: Inquisition and Other Shiny, Pretty Things

I'm a sucker for good looks and, good goddamn, Dragon Age: Inquisition is pretty. However, here is my confession: I am a hydrophile.

When I should have been focussed upon reaching my rendez-vous with the Normandy during the Reaper attack on Vancouver, I found myself staring at the beautifully rendered water: the movement and colour of it, the way it reflected and caught the light. While Anderson barked increasingly impatient commands, this Alliance soldier was marvelling at the splash and spray induced by the massive Reaper in the harbour thundering towards us. Instead of securing a comm-link to get aid to the wounded, I was delighting in the way the water interacted with the detritus of destruction.

I loved swimming in Fable III and Skyrim, but the aquatic aesthetics and physics were never quite right. Now I hear tell that the Dales boast interactive water and I am all agog, for I have spent more time than I dare confess admiring the waters of Thedas:

The only other game employing Frostbite 3 technology and featuring interactive water is Dice's Battlefield 4 (2013). I'm not a big fan of first-person shooters, but we both know I wasn't watching this for the gameplay:

Inquisitor's Edition, here I come.

Current Generation Game Engines and Dragon Age: Inquisition

Yesterday, BioWare announced an October 7th, 2014 release date for Dragon Age: Inquisition. In-game footage looks stunning and I, for one, am awaiting further news of the collector's edition before pre-ordering. Moving from BioWare's Eclipse (aka Lycium) to Frostbite 3 (EA's proprietary engine showcased in the Battlefield series), developers have yet to confirm the return of modding capability; nevertheless, I remain skeptical of the possibility. Given the exponential leap in both aesthetics and mechanics from DA:O, I began to wonder what choices had been made by other creators of AAA content.

UNREAL 4

Supporting several platforms, it is no wonder Epic Games' Unreal engine, now in its 4th incarnation, has been the engine of choice for console, PC, and mobile game developers. Behind numerous impressive titles, such as BioWare's Mass Effect series (Unreal 3), Eido's Deus Ex series (Unreal 1), 2K's BioShock and XCOM series (Unreal 2), Gearbox's Borderlands series (Unreal 3), Lionhead's Fable series (Unreal 3), and NetherRealm's Mortal Kombat series (Unreal 3), it also offers a package for independent game developers via UDK to take advantage of the same technology previously only available to AAA titles.

SOURCE

This year's release of Respawn's Titanfall further solidified the versatility of Valve's Source engine. Also able to support several platforms, Source was the engine for Valve's Half-Life and Portal series. Unfortunately, at this time, the SDK appears to be limited to modding, with no defined package for independent developers.

CRYENGINE 4

CryEngine 4, released by German company CryTek, supports PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Wii U. Games using CryEngine include, but certainly are not limited to, the Far Cry series (CryEngine 1), the Crysis series (CryEngine 3), State of Decay (CryEngine 3), and Ryse: Son of Rome (CryEngine 4). While limited in the number of platforms it supports, its free SDK package for Windows PC makes it attractive to neophyte independent game developers.

But what about the other medieval RPGs to which DA:I will inevitably be compared? Bethesda's open world Skyrim (2011), which chiefly differs from DA:I in its non-linear narrative and absence of meaningful interactions with non-playable characters, employs their in-house Creation engine. On offer to the modding community is the Creation Kit. Poland's CD Projekt RED has used its REDengine since enhancing The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (2012). The highly-anticipated sequel, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, will unveil the capabilities of REDengine 3 and its associated modding REDkit in February 2015.

CREATION

REDENGINE 3

Mass Effect 4

The truth is, I am more inclined to be pleased than displeased when it comes to the games and DLC of Mass Effect. Yes, I may complain, but when it comes down to it, time after time, I have parted with my hard-earned cash to get BioWare’s latest release for the series without hesitation. And I never listen to “professional” critics. However, with the news that BioWare is working on a fourth Mass Effect Game as well as a new Intellectual Property (IP), given the present handling of the Mass Effect 3 ending, I am disinclined to contribute to the financial well-being of BioWare/EA until YouTube walkthroughs of these games are made available.  After countless hours of playing, I liken my relationship with the Mass Effect Trilogy development team as that with a beloved sibling: I may not always agree with their decisions, but I love them, anyway. That relationship does not necessarily extend to the new Mass Effect or toward the new IP.

If the current development team at BioWare inherited an excellent IP, only to ruin it in the end, I have little faith in their ability to create an entirely new IP from the ground up.  The fact they consider it a disservice to the new Mass Effect game by referring to it as Mass Effect 4, is a plaintive, but ultimately futile, appeal to not allow the controversy associated with the Mass Effect 3 ending affect sales of BioWare's next foray into the Mass Effect universe.  This is of particular significance since EA has most recently posted 3rd quarter losses and may continue to do so.

So BioWare, prove me wrong. Bring back the mounting excitement as we near release day and the heady feeling of extravagance as I pay full price in order to be one of the privileged to play your latest release first; because after this last DLC, I may never feel that way again.