hansari said:
Can you or someone else explain to me why developers would take the risk to use different graphics engines? Wouldn't focusing on one be better?
While I found Mass Effect to be shiny enough on the console, the developers said they couldn't tap into it because the Unreal Engine 3 was new to them...
Now they say they have everything peachy with Mass Effect 2...but then I hear this about Dragon Age??
Why? Because they are once again using a new engine called Eclipse?
The question about the engine is one that's fairly easy to tell. First, since the game is released on three platforms (PC, 360, PS3) you find yourself having to write a program that can serve a similar purpose on all three. While a port from 360 - PC or vice versa is relatively easy (sharing fundamentally similar hardware as they do), the PS3's dramatically different hardware (that can allow for graphics that are better than those on the 360, when properly leveraged) means that at least a degree of tweaking must be done to perform the same function at similar efficiency.
Of course, since these games are inherently presenting the same game, there must be an explanation as to WHY games tend to look different on the different consoles. In some cases, the answer is that the hardware of one platform or another simply will not support certain things. In others, difficulty in implementation compouded by lack of time means all features might not be implement across all the versions. In this case, I strongly suspect that the hardware is at fault.
To put this in perspective, the system I am playing Dragon Age: Origins on has 4 gb memory, a quad core processor and a video card that is not too far removed from the leading edge. With this, I can play the game with settings maxed and find that the game not only consumes the entire gig of video memory, it also chews up another 2.8 gigs of system memory. The game appears to support multiple cores as well, in my case consuming 70 - 90% of the capacity of three of them. To put it simply, DAO pushes up against the limits of a recently built machine purpose built to play games on - the (significantly) less powerful 360, even with excellent optimization, simply does not have the ability to present the game in the same way.
Of course, from my perspective, I would never advocate purchasing this game for a console. The amount of micromanagement that must be done to survive even a standard battle is absolutely insane. Using a lower difficulty setting and fully understanding how to make the tactics system work can certainly resolve this problem in many cirumstances, but even on Easy you'll often find that you'll need to personally control both your mages (damage dealing) and rogues for optimal effectiveness.
All else aside, DAO is rapidly becoming my favorite RPG of all time. If it contines on such a course, it may even displace my previous favorite game of all time (Deus Ex). The characters are well rounded and presented in a way that actually makes you feel attached to them. The story, though simply a retelling of the same story we have heard in every CRPG ever made, is presented well enough that it compells me to carry on long into the night. In the time since I graduated high school, there has only been one other game I have played that has kept me playing for fully half a day, ignoring all needs but the restroom.
Were I to personally level a complaint against the game, it is with animations. The voice acting is, in most cases, superb. Unforunately, the characters do little when speaking but stand there looking around. What I'd like to have seen is a little pysical acting to go along with the vocal performances.