Mass Effect 2 details to be revealed at GDC in March

[R Nilla]

Source

Developer BioWare will provide new details on its sci-fi action-RPG sequel Mass Effect 2 at this year's Game Developer's Conference, according to the event schedule.

Entry on GDC 09 schedule:

The Iterative Level Design Process of Bioware's MASS EFFECT 2
Speaker: Corey Andruko (Project Manager, BioWare), Dusty Everman (Lead Technical Designer, BioWare)
Date/Time: TBD
Track: Production
Secondary Track: Game Design
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: All

Session Description
This session examines the BioWare Mass Effect team?s new level-creation process, which is focused on maximizing iteration for quality while minimizing rework and cost. This approach to building levels strives to integrate the Design, Art, and Production teams such that the highest-risk level-creation issues are addressed early in the development cycle. Lessons learned from Mass Effect lead to a detailed description of the new level-creation process, and graphical examples of a level illustrate its progression through the necessary phases. The discussion also examines how BioWare is currently implementing this process using elements of Scrum and Lean Development.

Takeaway
Attendees will: - Gain insight into some of the major issues the development team encountered while building Mass Effect at BioWare; - Get a detailed look at the Mass Effect team?s new approach to creating levels while avoiding these issues; - Find out how this new process is working for the Mass Effect team; - Learn about new pitfalls the team discovered that can potentially be avoided on future game projects.

Intended Audience and Prerequisites
This lecture is intended for producers, designers, or any game developer involved in planning, specification, or content creation for game levels. An understanding of modern video game development workflows is recommended.

Not exactly a gameplay trailer or promotion for the sequel, but it's nice to know that it is currently in development and hasn't been set aside for the Star Wars TOR MMO.

 

[nakedfrog]

All I can hope for is that it's a little longer and that there aren't a thousand space stations with the same floor plan 😛

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
All I can hope for is that it's a little longer and that there aren't a thousand space stations with the same floor plan 😛

That actually seems to be the point of their presentation for GDC. See the Session Description and Takeaway sections in the OP.

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
All I can hope for is that it's a little longer and that there aren't a thousand space stations with the same floor plan 😛

:thumbsup: More side quests with less cut-and-pasted environments. Even if they don't change any of the gameplay mechanics, including the horrible inventory system, I'd still be happy.

It also would have been nice if they kept their promise about delivering an abundance of DLC. There's a funny thread over on the Bioware forums that has several quotes from Bioware employees about their commitment to providing plenty of new worlds and missions with DLC.

EDIT: Link to Mass Effect DLC thread.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: R Nilla
It also would have been nice if they kept their promise about delivering an abundance of DLC. There's a funny thread over on the Bioware forums that has several quotes from Bioware employees about their commitment to providing plenty of new worlds and missions with DLC.

Heh. At least Mass Effect got some DLC. I'm still waiting for the promised DLC for Scene-It!

 

[CKDragon]

Mmmm... my favorite game of 2007.

I need more.