Bioware's Ryan Warden, External Producer for Mass Effect Trilogy, has shared how his team brought the original ME to the PS3 and the improvements they made specific to the PS3 platform via a post for the EU Playstation Blog.
We partnered with Edge of Reality, an external team with whom we’ve worked on many previous projects. Edge of Reality has a deep understanding of how PS3 works, under the hood, so we thought the project would be a perfect fit. We had a huge head start because of the work we had done with Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 for PS3, but we still wanted to maintain the "look and feel – the classic experience – of the original Mass Effect.
We tinkered with the audio engine, and with the way that memory was allocated to various chunks of the game. We brought over some lighting and visual effects improvements from Mass Effect 2 and 3, and combined them with the original Mass Effect systems. In essence, we invited the Wu Tang Clan to a rap battle… and it paid off.
We got some huge gains in performance – especially with regard to texture popping, which has been dramatically improved – yet we were still able to maintain the classic look and feel of the introduction to the Mass Effect universe.
At the end of my first playthrough during development, I saw a scene that had once been so familiar – the Normandy jumps to FTL, the screen fades to black, and That Song kicks in. I had sat through this scene countless times during the development of Mass Effect. Every single time, the delay-soaked guitar of Faunts’ “M4 Part II” put a grin on my face, just like the first time I saw it."
The Mass Effect Trilogy also finally allows PS3 ME fans to create and play their Shepard from the start to the end of the trilogy.
I’m really proud of the work that the team has done to bring Mass Effect Trilogy to the PS3, and I can’t wait for you to play through the whole series. I hope you enjoy it!"
Mass Effect Trilogy is out now for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. If you still need a reason to buy the Mass Effect Trilogy or are a new player looking to delve into its rich galaxy, catch up on BioWare's latest trailer.
Source: EU Playstation Blog
By Nathan Misa