Armour Customisation in Andromeda: Arts and Crafts

Oh, I would definitely love this. My only fear is that it becomes micro-transactions only content. As long as there's a way to obtain them in game, I'm good. The Halloween skins/tags/whatnot in Overwatch are a compromise I could live with. You can either win them in loot boxes by levelling up, buy them with in-game credits, or buy enough loot boxes with real money to make sure you'll get them all. Obviously that works for MP content only.

Not sure what should be done for those who wouldn't touch MP with a ten meters pole. Maybe include them in story-driven DLCs.

Would love a pattern/deco creator too. One can dream...

On avoiding microtransactions, we are in complete agreement--though, in every other regard, I kind of came at this from precisely the opposite angle: I hadn't even considered the multiplayer implications of this system. (I am one of the 'ten metres pole' people, though only in the sense that I don't really play multiplayer games generally--with the possible exception of a little Halo every now and then.)

I'd want the patterns to be in-game from the very start, with their acquisition either in-line with how we've always gotten armour bits and cabin decs in Mass Effect - some in shops, some you just find lying around (in fairly obvious places, though, so it doesn't become a massive, tedious open-world collectathon) - or, in my 'pie-in-the-sky' scenario, they'd be something Ryder could learn to paint herself, with her artistry being an actual character trait that is occasionally commented upon by companions. Either that, or one of those companions is the artist, and you gain more artistic armour decorations as you progress through your relationship with them. (All this is at least in-part based on the Mandalorian character pictured in my original post; Sabine paints pretty much everything - even her explosives are extra-colourful - and I just find the idea of roleplaying a warrior who is also explicitly a kinda punk artist rather compelling.)

I'd be fine with them adding more patterns to find/buy/paint as part of the regular story-driven DLC - just as you'd generally get a cool cabin decoration from each one in the original trilogy - at least provided there was a decent selection in the game to start with.

Yup, Sabine was my whole inspiration for this thread! No joke, with the possible exception of Darth Vader, her character design is my favourite in all of Star Wars, and I love that it actually informs her characterisation - she's as much an artist with paint as she is with explosives and blasters - too.







Also, holy shit do I want her hair. For Andromeda, sure, but also just, like, in life generally.

I sort of just came back from playing games that are hell bent on 'working hard' to 'earn stuff', and like that with every piece of many, many, many pieces of junk, and the insane emphasis on cosmetics & grind, so I sort of really like how in ME1-3, they just give you what you want or need without much sweat, blood and tears. I like it that I don't have to go grind the quests and still have a wardrobe and can play around a little with it... just because, you know, I've bought the game... and I like it how it's not over the top.

Exactly! I know some people apparently enjoy it, but I absolutely can't stand grinding repetitive tasks over and over, like hunting/foraging/mining in DA: I. I'd want these armour paintjobs to either be no more difficult to acquire than the armour bits in ME2-3 - so, they're in shops for sane amounts of money, and you occasionally find them sitting around in places you were going to visit anyway - or to be incorporated into the roleplay/companion systems. So, either Ryder paints them herself, with her being an amateur artist an actual character trait that occasionally comes up in conversations, or one of our companions does, so we get access to them as part of our relationship with that character.

Hm, come to think of it, that second option with the companion would actually be a little like how Solas paints that mural in his tower in DA: I.

I think I'd like to be able to go to an "armor artist" NPC in whatever the main base will be and pay credits for a design or two rather than having designs just found in crates etc. Perhaps players could buy tattoos for their PC from the same artist NPC (for wherever skin shows in their casual, off duty dress).

1. Yes, yes they should!

2. I'm pretty sure it only looks like it's glowing 'cause of the lighting--you could definitely - unless my memory's completely off - highlight those bits of the armour in orange if you picked the right pattern, though.

3. Kinda goes to show long it's been since I last played Halo 5--never even seen those before. They're cool! And yeah, I've thought about how cool - and punningly appropriate - a shark nose would look on the Mako, in particular, before--I think I mentioned it in a thread on the old BSN. Anyways, getting to paint the ships and vehicles would be awesome! (Though I do really like the Tempest's stock SR1-esque paintjob.)

4. Yeah, though I think I'd just want the parts integrated into the armour customisation menu this time--and deffo no permanent helmet! And yes! I'd love colour options for all the Omni-Things(TM). To take it a step further, I think it'd be awesome if we could pick the colour of our biotics--if Javik can have green, and Harbinger can have orange, then why can't I have hot pink? 

5. Well, no one really needs to be able to paint--it's something people do 'cause they enjoy it, or 'cause they're good at it. (Ideally both!) Honestly, while I'd still love to have the option for armour art regardless of how the system's actually implemented, I actually got the idea for this thread thinking about how much I'd love to be able to roleplay a Ryder who liked to paint designs on all her gear - and pretty much everything else, regardless of how much a given object/wall/TIE Fighter's owner might object - like Sabine in Star Wars: Rebels. (I get that plenty of people would probably prefer not to roleplay their character like that, so it'd ideally be optional, though then you run into the issue of some people not having access to the armour designs... Eh, like I said, it's all very, 'pie-in-the-sky'.)

I wouldn't want, like, a minigame for it or whatever--it'd be enough just to know that Ryder was doing it in-character. Say, it's something companions mention sometimes, and maybe the way you actually access the armour painting menu is by going up to a corner of Ryder's quarters where she has a partially painted chestpiece, some painting gear, and a bunch of paint splotches all over the floor/walls. Oh, and it'd be a good way to open one of those, 'companion interrupts Shepard in her quarters' scenes they started doing in ME3, too--instead of sitting there at her desk, Ryder's just painting away in the corner.

That's just my - very particular and specific - ideal situation though. I also quite like the idea of having an arty companion who offers to spruce up Ryder's gear once you get to know them. (Or maybe the first time they do it, they don't actually ask permission. That could be a funny little scene.)

The idea of getting a different design from each of your companions as you get to know them sounds cool, but I think it'd feel a little too 'game-y' for me, like the way you went about getting most of the Skyhold customisations in DA: I--they felt more like achievement awards than anything else. It could work, but - to again pull from my 'Ryder as an artist' scenerio - only if, say, the idea was that Ryder came up with a design that represented the companion, or at least her relationship with the companion. I guess this idea could be adapted to work with the arty companion pretty well, too. I dunno, like I said, I'm kinda letting myself be a little unreasonable with these suggestions.

6. Yup! I wanted to make my avatar a little more Starfleet-y, so I was thinking of switching to a cropped version of this fanart:



But I just couldn't bring myself to give up Shepard with her Omni-Shades atop Tengen Toppa Garrus Lagann, so I grabbed the Starfleet insignia from Picard up there and stuck it on. I'm frigging terrible at picture manipulation, but thankfully avatars don't have to be that big, so it just about holds up.

There's a couple of other ideas for how it could work that I'd prefer - the idea of a character like that, but as a companion, for example - but yeah, that actually sounds pretty cool. And I love the idea of expanding it to tattoos, too.

Errr, I think that you're thinking of each country having their own armies. IMO, they don't. Worlds now have armies, hence the alliance.

But why pay credits when you can loot them for free? But if they did have that system, it would probably be like armour where you can either find it or pay for it. And more tattoos would be good since options are good.

Well it seems like about half the time, Bioware agrees with you I was really hoping everyone would have proper protection in ME:A, but alas, that asari...

The cycle continues.

2. Ah, okay. To be honest, I never played around much with customization in ME2 since throughout the trilogy I just kept Shepard's iconic N7 gear/colours. I know ME3's customization because it's the same in MP. I really like that one, though!

3. Ha, yeah, they were added a few months ago. Some of my favourite skins. You know, I'm facepalming at myself for not even making the connection between the Mako and the shark-tooth skin, especially since the armour I posted is Mako armour! Yeah, the default Tempest paint job is good and familiar, I agree.

4. Yeah, that was the downside of the one-piece options: No customization for them. Oh, were their helmets always on? I never actually used any, but I could have sworn there were 2 versions of each - one helmeted, one not. Oh, wait - Maybe that's because I used the Gibbed Save editor to unlock all armour sets and those are technically different ones Biotic colour would be interesting, too, for sure! Either that or they start making different powers have their own colours so not everything is just blue.

5. Well I can't disagree with having more options to add depth to our characters, especially if companions comment on them. Though it might qualify as a minigame, it would be pretty awesome if you could manually paint a design. That's "pie-in-the-sky", though. Preset patterns are likely all we can hope for. That's a good idea, to have Ryder doing something while getting "companion-interrupted". Also, we need a scene multiple scenes where the door beeps, and Ryder says: "Come."

Yeah, it might be a bit game-y, but it does make some sense that as they got to know the character they could make a design around them.

6. Wow, that's awesome!


I can't believe I've never seen that before! And crossovers are great. Saved Personally I like tinkering with images, though I won't say I'm great at it, either. It can be tedious, but it's fun. Speaking of which, have you seen this thread? /Shameless self-promotion

Well, you do have that cool warping Enterprise gif in your signature, so it balances out. On that note, this is beautiful:

As goishen pointed out, that's not really relevant nor how it works anymore in Mass Effect. Not only do nations not have militaries, but many nations have consolidated into larger conglomerates to reflect the massive increase in scale interstellar travel inevitably creates. For example, Canada, the U.S., and Mexico formed the United North American States. Similar things happened with the Chinese People's Federation and European Union.

Another thing to think about is that country of origin in the ME verse is about as important as your city of birth is now. Your celestial body (or starship) of birth has taken its place in relevance. Finally, in addition to some countries not existing anymore, there are many more which don't yet exist, such as countries on other planets, which Ryder or other characters could have been born on. The list would be... astronomical

With all of that in mind, it's incredibly unlikely we'll see any country flags in ME:A.

4. Yeah, you were stuck with the helmets if you didn't use Gibbed. If you had the, 'remove helmets in cutscenes' box ticked, they'd appear helmetless in dialogue - that's probably what the helmetless versions you saw were made for -  but that was it.

5. Oh, I certainly wouldn't mind a design editor--it'd just be a kinda secondary thing to me, as compared to getting to roleplay someone who canonically paints. Going by the leaks, we are gonna be taking in-game photos fairly often - you can supposedly use them to decorate the Tempest's interior - so that could be cool, 'specially if they make it a character trait in addition to just a gameplay system.

And I'll take that order with a side of "Make it so", "Engage"... Maybe a little, "Energize" if they're feeling generous...

Oooh, here's a thought--what if Ryder plays an instrument?



Ryder and Riker aren't a million miles apart, after all...

6. Yes! My favourite Mass Effect 3 ending is the one where Shepard boards mecha-Garrus, smooshes Starchild, and then makes mincemeat of the Reapers, all while this plays in the background:



Honestly never understood why people took issue with that one. 

Oh, and I'd love to give it a look, but I think your link's broken. 

Yeah! I love that warp effect--it's actually pretty much the only piece of visual design from any of the Kelvin Timeline/nuTrek films that I like. (Well, maybe Starbase Yorktown, too.) It's absolutely fantastic--fast, energetic and weird, but also stately and beautiful, like a Federation starship at warp should be. Miles better than the weird hyperspace glowiness from the first two films. (Beyond's also the first of the Kelvin Timeline films that I've come out of the cinema afterwards thinking, 'Hey, I actually enjoyed that!'*, so that was a pleasantly surprising movie-going experience all around.)

Just a couple of extra thoughts:

On the Asari's outfit, I'm hoping that it'll make at least some measure of sense in the context of the scene why she isn't wearing military gear like everyone else, and that, once she joins the squad, she'll be wearing proper armour. I don't actually hate the jacket when it's taken in isolation, even as someone who has a bit of a hair trigger on fanservice-y female character designs - I'd happily have something similar as casual wear for Ryder - but if it's gonna be another ME2 'a breathing mask and hope are all that sustain me' situation for the whole game... Yeah, that'd be a bummer.

And also, yeah, not into the whole flag thing. It'd be weird, tonally, to suddenly have old Earth national flags start mattering after they'd been pretty much ignored for the whole first trilogy, 'specially since Earth itself is 600-years' trip away in another galaxy.

And, well, truth be told, I've been kinda running on empty when it comes to national pride since, oh, June-ish, so... Yeah, nah.

I did understand what you meant... I'm saying I prefer the cosmetic items (like the fish and ship models) to be purchase only... and I would put armor art in a cosmetic category.  I would rather pick up ammo (and I know a lot of people hate that) than be stopping every few feet to open a crate to find different varieties of cosmetic items.

It probably will be possible indeed. Was there a leak about difficulty automatically scaling down when you're soloing? I missed that. I'd rather have consistent difficulty levels and just chose them from the get go, to be honest. And I know many MPers enjoy the challenge. I never managed my novaguard with talon Platinum solo, but I came close enough to feel, well, not accomplished, but at least satisfied. I'm not sure I'd feel the same if the game automaticaly got easier when soloing. Although now that I haven't played in forever, I probably am a complete scrub again. The last time I played I forgot I was supposed to extract.

Ideally I'd want to have decos on the Mako and Tempest too, and if there was a tool to really customize the decos (uploading images or something), I would go so shit crazy on them! Between MP and that, I might forget playing SP altogether