Info from the Play (UK) and GamesMaster magazine

Play (UK), out since january 26th, spoke with Mac Walters and Fabrice Condominas.

– The Need for Speed team helped with the Nomand, but they also got help from the PGA Tour (you know, golf) team with 'environments and the quality of the vegetation of the grass'.

– DICE (the company that created Frostbite, the game's engine) helped too, they pitched in with the AI (since the AI in Battlefield is used to sandbox design).

– Frostbite was designed for FPS, which helps to make combat more spectacular than in the trilogy.

– Even the FIFA team helped! ME:A is using animation systems from the football game. 'It really goes both ways.'

– The FIFA expertise came in handy because for the first time ever BioWare did 'full perfomance capture'. So they captured the movement of multiple actors at the same time. And since people can change gender and party member, they had to re-record those scenes over and over in different combinations.

– Mac Walters thinks the character design is great, thanks to Frostbite. 'The realism level in them is phenomenal and we're going to continue to work on that and polish that in the coming days.'

– No VR add-on is currently planned for Mass Effect: Andromeda

– BioWare noticed the complaints about facial animations and lip-syncing, this is their main focus for all the time that's left until launch.

– Mac Walters says they've learned from Inquisitions' open world and many of the same developers from that game work on Andromeda's open worlds. 'I think they had some good lessons that were learned after it was shipped about how to do an open world properly. They got some fan reaction and we’ve taken that into account.'

– BioWare is hoping to make its side missions and stories feel more connected to the main narrative while also offering a satisfying, self-contained experience: 'Each of those planets has its own big choice that you have to make on.'

– 'We’ve really looked at other games that have that have been more successful [with regard to storytelling], like The Witcher III lately, as far as quest density and how much the quests are intertwined to the critical story. That’s something that we’re pushing much harder on this game.'

– While there’s some intensity to the main narrative thread of Andromeda, there is not any apparent time pressure on your quest, so wandering around the galaxy doesn't feel strange.

– For every species that is in the game, you will see both male and female characters (unlike in most of the original games).

– Why did some split off from the Initiative? Walters: 'I will give you a hint, if you’ve been following some of the news about the recent novels that have come out then you’ll notice that the very first one is called Nexus Uprising. There’s a little clue there.'

– Mac Walters might have a major role in the development of the Mass Effect movie. Unknown if it will tie in with the Shepard trilogy or the new setting in Andromeda.

– You can create settlements. 'Find a suitable planet and on that planet a good spot and you can create your own little communities scattered through the systems.' There is a limit, because there is a limit of people on the Hyperion.

– Walters on pre-released character creation system: 'I think it’s something that we would consider, but at this point we don’t have a plan to do that and if that changes we’ll talk about it in the future. We know that our fans want it, but right now we’re focused on everything that we can do for the game itself.'

GamesMaster, a hysterically designed magazine I didn't know existed, also has Mass Effect: Andromeda on the cover this month. They also spoke with Fabrice Condominas and Mac Walters.

– The playable area is four times bigger than Mass Effect 3's.

– No procedural generation, the planets are handcrafted into detail.

– Condominas: 'The nature of cover changed the minute we introduced the jump ability. Now enemies can spawn behind, or on the side, making it way closer to Mass Effect 3 multiplayer. Fighting is faster and less methodical.'

– Walters: 'We're not a corridor shooter any more.'

– Most cover you see is destructible.

– You're not a single class. Instead, your class shifts and mutates alongside your playstyle. Progressions earns a pool of points you're free to invest in any skill you choose, and by doing so you'll unlock profiles. These are the equivalent of classes, but what's different this time around is that you can switch between them from mission to mission.

– You can't fly the Tempest manually. But navigation is more exciting because you'll see the location the ship is through the big window of the bridge.

– No load screens on the Tempest.

– 'You will be able to add stuff, decorate stuff, put a bit of personality in [the Tempest].' (Condominas).

– You can do the loyalty missions after the main story if you want.

– There are four respones in the dialogue wheel: heart, head, professional and casual.

– Andromeda Initiative leaves in 2185.