Haiku Worklogs 5

Kevin Teich, one of our engineers on Mass Effect PC, is also something of a poet. At least, he is where his daily worklogs are concerned. As the last installment of Kevin’s haiku worklogs for Mass Effect PC, I proudly present The Wisdom Cycle:

Lesson learned: never / hardcode your aspect ratios. / Just resize your art.

Mako floats on air, / leaving no trace behind it. / Nice driving, Shepard.

Peak 15 garage: / brightest place in universe. / Feros: shiny walls.

Squished subtitle text! / Faces with mismatched textures! / Make it all pretty.

Subtitles stand tall. / Shepard's words are poetry; / But not haiku.

Forgot my Worklog / but I fixed Saren cutscenes / and lost at foos ball.

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Mass Effect PC = Fun

Today's the day that Mass Effect for PC is available on store shelves.

Review have started to appear, and they've been very positive. If it weren't for all the hard work we put in, and the fact that we think the game is indeed this good, we might blush from all this praise.

GameDaily says nice things, then caps the review with:

The game that was already exceptional on the Xbox 360 is even better on the PC, so it's really a no brainer.

CVG gives exhorts you to shell out a few dollars:

If you've never played the game before, then this is an unequivocal must-buy. If you have, and the money's knocking about - then you still might be interested in playing the definitive Mass Effect.

IGN gives us a warm fuzzy feeling with:

This is easily one of the best RPGs on the platform in recent years, delivering a terrific new universe, a fun blend of action and role-playing, and a deeply satisfying story.

VideoGamer says:

This is a port, but it's more than a port. BioWare, with a little help from a friend, has made one of the best RPGs ever made even better.

And there's nothing else I could add to that.

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Haiku Worklogs 4

On the Mass Effect PC team, we cared – deeply – for the game’s characters. But we also cared for those other elements of the game that made it as great as it is. Kevin Teich expressed some of this in his haiku worklogs. This is The Graphics Cycle:

Animation trees / sap my day. By the true fiend / is the camera.

Behave, mouse cursor; / come out of your hiding spot / (only when you should).

Good morning! Revert! / Conversation wheel denied! / Handle it with art.

Mass Relays are pretty cool / except not so much when they / need a new light bulb.

Conversation wheel. / Nobody say anything; / shut up, stop leaking.

Virmire, cursed beach! / Land of flickering korgan, / missing Shepard heads.

Salarian guys: / in ur beach, fixin' ur heads. / Sorry @ ur mans.

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Haiku Worklogs 3

People on the Mass Effect PC team developed a healthy affection for the characters in the game. Kevin Teich appeared to have the strongest feelings about Ashley and Wrex – at least judging by how much he wrote about them in his haiku worklogs. Here is his Character Cycle:

Decon beam is fixed / most crew are happy and clean / but Wrex still smells bad.

Barrier crust fixed; / Liara much happier. / But I like Ashely.

Signs in Normandy / sharp like Wrex's face ridges. / Never get lost, now.

Drop ship runs smoothly. / Taking Ashley for a ride; / feet on the dashboard.

Mako leaves behind / snow melting on the mountain. / Wrex grunts happily.

Floating killer husks: / indestructible, rag dolled. / Go get 'em, Ashley.

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Haiku Worklogs 2

Another choice selection of Kevin Teich’s haiku worklogs for Mass Effect PC. These all refer to some internal process, like bug identification numbers, internal build numbers, or other process arcana. What’s a good name for these? Perhaps The Process Cycle:

1950, done. / Hi, 7950. / Just you and me now.

''950 triage / terrain lighting all messed up / WETGRAVEL, no love.

Animation bugs; / built 8596. / Now the fun begins.

Little boxes in / the tracer material; / they mock me. So rude.

Rebuilding levels, / crashing the editor like / Mako spraying snow.

Missing light map data. / Re-saving corrupts terrain. / No way to win. Life.

Wrong terrain textures. / Can't fix CachedMaterials. / Must be the cooker.

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Haiku Worklogs 1

A little insight into our development process: every day, everyone at Demiurge writes a short worklog – a report on what they did that day. Kevin Teich, one of our engineers here, wrote many of his Mass Effect PC logs in haiku. I hope you enjoy this insight into the development process, and get as much of a kick from these as we did. Here’s a selection of worklog haikus I think of as The Therum Cycle:

Therum's cooked terrain / remains corrupt. However, / Eden's fires relit.

Shepard's shadowed face / like Raphael painted it / Therum still too bright

Worse than New Jersey: / Therum, Liara's prison, / and mine. We suffer.

Therum terrain bug. / All I did was work on the / Therum terrain bug.

A day on Therum / is like heaven, except for / the misdrawn lava.

Lo, Therum is saved. / Now Shepard's head is missing. / Bernie fixed my bugs!

Night falls on Therum / darkness where there was once light / WTF, Therum.

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Mass Effect PC goes gold!

Mass Effect for the PC has gone gold! The discs are being manufactured as we speak!

Below is the Demiurge team, with our task board displaying another important color for us: the green of victory, the green of a job well done.


Full release after the jump.

Mass Effect For The PC Readies For Launch

BioWare announced today that the award-winning action role-playing game (RPG) Mass Effect for PC, published by Electronic Arts, has gone into manufacturing. Mass Effect will be available in North America on May 28, 2008 and June 6, 2008 to European retailers.

Gamers can still take advantage of pre-order specials¹ and should check with their preferred retailer for information. Alternatively, gamers who pre-order Mass Effect through the Electronic Arts online store at www.eastore.ea.com will receive bonus items² from the game Dead Space™, the highly anticipated sci-fi survival horror game by EA, including the first issue of the Dead Space comic book and a Dead Space poster while supplies last.

Fully optimized for the PC through a collaboration between BioWare and Demiurge Studios, Mass Effect includes a new Tactical Heads-Up Display, higher resolution visuals, an enhanced inventory system, fully optimized controls designed specifically for the PC, individual squad control and a new decryption mini-game. The "Bring Down the Sky" downloadable content for Mass Effect on PC, featuring 90 minutes of new gameplay, will also be available free³ for registered BioWare Community members at the launch of Mass Effect PC.

Originally released for the Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system, Mass Effect has received critical acclaim throughout the world with more than 80 awards including 2007 Console Game of the Year and Role-Playing Game of the Year (http://masseffect.bioware.com/previewsawards/).

Mass Effect is rated "M" for Mature by the ESRB. For more information about Mass Effect, please visit www.masseffect.com.

¹ Value of discount will be deducted from product list price. Valid for new orders of "Mass Effect" for PC of equal or greater value only. Discount is valid only on purchases from participating retailers. This offer is not valid at the EA STORE at www.eastore.ea.com. This offer expires on May 27, 2008, and cannot be combined with any other offer, Gift Card, rebate or other discount coupons. Valid only in U.S. Limit one offer per person. Subject to availability. Customers are responsible for shipping, handling and applicable sales tax. Offer may not be substituted, exchanged, sold or redeemed for cash or other goods or services. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law.

² Offer expires May 27,2008. Good only for new purchases of "Mass Effect" for PC. Valid only at the EA STORE at www.eastore.ea.com. Limit one offer per person. Offer may not be substituted, exchanged, sold or redeemed for cash or other goods or services. Valid only in U.S. May not be combined with any other offer, gift card, rebate or discount coupon. Product subject to availability. Retailers, distributors and employees of Electronic Arts Inc. and their agencies/affiliates are not eligible. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law.

³ Requires Mass Effect for the PC.

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Shacknews likes Mass Effect PC

Don't just take our word that Mass Effect for PC is good. Listen to Shacknews:

It's been so long since I've invoked any hostility in defending PC-centric control schemes over console counterparts—I guess Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare changed me, or made me soft, or something.

But with Mass Effect's somewhat limited Xbox 360 control configuration transitioned to its reworked form on the PC, I'm on the cusp of becoming an elitist jerk again.

Rest of article at the Shacknews site. Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

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More delicious Mass Effect PC News

Excited to see Mass Effect for the PC hit the shelves soon? I know we are!

To whet your appetite even more, you can see a perfectly lovely gameplay video, talked through by our friends at BioWare, over at GameSpot, and a Q&A with Demiurge's very own Al Reed at play™.

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