What a positively stupid thing for them to have said.
It’s so plainly obvious to me I’m not certain how to explain it. They’re both at heart space exploration games that involve contact with alien races and uncovering ancient secrets. The fact that Star Control puts its combat behind a 2D space travel mechanic and Mass Effect’s is a third person party based system is window dressing - it’s the filler between more interesting things going on.
To call it a remake is overstating the case, but I see where they’re coming from.
Hmm. Okay. I guess if it works for you, that’s cool. My mind boggles over it though. I don’t think I’ve ever thought of Mass Effect as a direct product of Star Control.
Scratching an itch is one thing, but to claim it’s a remake of the game changing a few placenames and such? That’s a huge insult to the ME devs. And “many people are aware”? No, they aren’t, because it’s absolute bullshit.
All right, how about this then: I don’t think we would have Mass Effect without having had Starflight and Star Control.
Wrong hill. Seriously.
I strongly doubt it was intended seriously, but I guess we have devs on hand to correct me if I’m wrong.
It’s hard for me to even agree to that beyond the general sense of these much older games had space in them and made money, therefore they demonstrated that space RPGs can be viable business. I can easier say Mass Effect wouldn’t have existed without Gears of War and Star Wars.
Both games clearly draw heavily on the genre of Space Opera in the Star Trek/Star Wars/David Brin/Iain M Banks/(a load of other movies, shows, and books) from a theme perspective.
The shared aspects between the two of them are absolutely not fundamentally unique or new in Star Control II.
Nah, with gears you’re just talking mechanics again. Mass Effect likely still would exist, just probably would have worked more like KOTOR or Baldur’s Gate. It’s not what the game is about.
And I mean Mass Effect is as much Star Trek as Star Wars, if you want to go there.
That’s where our disconnect is then. I fundamentally disagree that you can discount mechanics when talking about a game experience. Mass Effect without third-person shooting is a completely different game. It’s still an RPG, but the way I’d relate to the game would not be the same.
Sure, you’ve got your good thing and I’ve got mine. I’ve pretty much already said I’ll be playing this game in spite of its combat system, the whole arcadey thing the SC games have does not appeal to me. But it’s not the main draw for me either so I can deal.
There are clear design similarities in the planetary exploration between Mass Effect I and Starflight. Really hard to claim direct inspiration without access to the concept development documents, and obviously other media had a bigger influence in the game, but I would not be surprised if a designer claimed direct conceptual and mechanical influence.
I remember being struck by the similarities at the time I played ME I.
I’ve never played Mass Effect 1 myself but I’ve seen lots of people refer to it as such. A quick googling:
It should be noted that the article isn’t trying to claim that Mass Effect is a remake of Star Control but rather that people have said it was. Having not played ME1 I am not in a position to say either way.
As the author of the article, I certainly wasn’t trying to offend anyone. And given that I wasn’t involved in either Star Control 2 OR Mass Effect I have no thunder to steal. ;) Sorry if I ruffled any feathers.
Huh, I think I read somewhere that SC2 was a source of inspiration for the ME designers (which is quite obvious), but I can’t find it now.
I don’t know if you’re open to an edit, but I think this part “(with enough changes to keep the copyright and trademark gods happy)” really implied to me as a reader that you were making a strong statement on it.
Your first link is a forum post by one person asking the question and basically everyone just disagreeing.
Don’t think anyone would deny that ME drew inspiration from its predecessors. That’s not the issue.
I meant that I thought I’d read them state it, but I can’t find it now. Claiming that it is a remake is so silly I can’t take it seriously.
Saw a big uptick in posts and thought there was interesting news, instead all I got was this nerd umbrage t-shirt!
Much disappoint.