So I heard some complaints about MAE not having the same mood or ambiance feeling you got from the first games with lackluster areas. And I think at least the first part is easy to correct, if you make your music setting in Audio about 10% to 15% higher than any everything else. Which, with the current way things are set up, requires you to lower them all by that 10% to 15% and raise your volume. Definitely increased my immersion and feelings when you enter the vaults for the first time.

Hmm, to me the greatest difference between then and now is that then the OST told the story, and now it doesn't. This difference cannot be fixed with volume alone, sadly. There's also the matter that most of the planets has not a really rich ecosystem, which makes it even more noticeable the lack of ambiance or music on the background. Back then, you would not remain on places for to long to notice much of anything rather than the actual story, the OST playing along with it and the sound effects of shooting, dialogue and some ambiance. But MEA requires you to wander longer in certain environments, so there's a different feel about it, which requires a different solution for immersion. Or so I think.

Hello everyone! As for, I`ve enjoyed Voeld soundtrack much. Cool ambient track, was really snowy and chilly. Vaults music is good one as well, mysterious and moody. Cheers, Archi

The issue I have with music/sound/banter/announcements... Well is that I can hardly hear the music it's too soft, I dont feel like turning down the volume for the other parts in order to make the music louder for fear that I would lose the good banter parts. The random encounters with people or animals attacking you, those damn announcements from SAM about temperature and sometimes when nearing a quest site Ryder makes some kind of an announcement... It's really disruptive, interrupting banter especially when they dont repeat. Can remember during my first playthrough Drack was asking PeeBee her age and I was really interested in that(as in another forum there was a discussion on that and speculation on her age vs liara's) when she wanted to say her line, SAM interrupted me and you cant image how pissed off I was... It was only on my 2nd or 3rd platthrough that I got the exact same banter again and this time I stopped the nomad and let it finish before I continue on my merry way...

I see your point there @VladVonCastein Happened to me on quite a few occasions. Some really fun Peebee/Cora interactions were rudely interrupted. Patch 1.06 removed those regular SAM notifications. So this should not be such an issue anymore. Cheers, Archi

I think the "lack of background music" is actually a bug, that it isn't starting correctly.. some games, the music is always there, in others it just never seems to play at all. Every patch makes it either worse or better. Then worse again.As for immersion.. I think that's really down to individuals, if you lack imagination, you won't get immersed. I have no issues with running around in the game or driving around all the time, in fact, it's only when I start getting tired after maybe 10-12 hours of play that I even use the teleport system via map.The Sam reminders have never bothered me, I just acknowledge them, sometimes even saying "thankyou sam" to the screen as he reminds me for the millioninth occasion that I can mine somewhere.. really those prompts should be changed, so when you enter a mineable area for the first time.. you get the notification and then never play thereafter.But the conversation exchanges between passengers in the nomad or in the field during quiet moments, much of which is regarding your current plot situation are really immersive and when the music does play, it really does transport you into the world of mass effect.I think it's sad that so many people are saying things like the game sucks, there's no story, no background.. when it simply isn't true, everything is there, you just need to wait for it or look for it. Fact of life that people will hate a game, just because they're hateful people. And that others will just lie, because they're liars.People and editors etc have made a meal of ME:A out of fairly minor details, giving an unfair judgement on the game overall. There's certainly issues in the game both in physical gameplay and in the mechanics, but overall, ME:A is an amazing and excellent game. One which has me replaying it over and over, revisiting old areas, that sometimes feel like it's been years since I was last there, when in fact it was only a day or so before.Although I do have issues with some lacking aspects of the games mechanics, I still give Mass Effect : Andromeda 11/10. It will always be, one of my favourite games of all time, just like ME 1 & 2. 3 not so much.

Ambiance and mood | EA Forums

14 Replies

Anonymous
9 years ago
Hmm, to me the greatest difference between then and now is that then the OST told the story, and now it doesn't. This difference cannot be fixed with volume alone, sadly. There's also the matter that most of the planets has not a really rich ecosystem, which makes it even more noticeable the lack of ambiance or music on the background. Back then, you would not remain on places for to long to notice much of anything rather than the actual story, the OST playing along with it and the sound effects of shooting, dialogue and some ambiance. But MEA requires you to wander longer in certain environments, so there's a different feel about it, which requires a different solution for immersion. Or so I think.
arthurh3535
9 years ago
Did you actually try making the music level relatively higher than SFX, Dialog and such?
Anonymous
9 years ago
Back when I was playing yes, tweaked a lot here and there, using and not using headsets, even playing supportive white sounds with it. Why?
arthurh3535
9 years ago
@PandaTar wrote:
Back when I was playing yes, tweaked a lot here and there, using and not using headsets, even playing supportive white sounds with it. Why?
Lowering all the other volume levels except music is a bit counter-intuitive and it made a great deal of difference. Entering the Vault on Eos and the escape of the purge becomes much more gripping.
EA_Archi
EA Staff (Retired)
9 years ago
Hello everyone!

As for, I`ve enjoyed Voeld soundtrack much. Cool ambient track, was really snowy and chilly. Vaults music is good one as well, mysterious and moody.

Cheers,

Archi
VladVonCastein
9 years ago
The issue I have with music/sound/banter/announcements... Well is that I can hardly hear the music it's too soft, I dont feel like turning down the volume for the other parts in order to make the music louder for fear that I would lose the good banter parts. The random encounters with people or animals attacking you, those damn announcements from SAM about temperature and sometimes when nearing a quest site Ryder makes some kind of an announcement... It's really disruptive, interrupting banter especially when they dont repeat. Can remember during my first playthrough Drack was asking PeeBee her age and I was really interested in that(as in another forum there was a discussion on that and speculation on her age vs liara's) when she wanted to say her line, SAM interrupted me and you cant image how pissed off I was... It was only on my 2nd or 3rd platthrough that I got the exact same banter again and this time I stopped the nomad and let it finish before I continue on my merry way...
arthurh3535
9 years ago
Unless you are playing at max volume on your computer/TV, you should be able to lower SFX, Voice, etc and leave your main and music at max in the game, then turn up the volume on your speakers/OS or on your TV.
EA_Archi
EA Staff (Retired)
9 years ago
I see your point there @VladVonCastein Happened to me on quite a few occasions. Some really fun Peebee/Cora interactions were rudely interrupted. Patch 1.06 removed those regular SAM notifications. So this should not be such an issue anymore.

Cheers,

Archi
VladVonCastein
9 years ago
@EA_Archi wrote:
I see your point there @VladVonCastein Happened to me on quite a few occasions. Some really fun Peebee/Cora interactions were rudely interrupted. Patch 1.06 removed those regular SAM notifications. So this should not be such an issue anymore.
Cheers,
Archi
I just had a playthrough after 1.07 was out, SAM's email notifications are reduced at the start, however towards the end it came back. As for travelling in the nomad, SAM still goes on about the temperature.
Anonymous
9 years ago
I think the "lack of background music" is actually a bug, that it isn't starting correctly.. some games, the music is always there, in others it just never seems to play at all.   Every patch makes it either worse or better. Then worse again.
As for immersion.. I think that's really down to individuals, if you lack imagination, you won't get immersed.    I have no issues with running around in the game or driving around all the time, in fact, it's only when I start getting tired after maybe 10-12 hours of play that I even use the teleport system via map.
The Sam reminders have never bothered me, I just acknowledge them, sometimes even saying "thankyou sam" to the screen as he reminds me for the millioninth occasion that I can mine somewhere.. really those prompts should be changed, so when you enter a mineable area for the first time.. you get the notification and then never play thereafter.
But the conversation exchanges between passengers in the nomad or in the field during quiet moments, much of which is regarding your current plot situation are really immersive and when the music does play, it really does transport you into the world of mass effect.
I think it's sad that so many people are saying things like the game sucks, there's no story, no background.. when it simply isn't true, everything is there, you just need to wait for it or look for it.   Fact of life that people will hate a game, just because they're hateful people. And that others will just lie, because they're liars.
People and editors etc have made a meal of ME:A out of fairly minor details, giving an unfair judgement on the game overall.   There's certainly issues in the game both in physical gameplay and in the mechanics, but overall, ME:A is an amazing and excellent game. One which has me replaying it over and over, revisiting old areas, that sometimes feel like it's been years since I was last there, when in fact it was only a day or so before.
Although I do have issues with some lacking aspects of the games mechanics, I still give Mass Effect : Andromeda 11/10. It will always be, one of my favourite games of all time, just like ME 1 & 2. 3 not so much.