<\/div>If you’re like me and you enjoy asking “What do they eat?<\/a>” then this is probably the kind of game that will scratch your itch. No, the “food” question isn’t terribly important in a far-future spacefaring society like this one where food problems are basically solvedAlthough Eden Prime is identified as a farming planet and they actually do address ideas like food production and supply lines in the first game.<\/span>. But the designer did answer a lot of similar questions about how this world works: Where does energy come from? How does government work? What are the different cultures like and how are they shaped by the environments that nurtured them? Given how obnoxiously big space is, how do people get around?<\/i><\/p>\n These kinds of questions are why I love sci-fi. Yes, I enjoy a good laser battle or lightsaber duel as much as the next nerd, and I do have room in my heart for the science-fantasy worlds like Star Wars, where it’s all about the characters and not so much about the fussy details. But hard sci-fi stories<\/a> like Mass EffectNo, Mass Effect isn’t remotely<\/b> “hard” sci-fi when compared to (say) books. But when compared to most action videogames? This setting is practically made of diamond.<\/span> really scratch my itch. The details of the setting make them uniquely suitable for asking hypotheticals about what society would really be like in a exotic world of life-changing technology. It gives the world a texture and authenticity that I can’t get anywhere else. <\/p>\n People like to contrast Star Trek and Star Wars as examples of “Science Fiction” versus “Science Fantasy”. But this can be confusing because both properties are fiction and you get into annoying arguments about how fantastical your fiction is. I mean, don’t “fiction” and “fantasy” mean kind of the same thing?<\/p>\n I prefer to think of these two genres as “Details First” versus “Drama First”. While “fiction” and “fantasy” are synonyms, Details and Drama are often opposed over the short term, because nothing sucks the drama out of a scene like having someone stop and explain to the audience why that gizmo that worked so well last time can’t help us this time. Conversely, nothing will torment a “Details First” nerd like hand-waving the established rules of the world because some character happens to be believing in themselves a little harder than usualThe Force is probably the clearest example of a “Drama First” element. It’s a nebulous thing, driven entirely by character development and dramatic tension. Force powers get stronger as the plot reaches a crescendo, because it’s driven by the vaguarities of emotions, wisdom, purity, love, hate, or whatever. It’s a mechanical story element that runs on drama<\/b>.<\/span>. Sooner or later a writer is going to run into a situation where they need to favor one over the other, which will make it clear which things are most important to this particular universe and its author. <\/p>\n An example of how the two differ:<\/p>\n In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back<\/i>, C3P0 gets blasted into pieces by a group of stormtroopers. His friends find the pieces in the trash and put him back together. In doing so they learn about the stormtrooper ambush.<\/p>\nDetails versus Drama<\/h3>\n
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