Mass Effect Andromeda concept art shows early gameplay ideas
Settlement types, Remnant power-ups and squadmate changes.
Another gallery of Mass Effect Andromeda concept art has revealed yet more of the game's early ideas.
This latest batch of imagery comes from Eric Bellefeuille, who worked at BioWare Montreal as a Lead UI Artist. Now at Eidos Montreal, Bellefeuille has posted some of his BioWare work to a portfolio on Artstation.
Andromeda had a mammoth five-year development - it is no surprise things changed a lot behind the scenes. This is a great look at some of those details which were tweaked.
Early ideas included a section of gameplay-enhancing bonuses gained from scanning Remnant glyphs, such as a way of spawning friendly Remnant bots or turrets to attack enemies. Other bonuses would have included more health points and damage:
The final version of Andromeda included a friendly Remnant VI bot you could summon, although this was simply a part of your tech skill tree - just as extra health and damage buffs are, too.
This image shows a rundown of settlements placed in the game, many of which already have their final names: Prodromos, Ditaeon, Taerve Uni. There is no settlement in the final game named "Texas":
The icons next to each settle suggest a focus for the settlement - military, scientific, and an icon which suggests an ambassadorial focus. The final version of Andromeda allows you to choose a focus for your first settlement, on Eos, but this option is not present for any other.
This image of the squad screen shows all six squadmates present in the final game (meaning it dates from after the time the seventh, a salarian, was cut). Cora is listed as an asari but is clearly human. She also has a more traditional haircut:
Liam is represented by an in-development photo of... Donald Glover? Vetra is shown with an earlier version of her name: "Vale Nyx".
Early ideas for SAM, your annoyingly-chatty AI buddy, initially showed him as a glowing intelligence in a cylindrical fish tank:
A space for this tank still exists in your Tempest cabin, although SAM's final design simply sits on your desk, his appearance akin to EDI's Mass Effect 2 look.
Finally, there's another look at Andromeda's scrapped navigation idea for your omni-tool. Nothing like this exists in the final game - which ultimately relies on a traditional map screen:
Another recent gallery of Mass Effect Andromeda concept art previously showed early, abandoned designs for the kett and angara races.
Or, for discussion on where Andromeda's many plotlines could go next, read our Mass Effect Andromeda ending analysis.