Sara Mitchell: The “geography” of Mass Effect is an interesting mix of realism and fiction. Increasingly curious about the astronomy within the Mass Effect universe, I contacted BioWare and had my questions answered by the series’ Executive Producer, Casey Hudson. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI) The Carina Nebula, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope Some of the astronomical objects featured in the game are even real ones! I began to suspect that the game’s developers may have had some serious NASA-based inspiration. Compare the fictional “Kite’s Nest” from the game (above) to Hubble’s shot of the Carina Nebula (below).
You can explore nebulae and star systems, collect data about exoplanets… and so much of the imagery looks like something straight from a NASA press release.
While the plot of the games is solidly science fiction, the setting has an impressive level of realism.
The first time I caught a glimpse of the astronomical imagery in the Mass Effect video games, I was blown away by how realistic everything looked. The fictional Kite’s Nest from Mass Effect 3
