Borderlands

[Mrbloodworth]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-borderlands/49924

[Velorath]

Just got announced for an October release.  That makes October potentially an expensive month for me as I'm keeping an eye on this, Alpha Protocol, and Dragon Age.

[schild]

Thank holy jesus, I want this game with that passion of 700 prom queens.

[gryeyes]

And its even available for PC. 

[Brogarn]

And its even available for PC. 

 

[Dion]

After reading the preview on Destructoid I couldn't be more excited, here is the link by the way.

The thing about Borderlands which stuck out most in my mind was the loot and experience system. Never before have I seen a shooter which so closely resembled Diablo II. As Jim points out, players who team up in groups face more difficult enemies but are rewarded with more valuable gear and granted greater experience points.

[Yegolev]

My doctor said I wasn't supposed to get any Destructoid in my eye.

[Dion]

My doctor said I wasn't supposed to get any Destructoid in my eye.

They are pretty hilarious in my opinion.

[FatuousTwat]

Have they explained why they decided to switch over to cellshading? I thought it looked fine before.

[schild]

Have they explained why they decided to switch over to cellshading? I thought it looked fine before.

Because it's awesomer? It was fine before, but totally plain-jane.

[FatuousTwat]

Meh, I'm not really a fan. To each their own, I guess.

Hopefully there is an option to turn it off.

[Murgos]

Hopefully there is an option to turn it off.

 

[Mrbloodworth]

This IS the game where not only the stats, but the geometry of the items also are generated....yes? Could have sworn I read about it in GDM a few years ago.

[AutomaticZen]

This IS the game where not only the stats, but the geometry of the items also are generated....yes? Could have sworn I read about it in GDM a few years ago.

Yeah.  Last I read (last issue of PC Gamer I believe), they built it so that different stats and damage types corresponded to specific geometry, so you can just look at a weapon and tell that it's a laser-sighted shotgun that shoots explosive rounds. 

Found it.  Since it was last month's PC Gamer, they have the article up in full PDF form online now.

http://pcgamer.com/pdfs/Borderlands0609.pdf

Arguably the best thing about RPG gameplay is tons and tons of awesome loot, and Bor-derlands ports that concept over to the fi rst-person shooter by giving you enough loot to last a lifetime. Gearbox currently estimates that the game will support between 500,000 and 600,000 unique weapons—pared down from the 17 million that could be created using combinations of the gun components in the database. Each weapon you fi nd or buy in the game is virtually guaranteed to be unique, like a snowfl ake that can blow your face off.

With so many weapons in play, you need to be able to spot what you’re looking for without reading stats all day (though you can do that too, using a handy pop-up interface that compares the gun you’re looking at with the one in your hand and lets you easily see if it’s an upgrade or a downgrade). If a gun has a longer barrel or a scope attached, you can tell it’s going to be accurate at long range; a gun with a bigger stock will have less recoil; a larger magazine that extends below the grip indicates a gun that needs to be reloaded less frequently, and a side-mounted magazine takes a little longer to reload; and a blade fi xed to the bar-rel is a pretty good hint that the gun would make an excellent melee weapon.

Finally, the color of any glowing bits on the gun will tell you if it does fire, shock, explosive, or acid damage. And of course, rare weapons will be highlighted in green or purple to make sure you spot them.Adding to the visual variety and distinctiveness, there are 12 different equipment manufacturers with their own design style and specialties. Jacobs, for example, makes extremely high-quality pistols, sniper rifl es, and shotguns, decorating them using a material that’s rare on Pandora: wood. Other manufacturers have a more high-tech look and use materials like plastic and composites.

[Murgos]

This IS the game where not only the stats, but the geometry of the items also are generated....yes? Could have sworn I read about it in GDM a few years ago.

I think I read that it's a component system for the geometry of the weapons.

Anyway, this game has totally piqued my interest since E3.  Diablo, as a post-apocalyptic FPS?  Why, I didn't even know I wanted that, thanks!

[Hawkbit]

 Diablo, as a post-apocalyptic FPS?  Why, I didn't even know I wanted that, thanks!

Here you go!   

[Mrbloodworth]

Hate to say it, but that wasn't a FPS, it was "FPS-like".

[Ghambit]

The gamer's mind in a nutshell:

You're thinking, "That bandit has a badass shotgun. I want that. I'm going to get him and take it from him." You're thinking, "Oh man - that assault rifle that's for sale in that vending machine is awesome! It's got an incendiary tech effect, too! I'm going to go do some missions and earn some more credits so I can buy that thing!" You're thinking, "Let's see what's in this locker… Okay, a repeater, mine's better, but that one has a huge magazine... I guess I'll just take it and if I don't want it I'll just sell it later. But whoa!!! There's also a double thunder shotgun in there with a freaking scope on it! A scope! Yeah, I'll take that!"

[FatuousTwat]

Hopefully there is an option to turn it off.

 

Uh, why is this retarded? There is a game coming out pretty soon that does have the option to turn off the outlines.

[Murgos]

Uh, why is this retarded? There is a game coming out pretty soon that does have the option to turn off the outlines.

Turning off outlines is one thing.

Shipping with an entire second set of textures and models?  Not likely.

[FatuousTwat]

I didn't mean shipping with an entire second set of textures and models, I meant I hope there is an option to turn off the outlines so it looks a little less cartoony.

[Mrbloodworth]

Turning off outlines is one thing.

Shipping with an entire second set of textures and models?  Not likely.

What? why would they need extra textures?

[Murgos]

Turning off outlines is one thing.

Shipping with an entire second set of textures and models?  Not likely.

What? why would they need extra textures?

I'm confused by this question.

You are aware that a texture is colors and effects tied to the 'skin' of the object that is wrapped around the mesh model, yes?  That the textures used now are optimized for the cell-shaded lighting style that they are using?  Also, that they (the makers of Borderlands) have said, repeatedly, that they went and redid all the textures by hand and exaggerated the proportions of the models to give them a 'more cartoonish art style' look and feel?

So, it stands to reason that if you want the original art style you are going to need an entire second set of models and textures.

[Mrbloodworth]

Considering I'm a 3d artiest, yeah. I know how it works.  Just not sure why you said they would need new textures. From what i had seen, they are "realistic" and its the outline and lighting that give it the "cel" look. Usually is.

[Murgos]

They threw out the realisticvisual style and invented a new one. They call it Concept Style, a “realized three-dimensional concept-art look” that’s so close to the concept drawings posted around Gearbox’s Plano, Texas, offi ces that some screenshots can easily be mistaken for an artist’s paintings at first glance.

The new technique uses handdrawn textures, scanned in and colored in Photoshop, combined with software that draws graphic novel-style outlines around characters and objects, sharpens shadows to look more like something an artist might create, and even draws lines on terrain like hills and inclines when viewed at certain angles and distances. Finally, the character models were all revamped with more
exaggerated proportions, creating the appearance of a detailed comic book in motion.

http://www.pcgamer.com/pdfs/Borderlands0609.pdf

[Brogarn]

They threw out the realisticvisual style and invented a new one. They call it Concept Style, a “realized three-dimensional concept-art look” that’s so close to the concept drawings posted around Gearbox’s Plano, Texas, offi ces that some screenshots can easily be mistaken for an artist’s paintings at first glance.

The new technique uses handdrawn textures, scanned in and colored in Photoshop, combined with software that draws graphic novel-style outlines around characters and objects, sharpens shadows to look more like something an artist might create, and even draws lines on terrain like hills and inclines when viewed at certain angles and distances. Finally, the character models were all revamped with more
exaggerated proportions, creating the appearance of a detailed comic book in motion.

http://www.pcgamer.com/pdfs/Borderlands0609.pdf

That looks pretty fucking badass.

[HaemishM]

See, I've actually been turned off by the Borderlands art style. Something about it just does nothing for me. And a Diablo-looty-shooty FPS style game makes me even less interested.

[Venkman]

I'll take the looty-FPS game but will be looking to tone down the graphics any chance I get. First out is the hard black edges. It's nice to be unique, but I turn those off the moment I find it in the settings or ini file. Just something about quasi cell-shading and 3D worlds that just don't work for me.

[Margalis]

I'd be a lot more interested in this if it wasn't first person. I don't really see the point in dramatically changing how your character model looks when you never see it.

[schild]

I'd be a lot more interested in this if it wasn't first person. I don't really see the point in dramatically changing how your character model looks when you never see it.

They dramatically changed the whole game.

Also, this thing looks freaking awesome. What did you all want? Brown on Brown with a layer of Brownish-Green and maybe some Light Brown? Get outta here with that crap.

[FatuousTwat]

What makes bright colours so much better?

[Lantyssa]

Much like the series of avatars posting here, it would make them stand out more.

[Venkman]

What makes bright colours so much better?

The way they say it, they did it because of what Lantyssa said: stands out more. I imagine they consider their choice to be analogous to Valve's style change for TF2, which itself stands out as a result.

It's a logical position. If they tried to go "real" they'd be up against whatever else was "real" at the time. And come later this year, that will be Modern Warfare 2 (which at least one analyst thinks will be the best selling title of 2009). I wouldn't want to go up against them either.

Yea yea, different theme/game/motivation/etc. But it is exactly what FPS gamers want, and will likely work out of the box while Borderlands is what FPS gamers could want and may work someday.

Don't know the timing for Borderlands though.

[Margalis]

I would worry that the FPS market hasn't shown much interest in anything other than "realistic" pure brown shooters. I thought the WW2 craze would die off 5 years ago and it's still going strong.

[schild]

Don't know the timing for Borderlands though.

Borderlands, as the prez of Gearbox has said, is a crapshoot.

It could very well be Diablo 2 huge. Or it could be pure crap. Word of mouth is going to save this one and honestly, it's the first time in a long while I think a game actually NEEDS an open beta with limited content - assuming they can pull it off. This thing is going to need tons and tons of fan-hype. God of War/Katamari Damacy levels of fan-hype.