Recently, two forum-goers were selected to travel to Gearbox and get some hands-on time with Borderlands. They're back, and have been answering the community's questions from the moment the NDA was lifted.
This thread is a compilation of the information they've gathered about the game from their experience and from talking with devs.
This is the thread that is to be used for asking them further questions that haven't been addressed here:
http://gbxforums.gearboxsoftware.com...ad.php?t=72747
Some questions aren't posted here because they did not have a definite answer. If I missed anything important from the above thread, please PM me and I'll fix it. If they reveal any other new stuff we haven't heard already, I'll update this thread. Here we go!
Characters and Abilities
Can I name my character?
Yes, you’ll be able to name your character.
Can I customize my character’s appearance?
You’ll be able to choose the color of three main sections on your character. This can be done at New-U stations.
How do the Skill Trees work?
We actually hit a goldmine of info here.
Starting at Level 5, you will get a point to put into your skills. If you do the math, that means that by the time you reach the level cap of 50, you will have accumulated 46 total points. Your first point must go into a basic starting ability, which will then unlock the Skill Tree for your character. iLXeNk made this super nice chart to demonstrate this:
Quote:
---- Starting Power ----
Tree 1 - Tree 2 - Tree 3
A - B -- A - B -- A - B
C - D -- C - D -- C - D
E - F -- E - F -- E - F
- G ------ G ------ G -
5 Points in a combination of A/B for each individual tree lets you get to C/D
5 Points in a combination of C/D for each individual tree lets you get to E/F
5 Points in a combination of E/F for each individual tree lets you get to G of that tree
G = Super Power
You can put 5 points in to G
To max out a tree you would have to use 5x7 = 35 with 45 total skills you could completely max out 1 tree and have 10 points. To reach G takes 5x3 / 15. You could take 3 skills or combinations there-of from each tree by the time you're 50 and never once use any of the "Super Powers"
Points start when you hit level 5 (so cap is 50 you get 46 skill points although you HAVE to spend 1 on the starting power so you get 45)
Pretty straightforward. Once you spend that one point on the great big Starting Power, you have a choice of A or B in Trees 1, 2, and 3. Once the amount of points between A and B is five, C and D get unlocked. And so on, until you reach G, which is a very strong ability. As you can see, with only 45 points to use in the trees, this will provide a lot of freedom in how you choose to upgrade your character.
Any word on the starting ability for each character?
Most likely: Mordecai: Bird, Lilith: Phase Walk, Brick: Berserk, and Roland: Turret.
Can I go back and add points into previous skills if I don’t like the way I progressed?
Yes, for a fee at a New-U station or shop, you can pay money to re-spec your character.
Do useable abilities like Roland’s turret and Lilith’s phase walk have cooldown timers?Yes, you must wait for them to recharge before they can be used again.
Are there many passive abilities, or do the Tree abilities tend to be more active than passive?
Abilities acquired from the Skill Trees tended to be more passive, giving lifetime bonuses or “perks”.
As Roland, did you have to do anything other than shoot your allies with standard ammunition to heal them (assuming he had the “healing bullets” ability)?
Nope, GrayHood said he just had to turn his gunfire from the enemies onto his allies and they reaped the benefits. Although they obviously hadn’t read up on “healing bullets” and thought that he was trying to team-kill them. He also mentioned using a rocket launcher for area-of-effect healing. That’ll cure what ails you.
Loot/Inventory
Is there going to be system that helps distribute loot, or is it free-for-all?
Right now, it’s free-for-all, with people able to take loot when they’re within reach.
Any awesome new stuff I should know about?
Well, they found a yellow-colored drop that surprised just about everyone present. It was some sort of godly sniper rifle. Pretty neat. There was also some kind of sticky grenade and one that sucked away enemies’ shields. Other than that, nope, just expect to be surprised by some of the stuff you’ll find.
What’s the news on Armor?
No one found any armor during their playtime, so it’s very possible that there isn’t any. Shields should effectively fill that role.
Did you many chests like the ones seen in screenshots and gameplay videos?
Were there any other containers or objects in which you guys found loot?
Not many chests were found. But they found many containers with money and the occasional grenade inside.
Additionally, chests will be different colors depending on how valuable their contents will be.
How does the inventory system work? Is it easy to use?
The system is pretty easy to use. You just select stuff from a kind of list of some format; not too many specific details on that.
Can I access the storage deck (inventory) anywhere, or do you have to be in a specific place, like New-U station?
You’ll be able to bring up your inventory wherever and whenever you need it.
How much stuff can I hold at one time in the storage decks?
They couldn’t hold a lot of stuff, but they didn’t have any upgrades that expanded their inventory space. It’s likely you’ll be able to hold much more when you find these upgrades.
Gameplay
What happens when I die?
There are places called “New-U” stations that act as checkpoints, autosaving your game when you pass them. If you die, you go back to the last New-U station that you passed. The stations also have a few other uses as well. From what we’ve heard, the stations are plentiful.
Is there a “tether” that keeps me within a certain distance of the other players, or can I go anywhere I want?
The areas they played in were not too open, so we still don’t know for sure. But, he said that within the areas they played in, you could go pretty much anywhere.
Could you pause the game during co-op?
No. Neither player was the host of their game, so it’s unclear whether the host has this option; but when they brought up the pause menu, the game kept playing regardless. Apparently GrayHood died while using the inventory. Good times!
Were large/boss fights frustrating?
According to iLXeNk, no. While challenging, they were by no means frustrating or anger-inducing. He said knowing that the penalty of death wasn’t very serious was one factor that contributed to this.
Any achievements you guys can remember off the top of your heads, just in case playing an unreleased game and generally enjoying yourselves wasn’t enough to keep you occupied?
Yeah, the super-exclusive achievement where they’re selected to go to Gearbox and play Borderlands for a few hours. 500 Points. Bet you’re sour about that one!
Vehicles
Sorry guys, there wasn’t a whole ton of news in this department. Seems they were strictly on foot during their brief stay on Pandora.
Combat
When dueling, does a dome actually fall down around the players? When it’s finished, do I get any health back that I lost?
Yes, a physical dome of some kind will appear around the players, keeping them inside. If you lost health during the duel, you’ll need to recover it afterward because it will not be restored to you.
Any way to get health back during a fight?
Well, in addition to the things Roland can do to heal his teammates, there are health kits and health vials. Kits can be used from the menu/inventory, and Vials are just picked up and automatically used in the field.
The World
Was there a map of the world or surrounding area?
They didn’t look at a world map, but they did check out a smaller map of the surrounding area, so smaller area maps will be available for sure. The area map was fairly large, and could be moved around to look at different parts.
Were there waypoints or markers on the map?
Yes, there were quest markers.
Any interesting NPCs?
According to GrayHood, the couple NPCs he spoke to were pretty interesting and had some character. Always a plus.
Weapons
Any new developments regarding weapons?
Well, grenades can be customized with Grenade Mods, so instead of having to keep track of picking up twenty different kinds of grenades, you can just swap out different Mods to achieve different grenade effects.
Tell me all about bullet mechanics. Are they hitscan, meaning they strike the target the instant I pull the trigger (as in most games), or do the bullets actually take the time to travel and hit their targets, like in some weird games no one likes? (Juuust kidding…)
Well, this wasn’t established for sure. Apparently they were focusing more on staying alive and not timing the flight time of the bullets they were squeezing off frantically into other guys’ faces. Fancy that! But at this point, it would be safer, for simplicity’s sake, to assume that the bullets are going to be hitscan. Plus, GrayHood felt like it was probably hitscan.
When you were looking down the sights of a gun, or looking through the scope, did you notice that your aim swayed? If so, how much? Additionally, did your look sensitivity slow down when zoomed in?
There is a slight gun sway. And yes, the look sensitivity was decreased.
What about melee weapons?
There will be no pure melee weapons in the game. Each character has a melee attack that they perform unique to them. If a particular weapon has a melee attachment, like a bayonet or blade, then that will be used as the melee attack.
How extensive was gun customization?
In their time with the game, they were not able to customize their weapons. Either they didn’t get to a point where they could, or this just is not a feature.
Were you satisfied with the sounds, animations, and overall feeling of the guns?
Yes.
Enemies
Did you fight any badasses? Were they difficult?
Yes, some badass enemies were fought. They were significantly more difficult than standard enemies.
How did Nine Toes (a boss enemy) compare to the Badass enemies in terms of difficulty?
That boss was harder than the previous Badass enemies. It’s likely that bosses will be much harder than the Badasses that are around their “level”.
How is the enemy AI?
The AI seeks cover, communicates, and attempts to point out the locations of the characters, if they can see them. Overall good impression of the AI. Methods of AI aggro remain to be tested.
Technical
Did you notice any lag or loss of framerate when things got intense?
No, even during heavy firefights and other stressful situations the game played smoothly.
Special thanks to iLXeNk and GrayHood, who did all the "field research".
iLXeNk made a list of useful information back in that thread, which I'll put here. Check it out.
Quote:
Movement:
Movement was good. Didn't feel clumsy or anything.
Sprinting was infinite from what I could see.
You could reload while Sprinting.
Jumping felt like Halo almost but toned down some.
Crouch is a toggle (don't know if it can be changed... I wouldn't unless it was on PC) and yes you can Crouch Jump... I had to at one point to get out of Nine Toes area.... don't ask me to explain because I won't.
Shooting:
Felt like Counter-Strike/Halo mix. Some weapons felt more like CS and some more like Halo (I use those names as they're most easily recognizable).
Any weapon while zoomed in slowed the look speed down to 1/2 or possibly 1/3 look speed.
It was easy to see stuff while you were zoomed in. Did not notice any multi-zoom weapons (not saying there aren't any just that I did not see any). The weapons that did have scopes felt like it was 1.8x the distance. Not to zoomed but enough to make those headshots easier.
Iron sites were easy to use except for one of the pistols I had... definitely not good if you want to pistol snipe via iron sites LOL
Melee:
There are no outright melee weapons that players can use. You will see some human(oid) enemies using melee weapons however. No you can not get those weapons from them.
Weapons can have blades on them and if they do you will then use that weapons blade to melee with instead of your default.
Lilith's default melee is a palm thrust.
Roland's is the combat knife slash.
Mordecai's is the sword.
Brick's I didn't see. Probably his fist.
If you melee while reloading you will cancel your reload.
Enemies I saw
Spitter Skag: Spit this green goo bubble that was totally cheating because a few times I dodged and it course corrected to hit me while it was in mid-air.
Fyrestone area:
Badass Skag
Skag Pup
Skag whelp
Bandit
Nine Toes
Skag
Bloated Skag
Co-Op area:
Badass Spiderant (Green)
Badass Spiderant (Blue)
Gyro Spiderant
Badass Bandit w/ baby arm action
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