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Battleborn - What We Know So Far

Z

Zukkoyaki

Member
Any game that has split-screen co-op as a prominent feature is instantly on my radar. Plus this game looks like it has some awesome lore and characters. Hopefully they have a beta or an alpha before too long, I would love to get my hands on it to see if the gameplay is as fun as Borderlands.
 
H

HowZatOZ

Banned
I still don't quite understand what Battleborn is exactly. MOBA? Something like SMITE but with just a one-side co-op? All I got from that trailer was a ton of buzzwords reminiscent of Borderlands' trailers but without the humour.
 
S

Sajjaja

Member
Aselith said:
Well it did come from Randy Pitchford so...
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wobQw.gif
 
Dr. Kitty Muffins

Dr. Kitty Muffins

Member
Strangelove77 said:
I love the art style.
And now that I know it has single player, I'm interested again.
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Talking mainly about it as a MOBA has been a mistake. If people assume that is all it is, it won't sell nearly as well. People really need to see more of the single player campaign and it needs to be meaty enough to satisfy.
 
W

wuth

Member
I'm actually excited for this game. I feel like it's filling a pretty unique niche in the console market. More accessible and less grindy (hopefully) than Destiny, no f2p BS (Smite), MOBA style pvp, and quick play co-op.

I've been waiting for a game like this for a while. I hoped it was going to be Evolve, but that was dead on arrival. Maybe this is the one.
 
L

Lord of Ostia

Member
Looks surprisingly good, to be honest I was in the camp of 'this is the most bandwagoning game I've ever seen' but the trailer does make it look fun. Don't get the hate about the art style, it's unique and colorful. A little polygonal maybe, but I enjoy it.
 
M

Menome

Member
Slixshot said:
So what do we think? Next year's evolve? ;_;
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Well, we're six months away from release and there's been no mention of DLC yet, so it's at least avoided the long-term negative publicity trap Evolve fell into.

I do wonder how the DLC is planned for Battleborn. There's potential for story-based expansions alongside new multiplayer maps, but given the MOBA stylings of the game would it forego new maps for an ever-expanding cast of characters instead like LOL and DOTA?
 
M

Menome

Member
Various Battleborn developers did a Q&A section over at ShackNews:

http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=33899360

A few highlights of the session:

Q:Is the PC version going to be upgraded to Unreal Engine 4 or is it Unreal Engine 3 as well with the Borderlands engine?

A:I think very technically, we still call it Unreal 3. But it has whole chunks we have completely modified. There are some parts we brought in from Borderlands, but huge chunks that are newly crafted specifically for Battleborn.
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Q:How have you tinkered with the Helix System over the course of development to get it to where it is now?

A:In a word: simplified.

In-match growth and choice (that kind of "rapid talent tree") was one of the first pillars of the game we wanted to make.

We learned, though, through a LOT of playtesting and iteration that when you're experiencing the game as a match-based FPS, your brain just doesn't have as many cycles for RPG decision making. So, we simplified.

We moved to something very similar to what you see now about a year and a half ago, and in that time we've even dropped the number of in-match levels a few times, originally at 20 down to the 10 we have now. They're better choices now (less simple numerical enhancements, and far more non-comparable tangible choices).
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Q:Being a Shooter MOBA, what sort of target game length are you going for? Is the story going to be Quake 3?

A:The story is pretty ambitious. We're trying to tell how this group of badass heroes who spent years fighting each other came together with only one star left to try and save it from a joint venture of two seemingly unlimited foes. But really, we each ofthe 25 characters have their own background and stories to hear. Some, you'll learn a lot about. Some, you'll be able to dig around and uncover what they're about. I think it's going to feel different than what you've seen before.

Game length - 30 is our typical magic number. Especially in competitive, we find for a FPS if we go beyond that we start to wear down. Of the three Versus modes we have, though, they vary in range from about 10 minutes to a good 25-30 minute average. For Story Missions, they typically run 30-45 minutes, but that time depends a lot on your skill with the game.
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Q:Are you guys concerned about a toxic community developing, as is common with competitive arena games? If so, what are your plans for managing the community?

A:I am, certainly. I played LOL heavily about 3-4 years ago, right at the time Riot was really digging into the problem and trying to find ways to address it.

I think that having single-player Story Missions is a big outlet here. You have a execellent way to play the game and experience the characters without having to get curb-stomped by squeakers. (I'm the father of a an ex-squeaker...I'm sorry!)

We have some of the typical bits .... you can mute chat and voice chat for teammates, and you can't chat with the enemy team during the match (at very least by default). There's a lot more to it than that, of course, and we're planning on supporting the community and the game post-launch to help caretake the community.

I'm as active as time allows on our Gearbox Battleborn forums right now, and I'm working pretty hard to be sure that core community is solid, inviting, and positive. SHOUT OUT GBX FORUM FOLKS!
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Q:Can we expect any witty banter between characters?

A:Assloads. Every character recognizes a lot of other characters for spot/kill lines; we have conversations that invoke player characters in Story Mode, that kind of thing. Our master excel grid of VO is huge, and occasionally crashes Excel because it is /so jam-packed with obscene levels of oscar-worthy writing/.
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M

Menome

Member
Menome said:
Rooster Teeth talk to Battleborn's Creative Director at PAX:

https://youtu.be/rSM4f2XXn4U?t=3h48m19s

Not able to watch at the moment, so if anyone can transcribe the important bits, I'd be most thankful!
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Okay, notes from this one:

-'Stealth assassin' character due to unveiled later on
-Wanted to bring back co-op atmosphere of Borderlands
-Oscar Mike is a comfortable beginner character as a typical gun-wielding marine
-Is 'space fantasy' in setting, mix of cultures like Star Wars/Guardians of The Galaxy
-Tried to design each character as though they could be the main character in their own game
-Typical archetypes present (Attack/support) but attempting to make each character feel unique from each other
-Post-game support for the competitive side of the game
Remember: rsvp.battleborn.com for the beta test
-Want to focus Beta on making sure the networking and multiplayer is polished
-Using colour palette and animations to make characters easy to differentiate from each other
-Art direction: "Somewhere between anime and Pixar"
-Characters still to be revealed, only 11-12 released so far
-Not all characters will be in the Beta
-Beta within the next couple of months
-No cross-platform play at launch, may look at it after balancing sorted
--Said the forbidden word "MOBA"
-Persistent growth confirmed - Character ranks unlock Skins/Taunts/Animations
-Alternate power selections also unlocked with rank
-49 Billion unique lootable-gear combinations
-All characters have to have some form of focused combat-capability due to the single-player campaign
 
M

maouvin

Member
Didn't know about the beta, just signed up.

Not feeling this game yet (and I love Borderlands), but won't say no to trying it.
 
M

Menome

Member
Menome said:
Gearbox Panel at PAX, with details on Battleborn:

http://www.twitch.tv/gearboxsoftware/v/13302696
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Notes from this one:

-For the story: Wanted a high-stakes story, so went for the natural end of the universe with all but one star having gone out
-Still a focus on comedy al la Borderlands
-Find writing with a comedic bent plays to their strengths more
-Tried pitching a sombre ending at first as a story-swerve, but it failed
-Battleborn came from the idea of "How could we have Master Chief in a fight with Gandalf and still have it make sense?"
-Started off with players having identical physics, before branching out
-Melke based on Bioshock's mix of guns and plasmoids
-Approx. 17 hours of voice-overs recorded for characters


-Ambra based on Evil-Lynn from the He-Man universe
-Her ultimate power is a meteor that drops on a large area (most of?) of the battlefield, compares view as similar to the moon crashing in Majora's Mask
-Benedict started out model-wise as Axton from Borderlands 2 with a chicken-head
-Plays with a lot of rocket-jumps, accentuated with wings. Multiple rocket-types for attacks

-Each character in Battleborn has about 4x the skeletal constructs as a character from the Borderlands games

-'Mutations' unlocked as your character grows in ranks including 'Modifications'
-'Modifications' unlock new Helix-choices for the levelling up during a match

-6,375,600 possible team combinations
-7,776 ways to play a character
-Times them together and get 49,576,665,600 character and team combinations

-Helix binary choices focus on one of two different playstyles. Mix and match or focus on one for the match/level
-Allows you to play depending on what's required to sync with the rest of your team
-Level 10 on the Helix is the character's Ultimate ability

-Rath a 'laser sword wielding samurai vampire'
-Tried to emulate a melee-based approach similar to DMC/Bayonetta series but in first person
-Approx. one third of character roster is melee-based
-Counters long-range with a movement/agility-based side of their Helix
-Works best as an in-your-face aggro character
 
Dr. Kitty Muffins

Dr. Kitty Muffins

Member
I just want to see how meaty the single player is first hand in video form. I don't want to think it is a thin layer tacked on to appease us.

edit: 17 hours of voice overs? This might be BIG.

If they can manage to sell me on the single player campaign, I'll preorder. But I'm a bit weary of what "story missions" truly means. It sounds like a tacked on thing.
 
W

whyreggielie

Member
Played this at PAX and it wasn't what I thought it was. Was expecting MOBA style gameplay but instead got a 4 or 5 person co-op mode. The co-op was certainly fun, played the dark mage like character who had high burst damage but was all skillshots. The demo got more challenging as the level went on and encouraged more teamwork, being a squishy character meant I had to start being more careful, also the demo level was quite lengthy and worth the wait in line. Was pleasantly surprised with that mode but I really really wanted to play the PVP, which I imagine is gonna be great.
 
M

Menome

Member
ashecitism said:
Menome, I think you could have spun off a couple of your posts as separate threads.
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Given the somewhat lukewarm reception the game's getting, I figured it was best keeping all the information in one place, rather than a bunch of 4-5 post threads.
 
A

ashecitism

Member
Menome said:
Given the somewhat lukewarm reception the game's getting, I figured it was best keeping all the information in one place, rather than a bunch of 4-5 post threads.
Click to expand...

Made a thread about the videos, no one posted lol. A general info thread could maybe work.
 
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