Tag Archives: Borderlands 2

Train2Game News: Gearbox Software’s Randy Pitchford presenting developer session at Rezzed

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Gearbox Software founder and CEO Randy Pitchford will be presenting a developer session at Rezzed, during which he’ll demonstrate Borderlands 2 and take questions from the PC and indie gaming show audience.

Borderlands 2 is one of a number of playable titles at the Brighton expo, which takes place on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th of July. Pitchford’s developer session is on the Friday and gives any Train2Game students in attendance to ask the games industry veteran questions about the industry.

Gearbox Software titles include Half-Life: Opposing Force, Borderlands, Brothers In Arms, Duke Nukem Forever and the upcoming Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Tickets for Rezzed are available on the official website, and it’s looking to be an interesting event for Train2Game students to attend, with a variety of developer sessions including those from Introversion Software, The Creative Assembly and Splash Damage CEO Paul Wedgwood 

We’ll be sure to keep you up to date with the latest news as the show approaches.

What would you ask Randy Pitchford at the developer session?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game student insight behind the scenes of Borderland 2’s art direction

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Train2Game forum users, at least a significant number of them loved Borderlands. Train2Game Art & Animation students enjoyed its cell shaded art style in particular.

Now, with sequel confirmed last month, Borderlands 2 Art Director Jeramy Cooke has been discussing… art direction with Gamasutra. In particular, he’s keen to point out that Borderlands 2 will not only be a lot more colourful, but how the art style will be an integral part of the game.

“I wanted it to have a richer, larger world” said Cooke. “I felt like we were stuck in the desert a lot, and it got monotonous. It felt like you were seeing the same enemies too often. I mean, that’s my personal experience. And we really wanted to just widen that and give you this sense of a huge space, which is why you can see the other maps from the maps you’re in.

The Borderlands 2 Art Director then described how if the player could see something in the distance, they should be able to travel across the map and see it up close.

“You look over there, and you see this dam off in the distance, and you know “Oh, that’s where I was,” and vice-versa when you’re on top of the dam and you look down into zone 1 and see all of the ice spread out. It’s about that sort of large-scale, large-scope experience” Cooke said.

It’s a view echoed by Far Cry 3 Narrative Director Jason Vandenberghe in last month’s interview with the Train2Game blog.

“Borderlands is not a rail shooter, it’s not a corridor shooter” the Borderlands 2 Art Director continued.

“We want you to explore and have fun and go where you want and do what you want. The world’s job is to be enticing, to convince you to go out there and find cool stuff, to dig around in the corner and find cool loot or a miniboss you didn’t know who was there or whatever.”

So Train2Game, how important do you believe art style can be in making a game fun to play? What are your thoughts on Borderlands 2? Can it improve on the original?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Gamasutra]