Borderlands

[entrerix]

Just got home from buying it, installing now. Assuming I like Borderlands, between it & Torchlight, I'm all set for the winter. :D

 

 

two enormously fun time sinks? yeah you should be gold for the time being!

[LadyCrimson]

I don't see the big deal about the graphics. Once you start playing, it really isn't that bizarre. Not that I've gotten very far, mind you...but the cut-scene bits at the start are the most cartoonish...gameplay isn't that funky. To me it's just as if it all has sort of chalk/charcoal filter over color tones and certain lines, I don't know what you'd call the effect.

 

The purplish-blue night colors are pretty.

 

 

Like the gameplay so far, even if it does reinforce how truly awful I am at 1st-person shooting, haha.

 

My only quibbles so far are the save system - I don't mind not being able to save 'whenever' but it doesn't always seem to save my questing progress accurately...and the other is rate of monster respawn - respawn is fast enough that it's a bit annoying when you're playing alone. Just minor things tho.

[LadyCrimson]

So do any of you know if the little green robot in the 1st tutorial town is just scenery for explorers or eventually does something? If you jump on garbage can on one side of the gun/ammo shop and then up on the roof, you'll see him waving hello at you in the rocks. A friend who's lvl 42 says no quest he knows of, so my guess is scenery. If so, charming part of the game to reward explorers w/little sights like that.

 

Edited October 31, 2009 by LadyCrimson

[Jaesun]

So do any of you know if the little green robot in the 1st tutorial town is just scenery for explorers or eventually does something? If you jump on garbage can on one side of the gun/ammo shop and then up on the roof, you'll see him waving hello at you in the rocks. A friend who's lvl 42 says no quest he knows of, so my guess is scenery. If so, charming part of the game to reward explorers w/little sights like that.

 

It was placed there by a dev as a joke. You CANNOT (without cheating) get to it.

[LadyCrimson]

I'd assume even if you got to him, that he doesn't do anything, so no point. Still, a great little dev. quirk or whatever. I like it. :D

[LadyCrimson]

Deconsolify your PC version.

A friend posted that elsewhere, and I'm just getting around to checking it out. Most of the 'console like' UI that seems to bug a lot of people doesn't bother me at all...but what I was eager to try was the 3rd person viewpoint.

It takes some getting used to for the aiming but after that it's just fine. For me, the game has suddenly become a lot more appealing. I don't know why, but I really can't stand the 1st person, more-restricted-than-in-real-life game PoV. Going to tweak with it some more...

 

The single-player gameplay, for any loners/non-FPS experts like me who might be wondering if they'd like it, is just fine. It may shine the brightest in social-giggles MP (I haven't tried it, don't plan to) but it's still a very fun single-player game. Skill trees are boringly simplistic but if you like item-grubbing/hunting + fast action + humor, this game has it...and it all works fine in SP. Had a nice firefight that was a challenge & got some great loot...for when I'm 6 levels higher. Now I have to carry it around w/me in my limited backpack.

 

 

 

Edit: (typos, I'm tired, plus...) At 1st it did feel a lot more like a shooter than RPG/Diabloish, to me. But now what it reminds me most of is Tombraider games...that is, in terms of the singleplayer gameplay pacing/action and such. Except w/out puzzles/tombs, and w/gazillions of items.

Edited November 1, 2009 by LadyCrimson

[Matthew Rorie]

Yeah, I really enjoy the SP as well; I'm actually going through for a second play-through, which is a lot more challenging as a solo player. Most of the online games I've joined have been lag-fests, unfortunately, but playing it solo has been well worth it.

 

I like shooting things.

[LadyCrimson]

I like shooting things.

I guess I must too.

 

The main quest bosses are pretty tough as a Hunter & for non-expert FPS players, tho. After dying repeatedly w/no weapon taking more than a sliver of health off him, I had to use a very cheap tactic to take out Roid Rage dude and I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with the next one. Maybe if I level up to where the quest is grey...everything else has been a very nice, consistent solo challenge but not "impossible."

[Matthew Rorie]

I like shooting things.

I guess I must too.

 

The main quest bosses are pretty tough as a Hunter & for non-expert FPS players, tho. After dying repeatedly w/no weapon taking more than a sliver of health off him, I had to use a very cheap tactic to take out Roid Rage dude and I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with the next one. Maybe if I level up to where the quest is grey...everything else has been a very nice, consistent solo challenge but not "impossible."

 

Typically, I do every quest that I get and leave anything that seems like it might be a "boss" one for last, and the bosses have generally been pretty easy. But yeah, I can see how it'd be difficult for a sniper character (that's what Hunters are, right?). I highly recommend a good SMG or full-automatic machinegun as a side weapon, or some kind of caustic shotgun for armored enemies like Sledge.

 

I wound up playing as a Soldier, and I avoided any skills that boosted any particular weapons, just because I like to try anything interesting that pops up. Seems to be working well so far. I'll try one of the other classes when I hit 50, I guess.

 

Also, there's an INI file you can edit to give yourself as many inventory slots as you want. I forget which file it is, but it should be an easy google. I upped my backpack to 100 slots and enjoy the game a lot more now. Just pick up everything I see and sell anything that's green or white without looking at it. I'm almost at the cash max now (it's pretty rare that I find anything I actually want to buy now).

[LadyCrimson]

Yes, Hunter's are snipers...I use mostly sniper rifles, the combat rifles, and pistols. Can use all the others, but even the rocket launcher didn't help me too much against Roid. But I am admittedly terrible at dodging/strafing.

I haven't been using the bird skill too much because of the long recharge...next time I'll try running in circles and just using it all the time, maybe. heh

 

Also, there's an INI file you can edit to give yourself as many inventory slots as you want.

Seriously? Awesome, I love you. Thanks for the info.

*goes off to Google for it*

[LadyCrimson]

Thought I should mention that apparently tweaking the backpack setting in the ini can cause problems in multiplayer in that if the host has his ini set to a high number, everyone else who joins will get the same. Also, that once changed, any chr. you load w/the changed ini will be stuck at the high inventory number...and you can't downgrade the slots again even if you change ini. Have you found this to be true at all, Matthew?

 

From someone on another forum:

"I think how it works is... you change the setting, load/make a new character, get the change to occur on him, then change the setting back before you load/make any more characters. I think that will allow you to have a single character with a broken backpack without messing with anyone elses."

 

If you like to MP, perhaps to be super safe should edit ini, create/load new chr. you'll only use in SP, leave game and change the ini file back to default.

Edited November 3, 2009 by LadyCrimson

[entrerix]

i use a hunter character too and I didnt have any problem with sledge. I early on noted how much damage the bird does, so I boosted the tree that let me decrease its cooldown time so now I can throw the bird out every 18 seconds or so, its a murder machine. I also avoid raising any skills which only affect 1 weapon (except the melee buff skill, that melee attack does crazy damage now) so i can use a sniper rifle with whatever else i have thats good as my backups. for sledge i just used my assualt rifle, my bird, and a crapton of transfusion grenades to keep my life up. then it was just a matter of staying mobile and running all around the level so he couldnt get within bashing distance. not an easy fight, but doable when you're of sufficient (= or better) level.

 

skagzilla on the other hand..... good god that fight was a war of ammunition. he was easy enough to dodge, but i fired more bullets at that thing than i could have thought possible. the fight was probably ten minutes long. i didnt have a caustic weapon though, which probably would have helped against it. the worst thing about skagzilla was my bird did 0 damage to it for some reason.

[Matthew Rorie]

Thought I should mention that apparently tweaking the backpack setting in the ini can cause problems in multiplayer in that if the host has his ini set to a high number, everyone else who joins will get the same. Also, that once changed, any chr. you load w/the changed ini will be stuck at the high inventory number...and you can't downgrade the slots again even if you change ini. Have you found this to be true at all, Matthew?

 

From someone on another forum:

"I think how it works is... you change the setting, load/make a new character, get the change to occur on him, then change the setting back before you load/make any more characters. I think that will allow you to have a single character with a broken backpack without messing with anyone elses."

 

If you like to MP, perhaps to be super safe should edit ini, create/load new chr. you'll only use in SP, leave game and change the ini file back to default.

 

Yeah, that's been known for a while. I'm not planning on hosting any MP stuff for a while, so I figure it's not a big deal at a moment. I figure I'll wait until it's patched up a bit before I do that.

[Floodland]

Wow, am I the only person that went with Brick? Man's an absolute powerhouse, punching stuff to death has never been more fun! The bosses were absurdly easy for some reason, even with the fairly lacklustre AI.

[entrerix]

my next playthrough will be with brick, he looks like fun to me

 

i think i'll end up playing through with each of the characters. though i dont really like the soldier so far (im on level 24 with him and just dont like his skill list very much)

[LadyCrimson]

1-I'm not a huge melee in-your-face type of combat fan so didn't consider Brick as my first. The lady (Phase?) seems kind of blah...I was going to try the soldier next, but looking at his skills, yea, a little too generic. I do like his regen ammo thing and his turret skill. But w/all the gunplay, since it feels like Brick has the most radically different playstyle option, I may end up trying him sooner than I thought.

 

2-One's ability to FPS dodge/strafe/aim under intense time/action pressure (figure it out in 5 seconds/be able to get aimed criticals while moving or you're dead) is probably a huge part of boss difficulty. I've seen tons of posts from people who are like me and it's not easy for us no matter what, heh. Roid killed me in 2-3 hits or bomb tosses (w/a 238 healing shield) and even a sniper critical barely dented him (I was lvl 17). Non-boss combat situations my targeting/critical ratio isn't too bad & I very very rarely die, but boss fights leave little room for error imo, so...that's all I can say on that.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Oh damn I need this game bad.

[mkreku]

Me too.

[LadyCrimson]

Been trying the other chrs, doing enough to reach lvl 12 or so for each. Much faster a 2nd time. Brick's beserker is funny...and if you put him in 3rd person at the default FOV his huge back blocks your view, lol

 

Beyond Brick tho, every chr. I make ends up using sniper rifles quite extensively. I'm too attached to them I guess. Certain shotguns & others are great for close up, but TK gave my Lilith a purple sniper for one of his quests and it has a zoom on it that's so long I can sometimes plunk baddies from a distance where they'll grunt, curse, and swivel around in place but not chase me down. It's bad AI hilarious. Now why couldn't my Hunter have found a sniper like that...

[alanschu]

If anyone is interested in picking up this game, PM me.

 

I picked up the 4 pack with some friends and have one copy remaining.

[entrerix]

1-I'm not a huge melee in-your-face type of combat fan so didn't consider Brick as my first. The lady (Phase?) seems kind of blah...I was going to try the soldier next, but looking at his skills, yea, a little too generic. I do like his regen ammo thing and his turret skill. But w/all the gunplay, since it feels like Brick has the most radically different playstyle option, I may end up trying him sooner than I thought.

 

2-One's ability to FPS dodge/strafe/aim under intense time/action pressure (figure it out in 5 seconds/be able to get aimed criticals while moving or you're dead) is probably a huge part of boss difficulty. I've seen tons of posts from people who are like me and it's not easy for us no matter what, heh. Roid killed me in 2-3 hits or bomb tosses (w/a 238 healing shield) and even a sniper critical barely dented him (I was lvl 17). Non-boss combat situations my targeting/critical ratio isn't too bad & I very very rarely die, but boss fights leave little room for error imo, so...that's all I can say on that.

 

 

i can see where a lack of fps training can get you down, criticals are a big part of my game and not being able to land them regularly would make it a lot harder. One nice thing about this game is that you can just grind out some levels and then re-try the quest when its a lot easier - unlike a normal fps where you cant do anything to make your quest easier.

[alanschu]

If anyone is interested in picking up this game, PM me.

 

I picked up the 4 pack with some friends and have one copy remaining.

 

 

This is on steam by the way

[LadyCrimson]

i can see where a lack of fps training can get you down, criticals are a big part of my game and not being able to land them regularly would make it a lot harder. One nice thing about this game is that you can just grind out some levels and then re-try the quest when its a lot easier - unlike a normal fps where you cant do anything to make your quest easier.

Yup, that's a big reason I can love it, despite the fact combat is FPS feeling etc.

 

Altho, I'm beginning to think the programmers allowed for not-so-skilled solo players. I did the guy at the end of the Sledge/Arid chain (in the small room) and after two failed tries (I did get semi-close the 2nd time but...) I found another very cheap method to succeed, where no one could touch me. I'm having a hard time believing all these cheap ways are accidental oversights.

[Oner]

unlike a normal fps where you cant do anything to make your quest easier.

Personally I like getting better at a game than the character outgrowing the challenge. Unless we're talking I want to be the guy hard.

[LadyCrimson]

unlike a normal fps where you cant do anything to make your quest easier.

Personally I like getting better at a game than the character outgrowing the challenge. Unless we're talking I want to be the guy hard.

Borderlands lets people like me become more skilled/better, tho, w/out having to become so frustrated we toss the game in the garbage first before we reach that point.