The work that players will be undertaking with Lin Joyce’s characters in Gearbox Software’s upcoming New Tales From the Borderlands is “like a type of 4D chess,” as described by Gearbox’s lead writer.
That means they’ll be acting out the roles of three different characters, responding to situations as they see fit for each of those characters. The player will make decisions as one member of the main three, and then be responsible for how that character responds to the consequences of those choices.
Those responses are neutral in and of themselves; according to Joyce, the only places where a player might really fail are in the game’s quick-time sequences, when they can be punished for making the incorrect choice. Players may choose to follow their instincts and go in a certain direction with their story, or they can attempt to piece together a multi-character connection based on the things they’ve done and said in the past, all while reading body language and facial emotions through complete performance capture.
Joyce added, “So, what I would imagine I would do as Anu,” one of the new heroes, “could be authentic to Anu, but it might make Octavio furious. Then I’m Octavio, too.”
In contrast to his selfless sibling, Octavio is a cynic with a lot of street cred. Now the question is, “As Octavio, how do I plan to react to these developments?” “Joyce” stated. There’s a lot going on, and a lot of it depends on you. Is the group being fostered in any way by you? So, once again, a great deal of 4D chess is being played. That said, the player does not get to choose when they swap characters. Depending on the game, it may be handled on a moment-to-moment basis (rather than from one chapter to the next).
It’s official! New Tales from the Borderlands has GONE GOLD. See y’all on 10/21!
👉https://t.co/BsJr6zjlvX pic.twitter.com/2nE5wRgeWG
— Borderlands (@Borderlands) October 7, 2022
New Tales From The Borderlands
The release of Tales From the Borderlands: New Adventures comes amid what might be a watershed year for the series as a whole. The shooter series created by Gearbox Software has already seen an adaptation in the form of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, which was released at the end of March to widespread acclaim and has been so successful that Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has told investors (of parent company Embracer Group) that the studio “clearly” considers it a “new franchise unto itself.”
One may think that New Tales From the Borderlands’ narrative-driven architecture and open-ended storytelling give it the potential to be more than a spinoff. When Telltale Games shut down in 2018, Gearbox acquired the Tales From the Borderlands intellectual property along with the right to use the Borderlands setting and characters.
Joyce joined Gearbox in 2020 as its lead writer, and she has a Ph.D. in interactive narrative systems in addition to degrees in English. She said that Gearbox’s goal was to expand on what made Tales from the Borderlands so popular, while simultaneously making the game more accessible by removing some of the restrictions imposed by the previous engine. Never forget that the tale was the primary objective.
As per the order, “Hey, we have this IP now; can we do anything about it?” “Joyce” stated. My team and I are simply trying to figure out how we can improve upon the original Telltale game by making it into something like a 2.0 release. Unreal Engine 4 was used to create New Tales From the Borderlands instead of a more traditional point-and-click interface.
Because of performance capture, Joyce was able to include more subtlety and less exposition in his writing. Gone were the textual callouts from Tales From the Borderlands that warned players they’d spoken something an NPC was likely to remember.
Philosophy-wise, we discussed questions such as, “Even though they are the same tools, how are we utilizing them differently?” “Joyce” stated. In other words, the tale may theoretically go on after every QTE and not all of them are “hard fails.” It’s a soft fail. No, nobody has ever seen something like it before. We also provide you options in situations when you may not want to take the next step. At times, doing nothing is the best course of action.
Other interactive elements will be added to New Tales From the Borderlands to enhance the gameplay experience and ensure that players aren’t just getting a talkfest or scavenger hunt for some detail on the screen, two areas in which the Telltale games, despite their widespread acclaim, frequently fell short.
The chief gameplay designer for New Tales, Pierre-Luc Foisy, has said that each of the three main characters—Anu, Octavio, and Fran—would have a unique tool that will help bring out their individuality. Anu has a pair of Tech Glasses, while Fran uses a “gadget-packed hover chair.” Octavio has a wristwatch, and so do many others.
According to Foisy, it’ll work in tandem with the script and performance to let players know whether they’ve made the proper decision or one that would make things more difficult for them. For the sake of establishing that, “OK, here, if I execute this QTE — it doesn’t seem in character,” the performance will be less robotic and more emotionally nuanced. Foisy said, “It just doesn’t seem like the best option.”
The fact that New Tales From the Borderlands isn’t taking place on a post-apocalyptic, resource-exploited planet or on the exploiting spaceships in orbit will help set it apart from the main series. In the year 2019’s Borderlands 3, the armaments manufacturer Maliwan conquered the planet Promethea.
According to Joyce, the setting of Promethea for New Tales was decided upon early in the narrative development process, and the choice to use three playable characters was made to provide players with a more comprehensive and nuanced image of the environment.
“Although they have the same aim, their motivations and personalities are quite different,” Joyce remarked. Because of this, we were able to experiment more with their group dynamic; the relationships within a group are crucial to the progression of the plot.
The new Tales from the Borderlands game is out on October 21 for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox One X.
Final Words
This article concludes all the information regarding the New Tales From The Borderlands Cast Nicknamed “4-Dimensional Chessboard”. For more latest information stay tuned with us here at Gameempress.com.