Borderlands - Playing for First Time...

[exar333]

Not sure how I missed this game in 2009, but absolutely enjoying Borderlands (1) in my initial play-through. As odd as it sounds, I decided to give it a try after reading some information on Telltale's upcoming 'Tales from the Borderlands' title. The read-up intrigued me to take a second look at Borderlands and give it a try based on the world and so forth. The originality and uniqueness looked appealing to me.

Some notes and observations:
-Game looks pretty good with a solid resolution and max AA-enabled
-Runs buttery-smooth and the art style is growing on me
-ABSOLUTELY MUST change the FOV (not sure how people play this game with the default 'tunnel vision' setting) Thank goodness for the internet on instructions how to adjust this!
-The game lends itself to hardcore or casual play-style. I like that.

I am about 5 hours in and really enjoying it. This was a good test for my new Ultrawide QHD setup, and I am LOVING IT! The peripheral vision is amazing, and the game is a treat to play.

Looking forward to finishing the game and running through BL2 before TellTale's game comes out in October-ish.

 

[imaheadcase]

Don't expect the new one to be anything like BL2 or BL1. Its a different type of game from what i've read.

Never played the first one, skipped to 2nd one and it took a bit to get used to the graphic style but it was a great game.

 

[futurefields]

Not sure how I missed this game in 2009, but absolutely enjoying Borderlands (1) in my initial play-through. As odd as it sounds, I decided to give it a try after reading some information on Telltale's upcoming 'Tales from the Borderlands' title. The read-up intrigued me to take a second look at Borderlands and give it a try based on the world and so forth. The originality and uniqueness looked appealing to me.

Some notes and observations:
-Game looks pretty good with a solid resolution and max AA-enabled
-Runs buttery-smooth and the art style is growing on me
-ABSOLUTELY MUST change the FOV (not sure how people play this game with the default 'tunnel vision' setting) Thank goodness for the internet on instructions how to adjust this!
-The game lends itself to hardcore or casual play-style. I like that.

I am about 5 hours in and really enjoying it. This was a good test for my new Ultrawide QHD setup, and I am LOVING IT! The peripheral vision is amazing, and the game is a treat to play.

Looking forward to finishing the game and running through BL2 before TellTale's game comes out in October-ish.

Did you find in-game AA or are you injecting it?

I just inject some FXAA with RadeonPro, MSAA wouldbe better though.

 

[slightlyhuman]

Were you already into games like this?

I'm a hardcore FPS(quake, etc) player but my friend gifted BL1/2 to me and has been hounding me to play. I do like coop FPS game but don't have much exp in them. I love mindless shooting(killing floor genre) and L4D genre, will this foot the bill?

 

[futurefields]

Yes_ its just like L4d or KF except you level up and constantly find better guns (atleast in BL1 this is the case ive heard BL2 is grindier)

 

[exar333]

Don't expect the new one to be anything like BL2 or BL1. Its a different type of game from what i've read.

Never played the first one, skipped to 2nd one and it took a bit to get used to the graphic style but it was a great game.

Yeah, totally understand. It will be more of an adventure game/decision title compared to a RPG shooter. That's OK. It was more about the setting and originality of the world that intrigued me. Can't wait.

 

[exar333]

Did you find in-game AA or are you injecting it?

I just inject some FXAA with RadeonPro, MSAA wouldbe better though.

I am just forcing 8x AA via NV control panel. It look's pretty nice, honestly.

 

[exar333]

Were you already into games like this?

I'm a hardcore FPS(quake, etc) player but my friend gifted BL1/2 to me and has been hounding me to play. I do like coop FPS game but don't have much exp in them. I love mindless shooting(killing floor genre) and L4D genre, will this foot the bill?

Definitely, but not been a huge FPS'er in a while. I played a LOT of FPS titles in the 90's and early 2000's (Doom1/2/3, Quake 1/2, UT/2003/2004, etc) and a good amount of more RPG type FPS titles too like Hexen/Heretic, WoT, and Deus Ex type games.

BL feels like somewhere between FO3/New Vegas and ME2. I know that sounds odd, but that's the truth. It is a LOT of fun.

There is a lot of opportunity for mindless killing, but the game structures a lot of combat around missions. Some are required, others are optional. From what I have seen, the game allows you to power-level via combat and search for loot, or gain XP/$ thru missions, or both. I like that flexibility.

I am not sure how the coop stuff is, but I definitely recommend the SP experience. It is a blast. This is definitely the most 'fun' I have had from a FPS-type game since FO3.

 

[sandorski]

Ya, they are great games. I haven't finished 2 yet, but it seems pretty much the same with only different Maps and a few tweaks to the UI.

 

[Hinda65]

Were you already into games like this?

I'm a hardcore FPS(quake, etc) player but my friend gifted BL1/2 to me and has been hounding me to play. I do like coop FPS game but don't have much exp in them. I love mindless shooting(killing floor genre) and L4D genre, will this foot the bill?

I've played both bL1 and 2 single and coop....Single player is fun but grab a buddy if you can and go different classes..Me and brother are just finishing the last of DLC in bl2 then were thinking about playing L4D....If you end up playing BL in coop I'd like to know how it compares..In L4D doesn't the campaign have 4 characters in the party?

 

[Cerb]

Not sure how I missed this game in 2009

Lack of the right advertising? I caught it before 2014, but I missed it, too . Bought BL2 on a whim/sale, played like 10 minutes, thought, "this is really good, but I should play the first one, before I get too far," and mere days later it and DLCs were on sale (with BL2 included :|). Both are great games.

-Game looks pretty good with a solid resolution and max AA-enabled
-Runs buttery-smooth and the art style is growing on me

MSAA+FXAA works really well, and they did a good job with the engine on the PC (no typical jitter/lag, or shimmer glitchiness, from being a console Unreal game). FXAA makes the black edges really smooth and ink-like. Not trying to look "realistic" really helps it hold up better than a lot of console games, being several years old on a PC.

-ABSOLUTELY MUST change the FOV (not sure how people play this game with the default 'tunnel vision' setting) Thank goodness for the internet on instructions how to adjust this!

Ugh, yes. That, and enabling the console for the occasional noclip cheat to get unstuck.

-The game lends itself to hardcore or casual play-style. I like that.

I just wish the level scaling for enemies wasn't insane, and hate level req items.

For me, a gun-centered Siren was the most fun in BL1. And, just as it got feeling too casual/dumb, I'd get near a new area, and find myself dead because I got reckless, and/or the enemy AI found cover (or get lucky and just barely make it)...

 

[exar333]

Lack of the right advertising? I caught it before 2014, but I missed it, too . Bought BL2 on a whim/sale, played like 10 minutes, thought, "this is really good, but I should play the first one, before I get too far," and mere days later it and DLCs were on sale (with BL2 included :|). Both are great games.

MSAA+FXAA works really well, and they did a good job with the engine on the PC (no typical jitter/lag, or shimmer glitchiness, from being a console Unreal game). FXAA makes the black edges really smooth and ink-like. Not trying to look "realistic" really helps it hold up better than a lot of console games, being several years old on a PC.

Ugh, yes. That, and enabling the console for the occasional noclip cheat to get unstuck.
I just wish the level scaling for enemies wasn't insane, and hate level req items.

For me, a gun-centered Siren was the most fun in BL1. And, just as it got feeling too casual/dumb, I'd get near a new area, and find myself dead because you got reckless, and the enemy AI found cover (or get lucky and just barely make it)...

I did hear about the game, but maybe you are right. I avoid a lot of AAA games, and this seemed like not something I was interested in at the time. I think seeing all the DLC for BL2 turned me off a bit too...

Loving the game tho.

 

[Aikouka]

If you're annoyed at the lack of inventory upgrades and such, check out WillowTree. It also allows you to edit pretty much anything in your save file.

...and if anyone is wondering, there is one for Borderlands 2 as well.

If you're a Siren, make sure you get your grubby paws on this bad boy: Combustion Hellfire. Unless you're fighting fire-aligned enemies or robots/mechanicals, it's ridiculously powerful. For the latter, just use one of these: Pestilent Defiler. You'll notice that both of those are fairly low level. While I can easily edit them with the save editors, I don't ever mess with my weapons, and honestly... you don't really need to. In Borderlands 1, low level weapons can be used for quite a long time, but that's not the case in Borderlands 2.

EDIT:

There are also some other good quality of life hacks that you can do like disabling the unskippable opening videos. There's a Borderlands Config editing tool that can do it, or you can just rename the actual video files. Fortunately, Gearbox got a clue, and they're skippable in Borderlands 2.

Also, if you want to use SMGs, this is pretty much the mod you want: Mercenary Class Mod. I also recommend learning more about shields: http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Shield . If you peruse over that information enough, you should be good enough to identify a shield type without ever picking it up. The best option for you is most likely the 550AWE or a 550OS (slightly more capacity, lower recharging than AWE). I'm using a 5OS right now (left4 + right1 + OS body).

 

[Sable]

All about the pistols in B1 with Mordecai. Great fun, better than in B2 actually.

 

[exar333]

If you're annoyed at the lack of inventory upgrades and such, check out WillowTree. It also allows you to edit pretty much anything in your save file.

...and if anyone is wondering, there is one for Borderlands 2 as well.

If you're a Siren, make sure you get your grubby paws on this bad boy: Combustion Hellfire. Unless you're fighting fire-aligned enemies or robots/mechanicals, it's ridiculously powerful. For the latter, just use one of these: Pestilent Defiler. You'll notice that both of those are fairly low level. While I can easily edit them with the save editors, I don't ever mess with my weapons, and honestly... you don't really need to. In Borderlands 1, low level weapons can be used for quite a long time, but that's not the case in Borderlands 2.

EDIT:

There are also some other good quality of life hacks that you can do like disabling the unskippable opening videos. There's a Borderlands Config editing tool that can do it, or you can just rename the actual video files. Fortunately, Gearbox got a clue, and they're skippable in Borderlands 2.

Also, if you want to use SMGs, this is pretty much the mod you want: Mercenary Class Mod. I also recommend learning more about shields: http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Shield . If you peruse over that information enough, you should be good enough to identify a shield type without ever picking it up. The best option for you is most likely the 550AWE or a 550OS (slightly more capacity, lower recharging than AWE). I'm using a 5OS right now (left4 + right1 + OS body).

Thanks! I'll check out the tool this weekend. That's awesome info.

(The opening scenes drive me a bit crazy)

 

[OCNewbie]

I played the hell out of BL1 (and BL2). The Siren is far and away the most powerful character in BL1, but Brick and Mordecai are quite powerful as well. The Soldier/Roland impressed me the least, but he's still fun to play. Some parts of BL1 I liked better than BL2, but they're both awesome games.

I highly recommend playing BL1 til you're tired of it before moving onto BL2. Make sure you play the Halloween-themed DLC (I don't recall the name) for BL1, and also General Knoxx? DLC as well (you get access to the ultra rare Pearlescent weapons!). Great DLC too, above and beyond the new weapon power tier.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I played 5 hours of BL1 until I realized that i had played the same fetch quest 50 times in a row. I immediately uninstalled.

 

[exar333]

I played 5 hours of BL1 until I realized that i had played the same fetch quest 50 times in a row. I immediately uninstalled.

It is not a game (for me) that I could keep playing over and over again like D2/D3, but I am enjoying the main quest. My only complaint is that there were more people to pick-up quests from, but there are enough other true sandbox games out there, if that is what you want.

Should finish it up this weekend and start BL2 next week. So far, I would say it is a 8/10 rating for me. Very good game.

 

[TheSlamma]

Is there any mods for the re-spawn rate of enemies? or a way to control it in game now so it's not so frequent?