Greetings, Vault Hunters! In this episode of Echoes From The Borderlands, we are talking about Borderlands 3! Host Joel Watson is joined by Senior Project Producer Chris Brock, Mission Designer Kate Pitstick, and Art Director Scott Kester!
Have you ever noticed how the best things always come in threes? Back to the Future movies? Check. Celebrity deaths? Big check. Borderlands games? If you don’t count The Pre-Sequel, Tales, New Tales, or Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, that’s a colossal triple check!
Speakers
- Joel Watson – Creative Producer
- Scott Kester – Art Director
- Chris Brock – Senior Project Producer
- Kate Pitstick – Mission Designer
Hidden Morse Code
- “If you’re gonna spew spew into this” – Wayne’s world quote
- “There is no gene for fate” – Gattaca quote
Topics
- 00:00 – Intro
- 01:45 – What was it like working with the Quebec studio?
- 3:30 – How was it releasing the Commander Lilith DLC just ahead of the Borderlands 3 release?
- 4:45 – Scott did you have a specific goal for the art of Borderlands 3?
- 06:30 – Did Pandora determine the universe or did you want to expand on that?
- 07:55 – Kate, what did you like about the Borderlands mission designs and what did you want to contribute?
- 10:00 – Scott how did you stay true to the Borderlands art style but still level up?
- 12:55 – Chris, what does a producer do during the development of a Borderlands game?
- 15:10 – Was Borderlands 3 the first Borderlands game you personally worked on?
- 18:20 – What did you want to see in the Borderlands Universe and how would that translate to the player?
- 21:50 – Was it a mandate to go bigger?
- 22:25 – How did the established NPCs challenge mission design?
- 25:20 – How do you manage having individual missions feel like a cohesive product?
- 26:20 – How do you design the various Biodomes?
- 28:40 – What was the most challenging Biodome?
- 30:50 – Where did the idea come from to take Sanctuary long?
- 32:00 – Scott did you have a favorite Vault Hunter while designing the game?
- 33:15 – Can you tell us about FL4K?
- 34:10 – How do you keep updating fan-favorite characters?
- 36:30 – Pandora’s Box Advert
- 37:15 – Where is your personal touch on the Borderlands story?
- 39:50 – Where is the intersection of Art and Story?
- 44:00 – Chris do you manage the scope of certain aspects of the game?
- 45:40 – The story of Borderlands 3 raises a lot of questions, was that intended in that way?
- 46:45 – How did Typhon Deleon factor into the story?
- 48:30 – Let’s talk about the Calypso Twins
- 54:30 – Is Borderlands life?
- 55:30 – Children of the Vault
- 57:20 – Tell me about Pain & Terror
- 1:01:30 – Tannis dated a minecart named Kate?
- 1:03:50 – Did the hardware change impact development?
- 1:08:20 – Grace’s Birthday Party?
- 1:09:55 – How did the fake ending come about?
- 1:11:10 – Echocast Twitch extension
- 1:12:10 – Borderlands Science
- 1:14:50 – TRIVIA
- 1:17:17 – Marcus Impression
My Reactions
- 01:20 – Borderlands 3 was indeed the first full game they made in the new GBX Frisco office, however, the final hours and post-launch content for Battleborn were also done there.
- 03:00 – Joel accidentally said DLC 4 while leading towards the Commander Lilith DLC, which makes Chris mention the Borderlands 3 DLCs that were developed by Quebec studio.
- 04:00 – Yeah, I never expected to them to drop a DLC for a 7-year-old game but it was awesome!
- 08:50 – “Who did we kill?” LMAO!
- 15:50 – BATTLEBORN! Also interesting that Kate worked on both Gigantic and Paragon.
- 21:00 – Glad they didn’t go for the cookie-cutter 20 planets
- 23:00 – Gaige was also supposed to appear on Eden-6?!!!
- 35:30 – Lilith did change a lot. Commander Steele was the initial character model for Lilith in Borderlands 1 and Lorelei was the new concept for Lilith in Borderlands 3.
- 59:30 – LOL, Teller in the recording studio
- 1:01:30 – LOL, in-house jokes
- 1:11:50 – Shoutout to my buddy Lowlines for working on the Echocast
Behind the Scene Heroes:
- April Johnson
- Dakota Warren
- Robert Fernandez
- Hannah Terry
