What does it take to make awesome effects for a game like Borderlands? Read on to learn about the developers behind the effects in Borderlands! Click the developer names in the first question section to view their Gearboxity profile!
ennui: How did you end up working in effects?
Strobel: I'm the newest, I think, so I'll go first. At my previous job, I did some level design. I got into effects after working for Gearbox for a while as an intern. They needed people to help with getting effects done and with some art bugs, and I fit the position pretty well. Over time, I got more involved with effects, specifically working with technical art and performance, which are really very related here at Gearbox.
Nick: I came to Gearbox thinking I'd end up a designer. I think a lot of people who come into the industry feel that way, like they want to be in a design position. My previous work with Gearbox, before I got into effects, was dealing with outsourcing content and bug fixing stuff. Eventually, Jim came to me. "We need help in effects, how would you feel about giving that a try?" It turned out to be a natural fit for me; in a lot of my amateur projects I'd done 2D animation and texture work. It turned out rather well for me; I really enjoy working in effects.
Jim: I got my start in QA while finishing up college at UCSD. One of the games I was testing was in production in the building next door to the QA lab and I made a habit to visit the dev team almost every day, asked lots of questions, and generally made a pest of myself. As luck would have it, a few weeks after I graduated college the Lead FX artist on their team quit to pursue another career option. So I begged the Art Director to give me a chance to make FX while they searched for a new FX Lead. I had a great background in traditional art and art theory but only self-taught knowledge of any 2D or 3D application and was clueless about making particle effects for games! The Creative Director (who happened to be a very seasoned game maker and animator) literally had to teach me the foundations of animation and timing. He spent hours each day offering me direction... "too fast"..."too small"... "twice as big"..."what texture did you use"..."double that value" and so on. He had endless patience!
Mark: I was an environment artist here on Brothers in Arms. They needed some help doing effects - this was before Jim got here, and we didn't have dedicated effect guys, so I helped out and enjoyed that. I came onto Borderlands doing more environment art. Some of the props you see in Borderlands are mine. Jim was putting together a team at this point and I wanted to move towards doing effects, so I helped him out. I literally moved more towards effects; I moved my desk closer to them and started doing effects, and now I'm part of the team.
ennui: How did the art style change affect Effects?
Jim: I'll be honest, it was scary. We'd been working really hard, long hours to get effects in for the original art vision of the game. There was still a lot to do, and we'd done quite a bit already. All of the sudden, we're changing to a completely different art style and holy crap! It felt like there was no way we could do all this. For a while it was kind of a scramble; I was pulling people in, getting as many people to make effects as I could. We had to answer the question, "What does this art style change do for effects, how do we play into it and what are our goals?" We couldn't go the super-realistic route - it would stick out and look strange. This was a blessing in a way, because super-realistic effects take longer to get right. In the end I came up with three qualifications for the Borderlands effects; every effect we made had to meet these qualifications: 1. Does it serve the game well and feel right? 2. Is it iconic, does it satisfy the game mechanic? and 3. Does it make you laugh or smile a bit? We didn't have time to make everything absolutely perfect - you can't do that ever, but I think those questions helped us make great effects.
Strobel: Not only did the art style change, but the feeling of the game changed. It became more over-the-top, it was explosive! That allowed for effects like the face melting; we could have effects that were out there and crazy awesome.
Mark: It freed up a lot of creativity. I loved it because we weren't restricted to try and make something look completely photorealistic. In the end, we had a lot more creative freedom as artists to experiment, make cool, stylish or silly effects, and have fun!
Nick: We probably wouldn't have half the guardian attacks or any of the exploding heads and bodies in the original art. The change led us to some ridiculous ideas - and they all fit, it felt perfect with the new look. We are able to turn everything up to 11 and I think that worked very well; people were really impressed by the gore effects even when they first went into the game.
Mark: I still giggle my ass off when I see the electric effect.
Jim: We did a lot of funny detail stuff - you might notice an eyeball bouncing around or ricocheting off of your friend, or you might not. There are tons of little details that you notice the more you play.
Mark: I remember when you were working on the electric effect and at one point it had like seven eyeballs bouncing out of it!
Jim: That was an accident!
Mark: Yeah, but it was hilarious because they were just everywhere, bouncing all over the place!
ennui: What is your favorite contribution to Borderlands?
Mark: My favorite is actually the art for the scopes. When you zoom in with a scope, the artwork that you see is mine. Actually, one of them has two easter eggs, and I don't think anyone has found them yet. I was looking the other day to see if someone had found them and I think they're still secret, so there's something for you to look for! The other thing I did that I liked was making animations for some of the lootables, like the mailbox and the toilet; that was a lot of fun.
Strobel: Every time you drive into an invisible wall, that's my fault!
Nick: There's YouTube footage that I saw recently that was taken in Eridian Promontory. All the enemies there are Crimson Lance or Guardians, and there was a comment on the video that put things in perspective for me. It said, "Oh my crap, this is the best game I've ever seen! I have to get it!" This guy had never played Borderlands, but based on what he saw in a 3 minute clip of these laser firing aliens he was sold! Jim made the claw effects, then I got to take over and do the deaths, wings, and attacks that come out of the guardians, those were my favorite contribution, because the enemies were just so unique, it's really rewarding to have your leads and the designers you work with say "Here, they do this – make it cool".
Strobel: Can I change my answer to that? (Laughs) Actually, I probably most enjoyed getting the chance to do the voice for the Heavy Bandit alongside Mark who got the chance to loan his voice for the Bandit Grunt.
Jim: I don't know - there's a lot that I'm really proud of and happy with. I started Borderlands as a Technical Artist/ Visual FX Lead but finished it as the Art Team Lead. How fun is that!
ennui: What's the most important lesson you learned working on Borderlands?
Mark: I learned something that wasn't just limited to effects, it was something about myself. It happened when the art changed; I'd been working for years making photorealistic art and effects. With the change, I got to really branch out and learn that I'm capable of doing more than just producing photoreal effects; I could really experiment and expand my abilities as an artist.
Jim: I think I learned a very tough lesson, tougher than any I've learned shipping other games. Effects don't always have to be a perfect artist's realization to make a great game. It was really tough for me to get that. Our effects need to be quality, for sure, but there's more to it - they need to be efficient, they need to fit the style, they need to work. They're part of a bigger whole, and everything has to work together, from all standpoints.
Strobel: I learned that as artists we need to be more aware of what impact our art has on the game. Not only did we do effects, but we were the team largely responsible for performance when it came to art. Looking at the art that went in, we had to monitor the framerate, how much memory was being used, that kind of thing. Being aware of that changed the way I approach art in games. I start out differently, keeping those things in mind, and I think a lot of us learned more about that. Keeping limitations in mind helps us make awesome art faster.
Jim: That's probably the best thing I can tell someone new to the industry. You don't have to use giant textures to make killer game art; it's a hard message to communicate. You need to keep perspective of the global vision of the game - what it is that you are creating in relation to everything else.
Nick: We definitely became more aware of the constraints as time went on. With Unreal, we could do a lot of awesome things and make a great game, but we've got four playable characters and bandits and creatures, terrain and vehicles, and all the 87 bazillion weapons and textures and color maps for all of them. It wasn't always easy to get it into memory. We had to do a lot of optimization and re-examine how we built content.
Jim: Game data systems are interesting. You make a cool waterfall and expose it to everyone, and before you know it people are attaching it to every creature's mouth! Whoa! What happened there! It's a blessing and a curse to have such a robust toolset. You can spawn a particle effect that triggers an event that spawns a creature; you can do all kinds of crazy stuff. When you can do stuff like that, people will and do - the trick is getting people to keep limitations in mind.
ennui: What advice to you have to people interested in getting into the industry or effects?
Nick: I wish I hadn't had so many misconceptions about how the industry works. I thought I'd figured everything out about it before I got a job, which, in retrospect, is absurd! That's just some general life advice; you can't expect to know everything before you get in. I was just about to get out of college when I applied. I got lucky, because I didn't have any contacts at Gearbox and I was just trying to get my applications out there. I got a call back because they were impressed by my work and I got on as an intern. It's important to not rely on your school to teach you everything. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking any of the great programs that are out there, but I am saying that they can't prepare you for everything. If you're not out there putting time in on your own stuff, working on mods or small games or just making things and putting it into an engine, you won't know what you need to. Another thing that I wasn't prepared for was that people will always be looking at your work. I thought maybe everyone just sat in cubicles and didn't look at each other's screens - that couldn't be more wrong. You're always getting feedback, and it's great; it really helps you learn and improve. Everyone is a peer, and everyone is extremely talented, and they'll all be looking at your stuff. You need to be ready to take critiques and use them. If you think your stuff is the best, you're in for a surprise, and if you can't take feedback you won't last.
Jim: It's rare we hire someone new to the industry that can sit down and immediately make great art; it's a given that we are going to invest in that person. We want people who are motivated, passionate, creative, and talented. We are looking for people that one day can surpass our talents and abilities. To most of us, we are working our dream job and want to hire people who are looking to work their dream job too. Learn everything you can, and be ready to never stop learning! Never be afraid to ask for help or advice.
Mark: Network! Get involved in artist communities. Get your stuff out there and practice and listen to the advice and feedback you get. Never think you're the shit, because you aren't. As soon as you think you're the best, you won't improve any more and you'll get left behind. You can always get better and learn more. There are a lot of great places to get involved; I learned a lot from Polycount.com when I was in school. There are lots more, 3dbuzz, cgtalk. Get involved in a community, get on a mod team, learn tools. Do everything you can to learn about making games.
Strobel: Getting involved with a community was important for me; not just online, but at my school as well. We got big into making mods, and we learned a lot about how to work as a team and learn from each other. When I started in the industry, I was really green even though I thought I had a lot of experience. Whenever I've worked on a new game, I still feel like I'm green because I'm always facing new challenges and working with new tech that's always changing. Make sure you keep up, that you have a passion for learning what's new, because we're always pushing forward, and it's easy to get left behind.
ennui: Any closing comments?
Jim: I want people to know we're always checking out the feedback. Even if we don't respond, we're reading comments, posts on the forums, and reading numerous links to web pages around the globe. Feedback is really important to all of us, and we love hearing what people think. We want you to be happy and have fun, and we want to improve! It's easy to forget that we're all people on this end making the games, we are only human.
Making FX is complicated! Without animations, audio, code, cool environments, creative design, and so on, we would just be making Art - but together we get to make a game.
