Borderlands players noticed that in the recent in-depth gameplay display about Borderlands 4, the game uses a compass pointing to the target, rather than the minimap introduced in Borderlands 2.Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford confirmed at PAX East on Friday that the minimap has been removed and asked players not to draw conclusions before experiencing the game in person.
Pitchford said the story of Borderlands 4 takes place on a new planet called Kairos and has the largest map "to date" in the Borderlands series.
The CEO said: "There is no loading time, that is, you can reach anywhere on the screen, even if it is a mile away or above the sky." His words echoed the famous saying of Todd Howard, that you can see the mountains in "The Elder Scrolls 5: Sky" and be able to walk to the mountains.
"We created a super-large world. A lot of the things you do may happen in local space, but a lot of what you do and want to do happen in (the bigger world). When you think about goals and opportunities — some of them may be miles away — a local space map is not a great navigation tool, and the compass really helps us navigate."
Pitchford also said that in a multi-layer environment, the 2D minimap can be confusing, "There will be more vertical elements in Borderlands 4 than in any Borderlands game before."The compass will use small arrows to indicate whether the target is above or below you, and they hope this will help the player better grasp the location of the space.
"We want you to play the game itself, not the map," Pitchford said. "So we made this decision and put a lot of effort into this compass system. At the same time, the big map still exists, just a click away. We have added more interesting elements to the big map than ever before. We even have an AI-powered navigation system that gives you a GPS on the big map showing the route you can go."
He also said there will be a new robot partner in the game called the Echo-4, and other tools that help navigation, and asked players to temporarily believe Gearbox's decision on the issue at the end of the speech.
He said: "Listen, we're open to the possibilities of the future. But play this game first and understand the choices we make. I think when you realize how big the world is and find it more fun to play games in this world than to play maps, you'll understand what we mean."
At this exhibition, new details about the hidden hunters, guns and new mobility capabilities in Borderlands 4 were also announced, and Pitchford also promoted them with passion as usual.
Gearbox recently announced that the release date of Borderlands 4 is a little earlier than previously set, and the game will be released on September 12 this year.Pitchford reiterated at the show that the change in the release date reflects the studio's confidence in the game.
He said: "We're in an offensive position, guys. Sometimes we're nervously waiting for the game to be released, you know. We still have a lot of work to do. We're all going all out. But the momentum is very strong now. It's also very fast. I don't think we've ever been as confident as we are now in Borderlands 4."
