Matt Cox is a game developer with 20 years of directing and management experience, having dabbled in games, music production, and entertainment publishing. Matt is currently the Creative Director at Gearbox Software for Tina's Fantasy Lands. He was previously the chief boss and NPC designer for Borderlands 3 and directed the game's campaign, Bloodsaver Battle.
Borderlands fans have been waiting for the game's spin-off, Little Tina's Fantasy Lands, for months to come, and they're even more itchy after seeing a series of trailers for new environments and new classes, including Sword Warrior and Frost Warrior.
Developed by Gearbox Software and released by 2K Games, this dungeon-inspired board game raider inspired by DLC's previous game, Tina's Dragon Castle Attack, will allow players to feel that chaotic energy again – and that's what makes the previous game critically acclaimed.
Today, Matt Cox, creative director of Little Tina's Fantasy Lands, shared with us an in-depth look at the inspiration behind the game, how it was made, and the surprises players are looking forward to. Let's take a look.
Do you have any unique goals in this project?
Matt Cox: Our main goal was to perfectly present the Gearbox treasure hunting experience in a fantasy-style world. We have so many tabletop RPG fans, and the popularity of Borderlands 2: Raids of Tina Jr. DLC makes it clear that a complete, indie fantasy-style treasure hunting shooter is clearly what everyone is looking forward to.
Now, we can devote time and resources to exploring the question of what it means to create a treasure hunting shooter in a serious fantasy setting? In the end, we have dozens of ideas that were conceived directly from classic board game mechanics and fantasy bridges.
From powerful spell casting systems to unlimited deep character customization, it all comes down to this. In addition to this, we also have a multi-class system, a skeleton army, and so on. There are so many new creative avenues to explore, however, these avenues have been difficult to use in previous games.
We're also excited to have Tina Jr. play the lord of our bunker. She's extremely cute, but equally defiant of order, an unreliable narrator, and we very much want to create a chaotic adventure for the players in ways that are difficult for them to predict. Creating those moments, having Tina Jr. suddenly break the rules, or otherwise disrupt the player's journey, is a rare opportunity for us and full of creative fun.
The inspiration for Little Tina's Fantasy Lands is obvious, and it has a Dungeons & Dragons-style setting. Is there any less obvious source of inspiration?
Cox: Absolutely. If you take a closer look at the game's main map, you may find that our team loves THE JRPG. If you pay attention to the setting and enemies, you'll notice that we also love classic serious fantasy – from Lord of the Rings to Dragon Knight to Labyrinth and more! We wanted to create our own fantasy settings, not just mimic existing ideas, and we wanted to pay tribute to these sources of inspiration. The game presents many classic fantasy sections at the beginning, but as the game progresses, the adventure will become more and more bizarre and exciting. There are also many sources of inspiration in the game, which are left for everyone to discover.
In Little Tina's Fantasy Lands, players will switch back and forth between the JRPG-style main map and the first-person shooter arena. How did the team design these two very different styles of gameplay?
Cox: We wanted to create a dynamic tabletop gaming experience that was both interactive and would allow players to happily engage in one action after another, engaged in one battle after another. We also wanted to convey a sense of contrast in tone. The first-person action mode is a mission-based tone, while the game's main map brings back the joy of exploring in a crafted board game. The first-person mode covers shooting, casting spells, slashing, and character development. The game's main map covers first explorations of new areas, quests, and even Temple Challenge rewards. Since the goals of each experience are clear, it's easy to differentiate them from each other, but it still takes a lot of work. We spent a lot of time making sure the experience on the game's main map was smooth and fulfilling, with all the first-person adventure scenarios as seamless as possible.
Can you explain how the team switched between these two different styles?
Cox: Almost all first-person environments are accessible via the game's main map. After completing their exploration of the first-person map, players will enter the main map and move on to their next destination, stopping at small side quests, random encounters, caves or camps to grab the chance to earn extra loot or level up. You can even discover entirely new environments, such as the snow-covered Mountains. It's all up to the player. The key is to give control to the player and let them decide when to participate in the encounters found on the main map of the game, and when to move directly to the next story mission. When they decide to participate in battle, they transition to first-person mode quickly and seamlessly, avoiding interrupting the experience.
How did you come up with combining a Borderlands-style treasure hunt shooter with Dungeons & Dragons?
Cox: Little Tina's Fantasy Land is the spiritual sequel to DLC's Dragon Castle Attack released nearly 10 years ago. Since then, our passion for the idea has grown, so it's natural for us to think of incorporating Borderlands-style treasure-hunting shots into a fantasy backdrop. I want to make it clear, however, that Little Tina's Fantasy Land is completely independent, and even if you haven't played Little Tina's Dragon Castle attack or any other Gearbox game, you can have fun in Fantasy Land. Borderlands fans will be smiling, but the story, setting, and most of the characters are brand new.
Little Tina's Fantasy Lands is related to the Borderlands series, but it's not necessarily limited to its rules. How has this freedom affected development, and have you done something special that you want to share with us exclusively?
Cox: There are some strong examples in terms of story and gameplay. The first thing that comes to my mind is Tina Herself, the Lord of our Bunker, who is both the player's guide and the narrator. In the process of building this new world, her elusive personality opens the door to all kinds of fantastic ideas. She almost completely ignores the rules and prefers chaos, so it's no surprise that items like guns appear in a serious fantasy background, or change the game content in front of the player just because she has a cooler idea. The world is fantastic, unpredictable, and full of endless possibilities.
Spells are of course an example. Spells are weak in Borderlands, but have a significant presence in Little Tina's Fantasy Lands. Each spell is basically a mini-action skill, so they are omnipotent, very practical, and satisfying. Once you're fully accustomed to Tina's Fantasy Lands combat, you'll be able to cycle through spells, guns, and melee combat quickly and fluidly. There are many ways to cast spells and spell effects, and when players develop characters, there are a variety of matching spells to choose from.
This brings us to the last thing I want to talk about (although there are many more examples I can give) – the multiple career system. When you start the game, you'll have to choose the base class, but as the game progresses, you'll be able to add a second class and start mixing and matching skills. We borrowed this idea directly from the classic tabletop RPG, so it fits perfectly into the theme of Tina's Fantasy Lands and offers players plenty of options that will thrill them. It's something we strongly want to join.
How did the team determine the art direction and design of the game?
Cox: Our art director Adam May has shown amazing foresight on how to handle this blend of classical and chaotic fantasy. His team designed a variety of vistas, characters, and effects that took us from the traditional fantasy style of the beginning to the crazy fantasy style of the end. In terms of design, looking at the big picture, we deliberately tend to use fantasy bridges that we are familiar with so that we can incorporate our own preferences into them, and this unique preference becomes more and more bizarre as the game progresses, which is in line with the artistic direction. You can see undead armies and knights in shiny armor, but later you'll find chocobo sharks and mushroom men. We were thrilled to see what our art team had accomplished and to think that our fans would win battles, complete large side quests, experience a variety of environments, and face a variety of enemies. I love the imagination of our team.
Assuming the game uses a similar base to Borderlands 3, have you made technical extensions to the game, and if so, how did you do it?
Cox: We've extended the method of programmatically generating guns to new equipment such as spells, melee weapons, and armor. Character creation is also made from scratch, which has never been done in our previous games. We've also created a new third-person master map: a vibrant board game-style area where players can seamlessly enter or exit a lively, small-scale first-person random encounter, as well as caves and camps without having to wait long to load.
What makes Unreal Engine the best choice for Making Little Tina's Fantasy Lands?
Cox: Unreal Engine has always provided a solid foundation, and with it, we'll build everything we want in our own universe. Given what we've accomplished in Borderlands 3, using Unreal Engine is a natural choice, and we'll use it to continue our success.
Were there any specific tools in Unreal Engine that played an important role during development?
Cox: Our designers have a lot of experience working with blueprints. From prototyping to implementation, whether it's interactive objects, or characters, AI, and level scripts, Blueprints play an important role in every aspect.
How do you take advantage of the powerful performance and new features of next-gen consoles?
Cox: We're proud of our dedication to delivering the best co-op experience possible, with next-generation consoles allowing us to maintain extremely high gaming performance in online co-op mode and enabling a 4-person split-screen couch co-op experience that most games wouldn't offer. If you're after visual fidelity, you can experience the beauty of Little Tina's FantasyLand in 4K resolution on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
For more Unreal Engine examples, please follow our account