Tales from the Borderlands: All Cut Content

A collection of unused and scraped ideas and scenes from Tales from the Borderlands. There is a ton of content left in the game files so please enjoy!
(Note: This is more like 95% of all cut content. Script files alone could take up hours if truly dived into detail.)
I very recently after uploading this video found a little bit more info about episode 5 I did not include. It only remains as dev notes so nothing visible to be seen.
1. August would help Fiona and Sasha in the hallways before meeting back up with Finch and Kroger. August becomes a bit more noble and wants to help Fiona and Sasha over Finch and Kroger here. Fiona will also later either kill Finch or Kroger during that scene. Additionally, there was a cut area where Fiona was to search for the caravan and then fix the engine with Loaderbot.
2. If Felix wasn't cut from Episode 4, he would be at the crash with Fiona. If Fiona blamed him in episode 3, Vallory kills him.
3.Originally Rhys was to simply unplug Jack from Helios to kill him, or could plug him back in willingly to the echo eye by itself. Another idea was that if you had Dumpy, Jack would be uploaded into Dumpy and could project himself out for everyone to see and hear him.
4. Vaughn would either be a Old Haven Psycho Leader or a Hyperion Survivors Leader based on if he escaped with Cassius or not. When he returns Rhys could hug him by mashing "q" and the hug wouldn't stop until players did.
5. Originally Zer0 was to only help players if they did poorly during action sequences or would be available if no one else was.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:55 Episode 1
1:56 Prosperity Junction Shootout
2:47 Original Vaughn
3:09 Original Yvette Voice
3:25 Cissy Jones as Fiona
4:04 Original "Break His Heart"
4:35 Stranger Opening
6:18 Playable Character 3
7:50 PAX Footage and Eridium Blight
10:26 Liam and Pawnshop
12:19 Rhys in Hollowpoint
13:11 Vallory, Finch, Kroger - Key Deal
14:27 Splash Cards
14:47 Finch and Kroger at Deal
15:57 Shades Backroom
16:19 Fiona kills Kroger
17:04 Misc Ep 1 Changes
19:07 World of Curiosities
19:43 How Rhys got his echo implants
20:20 More Misc Ep 1 Changes
21:16 Rhys saves Fiona
21:45 Rhys examines the caravan
22:10 Rhys and Sasha hatch
22:45 Skags released
23:15 Mineshafts and more
23:56 Concept Art and Beta Screenshots
26:31 More Eridium Blight
27:39 Promo Poses
28:25 Minor PAX footage
28:55 Episode 2
30:49 Rhys in Hollowpoint
31:26 Scooter Athena and Hodunks
32:39 Rhys and Vaughn in desert
33:26 The Facility Gortys and Escaping
34:22 Gortys speaks in episode 2
35:58 Episode 2 ends in the future
37:26 Minor Episode 2 changes
38:48 Rhys Talks to Fiona and Sasha about Atlas Silver
40:41 Vaughn waits for Rhys
41:55 Fiona’s Eyeball
42:28 Fiona’s Flashbang Fail
44:48 Vasquez’s Other Implants
48:23 Vasquez Talks Vaughn Deal
49:38 August asks about Sasha
50:54 August asks about Sasha more
53:28 Sasha and Vaughn in the hallways
54:25 Original Episode 2 Endings
56:54 Scooter PAX scene
58:15 Fiona Sees Someone Similar
58:25 Episode 3
1:00:02 Sullen Gortys
1:00:35 Dumpy’s Voice
1:01:58 The Chimera Dome
1:01:56 Outside The Dome Content
1:03:08 Talking to Gortys Outside
1:04:05 Rhys and Fiona talk
1:04:40 Rhys and Athena talk
1:09:37 Rhys playable in the Dome
1:12:01 Rhys Use Intercom
1:16:02 Original Cassius Intro
1:17:01 Talking with Cassius
1:22:19 Dinner with Cassius
1:30:24 Rhys and Sasha
1:31:59 Planning
1:34:19 Cassius and his Dead Cat
1:34:43 Choice to kill plant or not
1:35:59 Mutant Bullymong Fight Scene
1:36:35 Cassius Wants to Die
1:40:11 Rhys tells Sasha about Jack
1:40:26 Waking Up Rhys
1:44:04 Jack as Rhys
1:45:25 Vaughn Alone and Jack is rude
1:46:28 Rhys and Fiona Kissing Gossip
1:46:56 Athena Surrenders
1:47:11 Episode 4 Original Opening
1:51:33 Behind the Scenes Planning Montage
1:52:54 Rhys and Fiona Quickchange
1:53:56 Almost finished Episode 4 Credits
1:56:54 Dr. Spara
1:57:13 Oxygen Leak
1:57:28 Felix in Episode 4
1:59:05 Episode 5
2:00:07 Rhys explores crash site
2:00:44 Rhys and Jack Fight
2:02:30 August Argument
2:04:10 Finch in the Future
2:04:31 Rhys and Fiona final moments
2:05:42 Final Song
Special thanks to RedFoxxKett and InColdBlood who helped inform me of some of the content you see in this video.
Video Sources:
Ryan Weller is a former Telltale Staff member and Twitch Streamer who originally showed these clips to his stream.
Ryan: www.twitch.tv/theonlyryann
PAX 2014 Footage: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5m3c6SLe9KmndU
Telltale 10 Year Anniversary Video: vimeo.com/291423719
Thanks for watching!

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

Hi everyone. This is a reupload. I decided to simply take down the original and cram as much as possible into this new video which has led to 30+ more minutes of content to share. This includes new scenes not in the original video and fixing up multiple scenes from the previous video. Below I am leaving a few timestamps for some of the more noticeable additions and changes you may not have seen, but there are many more in the entire video, be sure to check the description for anything new that catches your eye! 34:22 Gortys speaks in episode 2 35:58 Episode 2 ends in the future 41:55 Fiona’s Eyeball 1:03:08 Talking to Gortys Outside 1:09:37 Rhys playable in the Dome 1:22:19 Dinner with Cassius 1:30:24 Rhys and Sasha 1:34:43 Choice to kill plant or not 1:25:59 Mutant Bullymong Fight Scene 1:40:26 Waking Up Rhys 1:44:04 Jack as Rhys

[@KingMasey]

This stuff is still so interesting watching this vid a second time,

[@VentWilsn]

thank god they cut rhys and fiona ruining the final moment of the game. GEEZUS

[@Kinich-f2p]

Yeah that sound very genius

[@shounenchild]

Just burned through another tftbl craze (along with my 5th(?) playthrough). Came to yt to see if anyone had talked about the cut content- something I was aware of, but never really looked at myself- and come to find out there's a two hour BEAST of a compilation???? Thank you so much for compiling all of this! This is such a fun look at what the game could have been, and how we got what we did. Thanks again!!!!!

[@shounenchild]

Also, biggest takeaway from this video: Oh my God, Dr Cassius' character is so much fucking stronger in the cut version, it's honestly kind of a travesty. Literally the only thing it seems to lack is a reasonable explanation for Athena to not try and kill him, which takes away a player choice (although imo it makes just as much sense if Fiona still tried to stop her in the old version, and you could play up the laughs of the doctor's breakdown over not being murdered even more)

[@NEEDLESALAD]

While Cissy Jones voice was absolutely AMAZING, I don't think it fit Fiona that well, would fit more of a younger version of Vallory though!!^^

[@oneesandungeon4217]

I miss cute Rhys and Fiona so much... thank you for this! It warmed up my heart

[@missbriggs1192]

38:04 Pole Vaughn haunts me in my sleep

[@banuner_]

The Vaugniverse expands

[@damiankocsis8499]

pole vaughn isnt real he cant hurt you. pole vaughn:

[@fedoratheexplorar2143]

Just replayed this game recently, it's a wonder it's as good as it is looking at how messy the behind the scenes was

[@bellonasservant4496]

Welcome to game development. Games are normally a complete mess until few months before release. I cant pin point 1 game that didnt had a messy development cycle. Maybe some sport game, where they just recycle the same game over and over, but other than that, being messy is the Standard. Goes with the saying "a game developer may worked on many games, but never finished a single one". That is because every released game is still only the leftovers of all the messy ideas and concepts that didnt made it in time.

[@williamswain2303]

When people have passion for something and only then will it be done right, the people who made this truly cared about the fans

[@anthonyhack1164]

It’s honestly hard for me to imagine Shade being angry

[@colepeyy]

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO SO MUCJ

[@noglin3491]

This is so cool to see. Thank you for your hard effort and work to make this a thing!

[@noglin3491]

Just finished the video, and I loved how you ended it like the game. It was like I was reliving playing it for the first time, imagining these different scenarios. The end of the video game me the same feeling the end of the game did, didn’t think I’d feel anything like it again. Thank you so much!

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

@@noglin3491 It is a really strange feeling looking back on Tales for me now. All this cut content to me almost feels like it was always there and as if I played some alternate universe version of TFTBL. Almost makes me wish there was a first ever Telltale Director's Cut where some of it could be put back in! Glad you liked the video!

[@ArinyaXoriGMVs]

Wow! Thanks for making this. I'm pretty glad some of this stuff wasn't used in the actual game, like Gortys being an angsty teenager, Rhys and Fiona shooting at each other, and Vaughn being such a jackass lol. But I wished they had kept the part where Sasha and Rhys were talking like radio announcers, that was funny. Anyways, I couldn't help but notice you didn't mention the fact that Vaughn was originally going to end up the villain. He apparently would've had a secret crush on Rhys and was jealous of him and thus was frustrated and miserable. I don't remember all the details, but that was almost a thing.

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

I did not touch much on the oral history of tftbl which I believe is what you are thinking of. I wanted to focus more so on things directly in the files that possibly went further. If I am not mistake I am pretty sure Vaughn turns on Rhys in the very early season plan due to wanting to keep the vault treasure all to himself after finding the treasure in episode 3, not because of jealousy.

[@ArinyaXoriGMVs]

@@telltaleconcepts6209 Oh ok. But yeah, there's recorded dialogue with Vaughn where he's talking about this stuff, it's like an awkward "coming out" moment. A KZbinr called Donutflames uses it in an animation.

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

@@ArinyaXoriGMVs Oh, I've seen that before! I honestly do not really know much about what the scene is suppose to be, but it 100% isn't Vaughn betraying Rhys. A few voice files are missing from that video where Vaughn directly talks about the guy from camp being called Zach and they would work out and then go to the bathroom together. I for some reason remember lines talking more directly about peeing but I couldn't easily find them again. It was suppose to play during episode 4 when Vaughn tries to call Rhys before the finger gun fight happens, at this point in development the idea of Vaughn betraying Rhys was not an idea anymore. For what the scene was suppose to be, I think it was purposely trying to play with the idea of if Vaughn likes Rhys while making it awkward with him talking about working out and peeing.

[@icednightcores]

Time stamp for Rhys and Sasha talking like radio announcers please lmao

[@ArinyaXoriGMVs]

@@icednightcores 1:12:16 and 1:13:27

[@seyidmichael9404]

Thank you so much for doing this! Very interesting! I love this game so much! 😍

[@dramagirl1295]

woah, this is impressive. how long did this take to figure out/get footage for/edit together?

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

No idea what the actual total hours would be, but it was a lot of work. A few months total in all honesty.

[@kezzy7689]

Woooooooooooaaahhh! This is absolutely positive Fabulous 🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@Dares9]

I'm actually surprised how much content there is of Vaughn's feelings towards Rhys being expanded, not to say actually hinting on romantic (Fiona taunting him to "kiss Rhys" to wake him up, and that animation of Vaughn hugging him real tight, and keeps saying how much Rhys means to him). Even if this is a leftover from some previous version of their relationship (betrayal etc), I wonder if at some points they were planning to let player choose who to romance - like if player wouldn't engage with romancing Sasha, maybe Vaughn's option would come a little later in the story, (ep 4?). But they probably scrapped it rather early anyway. Still, great to see.

[@Souliex]

Oh my god this is AMAZING how have I not seen this yet???? I was wondering how you would access those script files you mentioned in description- I'm very curious to see what they say. :)

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

You can go through Telltale Game files by using the Telltale Explorer which is a free and easy to use tool. There you can read script files. Slight warning, the script files are a huge mess but you can find a ton of unused dialogue that doesn't have even unused audio attached. Episode 1 2 and 3 easily have the most interesting left overs from previous scrapped storylines in their scripts. Always fun looking through them as you may find something new! The video description includes a few things I found later by reading through the scripts. I even managed to find another pretty funny Rhys and Fiona scene that worked in game a while back, been hoping to find a bit more to upload another small compilation to include it rather than upload a 1 minute scene.

[@TyrantOfAlbion]

i owe you my life

[@chubbynubs2208]

am i the only one who saw the tales from the borderlands redux trailer? seems it was taken down but fully completed. unsure if licensing issue. most likely imo.

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

At this point it has to be 100% fake and I am also very positive it was made in SFM. When I was making my TFTBL2 Concept Trailer I started to get deja vu as I started to realize that what I was making was probably the exact same way they made their trailer.

[@jonathanoxlade4252]

They definitely need to add more handsome jack stuff tho

[@sadndead-hg5rb]

26:13 Wolf Among Us's characters.

[@vixaa]

No

[@sadndead-hg5rb]

@vixaa, wdym no💀

[@Kinich-f2p]

1:58:42i still wish they add this in game but too bad it’s not easy

[@PlagueCure]

Is this beta build available to the public at all? I hope someone can get into contact with him and get the build out online. Also i gotta say thank you for making this video, this series is my absolute favorite and was the entire reason i decided to meet troy baker (the voice of Rhys) irl (twice!)

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

This is not a beta build of the game, it is left over in the games files. It involves swapping out the files that are used in the game with the left over files so they play instead of the intended ones, so you can't really play the game seamlessly. This is just edited to be as seamless as possible. There is the PAX footage which is the closest we'd probably get to seeing beta footage, but I was never able to find a recording of it at the event. I believe there was a no recording rule. It is possible someone recorded it but it hasn't been uploaded. The biggest differences would likely have been the start and end of the demo. Our best luck of ever seeing it would probably reaching out to former Telltale employees who may still have that footage.

[@sushles]

Isn't Liam the name of an Atlas guard in the third game?

[@PlagueCure]

hi! i was wondering can you tell me how you managed to look at the models / textures? i cant seem to find anyway to extract the textures with it being corrupted. as for the models, i literally cant find a way i COULD do semi-both with a 3ds max import script ive seen online, but i do not want to pay for another blender type thing. all i really want is to be able to look at the textures. any advise?

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

You'll need to look into downloading an older version of the game through Steam before the 2021 update. It isn't as hard to do as it sounds, there are tutorials for how to do so with any game on youtube.

[@PlagueCure]

@@telltaleconcepts6209 thank you so much! any idea for software to use to extract stuff?

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

@@PlagueCure Depends on what you are doing, I figured you already were using the Telltale Explorer as you said the textures were corrupted? If not, google Telltale Explorer Online and find it on Quick and Easy Software site. The tool will allow you to extract or save textures as more regular files like pngs. However, it can be a bit of a mess as sometimes saving a selected asset instead refuses to save it as a png. A work around is to search the file name so its the only result, and then use the "save current viewable" batch and it will let you save it as a png. If you mean how to extract models for other purposes, you'll probably need to use Blender or 3DS Max, which you'll need to search for plugins made specifically for importing Telltale Tool assets.

[@PlagueCure]

​@@telltaleconcepts6209 i am using telltale explorer

[@DasFlauschy]

44:48 made me laugh

[@IndoorSitup]

Just wondering, has anything new been discovered in these past 2 years or nah?

[@telltaleconcepts6209]

Not really, I know this isn't literally everything and I am sure if I go back I may find something new but I doubt it would be anything that interesting.

[@sadndead-hg5rb]

42:22 Only in Ohio.

[@Yeheah]

The only thing that I felt bad about Tales is that the game forces you to make Rhys x Sasha... I would love to have the option to see Rhys x Fiona... And to see that kiss scene 🥲