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Wasteland 2 - Interview @ PC World

Brian Fargo talks Wasteland 2 and the future of PC gaming is the title of this interview at PC World that isn't quite as grand as it sounds:

Quote:

How customizable will the Desert Rangers be in this game?
We’re really hanging our hat on the customizable nature of the rangers, so that starts with character creation right off the bat. Some role-playing games have gone a different way where you play a specific character and then you get to hear his dialect and how he speaks or reacts; this is a little bit different. While designing the game we don’t really know whether you’re creating a group of Russian women or what. The game is completely customizable in terms of your skills and your attributes and even the look of it. You can import portraits that you want to have represent your groups, and we even let you choose the pack of cigarettes you like to smoke.
What do you think about turn-based gameplay?
For deep role-playing games I think it’s a given that you need to do [turn-based combat] because combat’s the thing you do the most, and already these types of games require a lot of reading and a lot of thinking. I think the combat system should follow suit: turn-based combat has you worrying about things like distance, height, ammunition, inventory, skill systems, etc. You’re always using your brain, and I think that’s critical for a good role-playing game.

More information.

A Ranger combat team of chain smoking Russian women. Hmm, interesting… :)

I've played quite a few RPGs over the years. I'm 65 and my gaming goes back to my mainframe programming days starting in the early 80s. I never got into Pen and Paper games. Even though turned-based and party-based games were all that was available back then, I felt it was stilted and hoped for a more realistic, real time experience. More of that came about over time with single player, real time combat, and more open world games. It was liberating for me.
I just don't get this reverence for glacial paced turn-based combat. The endless twiddling with inventory drives me up the wall. The "Oh, there's a Troll up ahead." Pause game, go to Inventory, "Hmm, Bow of Burning or Flame Sword + 3? Mithril Mail or Elven Armor? Maybe Fireball. No wait, Lightning and then Disintegrate."
Spare me. That's not role playing, that's bookkeeping. Why not just open a spreadsheet and juggle cells all night?

Good read. :)

Daniel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zephyr (Post 1061180238)

I just don't get this reverence for glacial paced turn-based combat. The endless twiddling with inventory drives me up the wall.

I like most RPG'S, including turn based, and turn based games needn't be especially slow, no one forces you to take ages to decide your actions.

Also most turned based games I've played don't allow to requip all your stuff in the middle of combat without making you skip your attacks at least. Generally when I hit combat I make do with what I have equipped and get stuck in!

Maybe it's the way you play turn based games that needs to change?

Daniel.

I've always liked turn-based because those systems are often more tactical and interesting. I do however prefer RTwP when well implemented, Fallout Tactics comes to mind. I WANT there to be "rounds" of some sort, I just feel it's easier to get a grip on those kind of systems. Real-time is fine in games like TES, when you're controlling one character. But in a party based game? Yuck. And I do love my tactical RPG's, best genre ever…

The larger the group of figures you control, the more that turn-based makes sense. You're doing the thinking for that many creatures, so naturally it takes longer than real time. Perhaps better AI would aid in the task by pre-plotting individual actions? Shrug. Personally I'm okay with either approach. (Too many gamers get religious about their gaming preferences, IMO.)