InXile Entertainment - Wasteland 2 Interview @ RPG Codex

RPG Codex has done a two-part interview with Brian Fargo on Wasteland 2. You can read the first part here. And here's something from the interview:

- The prospect of a Wasteland 2 has sparked a lot of talk amongst gamers and I'm sure you've received an overwhelming amount of feedback. What do you feel are the most common features people want to see in a Wasteland 2 and do they match up with the features you and your team envisage for the game?
Based on what I have been reading it seems we are in sync with what the players want to see. The beauty of fan funding and the internet is that we can be communicating with the fan base along the way to solicit input for the broad strokes of things. Should the art style be bleak, muted and desolate or does a Borderlands 2 look appeal to the fans. We are going to get on the same page up front. I've responded to some interviews on my sensibility thoughts and so far the fans seem to like what they are hearing. There is a definite appetite to play this more classic style of game and I certainly want to make it! To be a little more specific this is going to be a top down, party and turn based game which has always been a great formula. It will also be a larger party most likely following the same vibe of the first Wasteland with 4 player characters and 3 NPC's in your group. I always thought having just 3 players in a group didn't feel like a real party based game.

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More information.

One thing that would help set it apart from the Fallout series would be avoiding the dirty brown / gray grunge aesthetic. A post-apocalypse world doesn't have to be so monotone. With widespread radiation all kinds of strange colors could appear in the mutants, creatures and plantlife. They could take some inspiration from the old Gamma World tabletop RPG put out by TSR (not the recent garish day-glow WotC one though!).

". . . this is going to be a top down, party and turn based game which has always been a great formula." —-

Sorry, not to me. I'll pass. Have fun with it, if that's your cup of tea.

That all sounds good to me. This adds another good one: 7-member party, including 4 player characters. Pass the tea, please.

no isometric/axonometric projection as in fallout ?
Too bad. O well, still curious what the game will bring.

Zephyr said:

". . . this is going to be a top down, party and turn based game which has always been a great formula." —-

Sorry, not to me. I'll pass. Have fun with it, if that's your cup of tea.

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Oh it's my cup of tea alright. Several if not most of my all-time greatest games were excactly this.

I'm with Zephyr, this doesn't really sound like my kind of game. I'm not too keen on TB, and I'm no fan of top down view, so I'll definitely stick with a "wait and see" approach.

Sounds good. Top down generally gives a good balance between tactical options and simplicity (from a development perspective). I do hope they have some automation options though - for example, like pressing "Q" for quick combat in the old gold box games.

Having played the original Wasteland when it came out in the 80's he's saying all the right things. But I still remain very skeptical any of this will come to fruition. I'm hoping there are a lot of in-game text descriptions like we got from the paragraph booklet as well. I do not, however, want some damned printable PDF because I'm so cheap with my printer ink.

". . . this is going to be a top down, party and turn based game which has always been a great formula."

Oh yes! This is very good news and this is exactly how it should be made. Now, take my money!!

If they can avoid the nasty taint of action rpg stuff, I'll be first in line. Right now it's sounding a lot like the first Wasteland, but what actually gets released could be different. One to watch, that's for sure.


-Carn

I wish they would do the camera similar to Neverwinter Nights with different modes. You could have the camera at any angle you want and also have a free camera so you can inspect the battlefield at any angle you want. I think this would be great with a turn-based system since you could implement varying terrain as a tactical element and be able to do it better then just having a top down camera.

guenthar said:

I wish they would do the camera similar to Neverwinter Nights with different modes. You could have the camera at any angle you want and also have a free camera so you can inspect the battlefield at any angle you want. I think this would be great with a turn-based system since you could implement varying terrain as a tactical element and be able to do it better then just having a top down camera.

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I don't. You can more or less forget about them going with the intense amount of 3D modeling this would entail. Don't forget this is an indie endeavor.

Fargo is talking about doing something so old, it is essentially new. There are plenty of tactical games out already that use the camera system you describe.

screeg said:

I don't. You can more or less forget about them going with the intense amount of 3D modeling this would entail. Don't forget this is an indie endeavor.

Fargo is talking about doing something so old, it is essentially new. There are plenty of tactical games out already that use the camera system you describe.

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List them for me then please. Since most indies cant even come close to it. Most all ready know here that I don't play or enjoy most of them.

Graphics are not everything but I have standards. Its not the 90's anymore. I'm not getting my hopes up just to get them dashed again in the end.

Maybe this will be the salvation of good old RPGs. Fargo seems very sincere about the project and I'll definitely support him.

In an earlier article Fargo said he was shooting for a million dollars in funding. He may not have a publisher, but IMO that's not "indie". A million in cash still gets you a good sized team for 1-2 years. It will be full 3d, don't kid yourself, and I'll bet my socks it will look at least as good as NWN2, likely better. Also when he says top down, I'm quite sure it'll be a free rotating camera, probably locked with certain limits of angle and distance, similar to most modern RTS games. Akin to what we used to call isometric.

Technical details aside this sounds fantastic, I grew up playing the original, one of my favorites of all time. I'm ashamed to admit I never actually did finish it though, could never figure out how to get through the final base. I'm thrilled to see medium sized companies filling these niche markets. With modern game development tools and digital distribution it's affordable and "easy" to make games like this now.

Anyone have Fargo's email address? I want to work on this.

I'm really hoping this is the beginning of a sort of rennaissance for old-school game designs. The crowdfunding angle might be just the ticket to make it work. No more pressure from big publishers to always please the masses.

As far as the graphics - 2D, 3D, isometric or whatever they choose, ultimately I'll be happy as long as the turn-based, party-based gameplay is good.

LuckyCarbon said:

In an earlier article Fargo said he was shooting for a million dollars in funding. He may not have a publisher, but IMO that's not "indie". A million in cash still gets you a good sized team for 1-2 years. It will be full 3d, don't kid yourself, and I'll bet my socks it will look at least as good as NWN2, likely better.

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Are you trolling? I don't doubt the game will look good, but the man has already said it will be "top-down". What part of NWN2 was top-down? A million dollars is a lot of money, as long as you don't have a studio or office. But it's not NWN2-a-lot-of-money.

screeg said:

Are you trolling?

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Never.

screeg said:

I don't doubt the game will look good, but the man has already said it will be "top-down". What part of NWN2 was top-down?

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I read "top-down" less literally, especially compared to it's peers, aka, not 1st person or 3rd person like almost all recent RPGs. Top-Down to me means less like keeping the camera at 85-90 degrees but merely keeping the camera up and high above the characters and world. Especially since the good old term "isometric" isn't an accurate term to use when talking about a 3d engine.

Never said NWN2 was top down, I was just trying to set a minimum graphics quality comparison for for anyone who thinks this might be 2d or impossible to create good looking 3d graphics as an indie.

screeg said:

A million dollars is a lot of money, as long as you don't have a studio or office. But it's not NWN2-a-lot-of-money.

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No, it's not big studio money, but the budgets for some of these games has gotten ridiculous too. And a lot of that big study money is marketing and the development cost of the latest and greatest engine. The cost of the tools and options to create an acceptable-good level of graphics has also fallen considerably in the last 5 years. With "only" a million to work with they won't be developing an engine but licensing one. Just to pick an engine out of a hat, UDK, has all the latest bells and whistles and it's free to develop for the cost of 25% of the revenue later. UDK wouldn't be my first choice either but it's a well known example.

They're industry insiders, they know people, I bet they get a mostly finished top-down engine "cheap". Something like Obsidian's Onyx engine that was used for Dungeon Siege 3.

It's official! Mark Morgan who composed the music for @Fallout 1 and 2 has signed on to help do the same and set the mood for #wasteland.

https://twitter.com/#!/BrianFargo/status/174234836419096576

nice