Wasteland 2 - Progress Report Update

InXile entertainment posted the next post-funding update for Wasteland 2 that contains more information on the games progress. Here is a small sample of the full update.

Progress Report

It's been a great few weeks for us as we're working towards our gold master. After handing out keys to all of you along with Wasteland 2 doing well on the Steam Summer Sale, we saw an all-time high record for simultaneous player activity on the weekend of June 21-22. It's been great to see so many people jump in!

So now's a good time for us to report in and let you know about our status, progress, and plans for the upcoming months.

First and foremost, since this has been requested quite a lot, we are putting back in a local area map functionality! With our rotatable camera and wide 3D spaces this is kind of a must-have for navigating the world. It was pulled from the beta previously as we were beginning to work on the updated map code. The new one is in and both looking and working great. You’ll be able to spot visible enemies and NPC’s along with stores and geographic landmarks from area you’ve explored. NPCs and enemies will not be visible outside of your ranger’s current view range.

More information.

Nice of them to give a shout out to Larian

That's like banner exchange from former times.

They should have had perks, traits and aimed shots as part of the core design. The whole idea of them wanting to "add it later" speaks volumes about their lack of understanding of this genre.

Oh well, at least D:OS seems to be exactly what I might have hoped for - even if I didn't back it.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
They should have had perks, traits and aimed shots as part of the core design. The whole idea of them wanting to "add it later" speaks volumes about their lack of understanding of this genre.

Oh well, at least D:OS seems to be exactly what I might have hoped for - even if I didn't back it.

Hmm… my memory is bad but I don't remember Wasteland 1 having those, that was more of a Fallout thing wasn't it?

Originally Posted by wolfing
Hmm… my memory is bad but I don't remember Wasteland 1 having those, that was more of a Fallout thing wasn't it?

Wasteland was extremely primitive, yeah. Fallout evolved that design in a big way.

So I'm about 50 hours into W2. I'd estimate I'm at 35% but I started over a couple times and I try to thoroughly explore areas (I also micromanage inventory). There's a lot that I like about the game, and a lot that I don't. This map feature would have been very helpful though…

That said, if the next patch wipes save games, I doubt I'm going to replay the game to get to the "California" areas. I just don't feel excited enough to want to redo everything up to that point. There really isn't a lot of tactical skill needed for the battles as your characters get pretty powerful quickly and you can afford basically anything you need after the first few zones. But more importantly, they have zero personality outside of your own imagination. Granted, I don't need fully-voiced companions, but it would be nice for them to occasionally chime in. They don't.

I'm also getting tired of the maze-like paths in each zone. There really is no true open area that I've found. Everything pretty much funnels you to the next event, with your only choice being "should I go right or left at the fork, first?"

What I like are the different weapons available and the different ways you can solve certain quests (when bugs don't fock it up, but it's beta). I also enjoy most of the stories for each zone. There was really only one that I felt was a grind, but the rest have kept my attention.

I'll keep playing this until Divinity: Origins gets some more patches, but I'd give the game a solid 7.5 right now.

EDIT: I'm also going to be getting another code for the game soon from my Pillars of Eternity KS pledge. I obviously won't need it… Maybe Couch could run a lottery or something for those that want it?

I finally bought the game during the Steam summer sale when the overpricing was less ridiculous.

I'm about 21 hours in and feeling like I should stop because I'd agree that I won't want to redo everything at release (and with patches likely to break saves there's less reason to play EA).

I like a lot of it but agree that it needs some map/travel help - way too much time is spent passing thru explored and cleared area maps after the initial visit and reversing all the way thru multiple connected zones/loading screens just to get back to being able to travel after clearing multiple area zones is kind of tedious. I'm all for challenge and old school vibe but I've never considered utterly pointless time wasting to be challenging to anything but my tolerance and patience.

I really wish they'd put perks or something in because yeah, your characters get powerful fast and leveling up gets to start feeling somewhat bleh. I guess if you give all your characters lots of strength to be pack mules you could develop and carry 1 of each weapon or something.

Combat is also pretty bland since it's just a plain shootout with little impact from cover, no attacks of opportunity or anything. Perks or special abilities would spice it up a bit. Attacks of opportunity would help make positioning a bit more important and help melees lock down shooters (or get to swat them when they move out of "penalty" for a better shot).

Overall, I'm impressed and I enjoy the game - so much about it is good - I just wish the two core elements of character development/progression and combat had a bit more depth.

Seems to me that if they're considering perks (which would fix both to some extent) that they should do it now, rather than later, especially if they've doubled their funding thus far and are spending it on the game. These are two big pieces of the game and changing them well after the fact would be rougher than doing it now.

Yeah, they add a lot and I don't see why perks would be some kind of big programming or design difficulty. If it is, they should have hired me instead I guess.

I haven't played it much — just a few fights — but I agree the combat felt bland. As was already said, just a shootout after being funelled there by your rocky path. Dropping the ideas of aimed shots and perks is a mistake. This game seems a hell of a lot less interesting than D:OS to me.

I picked this up during summer sale - It is the one game I regret I didn't back on Kickstarter.

And man, I regret not backing it even more now. It just feels like a graphically updated old-school CRPG. I absolutely love it. I love it when I started getting back into party combat, when I had to make a no-win choice that I was given crap for, and when it reminded me of what little I'd played of Wasteland 1.

I also still see a number of bugs, so I've tried it, and anxiously await August

Gonna be starting out D:OS now, since my saves got wiped before release, and I halted until final product to avoid more savegame wipes

I'm with ChaosTheory. The whole thing just seems bland. The combat is more-or-less a walkthru, the conversations are all right (they've definitely achieved quantity there), the graphics are good but the dithering canopy is irritating. The maps are huge, but exploration is meh, just a lot of time walking through empty areas. And what's with the thousand containers on every level with nothing of interest in them, a la Neverwinter Nights? You've got two different kinds of lockpicking to access two different kinds of boxes full of stray bullets, bandages and uninteresting junk. The whole thing lacks the edge, and the solidity, that made Fallout so enjoyable. Take 'Wasteland' out of the name and what have you got, really?