Wasteland 2 External News Thread

[dukem73]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/20 ... ckstarter/

[Brother None]

Ripten's got a must-read interview with Fargo

[Madball357]

Ripten's got a must-read interview with Fargo

MF: There seem to be two halves of the gaming universe. Old guys like me who grew up on Fallout. I remember pouring over decisions and redoing combat, just because an NPC died. I loved that dog too much to let him go. The other half, though, are much younger. Their first introduction to the universe was Fallout 3 and New Vegas. How are they going to be able to relate to this game having no real frame of reference for these classic, wonderful RPGs?

BF: The thing about this project being fan-funded is that I’m not worried about this new group of people and how they might get it. This is being made for people like yourself that grew up playing Wasteland, Fallout and Fallout 2. These new people, who have never played these games, I think they’re going to check it out and have a great time. I’m simply not going to worry about how I get these console guys to come over and like it, because there is no reason to. We all know the experience that we grew up with. We all loved it and we’ve all been wanting one, so that’s what I’m going to bring. It’s not a putdown on the console product, it’s just that I’m not going to worry about how to get them.

Hats off to Fargo.

[Greenpee]

One of the things I should mention, since you mention Infocom, is that one of the things that roleplaying games have lost over the past decade, looking back at the classics that we and other people did, whether it was Baldur’s Gate or Torment or Fallout, is the literary aspect. That prose and the writing have been lost, as things have gone more graphical. It’s something that people responded to, and I’m not talking about having to read a book every time you step on a square. It was about having interesting conversations and dialog, and nice descriptions. I won’t say that no one has done it right, but I think there is a literary vibe to those.

As a result, we have more illiterate gamers.

[...] Hats off to Fargo.

Very refreshing, but it takes some getting used to.

Good read.

[Ekaros]

Ripten's got a must-read interview with Fargo

This is good one really good one. Tells lot about why this project ended up this way and what is it like for projects these days...

[mangrove]

Great interview!

[mindx2]

This was a very frank and informative interview. I was impressed with his willingness to discuss publishers and their negative impact on games today. He also just cemented my enthusiasm for the game with his answers about old-school gaming styles and expectations. The "S" word also now appears dead in the water and the focus back %100 towards a larger, more in-depth world for us to explore. This interview should be front page on their Kickstarter page as it brought back the same initial excitement I felt when this thing began.

[Brother None]

GameBanshee interviews Chris Avellone

RPS interviews Brian Fargo

Both talk about how the co-operation would work. It's mostly MCA, working on areas assigned to him, and tools. Onyx won't be in it. Both well worth the read.

[ButchinMelancholy]

Another one: http://www.nowgamer.com/features/1306686/wasteland_2_kickstarter_plot_gameplay_interview.html?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150549945419159_19993987_10150550752284159

[Utxyle]

Wasteland 2 is #1 on the "6 Amazing Indie Video Games That Kickstarter Made Possible" today.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-amazing-indie-video-games-that-kickstarter-made-possible/

This is a good thing, even the smallest Cracked articles typically get between 500k and 1 million hits, and it opens us up to more than just videogame news and blog sites. I hope this article gives a nice little boost to the pledges.

[Chromie]

Interview: Obsidian’s Chris Avellone on Wasteland 2

I loved this question. It almost makes me want to buy New Vegas. Yes I haven't played it yet I can't get behind the combat.

"RPS: I’ve seen an interesting trend in fan responses to the Wasteland-Obsidian probable partnership: “YES, IT’LL BE JUST LIKE FALLOUT 2.” Except that Wasteland and Fallout 2 are very different games — especially in terms of battle system, etc. How do you cater to Wasteland fans and Fallout fans while also making something that gamers who’ve never experienced either will dig?

*snip*

Chris Avellone: Lastly, this is my opinion: it’s Wasteland 2. It should be a Wasteland game. While there were differences between F2 and WL, there’s a lot of similarities as well: open world, open exploration, skill-based solutions, stat-based solutions, enemy types, coping with radiation, etc. I’ll be honest, we worked at playing around with Wasteland elements in Old World Blues, and people never felt the difference – they loved it all the more for those elements."

[Snaider1234]

Hi,

I've noticed following Brian Fargo's tweet from 2 days ago:

"There is far more frustration with publishers than I had known when I started this. Too many developers and consumers are unhappy."

Was this discussed somewhere, I would be interested to see what he was referring to ?

[ButchinMelancholy]

Was this discussed somewhere, I would be interested to see what he was referring to ?

In Ripen's interview here: http://www.ripten.com/2012/03/27/brian-fargo-talks-wasteland-2-abysmal-publisher-treatment-and-having-fun-again/

[silvercross]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/1681 ... lisher.php

An interesting except:

And since those nostalgic players are providing the funding for the game, Fargo said he's doing everything he can to ensure that their voices are heard. Fargo pointed out that Kickstarter backers won't have a final say on the game's content, but InXile wants to keep communication channels open so the team doesn't miss any key feedback.

InXile has already taken some cursory surveys about Wasteland 2, and Fargo said he's been surprised by what his backers are looking for.

"As an example, we asked fans what they'd like to see once we hit a certain funding level. More audio? A bigger world? And almost universally, people said, 'Please don't waste my money on audio.'"

Instead, players wanted InXile to include more text, giving the game a more robust, branching narrative. Adding voice-overs would only limit the game's scope, as dialogue trees would be bound by the game's audio budget. "It was an interesting thing to hear from [the fans], and I'm glad I heard that," Fargo said.

He was quick to note, however, that InXile can't put complete faith in this fan feedback. Fargo said that while the backers have effectively taken the place of a traditional publisher, InXile isn't willing to give up any creative control.

"When I get feedback from the users, I know a good idea when I hear it, and I know a consensus when I hear it. I'll make that decision myself. Now, if I'm working with a publisher, they can tell me what to do, I can disagree, and they'll say, 'we don't care.' There's a huge difference," he said.

I'm a sound pusher, so I would actually love more audio stuff (including voices). xD But it looks like I'm in the minority? I suppose, between a good narrative and extensive sound, the story one ups.

[ButchinMelancholy]

I personally don't want too much voices in the game (but in the other hand music is crucial for me), but it has to be some really good voice acting at least.
I'm a bit worried for the possible french voice acting as the level of quality is usually between average and mediocre (often not credible and ridiculous)...
Fallout was really good in that and I hope it will be as good.

[Anarkopsykotik]

What, you don't use french text with english voices? Heretic!
I honestly doubt there will be a french voice version at all anyway. And as a VO integrist I am fine with that.

[krellen]

Americans think the French are weird because they dub everything.

The French think Americans are weird because they insist on subtitles.

The world is funny.

[Mort2]

If this how we decide, then French are weird, I'd take subtitles over dubbing every day.

My paraents watching dubbed movies, the horror

[Brother None]

I'm a bit worried for the possible french voice acting as the level of quality is usually between average and mediocre (often not credible and ridiculous)...

You're assuming this game's voice-over will be localized? That is extremely unlikely. Text will be localized where possible. Voices? I doubt it.

[Vryheid]

RPS: Do you think Kickstarter is at risk of becoming a tool for resurrecting much-beloved series and genres that have been collecting dust? Do you worry that gamers are — at heart — just as risk-averse with their money as publishers?

Chris Avellone: Not after Double-Fine and InXile’s Kickstarter efforts. The response we got at Obsidian for a Kickstarter was 1000 hits/sec on our website followed by a flood of support. I’m not worried.

This was a good question and I think Chris missed the point of it entirely. I sincerely hope that Kickstarter supporters don't get so caught up in nostalgia for sequels that they completely blow off all the important indie efforts and new franchises being offered up on the site.