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Wasteland Wasteland 3 Pre-Release Thread [GO TO NEW THREAD]

Chris Avelltwo

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678
Where do you guys think all the Wasteland 2 money Brian Fargo conned out of you idiots went to.

Probably marketing and the console ports. Marketing is expensive, and in the T:ToN thread someone posted an image of a Torment ad on Breitbart, which is the last site in the world where people would be receptive to that sort of game, and that suggests they're just throwing money around and not being very wise in how they're doing. I'd expect with WL2 it was probably much the same, and a lot (maybe even the majority) of the funds went towards marketing. I think InXile self-publishing their games is a big part of the problem. Maybe it is Fargo's ego that doesn't allow him to seek out help from Paradox or someone else the way that Obsidian has done, and done quite successfully, I might add. When you're a very small or maybe even a medium sized game company you probably should turn to a more established publisher for help instead of trying to punch above your weight and do it yourself.

Marketing is important, but a well made game can sell itself via word of mouth. But if your game is shit, then all the marketing in the world isn't going to save it. And if you're diverting funds from game development and cutting out promised content then it is just going to create bad will with your fans in the future. The best advice I could give to Brian Fargo if he happens to be reading this thread is prioritize game development and keeping promises made to fans, forget about console ports, and swallow your pride and let someone like Paradox take on the role of publishing. Trying to self-publish when your company is too small is putting the cart before the horse - you have to get big before you think of being a publisher. The original Wasteland and Bard's Tale were published by EA. It was when Interplay decided to take on the role of being a publisher that everything started to unravel. When you try to do too much by yourself you lose focus. So just worry about making great games and let someone else deal with the business side of things because making games is your real talent. You were never meant to be a businessman, Mr. Fargo. You should go back to being a game developer and not anything more or less than that. If you do that, then I'm sure Wasteland 3 can be great, because you made the original Wasteland so I know you have it in you. But your inner greatness gets corrupted when you try to be a businessman.

My 2 cents.
 

Infinitron

I post news
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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Torment: Tides of Numenera had a publisher.

Interplay released its best RPGs when it was a publisher.

Brian Fargo has always been a CEO.

How are you so dumb
 

Chris Avelltwo

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Mar 3, 2017
Messages
678
Torment: Tides of Numenera had a publisher.

Well then, I stand corrected. Regardless, you have to admit running the ads on Breitbart was a waste. So I'm not convinced this publisher was qualified for the task either. Not that that would have really helped T:ToN much anyway, mind you. You can't polish a turd.

Interplay released its best RPGs when it was a publisher.

Yes, but it also hemorrhaged money during the years it published those "best RPGs" which shouldn't have been the case since they were so good. There must have been mismanaging going on to have so many hit games and still be near bankruptcy.

Brian Fargo has always been a CEO.

Lots of people have been things their entire lives they do poorly at. Sometimes people get better at it with time and experience, but other times its just something they aren't cut out for. You know, different personality types, and things like that.

How are you so dumb

I don't know.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Hello
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone home?

https://www.fig.co/campaigns/wasteland-3?update=357#updates

All Work and (Some) Play
POSTED: 04/28/2017
Howdy Rangers,

As we go deeper into pre-production and the Colorado wasteland continues to take shape, we want to keep showing you some of the unique areas our writers and level designers are developing. Below, we have a few (spoiler-free!) details on the Stanley Hotel, a Colorado locale that inspired Stephen King's The Shining as well as our own writer, Colin McComb. He's been working with the rest of the team on the design of the zone, and we're ready to share how it fits into Wasteland 3. Additionally, we have a new concept render from the Bischoff brothers. We continue to use these pieces to flesh out our art direction, so we're excited to share them with you.

Speaking of art, let me briefly touch on some of the progress our team has been making in that department. We've mentioned in the previous updates that a huge focus for us during preproduction is prototyping our systems and engineering needs. Art has similarly been hard at work on figuring out Wasteland 3's aesthetics and pipelines, and our technical artist, Joey Betz, has also been developing tools and algorithms for snow.

For example, Joey has been working on slope based algorithms, which basically tells the engine to take our snow materials and only "paint" them on the top of objects (like cars, roofs, etc.), thin out based on the steepness of the slope they're on, and not appear at all on the bottom. He has also implemented a nice wetness algorithm, which works out melting snow on different surfaces. These subtle tech solutions are huge strides for us, as they allow our artists and level designers do a great deal more with the many snow-heavy areas we are creating.

Here's a rough in-engine animation of the tech, showing the slope based algorithm in action to paint snow only on top of the sphere, as well as the wetness algorithm on the tiling.



Stanley Hotel
Hey, Rangers - Colin here to talk about the Stanley Hotel.

In the mountains northwest of Denver stands a grand but somewhat weathered hotel, a remnant from simpler, more peaceful times.



When the bombs fell in 1998, the hotel guests watched mushroom clouds rise over the mountains and listened to the world end over the radio. They talked long into the night about what the future held. Then, over the next few days, they had final, sumptuous meals before wandering into the surrounding forest to hang themselves. Only the caretakers remained - employees, at first, and then people seduced by the idea that they could bring back a certain elegance to the world.

As the world devolved into savagery, stories of this relatively peaceful end spread through Colorado. The Stanley became a popular destination for suicidal pilgrims who came to the hotel for a joyful final repast before joining the frozen corpses hanging in the forest.

Those corpses instill superstitious fear in the wild, inbred clans in the surrounding mountains, as well as a certain unease in neighboring settlements. Rumor has it that the Stanley is haunted - those who spend too much time here swear that they hear the whispering voices of the unquiet dead. The caretakers of the Stanley don’t mind. They are people of quiet faith and firm belief in doing the right thing by their guests, and they welcome anyone who comes to their doors.

The Suicide Forest beyond their walls is not as peaceful. Predatory cats of unusual size and intelligence roam the hills, as more than one corpse-robber has found to his chagrin. Caves twist into the hard rock of the mountain - a perfect place to den for the long winter, or for a thoughtful, morality-light “entrepreneur” to set up shop far from the prying eyes of what remains of Colorado’s law.

Above it all, the Stanley looms, promising an end to the misery of life in this world. Stop on by! Reservations are appreciated, but even if the hotel is full, hang around.

A room should be vacant soon...

Shout-outs
The creator of the original X-COM games, Julian Gollop, launched his Fig campaign for Phoenix Point, featuring turn based tactical combat and world based strategic decision making. In this game, you will take on turn-based missions where you deploy a squad of soldiers to defeat mutants and monsters that populate a future earth ravished by the alien Pandoravirus.



Another campaign we want to highlight is Fort Triumph on Kickstarter. Fort Triumph is a colorful tactical RPG inspired by the likes of XCOM, but adding some of its own twists. Of particular note is a heavy focus on interactive level design, with tons of objects you can kick around or drop on top of enemies, or even chain up spells and hits to take out multiple enemies in a row. Triumph is already a ways into its development life cycle, so they're offering a playable demo to try out.



Be sure to give both crowdfunding campaigns a closer look!

Until next time,
Thomas Beekers
Creative Producer
 

CryptRat

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:decline:
I like the weird and funny tone of Wasteland 1. Wasteland 2 was clearly not weird enough and making the next game darker is another step downward and toward the same kind of games that everyone makes nowadays and that I hate.
 
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Weasel
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Is it really wise for McComb to be spending his days thinking of remote hotels and suicide right now? Have a heart, get him on the talking car or something for a bit.
 

GloomFrost

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WOW!! 2 games later and Fargo finally realizes that maybe post-ap RPGs should have a bit less of pop culture references, easter eggs, "whacky" characters and "funny" inventory junk and a bit more staff about the people trying to survive in the world that survived a God damn nuclear war!!!! There was more desperation and social problems in Dernholm alone from Arcanum then in all of the W2.
 

FeelTheRads

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I wouldn't be so sure. In the end that Fargo brand of exceptional humor will probably win and we'll once again learn how in a post-apocalyptic world people are literally gathering shit lolol
 

Zombra

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Lilura

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You couldn't have "dozens" of mercs; the limit is 18 (32 is 1.13, which is a patch-mod). I wouldn't put your hope in scrub-devs to bring anything like GOAT-lvl, though: InXile consists of washed-up has-beens, who are clueless.
 

Zombra

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1.13 doesn't count because it was made by certain devs instead of certain other devs? :|

Anyway, I don't want GOAT-level. I just want the asynchronous two-squad functionality they're already making for co-op to be available in single-player as well.
 

Roguey

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Um, I know. I told inXile that in that very thread. That's why it's so idiotic that no RPG since has ever dared.

There are balance/control scheme/target audience/narrative/performance related reasons why that hasn't been a feature since.
 

Zetor

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Yah, the reasons definitely aren't technical. Games from the 1980s and early 90s like the OG Wasteland, the Magic Candle series and Fate Gates of Dawn had async / simultaneous parties, and some of those games simulated a more complex world than your average AA / AAA RPG of 2010+...
 
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GloomFrost

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You couldn't have "dozens" of mercs; the limit is 18 (32 is 1.13, which is a patch-mod). I wouldn't put your hope in scrub-devs to bring anything like GOAT-lvl, though: InXile consists of washed-up has-beens, who are clueless.
Yeah its probably best not to mention JA2 (vanilla or 1.13) in this thread at all. I mean some people actually backed W3 with real money.
 

Roguey

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Yah, the reasons definitely aren't technical. Games from the 1980s and early 90s like the OG Wasteland, the Magic Candle series and Fate Gates of Dawn had async / simultaneous parties, and some of those games simulated a more complex world than your average AA / AAA RPG of 2010+...

Do you really think Wasteland 2 with its performance issues would have been able to handle two or three more squads on the same map? Or different maps with all that loading?
 

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