Wasteland Wasteland 1 Remastered by Krome Studios

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

It works on W7.

 

[Silentstorm]

I loaded the game up and gave it a spin. It's got a fancy intro and narration by General Vargas voice actor from Wasteland 2.

I think it's nice. Some of you might find that the graphics don't trigger you as much when you take in the game as a whole along with the sound effects, music and animations.

Your party in the game is represented by a tabletop piece that skips around tile-by-tile, but the upside of that is that you move around fast.

There's an in-game manual and quest log but otherwise it's the same primitive UI as the original. To do anything you have to select a character from your party, select a skill/attribute, select the direction to use it.

Wait, so let me get this straight, this remake is genuinely just changing graphics!?

Considering how remakes tend to change UI's and controls, or offer what are considered quality of life mechanics to people who didn't grow up with these games, like what the Bard's Tale Trilogy remasters provide, i am shocked that they just...released the game with the same UI, only difference being the graphics and the HUD.

Wow, there is not much reason to just not pick the original version as it's cheaper, this was really the only thing people expected aside from a different look, different UI and controls and they didn't even provide that.

 

[Infinitron]

Well they are calling it a remaster, not a remake. But as I said it's not just graphics but also music, sound effects, various animations, general atmosphere.

I agree that the UI is a disappointment.

 

[felipepepe]

Tried it for a while, feels like a rushed job. It has almost no few quality of life improvements, you can't even do basic things like click on a characters' name to see its inventory, you have to press their number. Add things like the keyword dialog with no hints whatsoever, items with no description and the convoluted skill system and you have a game that plays almost exactly like the original. It never teaches basic things like how to use items, skills or attributes.

Seriously, if you never played Wasteland before, I doubt you will ever figure out how to operate the UI to enter the cave and find that dammed dog.

Just look at this:

It still splits inventory into pages, so that all items go from 1-9, but you can't change pages with the mouse, you have to press DOWN on the keyboard. The game is full of things like this, it's really disappointing.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

the entire point of these is to improve the UI/UX, what a disaster

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

Well... controls are actually worse than in the original. Because you cannot create macroses. Without macroses the whole game becomes a chore.

Hopefully, they will add macroses in the patch.

 

[felipepepe]

Even something like "repeat last round orders" would've have helped a lot. Or the option to pool money when visiting a medic.

It's really sad, because I actually like the graphical changes. Look at this cave:

This looks nice, and the music also gives a cool atmosphere. I really hope the patch those improvement in, this has the potential to be something good.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

Yep, graphics is not nearly as bad as it seems from official sreens. It has some vibe to it.

The biggest problem with this remaster is that it is too faithful to the original for its own good. This, and also the lack of macroses. I'd say that if you really like the original, it's worth to give the remaster a shot. But wait for patches.

 

[Silentstorm]

Wow, a remake would have been a much better idea, how the hell is the UI and controls worse!?

Well, i think macroses will be added but i am really not feeling like buying this over the original.

 

[Infinitron]

I hope there will be significant patches. With the BT Trilogy they had the excuse of having to develop the second and third parts, which gave them time to make other improvements. And then the console release afterwards as well. With this game they'd just be improving it for its own sake.

Hey MaDPuPPeT, any chance of you popping back in?

 

[Roguey]

Well... controls are actually worse than in the original. Because you cannot create macroses. Without macroses the whole game becomes a chore.

Hopefully, they will add macroses in the patch.

Creating a macro to rest until you were fully healed was essential, wtf did they even play their own game?

 

[Infinitron]

Did the original Wasteland have a camp function? Because this one does.

https://www.inxile-entertainment.com/post/welcome-to-wasteland-remastered

Hint: As time passes, your party's health will recover for all members not critically injured. Pressing the ESC key will allow time to pass at an increased pace. You can also instruct your party to camp (C) which will pass hours by, potentially allowing much more health to be regained faster. Be warned though, camping in exposed areas puts your group at risk of being ambushed by lurking enemies!

 

[Grauken]

Or do you think these remakes will end up serving some higher purpose?

I think that remakes of 1980s "8-bit era" RPGs specifically are a good thing that has value. It's not just about the graphics - those games are just a very barren, alien experience compared to what people became used to even a few short years into the 1990s.

But competent remake developers seem to be hard to find. They often fuck things up. Krome are a rare dev who actually know what they're doing with these remakes (as proven by their Bard's Tale Trilogy remaster) and so they have my support.

Sure, the Bard's Trilogy remaster was good, this one on the other hand seems like an absolute misfire, terrible visual direction coupled with the original UI, it's like the worst combination possible. This has no value whatsoever over the originals

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

Did the original Wasteland have a camp function? Because this one does.

It has a wait function. Which is basically the same thing.

 

[Roguey]

Did the original Wasteland have a camp function? Because this one does.

Nope, you had to hit/hold down escape to pass time. How much time passes when you camp?

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

Did the original Wasteland have a camp function? Because this one does.

Nope, you had to hit/hold down escape to pass time. How much time passes when you camp?

Not too much. NPCs restore only 2-3 hp per one camping.

 

[Infinitron]

Did the original Wasteland have a camp function? Because this one does.

Nope, you had to hit/hold down escape to pass time. How much time passes when you camp?

Checking now. Looks like it depends on your location. Out on the world map, you sleep for hours (high chance of being interrupted by enemies). In towns etc, you camp for fifty minutes each time.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

terrible visual direction

grafx seem fine
whoever took the screenshost didn't do a good job showcasing it

 

[Roguey]

Checking now. Looks like it depends on your location. Out on the world map, you sleep for hours (high chance of being interrupted by enemies). In towns etc, you camp for fifty minutes each time.

I see, so they did in fact play their own game.

 

[Grauken]

terrible visual direction

grafx seem fine
whoever took the screenshost didn't do a good job showcasing it

I would have preferred if they had gone for higher quality pixel art, like with the Bard's Tale remaster

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

So I guess they didn't improve the thing from original, when in order to split your party you had to take dozens of steps? Because this was horrible in the original, splitting party was meant as a way to experiment, like to check if you can enter a female bathroom if you separate woman from the team (it was important in some quest If I recall correctly)

 

[Gregz]

Well... controls are actually worse than in the original. Because you cannot create macroses. Without macroses the whole game becomes a chore.

Hopefully, they will add macroses in the patch.

Can someone please confirm that macros have been removed?

Macros have far more uses than just resting.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/875800/discussions/0/1750149787512238835/
Combat Shooting is still useless.

 

[Bah]

Can someone please confirm that macros have been removed?
Macros have far more uses than just resting.

Yeah, macros are pretty important for things like using Doctor 1 to save someone in a coma, or picklocking a stubborn door, or climbing out of that pit you fell into even though you stretched a rope over it. Without macros, it would be incredibly tedious.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

2.5 gigabytes new ... jesus.
77 megabytes Gog original classic
1.9 megabytes appleII (emu) extra save disk
1.5 megabytes c64 version (also emu)
866 kilo bytes dos version

Whew....... talk about inflation of size.

looking back at the gog "original classic" it came with extra music and ost. I wouldnt be surprised if this is a reused asset