Codex Interview RPG Codex Wasteland 2 Interview - Part 3: Brian Fargo on Community Feedback

[God is Dog backwards]

I'm someone who was too young to play Wasteland, and now I just can't be bothered. The game's graphics and tech are too big a barrier for me right now.

I'd love this game to be a spiritual Fallout 3.

Was Wasteland a genuine classic as Fallout 1/2 are, as PS:T is? To be honest I don't see a lot of people including it in 'best games of all time' and all that - I get the impresion sometimes that Fallout, while being a spiritual successor, was also the better game, even when looking at the games relative to the time they were released?

 

[General Maxson]

Codex, what are we even discussing? Quest compas? If the man said he wants to make the game for US, rpg starved oldschool guys, why are we even discussing quest compas? It it the thing we loathed and mocked in the last few years...

 

[Stelcio]

BF: There will be zero need to have played Wasteland 1 in order to slide into the sequel. We will obviously take elements of both games into account on the sequel. There are so many similarities in the two worlds that it is difficult for me to say what is spiritual to what.

So they actually want to appeal to Fallout fan-base. Smart move, regarding it's hell of a lot bigger than Wasteland fan-base and just as starved for their fix. I think most of the donations actually came from Fallout fans or generally cRPG fans, not from Wasteland fans.

If the game is going to be designed to play without a quest compass and you'll be able to turn it off (and I think that's the worst case possible), than the whole matter is irrelevant.

 

[Aeschylus]

Though there is only so much he can really say about gameplay at this point, I'll definitely commend Fargo for his openness and willingness to address people's concerns.

I just hope he can deliver on all his promises. I want to believe.

 

[Bulba]

Why the fuck not? The target market for that kind of helping mechanics is certainly used to being extra charged for shit. And it would remove the compass from production and design of the game itself and make it an addition.
Who wants it - buys it.

This would tempt the game desingner to make a game unplayable without one.

 

[MMXI]

Was Wasteland a genuine classic as Fallout 1/2 are, as PS:T is? To be honest I don't see a lot of people including it in 'best games of all time' and all that - I get the impresion sometimes that Fallout, while being a spiritual successor, was also the better game, even when looking at the games relative to the time they were released?

Wasteland is a far better RPG than Planescape: Torment. Also, Wasteland was far further ahead of its time than Fallout was. Fallout didn't really do anything that hadn't been done previously, while Wasteland was plain revolutionary.

 

[hiver]

Why the fuck not? The target market for that kind of helping mechanics is certainly used to being extra charged for shit. And it would remove the compass from production and design of the game itself and make it an addition.
Who wants it - buys it.

This would tempt the game desingner to make a game unplayable without one.

Which is something they wont do as Brian statement clearly says.

And were dealing with seriously old school pros here, not with fucking latest bethesda.

However, generally its better to vote it down furiously to get the point firmly clear.
But there should not be any panic about it since inXile is clearly going in different direction with design and thinks about it only as an addition that could be maybe given to people to vote about.
If they really wanted it it would already be in, not up for voting.

And even that only maybe.

If Brother None makes the poll maybe we can ask he makes a few additional options instead of just simple yes or no.
Like vote for do it only as patch or dlc after the game or dont bother because it will only be a waste of development time a small minority will ever actually use... etc.

 

[Crooked Bee]

In an important announcement, Brian Fargo has promised a digital copy to everyone who donates at least $15 towards the Codex shrine (and needs a copy)!

EDIT: Provided we get to $10k, of course.

 

[hiver]

damn... is that one cool cat or what?

 

[Stelcio]

Also, Wasteland was far further ahead of its time than Fallout was. Fallout didn't really do anything that hadn't been done previously, while Wasteland was plain revolutionary.

However, the more revolutionary thing is not necesarilly the better one. It can be actually bad regardless being revolutionary.

Wasteland is without a doubt a milestone achievement in cRPG history, still ironically it's greatest importance is as Fallout's predecessor.

 

[G.O.D]

Ladies and gents.. it's emotional.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Oops, forgot to mention Fargo's promise is conditional upon our reaching $10k, of course But we're almost there...

 

[skuphundaku]

If Brother None makes the poll maybe we can ask he makes a few additional options instead of just simple yes or no.
Like vote for do it only as patch or dlc after the game or dont bother because it will only be a waste of development time a small minority will ever actually use... etc.

By accepting any kind of DLC, you're just inviting the in. Enough already with DLC this, DLC that, please!

 

[Charles-cgr]

The original game sold over 100,000 copies—on the Apple ][ and Commodore 64 platforms back in the day. If everyone who played it then backs the project at the most basic level, the game is on.

^From the kickstarter page.

So Wasteland sold 100 000 copies. Half of them have probably moved to other things and are oblivious to this event's existence. That leaves 50 000 pretty excited fans, give or take. There are 36 000 backers.

I wouldn't bet that such a big portion of those backers are Fallout fans.

 

[skuphundaku]

Oops, forgot to mention Fargo's promise is conditional upon our reaching $10k, of course But we're almost there...

If we hurry, we may even be the ones sending it over the $1.5mil threshold with our $10k pledge.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Oops, forgot to mention Fargo's promise is conditional upon our reaching $10k, of course But we're almost there...

If we hurry, we may even be the ones sending it over the $1.5mil threshold with our $10k pledge.

No need to hurry too much, its still under 1.490. Went up about 6K today. Tomorrow the window opens for the opportunity to make the donation that much more... valuable.

 

[deus101]

The classic RPGs like a Fallout or a Torment had a heavy literary vibe with all the great prose and descriptions, and that is a large element that people liked. I'm not talking about stepping on every square and getting a paragraph, but there is definitely a place for good writing. Also keep in mind that we will design the game as if there was no conversation audio, so we won't even consider that as a limitation.

This is the thing I've been bitching about!

Over the top "storytelling" is a plague!

 

[Stabwound]

Call me cynical, but I sort of doubt the kickstarter would have been having this kind of response if he didn't namedrop Fallout all the time. I've seen waaaaay more people talking about how they "liked Fallout 1 and 2" and decided to donate to this compared to people talking about how they liked Wasteland. I'm imagining that the game will end up being some kind of Wasteland/Fallout hybrid.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Of course it will. Nothing wrong with that. Fallout was already a Wasteland/Fallout hybrid.

 

[G.O.D]

Sure, or more optimistically.. donating to the higher purpose of getting better, none tripple A games in the future by making a statement.
Ofcourse with the emphasis on 'optimistically'.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Oops, nevermind tomorrow. It just made it over 1.490. The race is on. How much is still needed?

 

[Stelcio]

So Wasteland sold 100 000 copies. Half of them have probably moved to other things and are oblivious to this event's existence. That leaves 50 000 pretty excited fans, give or take. There are 36 000 backers.

I wouldn't bet that such a big portion of those backers are Fallout fans.

That's a very stretched calculation with very aimed conclusions. First of all, buying a game does not make you a fan. I'm pretty sure every gamer flushed his money down the toilet at least once by buying a game he didn't like. It could have happened in this case. It could have been bought as a present. It could have been just another game on the shelf. Second, the game is over 20 years old FFS. It's a hell lot of a time and people change. My dad raved about Prince Of Persia in his youth, but today he wouldn't give a penny for another PoP game, even though he still plays games being 55 (lol, he wasn't that young actually). Actually, some of these buyers could have died in the meantime.

So even if half of those people still play games there's no reason to think they are "pretty excited fans". I'd say minority of them is. And we have no reason to think that every "pretty excited fan" would contribute. How much would that leave?

 

[Crooked Bee]

The race is on. How much is still needed?

DU's probably asleep now, Tal isn't here either. Without them, I'm in the dark.

 

[Stabwound]

That's a very stretched calculation with very aimed conclusions. First of all, buying a game does not make you a fan. I'm pretty sure every gamer flushed his money down the toilet at least once by buying a game he didn't like. It could have happened in this case. It could have been bought as a present. It could have been just another game on the shelf. Second, the game is over 20 years old FFS. It's a hell lot of a time and people change. My dad raved about Prince Of Persia in his youth, but today he wouldn't give a penny for another PoP game, even though he still plays games being 55 (lol, he wasn't that young actually). Actually, some of these buyers could have died in the meantime.

So even if half of those people still play games there's no reason to think they are "pretty excited fans". I'd say minority of them is. And we have no reason to think that every "pretty excited fan" would contribute. How much would that leave?

Unfortunately, I agree. From what I've been reading on other communities I would go as far as to guess that the majority of people that donated to this kickstarter have never even played Wasteland before. Having said that, I'd probably also guess that the majority of people that donated large amounts of money were Wasteland fans, so it kind of balances out.

Not that it makes the kickstarter campaign any less cool and promising. People know exactly what they're donating toward ("a top down, turn based rpg") unless they blindly threw money at the computer without any clue what they're doing.

 

[Charles-cgr]

... we have no reason to think that every "pretty excited fan" would contribute. How much would that leave?

36 000?

Of course my conclusions are aimed. I want pixel art. This is a Brian fargo interview. He might be reading this. :D