The Fargo said:
2020 has already been a better year than the entirety of 2019 for RPGs.So many releases in august and september, I bet half of them will be delayed again. This has to be the worst fucking year to have a PC especially with this damn virus gang banging around.
Jesus fucking christ.
Congratulations, "TotalGamingAddicts", you fucking idiots.
Come on mate,there are still
Haha, I haven't gotten properly angry about videogames in a long time, but that shit about "as a turn based game you might not expect it to have much in common with Fallout" really got me pissed.
“We Want [Players] to Feel Cold” — An Interview With Wasteland 3 Developer inXile Entertainment
The Wasteland series has evolved significantly since the original release in 1988. The upcoming Wasteland 3 offers a whole new experience by throwing players into the snowscapes of Colorado and featuring a dialogue system created by the team at Obsidian Entertainment for The Outer Worlds whilst maintaining its original post-apocalyptic core design. inXile Entertainment studio head Brian Fargo has been at the helm for over 30 years. Fargo has woven his Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer tactical gameplay experiences to create fresh new RTS game mechanics including spending “quite a bit of time on animating ‘gruesome’ deaths.”
In an interview with OnlySP, inXile Entertainment’s Brian Fargo spoke about becoming a Microsoft first-party studio, the evolution of the Wasteland series, and much more.
OnlySP: Why was it important for inXile to develop a new game in the Wasteland series, rather than an original title?
Fargo: Wasteland has always been near and dear to our hearts, and we were excited to build upon the success of Wasteland 2. Post-apocalypse is a fascinating genre and it allows us to get our dark humor and interesting NPCs rolled into its weird and brutal world. But we’re working on new IPs as well.
OnlySP: inXile Entertainment has built up a strong identity developing intense, innovative narrative-driven RPGs. Where the inspiration for the deep stories and tactical, strategic gameplay come from?
Fargo: Our love of tactical combat comes from our experiences with [Dungeons and Dragons] and tabletops like Warhammer, while the stories come from the thousands of books and movies we all collectively read and see. We are all heavily steeped in the storytelling from all mediums.
OnlySP: inXile has an impressive track record of crowdfunding several games including Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera, and The Bard’s Tale IV while also engaging closely with its backers. How important is crowdfunding as a development strategy for your studio? Will all future titles also be crowdfunded?
Fargo: Crowdfunding was critical for us. I don’t think we would have ultimately found the success that we did if it wasn’t for technology allowing fans to fund us directly for the kinds of games they wanted to play. Microsoft has been extremely supportive in allowing us to work on and make the kinds of games we want to make, and fortunately, that leaves us in a position where we don’t need to use the crowdfunding model any longer.
OnlySP: With the global pandemic of COVID-19 sparking mass panic buying and severe financial retractions similar to an archetypal apocalyptic story, is it surreal to develop and release a post-apocalyptic game when these events are happening in the real world?
The timing of the game does feel a bit surreal but fortunately, we are offering an escape from the real world. The good news is that people pull together more often than going to a dark side—we are wired for social strength.
OnlySP: Wasteland 3‘s beta is due to release next week for some who backed the project on Fig. As Wasteland 3 is due to release in May, do you anticipate that the beta responses may change the game’s content or to fine-tune existing content?
Absolutely. We’re going to be very focused on feedback, as we were with the Alpha, to see what players think, how they’re playing, and adjust as necessary. Feedback and iteration are critical for us as developers.
OnlySP: Wasteland 3 boasts a revamped, intricate dialogue system influenced by Torment: Tides of Numenera whereby the dialogue options can react to the player’s choices and open up branches depending on skills that players have invested in. How does this system add to the replay value, and will the different narrative branches lead to multiple endings?
It’s a pretty critical component to the storytelling in this game. We have a much tighter and intersecting narrative than we would have been able to have before, and that’s thanks to the Obsidian guys and the dialogue tool they developed that we’re using for Wasteland 3. If you played The Outer Worlds then you’ll have seen how well it works.
OnlySP: inXile made a bold decision to branch away from its roots by basing the game in the snowscapes of Colorado instead of a dry and desolate location whilst also increasing the sense of isolation. How do you want players to feel as they journey across the environments? How likely will it be for a future Wasteland game to be set outside of America?
We want them to feel cold! It’s a bleak existence, but actually it also serves as a really nice juxtaposition when you finally get inside. You’ll be driving your Kodiak through a snowstorm, you’ll run your rangers over ice and through a blizzard, and then you come across an interior and the color palette changes, it’s warm and inviting, and it actually makes you feel cozy.
As far as future Wasteland games… we’re focused on getting this one finished!
OnlySP: Enemy combatants are aesthetically stunning, especially the gigantic, arthropod- and arachnid-inspired mechanised robots. What inspired the animation of the enemies and how the art design brings the world together?
The Scorpitron has been a defining enemy since the original Wasteland back in 1988, of course the design has evolved quite a bit. When we’re looking at a game that’s a split of deep RPG story and tactical turn-based combat, it’s important for characters you’re speaking with to look good (our first-person cinematic conversations help with that) but it’s also important on the combat side for enemies to be impressive, move and react in combat in interesting ways, and then (most importantly) die in some spectacular ways. We spend quite a bit of time on animating ‘gruesome’ deaths.
OnlySP: In 2018, inXile was acquired by Xbox Game Studios as a first-party studio specifically to make engrossing role-playing games. How has your studio benefited, and what challenges have you encountered as a first-party studio?
The benefits have been pretty drastic and immediate. A lot of what you’re seeing with Wasteland 3 is a direct result of additional resources and time. Our visual fidelity took a big jump up, we have a fully voiced game, our soundtrack is really incredible, and we’re taking advantage of the internal testing and user research labs to help improve things like controller support. Those are really just a few of the benefits that are directly improving this title already, and we’re looking forward to really taking advantage of the full Xbox experience in future titles.
OnlySP: Can you reveal any details about how long the campaign will be?
We set out with this game trying to be more focused, to keep some of the sprawl we had in Wasteland 2 in-check, but in true RPG fashion, we probably failed a bit. We’re estimating around 50 or 60 hours for the average player. Of course, there’s a lot more in there if you want to take your time and explore it all.
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So... is there a short Codex summary somewhere about the beta? Is it any good and worth waiting for the full release? Is it like Wasteland 2 but improved or is there a huge decline? How bad is the performance (I know it's bad, it's Unity
Also, here is a summary of the full story of the game:So... is there a short Codex summary somewhere about the beta? Is it any good and worth waiting for the full release? Is it like Wasteland 2 but improved or is there a huge decline? How bad is the performance (I know it's bad, it's Unity
No.
General reactions are that the systems are a bit more streamlined and the content is a bit more interesting, but there isn't enough to judge the game by in the beta.
Hi there! I'm the author of this piece.
It's true, I came into this preview with absolutely zero experience of the Wasteland games. I was offered code to help fill some time in during this extended lockdown, so I wanted to offer my experience with the game.
There are surely many people like me who aren't long-time fans of Wasteland, and who have become familiar with Fallout from its console iterations, and I just offered a take from my personal perspective. I will say I have downloaded Wasteland remastered to play through now, so by the time the full game releases I will be much more up to date with the lore.
I have not played the first two Fallout games, but I am (was?) a huge fan of Fallout 3, New Vegas and 4. As each game has come and gone a bit of series fatigue has crept in though, and as asdaaaaaaa mentioned, Fallout became more reliant on graphics and the open-world experience, and less on story and characters. From my admittedly limited experience with Wasteland 3's beta, it had all of the elements that originally made me fall in love with the Fallout games, and I enjoyed every minute.
"Better than Fallout?" is, admittedly, a bait title, but I would never claim it to be better without having played the full game. The title was, in part, intended to get the attention of Fallout fans who may otherwise overlook Wasteland 3 because of the turn-based mechanics, when the majority of the experience is very similar in terms of RPG structure.
It may, for me, turn out to be a better game, but that's entirely subjective anyway. I did however thoroughly enjoy the beta and noticed more than just a few parallels in the way skill trees, character interactions and dialogue options worked.
It has been very interesting reading through the discussion here, thanks for taking the time to read it anyway.
Wasteland 3 Interview – Player Choices, Story, Multiplayer, and More
inXile Entertainment studio head Brian Fargo speaks with GamingBolt about the upcoming RPG.
inXile Entertainment have been among the frontrunners of the cRPG genre for years now, and one of their most beloved and well-respected properties – Wasteland, which they have referred to as their Fallout – will be making a return soon. Wasteland 3 is looking like the ideal sequel, as it improves on its predecessors in significant ways and carries on with their biggest strengths, and in spite of the recent delay, anticipation surrounding the game is high. Recently, we sent across some of our most burning questions about the game to its developers- you can read our conversation with studio head Brian Fargo below.
Meaningful choice and consequence mechanics are often among the most important aspect of any cRPG, and that’s an area where inXile games – Wasteland 2 included – have been very successful. Can players expect the same kind of reactivity from Wasteland 3, or perhaps something at an even larger scale?
Absolutely. Aside from combat, the deep RPG decisions and narrative choices are a hallmark for the series, so we’ve spent a lot of time on them. Our close relationship with the guys at Obsidian mean that we have access to their dialogue tools that they used for The Outer Worlds, and we’re using that to create a much deeper and interwoven story than we’d been able to in the past. We also have a team of writers on this project, where for Wasteland 2 it was essentially just one guy—Wasteland 3 is a far deeper game in the way it pays off player choice.
Wasteland 3’s multiplayer promises a lot of exciting ideas, but the fact that players playing together can affect each other’s playthroughs through their own actions is perhaps the most exciting. How far does the game let players go with that, and how much work was it for you as developers to just keep all of that straight, given how many more variables you have to deal with when it’s more than just one player?
It’s probably the biggest hurdle for us right now because, you’re absolutely right, in a game where you can make any decision and we have a response to it—including outright murdering quest NPCs—we have to figure out the additional complexity of how that plays out when there are two players in there, and they may have different objectives or ways they want to play. We need to handle quite a number of edge case scenarios.
How much impact does the addition of full voice acting and the new camera angles during dialog impact the game from a storytelling perspective?
Having our first fully voiced game is extremely exciting because it increases immersion and delivers greater emotional impact. Bringing the camera in for the first-person cinematic conversations ups that even further, and our animation team is continuing to add and refine those to ensure we’re pushing our visuals further than we’ve ever been able to before. All of these things together are hopefully going to create a more engaging story.
Can you talk about vehicles, how they function, and what areas of the experience they’re going to have the most impact on?
The Kodiak is your vehicle throughout the game, and you use it to drive between locations on the world map, and in combats you might come across or through key boss fights—and there’s a whole customization and upgrade system that goes along with it. We see the Kodiak as the 7th member of your Ranger squad, and so we have some pretty fun ways it integrates in the story and the gameplay we hope players discover and enjoy.
How large is the world of Wasteland 3?
The world map for Colorado is much larger than that of Arizona from Wasteland 2 and the story and characters are denser than the previous games. We know players want to be able to wander the Wasteland and try to take on challenges earlier than they should, and we of course support that kind of gaming. I’m especially pleased that the content never gets repetitive, and that player are going to experience new events and enemies all the way to the end.
Can you talk to us about the hub locations, especially the Rangers’ base of operations, and how in-depth the system of slowly building up that hub throughout the course of the game is?
The Ranger HQ is your place to come back to in-between missions, or when you feel like swapping out squad members, fixing up your Kodiak, and engaging with the story there. It’s one of the more satisfying parts of the game, rather than customize walls or drapes, the player decides who comes back to the base and a social fabric develops at Ranger HQ. You’ll find some groups that don’t’ get along, which forces the player to make more choices based on the dynamic. It was a fun new aspect to dive into.
Did Microsoft’s acquisition of inXile have an impact on Wasteland 3 in any way?
More resources and more time are the sweetest words any developer can hear. We’re a small studio and so we cherish every week and day we can have on a milestone or deadline. They’ve also been a huge benefit in offering us additional testing and user research, as well as allowing us to expand and increase the quality across the board. Fully voiced dialogue being one of those.
Of late, we’ve heard some XGS studios talking about how their game being released day and date on Xbox Game Pass has changed their approach to development in terms of things like accessibility. Is that true for Wasteland 3 as well?
We definitely look at how Game Pass players engage with games there, and specifically how important the first few minutes of a game are. When you can download and dip into and out of a game almost instantly, it’s even more important to ensure those first few minutes of gameplay are welcoming and captivating.
How has your acquisition by Microsoft allowed you to grow as a studio?
We’ve been able to ramp up the talent here in a big way, the future is very exciting.
Roughly how long will an average playthrough of Wasteland 3 be?
We estimate the average playthrough is going to be around 50-60 hours.
Will the game will feature Xbox One X and PS4 Pro-specific enhancements? Is 4K/60 FPS on the cards?
We’re still working on optimization, but yes, we’ll be taking some advantage of the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro.
Outer Worlds shined in exactly one area: reactivity. This could be a very good thing."Absolutely. Aside from combat, the deep RPG decisions and narrative choices are a hallmark for the series, so we’ve spent a lot of time on them. Our close relationship with the guys at Obsidian mean that we have access to their dialogue tools that they used for The Outer Worlds, and we’re using that to create a much deeper and interwoven story than we’d been able to in the past. We also have a team of writers on this project, where for Wasteland 2 it was essentially just one guy—Wasteland 3 is a far deeper game in the way it pays off player choice."
