Wasteland - Playing for the first time

[taxalot]

'Sup Codex

I am playing Wasteland for the first time, and I greatly enjoy it. I am telling you this because I am sure most of you guys act like it's the best shit ever but few here have the balls to play anything so hardcore

Anyway, maybe there is still here one or two gentlemen that played the game. If you are not a gentleman, it's fine too. I was wondering if some of you had tips regarding combat. The game pretty much forces you to play Iron Man with its quirky save system. I manually save before entering dangerous areas, but it looks like that whatever, there is an autosave feature ; so when a party member of mine is critically or seriously injured, there is no way to bring it back except force quit DosBox, which is a tactic even I refuse to use.

Combat seems okay so far, but tough : character keeps getting uncoscious all the time, even near the start areas of the game.

So :
1) Any general tip on combat, and on replacing dead characters by new ones ?
2)Any general tip... outside combat ?
3) Is there a way to regain health without walking around on the world map ? I can't find a "rest" option, and "things to eat" I find (Fruits, for example), do not appear to be usable items.

Yours truly,

 

[octavius]

General tip: Explore every square and try anything you can think of. It's very easy to miss stuff and there is no hand holding.

You can get healing at hospitals.

 

[bhlaab]

I've never been able to get past character creation.

 

[taxalot]

General tip: Explore every square and try anything you can think of. It's very easy to miss stuff and there is no hand holding.

You can get healing at hospitals.

Thanks for the every square hint. Indeed, I did find a couple of more things that way.

I noticed I can get healing at hospitals (at least, doctors), but they charge ludicrous fees so far, and it's easier to walk around in safe areas of the world map to get backk your HP. I was hoping I could eat the fruits I find, find bandages, or something that made me regain some health. Apparently, having a lot of MEDIC skills can help the HP regeneration.

I've yet to find some place to buy ammo, though

I'm not sure I'm doing combat right either : the game is "special" in the way character can keep losing consciousness in combat and can get back to fighting next turn. Having all your characters KO doesn't end combat either. So there are some areas where you are virtually invulnerable because your characters do not die. It just takes a fuckload of time to kill your opponent.

 

[Jaesun]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=60946

 

[Gregz]

'Sup Codex

I am playing Wasteland for the first time, and I greatly enjoy it. I am telling you this because I am sure most of you guys act like it's the best shit ever but few here have the balls to play anything so hardcore

Anyway, maybe there is still here one or two gentlemen that played the game. If you are not a gentleman, it's fine too. I was wondering if some of you had tips regarding combat. The game pretty much forces you to play Iron Man with its quirky save system. I manually save before entering dangerous areas, but it looks like that whatever, there is an autosave feature ; so when a party member of mine is critically or seriously injured, there is no way to bring it back except force quit DosBox, which is a tactic even I refuse to use.

Combat seems okay so far, but tough : character keeps getting uncoscious all the time, even near the start areas of the game.

So :
1) Any general tip on combat, and on replacing dead characters by new ones ?
2)Any general tip... outside combat ?
3) Is there a way to regain health without walking around on the world map ? I can't find a "rest" option, and "things to eat" I find (Fruits, for example), do not appear to be usable items.

Yours truly,

This is my favorite game of all time (not adjusted for nostalgia). (Thus my avatar and location caption, there's a tough mob in Vegas...but I shant spoil it further)

Try, oh so very hard, to resist ever using google or a walkthrough/spoilers etc. Otherwise you simply won't have the experience the game designers intended for you. (This isn't easy because the game is chock full of puzzles and difficult spots).

1) Early in the game, go ahead and experiment. If a few people die, go back to the ranger center, transfer all the gear to your existing players, and re-roll some new ones. The Doctor skill is invaluable. It will allow you to revive Srs and Crit wounded members of your party. You really only need 1 player, or at most 2 with this skill. This is why IQ is such an essential statistic at character creation. You will notice that certain skills only become available if you have the requisite intelligence. IQ also determines how many skill points you can allocate at character creation, and skills are king in this game. Stats will increase over time as you level, but slowly, so be sure you prioritize this stat above all others for all of your characters. You will also want different characters to specialize in different skills. 1 safecracker, 1 alarm disarmer, etc. Although basic weapon skills like assult rifle etc. you will want everyone to have. It can be fun to roleplay and create a character named 'Pyro' who specializes in explosives and heavy weapons etc. Another can specialize in stealth and safecracking and alarm disarm etc.

2) Outside of combat, save liberally. Make sure everyone is carrying a canteen. Also I would recommend creating a backup folder and copy/pasting the entire game folder into that every 4 hours or so. It should only take up a couple megs. This is in case you get in real trouble (unlikely, but possible). Also, the game is largely structured around conversation and clues you will find in the 'Journal'. You'll see a lot of 'read journal entry ###'. It shoudl be in PDF form in your game folder. Get out those ancient implements known as pen and paper (or use notepad), and begin to write down and correlate the clues you are given. You will need them later to find people, places, items, passwords etc.

Also, know you can gain both experience and skill level ups by practicing skills. So try to find ways and places where you can do this.

3) You can regain health without moving by pressing the 'esc' key if I recall correctly. If not you can always just move up and down a few squares on the map. Also, you will find programmable macros very useful in this regard. For instance, you can map 30 X 'esc' to the F1 key to heal quickly. Or you can map access to your Doctor skill on F2 such that you can just hit F2 and then type the number of the player you want healed.

I'll be following this thread if you have more questions. Playing this game as intended (without use of google etc.) is very hardcore indeed. I played this game when I was 15 (before the internet existed) and it took me nearly a month to beat. Good luck with it, and have fun!

Edit: Jaesun's thread above is helpful, but there are some spoilers in there so be forewarned.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

follow the LP nigga

 

[Jaesun]

that would spoil too much.

 

[Arikel]

It's been ages since I played this game but it has always been a favorite of mine. As mentioned above IQ is really the most important stat, though having at least one good melee guy is alright also as you can get more attacks and some really nice melee weapons later on if I remember right.

I'm assuming you have the paragraphs or it wouldn't be so great a game. There are a few mods (including a map and character reset tool) and other files and such at http://wasteland.rockdud.net

Site hasn't been updated in some time but it's the best wasteland place on the net that I ever found.

 

[malichaixx]

I haven't played this in forever, but I loved it. My ex-husband had gotten it for himself, because he loved the post-apocalyptic setting. then he decided it 'wasn't realistic enough'.

So I started playing and got into it and loved it. I don't have anything to add that isn't already here, but if you can stick with it, this game is awesome.

 

[taxalot]

Thanks a lot for the help, gentlemen. That was way more than I expected. I play this game "on the side", but I will be sure to follow's everyone advices and check that Ranger HQ . It is not in my intent to use a faq, walkthrough or anything unless I'm absolutely stuck.

How long would you say the game is? I've read various accounts.

 

[shihonage]

I haven't played this in forever, but I loved it. My ex-husband had gotten it for himself, because he loved the post-apocalyptic setting. then he decided it 'wasn't realistic enough'.

Clearly, your response was "you know what else isn't realistic enough? OUR MARRIAGE!"

 

[Gregz]

Thanks a lot for the help, gentlemen. That was way more than I expected. I play this game "on the side", but I will be sure to follow's everyone advices and check that Ranger HQ . It is not in my intent to use a faq, walkthrough or anything unless I'm absolutely stuck.

How long would you say the game is? I've read various accounts.

It depends largely on your style of play. With an efficient walkthrough and taking advantage of a few exploits available in the game I'm guessing it could be won in as little as 6 hours start-to-finish? (Edit: Found a 16 minute speed-run on youtube that uses an exploit, interesting to watch but I won't link it here because of spoilers in the description and discussion)

If you play it as you intend to play it however, it will be much longer. A virgin playthrough with no LP/walkthrough/spoilers/exploits will probably take at least 40 hours, but imo that would involve a lot of luck and player intelligence. A more realistic estimate is 60 hours or more.

Also, even if you exhaust the content, the leveling system is extremely open-ended. The level limit is 183, but reaching that level takes ages if attempted legitimately. Some people have done it (almost certainly via exploits), I never did...the title(rank) of the lvl 183 character is pretty amusing however , nice little easter egg.

Bottom line, you don't have to stop playing just because you 'solved everything' (unlike games like Divine Divinity where you run out of mobs). You can grind levels to your heart's content, or you can play through the story to its conclusion as soon as you get there. It's up to you. But getting to that point will take you plenty of time, so no worries there.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

I haven't played this in forever, but I loved it. My ex-husband had gotten it for himself, because he loved the post-apocalyptic setting. then he decided it 'wasn't realistic enough'.

Clearly, your response was "you know what else isn't realistic enough? OUR MARRIAGE!"

 

[Arikel]

The walkthroughs are mostly in the underground section so you can avoid em, but it has good history on the game and other little fun and tidbits. I don't believe i ever really finished the game, but i spent hours and hours playing it at various times in my life. Might be time to dust off my interplay collection and see if it'll install on my current machine.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Can anyone point to a location where Wasteland can be bought? I still have my floppies but my Apple ii gs isn't liking the European power voltage. Or maybe the floppies just didn't age well.

I suppose having bought Wasteland 20+ years ago may entitle me to a pirate copy but i wouldn't mind a legit source. I doubt there is one though.

This thread got me itching for another go

 

[Lexx]

I've been searching for some original (dos) box cover copy since many years and couldn't find any so far. Especially since that damn "Tony Hawks American Wasteland" shit was released, it's nearly impossible to get good search results.

 

[Arikel]

Might have an easier time finding The Ultimate RPG Archives originally published by interplay. Has lots of other good games too, not just wasteland.

 

[octavius]

I've been searching for some original (dos) box cover copy since many years and couldn't find any so far. Especially since that damn "Tony Hawks American Wasteland" shit was released, it's nearly impossible to get good search results.

Use the Advanced version of Google and use the "But don't show pages that have...
any of these unwanted words:" option.

 

[Lexx]

Might have an easier time finding The Ultimate RPG Archives originally published by interplay. Has lots of other good games too, not just wasteland.

Yeh, thats easier to find. But I want a wasteland box, not a compilation box. :p

 

[Jaesun]

Can anyone point to a location where Wasteland can be bought? I still have my floppies but my Apple ii gs isn't liking the European power voltage. Or maybe the floppies just didn't age well.

Since InExile now owns the copyright to Wasteland, I'd assume some day they may put it up on GOG. It's not currently on GOG or Steam. You might be able to find The Ultimate RPG Archives on Amazon or ebay. I bought that years ago when that came out and that's where I got my copy.

 

[commie]

Can anyone point to a location where Wasteland can be bought? I still have my floppies but my Apple ii gs isn't liking the European power voltage. Or maybe the floppies just didn't age well.

I suppose having bought Wasteland 20+ years ago may entitle me to a pirate copy but i wouldn't mind a legit source. I doubt there is one though.

This thread got me itching for another go

Charles, let it go man. Make your own WASTELAND instead!!!! You made your own crawler FFS! With the experience of than it's time to move up to an overland crawler like the earlier Might and Magics in a post-apoc world.

Let me know when you're finished.

 

[Elwro]

I think that's a swell idea, after you finish your next blobber please switch to a post-apocalyptic crawler with overhead view and lots of skills :D

 

[Jaesun]

I think that's a swell idea, after you finish your next blobber please switch to a post-apocalyptic crawler with overhead view and lots of skills :D

This please. I am SO fucking sick of Fantasy settings.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Can anyone point to a location where Wasteland can be bought? I still have my floppies but my Apple ii gs isn't liking the European power voltage. Or maybe the floppies just didn't age well.

I suppose having bought Wasteland 20+ years ago may entitle me to a pirate copy but i wouldn't mind a legit source. I doubt there is one though.

You're two years too late.