Interview Brian Fargo talks about the Wasteland 2 beta at Eurogamer

[Zed]

Was gonna give the game another shot to see how far it has gotten but it crashed after filling out the age on character gen.
But what I want is a locked camera, gibs and a sensible interface. I haven't heard anything about those making it in yet.

 

[Decado]

I don't have a graphically-artistic bone in my body, so maybe I'm not seeing it. But the visuals look fine. They look like how a desert with a shitload of rocks would tend to look: brown and tan and grey.

But . . .

That one screenshot looks like the bloom or whatever is set to overload. I understand going the whole "sun glare" route to portray the brightness of a desert at high noon, but goddamn. You can't see anything.

 

[tuluse]

Only if you like assumptions. If the visuals are not good, then they are not good. It's 'supporting decline' only if you assume that the complainers want the visuals improved at the expense of gameplay.

I'm saying I don't care. I find the discussion boring, and it takes away from discussion about the real meat of the game.

The visuals are fine for the scope of the project.

 

[Lancehead]

I'm saying I don't care. I find the discussion boring, and it takes away from discussion about the real meat of the game.

That's an incorrect assessment. The visuals are a focus because the update posted a couple of screenshots. In contrast, when the beta thread exploded at the start of the beta, the meat of the discussion was gameplay, and one can safely expect the gameplay to again be the focus of the discussion once the new update rolls out.

The visuals are fine for the scope of the project.

There are typically two reference points when criticising an aspect of a game. One is the scope of the game, and the other is peers. Both of them are valid in different contexts. Further, some of the present criticism falls well within the scope of the game, such as the excessive bloom in some areas and colour pallete.

 

[FeelTheRads]

that it only looks mediocre because we don't like post-apocalyptic settings.

It's all about wrong expectations, you see, it's never the result. From the mouth of best internet psychologist, Infinitron Broflovski

 

[Excidium]

W2's environment art is fine. The people complaining about it have mostly just realized that they don't find post-apoc landscapes very appealing.

You are being the dumbest Wasteland 2 apologist lately. Which is quite an achievement around people like Daedalos

 

[Infinitron]

W2's environment art is fine. The people complaining about it have mostly just realized that they don't find post-apoc landscapes very appealing.

You are being the dumbest Wasteland 2 apologist lately. Which is quite an achievement around people like Daedalos

that it only looks mediocre because we don't like post-apocalyptic settings.

It's all about wrong expectations, you see, it's never the result. From the mouth of best internet psychologist, Infinitron Broflovski

Would have been the best game ever, 10/10

Awesome graphics

Brown > Yellow

 

[FeelTheRads]

Actually it does look better than W2. And I find post-apocalyptic landscapes very appealing. In fact they're like home, seeing as I grew up in Eastern Europe.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Would have been the best game ever, 10/10

Awesome graphics

Brown > Yellow

Needs more bloom.

 

[Infinitron]

In fact they're like home, seeing as I grew up in Eastern Europe.

Wrong kind of post-apocalypse. I grew up in the Middle East, I know what a desert looks like.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Post-apocalyptic is not necessarily desert.* Well, I suppose in W2's case it is. So you'd instead have to say that people don't like desert landscapes. And that would be true. Deserts suck.

*Funny thing, I remember a promo image for FO: POS which had the characters in front of sort of a tropical background with palm trees. Just imagine the reasoning that lead to that. Post apocalyptic=desert=palm tree.
Wish I could find that image again. It's your new task Infinitron, get to it.

 

[Excidium]

The badness of the graphics are related to the enviroment now, 'k

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Post-apocalyptic is not necessarily desert.* Well, I suppose in W2's case it is. So you'd instead have to say that people don't like desert landscapes. And that would be true. Deserts suck.

*Funny thing, I remember a promo image for FO: POS which had the characters in front of sort of a tropical background with palm trees. Just image the reasoning that lead to that. Post apocalyptic=desert=palm tree.
Wish I could find that image again. It's your new task Infinitron, get to it.

 

[felipepepe]

Brown > Yellow

Actually, it is a bit more complex:

Wasteland 2 not only uses the brightest color of them all, but it also fails to properly contrast it, using nothing but shades of brown & yellow. The reason why that second screenshot actually looks decent is because they had less yellow and some "blue-ish" gray to contrast it:

The whole game should aim for balance like this; their models and graphics are not bad, they only lack more care. Why not only they keep over-bloom areas like the other one, but post high-res screenshots of it as a awesome accomplishment is beyond me.

 

[hiver]

AoD looks about ten times better. Even with relatively worse graphikz.

work of a really, really good artist.

 

[Septaryeth]

Brown > Yellow

Actually, it is a bit more complex:

Wasteland 2 not only uses the brightest color of them all, but it also fails to properly contrast it, using nothing but shades of brown & yellow. The reason why that second screenshot actually looks decent is because they had less yellow and some "blue-ish" gray to contrast it:

The whole game should aim for balance like this; their models and graphics are not bad, they only lack more care. Why not only they keep over-bloom areas like the other one, but post high-res screenshots of it as a awesome accomplishment is beyond me.

 

[throwaway]

Where did you get that? I'd like to shove the FNV breakdown to people who complain it's more bleak than F3.

 

[felipepepe]

Where did you get that? I'd like to shove the FNV breakdown to people who complain it's more bleak than F3.

I made them myself. Is not rocket science, you can do it by averages or with plugins, but I guess that the easiest way is this website: http://www.pictaculous.com/

EDIT: Or this one: http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/

 

[Zed]

or just index the picture in photoshop to 4 colors or something.

 

[FeelTheRads]

The badness of the graphics are related to the enviroment now, 'k

If you're replying to me, I was joking.

Curious_Tongue:



That must be it, but it's much worse than I remembered. Makes me wonder if it's official. But I guess it would perfectly embody the idiocy of the people working on that game.

 

[Excidium]

The badness of the graphics are related to the enviroment now, 'k

If you're replying to me, I was joking.

Not to you specifically.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Wasteland needs more greys to contrast browns and yellows Commissar agrees to this. Apropos Post ITZ games showed here; are Rage and Borderland any good to play? Outside MP that is.

 

[Onholyservicebound]

Commissar Draco

Borderlands 2 is pretty great, although better with MP, Rage is meh, although I haven't played enough to give a better review, I've owned it since release though, so that should say how into it I am...
Also, your old avatar was better.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Using game avatars and can't play FNV since it has not been fixed like Skyrim was (and I did played it literaly seven times already), thanks for recommendations though.

 

[Darkzone]

Nice one Felipe. I would brofist it if i could.
But if yours reduced color palette, would stand only on it's own, i would say that Wasteland 2 is the best. Because it has the highest variety on different color palettes.
And Fallout 1 would range in the middle, with FO:NV and FO:3. FO:3 (vanila without the DLC and Mods) like FO:NV, had very few variances in the interiour and the landscape, even now it the beta of Wasteland 2,
i can say that Wasteland 2 has a lot more different interiours and different landscapes, with different color palettes. But this is also like comparing apple to pears. Pretty much senseless.

I would say, that the worst graphics problems of Wasteland 2, is the lack of different body models / mashes, the disproportional weapons models, and the PC / NPC body textures, and not a restricted color palette, and the lack of contrast in some places.
The problems that i did mention could be easy solved. Overall the graphic of Wasteland 2, was never a main goal for the backers. Therefore a feedback about it is good, but whining not.
I'm for my part are very satisfied, with the color palettes and the contrast of the landscapes in Wasteland 2, because it does remaind me of a real desert (or at least that i think is a real one), and not a fantasy one.
But let me end my emission with this: Tomorrow we will have reasons to complain, but not today.