Wasteland The Wasteland 2 Beta Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Kem0sabe]

I like audio diaries, but games like SS2 and Bioshock would have been better with actual npc's around. The world felt so empty.

 

[Athelas]

When it comes to exposition, yes.

Frequent audio diaries are antiquated and belong in the past though.

But the exposition IS done through those antiquated audio diaries. Which is lazy as hell, not to mention the sheer stupidity of portraying a world where it's commonplace for people to randomly record a few lines of dialogue of their innermost thoughts on an audio recorder which they just then drop somewhere. Heck, the Black Isle games with their 'static' worlds handled it better:

 

[felipepepe]

The problem is not the amount, it the irregular quality.

Sometimes you have a lot of text because it is describing and giving context, like talking about Vargas, his revolver, etc... those are cool. However, it also has some points where it gets overwritten, almost like JRPGs, where characters go on and on about something you already understood...

 

[tuluse]

EDIT: wait a minute. the intro reveals that ace dies. isn't this something you find out later at the radio tower? uh

The game always opened at Ace's funeral.

 

[Zed]

EDIT: wait a minute. the intro reveals that ace dies. isn't this something you find out later at the radio tower? uh

The game always opened at Ace's funeral.

ah. oh yeah, explains the graves of course. But I thought Ace was the guy you found at the radio tower.

 

[Infinitron]

You find the "corpse" of the robot who killed him there. His body was returned to the Rangers by, uh, somebody else.

 

[Kem0sabe]

You find the "corpse" of the robot who killed him there. His body was returned to the Rangers by, uh, somebody else.

Through the power of radio, like everything else in the game.

Spoiler

 

[felipepepe]

You find the "corpse" of the robot who killed him there. His body was returned to the Rangers by, uh, somebody else.

Someone please explain this. I refuse to believe that the game starts with such a plot hole.

 

[tuluse]

You find the "corpse" of the robot who killed him there. His body was returned to the Rangers by, uh, somebody else.

Someone please explain this. I refuse to believe that the game starts with such a plot hole.

An unexplained event is not really the same as a plot hole. There are people living at the radio tower, they could easily have brought the body by hoping to curry favor with the ranger.

Also, Ace could have won the battle at the radio tower, and started to leave but was so injured he ended up dying elsewhere.

 

[Infinitron]

There have actually been a number of threads about this on the Wasteland 2 forums. No response from the devs. It's not a serious plot hole but it'd be nice to know who exactly found him, etc. Details like that help the world seem more alive.

 

[tuluse]

They should go with the 2nd option. Like he just made it back to Ranger Center before dying from his wounds. Makes him look like a badass.

 

[Athelas]

Maybe it's supposed to be suspicious that his body somehow made it back.

 

[tuluse]

Maybe it's supposed to be suspicious that his body somehow made it back.

There is nothing to suggest this. No one is talking about how weird it is.

 

[Zombra]

Um, I almost hate to say this, but if you didn't get that you start the game at Ace's funeral and didn't get that the body you found was a robot, maybe your problem with the game's writing ... isn't the game's writing.

 

[Roguey]

But the exposition IS done through those antiquated audio diaries.

Also through the environment which is more important.

 

[DosBuster]

I found that the dialogue that I've read has seemed to be quite fast-paced. Though Wasteland 2 does suffer from the "Hey I just met you! I'm a 34 year oldlawyerandihavetroulbessleepingatnightcanyoukillmystepdadformeplease" but that seems to be just a trait of video game design. (Give the player the information as fast as possible and in the clearest way possible.

 

[ricolikesrice]

how are the combat & character mechanics in this coming along ? i havent checked out the beta but i remember people writing both were worse than even shadowrun returns - is that still true or did they make progress / is there hope for the final release in august ?

 

[Onholyservicebound]

People who said that are retarded, anyway there haven't been any new updates so anything previously said about the character mechanics/combat are still valid.

Combat is decent, for me, it can be moderately challenging early on, and can be fun on higher difficulties. Death animations are very satisfying and besides the remaining bugs I don't have any issues with combat. (But there are definitely still bugs.)
Encounters don't scale to your level like in SRR, where you generally progress linearly and likely in line with how the designer's expected you would.

Character mechanics are definitely my taste, the main CLASSIC attributes are all useful and character creation is pretty engaging. Skills are varied, most have their uses, some are still buggy/imbalanced, but overall I think they're good. Biggest problem is that with the full party it can become easy to have every skill maxed a bit early on. (But that's likely related to it being a beta.)
The systems are a bit clunky, contrary to modern streamlining, but it doesn't bother me, i prefer the more Fallout-y feel I get from Wasteland than the Xcom: Enemy Unknown feel I get from SRR. It's essentially the opposite of a system, every party members has different AP, and they even level at different rates like in W1 , big skill pool with lots of non-combat skills; I like how the game seems less focused on preventing failure and more focused on making a fun experience. I still would like perks/traits to be implemented , but overall I enjoyed the combat in W2 more than SRR, and the same for the character mechanics, I thought the rangers I created in Wasteland felt much more interesting/varied than my SRR characters.

 

[Grotesque]

As long as BrotherNone stays silent on the subject of perks and does not clearly says they will not have them whatever the reason, I have a feeling they're working on it.
The problem is how many and difficult bugs this will introduce in the game and how will they balance the game afterwards.

I say fuck the balance! Just get them in.

I wonder if Beth$ has intellectual property on a system like Fallout's perks or they just have the rights to use the word "perk" in their games and no other game.

 

[Excidium]

I wonder if Beth$ has intellectual property on a system like Fallout's perks or they just have the rights to use the word "perk" in their games and no other game.

Yes they do, Tim Cain invented perks

 

[Infinitron]

UPDATE: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2/posts/895618

With a nice shoutout to D:OS.

 

[t]

I might be under the endorphin rush today after DOS release, but Wasteland 2 kinda looks better with every update. Might be a fun game after all.

 

[Onholyservicebound]

"Traits/perks as well as aimed shots are two more features we have been strongly considering, but won't be in the final game. We love both systems and agree with the feedback that it would add a lot, however we also believe that badly balanced or overly simple versions would not be in the best interest of the game. Take aimed shots: to do it right means it would have a real tactical impact, AI reactions to its usage, and a carefully balanced pro-cons system, rather than just "decrease to-hit chance to increase critical chance". "

-Delete Local Content-

 

[Roguey]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

By this stage, it means we have doubled Wasteland 2's initial budget.
...
While Wasteland 2 would have been released months ago without Early Access, it would not have the polish, detail, and scope that we are bringing to you in very near future.

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaax2.

Mark my words, Wasteland 2 is going to be like a bucket of cold water to the face after D:OS.

 

[Infinitron]

By this stage, it means we have doubled Wasteland 2's initial budget.
...
While Wasteland 2 would have been released months ago without Early Access, it would not have the polish, detail, and scope that we are bringing to you in very near future.

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaax2.

Mark my words, Wasteland 2 is going to be like a bucket of cold water to the face after D:OS.

In case you haven't noticed, Swen Vincke said the exact same thing about his game in the latest update's video.