Game News Wasteland 2 Kickstarter Update #25: Reactivity Up The Wazoo

[Excidium]

If you are going to have whole phrases instead of keywords and not really challenge the player in any way with it, why not just scrap the whole thing?

Because nostalgia.

 

[Alex]

If you are going to have whole phrases instead of keywords and not really challenge the player in any way with it, why not just scrap the whole thing?

Because nostalgia.

Well, then get really nostalgic and give us real keywords!

 

[Excidium]

If you are going to have whole phrases instead of keywords and not really challenge the player in any way with it, why not just scrap the whole thing?

Because nostalgia.

Well, then get really nostalgic and give us real keywords!

You have to consider the people born without the ability to abstract. Check your privilege. Also stop pretending you're afk on IRC.

 

[EG]

You have to consider the people born without the ability to abstract. Check your privilege.

I'm a boring and unimaginative person, therefore whatever I replace the abstraction with is boring an unimaginative.

 

[Infinitron]

Nice, what I expected. Infinitron, get your facts straight!

How was I supposed to know? They didn't use it in the video and there was no obvious UI for switching the speaker.

 

[Lancehead]

You should've guessed, like I did.

 

[Brother None]

God damn it, what the hell is the point of the keyword system then? Hey guys, here is the keyword system from wasteland. Except it is really just like the conversation system from fallout. If you are going to have whole phrases instead of keywords and not really challenge the player in any way with it, why not just scrap the whole thing?

Well...we'll look to include toggles so you can go back to a straight keyword system.

Furthermore, a keyword system allows us to split in local and regional keywords, let you build up a keyword library you can use with anyone in the region, and allow you to switch conversation tacks at any point, things that are harder to do or impossible with the Fallout system.

And as noted about, the typing in thing isn't *required*, but clever players should definitely find a use for it, and it can be used to dig up additional information.

 

[Alex]

Well...we'll look to include toggles so you can go back to a straight keyword system.

That is ok. I don't mind if the keywords as an aesthetic choice either way. I am just worried about their functionality. I mean, I think wanting to have full phrases instead of simple keyword a bit silly. They have worked great for more challenge oriented games like Wasteland for years, and worked well even in the Ultima series, which was a lot more "talky". But still, not a big deal, I think.

Furthermore, a keyword system allows us to split in local and regional keywords, let you build up a keyword library you can use with anyone in the region, and allow you to switch conversation tacks at any point, things that are harder to do or impossible with the Fallout system.

Switching is a nice feature, specially in a game where you may need to ask about a variety of things. Still, having a lot of reactivity to the environment like the example suggests is closer to fallout style dialog than keyword dialog, I think. I don't think this is a bad thing at all, though. The example Fargo gave us was pretty sweet. What I am worried about is, if the game is that reactive, and doesn't require player skill (see below) to know the keywords, wouldn't a fallout like dialog tree be a better fit?

And as noted about, the typing in thing isn't *required*, but clever players should definitely find a use for it, and it can be used to dig up additional information.

Now, this hits the problem squarely in the head, and I think it may have been a simple misunderstanding by my part (in which case, sorry). I understood that, by required, Fargo meant that any and all keywords (or, at least, all the useful ones) would be added to your list once you found them. In this case, typing is just a different input method. Now, maybe he just meant you would never need to type in keywords to finish the game. In this case, typing words could still be an important part of the gameplay, and the player would be required to keep an eye peeled about what is going on around him, as doing so could open all kinds of avenues simply having a high perception skill and clicking everything you see with it wouldn't.

This is similar to that text adventure vs graphic adventure thing, where in graphic adventures you always know what range of commands you have available to you. You know the answer to the puzzles is in using them in the correct manner. Whereas in a text adventure, there can always be a verb you forgot.

By the way, Brother None, congratulations on your new job!

 

[Kosmonaut]

Nice, what I expected. Infinitron, get your facts straight!

How was I supposed to know? They didn't use it in the video and there was no obvious UI for switching the speaker.

How about you just shut the fuck up until if you don't know shit about the topic at hand?

 

[Infinitron]

Nice, what I expected. Infinitron, get your facts straight!

How was I supposed to know? They didn't use it in the video and there was no obvious UI for switching the speaker.

How about you just shut the fuck up until if you don't know shit about the topic at hand?

No

 

[Brother None]

To be fair, when inXile talked about this topic before it made it sounds like you could only switch outside of dialog. One of those "careful phrasing of information" things.

(surreptitiously coming to the rescue of my Doritos bro Infinitron)