Wasteland Wasteland 2 Thread - Director's Cut

[Excidium II]

Also those Perks apparently break the ability to Ambush, but that is a bug, not part of the design.

Amaze.

 

[Bubbles]

I wish they'd at least give an ETA on the disappearing companion fix. This week? Next week? As soon as Microsoft and Sony have cleared the console patches?

 

[Grotesque]

they should have implemented something along what Age of Decadence has.
Put some interests points on the town map so you can teleport there .

I remember playing in Railroad Nomads map and crossing it time and time again. It was excruciating.

 

[cvv]

they should have implemented something along what Age of Decadence has.
Put some interests points on the town map so you can teleport there .

I remember playing in Railroad Nomads map and crossing it time and time again. It was excruciating.

Exactly. Especially the AZ maps are fucking enormous - RNC, Atchison's, Titan Canyon and especially Damonta (jesus fuck, Damonta...) - and crossing it there and back takes literally minutes. Does inXile really want us to go take a piss or make a tea whenever we send our squad to a point on a map? I'm not fucking incontinent and I don't drink tea.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

What's wrong with traveling merchants? They sell superior weapons than Ranger Cytadel. They are also cheaper, including ammo...

 

[Bubbles]

Exactly. Especially the AZ maps are fucking enormous - RNC, Atchison's, Titan Canyon and especially Damonta (jesus fuck, Damonta...) - and crossing it there and back takes literally minutes. Does inXile really want us to go take a piss or make a tea whenever we send our squad to a point on a map? I'm not fucking incontinent and I don't drink tea.

I think the idea was to let you lean back and crack open Avellone's Wasteland novella while your party was moving around.

 

[Black]

What's wrong with traveling merchants? They sell superior weapons than Ranger Cytadel. They are also cheaper, including ammo...

My travelling merchants sold nothing but crap like first aid kits.

 

[Gord]

I have encountered one selling good mid-game weapons. Met him shortly after Ag center. Makes combat a bit easy of course, but I only could afford one AR at the time and haven't met him again.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.pcgamer.com/two-paths-through-the-wasteland-brian-fargo-on-wasteland-2-and-fallout-4/

Two paths through the wasteland: Brian Fargo on Wasteland 2 and Fallout 4

26 years is a long time to wait for a video game sequel, especially when those intervening years have spawned a similar, but more critically and commercially successful, series of games. But here we are, at the latest juncture on a twisted path: Wasteland begat Fallout; Interplay gave way to Bethesda; and last year, the circle of post-apocalyptic life was closed with Wasteland 2, developed by inXile Entertainment, the studio founded by ex-Interplay boss Brian Fargo, who created the original Wasteland all those years ago. War never changes, as the saying goes, but the irradiated hellscapes left in their wake? That, as we’ve seen, is a different story.

Fargo’s Wasteland 2 is more akin to the first two Fallout games than to its namesake, but Fallout under the auspices of Bethesda isn't what it once was either. The first two Fallouts were isometric RPGs with turn-based combat. Fallout 3, New Vegas, and soon Fallout 4 are powerfully immersive first-person experiences that are as much open-world shooters as anything else.

"[Fallout 4]'s more action-oriented, so that makes it different than what I would have done, but that being said, it looks great," Fargo said during a recent chat. "They've captured a lot of the essence of what made the Fallout universe, and they really pour a lot of effort into little things, whether it's the crafting, or the personality or how many names the robot can speak. I tip my hat to the craftsmanship they've brought to the franchise."

The differences in perspective and scale notwithstanding—and let's be fair, a multi-million-dollar Kickstarter doesn't even begin to approach the budget a big-time studio like Bethesda can bring to bear—the most meaningful difference between the modern-era Fallout and Wasteland lies in the storytelling. It's probably best typified by the decision to make Fallout 4's dog companion unkillable as a sop to delicate feelings. InXile, on the other hand, included a dog the 2004 edition of The Bard's Tale, "and we just made you love that dog," Fargo said. And then they killed it stone dead. Something similar happened to a vital NPC, as I was shocked to discover, at a critical juncture in Wasteland 2.

"With Wasteland, we kind of bent over backwards to ensure that everybody can be killed in that game. And you know what, it's a pain in the ass to design for that, because from beginning to end, there's all those NPCs and all those characters, and every single one of them can be killed," he continued. "And they're not fodder, they're people that have conversations and plot and reasons to be there. So when you account for being able to shoot and kill everything, it makes your design multiply."

It also potentially exposes game makers to backlash from over-excited parents and tut-tutting Fox News commentators if they take things too far. Fargo said game makers "ride this line" between immersion and caution, and reminded me that this isn't the first time Bethesda has opted for the latter: In the first two Fallouts, players who killed children were tagged with the "Childkiller" reputation, penalizing their NPC reactions and exposing them to bounty hunters. In Fallout 3 and beyond, Bethesda opted to simply make kids invulnerable.

"There was always this discussion [for Interplay's Fallouts] of, well, you want to make everyone killable because otherwise the world doesn't feel real, because you're fully immersed. When you're playing these games, it's like, for a moment there, you're in this alternate reality, and it's real for you. You are there. So when something suddenly doesn't work that works everywhere else, it breaks you out of it for a moment," he said. "But then you have to contrast that with, you don't want to be the sound bite that says, 'Here's a game that allows the killing of kids.' Because that's not what it's about. So there's always that friction between those two things."

Nonetheless, Fargo is willing to go to some pretty ugly places with his games. The brutality of Wasteland 2 surprised me at times, like the encounter, which we mentioned in ourreview, with the Canyon of Titan traveler who dies horrifically at the hands of her "protector." Fallout seems to have gone in the other direction, as seen in the recent "Wanderer" live-action trailer that makes life in the wasteland look like a pretty good time. I asked Fargo if he felt Bethesda's take on the setting had become more parodic than he'd envisioned.

"Ours were quite grim in some ways, but we always had levity also. We always had that dark sense of humor, and I love a dark sense of humor, more than just about anything, so I don't know if I'd use the word 'parody'," he said. "These things take on a different tone depending on who's in charge of them. I think with any creative endeavor, you can take a franchise and put in a [different] director, and it's going to have a different beat to it."

And if Fargo’s “beat” seems at times to be unforgivingly grim, it’s likely because he holds a rather pessimistic view of humanity's basic nature that informs his post-apocalyptic designs. "I think that when you remove the laws and accountability of mankind, they tend to do some really horrible things," he continued. "Some of the post-apocalyptic books that I've read have really focused on mankind's nature in these circumstances. The Road, or Swan Song, or even in Mad Max, it's pretty dark stuff. So we try to capture that kind of dark side of man in what we do."

The return of Wasteland was met with excitement and accolades as well, enough to take it from niche PC RPG to a "Director's Cut" release for consoles. Fargo acknowledged that some of that durability is the result of Fallout keeping the genre in the public eye, but he attributes much of it to the depth and complexity inXile layers into its work, citing as an example a payoff scene for the shotgun-toting boozehound Scotchmo that most players won't ever see. Most of them won't even finish the game, he said. And he's not wrong: only 7.5 percent of Steam players have earned the "Back Where It All Began" achievement, an unavoidable late-game marker—but this stuff is in there, bringing a "subtlety" to the game world, as he put it, that makes the experience more rewarding for everyone.

"There's no person in my office that knows everything that's in it. The way I put these things together, we set sensibilities and ways to attack stuff, and then it gets a life of its own, and the project becomes its own thing…At the end of the day, literally you have a game that no person in this office knows everything that's in it,” he said.

Almost as if to make his point, Kotaku ran a story shortly after I spoke to Fargo about a shiny red button in Wasteland 2's sewers. Pushing it causes the screen to shake, and, apparently, nothing else. It was a mystery that had held up for more than a year, until Project Lead Chris Keenan revealed that the button actually opens up another area on the above-ground map, with a clever surprise inside.

Wasteland 2 has helped put Fargo and inXile at the forefront of a cRPG renaissance. Even so, he didn't hesitate when I asked if he'd be interested in making a new Fallout someday. But time has passed and attitudes have changed, he added, and so while the opportunity to add a new chapter to the story would be “a treat,” the reality is that an inXile-built Fallout wouldn’t be the sort of direct, note-for-note follow-up thatVan Buren adherents dream of. And really, that's what Wasteland 2 is all about anyway: Making the kind of post-apocalyptic RPG he really wants, for the people who want that kind of experience.

 

[Zed]

my custom portraits disappeared halfway through creating my party

and I can't save characters and later resume party creation

men, I think I'll pass on this game

5 more days until DOS:EE?

 

[cvv]

my custom portraits disappeared halfway through creating my party

and I can't save characters and later resume party creation

men, I think I'll pass on this game

5 more days until DOS:EE?

 

[Zed]

D:OS is about a million times better

 

[Akratus]

I surely trust your opinion, what with your great experience of 15 minutes in the wasteland 2 dc character creation screen.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

I have encountered one selling good mid-game weapons. Met him shortly after Ag center. Makes combat a bit easy of course, but I only could afford one AR at the time and haven't met him again.

I meet him 3 times already. Bought from him a sniper riffle doing 68-83 damage(M24) and ans assault riffle doing 45-59 damage (M16) and a shotgun with 47- 58 damages (SOSG). Sniper and assault cost about 500 scraps for each.

 

[Scroo]

I wish they'd at least give an ETA on the disappearing companion fix. This week? Next week? As soon as Microsoft and Sony have cleared the console patches?

Yeah this really bothers me. I already created my party and want to play but I won't start as long as the fix isn't out. There's some lack of communication there which is quite untypical for inXile.

 

[cvv]

D:OS is about a million times better

Yes, if your voice hasn't broken yet.

 

[ArchAngel]

I meet him 3 times already. Bought from him a sniper riffle doing 68-83 damage(M24) and ans assault riffle doing 45-59 damage (M16) and a shotgun with 47- 58 damages (SOSG). Sniper and assault cost about 500 scraps for each.

You can get those in ranger citadel as well. Maybe this merchant is the one supplying rangers with their weapons? :D :D

 

[Akratus]

Opened this thread and read a bit too quickly, thought you said: Maybe this merchant is the one supplying niggers with their weapons?

 

[Gord]

You can get those in ranger citadel as well. Maybe this merchant is the one supplying rangers with their weapons? :D :D

If you can, then not right away at least.

 

[cvv]

I meet him 3 times already. Bought from him a sniper riffle doing 68-83 damage(M24) and ans assault riffle doing 45-59 damage (M16) and a shotgun with 47- 58 damages (SOSG). Sniper and assault cost about 500 scraps for each.

Doesn't the quartermaster in the Citadel sell all these as well? I think I bought the M16 and the Bullpup from him right after Ag and kept them all the way until Cali. Which is kindda stupid if you ask me, you shouldn't be able to get a 3-2 tier weapons right at the start and so cheaply to boot. They said they reworked merchants' inventories for DC. Still some room for improvement I reckon.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

If you can, then not right away at least.

Second that. He also sells most if not all ammo 1 scrap cheaper than the Citadel.

 

[Gord]

Yeah this really bothers me. I already created my party and want to play but I won't start as long as the fix isn't out. There's some lack of communication there which is quite untypical for inXile.

For what it's worth, you could play up to Rail Nomads and/or Titan Canyon without problems.
Obviously depends a bit on how quickly you try to recruit new party members:
Ignoring Angie at the start (she's a bit of an easy-mode, but the game isn't that difficult), you have room for Rose/Vultures Cry and then e.g. Ralphy and Scotchmo. Or you resolve Rail Nomads, take Chisel but ignore either Ralphy or Scotchmo for the time being. Anyway you could play several hours without needing to dismiss recruits.
That's assuming that the eventual patch will not require a new game or work only for recruits you didn't meet yet, of course.

 

[cvv]

Yeah this really bothers me. I already created my party and want to play but I won't start as long as the fix isn't out. There's some lack of communication there which is quite untypical for inXile.

If you want to go blind I'd definitely hold off the game until the patch.

If you wanna play right now here's some meta for an easy workaround playthrough.

Spoiler

In character creation don't give Computers, Brute Force or Hard Ass to anyone. Make a char with high Char+Leadership. Right at the start grab Angela. Go save the Ag Center, recruit Rose (best NPC in the game), develop Assault Rifles for her. Go sort out the RNC right after that, grab Chisel. Go sort Darwin, boost up your overall Charisma to 22, sack Angela, grab Pizepi. That's it for your recruiting, you're done for the rest of the game.

 

[Scroo]

Thanks for the advice guys but since I haven't played WL2 before I rather wait :/

 

[Infinitron]

https://forums.inxile-entertainment.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=14326&p=161423#p161423

I don't have an ETA. We have internal date estimates for when we want to submit them on consoles for certification, but the PC may not follow the same timeline. There are different needs and fixes between platforms.

Welp.