Wasteland DOS

[WouldBeCreator]

Whoa . . . . So back when I was a wee tyke, I played Wasteland for the Apple ][/C (or however they wrote that) and the graphics were, even then, miserable (though not the battle graphics). I think I got maybe 2/3 of the way through before I gave up. (It was pretty tough for an eight year old, or whatever I was at the time.) I was just looking it up on Moby Games, and discovered that the DOS version had vastly better graphics. Was the interface better, too? The graphics look like they're playable by today's standards (while the Apple version most definitely is not, at least for me). Anyone gone through it recently enough to know?

 

[FaranBrygo]

The DOS version gave you the ability to record macros. A favorite of mine was the fifty turn rest macro or the macro that let you kill the nightmare.

 

[Frau Bishop]

I tried the DOS version some time ago and came to the conclusion I liked the looks of the C-64 version a lot more. Maybe you give CSS64 oder VICE64 a chance?
http://www.computerbrains.com/ccs64/
http://www.viceteam.org/
edit: Well.. comparing Apple and C64 on mobygames-screens.. it's not much of a difference..heh. Hell, why don't you like it?

 

[bryce777]

I played the apple II gs veriosn, which had macros and good graphics (for the time). The apple IIe was really not that great graphically.

I just replayed the DOS versiona nd it was exacly as I remembered.

 

[WouldBeCreator]

All those black pixels make everything hideous to my aesthetics. The Apple / C64 gfx probably fit the mood somewhat better, but I just loathe that style.

 

[Zomg]

I played it to completion maybe eight or nine months ago, via DosBox. The "resting" is the real pain in the ass, but otherwise the interface is useable as I recall, although I think I'm less picky than average.

 

[Walks with the Snails]

Wow, a topic not involving Oblivion, the game apparently not really worth talking about except everyone is talking about it.

I only played the DOS version recently. I vaguely think I remember having the Apple IIc version but don't really remember anything about it anymore. The macros in the DOS version were nice but mostly just encouraged powerlevelling. You could apparently hit people with non-traditional weapons to level faster (like clips), but I never really saw it work.

 

[HardCode]

I haven't played Wasteland since I had a C64. But it was my favorite game. Those were the days when games had a "WOW!" factor. I remember me and my friend playing, and when we first "ripped a clip" on full auto, it was the greatest thing in the world.

 

[DarkSign]

Best.
Game.
Evar.
Period.

 

[Frau Bishop]

Everyone. In. This. Thread. Knows.
Care to join the 80s graphic-whoring?

 

[bryce777]

When people rag on some of the stuff in fallout 2 that was taken directly from wasteland, I want to sock them in the head.

The paragraphs are a pain in the ass now, though, since you have to alt out to read them....

 

[WouldBeCreator]

I would probably just print them out.

 

[FaranBrygo]

The paragraph book is about 100 letter pages and most of the paragraphs are false.

 

[WouldBeCreator]

Eh, I have a very fast printer and paper's cheap. My time's worth more and if I actually got a mind to play, I'd rather not alt-tab out.

 

[RGE]

You could apparently hit people with non-traditional weapons to level faster (like clips), but I never really saw it work.

It wasn't until I replayed the game a few years ago that I found out that you get twice as much XP for killing something with melee attacks. And with the Brawling skill granting extra attacks it's a very viable method even at early levels (crowbar and leather jacket). So I had one character solo while picking up expendeble NPCs. Don't think I even used any clones of her, though she did resort to the powerful energy weapons at times.

When people rag on some of the stuff in fallout 2 that was taken directly from wasteland, I want to sock them in the head.

They have no appreciation for the forefather.

I got my copy from XTC Abandonware.

 

[Frau Bishop]

It's time again.. I feel this increasing urge to do it.. play a serious game of Wasteland.
But hell, I can't find my Command Summary Card for the C64 edition, and I only recall the most basic commands (and there were several useful control+ and #+ commands afair). Could someone please help out with a link, copypaste, scan, whatever?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

When people rag on some of the stuff in fallout 2 that was taken directly from wasteland, I want to sock them in the head.

Probably because Wasteland and Fallout are two different settings. That said, I fear the shadowclaws more than deathclaws to this day.

One thing I really dug about Wasteland, speaking of shadowclaws, was how hit points and death were handled. I can't remember the names of the status thingies of the characters, but I liked how once you hit a certain point of status, you would slip further towards death from injury if you didn't visit a doctor. If you didn't cross that point, you'd heal. The shadowclaw was the first thing I encountered in Wasteland that really made that aspect of health.. lethal. VERY lethal.

I'm surprised more games didn't follow up on that. It was a pretty nifty feature.

 

[elander_]

What do you mean by "once you hit a certain point of status"? Are you describing an health condition like bleeding or something? Fallout had some of these but it probably was balanced in a different way.

This was a Brian Fargos game right? I enjoy most of the games he is credited in. In particular the turn-base games.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

What do you mean by "once you hit a certain point of status"? Are you describing an health condition like bleeding or something? Fallout had some of these but it probably was balanced in a different way.

It was something like Unconcious, Wounded, Serious, Critical, and DEAD. The cut off was somewhere between Wounded and Serious. If you were "Wounded", as time passed, the status would go to Unconcious and then back to normal. If you were Serious, then it would drop to Critical, and eventually DEAD as time passed. Those lower status tags basically ended up being a time limit to get to a hospital.

That's just from memory of the game, so those might not be the actual status values or in the right order. That's the general idea though.

This was a Brian Fargos game right? I enjoy most of the games he is credited in. In particular the turn-base games.

Wasteland was phase based. You picked the action for all the characters at the start of the round, then hit GO! and the round played out.

 

[elander_]

I need to find some patience to continue playing this game. There must be some interesting gameplay in it yet to discover. Unfortunately its age doesn't help much. The save system is very limited and we need to read the manual to know what the game messages say.

 

[bryce777]

What do you mean by "once you hit a certain point of status"? Are you describing an health condition like bleeding or something? Fallout had some of these but it probably was balanced in a different way.

It was something like Unconcious, Wounded, Serious, Critical, and DEAD. The cut off was somewhere between Wounded and Serious. If you were "Wounded", as time passed, the status would go to Unconcious and then back to normal. If you were Serious, then it would drop to Critical, and eventually DEAD as time passed. Those lower status tags basically ended up being a time limit to get to a hospital.

That's just from memory of the game, so those might not be the actual status values or in the right order. That's the general idea though.

This was a Brian Fargos game right? I enjoy most of the games he is credited in. In particular the turn-base games.

Wasteland was phase based. You picked the action for all the characters at the start of the round, then hit GO! and the round played out.

What happened tot hat other wasteland thread? I was making the same comment. Best system evar.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

No idea, but I guess I'm the only one who thought that health system was cool.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

It's down the page a bit.. Right here.

 

[bryce777]

Ah, i thought maybe I hallucinated that.

 

[MisterStone]

It was something like Unconcious, Wounded, Serious, Critical, and DEAD. The cut off was somewhere between Wounded and Serious. If you were "Wounded", as time passed, the status would go to Unconcious and then back to normal. If you were Serious, then it would drop to Critical, and eventually DEAD as time passed. Those lower status tags basically ended up being a time limit to get to a hospital.

It's been a while, but I think you could pull someone back from serious/critical if you had good medical skillz...

Just imagine someone trying to add this to a RPG today... the dumbass reviewers, nevermind the low-IQ gamers, would be trashing this feature as "reducing the fun factor". Goddammit...

I can't believe I was playing a game like that when I was 10-11 years old. The games they make these days could easily be played by a precocious 4-year-old, and the average "adult" gamer would give up about half an hour into the likes of Wasteland...