Wasteland 2 Catch-All: Director's Cut!

Holy, holy crap. Wasteland is the defining PC game, in my mind; it's astoundingly good, it's deep, and it set the stage for the excellent Fallout and Fallout 2 games. I'm in for at least $100, and wish I could drop even more.

If this works, will we see the return of classic, good, deep RPGs? I sure hope so.

kuddles wrote:

Yeah, not interested in funding this for why garion posted: Brian Fargo made Wasteland over 25 years ago, then turned to the business side, then was the creative director for two games that both were heavily delayed and went over budget but still turned out poor. I'm not even sure how much of the original Wasteland was his doing. I'ld rather wait and see what the final product is like before putting money down. Meanwhile, even Schafer's flawed efforts had some compelling features about them, and the storytelling was never part of the flaws.

It reminds me of how people got all excited about the new AVP game because it was going to be made by the developers of the original, and just kind of ignored the fact that everything they made since then was somewhere between mediocre and terrible.

On the other hand, Michael Stackpole is also involved, and was the story guy behind Wasteland

Tanglebones wrote:
kuddles wrote:

Yeah, not interested in funding this for why garion posted: Brian Fargo made Wasteland over 25 years ago, then turned to the business side, then was the creative director for two games that both were heavily delayed and went over budget but still turned out poor. I'm not even sure how much of the original Wasteland was his doing. I'ld rather wait and see what the final product is like before putting money down. Meanwhile, even Schafer's flawed efforts had some compelling features about them, and the storytelling was never part of the flaws.

It reminds me of how people got all excited about the new AVP game because it was going to be made by the developers of the original, and just kind of ignored the fact that everything they made since then was somewhere between mediocre and terrible.

On the other hand, Michael Stackpole is also involved, and was the story guy behind Wasteland :P

Next you're gonna tell me that the story RA Salvatore created for Amalur made the dialog good ... cause it sure didn't.

garion333 wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:
kuddles wrote:

Yeah, not interested in funding this for why garion posted: Brian Fargo made Wasteland over 25 years ago, then turned to the business side, then was the creative director for two games that both were heavily delayed and went over budget but still turned out poor. I'm not even sure how much of the original Wasteland was his doing. I'ld rather wait and see what the final product is like before putting money down. Meanwhile, even Schafer's flawed efforts had some compelling features about them, and the storytelling was never part of the flaws.

It reminds me of how people got all excited about the new AVP game because it was going to be made by the developers of the original, and just kind of ignored the fact that everything they made since then was somewhere between mediocre and terrible.

On the other hand, Michael Stackpole is also involved, and was the story guy behind Wasteland :P

Next you're gonna tell me that the story RA Salvatore created for Amalur made the dialog good ... cause it sure didn't.

Nope; Stackpole's way better at writing fun fiction that Salvatore. Compare Stackpole's X-Wing books to Salvatore's.. everything.

Tanglebones wrote:
garion333 wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:
kuddles wrote:

Yeah, not interested in funding this for why garion posted: Brian Fargo made Wasteland over 25 years ago, then turned to the business side, then was the creative director for two games that both were heavily delayed and went over budget but still turned out poor. I'm not even sure how much of the original Wasteland was his doing. I'ld rather wait and see what the final product is like before putting money down. Meanwhile, even Schafer's flawed efforts had some compelling features about them, and the storytelling was never part of the flaws.

It reminds me of how people got all excited about the new AVP game because it was going to be made by the developers of the original, and just kind of ignored the fact that everything they made since then was somewhere between mediocre and terrible.

On the other hand, Michael Stackpole is also involved, and was the story guy behind Wasteland :P

Next you're gonna tell me that the story RA Salvatore created for Amalur made the dialog good ... cause it sure didn't.

Nope; Stackpole's way better at writing fun fiction that Salvatore. Compare Stackpole's X-Wing books to Salvatore's.. everything.

My actual point was that Salvatore didn't write the dialogue, he just did the background, and as of right now we don't know who will be writing Wasteland 2's dialogue. I was saying it somewhat tongue in cheek because I'm trying not to be overly cynical about this project. I want it to succeed, I'm just not sure I have faith in it.

I just kicked in $15.

I'm in for $15, but I'm not sure if they have the hype to meet their goal due to various factors like inxile not having done anything good recently etc.

juv3nal wrote:

I'm in for $15, but I'm not sure if they have the hype to meet their goal due to various factors like inxile not having done anything good recently etc.

Brian Fargo and Wasteland in the same sentence is its own hype.

HedgeWizard wrote:

I am dubious about nxile's track record, and I don't know if they can recapture the genie here to make something special. But I'd like them to try. And I am going to support them in getting there.

That's just it. I'm not entirely sure they'll put together a truly successful sequel, but I think this is as good of a chance as we'll ever have of seeing it happen. That's worth $15 to me.

HedgeWizard wrote:

Sometimes being a patron means you get something less than what you hoped for. But I feel it's worth exploring!

This! Looking at KickStarter, it is a very modern method to be a patron of the arts.

On a separate note, it would be cool to pool the GWJ dollars to get Stan into the game.

I am seriously thinking of dropping $150 on this effort. Wasteland was 1 of my top 3 games of all time. Heck, I would pay $15 to play the original on my iPad.

For those worrying about the quality of the game, the story is being written by Jason Anderson. Who is Jason Anderson? Not only was he co-creator the original Fallout. But he was also projected lead on a couple games you might have heard of.

Arcanum
Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines.

Fargo was also heavily involved in the creation of the first two Fallout games. He has a mixed track record for sure, but his highs are very high for me.

I am dubious about nxile's track record, and I don't know if they can recapture the genie here to make something special. But I'd like them to try. And I am going to support them in getting there.

I also worry about kickstarter fatigue - hell, I'm feeling it already and I've only backed less than 10 projects. But I want to support devs doing interesting things.

Sometimes being a patron means you get something less than what you hoped for. But I feel it's worth exploring!

My concern is less about quality than ability to deliver.

Agent 86 wrote:

My concern is less about quality than ability to deliver.

Care to be more specific? You don't feel that if they get funded they will deliver a game? They won't be able to deliver something very specific?

Execution is what I took from that.

Edwin wrote:

Execution is what I took from that.

Missed it by '' that much.

That video was funny as hell.

I'm planning to back this, but maybe not as much as I would if these guys didn't have a mixed track record. If you really want a cold shower, read the Wikipedia entry on Dragon Wars, one of the games mentioned in that video.

Still, Fallout 1 was a watershed game for me. Utterly loved it, and always heard about Wasteland. I'm willing to invest some money for the possibility that we might get something great, but I don't feel like there's a certainty that we will.

HedgeWizard wrote:
Agent 86 wrote:

My concern is less about quality than ability to deliver.

Care to be more specific? You don't feel that if they get funded they will deliver a game? They won't be able to deliver something very specific?

inExile tends to run over budget and ends up with games that seem not quite fully baked.

I'm planning to back this, but maybe not as much as I would if these guys didn't have a mixed track record. If you really want a cold shower, read the Wikipedia entry on Dragon Wars, one of the games mentioned in that video.

Given that Dragon Wars is one of my top-10 RPGs and the game that I want them to remake after they get done with Wasteland, I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

garion333 wrote:
HedgeWizard wrote:
Agent 86 wrote:

My concern is less about quality than ability to deliver.

Care to be more specific? You don't feel that if they get funded they will deliver a game? They won't be able to deliver something very specific?

inExile tends to run over budget and ends up with games that seem not quite fully baked.

Isn't that an issue of quality? As a PM I sometimes get confused by other people's definitions of deliver or quality.

What I think will be interesting about the Kickstarter paradigm (and something I would LOVE to study) is when a developer delivers the thing they intended, but the patron doesn't care for it. Curious to see how mixed expectations play into the future of the service, particularly when you talk about things of this scope. Also, I can't wait to see screams of dissatisfaction from some backer(s) regardless of how awesome a given product ends up being. They will feel more than entitled to scream to the heavens if they funded a project... WEEE!!!

Gremlin wrote:
I'm planning to back this, but maybe not as much as I would if these guys didn't have a mixed track record. If you really want a cold shower, read the Wikipedia entry on Dragon Wars, one of the games mentioned in that video.

Given that Dragon Wars is one of my top-10 RPGs and the game that I want them to remake after they get done with Wasteland, I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

Dragon Wars is one of my top RPGs of all-time, no doubt about it. It was arguably better than any of The Bard's Tale games, and I loved Bard's Tale III. Originally played it on the Apple //c, then got the Apple //gs version with enhanced graphics. It was awesome.

Expectation management will definitely be a critical part of this for the developers.

Also, something that hasn't come up yet is developers trying to do a second project on Kickstarter. I have a feeling those will be harder regardless of the success of the first project.

Gremlin wrote:
I'm planning to back this, but maybe not as much as I would if these guys didn't have a mixed track record. If you really want a cold shower, read the Wikipedia entry on Dragon Wars, one of the games mentioned in that video.

Given that Dragon Wars is one of my top-10 RPGs and the game that I want them to remake after they get done with Wasteland, I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

I'm guessing you didn't read the page. DW was way, way over budget and way, way late (5 years in development, I think). You might be able to still produce a good game under those circumstances if you have a pile of cash, but if you're on a Kickstarter budget, presumably you don't.

Wasteland! That made me recall probably the greatest magazine pack-in CD I ever received.
Does anyone else with an ancient Computer Gaming World subscription still have this lurking around?

IMAGE(http://www.pucemoose.com/pics/playabo.jpg)

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Gremlin wrote:
I'm planning to back this, but maybe not as much as I would if these guys didn't have a mixed track record. If you really want a cold shower, read the Wikipedia entry on Dragon Wars, one of the games mentioned in that video.

Given that Dragon Wars is one of my top-10 RPGs and the game that I want them to remake after they get done with Wasteland, I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

I'm guessing you didn't read the page. DW was way, way over budget and way, way late (5 years in development, I think). You might be able to still produce a good game under those circumstances if you have a pile of cash, but if you're on a Kickstarter budget, presumably you don't.

Are we reading the same Wikipedia page? I don't see that on there. Though, I may be missing something.

While I agree that the point about InXile's track record stands, it's arguable that they haven't done a comparable project as a discrete studio. Their performance without publisher constraints is untested, which cuts both ways. Skepticism is understandable, but I'm personally willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Puce Moose wrote:

Wasteland! That made me recall probably the greatest magazine pack-in CD I ever received.
Does anyone else with an ancient Computer Gaming World subscription still have this lurking around?

IMAGE(http://www.pucemoose.com/pics/playabo.jpg)

I actually just threw this out last month during my recent house move.
Don't know what came over me.

EDIT: on topic, I pitched in $30 for Wasteland 2. I remember the first Wasteland fondly but I also remember it being really difficult mainly because I was only 9 or 10 when I played it. Together with ideas I got from reading Joe Dever's Freeway Warrior series, I actually imagined a sequel for Wasteland that involved first person shooting, vehicle combat and a fighting game like mechanic for melee combat. It kinda looked like how Borderlands and Rage turned out.

I just pledged big time.

I owe some of my most precious gaming memories to those people. I hope they'll raise at least 2 Millions. May prove more difficult than it was for Double Fine

interstate78 wrote:

I just pledged big time.

I owe some of my most precious gaming memories to those people. I hope they'll raise at least 2 Millions. May prove more difficult than it was for Double Fine

They're already halfway to their stated funding goal. I won't be surprised if it goes north of 1 mil in the coming 10 days. Closes somewhere around the 1.5 range (given current temperature).

They are over half a million in one day with 34 days to go. Looks like I am getting a nice huge collectors box in approximately 2 years.

wanderingtaoist wrote:

They are over half a million in one day with 34 days to go. Looks like I am getting a nice huge collectors box in approximately 2 years.

That's something we often forget with Kickstarter eh. It WILL take years before we get to play this but I can't shake the feeling that Wasteland 2 will sortof be the sequel to Fallout people wanted from the start. Interplay did work on a project called Van Buren, a codename for Fallout 3 before They went belly-up...

I have great expectations about this, it's really exiting to think of the possibilities.