Wasteland 2 Message Board

While "less than half" of Wasteland 2 is currently available in beta via Steam Early Access, an update coming next week will add another major area. After the update, Wasteland 2's beta will feature "most of the Arizona portion of the game."

According to "beta testing metrics and feedback," InXile estimates Wasteland 2 will take about 50 hours to complete for a regular playthough.

Developer InXile Entertainment is also teasing the location for the second portion of the game, which takes place in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles (also known to residents simply as Los Angeles). The Los Angeles areas in Wasteland 2, teased above, will feature "the ruins of familiar landmarks overgrown with wild plant life, crawling with weird creatures, and dangerous mad cults." So, it's just like the real Los Angeles.

Wasteland 2 is the official sequel to the 1988 classic isometric role-playing game from developer Interplay. Its Kickstarter campaign, which sought a total of $900,000 to bring the series back from the dead, eventually accrued over $2.9 million. [Images: InXile Entertainment]

Wasteland 2 might be in its “final stretch” of development, but that doesn’t mean all systems are go just yet. inXile is still hard at work on ironing out kinks, smoothing rough edges, and even overhauling the entire inventory system. The mighty kicker of starters does, however, have an estimate of how long a single playthrough will last you: 50 hours. Exploring all locations and missions, however, will take “quite a bit longer.” One such location? The entirety of Los Angeles (and outlying areas), which is not part of the ongoing beta. If you think Wasteland’s been looking a little too, er, wasteland-y, this ought to make you gleeful as Aberforth, the goat Alec nearly murdered.

… [visit site to read more]

Continuing adventures in the beta (i.e. unfinished, thus everything I mention is subject to change) of inXile’s post-apocalyptic RPG Wasteland 2. Previous instalments are here.

Things I have: an android’s leg; a giant toad’s eye; enough painkillers to keep an entire Oscars ceremony’s worth of celebrities calm for at least a weekend; a dirty, torn shirt of unknown origin. Things I do not have: much of a clue as to what I’m doing. … [visit site to read more]

Continuing adventures in the beta (i.e. unfinished, thus everything I mention is subject to change) of inXile’s post-apocalyptic RPG Wasteland 2. Part 1 is here.

And so our merry band of four – wait, suddenly we’re a merry band of five. Angela, a grizzled but approachable senior Ranger, requests to join us just as we prepare to step into the irradiated desert sands proper, as we’re on the trail of a mysterious killer, someone or something that murdered Ace, a comrade of hers. She speaks of experience and adventures past, of how something ain’t right and how we look like the stuff that stories are made from. She speaks suspiciously as though we might have heard of her before, a long time ago. Nah, can’t be. … [visit site to read more]

A few months ago Wasteland 2 and my PC got on about as well as Piers Morgan and Wayne LaPierre, but as of a recent update I’m glad to say that inXile’s old school cRPG is as smooth as butter on my machine (though I do have to turn SSAO off, but I’ll stop talking about that before I before you). This means I am now free and able to play a game that is both sequel to Fallout’s post-nuclear predecessor and, let’s be honest, an alternative Fallout 3.

Let’s see how we do. … [visit site to read more]

Kickstarter just let the world know that they've pulled in more than $1 billion dollars for thousands of crowdfunding projects since the company launched. And the category that raked in the most cash? Games, once again, to the tune of $215.75 million. Read more...

InXile Entertainment has released a sizable update for the beta version of Wasteland 2, introducing more than 2,000 gameplay additions, features, and fixes along with a new in-game location.

New features in the lastest update include destructible cover, additional class skills, and an overhauled combat system. InXile notes that the new "Prison" area, shown in the trailer above, adds enough content to fill the current beta with over 30 hours of gameplay in total.

Wasteland 2 was funded via a successful Kickstarter project in 2012, and has since greatly expanded in scope. A full changelog for the latest beta update is available here.

[Image: InXile Entertainment]

It raised a ton of cash during its Kickstarter campaign. Then Wasteland 2 got delayed because of all that money. But, rest assured, the sequel to the classic RPG is coming. And a new video gives a substantial glimpse at what the gameplay will look like. Get ready for clicking, folks.Read more...

Wasteland 2 isn't ready to travel into the arid, post-apocalyptic desert just yet, but a new beta build set to release tomorrow will allow developer inXile Entertainment to progress ever-closer to a full release.

The team has already addressed more than 1,000 bugs and suggestions (out of 2,300), and with the upcoming build, plan to introduce a new inventory, new locations, changes to existing locations, destructible objects, new combat animations and more ambient sounds. As for when to expect that full-fledged release? "When it's done."

"We know better than to give an exact date at this point because in addition to pushing the game in the ways we'd planned, we're going to continue to incorporate player comments that make sense for us to address," the studio wrote in an update on their Kickstarter page. "But we are in the final stretch, and are thankful our backers have consistently agreed we should take the time we need." [Image: inXile Entertainment]

I emerged from Wasteland 2‘s beta with a fair number of irradiated gravel bits in my gamerly boot, but there’s no denying that it’s a solid foundation. (And hey, it’s a beta. If you go into a bug hunt expecting to not get dirty, then I can only advise that you re-calibrate your expectations.) Improvements, however, take time, and inXile’s been diligently ironing out Wasteland 2′s kinks ever since the beta started. So surely it’s almost done by now, right? Well, kinda. All that remains is the “final stretch,” which will last three months and change if all goes according to plan. There’s a new beta build en route too, for those still in the business of picking at the pie before its done cooling on the window sill (or another equally quaint metaphor of your choosing).

… [visit site to read more]

Following a month of beta testing, developer inXile Entertainment has outlined its plans for post-apocalyptic roleplaying game Wasteland 2, and it looks like the studio has its work cut out for it.

Alongside the typical bug fixes, inXile hopes to focus primarily on improving the game's combat mechanics. "Destructible cover was part of this last update as a first pass with more fine-tuning to come," writes creator Brian Fargo on the game's Kickstarter page. "[W]e will likely add a crouching stance with a variety of tactical applications; we're going over a lot of the encounter design to more carefully detail tactics-changing factors like ladders or destructible cover; and we're in the first testing stages to explore adding a special attack system that'll allow you to invest AP to make specific kinds of attacks based on your weapon types and the skill levels you've achieved in those weapons ... things like spread shots or steady shots."

Fargo adds that combat in Wasteland 2 is currently in the very early stages of development and that the final version of the game will feature vastly improved enemy AI, as well as additional special attacks and skills that can damage groups of enemies.

Beyond combat improvements, inXile's list of goals for Wasteland 2 is lengthy. It includes "several balance passes on everything in the world," creating a new minimap, changing the in-game font, tweaking the UI seen when bartering with other characters, and adding additional, "satisfying" death animations, among a host of other changes.

Alec and I each had a go at Wasteland 2‘s Early Access beta, and we both came away whistling upbeat tunes while prepping our shotguns for more. A lot more, hopefully. inXile’s post-apocalyptic revival/alternate dimension vision of Fallout 3 is far from finished, and it needs viscous globs of spit ‘n’ shine in many areas. But those crafty developer types, they’ve been paying attention to every article, video, and sea shanty posted in reaction to their multi-million-dollar baby. They are watching. But that’s a good thing – at least, in this case. Next on the docket for Wasteland 2: vastly more interesting combat, a better UI, improved balance, bug fixes, and even more world reactivity. In other words, pretty much all the stuff Alec and I (and most other humans) asked for.

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Playing games, especially turn-based ones, at fifteen frames per second is alright for a while, but then I started to feel a bit sick, and every blink I took seemed to last an age. The fine art of pixel-flashing really can do funny things to the human brain when it doesn’t work as intended.

Wasteland 2‘s currently appalling performance (for many, but not all, players) is just one of many reasons that its ‘beta’ tag winds up sounding a little too Mission Accomplished. Which makes this another case of an Early Access game I wish I’d waited longer to play, as right now the experience is much more about trying to stomach the problems than it is enjoying what does, pleasingly, seem to be the alternate-universe Fallout 3 that Wasteland 2′s Kickstarter backers so craved.(more…)

Wasteland 2 is available on Steam Early Access for $60, a fee that grants players Wasteland 2, the original Wasteland, the Mark Morgan soundtrack, and Wasteland digital novellas and art book. InXile's Wasteland 2 was funded via Kickstarter in 2012, raising $2.9 million from 61,000 backers. Those who contributed $55 or more got access to the beta yesterday.

InXile shows off some Wasteland 2 gameplay in the gritty "Butchers of Arizona" trailer. Relatedly, it's a temperate 70-ish degrees in Phoenix right now. You gotta take the good with the bad.

If you threw at least $55 at inXile Entertainment's heavily-anticipated, crowdfunded Wasteland 2, your generosity is paying off: As of this morning, you have access to a playable beta test of the post-apocalyptic roleplaying game.

Entering the beta is easy. If you backed Wasteland 2 to the tune of $55 or greater, you should have received log-in credentials for the Wasteland 2 Ranger Center. Visit that site, enter your information, and suddenly you're the owner of a Steam key redeemable for the beta. Keep in mind, though, this is only a limited portion of the game, including "the first four major areas ... and related minor maps, along with character creation, world map travel, and random encounters." Developer inXile Entertainment claims that new areas will be added to the beta as time goes by, but in the meantime it has offered a handy guide to all there is to see in the game's current incarnation.

Those who didn't fund Wasteland 2 aren't going to be left out in the dusty, irradiated cold, however. Today's announcement also brings word that the Wasteland 2 beta will hit Steam Early Access on December 13. Access to the Steam Early Access beta won't be free, though by paying for the chance to play Wasteland 2 before its public release, you're helping to fund the game's development. That said, there's currently no word on the price point attached to the Wasteland 2 Steam Early Access beta.

Wasteland 2′s beta is officially go! Well, for backers anyway. I booted it up the second Steam finished prying it from some server’s synthetic grip, and I realized something: I was nervous. My expectations were riding extremely high, and I couldn’t help but fear that inXile’s return to post-apocalyptic role-playing’s roots would let me down. What I’d seen up to that point had my head ready to explode like a gerbil full of uncooked rice (and also a blood sausage), but maybe it wouldn’t all come together. Maybe it was pure promise and no execution. All bark, zero bite. 

I was worried over nothing. Wasteland 2′s irradiated peaks and valleys are pretty rad so far. I have some minor quibbles (the interface is awkward, enemy AI can be really dumb, some bugs and glitches), but there’s quite a lot to like here. Watch me play through a few early sections below. Oh, and fair warning: slight spoilers ahead. Nothing too major, though.

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Wonderful news from the tweet-o-dodecagon today: Wasteland 2‘s beta finally has a release date. After it slipped from October into daaaaaaaates unknown (woooooooooo), inXile CEO Brian Fargo has claimed the Kickstarter darling is only two-and-a-half weeks out. That in mind, I got in touch with Fargo to find out what took so long, how much of the game will be available in the beta, whether it’ll expand over time, and what all of this means for the final game. Read on for the full thing.

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On the day that the great Rumour Dance begins throwing initial shapes about a possible Fallout 4, it seems appropriate to also herald the re-release of the original Wasteland, the proto-Fallout. InXile, currently working on Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Mahnamahna, have been trying to wrangle download store rights to the 1988 Interplay RPG for some time, and a couple of days ago their plans bore post-apocalyptic fruit. An enhanced edition of the game’s now available from the usual suspects, and apparently this is its first official availability for two decades.(more…)

Responding to fan demand for a modern re-release of its acclaimed classic RPG Wasteland, InXile Entertainment is now offering up a repackaged version for purchase via Steam and Good Old Games.

Released in 1988 for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and DOS, Wasteland puts players in control of a large and varied party of characters who wander the harsh deserts of the American Southwest in the aftermath of a nuclear war. Though subsequent attempts at a sequel met with limited success after its initial release, Wasteland later served as inspiration for Interplay's Fallout series.

InXile is currently developing Wasteland 2, a Kickstarter-funded follow-up that was delayed past its intended October release due to its expanded scope and emphasis on player choice. Kickstarter campaign supporters received early access to the re-released Wasteland 1, which has been downloaded more than 33,000 times since its backer-exclusive release last Friday.

I read all of the Wasteland 2 updates and spend a good five minutes afterwards collecting my belongings and disembarking from the hype train. It’s a dangerous vehicle and the rails that it rides take it to the scorched terrain of Disappointment’s Desert, wherein lie the ruins of the mighty citadel, Grand Expectations. The Wasteland 2 team are making all the right noises and then transcribing those noises and sharing them on the internet. The latest news coming from the inXile camp comes from the splendidly named Montgomery Markland and contains information about the Wasteland 1 re-release as well as plenty of details about survival and exploration in the sequel. But that’s not the best of it – there is a header that reads “Dying of Murder”.

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Taking a hike through the world of Wasteland 2 will be fraught with danger and discovery. An update on the game's Kickstarter page has revealed how exploration will work in inXile Entertainment's upcoming post-nuclear apocalypse RPG, as well as the guiding principles behind its design. The basic map experience, according to Montgomery Markland, a producer on Wasteland 2, is one of exploration, discovery and survival.

The game's map will be broken into a 3D version which renders your immediate surroundings, and a 2D version that shows the overall region, as well as the location of settlements, resources and "sites." Sites in Wasteland 2 are described by Markland as "minor locations such as an abandoned mine or a highway roadblock." No matter where you go, however, death awaits.

Along with keeping an eye out for attacks from random monsters and other survivors, players will also need to watch their Geiger counter. The land is irradiated, and wandering into pockets of dense radiation can result in instant death. Even if you avoid radiation poisoning however, the world of Wasteland 2 can still kill you via dehydration.

"Water management is challenging and important," Markland writes. "Your water supply is based upon the number of rangers in your squad and the number of canteens among them. Depending on the type of terrain you are traversing, your water supply is consumed at varying rates." Man, who'd have thought the end of the world would be so rough?

Vlambeer have announced that splendid-looking shooter Wasteland Kings is being renamed Nuclear Throne. It seems that this move is in no small part down to concerns expressed by inXile over possible confusion over the contemporaneous development of Wasteland 2. They explain that “It’s a bit of an haphazard announcement, with Justin Chan’s beautiful artwork above still not being finished, without us having a new logo and before we’ve been able to properly change the name on all the platforms officially, but we thought that if we’re doing open development we might just as well be open about it.”

You can watch the Eurogamer Expo Wasteland Kings presentation, in which the name change is mentioned, below.(more…)

Wasteland 2 sure is looking nice. Here's a lengthy demo of a level from the game, which gives a good sense of a bunch of the different systems and encounters and how they all fit together.Read more...

Wasteland 2 is looking increasingly like one of the most delicious fruits of Kickstarter. Evidence for this claim can be found in a huge slice of the prison level, which has been played, filmed, and narrated by project lead, Chris Keenan. You can watch it below. The footagr shows a lot of the lovely-looking Unity-powered game in motion, as well as revealing some details about the sort of challenges the game contains for players, and some of the ugly actions they are able to undertake. I suppose you might not want to look in case of spoilers, but I rest safe in the knowledge that my sieve-like mind will have lost the details by the time I come to play the game.

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The original Wasteland will see a separate release on GOG.com and Steam, Wasteland 2 developer inXile announced in an update on its Kickstarter page. The game was slated to be packed in with copies of Wasteland 2 thanks to the assistance of EA, publishers of the first game. Now inXile can release the original post-apocalyptic RPG separately, thanks to a new agreement with the publisher.

Wasteland 2 earned a whopping $2,933,252 on Kickstarter in April 2012, and its beta program was recently delayed to October, its initial launch date. Wasteland will still be free for all Wasteland 2 Kickstarter backers, and inXile has not named a price for the stand-alone version of the game.

If all goes according to plan, Wasteland 2 will be one of the most reactive, choice-driven games to grace PCs since man first rubbed two sticks together and invented the keyboard. Everything from juicy bits of dialogue to party members to entire locations can vanish or appear in an instant, all thanks to your actions. And wastelands, well, they tend to be pretty nasty places, radiation-scorched cesspits of violence, prejudice, and, er, waste. So naturally, some characters are going to hate you for simply being, well, you. inXile’s hinted at the system in Kickstarter updates, but I found myself exceedingly curious about how it’ll all actually come together. Here’s what the developer told me.

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inXile Entertainment's recent delay of Wasteland 2 is due to the studio's fondness for reactivity, Rock, Paper, Shotgun's interview with inXile CEO Brian Fargo reveals.

Fargo says inXile is "hanging [its] hat on reactivity ... You can shoot or kill anybody in the whole game ... If someone joins your party, you can kick them out, kill them, whatever you want. There's whole sequences you're not gonna see later because you offed the guy ... There's no replacement, no NPC that joins you and acts just like him functionally. He's out. You're just not gonna see it."

Fargo plans to use the tripled amount of funding requested for the game's development to "make a game that people talk about the way they do Fallout and Wasteland, 10 or 20 years from now ... I don't make any money from this."

Wasteland 2 will offer its roster of NPCs to your God complex on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms at a to-be-determined date. Those who pledged $55 or more to the game's Kickstarter will be granted access to the beta that's planned for October.

I recently had the privilege of visiting inXile’s balmy, exceedingly pleasant beachside lair (they don’t make exiles like they used to) – at which point I of course did my best to avoid the light of day as much as possible. I was in Southern California for one reason and one reason only: to explore a festering, godforsaken bullet hole of a wasteland, and this time it wasn’t even Los Angeles. Or at least, not the real one. Wasteland 2 was the name of the game, and inXile was kind enough to show me, well, pretty much everything.

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Wasteland 2 isn’t coming out when we thought it was coming out. That’s probably the greatest tragedy of modern times, maybe of recorded human history. But the reasoning behind it is actually far more interesting than inXile’s original blog post let on. Yes, yes, polishing up the rusted over cessparadise is a big part of the developer’s reasoning, but even once it’s feature complete, creative effort will continue right up to the last second on one key portion of the game: choice and reactivity. Think less Mass Effect, more Witcher 2 with a hint of Deus Ex. And maybe even more than that.

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Wasteland 2, like Double Fine's adventure game, is one of Kickstarter's greatest video game project successes. And, like Double Fine's adventure game, it's also run into a snag because, well, y'all just gave it too darn much money.Read more...