InXile has released a big update for Wasteland 2, including concept art, a new music track, and the first gameplay footage. They remind viewers that this video is early footage with many features still missing. Click here to watch the video, and click the headline to read the full update.
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Our objective was to show off some of the HUD and how both the combat and skill systems work. There are many elements not represented here but to name a few:
• Minimal particle effects
• Minimal sound
• Mini-map not working
• Inventory, logbook and other character screens not shown
• Not all skills (in and out of combat) being represented
• No world map movement
• It needs more messaging in the UI
• And not a comprehensive list of all the combat variables
Sorry if we're over communicating, but it's just a reminder: we're just past the halfway mark, so don't expect to see everything that you can expect from the final game just quite yet.
We are very proud to provide the first gameplay video of Wasteland 2, which will allow our backers to see how far we've come and how everything is coming together. The usual way of doing things in this industry would see us create a demo specifically for displaying to the press or at game shows, but we're very glad to have been allowed the freedom to create a demo video from an actually playable area, which ensures there's no wasted code. This is a straight video capture of Development Director Chris Keenan playing the game. The only element that is not running in code is the sound effects, as it was faster to do in post, but as you will hear, there is nothing being done audio wise that isn't easily replicated in engine. In fact, we plan to have many more sound effects in the final game than what is heard here.
Wasteland 2 - Early Gameplay Footage
This represents not just the strong synergy of the inXile team but the effects of your continued input via the forums. The game has continued to improve thanks to this communication, and Wasteland 2 will be better for it. The benefits have ranged from changes to the combat mechanics to finalizing the name of our attribute system.
It also represents the success of working with Unity and the asset creation experiment we did to increase the variety and density of the world look. We were pleasantly surprised at the talent that submitted art content, and we look forward to continuing to work with them.
I’d also like to thank the military personnel who joined our Yammer group to help us develop the slang and communicate more real world experiences for us to draw on. We love to learn little things like how much they hate it when movies say “Over and out!”… There is no “out” after “over” dammit!
This first level you will see is one of the first areas you will encounter in the game. The agricultural center was also a part of Wasteland 1. It was an area that Chris Avellone had some affinity for and he did the design for the level. Also thanks goes out to Nathan Long, who provided this area’s clever writing. We had a chance to show Chris the level last week, and when we commented that it was coming together he said “not coming together … it has COME together.”
Our objective was to show off some of the HUD and how both the combat and skill systems work. There are many elements not represented here but to name a few:
Minimal particle effects
Minimal sound
Mini-map not working
Inventory, logbook and other character screens not shown
Not all skills (in and out of combat) being represented
No world map movement
It needs more messaging in the UI
And not a comprehensive list of all the combat variables
Sorry if we're over communicating, but it's just a reminder: we're just past the halfway mark, so don't expect to see everything that you can expect from the final game just quite yet.
You will get to listen to the latest track from Mark Morgan (at the bottom of this update) that sets the haunting and often desolate tone of the Wasteland. And you will hear our first pass at the radio broadcasting which plays a vital role in communication, reactivity and mood setting. There will be a host of cults who are broadcasting their propaganda while other calls will be the locals who seek the help of our rangers. We have many interesting ideas on how to use the radio in novel ways.
Our vision for this game remains intact and you will see a number of examples that illustrate this. The customization can be seen in the examples of bringing in your own portraits and by the ability to set the user interface in a style that works for you.
You wanted a party and turn based RPG with tactical combat, and we are delivering that. The demo helps to show off action points, use of cover, enemy view cones, distance/height/enemy size/enemy speed affecting the chance to hit, ammo configurations, attributes changing the characters strengths and role, simultaneous party firing and more. And we are not done adding elements to make sure you are fully engaged in an interesting combat system. There is still plenty of time for you to comment on the combat system and to help us hone it in. Our goal is to build a very deep combat system, with the potential to dive in and fine-tune your damage-output and tactics, while not absolutely requiring that level of micro-management from all players.
If you played Wasteland 1, you will enjoy the many callbacks to the original, but at the same time there is no need of that knowledge. While certainly not a comedy you will get a healthy dose of the humor that gave Wasteland its charm.
Once again we thank you all for backing our vision…
I love the old turn-based gameplay. I was never fond of the pseudo turn-based play like in Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment. This reminds me of Fallout 1 & 2.
My decision to back this one was a very good one. Even if it takes an extra 6 months to release than they estimate this was money well spent.
I do wish they had a little more VO though. I love to read but I get the feeling there might be a little too much in here. I'm not looking for SWTOR levels, but a tad more
Also, was I the only one annoyed at the bullet-holes that "shatter" the screen when combat is initiated? That just seems like it will get really old, really quick.
My decision to back this one was a very good one. Even if it takes an extra 6 months to release than they estimate this was money well spent.
I do wish they had a little more VO though. I love to read but I get the feeling there might be a little too much in here. I'm not looking for SWTOR levels, but a tad more
Also, was I the only one annoyed at the bullet-holes that "shatter" the screen when combat is initiated? That just seems like it will get really old, really quick.
The bullet holes were one of the only things I didn't like, along with the popup at the end of combat. Hopefully those will be changed in the final version or at least can be turned off. I also would like the ability to resize the UI because it seems kind of big.
Jesus, that looks amazing. There are some minor things I would like to see changed, but given that this is only half(-ish) done, I have high hopes. It already looks competent. I'm hoping that having to use an action (either clicking the action in the toolbar or hitting the appropriate number) to interact with the environment rather than having context-sensitive mouse-overs doesn't get too tiring. I understand why they made that particular design decision though.
As an aside: Lockwood, I just watched that gif loop about twenty times. At least. Not too sure what that says about me.
The bullet holes were one of the only things I didn't like, along with the popup at the end of combat. Hopefully those will be changed in the final version or at least can be turned off. I also would like the ability to resize the UI because it seems kind of big.
One of the very first things mentioned in the video is that the interface is completely resizable and adjustable. I'm assuming something similar to Guild Wars.
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I do wish they had a little more VO though. I love to read but I get the feeling there might be a little too much in here. I'm not looking for SWTOR levels, but a tad more
During the kickstarter it was promised that they were actively against voice acting. So get ready to actually read a bit for a change.
My decision to back this one was a very good one. Even if it takes an extra 6 months to release than they estimate this was money well spent.
I do wish they had a little more VO though. I love to read but I get the feeling there might be a little too much in here. I'm not looking for SWTOR levels, but a tad more
Also, was I the only one annoyed at the bullet-holes that "shatter" the screen when combat is initiated? That just seems like it will get really old, really quick.
Actually, if you read the entire kickstarter update you will also notice that ALL sounds in the video were added on POST production.
I do suspect there will be a lot more sounds and VO compared to this (well, right now there are NO sounds, so thats easy, but you know)..
Bulletholes do seem a bit stupid.. i guess it's supposed to tell us when we are getting into combat, but chances are we already know it, so it's a bit redundant.. at least in so far as the video goes..
and lastly.. anybody notices how awesome this game looks and feels? It's amazing what you can do with Unity.
