IndieRPGs offers a new interview with inXile's Brian Fargo, talking Wasteland and Wasteland 2.<blockquote>One of the things that was so revolutionary about the original Wasteland was its almost GURPS-like adherence to skill-based characters and challenges. As a developer myself, I find it very challenging to balance a game with both character creation and more than a handful of distinct skills. Inevitably, some are going to be more useful than others; and if you’re not careful, there’s a real risk of players creating characters ill-suited to navigating most of the game’s scenarios. How do you deal with this? Do you deliberately try to balance the game’s skills, or do you permit imbalance in the name of role-playing?
Part of the solution is that we need to make sure to create the depth so that all the skills do get used and allow success. Obviously some skills are going to be used more than others and I think those are quite obvious. No doubt the Medic skill will be used more often than say Toaster Repair or Rocket Science. However it is a party based game so there will be a natural balancing that comes about unless you give all 4 characters the exact same skills. But that said we also reward people who pick some obscure skills to reward them for the tradeoff. But the reward may not come easy… you may have to discover it.
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A substantial number of people excited about Wasteland 2 are actually more familiar with Fallout (available on GOG.com) than they are the original Wasteland (not currently available anywhere). There are some pretty clear differences between the two games, though: aside from the goofier tone, Wasteland has menu-based combat and a non-isometric perspective. Where these games differ, are you planning to adopt some of Fallout’s innovations, or are you hoping to create something much closer to the original Wasteland? What are your primary considerations in deciding?
Clearly things have changed since the first game and we are not trying to create a Apple II experience. What we like is the depth, cause and effect, the setting, the skills based system, Desert Rangers, modern weaponry etc. about Wasteland. We are going to allow the user to set the camera in different places so you can choose if you want a more top down view vs. a more isometric one. The menu systems themselves will also be customizable. But what makes this project innovative is really more about the communication with the fans and making sure we are in sync. We just put a long vision document out which went into great detail of what we think is important to the game as per the original and what the gamers have wanted. This transparency of development is something we relish doing and a major shift in thinking. I can’t imagine making a game any other way at this point.</blockquote>
Part of the solution is that we need to make sure to create the depth so that all the skills do get used and allow success. Obviously some skills are going to be used more than others and I think those are quite obvious. No doubt the Medic skill will be used more often than say Toaster Repair or Rocket Science. However it is a party based game so there will be a natural balancing that comes about unless you give all 4 characters the exact same skills. But that said we also reward people who pick some obscure skills to reward them for the tradeoff. But the reward may not come easy… you may have to discover it.
(...)
A substantial number of people excited about Wasteland 2 are actually more familiar with Fallout (available on GOG.com) than they are the original Wasteland (not currently available anywhere). There are some pretty clear differences between the two games, though: aside from the goofier tone, Wasteland has menu-based combat and a non-isometric perspective. Where these games differ, are you planning to adopt some of Fallout’s innovations, or are you hoping to create something much closer to the original Wasteland? What are your primary considerations in deciding?
Clearly things have changed since the first game and we are not trying to create a Apple II experience. What we like is the depth, cause and effect, the setting, the skills based system, Desert Rangers, modern weaponry etc. about Wasteland. We are going to allow the user to set the camera in different places so you can choose if you want a more top down view vs. a more isometric one. The menu systems themselves will also be customizable. But what makes this project innovative is really more about the communication with the fans and making sure we are in sync. We just put a long vision document out which went into great detail of what we think is important to the game as per the original and what the gamers have wanted. This transparency of development is something we relish doing and a major shift in thinking. I can’t imagine making a game any other way at this point.</blockquote>
