Wasteland 2 tidbits; conference, panel, docs, map

[Brother None]

Lots of stuff from Facebook and twitter on Wasteland 2. First, speaking at a panel at IGDA LA, CEO Brian Fargo and writers Nathan Long and Colin McComb (subbing in for Chris Avellone) will discuss "Narrative Design in Wasteland 2". It's in two days, with free admission, so stop in and let us know what they've discussed.

Second, inXile is looking for volunteers to put together a Veterans Advisory Panel to advise on the Desert Rangers organization, particularly to "discuss our thoughts on the history of the Desert Rangers, their vocabulary, and their communication techniques."<blockquote>Game credit that is. inXile is looking for small group of combat veterans to join our Veterans Advisory Panel. This group will help us to vet some of our military lingo and help us get it right. While our game is set 115 years after the apocalypse, the Desert Rangers are still a military group that have their roots in the US Army. While the Desert Rangers are not exactly as organized or as formal as the US Military, we still want to make sure that the language we use is based on a solid foundation of reality and we need your experience to help us get there.

Those selected to be on our Veterans Advisory Panel will be given access to a private forum where we will share some design documents and scripts and discuss our thoughts on the history of the Desert Rangers, their vocabulary, and their communication techniques. For participating in the VAP, members will all receive in game credit as well as a boxed copy of the final game. More importantly, members of the VAP will all be immortalized in Wasteland 2 by appearing in the game as one of the legendary Desert Rangers. That’s right, we will name a Desert Ranger after you!

Anyone interested please send a brief description of their service to VAP@inxile.net</blockquote>Last but not least, Brian Fargo has been tweeting some images to show design progress, particularly a shot of a partial of the printed out design docs of Wasteland 2 and a photo of Chris Avellone discussing one of his maps.

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Things are progressing well, as Fargo lets us know on Twitter:<blockquote>I'll be holed up all week with the Wasteland 2 writers making a detailed pass at the final design/writing. On schedule... (...) Reactive.. Reactive... Reactive. That is the mantra we have and are focused on with the Wasteland 2 design. Of course proactive first.. but the world being reactive to your actions.</blockquote>

 

[FearMonkey]

Lots of stuff from Facebook and twitter on Wasteland 2. First, speaking at a panel at IGDA LA, CEO Brian Fargo and writers Nathan Long and Colin McComb (subbing in for Chris Avellone) will discuss "Narrative Design in Wasteland 2". It's in two days, with free admission, so stop in and let us know what they've discussed.

I would like to go to this.

Not sure I can though.

 

[ptar]

What?

 

[Per]

just another time/money sink

As described it is neither.

 

[TorontoReign]

just another time/money sink

As described it is neither.

Well I guess that's in your opinion. And my opinion is this is ridiculous, and a waste of time pulling soldiers away from their job to rub shoulders with video game developers. We pay both of their paychecks you know? It's just wasteful, makes me glad I didn't kickstart this... because I can see it's probably not the game I wanted to see be made.

[edit]Although technically, I did support paying for the soldier's boot camp and whatever else they may have done to advance their career. So despite what you may think my opinion matters (although I did not willfully have a choice of paying .00000000013 percent of their training). That's America. And I'm sick of seeing video games become a pulpit for subtle militaristic propaganda. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what they are doing out there, they are afterall just soldiers. I hate the fact that their valor is being commercialised due to the fact America has nothing left to be proud of other than killing, ala C.O.D.

[edit#2]Oh and thanks for taking my whole post out of context, you didn't even include the whole sentence. guess I'm just old and grumpy. Damn kids and their devil video games.

I rarely feel the need to comment... but wow.

You know our Rangers do other things than "ranger-ing," right? You don't pay their checks for whatever they do in their off time, so get over yourself.

Besides, the lingo might actually stick after an apocalypse because technological advancement was halted.

These guys are using current era gear in the future, so your analogy to the Civil War and modern military is not very applicable.

Seeing as how they call themeselves Desert Rangers and have ranks (at least in the first Wasteland), it's safe to assume they have preserved some military practices from the time before the apocalypse.

This. During a SHTF scenario many soldiers would attempt to ascertain the METT and establish a MOB with their friends/family/fellow soldiers. A written inventory of their logistics would be a must, and I'm sure many would have a BOB ready for such an attack, on top of a large cache of beans, bullets, and bandaids. Hell, tons of MILSURP gear would be available for those ballsy enough to acquire it even if you didn't stockpile enough. Not to mention that numerous FMs and TMs would be available for training your families and friends into the foreseeable future, with said tactics, skills, and lingo being passed down from generation to generation. Many seasoned Grunts would hack it, aside from the FNG's who would probably run crying to their mommas. MSRs would be Danger Areas that would be avoided altogether unless supplies were running low. Situational Awareness would be essential and most large cities would be hellholes avoided at all costs. WROL the typical 25 meter distance limit would be a must, so you would have to BOLO because no one could be trusted and many would kill you just for the clothes on your back, and the boots on your feet. I mean who wants a Charlie Foxtrot when everything is already FUBAR?

Additionally, there are plenty of ex-military vets available to contribute to this task, no reason to worry about your hard earned tax dollars being wasted by those evil video games. ICMUS.


Edit: Sent them an email.

 

[Elissar]

Why do they need to consult real Rangers? As they stated, it happens after the war and almost 150 years later so why would the fictional Rangers use lingo and other hand-me-downs from the real deal. It's not like soldiers today embrace civil war era protocol. Seems like this goes against post apocalyptic canon. I'm not with them on this, just another time/money sink to impress and encourage hype. I smell big business appeal. What a sham... Unless they name a soldier after Chuck Norris. He was in Delta Force.

Actually, the US military does still use a lot of the lingo from not just the civil war but all the way back to the revolutionary war. So it makes sense that a military unit founded by former soldiers would continue on traditions and methods of communication that have worked for a day or two now.

 

[Ares]

This. During a SHTF scenario many soldiers would attempt to ascertain the METT and establish a MOB with their friends/family/fellow soldiers. A written inventory of their logistics would be a must, and I'm sure many would have a BOB ready for such an attack, on top of a large cache of beans, bullets, and bandaids. Hell, tons of MILSURP gear would be available for those ballsy enough to acquire it even if you didn't stockpile enough. Not to mention that numerous FMs and TMs would be available for training your families and friends into the foreseeable future, with said tactics, skills, and lingo being passed down from generation to generation. Many seasoned Grunts would hack it, aside from the FNG's who would probably run crying to their mommas. MSRs would be Danger Areas that would be avoided altogether unless supplies were running low. Situational Awareness would be essential and most large cities would be hellholes avoided at all costs. WROL the typical 25 meter distance limit would be a must, so you would have to BOLO because no one could be trusted and many would kill you just for the clothes on your back, and the boots on your feet. I mean who wants a Charlie Foxtrot when everything is already FUBAR?

Additionally, there are plenty of ex-military vets available to contribute to this task, no reason to worry about your hard earned tax dollars being wasted by those evil video games. ICMUS. Laughing

Tango Hotel India Sierra. I might just add that in a world where MILSURP can leak easily there will be times where someone with CE skills can become pretty well demanded. Never known when you need footthieves for ambushes or on the other side, BARMA ops.

Although I have service and combat experience but not from a english speaking army. Dosen't stop me from sending a email though.

 

[TorontoReign]

I like how this entire thread has been derailed by someone who seems to have something to prove. Having the military jargon down isn't being hyper-realistic, it just makes it grounded in reality. If your entire game is based on a group of Rangers, descended from a group of pre-war grunts who happened to survive the apocalypse, you might want to get the military jargon down right. It's not as if they are hiring military consultants and shit like that. It's a forum where military guys can give their input. Simple as that. The rest of the shit is off topic and pointless - World War 2, Meth, whether anyone survives a nuclear war - all that shit is pointless to debate. The game wouldn't exist if no one survived. The focus on the military is important since it's a military group. Ptar, I feel that your problem has to do with something else besides Wasteland 2, and might be better suited in another thread. I respect your opinion, but don't expect anyone around here to agree with you. I for one don't think it's silly, since they are attempting to do something different from Fallout. Why should they follow the example of a game that copied Wasteland to begin with? I also don't like how you attempt to badmouth military men and women by saying they blindly follow orders and are robots. It's uncalled for. Militaristic propaganda my fucking ass. A man of your age should know better.