Wasteland 2 Interview

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Written by WorstUsernameEver on July 2nd, 2012

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AC: Reading through the Vision Document, it looks like Wasteland 2 is going to be played over familiar territory - South West USA with a mention of LA in the document. Is there any particular location that you're looking forward to seeing (or making) a new spin on?

CK: We have a pretty interesting vision of how L.A. has been morphed after the nuclear debacle. I can't go into any particular locations at this time but there are some major shifts to the environment in Southern California. When we got started with design, we noticed how spot on the map scale was for Arizona in the original. That was a cool element that we wanted to keep in L.A., but an irradiated tidal wave can certainly change the landscape.

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AC: One thing that many of the Fallout games have done well is rewarding players who explore the game world with unique arms, armour and other items - sometimes as a pop reference joke. I appreciate that its early days, but are there any items of note that you can share with us at the moment that we should be looking out for?

CK: It's still a bit early to go into specific items. As well, many of those items come from iteration. A great item can sometimes be awesome due to the moment you get it in the game and how useful it is. Right now, it's too early to have balance discussions. We are putting a good deal of effort into our gun and weapons systems that will allow for some pretty unique firearms. There will be pop culture references from that time period and a dark sense of humor, similar to the original.

AC: Both Fallout and Wasteland have stood out from other Role Playing Game series by avoiding the "Light vs Dark" clique and instead presenting grey moral dilemmas - shooting the rabid pet dog "Rex" in Highpool perhaps the most famous (in Wasteland). Can we expect more of these, and what challenges do you face in writing these encounters?

CK: Absolutely. Many current RPGs are about your overall standing in the world. Are you good or evil? That isn't granular enough for the play experience we want to get out of this. Every area you visit is about presenting moral dilemmas for the player to figure out on their own. It's not a black and white decision. Sometimes, you'll feel like you're making the right move and it will turn out completely different than you thought. Every NPC has their own personality, including your companions and they don't always listen to you. One companion NPC is a bit of a kleptomaniac. When shit hits the fan during combat, he might (accidentally) take an item from your inventory. If you notice it, you can ask for it back, kill him or even politely ask him to leave. He might not want to give it back. What do you do if he is an assassin in combat? Deal with it for the advantage or kill him?

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