Wasteland 2 Design Document

The now-complete Kickstarter Campaign for Wasteland 2 now offers a design document for inXile entertainment's upcoming post-apocalyptic RPG sequel (thanks nin and Dev). Here's word:
I can't imagine a better way for Wasteland 2 to be created. We have your trust and a symbiotic relationship that will have us learn from each other. We are not afraid of the transparency of our process and thinking and intend to share it along the way. Our detailed reasoning of our choice of the Unity engine is just one example.

Today we are publishing our vision document for Wasteland 2 which details the sensibilities of the game itself. The ideas in this document come from things that worked in Wasteland 1 and are expected, things I have communicated previously, and suggestions/opinions from the fan boards.
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17.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 13, 2012, 03:58
Dev
17.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 13, 2012, 03:58
Jun 13, 2012, 03:58
Dev
 
netnerd85 wrote on Jun 13, 2012, 01:37:
It took 2 months to come up with that...
Yes, I'm sure they had absolutely nothing else to do, and didn't do a thing other than that. Such as getting the actual money, prepping the physical rewards, hiring more people.

That bit on the kickstarter update that goes along with this that says
"The progress on Wasteland 2 continues on at a healthy rate."
That bit means nothing.

Oh and researching and deciding on a game engine. Believe it or not, on a project like this that is starting up, it actually makes sense to wait until the kickstart is over and you can see the scale of funding, to make the final decision on the engine. And it could also be that they also have been working on a full design document internally, but the vision document is as much of it as they want to show the public. They may not be ready to talk about other things they've been working on, such as character specifics.

If you want a blow by blow with complete transparency project, that would be double fine's project. With wasteland 2 sounds more like they are giving us summaries. Detailed ones, but summaries.
16.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 13, 2012, 01:37
16.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 13, 2012, 01:37
Jun 13, 2012, 01:37
 
It took 2 months to come up with that...
15.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 15:56
15.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 15:56
Jun 12, 2012, 15:56
 
nin wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 15:52:
AngelicPenguin wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 14:29:
Dev wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 11:31:
An example from the doc:

[RPG: RPGs haven’t kept pace with time...

Nice - any mention of blood sausages?


They actually offered that as a reward tier, but, without knowing what they were getting, not many went for it.


Pretty sure it's because having a bronzed statue of something that can be mistaken for a pile of crap wasn't really something that was going to excite people.
14.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 15:52
nin
14.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 15:52
Jun 12, 2012, 15:52
nin
 
AngelicPenguin wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 14:29:
Dev wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 11:31:
An example from the doc:

[RPG: RPGs haven’t kept pace with time...

Nice - any mention of blood sausages?


They actually offered that as a reward tier, but, without knowing what they were getting, not many went for it.

13.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 15:19
13.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 15:19
Jun 12, 2012, 15:19
 

This is not a design document. This is exactly what the PDF says, a vision document.
Avatar 55452
12.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 14:42
12.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 14:42
Jun 12, 2012, 14:42
 
Parallax Abstraction wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 13:54:
... Might be cool on the iPad if they do it right. Maybe.
Yeah, I wish they'd release that before I leave for vacation next week but I doubt that'll happen. I think it would play pretty well on the iPad.

AngelicPenguin wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 14:29:
Nice - any mention of blood sausages?
Yes it does actually! I don't remember what part exactly but I saw it yesterday when I read it. I never played the original Wasteland but I am looking forward to this one and contributed $50 so I could get a boxed copy.
This space is available for rent
11.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 14:29
11.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 14:29
Jun 12, 2012, 14:29
 
Dev wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 11:31:
An example from the doc:

[RPG: RPGs haven’t kept pace with time...

Nice - any mention of blood sausages?
Avatar 55985
10.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 13:54
10.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 13:54
Jun 12, 2012, 13:54
 
Dev wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 12:17:
If you've read anything at all about them, or the threads that talk about their games, they are mostly doing the "remakes" to try and draw attention to their digital distribution platform beamdog. Which is why the games are ONLY sold through that. They probably got the remake IP's super cheap off of interplay. If you looked into their remake of MDK2, you'll find it wasn't really changed much, and bugs from the first version weren't fixed. BG EE is likely to be the same, just a thinned down coat of old paint. They were bragging about how they were redoing the main menu to work in a higher resolution. Likely the real reason they are redoing the menu is because they are doing an ipad version. Which version do you think will get more attention? My bets on the ipad one. Also a quick check of the beamdog forum about BG EE, and the impression I got about beamdog was "we can't be bothered to read through the posts." I did see a post from them mentioning they are still working through contract issues with bioware, so my guess is the game isn't close to being released.

Yeah, they bungled that release pretty good. They announced it, went dark for a long time, then spent like a month pimping the iOS version super hard (talking about how they're updating it for touch and it's somehow best played on an iPad etc.) and not even making a peep about the PC version except for one mention on their site, then went completely dark again and we've heard nothing. Given that you can get the games cheaper on GOG and there's mods that already add far more content and features to them than Beamdog's promising, I'm not overly confident they'll be worth it even when they do come out. Might be cool on the iPad if they do it right. Maybe.
Parallax Abstraction
Twitch | YouTube | Podcast
Avatar 13614
9.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 13:53
Bet
 
9.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 13:53
Jun 12, 2012, 13:53
 Bet
 
Reminds me of just how fluid the design doc for Planescape: Torment was. Oh we are in for something GOOD.

Love that community involvement section on page 8. Want to contribute art, or story? Give a sample, and they might draft you (and credit you). How is that not awesome?
Avatar 9253
8.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 13:48
8.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 13:48
Jun 12, 2012, 13:48
 
Silicon Avatar wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 11:53:
I'm glad they're doing mod tools. This game ought to be great. Now we just have to see if they can execute all their ambition on a small budget.

That and while I know this is a passion project for inXile and they're committed to doing it right, that team hasn't had a great track record with the projects they've put out. The Bard's Tale update thing was OK, Hunted was pretty bad, Choplifter HD was mediocre at best and I can't really comment on all their casual stuff from their Sparkworkz team. I backed this and I'm stoked, I just hope it gets the polish it needs.
Parallax Abstraction
Twitch | YouTube | Podcast
Avatar 13614
7.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 13:20
nin
7.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 13:20
Jun 12, 2012, 13:20
nin
 
Cutter wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 11:15:
Yeah, gave it a read last night. I'm stoked as hell for this. Like that they had a postcard of Toronto City Hall in it.

I'm extremely excited as well. Can't wait to give it a spin...

6.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 12:17
Dev
6.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 12:17
Jun 12, 2012, 12:17
Dev
 
Kastagir wrote on Jun 12, 2012, 12:02:
In a similar vein, what's going on with Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition? They said this was coming in the Summer and there's nothing on their site. I hope Wasteland 2 isn't headed down a similar road.
If you've read anything at all about them, or the threads that talk about their games, they are mostly doing the "remakes" to try and draw attention to their digital distribution platform beamdog. Which is why the games are ONLY sold through that. They probably got the remake IP's super cheap off of interplay. If you looked into their remake of MDK2, you'll find it wasn't really changed much, and bugs from the first version weren't fixed. BG EE is likely to be the same, just a thinned down coat of old paint. They were bragging about how they were redoing the main menu to work in a higher resolution. Likely the real reason they are redoing the menu is because they are doing an ipad version. Which version do you think will get more attention? My bets on the ipad one. Also a quick check of the beamdog forum about BG EE, and the impression I got about beamdog was "we can't be bothered to read through the posts." I did see a post from them mentioning they are still working through contract issues with bioware, so my guess is the game isn't close to being released.

There's NOTHING in common between those projects done solely to promote beamdog, and wasteland 2. In fact, with wasteland 2, inexile releasing stuff like the design document shows their work progressing.

This comment was edited on Jun 12, 2012, 12:34.
5.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 12:02
5.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 12:02
Jun 12, 2012, 12:02
 
In a similar vein, what's going on with Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition? They said this was coming in the Summer and there's nothing on their site. I hope Wasteland 2 isn't headed down a similar road.
Avatar 20761
4.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 11:53
4.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 11:53
Jun 12, 2012, 11:53
 
I'm glad they're doing mod tools. This game ought to be great. Now we just have to see if they can execute all their ambition on a small budget.
Avatar 18037
3.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 11:31
Dev
3.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 11:31
Jun 12, 2012, 11:31
Dev
 
An example from the doc:

RPG: RPGs haven’t kept pace with time - they've regressed and even worse, taken pride in less role-
playing than before. Important elements have been lost over time, sacrificed to technology, art
constraints, voice-over expenses, and multi-platform console constraints. Wasteland 2 has no such
limitations, it brings these RPG elements back, takes them out of the attic, and makes them part of
gameplay again.

True RPGs allow options, allow you to make fundamental choices in customization and character
creation, and most importantly, allow you to role-play and make your impact in a living world and see
the consequences around you.
2.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 11:15
2.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 11:15
Jun 12, 2012, 11:15
 
Yeah, gave it a read last night. I'm stoked as hell for this. Like that they had a postcard of Toronto City Hall in it.
"The horse I bet on was so slow, the jockey kept a diary of the trip." - Henny Youngman
1.
 
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document
Jun 12, 2012, 11:10
Dev
1.
Re: Wasteland 2 Design Document Jun 12, 2012, 11:10
Jun 12, 2012, 11:10
Dev
 
They also have the new planned box art design on the same kickstarter link.

They talk about quite a lot of customization of your character, dialogs will be meaningful and anything you do, choices you make, can and will change the world. Mod tools are going to be released too. I can't wait!
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