Wasteland 2 Breaks Obsidian Funding Target

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Wasteland 2 Breaks Obsidian Funding Target


Chris Avellone of Obsidian figures he'll most likely work on area and narrative design now that he's officially on board the Wasteland 2 project.

Back about a half-million dollars ago, Brian Fargo announced [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116582-Obsidian-Gears-Up-For-Wasteland-2] that if the already-successful Wasteland 2 Kickstarter hit $2.1 million in funding, Obsidian Entertainment would join in on the development of the post-nuclear RPG. That target was blown out of the water in short order and while the specifics of Obsidian's role has yet to be nailed down, it's good news no matter how you look at it.

"It's up to the goals of the project. Brian's leading the charge on that," he told Rock, Paper, Shotgun [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/04/07/interview-obsidians-chris-avellone-on-wasteland-2/]. "I'll be the one from Obsidian contributing, and as such, most likely in area/narrative design capacity."

"In addition, we'd be sharing our knowledge of conversation tree mechanics and layouts with InXile to make conversations in the game as good as they can be. We've had a lot of victories over the years that we've incorporated into our designs, and we're eager to share them to make Wasteland 2 even better," he continued. "Furthermore, if there's elements of the tools or other functionality that might help with Wasteland, we'd be looking into those aspects and sharing that knowledge as well."

As a former member of the famed Black Isle Studios, Avellone brings serious design cred to the table, with credits including Fallout: New Vegas [http://www.amazon.com/Planescape-Torment-Pc/dp/B00002EPZ2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333986548&sr=8-2], which is what makes his participation especially exciting: The Fallout franchise only exists because Fargo couldn't get the rights to make a Wasteland 2 in the 90s.

"Ultimately, it's still early and we won't know the logistics for a short while longer, but we'll keep folks updated," he added. "Right now, we're definitely on board in a design capacity, which is one of Obsidian's strengths."

The recently said [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2] that $2.5 million in funding will allow the addition of a couple more designers to the project, resulting in a bigger, deeper world with more storylines and options, while $3 million would make it "possible to do a mod kit without cutting into the plan for the main game."


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Sep 14, 2009
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oh god...this is sounding even more and more amazing as i read up on it.

this might be the first time ever that i'm actually going to contribute, based on what i'm seeing so far.

me like.
 

DustyDrB

Made of ticky tacky
Jan 19, 2010
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I'm ecstatic they got to $2.1 million. The funding slowed to a trickle after that, though. I was thinking $3 million would be a possibility due to the previous rate of funding and the fact that people tend to love mod kits. But they've already been able to add so much.

Good job, internet!
 

RaikuFA

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Jun 12, 2009
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Now if only they'll hire some testers...

Thats when it will be a day 1 for me
 

Meight08

*Insert Funny Title*
Feb 16, 2011
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RaikuFA said:
Now if only they'll hire some testers...

Thats when it will be a day 1 for me
shadowmagus said:
Now to see what state of bugginess it is at launch...
all obsidian will do is the story nothing else And every buggy obsidian game was rushed.
Kotor 2 cut a year short.
Alpha protocol rushed
etc.
 

-Dragmire-

King over my mind
Mar 29, 2011
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Never heard of Wasteland but I'm glad to see news that's getting people excited in a positive way.
 

Avatar Roku

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Jul 9, 2008
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I love Avellone, so this is a big plus for me. I'll almost definitely be picking this game up.
 

Therumancer

Citation Needed
Nov 28, 2007
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-Dragmire- said:
Never heard of Wasteland but I'm glad to see news that's getting people excited in a positive way.
Hmmm, well if your interested "Wasteland" is abandonware, you could check sites like say "Abandonia" and DL a copy to try out, it's old (1988) but you might be able to see what the hype is about.

I'd post a direct link, but I'm not sure what The Escapist's official policy on Abandonware happens to be.

I'm also wondering if the Abandonware sites offering it (some are) are behind the times and if the game has again been picked up by it's original creators, which is another point for consideration at this point. Chances are when that happens (and people know about it for sure) the Abandonware sites will drop it since they typically do in cases like this.

That said, if the "Wasteland 2" team wants to secure a little extra funding, and they do regain the rights to the original, working out some deal with STEAM or GOG to release the game cheap and take a share of the profits might be worthwhile, especially as the hype for Wasteland 2 starts to climb.

Heck, if I was doing the Wasteland 2 project I'd do that, but then also offer some kind of party transfer benefit, encouraging people who haven't saved data since the 1980s waiting for this moment (lol) to purchuse and re-play the original.
 

Richardplex

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Jun 22, 2011
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rolfwesselius said:
RaikuFA said:
Now if only they'll hire some testers...

Thats when it will be a day 1 for me
shadowmagus said:
Now to see what state of bugginess it is at launch...
all obsidian will do is the story nothing else And every buggy obsidian game was rushed.
Kotor 2 cut a year short.
Alpha protocol rushed
etc.
Dungeon Siege 3 being an obsidian game that uses obsidian's engine instead another company's, that game apparently being very stable.
Fallout New Vegas's QA being done by Bethesda.
(Thought I'd expand your et cetera)

OT: I believe the term I am looking for is "woot".
 

-Dragmire-

King over my mind
Mar 29, 2011
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Therumancer said:
-Dragmire- said:
Never heard of Wasteland but I'm glad to see news that's getting people excited in a positive way.
Hmmm, well if your interested "Wasteland" is abandonware, you could check sites like say "Abandonia" and DL a copy to try out, it's old (1988) but you might be able to see what the hype is about.

I'd post a direct link, but I'm not sure what The Escapist's official policy on Abandonware happens to be.

I'm also wondering if the Abandonware sites offering it (some are) are behind the times and if the game has again been picked up by it's original creators, which is another point for consideration at this point. Chances are when that happens (and people know about it for sure) the Abandonware sites will drop it since they typically do in cases like this.

That said, if the "Wasteland 2" team wants to secure a little extra funding, and they do regain the rights to the original, working out some deal with STEAM or GOG to release the game cheap and take a share of the profits might be worthwhile, especially as the hype for Wasteland 2 starts to climb.

Heck, if I was doing the Wasteland 2 project I'd do that, but then also offer some kind of party transfer benefit, encouraging people who haven't saved data since the 1980s waiting for this moment (lol) to purchuse and re-play the original.
Heh, so it came out when I was 1, no wonder I'm not familiar with it.

Interesting, I'll look into it. I'll be going back to college soon for game development so I might as well check out a piece of gaming history I'm not familiar with.
 

ResonanceGames

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Feb 25, 2011
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Funny how people dump all over Obsidian and say that the game will be buggy now, as though ineXile isn't equally infamous for bugs...

If they reign in the graphics technology and keep the game 3/4 isometric or top down, keeping the bugs in check shouldn't be too terribly difficult.

Though it's worth noting that Wasteland 1 and both Fallouts are notoriously buggy as well, so it's not like it would be out of character for this style of game...
 

pandorum

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Mar 22, 2011
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Maybe if they stuck to one game at a time then maybe it wont suck great big donkey balls.
 

Imbechile

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Aug 25, 2010
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I've never been so excited for a long time now. It's certanly gonna rock! IT MUST!......

pandorum said:
Maybe if they stuck to one game at a time then maybe it wont suck great big donkey balls.
As one of the last AAA independent devs it's not like they can just relax and take their time. Being an RPG developer they can't really choose that much as far as work goes, plus most of the time the bugtesting is done by the publisher and the publisher also gives the deadlines.

Soviet Heavy said:
Hurry up Paypal. I need to give my damn donation!
http://wasteland.inxile-entertainment.com/pledge.php
 

DRTJR

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Aug 7, 2009
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Matthew94 said:
RaikuFA said:
Now if only they'll hire some testers...

Thats when it will be a day 1 for me
Donate $55 and you'll get on the beta, amongst other things.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2
maybe now we'll have a game not bugged to hell and back.