Brian Fargo Kickstarting a New Wasteland

[Deadyawn]

going by his description, this'll be old wine in new bags. Not a creative and fresh reboot of an old series. That's what I'm saying. And what I'm also saying is that it's a wasted opportunity, as not having a publisher loom over you gives you room to do all sorts of new things. But they won't, they're playing it safe. That is, going by this article.

I think what you're saying is true. The opportunity here is quite valuable and could be used to push the boundaries somewhat.
However, I think that there simply aren't enough of this style of game. To be fair the market for them is small but if you're a fan of the genre you are going to want more of this kind of game and this is a genre that big publishers don't see as viable.
Right now, this kind of game could only really be produced in a manner similar to this. So as wasted opportunities go, it's a lot less offensive than most of what we have seen in recent times.

 

[littlewisp]

It's to the point now where even if I didn't like the game or wouldn't play it I will donate simply for the sake of seeing this become a viable means of getting a game funded without the dev being fed demands by someone who doesn't care as much as the devs do.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Once again; going by his description, this'll be old wine in new bags. Not a creative and fresh reboot of an old series. That's what I'm saying. And what I'm also saying is that it's a wasted opportunity, as not having a publisher loom over you gives you room to do all sorts of new things. But they won't, they're playing it safe. That is, going by this article.

Quite frankly, I think that "creative and fresh reboots" represent everything I hate about most reboots(and/or sequels). Bethesda destroyed a perfectly good property in order to make their vision of a post-apocalyptic action-RPG(entertaining as it was, it didn't really feel like fallout to me). Then there's that whole X-Com thing. What's wrong with a game actually remaining true to its roots? IMO, "creative reboot" is a term better described as "use hype from popular franchise name to sell more copies of an unrelated game." In other words, a cash grab.

This is the opposite of that. This is someone seeing a chance to break from publisher control to develop the game he wants to make. Which is exactly the same thing that Double Fine is doing with their adventure game.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

One kickstarter at the time can do well. This guy won't get a lot of money for his project.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

You sir, may take my money.

 

[Callate]

I just hope it's better than Fountain of Dreams. ([link]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_of_Dreams[/link])

Oh, and while we're at it, I really hope no one ever makes us look up paragraphs in a guidebook again.

I might be willing to throw a few bucks at such a project, if only in the hopes of rekindling some portion of the talent that made EA more of a creative endeavor and less of a role model for the Sith.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Wasn't this game made a few years back already...and called Fallout: Tactics?

No. I can't even understand where that question comes from.

 

[Andy Chalk]

This just seems like putting old wine into new bags. Great for the fans no doubt, but other than that, meh.

The Kickstarter hasn't even started yet. It's a bit early to start making those kinds of judgments.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

Also, I'd say if you think Bastion is a good example of an isometric RPG then you most definitely have little to no experience with the genre.

Although having Ron Perlman do a Bastion type voiceover for everything in F1&2 except for the actual conversations would have been pretty fucking epic.

Haha, true that.

I think it's quite nice to see some stuff that's off the beaten track open up, something that's not a millitary shooter, or some kind of generic remake of something that's already everywhere, sure it's pretty much going to be a remake for the most part from what I'm seeing here, but, come on, how many skill based isometric RPGs are there being made recently?

So yeah it's kinda refreshing to see stuff like this, the whole kickstarting thing taking off like this.

After all, a million people coughing up a dollar, for something they want vs. people getting yet another game or DLC that nobody really cares about and is just purchased because it's "the next one" or "All my friends will be playing it".

I'd rather see this kinda thing, than major publishing companies with no guts always producing the next mass marketable product.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

Also, I'd say if you think Bastion is a good example of an isometric RPG then you most definitely have little to no experience with the genre.

Although having Ron Perlman do a Bastion type voiceover for everything in F1&2 except for the actual conversations would have been pretty fucking epic.

Haha, true that.

I think it's quite nice to see some stuff that's off the beaten track open up, something that's not a millitary shooter, or some kind of generic remake of something that's already everywhere, sure it's pretty much going to be a remake for the most part from what I'm seeing here, but, come on, how many skill based isometric RPGs are there being made recently?

So yeah it's kinda refreshing to see stuff like this, the whole kickstarting thing taking off like this.

After all, a million people coughing up a dollar, for something they want vs. people getting yet another game or DLC that nobody really cares about and is just purchased because it's "the next one" or "All my friends will be playing it".

I'd rather see this kinda thing, than major publishing companies with no guts always producing the next mass marketable product.

 

[Andy Chalk]

In the spirit of all this apparent Britishness going on, let me just add: I say, chaps, this is FUCKING AWESOME!

I couldn't bring myself to donate to the Double Fine thing but as the kids today like to say, Mr. Fargo, sir, you may SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.

 

[Blind Sight]

Wait, Brian Fargo still exists on this earthly plane? I assumed that after leaving Interplay in 2002 he ascended into gaming heaven and ruled it as its new god.

Hope his claim that it will only be one million holds some wait, seeing a new Wasteland would be impressive.

Wait a second...Psychonauts 2, Xcom: Enemy Unknown, and a new Wasteland? My god, either I'm having the best coma dream ever or I've time traveled back to 1993.

 

[Vault101]

I never played this game

but the cover art has to be the most epic beautiful image Ive ever seen...I dont know but I fucking LOVE the cover art

interesting...I wonder how similar it will be to fallout (I know fallout was its spiritual seaquel) is the universe of wasteland more "realisitic"?

 

[Octorok]

Ladies and Gentlemen, raise your glasses please ; the toast is, "The Future".

We are witnessing (admittedly on a small scale) our medium moving out from the shadow of investors and businessmen, people with no love or understanding of our medium, and the reigns being handed back to the rightful owners - gamers ourselves.

Do I hate all publishers? No, not really. Do I think that the industry can now survive without them entirely? No, we still need their money to keep the wheels turning.

However, I believe that they are responsible for a lot of things wrong with gaming. Sequels released that shouldn't have been, sequels unreleased that should have been, "dumbing down" (a complex issue that cannot be summed up in two words, so don't quote me on that) of intelligent games, fucking DRM, product and movie tie-in games, a general lack of niche games and a tendency to make "safe" clones of Call of Duty, no seriously, fucking DRM.

Power to the people et cetera, et cetera.

hooray to a future of investing money into something we don't really know if its going to turn out to be good or bad?

It's not that simple. You have to take into account the reasons people invest in specific games.

For instance, a publisher might invest in a game because the previous game in a series sold well, or because this game is based on an existing brand, and they have evidence to tell them that this new game will sell well.

However, this leads to aforementioned problems, like [a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-08-battleship-movie-gets-activision-game-tie-in"]this[/a].

I liked Skyrim, Fallout 3, and Oblivion. I have evidence convincing enough to buy Bethesda's next game (let's call it Fallout 4) on trust.

I don't think that player-funded games will become an industry standard, or replace publishers. However, I do genuinely think (at the very least, I hope) that this will lead to improving our medium by introducing a new business pattern, where a game studio can fund the games it wants to make but can't simply through the target audience.

The reasons I think this is a good idea I have already listed. A game made without a publisher sticking their nose in can only be better than the same game WITH a publisher's input.

 

[silent-treatment]

Wow an old school isometric RPG would totally kickass on an iOS or Android...
I might pick it up if I manage to get myself into similar games in between now and when it is released.

I am really enjoying this new tread of designers getting their product out directly to consumers, should led to some interesting things.

 

[Gatx]

"more like the old days... totally creative."

Yeah if this article is anything to go by, I wouldn't call basically remaking your old game that creative. I mean good heavens guys it's been 24 years, there's a wealth of new technology available, and not having to bow to the wishes of stock holders means you can do all kinds of radical things and get really creative. Almost remaking the old game is just fan-wanking if you ask me.

Fan-wanking is probably the most surefire way that games that use this Kickstarter method are going to get attention.

 

[Paladin Anderson]

Ladies and Gentlemen, raise your glasses please ; the toast is, "The Future".

We are witnessing (admittedly on a small scale) our medium moving out from the shadow of investors and businessmen, people with no love or understanding of our medium, and the reigns being handed back to the rightful owners - gamers ourselves.

Do I hate all publishers? No, not really. Do I think that the industry can now survive without them entirely? No, we still need their money to keep the wheels turning.

However, I believe that they are responsible for a lot of things wrong with gaming. Sequels released that shouldn't have been, sequels unreleased that should have been, "dumbing down" (a complex issue that cannot be summed up in two words, so don't quote me on that) of intelligent games, fucking DRM, product and movie tie-in games, a general lack of niche games and a tendency to make "safe" clones of Call of Duty, no seriously, fucking DRM.

Power to the people et cetera, et cetera.

Would love to see this become the norm rather than the exception. Not sure if that will ever happen. Regardless, between this, the freedom of digital distribution, and the ludicrous reputation they've earned themselves, publishers are losing ground.