Alright Boyz, Here we Go!!! - Wasteland 2

[Abe Sargent]

If you loved the original from the 1980's, and always wished there had been a real sequel, and if you think Fallout was a great spiritual successor but still wish for more Wasteland, well, it's time...



Wasteland 2 - inXile entertainment






The website launched yesterday and the forum already has over 800 posts and 269 members




EDIT: Here is the Kickstarter Campaign Page: Wasteland 2 by inXile entertainment — Kickstarter

[SirFozzie]

My reaction?



Yes... AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWESOME.

[Abe Sargent]

Let's just say I was user #270

[hawk4669]

Favorite game of all time. If it happens, I will be in gaming Nirvana.

[Honolulu_Blue]

It was a great game. I loved it.

[BYU 14]

Oh man, loved that game, this is awesome!!

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by hawk4669

Favorite game of all time. If it happens, I will be in gaming Nirvana.

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

It was a great game. I loved it.

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Oh man, loved that game, this is awesome!!

I fired the game up a couple years back and played it. Might do it again.

[Mustang]

I've never played Wasteland before. Is it any good?









just kidding

[MizzouRah]

This news just made my night.. my FAVORITE game on my C64 of all time, no question!

[Ramzavail]

yy - I just subscribed to the blog.

[Abe Sargent]

Cool cool!!!

Up to 2000 posts in less than a week. That's crazy.

[Abe Sargent]

The Kickstarter campaign went live three hours ago and already has 100k in donations

[Lonnie]

I'm a backer!

[Abe Sargent]

It's already at $212,000 in six hours!

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

It's already at $212,000 in six hours!

Wow, I guess if there was any doubt that a fanbase still exists for this it has been answered.

I haven't researched this kickstarter concept a great deal, is there a risk of losing money if production is not completed? Is this basically a pre-order for the game when it is finished?

[Abe Sargent]

Kickstarter is an alternate way to fund a project. You can donate any amount of money,but no money is actually taken unless the project is fully funded funded by the public. Wasteland needs 900k, and they've said that they actually want 1 mill, but Brian Fargo is donating the last 100,00 himself. Kickstarter projects have a limited amount of time to be fully funded, usually just 35 days or so.

Kickstarter claims no responsibility in the event that something does not come through, but they let folks know that people who donated and failed to see a project come through could have a cause in the courts.


Most donations, including this one, have tiers. If you donate X, you get something, and if you donate Y, you get something else, and so forth. I donated $250, because Wasteland 2, by the original creators, is one of about three or four games that I would want to play so much, I'm willing to donate it. I look at it like a charitable donation, but I don't know if its tax exempt or not, I've not done the research.

One of the levels gives you a copy of the game for little money. $15 gives you a digital DRM free PC copy of the game. You are just paying for it up front, so they can use the money for the project.


For 250, I get the free digital copy, a free soundtrack, a digital concept art book, a large boxed collector edition of the game signed by the developers, a poster, a cloth game map, a replica coin, two early release novellas by Michael Stackpole (of whom I a huge fan, btw, and have most of his novels), access to the early beta, a faction badge, a miniature, and an extra downloadable copy of the game to give away to a friend.

[Abe Sargent]

And while I've written this, it's over 220k now

[Abe Sargent]

There've been a ton of blogs and posts on various sites last week and this week about the project, giving gamers the news - so its out there for sure.

I'll post some here

Why People Give a Shit About a 1988 PC Role-Playing Game


GameSpy: Wasteland 2 Kickstarter Campaign is Live - Page 1


The Escapist : News : Wasteland 2 Kickstarter Explodes Like a Blood Sausage


Wasteland 2 Kickstarter crowdfunding gets underway • News • Eurogamer.net


Wasteland 2 Kickstarter campaign begins - Neoseeker News Article


InXile launches Kickstarter for Wasteland 2, $173,966 raised | VG247


http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...arter-is-live/


And so forth and so on

[cody8200]

I backed it as well. First time doing Kickstarter.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by cody8200

I backed it as well. First time doing Kickstarter.

Yeah, for me too.


And thanks to folks like you, the goal is at 260k in a little more than 7 hours!

[Honolulu_Blue]

I just kicked in $15.

Hope it happens.

[mckerney]

I backed for $15, hopefully they can get to half of what Double Fine managed.

[DanGarion]

Just an FYI, we have a Kickstarter thread. Kickstarter Projects - Front Office Football Central

[BYU 14]

Thanks Abe, I am in too!

[Abe Sargent]

As an FYI, the 10k donation came from Markus Persson

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Thanks Abe, I am in too!

Nope nope, thank you! And any others for donating!

[SirFozzie]

Just pledged $75

[Abe Sargent]

300 k baby!



EDIT - 8:40 pm - And now 400k!

[SirFozzie]

462K on Day 1, as the song goes, it's half way there..

[Abe Sargent]

It was a great day, and it's not over yet! There was a lot of pub. For example, Persson tweeted about it to his 600000+ followers.

[SirFozzie]

another 200K so far on day 2, This could go big.

[Abe Sargent]

Yeah, and we're almost at 750k. We'll probably be there by 5.

[Abe Sargent]

800k in a last few minutes. It's slowed down, but still quite fast. Can we hit 900k by 9 am tomorrow - which would mean they reached their goal in just 48 hours?

[Havok]

backed!

[Abe Sargent]

900k - done

[Barkeep49]

Question: I read somewhere Fallout 1 took 3 million to develop. If that's true back then how are they going to develop something now for 900k?

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

Question: I read somewhere Fallout 1 took 3 million to develop. If that's true back then how are they going to develop something now for 900k?

They might have funding coming from elsewhere as well. This might be just to cover the rest of it. They might have put it low just because they wanted to make sure to hit the goal as well and know they could make a decent game at that cost and a better one if the funds go higher. The Double Fine project was simply going to put more back into the project as it seems this one would as well.

EDIT: They say 900K covers the minimum but if they get up to 1.5 mill. it will cover for adding more stuff and a Mac version. Anything over 1.5 mill will open up for even more stuff.

[SirFozzie]

by the time you read this, the Wasteland 2 kickstarter will be at (dr evil voice) one MILLION dollars.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

Question: I read somewhere Fallout 1 took 3 million to develop. If that's true back then how are they going to develop something now for 900k?

It's easier to develop a Fallout 1 today as well. Consider this:

Eschalon 1, and 2 are indie titles with an isometric turn based theme, and took very little money to make. Now Wasteland 2 should have better graphics, deeper game, etc, but these were games made with little money. In the 90s, Fallout 1 was at the higher end of technology than it would be today.

[mckerney]

Wastland 2 has broken the $1.5 million mark on Kickstarter, meaning it will be coming out on Mac and Linux in addition to PC. Brian Fargo also decided that 5% of their profits will go to funding other Kickstarter projects (that is sales after release, not from the Kickstarter money they raise).

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Matthean

They might have funding coming from elsewhere as well. This might be just to cover the rest of it. They might have put it low just because they wanted to make sure to hit the goal as well and know they could make a decent game at that cost and a better one if the funds go higher. The Double Fine project was simply going to put more back into the project as it seems this one would as well.

EDIT: They say 900K covers the minimum but if they get up to 1.5 mill. it will cover for adding more stuff and a Mac version. Anything over 1.5 mill will open up for even more stuff.

They probably have other money, plus I think I read that they had done quite a bit of writing already in the hopes that one day they'd be able to make the game.

[mckerney]

Wasteland 2 Kickstarter is at $1.6 million, but they really need to get another $500k!

!!! Obsidian Joining Wasteland 2 – On One Condition… | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Here’s a big, bouncy ball of unexpected good news for you. Brian Fargo and his studio inXile Entertainment are, as you well know, working on a sequel to the seminal RPG Wasteland, and have successfully Kickstarted it to the tune of $1.6 million. Since exceeding their initial target of $900,000, they’ve been able to add Mac and Linux versions to their masterplan for the post-nuclear roleplaying game. But that’s not all. They’ve just been in touch to say that, if they can reach $2.1 million during the 17 days remaining on the funding schedule, they’ll be bringing in Obisidian Entertainment, including Planescape: Torment mastermind Chris Avellone, to help them make the game.

Oh my word. The minds behind Fallout and Planescape, together. A veritable RPG supergroup. This has to happen.

Says Chris Avellone, “Wasteland is one of my favorite RPGs of all time, and when Brian asked if I wanted to work on the sequel, I jumped at the chance. While I’ve worked on Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas, getting the chance to work on the spiritual successor to the Fallout franchise is a honor.”

Brian Fargo observes that “I have a history with the guys at Obsidian that dates back to the days of Interplay’s Black Isle studios. Together we created some of the greatest RPG’s of all time, from Fallout 1 & 2 to titles like Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment. It is great that we now have a chance to reunite on a project like Wasteland 2.”

It’s about tools to speed up and ease development as much as it is bringing in addition talent, apparently. “Obsidian has an incredible library of story, dialog and design tools that they have used to create hits like Neverwinter Nights 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, and of course, Fallout: New Vegas. Regardless of the tech we use to develop the game, experience with these tools will help us efficiently design the game without wasting time and resources on the tools needed for development.”

This is also good news for Obisidian, potentially, who recently suffered a round of lay-offs. Hopefully this can help get them back to fighting strength.

So, you know what to do. 2012 really is the most extraordinary year for PC gaming, isn’t it?

I’ve also just finished a quickie interview with Brian Fargo, talking more about what this (hopeful) collaboration means, how the whole crowdsourcing thing’s gone and his plans for the Kicking It Forward philanthropic reinvestment scheme, which I’ll get to you as soon as possible.

[Abe Sargent]

Heh, I was just coming over here to post that!

[mckerney]

It's now up to $1.8 million, double the initial target and $300k from Obsidian joining the project!

16 days left, so chances of hitting $2.1 million look promising. I'm considering bumping my backing from $50 to either the $75 or $100 level.

[JAG]

From an interview with Brian:

MF: Assuming that Wasteland 2 is as much a critical success as it is a crowd-funding success, and a publisher or two or three come knocking, would you consider working with one in the future?

BF: I don’t know why I would need to. Kickstarter and Steam allow me to bypass publishers and bypass retail. I think the world is going to go toward creative people carving out a direct relationship with their fans, and they are going to find a way to do business in their niche. It could be someone that makes model train simulators with their 10,000 fans or RPGs with millions of fans.

I'm very happy about this.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by JAG

From an interview with Brian:



I'm very happy about this.

That one of the things that has me most excited about the possibilities for indie developers with crowd funding and digital distribution. Devs like Tim Schafer and Brian Fargo can avoid publishers to keep full ownership over the IPs they create, can work without a publisher pushing content changes or release before it's ready. Then with digital distribution they take a much better cut of profits, which should allow better pay and funding for future project, than they would with a publisher while still being able to get retail visibility for a $15 to $30 game right along side major studio releases.

[mckerney]

The $2 million mark has been broken, about $90k more to bringing in Obsidian. If the hit $2.5 million they will hire two more designers and more level scripters. I'm really hoping they hit that before it closes. $3 million would guarantee a modding kit though that seems unlikely.

[mckerney]

Team up! Wasteland 2 Hits $2.1m, Obsidian On Board | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

One thing I do note is that, on Kickstarter, the game has ‘only’ 42,636 donors making up the current $2.08m. That’s a princely and incredible number of paying customers to have before the product’s on sale by anyone’s maths, but it does seem that Wasteland 2 has gotten to the enviable position it’s in today because of a limited number of people paying higher sums rather than because there’s been an absolutely absurd flood of contributors.

It’s frustratingly hard to make useful observations as to whether that 42,636 says anything meaningful about the potential size of Wasteland 2′s audience until the game’s on sale conventionally. It’s odd that we’re still so far away from the resolution of Kickstarted projects such as this and Double Fine’s – we still don’t know how these mega-crowdsourced endeavours are going to play out. Interesting times. Exciting times, even. Mathematical times too.

Important bit from the article. I think if these games get from page placement on Steam, and good publicity from being part of a big sale on Steam later on that they will do very well. Especially since the devs have been able to cut out publishers and will be taking in about 70% of the revenue from sales on digital retailers.

[mckerney]

Some early Desert Rangers concept art.

[mckerney]

$2.5 million has been passed on Kickstarter + PayPal pledges meaning they will be able to hire more level designers for more areas. $440,000 in 63 hours is needed for $3 million and mod tools. Not sure the chances that will happen, but it would be awesome to see a late push get the total there.

I think that Double Fine had a lot of donations right near the deadline, so maybe $3 million is possible.