» Tue May 15, 2012 5:13 am I wasn’t sure where to place this, but I chose this folder because (despite not being a Bethesda game), Wasteland is the one that started Fallout. And there are links to it all through Fallout.
Long story short, Fallout Dinosaurs who long for a top-down, turn-based RPG might soon be getting exactly that!
But first, for those who don’t know the story, long ago in 1988 Interplay made the RPG Wasteland, which was subsequently published by EA. Set on the West Coast, and featuring Vegas, Wasteland was a post-apocalyptic game that featured a group of Desert Rangers who investigated disturbances, met companions and explored the post-apocalyptic world.
Sound familiar? It should.
In the 90s Interplay was now self-publishing. They were looking to make a new Wasteland game, but ran into a problem when they found out that EA still held the rights to the name. So they had to give their game a different name… Fallout.
Many of the elements in Fallout are based on aspects of Wasteland, obviously changed for copyright reasons. For example, the Brotherhood of Steel is directly based on the Guardian Citadel.
That’s not to say that they are the same series or that Wasteland is really Fallout 0 – there are some big differences. Wasteland tended to be less grounded and a tad crazier, while the retro futuristic vibe was unique to Fallout.
But despite the change of setting, there have always been strong links between the two series. The most obvious one for new Fallout fans is the massive statue in New Vegas that commemorates the treaty between the NCR and the Desert Rangers. In Fallout 1 there is a recruitable companion, Tycho, who is a Desert Ranger, and who directly references events from Wasteland.
For more information on the original, and how it relates to Fallout, check out: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Wikip:Wasteland
Sooo… cut to today. I’m sure most people have noticed that Double Fine managed to finance a new Point ‘n Click Adventure game using Kickstarter. People donate, which lets the game get made and people who donate get a free copy of the game.
Well it turns out inXile, owned by former Interplay boss Brian Fargo, now owns the rights to Wasteland and is looking at kickstarting Wasteland 2.
We all know how hard it is to get funding for games that aren’t targeted at casual gamers and the mass market. But Kickstarter is opening the door to hardcoe and niche games by side-stepping publishers altogether. Wasteland 2 is set to be top down, skill based and with turn-based combat. Basically exactly what Fallout Dinosaurs say they want. As a bonus, it’s to be set in the world that spawned Fallout.
And it’s not just talk. inXile is pretty damns serious about it. Mark Morgan who created music for Fallout 1/2 (and whose work was also featured in New Vegas) has been hired to do the soundtrack. Alan Pavlish, a programmer/designer who worked on the original Wasteland, is part of the team. Michael Stackpole, a designer on Wasteland and Bard’s Tale is in the team.
That's the entire original team (minus one chap who has since retired)
So, what do you think? Will this work out? Will the Dinosaurs finally be happy? Will a turn-based game sell in today’s market?
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