Wasteland 2 Interview

While we wait for the release of Wasteland 2's very first gameplay video, containing a slice of gameplay set in the Chris Avellone-authored Agricultural Center, you might want to read this interview with Brian Fargo, conducted by Russian fansite Wasteland Chronicles.

Here's a snip:
Many young players recognize the dignity of old games such as Fallout, Planescape: Torment and Baldur's Gate, and they even tried to play... but could not. Painfully, these games look scary in contrast with modern blockbusters. Do you think that games have a shelf life? And in this context what can you tell, for example, about Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition as an attempt to improve the look of the old game?

Unfortunately many games do start to look very old, sound very bad or are just too hard to get running. I find the same thing with certain old movies that I quite enjoyed as a kid but when I show my kids they cannot get over the grainy look. The good news is that graphics are much better now than back in the day and I don't expect the same leaps and bounds. I suspect a Crytek game will still look good in 10 years for example. And I have not played with BGEE but I know there is only so much you can do when trying to up-res graphics. It's always tricky doing what they did as it's hard to hold up to new games for a new player and the old players have already seen it.

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You kept in mind the concept of Wasteland 2 for twenty years. Has it changed a lot during that time? And is Wasteland 2 still your game, Brian Fargo's game?

Wasteland 2 is my game more than ever though it has evolved in the ways of UI and sound. However, the underpinnings of it being a tactical squad based game with meaningful writing remains the same. We didn't have many options for sound, voice and music back in the day and I really want to explore the use of the radio in a way that other games have not. I want to give the world much more texture and personality through voice than would have been possible.