Wasteland 2 Post-funding Update #52: Progress Report

The latest post-funding update for Wasteland 2 is a progress report penned by project lead Chris Keenan. Here’s an excerpt on the local map functionality, balance and backer content:

First and foremost, since this has been requested quite a lot, we are putting back in a local area map functionality! With our rotatable camera and wide 3D spaces this is kind of a must-have for navigating the world. It was pulled from the beta previously as we were beginning to work on the updated map code. The new one is in and both looking and working great. You’ll be able to spot visible enemies and NPC’s along with stores and geographic landmarks from area you’ve explored. NPCs and enemies will not be visible outside of your ranger’s current view range.

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Quite a few things have been improved since the last beta build went out. We’ve done a huge pass overhauling the game’s balance and loot drops. You’ll encounter a greater variance in loot drops now along with many new weapons being added, but we also made loot tables more set and less random. To aid that, we’ve added foot lockers in the Ranger Citadel in Arizona and Santa Fe Springs (Ranger HQ) in Los Angeles so you can store some of that precious loot.

Along with specific dropsets you’ll now actually get items from repairing toasters. Many of these items are unique and can potentially be turned in to different NPCs throughout the world for even greater rewards. Additionally we’re upgrading the usage of containers, with safes now having better loot than normal crates, while normal crates are now split into specific types: ammo, weapon, medic, general crates, or smaller junk crates. Many of these will be visually distinct which means that if you’re scouting it out and see the crate behind some enemies or traps you can figure out if it’s worth it for you to get to it.

Combat is also going through multiple balance passes, for example fixing the currently broken way jamming works. It will be much less frequent in the final game for general weapons. Some weapons will still have high jam rates, but these weapons tend to have a nice little bonus to offset the frustration of the jam (increased damage, reduced scrap cost.). Improving your training in weapon skills or creating some weapon mods can also reduce the jam rate so there are ways to get around high jam rates. Have we mentioned that we enjoy the idea of the trade-off?

We’ve also put in backer shrines, statues, locations, weapons, artifacts and NPCs. The statues are custom modelled and can appear on any gameplay map, while the shrines are in hard-to-reach world map areas and huge rewards (an attribute point per ranger) when discovered. Exploration is paid-off for those willing to veer off the main path.

Oh yeah, the citizens in the Wasteland have been busy putting up quite a few traps for your journey. Perception and Demolitions will definitely come in handy so train up! Opening a safe without getting hurt can sometimes require Perception to see the trap, Demolitions to disarm it and Safe Crack to open it. Alarm Disarm has similarly been getting more usage.