Wasteland 3 Update – Final Countdown

With Wasteland 3 launching on August 28, 2020, we get this Fig update that talks about the game’s Collector’s Edition, pre-launch preparations, and shares a quick backer FAQ. But beyond that, the update also lists a number of features recently introduced to the game, like the ability to crouch, an improved UI, and a permadeath option that will be coming as a post-launch update.

Here’s more on those:

Tactical Combat Option: Crouch

You asked for it. We did it. Feedback from the Beta overwhelmingly called out that the absence of crouch made players feel less in control of the tactical options they expected in isometric turn-based combat. In addition to the tactical abilities that characters had control over in the Beta, they will now be able to improve their hit chance, evasion, and detection time when crouching.

Wasteland 3 already had a deep combat system that we think players will be learning to master for quite some time, but we were happy to act on Beta feedback and get this feature in before launch. Crouch is always accessible from the action bar.

UI & You and I

In our previously mentioned update we teased some of the newly-minted options in the UI, including the ability to toggle custom armor visuals, as well as the addition of the much coveted ‘sell junk’ option. Along with those, we’re happy to announce that the merchant interface has also been overhauled and improved. Each individual character will now be able to be selected while you’re browsing a store’s wares, to make for easier comparison and identification of necessary gear.

We’ve also implemented a minimap to help you locate nearby points of interest and vendors. This won’t take the place of the existing map, but will give you an always-available means of identifying where you’re at in the world. For those who prefer less clutter in their lives and on their screen, there’s an option to disable the minimap if you so desire.

Posthumous Permadeath

A few of the more hardcore among you have asked us for permadeath in Wasteland 3. We actually went back and forth quite a bit on this as an option, mainly because we knew the amount of development work it would need. When you can welcome story critical NPCs into your party, and approach the game content in essentially any order, and those critical story NPCs can permanently die from anywhere in the story… it’s a lot to account for. So, we are working on permadeath, but because of the additional effort, this is going to be a post-launch feature we’ll patch in for the hardcore among you for your second or third playthroughs.