[Kickstarter and Wasteland 2 Thoughts.]

I never got a change to play Wasteland, but with how you talk about it, it must have been quite the game. I always look forward to a game that tries something new. The only problem is that the game also need to fit some kind of modern conventions in order to remain marketable. I imagine it's the reason series like Fallout and Syndicate have to make a pseudo genre switch. They still keep their overall environment and feel, but they were forced to adapt. How do you think Wasteland would adapt? What modern genre would fit it best?

 

Your entire quote only applies to making an "AAA" game - not all gamers care for production values.

[Dead Money, Design Breakdowns.]

Thanks - Dead Money was actually initially a lot harder than its final release. A lot.

 

First off, all the hardcore mechanics in DLC1 were par-for-the-course in normal mode, it had a lot more traps, the toxic cloud was even more lethal (rather than reduce you to low hit points in normal mode, it would kill you and kill you faster than it did now). I did want the player to feel apprehensive while playing and create a sense of tension, but the end conclusion was that it was too punishing overall: not challenging, punishing. One joke was that Dead Money was going to become the Tomb of Horrors for the Fallout universe - all I wanted was people to pay attention to the environment and space more.

 

Feedback from Bethesda QA did provide a lot of good metrics for what felt right in terms of enemy strength, trap placement, and toxic cloud scaling, and we used a lot of those same feedback appraisals for future DLCs, so that's good.

 

I did want the player to scavenge and scrounge, however, and see each last resource as precious, as mentioned above - it was my way of trying to restore value to things Fallout players may now be taking for granted (and really, Stimpaks should be an amazing find for any player living in the Fallout universe).

 

I found the difficulty appropriate in hardcore mode, but I felt that consumables and ammo should have been more scarce. Does the engine support varying the spawn rates across normal/hardcore?

 

For me, this was a major issue in the main game - once you leave the starting areas the wealth of food and ammo available trivializes the "needs" portion of hardcore mode, making it more of a chore than a feature (since you'll always have food and water in your inventory). Perhaps it would also make sense of your needs would increase with certain stats/skills, like a high strength character should require more food.

 

Anyway, I hope you can continue to use hardcore mode to incorporate some of your more "punishing" ideas in future DLC

 

[Dead Money, Design Breakdowns.]

Hi Chris,

 

Just want to say I'm greatly enjoying Dead Money so far. One thing I'd like for future DLC's is more scaling difficulty for hardcore mode. It would be neat if hardcore mode made ammo, food and water more scarce...as it is now I'm practically swimming in food and ammo even though I'm using a mod that greatly increases the rate of hunger/thirst.

Also, I must say I'm very disappointed in reviews that complain about the collar and poison cloud mechanics, I really like what they add and haven't died once because of them (though I did die to some grenade traps).

Keep up the good work and don't be afraid to make hardcore mode even harder in future DLC, I think most people who play on that setting really do want to be challenged!