Wasteland 2 is just shy of the $2.5M in Kickstarter donations that will bring in yet “another couple of designers” to help out and create even more areas in the game, much like passing the $2.1M mark allowed Fargo to hire fellow ex-Black Isle Studios dev Chris Avellone, currently of Obsidian Entertainment.
In the meantime, Fargo and Avellone engaged in a little Q&A on Reddit regarding the game.
One user asked, "What's the likelihood that the game launch is going to be delayed?... since you've almost tripled your original budget, don't you think it might take longer then 18 months?" Fargo replied, "We are going to do our best to map out every resource and build some buffer into the plan. I am going to treat the first 6 months of development as crunch time to nail down 100% of the design and to have all the major systems working. Iteration time in an RPG is key. There is always a risk of a game being late and I would always take a product that is robust and varied yet slightly late over something buggy, broken and on time."
As far as the look of the game, Fargo stated it was still under consideration, but it would be isometric with limited rotation for combat, adding, "The world map which gives you the larger scope of the world may or may not be isometric. Straight down for that may suffice but I want to experiment to see if there is a nice look we can achieve with a more isometric angle on that perspective. I should re-iterate that these are the kinds of things that we will throw samples up to the forums for feedback. Once we agree on the look is when I turn the artists loose." Avellone took time to pipe in "Isometric upvoted!"
Avellone also described his role in Wasteland 2, stating, "Story, characters, area design, quests." He then expanded on it, adding, "Note that the best way we've found is what was done with Fallout 2: One person leads the charge on the overall game arc, then the game is divided into zones that each designer takes charge of (so, using F2's example, I got a 1-2 pager on New Reno, Vault City, and the Raiders... plus the special encounters, then ran with the design)."
Fargo also revealed some concept art for a giant robotic scorpion for the game. Check it out in the image above.
Wasteland 2's Kickstarter funding is due to conclude on the 17th April.
