Wasteland 2 Update Explains Camera, HUD, and Keywords

Following the gameplay video inXile showed off recently, the developers currently working on Wasteland 2 have written an extensive update to the Kickstarter page answering questions and providing further details on the game. The information is centred around the systems in the game rather than story or anything like that, and the team emphasises that players will be able to customise these systems to suit their own preferred style of play.

The camera, for instance, has multiple options depending on what the player prefers. Players will be able to scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in and out, and doing so will switch the perspective. So zooming out all the way will switch from an isometric camera to a wider isometric shot and then finally to a top-down view. Players can also choose whether to have the camera automatically follow whichever character is selected by using the WASD keys or mouse to move the camera around, so you'll be able to move away from your party to look at something across the map.

The HUD (heads-up display) is customisable too. Players will be able to drag around and resize each of the five elements – Character Portraits, Mini-Map, Action Bar, Hot Key Selector, and Description Text window – to get things looking exactly how they want. All of these elements besides the Action Bar and Description Text window also have an “Auto-Hide” option, so you can set them to disappear when not needed.

Particularly interesting is the keyword dialog system. Players will build up a database of keywords by interacting with the environment and characters within it, and then will be able to use these keywords by clicking on them or typing them in when in conversation. Some keywords are unlocked through using the perception skill on characters, and using those keywords in conversation may have different effects at different times. It all sounds very clever; if you want to find out more, check out the lengthy update over at the Wasteland 2 Kickstarter page.