Game Club 199X - Wasteland (PC-DOS, C64, Apple II)

[Snarboo]

The Podcast is now up! Grab it here:
GC9X #2 - Wasteland

After last month's podcast, the ol' randomizer gave us December 2011's game: Wasteland, for PC-DOS, Commodore 64 and Apple II. Released in 1988, Wasteland is a post apocalyptic WRPG, and is often thought of as the spiritual predecessor to the Fallout games. It's also known to be incredibly brutal, making it a perfect fit for Game Club 199X.

The same rules as last time apply: no outside guides, no spoilers, no cheating. You are encouraged to make your own maps and share them in this thread, along with any tips or personal stories. At the end of the month, Xerxes, Zogbog and I will record the next podcast describing our experiences with the game. This line-up is tentative and may change.

Given the nature of the game we'll be playing and the systems it was released on, I'm going to be linking both to the game itself and its manual, which is hosted at Abandonia: Wasteland and Manual

If this proves to be a problem, I will remove the link!

Edit:
Link to the previous thread and podcast:
Game Club 199X - Snake's Revenge (NES)

Edit 2:
Linked to the replacementdocs' version of the manual instead of Abandonia's.

Edit 3:
I've put this off long enough, but here's a simple guide for playing the DOS version of Wasteland using DOSBox on a Windows PC:

• First, install DOSBox. I recommend installing it in the same folder where you keep your games.
  
• Download Wasteland from Abandonia, then extract the zip file somewhere. I recommend creating a folder for DOS or old games, then putting Wasteland into a folder that has no more than 8 characters, say "Wsteland".
  
• The DOSBox wiki has a useful guide for setting up DOSBox for the first time and mounting a directory. If you cannot view the wiki, you'll note that when DOSBox opens that you are greeted by a DOS prompt. To mount a drive, type "MOUNT C *folder with your old games here*", minus quotations. You can also mount the folder Wasteland is in directly, but I don't recommend this.
  
• To navigate to your new virtual drive, type "CD C:\*Wasteland folder here*". If you're having trouble finding it, type "CD C:\" to reach your virtual C Drive, then use the "dir" command to view the entire directory.
  
• Once you've navigated to the folder where Wasteland is, type wl.exe to start the game.
  
• That's it! The default settings should be more than enough to run Wasteland. Wasteland uses PC speaker sounds and EGA, sparing you the need to set up audio and video settings like other DOS games.
  
• Further tips: If you prefer to run in fullscreen, hit ALT+ENTER. DOSBox allows you to use advanced scalers to customize how it looks. I recommend "normal2x" and "normal3x" if you're running in a window. I don't recommend lowering the cycles, but if you want the authentic experience, hit CTRL+F11 to lower the cycles. 500 seems to be the sweet spot, but keep in mind that this makes the game unstable.

Unfortunately I do not have a Mac, but I assume the process is fairly similar.

Edit 4:
Bobinator posted a useful guide for character creation.

[Weasel]

My father, who played this game at release, offers the following extremely insightful advice: save as often as possible. Wasteland had a reputation for crashing all the time for the stupidest reasons. Keep backups of your saves, too.

[Snarboo]

Dec 2, 2011 0:51:53 GMT -5 Weasel said:

Wasteland had a reputation for crashing all the time for the stupidest reasons.

I see Fallout lives up to its legacy.

[derboo]

Too busy in December, might join in January if the next picked game appeals to me.

[xerxes]

Is there any sort of party that would be "normal" for this game? What's its version of two fighters, one wizard, one thief?

[Snarboo]

Dec 3, 2011 7:32:35 GMT -5 xerxes said:

Is there any sort of party that would be "normal" for this game? What's its version of two fighters, one wizard, one thief?

That's a good question. The manual lists a number of skills related to healing and thievery, as well as stats you probably want to invest in for those character archetypes. There are also plenty of combat skills, which should come in handy for fighters and rangers.

Speaking of which, the manual is going to be a must for those playing through this! The manual on Abandonia is kinda crap, so I'm going to be linking to the replacementdocs' version in the first post.

Edit:
At some point I will add a guide to this thread describing how to get the game running as painlessly as possible.

[annoyedgrunt]

I've got the game running and I'll hopefully be able to find the time to join in this month. I played around a little bit with the Apple version a few years back but didn't get very far. Are there any significant difference between the different systems?

[Deleted]

Did all versions have the separate "dialog book", or was that a limitation of just the Apple version?

[Snarboo]

The manual for the PC-DOS versions seems to have it too, or something resembling it. I noticed a section at the end of the book with story paragraphs that you are told to consult at certain times.

[annoyedgrunt]

I've been playing for about 15 minutes and I've encountered my first crash. I'm fighting a group of rats and suddenly the game freezes forcing me to quit.

[Wildcat]

Ah, the cousin to the Bard's Tale series. Never tried this one. I'll look forward to the podcast!

[Discoalucard]

Any of you fine young lads feel like doing up an HG101 article for this when you're done? (And a bit about that sorta-kinda sequel Fountain of Dreams too)

[xerxes]

Dec 3, 2011 19:37:25 GMT -5 Snarboo said:

At some point I will add a guide to this thread describing how to get the game running as painlessly as possible.

That'd be great. It works on DOSbox pretty much as expected, but the C64 and Apple II versions seem to require knowledge I don't have.

As for character creation, the only way to start with guns is to use the default party, right? Because I don't want to use the default party. I'm gonna try to divest them of their stuff then slowly transfer it to an original party.

Another thing I noticed that was that the number of available skills depends ENTIRELY on the INT stat. So yeah, it's gonna be one of THOSE games...

[annoyedgrunt]

I fiddled around a little bit before starting the game seriously. I immediately took the gear from the default characters and gave it to my new crew. I then wandered around the over world and got in to a few random encounters before getting to the nearest city.

MINOR SPOILERS: So, the first mission is based around murdering children.

So far I'm enjoying the game, though the interface is as clunky as expected. I like the character portraits, especially the rabid dog. The game keeps freezing on me, though it seems to be auto saving every time I walk in to a new location.

[Snarboo]

Dec 4, 2011 8:02:20 GMT -5 xerxes said:

That'd be great. It works on DOSbox pretty much as expected, but the C64 and Apple II versions seem to require knowledge I don't have.

Ah, I'm only really going to be covering how to run the DOS version. If I get the Apple II and C64 versions up and running I'll be sure to post how, though.