* What's this stuff all about?
This site (and the project it is about) is dealing with "resurrecting" the old-style and "ancient" CRPG called Wasteland.

* How will you do that?
For a start, I've begun to create a game engine. Concerning that I do this in my spare time, I think it goes on pretty well.

* What's the reason for initiating this project?
Wasteland really is a great game with a great story. I guess over 90 % of RPGs deal with fantasy or medieval themes as opposed to the post-apocalyptic one of Wasteland. This should make it easier to create something unique and new.
If you want to play Wasteland nowaday you will be out of luck unless you own an original copy of the game or you use some emulator for whatever system. So I want to give the possibility of experiencing the Wasteland to those players who don't want to mess around with emulators and don't own an original copy of the game. When the game is finished (if ever), it will surely be published under the GPL license.

* What will be the difference between Wasteland and this project?
For a start, I don't want this project to differ much from the original. I think that all the attributes and skills are responsible for the uniqueness of Wasteland. Therefore the skill and attribute system will be 'cloned' from the original game. This game also takes place on the same location. Maybe I have to change the names of the weapons and the people, maybe as well of some locations to avoid copyright issues but the main focus of this project is, to bring back that 'Wasteland-Feeling' to the gaming community. You may also want to check the screenshot section for any differences.

* So no new items, weapons, skills or attributes?
It depends, if I really would need something new for developing a good story. There won't be any changes concerning attributes, that's for sure.

* Despite focusing on "old style", will the game take advantage of modern hardware?
Uhm, no, not really. I want to put in some sound effects (eg. different walking sounds, ambient sounds, ...), but I wouldn't describe sound cards as modern hardware. There won't be definitely any 3D effects in the beginning. I will try to create the game engine as modular as possible to make the usage of different GUIs possible.

* Will there be references to fan-fiction or other Wasteland-based stuff?
I don't know right now. I just didn't have the time up to now to read fan-fiction or to play eg. Desolation. Right now I'm fully occupied with developing the game engine. When the engine is done I will think about that.

* Will the title of the game be The Revival of the Wasteland (like the title of this page)?
I don't think that this will be the title. If you have suggestions, feel free to mail them to me!

* Can I help?
Of course you can. Especially people who can do all the graphic stuff (creating tiles, pictures, ...) are welcome. It would be great, if the game artwork would be wasteland-style. But some new ideas could also be good. I like the artwork from the Devil Whiskey for example very much.

* Which platforms will be supported?
As the game is developed using the Java programming language, it should run on all platforms providing a Java Runtime Environment. Check the Sun Homepage for detailed information.

* May I have the source code?
Because the game is open source, you can get the source from www.sourceforge.net. I will publish the source code there, when a few more lines than now are done.

* Is it difficult to write that game engine?
It's not really hard (mainly because there are no 3d effects) but very complex and therefore not easy either. The really hard part will be to recreate the original look and feel of the game. Many remakes look just cheap and aren't able to bring back the atmosphere of the original. 

* Why don't you develop something really new?
For gaining experience in game development it's easier to develop something that already exists because there's many things you don't have to create from scratch. This is my first game project. I aready have some ideas for something new but for now this project has absolute priority.

* May I help
Of course. Just browse through the site to gain information about which help is needed. But any help you can provide is very likely to be very, very appreciated.

Technical specs

Resolution: 640x480 (either fullscreen or windowed)
Colour depth: 256 colours and / or 16bit colours
Requirements: any platform and CPU capable of running Java Runtime Environments (if the Java-Kit for the PS2 by Sony becomes reality it's very likely that along with keyboard input some kind of controller input especially for the PS2 will be implemented. If you hear any news concerning the Java-Kit for PS2 I would be glad to hear from you)