Editing Wasteland (video game) (section)

==Gameplay==
[[File:Wasteland screenshot.jpg|thumb|left|A screenshot of an encounter with mutated "Drools" in the IBM PC compatible version]]

''Wasteland''{{'}}s game mechanics are based on those used in tabletop role-playing games, such as ''[[Tunnels & Trolls]]'' and ''[[Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes]]'' created by ''Wasteland'' designers [[Ken St. Andre]] and [[Michael Stackpole]].<ref name=Tringham>{{cite book |last=Tringham |first=Neal Roger |date=September 4, 2014 |title=Science Fiction Video Games |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QH3SBQAAQBAJ |publisher=CRC Press |page=203 |isbn=9781482203899 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309075246/https://books.google.com/books?id=QH3SBQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=March 9, 2017}}</ref> Characters in ''Wasteland'' have seven attributes{{endash}}strength, intelligence, luck, speed, agility, dexterity, and charisma{{endash}}that allow the characters to use different skills and weapons. Experience is gained through combat and skill usage to level up, or promote, characters.<ref name="manual">{{cite book |last1=Yee |first1=Zina J. |title=Wasteland |publisher=[[Electronic Arts]] |location=[[San Mateo, California|San Mateo]], [[California]] |pages=4–5, 11 |access-date=January 24, 2023 |url=https://archive.org/details/c64man_wasteland/page/n25/mode/2up}}</ref> The player's [[Party (role-playing games)|party]] begins with four members and can grow to as many as seven by recruiting citizens and wasteland creatures. Unlike other [[computer role-playing games]] of the time, these [[non-player character]]s might at times refuse to follow the player's commands, such as when the player orders the character to give up an item or perform an action.<ref name=kotaku/> The game is noted for its high and unforgiving difficulty level.<ref name=ign/> The prose appearing in the game's combat screens, such as phrases saying an enemy is "reduced to a thin red paste" and "explodes like a blood sausage", prompted an unofficial [[Motion picture rating system#Ratings|PG-13]] sticker on the game packaging in the U.S.<ref name=kotaku>{{cite web |url=http://kotaku.com/5885882/why-people-give-a-shit-about-a-1988-pc-role-playing-game |title=Why People Give a Shit About a 1988 PC Role-Playing Game |last1=Plunkett |first1=Luke |date=February 17, 2012 |website=[[Kotaku]] |publisher=[[Gawker Media]] |access-date=June 14, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528233055/http://kotaku.com/5885882/why-people-give-a-shit-about-a-1988-pc-role-playing-game |archive-date=May 28, 2016}}</ref>

''Wasteland'' was one of the first games featuring a [[persistent world]], where changes to the game's [[open world]] were stored and kept.<ref name=ign/> Returning to an area later in the game, the player would find it in the state the player left it, rather than being reset, as was common for games of the time. Since hard drives were still rare in home computers in 1988, this meant the original game disk had to be copied first.<ref name="refcard">{{cite web |url=http://mocagh.org/ea/wasteland-refcard.pdf |title=Commodore 64/128 Wasteland Reference Card |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926104344/http://www.mocagh.org/ea/wasteland-refcard.pdf |archive-date=September 26, 2014}}</ref>

Another feature of the game was the inclusion of a printed collection of paragraphs that the player would read at the appropriate times.<ref name=retro>{{cite web |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-25-retrospective-wasteland |title=Retrospective: Wasteland |website=[[Eurogamer]] |date=March 25, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328125115/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-25-retrospective-wasteland |archive-date=March 28, 2012}}</ref> These paragraphs described encounters, conversations and contained clues. Because [[Disk storage|disk space]] was at a premium, it saved on resources to have most of the game's story printed out in a separate manual rather than stored within the game's code itself. The paragraph books also served as a rudimentary form of [[copy protection]]; someone playing a copied version of the game would miss out on story elements and clues necessary to progress. The paragraphs included an unrelated story line about a mission to [[Mars]] intended to mislead those who read the paragraphs when not instructed to, and a false set of passwords that would trip up cheaters.<ref name=ign/>