Editing Wasteland (video game) (section)

==Development==
[[File:Brian Fargo – Game Developers Conference China 2011 (cropped2).jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Brian Fargo]] in 2011, the game's director]]
[[File:Michael Stackpole by Gage Skidmore.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Michael A. Stackpole|Michael Stackpole]] at the 2017 [[Phoenix Comicon]]]]

In an interview with Hartley and Patricia Lesse for MicroTimes in 1987, game director [[Brian Fargo]] said that [[Interplay Entertainment|Interplay Productions]] started work on the game in 1986. He also said the game was created on the [[Apple II]], as it was equally important to him as the [[Commodore 64]]. Fargo described the game as a hybrid of the ''[[Ultima (series)|Ultima series]]'' and ''[[The Bard's Tale (1985 video game)|The Bard's Tale]]'', with a [[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|post-apocalyptic]] setting similar to the ''[[Mad Max]]'' film series. As to the combat, Fargo stated that it resembled that of ''The Bard's Tale'' and contained additional strategy elements, including the ability to split or disband the party and change the player's character [[point of view (literature)|point-of-view]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Lesse |first1=Hartley |last2=Lesse |first2=Patricia |title=The Programmer's Tale |magazine=MicroTimes |publisher=BAM Publications Inc. |volume=4 |issue=2 |date=March 1987 |page=200}}</ref>

In later interviews, Fargo said ''Wasteland'' came about after the success of ''The Bard's Tale'' and Interplay's desire to make another role-playing game for [[Electronic Arts]] separate from a sequel to the game. He added that the setting was inspired by his love for ''[[Mad Max 2]]'' and post-apocalyptic fiction.<ref name=Retrogamer>{{cite magazine |author=Ian Dransfield |title=Making of Wasteland |magazine=[[Retro Gamer]] |location=United Kingdom |issue=134 |pages=32–35 |publisher=Imagine Publishing Ltd}}</ref> While searching for a gameplay system for their new game, they came across the system of ''[[Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes]]''.<ref name="FargoHickey">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K5hUDwAAQBAJ&q=wasteland+interplay+road+warrior&pg=PA200 |title=The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews with Cult and Classic Video Game Developers |first=Patrick |last=Hickey Jr. |publisher=McFarland |date=April 9, 2018 |isbn=9781476671109 |access-date=November 4, 2020 |archive-date=April 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240412044459/https://books.google.com/books?id=K5hUDwAAQBAJ&q=wasteland+interplay+road+warrior&pg=PA200#v=snippet&q=wasteland%20interplay%20road%20warrior&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|200–201}} Its author [[Michael Stackpole]] was announced as the writer for ''Wasteland'' in 1987.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Taking a Peek |magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] |issue=34 |date=January–February 1987 |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_34.pdf |page=10 |access-date=June 12, 2020 |archive-date=November 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114182231/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_34.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cgw45">{{cite magazine |title=Sneak Preview: Wasteland |magazine=Computer Gaming World |issue=45 |date=March 1988 |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_45.pdf |page=26 |access-date=June 12, 2020 |archive-date=October 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141002213939/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_45.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Alan Pavlish was the lead developer of the game, writing it in Apple II machine language and programming the game to react to player choices. Ken St. Andre said Fargo's pitch to him was for a post-nuclear holocaust game that allowed for weapons capable of inflicting area effect damage to be used and the map be modified "on the fly".{{r|"FargoHickey"|p=203-204}} Fargo said the game was in development for five years.<ref name="chat90">{{cite AV media |people=Barton, Matt |date=January 23, 2011 |title=Matt Chat 90: Wasteland and Fallout with Brian Fargo |type=YouTube video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp2FsFgd9Uo |access-date=January 25, 2023 |archive-date=January 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125211120/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp2FsFgd9Uo |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="FargoHickey"/>{{rp|200–201}}

=== Writing ===
[[File:Ken St Andre (cropped).jpeg|thumb|right|upright|[[Ken St Andre]] in 2014; he served as a writer and designer.]]

St. Andre said that Interplay wanted to make a best-seller that would elevate the team's reputation. He said that the story-writing process took more than a year, mostly due to feeding various scenarios into the game to see how it would react. According to St. Andre, he and Stackpole wanted to create something new with the story.{{r|"FargoHickey"|p=202-203}}

The original plot was supposed to be similar to ''[[Red Dawn]]'', with Russians occupying the United States and fighting against Americans engaged in liberating their nation. St. Andre eventually decided to change this and pitched a new story involving killer robots wanting to wipe out and replace humanity, calling it a sort of cross between ''[[The Terminator]]'' and [[Daffy Duck]], with Fargo accepting this new storyline. The game's location was chosen due to St. Andre's familiarity with the area and ability to ensure the locations of real-world places were accurate in the game.{{r|"FargoHickey"|p=202-203}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fU-fDwAAQBAJ&q=vintage+games+2.0+wasteland&pg=PA194 |title=Vintage Games 2.0: An Insider Look at the Most Influential Games of All Time |first=Matt |last=Barton |publisher=CRC Press |date=April 9, 2018 |isbn=9781000000924 |access-date=November 4, 2020 |archive-date=April 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240412044342/https://books.google.com/books?id=fU-fDwAAQBAJ&q=vintage+games+2.0+wasteland&pg=PA194 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|193–196}}

=== Release ===
The game was copyrighted in 1986.<ref name="CGWHoF">{{cite magazine |title=Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame |magazine=Computer Gaming World |issue=115 |date=February 1994 |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=115 |page=221 |access-date=June 12, 2020 |archive-date=October 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003001602/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=115 |url-status=live }}</ref> Close to release, Interplay insisted that it be labeled [[PG-13]].<ref name="cgw45"/> ''Wasteland'' was originally released in 1988 for the Apple II, Commodore 64, and IBM compatibles.<ref name="Nutt1"/> ''Wasteland'' was re-released as part of ''Interplay's 10 Year Anthology: Classic Collection'' in 1995, and also included in the 1998 ''Ultimate RPG Archives'' through Interplay's DragonPlay label.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/interplays-10-year-anthology |title=Interplay's 10 Year Anthology for DOS (1993) |publisher=Moby Games |access-date=July 31, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113122459/http://www.mobygames.com/game/interplays-10-year-anthology |archive-date=November 13, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-ultimate-rpg-archives/ |title=The Ultimate RPG Archives - PC - GameSpy |publisher=Uk.pc.gamespy.com |date=January 31, 1998 |access-date=July 31, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113122553/http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-ultimate-rpg-archives/ |archive-date=November 13, 2013}}</ref>