Mar 1, 2021

Wasteland 3 - whippleshuffle

Do you remember that time we offered a new difficulty mode that was easier than easy, and it caused everyone in the community to think we’d lost our minds? We remember. We remember it so hard that we’ve been tossing and turning in our beds thinking of a way to show you we hadn’t lost our minds. Because we haven’t lost our minds. We haven’t, so stop saying we have, Mother!

Early March we’re targeting the release of Patch 1.3.3, lovingly titled “Death & Taxes.” You can tell that we’re not messing around here. This is exactly the sort of update that those among you who chided the idea of a story mode are going to love. And we get it, because pain is fun. In this update we’re adding a few new features, including Permanent Death (aka “Permadeath”), an optional Difficult Skill Checks Mode, and Respeccing. Read on for the gory details.

“Permadeath” Mode

No matter how many bullets fly past you or how many enemies you’re assaulting at one time, you’re never really going to feel the threat of despair until you’re able to lose a character. And by lose, we don’t mean misplace, we mean lose to death. With permadeath, you’re going to get exactly that because it works exactly how you think it should. When activated at a game’s start, it turns your nearly immortal-ish digital characters into something more or less mortal (for a video game), and means they’ll croak when their health reaches zero.

One other important note here is that we’ve made the decision to keep Permadeath as a single player-only feature which cannot be enabled in multiplayer. As much fun as is to watch your friends subjected to painful and horrific video game deaths, co-op splits the team down the middle, and one player losing everyone and then watching for (potentially) hours until the other can make it back to Ranger HQ just isn’t a good time.

The Permanent Death feature also cannot be disabled once you have opted in at the start of your game. So choose, and choose wisely.

If you have the Permanent Death feature enabled:

When life runs out a Ranger will go into a Downed state, and you'll have X rounds to bring them back into the battle. If you fail to do so you'd normally be able to bring them back with a Nitro Spike or visit to a Doc, but with Permadeath turned on party members permanently DIE. This is really going to bum someone out who didn’t read the fine print.
When a party member dies, they will dump their equipment to the local party’s shared inventory. Though they may not still be with you in your journey, at least you've robbed their corpse of their worldly belongings.
Once a party member shuffles off their mortal coil, their Party Portrait is removed from the HUD and other game interfaces, and they can no longer be selected or used. This is because they are dead.
Lest you thought that you would be able to commune with the dead via the Party Screen back at HQ, you cannot. Much as necromancers would have you believe otherwise, you cannot add the dead back into your party.
God forbid, if all Rangers in your party are killed permanently at any one time, you will earn a non-negotiable, do-not-pass-go, Game Over death screen. This is because the light of life has been extinguished from the party and the forces of evil have triumphed. Unless you were the forces of evil, in which case perhaps the forces of light and good prevailed when they killed you.

As an additional note, permanent death enabled games will be noted as such in the save game directory menu – that way you’ll have a good idea at a glance at which of your sessions are more prone to give you indigestion and make your heart palpitate wildly from time to time.

Difficult Skill Checks

Perhaps the idea of permanently dead Rangers isn’t your speed? Or maybe you’re looking for the ultimate challenge with Supreme Jerk, Permadeath, AND something that’ll put your point-spending prowess to the test. Introducing Difficult Skill Checks Mode.

This option is toggleable when starting a new game on the Select Difficulty Window, within the Customize Difficulty sub-menu. When turned on, this will increase all skill checks in the game by +2, up to a maximum of 10.

World interactions (Ex: locked doors)
Conversation interactions (Ex: kiss-ass checks in conversations)
Hacking and Taming checks on animals and robots
Item skill requirements on gear (ex: weapons have skill requirements)
Attribute requirements on gear (ex: heavy armor requires strength)

(Look. We know. We know it's not just skills. But we wanted to go the extra mile for you. Yes, you, reading this, right now. You're worth it.)

This optional mode was designed to force your Ranger team to hyper-specialize to be successful, making your jack-of-all-trades 'master-of-all' party no longer possible. This is great for a 2nd run-through if you want to be forced into some hard character build decisions.

Respec Feature

Also coming in 1.3.3, you’re going to be able to re-specialize your characters, with a caveat or two. Firstly, this can only happen back at Ranger HQ, within the Manage Squad screen. HQ is a relatively warm and comfortable place, so naturally it makes sense that we’d offer such a posh option there. Secondly, there will be a cost for respeccing or recruiting Rangers beyond the first two at HQ. No one teaches for free (except maybe those folks on YouTube) so expect to eventually shell out some in-game coin to be able to do so.

If you are loading a pre-1.3.3 save beyond the initial recruitment point at Ranger HQ, we’re still going to offer you two more free recruit customizations. Beyond that, the cost for respeccing increases by 1.75x (rounded to the nearest $50), up to a maximum of $3000, each time you use it. Additionally, Hiring and Retraining fees increase across the entire squad, not per-character.

Character Customization Additions

When you’re digging into that new Permadeath run you’re going to be able to do so in style. It’s not like a cool helmet design is necessarily going to save the day, but it might just make you feel badass enough to do the thing that makes the thing happen that blows up the thing. In Patch 1.3.3 we’re baking in 23 new character customization options (tattoos, scars, and helmets) that were born of another partnership with renown post-apoc costume designers. We’ll share more specific details about those in an upcoming article. Stay tuned.

Colorado’s Just Getting Warmed Up

Well heck! We’re not even into the meat of the year and Colorado is already looking 100% finer than it did at the close of 2020. Did we mention 1.3.3 is getting a heck-ton* of improvements and fixes as well? Well it is! Full patch notes will be delivered when the patch goes live next month.

Thanks all for your continued badassery and general attention to helping us improve Wasteland 3. You rock, and we salute you for that.

*Actual unit of measurement recognized in some countries.

Jan 26, 2021

Patch 1.3.0 "Robots & Rangers" Now Live!

Wasteland 3 - whippleshuffle

It is a mystical time in the mysterious land of Wastelandia! Dragons are afoot, and rogue knights parlay with wicked constabularies to win over fair maidens’ hearts… Ok, ok, fine. None of that is true. There’s nothing mystical about burnt out Colorado in the post-apocalypse, and there most certainly are no dragons mucking about.

So if there’s no dragons and wizardry, then what in the hell is with the dungeon spelunking theme? Well, it’s a strange world, people dress up like clowns and dead presidents, and our last patch was themed after a bowl of cannibal chili, so, whatever. It’s a weird world.

Let us get back on thine proper track! Last week we announced that Patch 1.3.0 would be getting the first set of free costumes, as well as a tease of a new difficulty setting: Tourist mode. Of course that’s not all, and this patch is packed full of fixes and changes to improve the quality of your life—which is our #1 goal.

Alright, well, time to dig into the patch notes!

Update: We originally said PlayStation was going to be delayed, but it’s not! All platforms will be published around the same time.

Wasteland 3 Patch 1.3.0 “Robots & Rangers”

Highlights

New difficulty mode: Tourist
- Tourist mode is easier than Rookie, letting you enjoy Wasteland 3’s story, with combat difficulty taking a back seat.
New cosmetics!
- New Hair, Beards, and Pants have been added to character creation.
- The Handmade Wizard and Knight costumes will let you roleplay all your Robots & Rangers fantasies. Anyone already past the Cornered Rats mission (Garden of the Gods) will receive them automatically, while anyone progressing through the quests will want to head back to Ranger HQ to claim the care package outside the front doors. Equip the costumes at the wardrobe in Ranger HQ or the clothing shop in Downtown Colorado Springs ... and attack the darkness!
Intelligence now gives +1 skill point for every point of Intelligence spent, up from +1 every other point.
- This change applies retroactively to existing save games.
The Book Learnin’ and Answering Machine achievements are now achievable.
- Note: The missing Book Learnin’ note becomes available after passing a Leadership skill check when first meeting the Patriarch and then speaking to Magistrate Silas Watkins in Downtown Colorado Springs.
- The missing cassette tapes "Kidnappers in Trouble" is in the Gett Family Homestead in a new container. "A Proposal" is in the Machine Commune, just west of Vivisecto.
Resolved an animation stutter that appeared as a framerate drop while moving, and was particularly noticeable on the PlayStation 4.
More actions are now able to be bound to keyboard and mouse, most notably camera panning. The game will also unmap double-bound keys to prevent input conflicts, and warn you about missing keybinds before you leave the menu.

Gameplay

Rangers who have been downed should now be visible after transitioning to a new scene, as though you dragged their bloody corpse along with you. :D
An issue preventing some players from being able to proceed through the slides during the song at the end credits has been resolved.
Loading a save game where a Ranger was incapacitated will now keep them incapacitated, where before they would be in a selectable-but-unusable zombie-like state.
Fixed the issue that could cause a game over screen immediately upon loading a save game.
Fixed bugs that could prevent companions from joining the squad under certain conditions.
Ironclad Cordite now comes with the Cyborg Mods perk unlocked, because, duh.
Resolved a blocker in the Hard Knox Life quest where the Head Rancher would restart the quest rather than allow completion. We’re aware of some oddness that can still occur during this quest and are looking to clean it up in a future update.
Creepy Dolls have an extra info field in the Archive Screen now with creepy, creepy lore.
Fixed an issue with Poindexter quirk that could cause CON to go below 0.
You can now reselect the "No Quirk" option in the character creation screen. But… come on. They’re cool. Pick one.
Fixed a bug where creating more than 6 custom characters would prevent the player from scrolling down to the companions in the Manage Squad Screen.
Fixed softlock occuring after the last character with AP kills themselves.
Fixed a bug that could cause an infinite enemy turn after declining La Perla’s mission and attacking her while she leaves.
Fixed an issue where re-adding Lucia Wesson could sometimes cause a black screen.
Resolved a softlock occurring when loading into Ranger HQ after sending Lucia to the Garden of the Gods.
Ditso Gogo now drops a Clown Wig Ornament.
Grenade boxes in Yuma are reachable now.
Fixed a bug that was preventing the Minesweeper perk from working with gas mines.
Fixed a bug that was causing Heavy Machine Guns to ignore the Friendly Fire setting. Fire through your friends with gusto.
- Note: Deliberately targeting a friendly when you attack will always cause damage, regardless of Friendly Fire setting. Shoot responsibly.
The Call to Action mission can no longer be completed multiple times.
Revive AP cost shown in the prompt is now consistent with its actual value.
Mechanics skill shows the correct Repair Kit effectiveness value at level 5.
Fixed an issue where the first Ranger in the squad would always attempt to use Charm Animal, even if you had a higher-skilled character.
Fixed a frw typos.
Fixed a bug in which the Pyromaniac quirk was triggering when any elemental damage was used, not just explosive and fire damage.
Fixed an issue where attacking Marshalls would appear to add reputation points in the pop up. This was a display issue only; they were properly subtracted from the reputation.
Prasad’s health bar will appear ‘injured’ during the damn fight, as she’s mere moments from her guts oozing nice like a melted malted.
The Prasad Memorial Hologram can no longer be targeted and killed for XP and loot. You monsters...
Players can no longer bypass the initial Cordite/Mechanic confrontation by retrieving him from Ranger HQ after entering Yuma County Speedway the first time, which would cause unintended issues later in the quest.
[Localization] In Polish, the Sadomasochist quirk now has correct extra text in its description.
Payasos in the Clown Museum scene now have visible bodies after reloading a save. Something, something, scary invisible clown joke. Whatever.
Fixed a bug in which the player could leave a conversation too early with Liberty Buchanan in Yuma County Speedway.
The Stormer Perk no longer consumes AP for an attack even if its trigger conditions have been met.

Balance

Intelligence now gives +1 skill point for every point of Intelligence spent, up from +1 every other point.
- “We want smart characters to FEEL smarter. We weren’t satisfied with how intelligence related to your character’s build. Also, given our recent nerf to the crit chance that intelligence granted, we wanted to give it a little boost.”
We’ve updated how the Suncatcher works in Garden of the Gods. Rather than doing tons of impact damage directly to targets, we’ve updated it to instead focus on spreading fire-patches around the battlefield.
- “We weren’t happy with how much the sun-catcher trivialized that otherwise difficult fight in Garden of the Gods. We wanted taking the back route to feel like a distinct advantage, but still wanted the player to feel challenged.”
We’ve adjusted the Scar Collector fight in Ranger HQ to be more challenging. We’ve updated the enemy composition, as well as the number of NPC Rangers likely to be around during that fight.
- “We found that players didn’t really need to participate in that fight to win it. The NPC Rangers would ultimately clean up that fight for you without any significant losses. We’ve shifted the power in the fight so that if the player does not actively stop the Scar Collectors then the Rangers will suffer significant losses. The fight should be more challenging overall.”
We’ve updated the duel vs. Steeltrap to be more interesting. We’ve updated the enemy’s starting position and composition to provide a more interesting set of choices, and Steeltrap no longer starts combat directly in front of the player’s squad.
We’ve increased the number of enemies in the final boss battles of the game.
If the only remaining enemies in a combat are either hacked robots or tamed animals, the robots will automatically self-destruct and the animals will flee from combat. No more being forced to murder your temporary allies!
We fixed that Meat Maker weapon damage exploit. You knew it was going to happen eventually.
Doctors no longer cure mutations gained from World Map radiation. They can now only be cleared using No-Glo. This is so players are better able to choose whether or not to remove their mutations.
The game launched with a bug that allowed you to change your Quick Slot items in the middle of combat. This update fixes that. It’s a decision that’s intended to be made before a fight breaks out.
We've updated several interior spaces to deal more appropriately with grenades. Grenades can no longer be thrown over walls (through the ceiling) in interior spaces like the Survivalist Bunker or the Sans Lux Apartments.
Shotguns no longer take Scope mods. If your save game had a Scope mod installed onto a Shotgun, it'll be put back into your inventory.
Non-hostile World Map encounters that give free loot, such as camp sites, are now less common.

UI & Controls

UI elements across the game have been polished, refined, and adjusted.
Main menu options will no longer be grayed out incorrectly. Note: this issue may still occur while in the Options sub-menu, which will be resolved in a future patch.
Ability tooltips now more accurately reflect the damage or healing that you will do, including benefits from skills such as First Aid and Explosives.
The game will now accurately display the percentage of CON damaged or healed by certain abilities inside of ability tooltips.
Holding down right click with your mouse to direct your squad will now have the camera follow them around. As god intended.
The edge scrolling speed (moving your mouse to the edge of the screen) is now the same value as the speed at which the camera moves using the keyboard. They can be adjusted in the options menu.
Junk and mission items, by default, are now hidden in the default All Items view of the Inventory. They're still viewable in the Junk and Mission Items tabs. This was done to reduce the clutter on the main Inventory view. If you prefer the old behavior, you can change it back in the Options Menu.
When shopping for stackable items (such as ammo) at a merchant, the UI will now display how many of that item you already own.
Recruiting and replacing a squad member will now correctly update portrait and tooltip in Inventory and Attributes tabs.
Alt-tabbing out of the opening cutscene with subtitles enabled no longer causes them to desynchronize.
Friendly Fire damage text will no longer appear when crouching, defending, prepping, or ambushing.
You can now appropriately drag and drop companions in the Hire Companion Screen.
A sound effect has been added that plays when you try to buy something that you cannot afford to help underscore that your life choices have all led to this single disappointing moment.
In the Vehicle Customization Screen, the scroll wheel will now properly scroll the info in the tooltip if it’s too long, rather than cycling to the next option in the list.
We fixed several bugs relating to dragging, dropping, and equipping gear on characters while in the Merchant Screen.
We've unified the tinting of our ability icons so they're more visually consistent.
An audio stinger was added to the combat turn start banner in co-op.
Players can now drag and drop items between their Quick Slots.
Added improved UI messaging for when the player tries to equip/unequip items during combat.
The save game name field is now selected by default so you can immediately start typing your game name without having to click on the text field.
Fixed an issue where players were unable to use Select Character keys in the Merchant Screen by using keybinds.
Animal Companions and Followers such as the Provost now show their CON bars when hovering over them during exploration gameplay.
Fixed an issue with the secondary weapon preview not displaying in the Manage Squad Screen.
[Controller] Resolved a few objects and characters that couldn’t be easily interacted with when using a controller. E.g. the Slicer Dicer in Ranger HQ.
[Controller] Inspecting pits in Garden of the Gods will no longer result in ‘infinite’ interactions occurring.
[Controller] [Microsoft Store] The controller setting will now persist when closing and restarting the game.
[Controller] Rotating your camera while aiming an AoE weapon will no longer cause the AoE indicator to move.
[Controller] The crouch / stand button now grays out when not usable.
[Controller] Fixed some d-pad wonkiness when navigating between status effects and inventory.
[Controller] Fixed a bug in which gamepad users were able to attempt to buy the non-existent 11th point of a skill or attribute. Nice try, bucko.
[Controller] Status Effect descriptions will now appropriately disappear when players close the inspect window.

Co-op

GOG players can once again invite each other to a co-op game using the Galaxy overlay.
Fixed an issue where a Merchant Screen would continue showing when disconnected from a multiplayer session.
Multiple people trying to join the same co-op lobby at the same time will no longer result in one of them being stuck on a black screen.
The Minimap will now be present for the guest when initially loading into a MP session.
Fixed an odd bug where the host could in a rare instance be able to run the Kodiak around a zone like it was a squad member.
Fixed an issue where passing a Ranger to another user in the Manage Squad Screen would not allow that Ranger to be moved/removed from their squad until the screen was opened and closed again.
Fixed a UI issue where attempting to modify the same weapon/armor at the same time caused the UI to be partially unresponsive.
Fixed an issue where co-op players were sometimes not able to add companions to their squad even though they had room.

Art & Audio

Jarett Dorsey's brain will now explode even more spectacularly than before. Huzzah!
Strike attack effects have been changed to use a blue color palette, making them more visually consistent and distinctive.
The Golden Toaster companion has had its sound effects improved.
Added sound effects for when the player repairs the Kodiak using a Repair Kit.
Drools are now a bit noisier.
Torches in the Bizarre Warrens are a bit noiser.
Added additional sound effects to the Mission Notification Banner.
Improved the visual effect of the Flamesaw Cannon.
Ash is now easier to hear when he speaks to you over the intercom in Little Hell. Say it for the people in the back!
Ranger HQ now has sliding doors instead of swinging doors. Sliding doors are cooler.
Rocket launchers that deal cold damage now use a cold explosion visual effect.
Approaching a Scorpitron should no longer produce an ear melting effect that sounds like giant robots making sweet love to each other.

Misc.

The Time Capsule Challenge contest has ended, and the note and badge have been removed and replaced with the winner-designed item.
GOG users can now unlock achievements while offline.

Jan 14, 2021

Fantastical Costumes Coming to Wasteland 3

Wasteland 3 - whippleshuffle

The sun crests the horizon as the party approaches the heart of the broken town. The smoldering embers of the previous day’s battle with the Filthurburgs (semi-human denizens of the bog) fill your lungs, and the stench of turmeric and sulfur weave together with notes of dead flesh and wet dog. Ahead of you, Farani Brygoson’s parapet looms in the distance. (You’ve already been summoned so you won’t have to roll for initiative this time.) As you enter the gate to the forlorn castle within the township’s walls, a Fel-Gnome assaults you with its ugliness before attempting to assault you with its fists. Fortunately, you’ve brought with you Glamdror the Magnificent, and Sir Kelkeep the Brave! There are others but you’ve forgotten their names…

As the Fel-Gnome lashes out from the archway, Glamdror incants a spell learned from ye olden dayes when magic filled the sky and wizards would stand naked on the hilltops early in the morning and cry out to the heavens. Faster than the blink of an eye, the mage thrusts his arms forward with rapacious delight. As his eyes are lit from the mystical blue glow emanating from his hands you hear a *sizzle pop* before a temporary blindness overcomes you. A moment later you can see that Glamdror has encased the sad and stinky creature before you in some kind of ice that seems less cold than freezing but is probably cooler than warm.

Through their translucent arcane prison, the beast looks upon you with bewilderment and a slight hint of mournful curiosity as they begin to shimmy inside… they’re attempting to break free!

What do you do?

Venture into Wasteland 3’s next big update—Patch 1.3.0 “Robots & Rangers”—with two free new costumes, the Handmade Wizard and Knight! Patch 1.3.0 is undergoing some final fixes and testing, and we expect it to release by the end of the month. You’ll receive these new costumes after completing the Garden of the Gods—either claiming them from a package in front of Ranger HQ for new playthroughs, or automatically added if you’re past that point—and can equip them at the wardrobe in Ranger HQ or at the clothing shop in Downtown Colorado Springs.

The ‘Handmade Wizard and Knight’ costumes were a collaboration between inXile and Dimitri Zaitsev, an accomplished post-apocalyptic costume designer and artist. We were excited to work with Dimitri and asked him if he’d walk us through his thoughts and process for creating post-apocalyptic costumes and props.

Q: Have you done anything like this before? Blending fantasy and post-apoc?
I’ve never done a post-apoc wizard or knight before, but the general thought process behind them was not new to me at all. The genre lends itself extremely well to ALL kinds of inspirations, and that is one of many reasons I love it. While there are prominent examples and tropes, there is actually no unified definition of what "post-apo" even means for the most part. The only fixed thing is that it´s "something after an apocalypse". But what the world looked like before or what has evolved after - that´s always the interesting problem for artists and designers to solve.

Wasteland Knight concept by Dimitri.

But the more important question here is: how do the designs fit Wasteland specifically? Wasteland is based on a retro-futuristic version of America during the 80s and 90s, followed by a nuclear apocalypse. That per-se is not fantasy, but the universe has a TON of humor and fantastic elements in the mix as some of its integral defining parts. There are a lot of super-crazy factions, characters, designs and even gameplay mechanics already. Just think of the Payasos, or the Monster Army, or the goat mortar you can mount on your car, or the one NPC who wears pristine suits and never curses.... So I don´t think that these new outfits deviate from the game´s baseline level at all.

Q: What were your first thoughts and inspirations when the initial idea was proposed?
My first thought was "Hell yeah!", and my inspiration were wizards and knights - what else could it be? :)

Aaron (Aaron Meyers, Wasteland 3 Art Director) and I agreed that it would make sense if those outfits were created by wastelanders who got wind of knights and wizards being a thing in the world before the Deluge of Fire, became fans of those ideas, and decided to (re)create them - or at least take some inspiration from them. Historical fact and fiction would get mixed up, so maybe the Wizard thinks that wizards were real, and that the 12-sided die worn around the neck is a real magical amulet. Or maybe they know it´s not real but have assumed the persona anyway. They might mean it dead-serious, or they might be wearing it ironically or just for fun, or even to scam others by selling them "magic potions" which are just frog pee. Or maybe before joining the Rangers the wizard used to travel around towns and use their "magic" powers to give real medical aid to sick children & tell them stories while doing so. Or maybe those costumes were simply used by a post-apocalyptic theatre group to create plays of knights and wizards for their audience. There can be so many interpretations for this, and I love it.

Wasteland Wizard concept by Dimitri.

Part of my task was to create something that looks aesthetically appealing and well-balanced while still maintaining the idea that the fictional in-game person who made it had to work with limited resources & skills available to them. You can see that the knight was able to scavenge some authentic armor parts from a museum, the wizard has repurposed an electric Christmas star, and both characters have used a lot of various scrap materials & whatever tools they could get their hands on in this world of scarcity.

Other than that, I just took the archetypes of a wizard and a knight and mixed them with the ideas described above. It was important that the designs look as cliché as possible in their main shapes, so that they are immediately recognizable as what they are supposed to be.

Q: Are there any core design ‘tenets’ or rules you have when thinking in the post-apoc mindset and how you approach a given design?
Post-apoc or not, I just think about how things would work in the given part of the given universe, and then I create the design going from large parts to small ones while applying the core fundamentals of art (color, composition, etc.) to make it visually pleasing. Doing so feels as immersive and mentally rewarding as playing a game or watching a movie.

Final models and textures for ‘Handmade Wizard and Knight’.

Specifically in a post-apocalyptic setting though, you have to think about what materials and tools people would have available. Most of the time it´s going be something dilapidated, rusty, broken down, and improvised. Or sometimes not - some things can be found in bunkers, be manufactured rather well by post-collapse societies, and thus look new, and even employ futuristic technologies. But then you have to balance them out with dirtier gear to achieve an overall look of what´s easily understood by the player as "post-apocalyptic" - in most cases anyway, there can be no 100% dogmatic approach to this. You also must think about what would be reasonably practical in general, and then balance practicality with "the rule of cool".

As for finding ideas for the details of a design, I just think of "what could any given item be used as, regardless of it´s original intended pre-war purpose." And sometimes I go a step further and think "…but what original intended purpose would make its current use even more interesting?"

In-game Handmade Knight and Wizard costumes.

There is a LOT more to all of this once you really start breaking it down though. I could fill whole volumes with this stuff. Anyone who wants to hear more from me about art, post-apo costuming, and gear should check out my YouTube channel.

Q: Thanks for taking the time to give us more insight! Anything else you want to share with readers?
Check out my Facebook, Instagram, and ArtStation, and I hope you will have fun with these outfits when (re)playing Wasteland 3! And hey, there miiiiiight be more of my designs showing up in the game soon, who knows. ;)

Who knows, indeed! (Actually, we do.) Thanks again to Dimitri for helping us create these fantastical costumes. Keep an eye out for more news regarding Patch 1.3.0 releasing for Wasteland 3 soon, and more costumes to help you RP it up in future patches.

Dec 15, 2020

Patch 1.2.0 "Meat Maker Marinade" Now Live

Wasteland 3 - whippleshuffle

The patch we announced in our State of the Frozen Union address is here!

Wasteland 3 Patch 1.2.0 “Meat Maker Marinade”

Highlights

Balance changes have adjusted some core systems to ensure a true wasteland experience. Developer commentary is included below from David Rogers to help explain the thought process and intentions behind the changes.
We finally resolved the issue that could cause the two starting Rangers’ attributes to go into the negative. Thanks to everyone who had to deal with this for your patience.
We resolved a few progression blockers which were giving some of you grief, including the Yuma County Speedway door and Little Hell gondola.
The incredibly annoying slamming-into-cover issue is now addressed! If you still want your controller to vibrate endlessly we hear there are apps for that.
[PC/Xbox] Brazilian Portuguese and Italian subtitles are now available!
- Note: These additional subtitles are expected to be available on PlayStation by early next year.

Gameplay

The intro cinematic and live-action short are now viewable from the main menu under a Special Features option.
When switching away from and back to the original two Rangers, their attributes will no longer change to negative values.
Resolved an issue where characters would play the cover animation repeatedly when moving into cover from a crouch.
Sawblade ammo has been added into merchants and enemy drop tables.
You were right. More sniper ammo has been added into the intro Ambush scene.
Vendors have smartened up and will no longer trigger Antique Appraiser on junk that you’ve repurchased.
Fixed an issue where Yuma County Speedway Doors were not interactable under certain conditions.
Fixed two conversation issues with Liberty that could fail to advance and require restarting the game.
Fixed an issue where the Rebel Scout would not appear in Hoon Homestead after being sent there to meet [redacted].
Fixed an issue with the Photon Amplification Lens that caused the UI to fail to load.
Medical Marvel should now be working as intended. For realsies.
An issue preventing players from completing the ‘Unwelcome Guests’ quest, which previously would not allow them to confront Mama Cotter, has been resolved.
Resolved an issue preventing the Varangian Blood perk from activating upon an ally being downed in combat.
Resolved an issue where Rangers could get another blank disc and redo the quest to talk to the Machine Intelligence after transferring a certain consciousness into a certain somebody.
The Machine Commune faction’s AI has been flashed with the latest firmware, and the Commune will now no longer hate the Rangers after they upload an important quest element.
Shooting a cryo rocket at the barrels next to the Scorpitron in the Tellurium Mine will no longer cause the explosion to explode infinitely. We respect physics, and infinite explosions require infinite energy, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense within the scope of this very realistic and very cool video game story.
As rad as this was in theory, if not in practice, the Kodiak is now no longer able to Monster Truck through Scorpitrons—no matter how much dew from the mountains may have been consumed beforehand.
Pay no attention to the mysterious DevCube behind the curtain! The DevCube that was not meant to be seen with mortal eyes has been removed from the Paint Mines. May it live forever in our hearts.
The deer in Santa’s Workshop can now be tamed without a bunch of backtalk.
Several weapons that previously did not produce scrap or mods when field stripped now do. Cha-ching!
Fixed the text describing headshots’ bonus effect. It’s always done +75% damage, but it previously displayed ‘+175% damage’ in error.
Added the “Cog Pendant” into the game. This is a backer item we intended to have in the game when it released, but it wasn’t there. So we fixed that.
Fixed an issue that would softlock the initial Jodie Bell hostage cutscene if the player swapped to the second character right before the cutscene.
Fixed an exploit that allowed the player to redo the Reagan questline after talking to the Machine Intelligence after completing a certain quest objective.
Fixed an issue where flame jets were invisible while they were active. (Fun fact: ‘The Invisible Flame Jets’ was the name of our prog-rock band back in the 80’s).
Removed the random Godfisher in the Yuma Speedway after the Godfishers leave camp. Go home, random Godfisher, you’re drunk.
Fixed an issue where Drilldogs didn’t attack until all other enemies had died.
Fixed an issue where Doctor NPCs wouldn’t heal the players to full health.
Fixed an issue where Mortar Strike would not consume rocket ammo.
Killing Dee Sharp in the Scar Collector Mines while Cordite is in the party will no longer softlock the cutscene.
Fixed an issue where the Spirit Animal perk provided buffs for the whole party, and not just that particular character.
Fixed an issue that prevented players from lockpicking the doors in the Sans Lux Apartments, even if they had the requirements.
Lucia now speaks up when a player first walks into the Marshals’ station in Downtown.
Fixed an issue where the Survival skill was giving some of the custom Rangers the “Charm Animal” skill for free.
Failing when trying to fix Morningstar now displays explosions before a fade to white to really hit home the fact that you are a failure.
Fixed an issue where the player couldn’t get “The Stink” off when using an Antidote. Be thankful this game isn’t scratch n’ sniff.
Fixed an issue where grenade trajectories would get blocked while inside the Clown Museum’s bigtop.
Fixed an exploit where vehicle upgrade items could appear in the player's inventory if the utility upgrade was unequipped.
The Clown Museum ballerinas are no longer active before the player arrives.
Fixed an issue that prevented the player from saving Austin Pease if they didn’t initially have the money to free him, and also fixed an issue where players were able to pay half the required amount for that task.
The quest “War of the Worlds” should now complete properly when the player wipes out all the robots in the mines.
Players can now reach max reputation with the Monster Army.
Fixed an issue where players, while in high cover, couldn’t activate self-use items while using a two-handed blade.
Fixed an issue that could cause the Dorsey rocketeer on the dam fight to be invisible during that battle.
Crit damage values should no longer dip into negative values and heal enemies… Total head scratcher, that one.
Fixed an animation issue that would cause the player to slide if they shot and moved from a crouched position.
Firing on an NPC who can use deployable turrets will now result in their turrets correctly turning hostile as well.
Fixed an issue that prevented the player from talking to the Weaponsmith in the Bizarre Interior without visiting The Warrens.
Resolved an issue where an enemy would infinitely rotate after tripping the alarm in the Scar Collector Mines’ Security Habitat
Fixed an issue where loading an autosave during the Fishlips fight would prevent the player from being able to fight Fishlips.
The Patriarch and his Guards will now always be hostile if the player decides to go on a murder-spree outside of the palace or in Downtown.
Fixed an exploit that let the player get infinite cash from Paris in the Bizarre Exterior.
Fixed an issue that prevented the player from completing the Counterintelligence Mission.
Fixed an issue where swapping weapon slots and modding the primary weapon would put the mod on the secondary weapon.
Fixed an issue where the player couldn’t complete the Santa’s Workshop questline unless they tricked Santa to check for cookies.
Fixed an issue where players couldn’t complete the Santa’s Workshop questline if during the fight Sugar Plum Mary was killed.
SAL is now prevented from occasionally chiming in on the radio and playing music during combat in Denver.
Players who pick the “Mopey Poet” background will now get the +5 Evasion bonus as intended.
Melee characters who start combat in cover will now face the correct direction on start.
Updated Turret enemies to fix highlighting issues.
Fixed an issue that would cause Masato to disappear if you gave him the ramen but didn’t recruit him to Ranger HQ.
The Smuggler Devastator enemy type will now attack instead of cower behind cover and do nothing.
Fixed a conversation choice with Vivisecto where the player’s choice was nonsensical. (Isn’t it possible that all choice is in fact nonsense? Something to think about.)
Fixed the logic for blackjack games in Cartel Nightclub after the first few hands.
The Ranger General’s Hat now correctly provides the stat boosts stated.
Fixed multiple issues when reviving a downed player character.
Fixed a rare issue where the targeting line during combat wouldn’t disappear.
Fixed an exploit where the benefits of crouching persisted after saving and loading.
Fixed an issue where the Kodiak’s health wasn’t being saved properly.
Terminals in the Monster Army Bunker should now reward experience for “Nerd Stuff” skill checks.
Removed one of the two “Goodbye” options in Hallie’s conversation.
Fixed an issue where an enemy’s arms would stay highlighted red after being targeted with a Precision Strike.
Pvt. Pellegrin no longer plays pretend soldier, and will now hold his gun like a good guard back at Ranger HQ.
Increased the talk radius of Major Tomcat when you see him on the bridge.
Fixed an exploit that would generate healing when swapping weapons while certain status effect buffs were active.
Fixed an issue where the player would get ejected from the conversation with Hardee Knox for seemingly no reason.
Fixed an issue where the Area of Effect circle disappeared on certain terrain.
Fixed multiple issues with Precision Strike not highlighting enemies/enemy parts properly.
Fixed a rare issue that made the Cannibals up front in the Cannibal Jamboree not hostile even after killing their friends. (Fun fact: ‘Pacifist Cannibals’ was the name of our punk band back in the 80’s).
Fixed an issue in the endgame where [redacted]’s Scouts weren’t getting revealed by the Fog of War during the conversation with them.
Fixed an issue where Jarrett’s knife could appear to not be properly attached to his hand during his first line of dialog.
Area of Effect abilities that are self-centered (ex. Rally) now work if the player is crouched.
Vehicle wreckage should now no longer obscure characters during the final fight.
Fixed an issue where status effects were ending too soon after combat ended.
Fixed some issues with the Night Rider Horn, Michael.
Fixed an issue where during the Tinker combat, the enemy’s first turn wouldn’t end if the player attacked first.
Fixed a minor combat grid issue in Ranger HQ Razorback encounter area.
Fixed an issue where the save spinner UI element would stay on the screen permanently after the game was saved.
Fixed a missing combat grid issue in one of the random encounter areas.
Fixed a weird issue where shotguns and flamethrowers with damage type mods installed could act like pistols and fired single bullets rather than the correct ammo.
Scotchmo’s animations have sobered up now and work as intended.
Fixed an issue where getting ambushed by Tinker pulls a bear into combat.
Fixed an issue with Irv’s dialog with the bookseller.
Fixed an issue where MacTavish was unreachable in his Ranger HQ cell, and could not be talked to.
Destroying the Reagan statue early will now properly update the mission, “A House Divided.”
Fixed an issue that occasionally caused the start point for the Scar Collector Mines to be in a different location.
Bill will finish his “Gotta go find my gun” bark before running off to his dea… err.. Destiny!

Balance

The XP needed to level up has been adjusted. XP requirements for levels 8 through 20 have been only slightly increased, while XP requirements from 20-30 have been greatly increased. This brings the functional max level down to around 27, from around 29.
- “We were finding that players were finishing the game at a higher level than we expected, and beyond level 8 players did seem to chronically over-level their content. This resulted in skill checks feeling less demanding than we desired. We really want players to deliberate over every point spent. The goal of this adjustment in the XP curve is to ensure players who are 100%'ing our content are still experiencing some friction in the late game, while being sure that players who don’t want to do everything and who still complete the main story are able to reach the necessary level to complete the final quest.”
For existing players, you won’t lose any levels, but your next level up will have the correct experience requirement. This will result in your next level up being just a little further away than it was before.
Reduced the effectiveness of Aramid Pads and Trauma Plate Inserts to 2 and 4, down from 4 and 6.
Reduced the effectiveness of the Lights Out perk down to +100% from +200%.
Changes to critical hit chance:
- “Critical hit chance was getting much higher than we wanted, and was having an outsized impact on combat. Enemies were critically hitting players too often, which didn’t feel good, and player critical hit chance was getting up too high, particularly for characters who weren’t necessarily even trying to build for crit chance. These new changes target bringing overall crit chances down, mostly for characters who aren’t consciously building for crit chance. We did this rather than bringing down the maximum crit damage. We like big damage numbers, they feel good, but we want them to be the exception, not the norm.”
  - Critical hit chance for NPC’s has been reduced to about 62.5% of its previous value.
  - Critical hit chance granted from the Intelligence stat has been reduced to +20%, from +25%.
  - Critical hit chances granted by gear, mods, and the cat companion have been reduced.
  - The Focus drug grants less critical hit bonus than it did before (but still a lot). +15 down from +20.
  - High level light armor helmets no longer grant bonus crit chance. Instead we’ve given them status effect resistance or Evasion bonuses.
Assault rifles have been given +3m range.
Congrats! You’ve made it halfway through the patch notes. Get yourself a snack.
The Gopher Hunter perk has been buffed to decrease enemy cover effectiveness by 40%, up from 25%.
- “The goal with these two changes is to buff the assault rifle, but also to give it a different use-case vs. the SMG. While the SMG is about heavy damage and high risk flanking maneuvers, the assault rifle should be a reliable work-horse that can deliver consistent damage when it's needed while staying safe behind cover.”
Characters who have been stunned will gain a “Stun Protection” status effect after it wears off, stopping any character from being stunned two turns in a row.
Tier 4 and 5 loot crates have a reduced chance to drop above-tier gear, making tier 5 and 6 weapons rarer earlier in the game.
Shotguns and flamethrowers have had their Torrent Strike damage reduced to 200% of weapon damage, down from 300%.
Pistol Pete will no longer use the Trick Shot ability.
Weapons and armor now display their level, making it easier to compare items and understand if your gear is at the appropriate level for your characters.
Sniper rifles have had their bonus strike rate reduced. Low level sniper rifles have no bonus strike rate, but will start to gain the stat at higher levels.
High level sniper rifles now cost 7 AP to fire, up from 6.
- “This is largely to ensure sniper rifles maintain the tradeoff of being incredibly hard to fire twice in a turn, while still being powerful.”
Animal Companions, Followers, and Deployables will now distract enemy NPCs less, or more, based on your difficulty setting. Players playing on Supreme Jerk will find that enemies are much more focused on attacking Rangers vs. deployables and followers, while players on Rookie difficulty should still be seeing their animals tanking significantly for their team.
- “We saw a dominant strategy form in which lots of low-level animal companions were being taken, along with many of the followers, which resulted in them having too large an impact on combat (namely in how much damage they soaked up). We know people love their animals and generally will reload their save game until they survive the fight, so rather than killing your furry friends off, we’re limiting how much the enemies are shooting them vs. your own Rangers. This, combined with reduced follower tanking will hopefully put a larger emphasis on debuffs at higher difficulties.”
Deployables now have a maximum level they’ll scale to, stopping them from being overly impactful in the late game. The most notable change is that Machine turrets will stop getting better after level 14, while laser turrets will scale up to lvl 20.
The skill needed to install a Razor Box weapon mod has been reduced to 6, from 10.
Satoshi’s case is now more valuable to vendors.
Rocket launchers now cost 4 AP to reload, up from 2.
Cheebus now sells Tier 5 gear, down from Tier 6.
Jackhammer shotgun’s AP to fire is increased to 5, up from 3.
Food items are now more expensive (AP) to eat in combat.
Pre-order bonus weapons have had their vendor value lowered, so if they’re sold they do not dramatically impact the intended economy.

UI & Controls

Added a keybind option on PC for “Loot All.”
The minimap should now always default to on.
Utility items will now sort as Armor when filtering items.
Double-clicking a character portrait on the HUD now centers the camera to that character. What a time to be alive.
Fixed an issue where premade Rangers weren’t showing up in the “Manage Squad” Screen.
Player health can no longer show below 0 when downed.
Fixed an issue that would cause enemy UI stats to disappear if the player opened and closed the inventory menu up a lot.
An issue that prevented some quirks from being selectable during character creation has been resolved.
Fixed an issue where the first slot of the inventory could be unresponsive. You’re the first slot! Come on… Be better, first slot.
Fixed an issue where the “Sell Junk” keyboard shortcut wouldn’t work.
Minimap image no longer does a jitter dance when you move the camera separately from your rangers.
[Gamepad] The ‘A’ prompt now appears when highlighting an NPC to talk to.
[Gamepad] Resolved the issue that made it impossible for a companion to join if their dialog was cancelled.
[Gamepad] Fixed an issue that made laser tripwires unable to be disarmed with a gamepad.
[Gamepad] Removed the second close button option in the controls option menu.

Console

Additional stability improvements made to assist with older console crash rates. Work will be continuing in future updates to further reduce crash potential.
New Feature – While out of combat, press Y (Xbox) or Triangle (PS4) to go into targeting mode.
Unplugging a controller while the game was “thinking” caused some issues, specifically during saving/loading, and during character creation. We didn’t think that was good, so we fixed that.
Fixed multiple issues where console saves and load screens would hang or cause the game to crash.
[Xbox] Fixed an issue where the player could get stuck in a merchant screen immediately after adding a new party member.
[Xbox One] Fixed an issue where the initial dialog was not heard nor seen at the Arapaho Caravan.
[Xbox One] Fixed an issue that caused colored lights to appear on the combat UI grid.
[Xbox One] Button prompts seen in the main menu now use the correct UI font.
[Xbox One] The Dorsey prisoner no longer clips into the wall in Ranger HQ.
[Xbox One S] The game should no longer crash if the user leaves the game open on the world map for an extended duration.

Co-op

Players are now forced to be on the same patch version to play together.
We’re even more confident that we’ve fixed the issues causing infinite loads in co-op. We’re looking at you, persistent 33% load hang (as well as some other nasty outliers)!
Fixed an issue that prevented players from accessing the Multiplayer menu with just the keyboard.
Fixed an issue during the world map where both players were hearing different radio calls.
Fixed an issue where speech bubbles would persist after an enemy died.
The chat window background now appears with a cool misty cloudy background instead of a translucent blue.
Fixed an issue that caused the radio voiceover to cut out for the guest.
Fixed an issue where the initial dam combat sequence was zoomed in too much.
Fixed an issue where GOG players could not host a Direct Connect multiplayer session.
Fixed an issue where the guest would get stuck in any conversation with a skill check involved if the host wasn’t there in the conversation.
Fixed an exploit that allowed players without the pre-order bonus content access to it by joining a host with that content.
Fixed an issue where Serial Killer Quirk didn’t work on guest players—now you can kill to your heart’s content.
Fixed an issue where calling for a tow (P.S. did you know you can fast travel back to Ranger HQ from the world map by clicking on the radio?) would sometimes not move the Kodiak back to Colorado Springs.
Fixed an issue where the landscape bars from the intro movie would persist during the initial Ambush attack.
Fixed a desync issue on the world map that would cause the guest to be stuck on a loading screen while the host could drive around normally.
Fixed a desync issue on the world map that would cause the guest to witness a world event while the host did not, and would still be able to drive around.
Fixed an issue where guests could not heal with quickslot items.
Fixed an issue where the button prompts were not being localized during multiplayer sessions while in the Manage Squad menu.
Resolved issues that could occur while one player attacked while the other was in the Hire Companion screen.
Fixed a UI issue on the client side that would prevent status effects from appearing after loading a different level.
Fixed an issue that would break the player’s camera if the other player left mid-character creation.
Fixed an issue that caused the guest to see incorrect skill information on the host’s characters.
Fixed an issue that would create autosaves for the guest as well as the host.
[Xbox One] Fixed an issue where the garage doors in Ranger HQ would appear closed for the guest.
[Windows Store] Fixed a very specific issue where the font did not fit within the UI buttons while in borderless windowed mode in Polish or French while using the very large text size option. Phew.
[Windows Store] Fixed an issue that would prevent the host from reviving the guest’s custom rangers.
[Windows Store] Fixed an issue where a misleading error message displayed when a player attempted to join another player whose lobby was set to “Block.”
[Windows Store] Fixed an issue where a player would be unable to do anything after the other player left or was kicked from the session.
[Windows Store] Players should now be able to connect to hosts via Direct Connection.
[Windows Store] Fixed an issue that could prevent the guest from being able to load a save after exiting a multiplayer session.

Art & Audio

New makeup options in character creation. Get fabulous, treat yourself!
Payaso Bastard, Ditso Gogo, and Tricksters have had their models and textures adjusted.
We’ve made general visual effect cleanups and enhancements throughout the game.
The Frozen Lake in the Godfisher Windfarm now has ice.
The minimap in The Warrens is now aligned properly..
Fixed a logic issue that caused non-hostile NPCs to only cower during combat.
Fixed an issue that caused weather to show up inside the dentist building outside of the Bizarre.
The patrolling nightclub goon near Delgato’s cell in the back will stop doing a half-jig mid patrol.
The turret inside MacTavish’s Machine Shop now shoots louder bullets.
Fixed a Kodiak weapons animation issue.
Destroying crates with objects on them will have all objects on top be destroyed instead of just the crate.
Animatronics no longer play a human death cry when they die. They’re creepy enough as it is.
The flying flags freakily flapping ‘n flailing ‘round near the mechanics garage in Yuma have calmed down now and will not clip through their poles.
Star-that-Dreams will no longer lurch around when the player talks to them.
Scar collectors were a little too quiet in their compound in Yuma.
Fixed an issue that caused Prasad’s fixing sound effects to persist even after she left.
Cleaned up the Radio lighting on the world map.
Fixed various weather issues in Downtown Colorado Springs.
Cleaned up the Fog of War in the Airport Commune to prevent players from seeing behind the curtains...
When using Precision Strike weapons to kill an enemy, the proper “blown off limb” animation will now play. Hooray!
Raised up the lights in front of Manifest Destiny so characters won’t clip into the vehicle.
Fixed the lighting inside the Playground area of the Warrens.
Fixed the lighting inside the Old Survivalist Bunker.
Fixed the positioning of one of the Suncatchers in Garden of the Gods.
Fixed a broken texture in the Bizarre.
Fixed an issue with Flab’s Radio call not being heard when the player leaves the Bizarre.
Scotchmo’s oral thrush is under control, and his tongue is no longer white.
Melee fist combat impacts on human NPCs now have sounds, just like in the movies. PHOOSH!
We can hear your fear. The Fear status effect now has a sound.
Fixed an issue where Morningstar would be the only speaking companion on the world map.
Fixed one of the Scar Collector explosion animations to now display correctly.
Reagan AI has learned more animations. It’s a neural net processor, a learning computer.
Fixed an issue where the audio was missing when the player clicked on the ground to move the squad.
Fixed the lighting in the final combat encounter.
Fixed some overlapping VO between General Woodson and Corporal Gonzales in Ranger HQ.
Fixed an issue where Vic’s beard and eyebrows could appear duplicated and not set on his face right.
Fixed an issue where a second explosion sound could be heard every time the player entered the Airport Commune and Santa’s Workshop.
Healing using a Medic Pack should no longer play the heal sound effect multiple times.
The robot arms in the Department of Energy’s Scorpitron room now have sound.
Fixed the lighting in the Department of Energy near the Scorpitron.
Luck bonuses now play a sound effect when they trigger.
Shooting a Synth now has a satisfying impact sound.
Healing from an Antidote will now play a more appropriate sound effect.
Fixed the Kodiak character portrait so it no longer shows up as a black rectangle.
Animation improvements and polish for Drools. (Fun fact: ‘The Polish Drools’ was the name of our first synthpop band back in the 80’s.)
Bomb Hoppers have their SFX working now.
Adjusted the alignment and animations on the Main Menu selections.
Removed ‘Land of Confusion’ from playing in the shuttle in Airport Commune.
‘America the Beautiful’ no longer plays outside of combat.
Wind effects should now properly be seen during the Ambush Site level.
Fixed the UI Contrast levels of non-highlighted Main Menu options.
Fixed various weapon models during character previews in the inventory screen.
Fixed a bug where character animations would freeze up if the player clicked too rapidly.
[Windows Store] Fixed an issue where tattoos were not properly showing up on tattooed faces.

Misc.

Auto detecting graphics settings now takes resolution into account when determining the recommended display settings.
Improvements have been made for 21:9 display resolutions.
Fixed an issue with save games in Yuma County Speedway taking an abnormally long time to load.
Found and squashed instances of infinite load times that could occur when transitioning from Ranger HQ as well as from other specific maps.
The Marshals’ Law pistol no longer says revolver under it.
The idle frequency for the Golden Toaster companion has been reduced. Also, the game now ensures that idling stops for endgame and conversation states.
Improvements have been made in regards to the pacing of the epilogue.
The game now displays an item’s level inside the tooltip (weapons and armor).
The toaster altar display name has been localized.
Fixed localization of the word “Any” in Polish.
Improvements have been made to player companions’ animation rotation speeds.
Changed out a certain Ranger’s coffee from decaf to fully caffeinated. This individual should no longer repeat the very things they just said.
Right clicking on the radio allows players to interact with movement on the world map.
Fixed an issue that caused background text to stretch across the screen.
Removed the Debug Crates from the Gas Mask Kids scene.
Fixed an issue that would cause the game to stay in windowed mode if it was swapped to fullscreen mode on a non-supported resolution.
The game should now properly launch in fullscreen mode, as selected.
Changed the save game naming clickable area to make it easier to click on.
Starting a new game and immediately returning to the main menu no longer displays letterboxing permanently.
Fixed an issue that caused the chat log to remain permanently stuck on the screen.
[Windows Store] Found some placeholder text in the Main Menu. Removed it.