inXile Entertainment’s Wasteland 3 is widely considered one of the best turn-based RPGs in recent years, but it’s not without its problems. Since the game launched in late August, players have reported a number of bugs and performance issues that have been getting in the way of them enjoying the game’s deep role-playing experience. Luckily, inXile has dropped a new patch that addresses several of the worst offenders.
Patch 1.1.2 is now live to download on Steam and GOG, with console versions set to go live early next week “following their certification release process.” This update brings with it one of the most highly-requested changes to the game: reduced load times. inXile says it has effectively rewritten how Wasteland 3 loads levels, and the result is that loading times have been reduced by up to 25% on console and 60% on PC.
Other key fixes address the major bugs that have plagued Wasteland 3’s co-op, along with several progression-block issues that have been found in Yuma County Speedway. Rounding things off is a number of other gameplay fixes, which can all be found in the full patch notes for 1.1.2 below:
Highlights
- Do you hate long load times? We hate long load times. Our engineers changed how the game loads levels, reducing load times by up to 60% on PC and 25% on console (As one example, on our PC test hardware a 38 second load time was reduced to 13 seconds).
- Fixed an issue where combat could become unresponsive with use of the Chain Ambush Perk for sniper rifles.
- Resolved several progression blocking issues in Yuma County Speedway.
- Enemies are now much less invisible after use of Precision Strike.
Performance & Stability
- Significantly changed how levels load, resulting in up to 60% faster load speeds across the game on PC, and on average 25% faster for consoles. Note: your hardware, save data, and which level you’re loading into can all impact load times. Your mileage may of course vary (As part of this change, auto-saves will no longer occur as a part of the level load, and instead happen concurrently. This can lead to situations where you’ve loaded into the next scene but an auto-save is still in-progress. Don’t close the game while the Ranger star is spinning).
- Major Prasad will no longer crash your game if you exit while she’s still talking.
- Additional stability and performance improvements for consoles that were too technical for the person writing these patch notes to understand and explain easily. It’s good stuff though. All good stuff (We’ll be continuing to target and resolve specific stability issues as necessary).
Co-op
- Players can no longer attack companions that are in the process of being recruited by the other player, in case your partner likes to troll.
- Fixed an issue where the Guest client could become unresponsive when talking with Hope Emerson and choosing to side with Del Hackett and her people.
- Improved stability while in the Hire Companion screen.
- Players can now use the keyboard in the lobby screen to choose game type, options, invite player, and ready up.
- Enabled UI Narration in the Direct Connection interface and for multiplayer game messages sent through chat.
- Fixed an issue with voice chat text-to-speech and speech-to-text.
- [Microsoft Store] Resolved an issue where guests couldn’t rejoin a lobby they’d just left.
Quests & Gameplay
- Resolved an issue where quirks could become unselectable during character creation.
- Fixed a potential blocker with Medical Marvel not allowing revival without use of a Nitro Spike.
- Resolved a rare issue that would block you from speaking to a companion.
- The door in Yuma County Speedway leading to Liberty is now unbreakable as intended.
Misc.
- Fixed minor graphical issue with the radio.
- Some cinematic characters have been given microdermabrasion treatments and now have better looking skin.
- Skill levels for recruitable characters now display properly in all cases.
- Mission status should no longer display incorrectly after quest completion or updates.
- Resolved issue where the spinning Ranger Star would permanently stay on screen after saving the game.
Besides detailing the update’s fixes, inXile took the opportunity to thank players for the feedback they’ve provided so far, and stressed that it’s planning on continuing to improve the game alongside other projects like the new inXile RPG it recently confirmed it’s working on. “It's been heartening to see so many of you looking to help us continue to improve the experience,” it wrote on its website, “and we're dedicated to doing just that for the foreseeable future.”
Wasteland 3 is available for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: inXile Entertainment