They got 1% of the needed sum within an hour of the Kickstarter's launch, when most of the US is asleep and before they got any major coverage. Looks pretty optimistic so far.
In the unpatched Fallout, the mutant army would indeed overrun various towns over time, and there was a time limit before they took over Vault 13 as well. The water chip limit was never removed.
One remnant of this is Patrick the Celt's dialogue. He still mentions the various towns as...
Like I said in the official forum, I don't mind the extra skill and weapon if they're not something game-breaking but e.g. a largely useless skill like toaster repair added for nostalgia factor.
Well, I guess they could always bring back a few other people like Bill Dugan or Liz Danforth, but the principal members of the team are now on board.
Update: Looks like Brian did ask Liz Danforth to come on board, but she's still considering it.
Well, myself, I didn't mind BOMB-1 in Van Buren either, I think it did fit the setting, unlike e.g. Mothership Zeta. And yeah, I am aware that Wasteland is not Fallout.
The original Wasteland had mostly fictional variants of real-world weapons, like AK-97, VP91Z and M1989A1 instead of AK-47, VP70Z or M16, so I'd like them to keep it that way too.