Bard's Tale The Bard's Tale IV Pre-Release Thread [RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[V_K]

99 berserkers in a wardrobe

It's a closet actually.

 

[Zombra]

scripted combats only

What the heck does that mean, "scripted". They're enemies who aren't randomly spawned. Some of them are supposed to patrol around corridors and stuff. "Scripted" makes it sound like they're cinematic cutscenes that only happen at linear narrative beats.

I simply meant hand placed enemies only, no random encounters, and probably no respawning, like in Wasteland 2's area maps. No reference to cutscenes was intended or implied, though honestly what we've seen has had a "cutscene-y" vibe, likely due to the nature of demonstrations. If there's a different single word I should have used instead of "scripted" for all this, please let me know :D

 

[Iznaliu]

If there's a different single word I should have used instead of "scripted" for all this, please let me know :D

Maybe "non-random" would have worked, though that sounds a bit clunky.

 

[Infinitron]

Guess I'm the only person getting updates for this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/the-bards-tale-iv/posts/2059588

Update 39: Puzzle Weapons, Backer Portal, and a Vote!

TL;DR - Puzzle Weapons, Backer Portal Reopens, Contest Winner, Backer Rewards Update, Crowdfunding Corner

Greetings, citizens of Caith! David Rogers here with another update for you. Today I'd like to talk about puzzle weapons in The Bard's Tale IV, one of our features that we teased during the Kickstarter campaign that is now beginning to take shape. What are puzzle weapons exactly, and how will they work? That's what I'm here to talk about today, so let's dive in!

The Hidden Power of Puzzle Weapons
Puzzle weapons are our spin on magic weapons in the world of The Bard’s Tale, and part of the Enhanced Crafting System stretch goal that you helped achieve. We want the sense of discovery to begin anew when you loot a magic weapon, rather than end as soon as you look at the tooltip. If you think back to the Kickstarter, you might remember this concept video:

We used that mockup to explore several core concepts about puzzle weapons that really enchanted us. We loved the idea that a weapon could hold dormant power, and that you could be holding onto one of these weapons for hours or days without realizing exactly how powerful the weapon truly was. We loved the idea that not every part of the weapon was fully obvious, and that you might have to poke around to find how to unlock the next step. We also liked the idea that your weapon would transform in some way when its true power was finally unlocked. These are all core tenets we held onto when designing the full puzzle weapon system for The Bards Tale IV.


A Puzzle Weapon in full 3D glory (click for a larger version).


This is what a puzzle weapon looks like now. Puzzle weapons were crafted by the elves in ages past, and left in the realm of men. They’re infused with powerful magic that can only be unlocked by the worthy. When the player finds them, their true power lays dormant. To unleash that power and allow it to flow fully through the weapon, you must manipulate and examine the item in 3D. Components of the weapon may be missing, puzzles might be scrambled, and riddles are most definitely accounted for.

Behind the scenes, puzzle weapons are generated from a large set of components, and found as high-tier loot as you adventure through the world. For example, a puzzle mace is constructed from a pommel, grip, collar, and bludgeon head. Each part features its own type of puzzle, and each puzzle has multiple variations and difficulties. The higher quality the item, the more ways to unlock its power you might find. The difficulty of the puzzles are based on your progress in the game, and how many other puzzle weapons you've previously solved.


The anatomy of a Puzzle Weapon (click for a larger version).


In addition to self-contained puzzles that see you manipulating components on the item, there are also puzzles that interact with other elements of gameplay. Some puzzle weapons have you scouring merchants for magic gems for your weapon; others having you seeking out ancient shrines; while others still have you seeking to defeat specific enemies to feed the weapon with their blood; all the while you’re looking for hidden buttons, secret compartments, and manipulating small elements.

An In-Depth Look at Puzzle Weapon Mechanics
Let's go through an example. You've just found an Elven Mace with an empty power gem slot, and a set of interlocking rings around it. Rotate those rings the right way, and you'll spell out a riddle written in Elven language. The verse might read something as obvious as “As pure as snow and bright as moon, thy shining light is evil's doom.” - but many may be more cryptic.

Using the riddle, you'll determine which of the five differently colored Elven Seed Gems need to be inserted. Of course, finding one might require you to explore the world, barter with a merchant, or defeat a powerful enemy guarding it.

Elven Seed Gems are rare, but can sometimes be found on enemies or when trading with merchants
With the correct Elven Seed Gem inserted into the pommel, the weapon now has its power source, and begins glowing with magic! So what happens next?

Each time you solve a component on a puzzle weapon, that weapon earns a boon. Boons are special effects that come in multiple strengths, and can evolve as you continue to unlock your weapon's powers. One boon category is the Elder boon, which has three strengths: Elder, Of Ancient Slumber, and Ancestral. Your elven mace may become an Elder Elven Mace, meaning that its ability gains damage every single turn. Solve another component, and it becomes an Elven Mace of Ancient Slumber, which means that the first time it’s used in combat, it’s awoken, and deals a massive amount of bonus damage. Fully unlocking the weapon's true power could turn your mace into an Ancestral Elven Mace, which would cause this weapon to accumulate a large amount of bonus damage each turn it goes unused. And just to drive the point home, when you achieve the final tier of boon, the weapon visibly transforms to indicate that its magic is fully realized.


An unsolved Puzzle Weapon sword along with its completed counterpart (click for a larger version).


But don’t get too eager buying up every Seed Gem you see and haphazardly jamming ithem into your puzzle weapons. The elves are strict folk and demand perfection. When answering riddles on your puzzle weapons, incorrect answers are punished with a curse. Curses are negative effects that apply to attacks made by that weapon. Similar to boons, they start out light, but as you answer question incorrectly time and time again, the curse grows in severity. One of our curse categories is Decaying, which has three tiers of severity: Dull, Chipped, and Rust-Pocked. The first time you fail a riddle, your Elven Mace may become a Dull Elven Mace and suffer from a slight reduction in damage. Not so bad, even with the damage reduction it may still be the best weapon you have available. If you fail a riddle a second time, it becomes a Chipped Elven Mace instead. Now, instead of being dull, it has a % chance to be unusable for the rest of the fight after a single attack. If you continue to insist on guessing at the solution to the riddle, it finally becomes a Rust-Pocked Elven Mace, which imparts a much harsher curse: you’re only ever able to activate this weapon’s ability once per combat. Curses aren’t designed to make you throw away the weapon outright, but we do want you to think twice about trying to brute-force your way to a solution. There may be a way to remove curses in game, but don't expect it to be cheap or readily available.

A Puzzle Weapon staff in its final form
Both boons and curses influence how you use your weapon in combat, or how you might build a character. For example, a Rust-Pocked Ancestral Elven Dagger would lead to a boss-obliterating rogue build where you wait 5 or 6 turns to accrue an insane amount of bonus damage before using other strength-amplifying abilities to land a walloping final blow. Unlocking the true power of a puzzle weapon is a quest in its own right, and one well worth the effort if you ever hope to save the world of Caith.

A work-in-progress shot of one of our puzzle components: the grip maze
Your Chance to Help Shape Our Next Update
With the game moving along in development, we'll be previewing character classes in our coming Kickstarter updates. Each of our character classes are found under one of four archetypes - Fighter, Practitioner, Rogue, and Bard. Classes are specialization lines within an archetype, and each archetype has between 4-6 classes. For example, if you'd like to play a Commander, you'd find them under the Fighter archetype. If you wanted to create a Sorcerer, you would find them under the Practitioner archetype. We couldn't quite decide on which class to preview first, so we decided to ask for your help! Vote on which archetype you'd liketo see a preview from, and we'll choose a class to highlight in a future update. We will have more to say on the archetypes and all the classes moving forward and the game moves closer to release.





Thanks for reading,
David Rogers
Creative Director

A Portal Appears!
Hi everyone, Paul here with some long awaited news: the Backer Portal is live once again! As you may have seen in a previous update, we've been moving our backer data from our own web site to CrowdOx, which we've also used on Wasteland 3 with great results.




We'll be sending out emails to everyone soon, but you can get a head-start by visiting CrowdOx and entering the email address you used on Kickstarter. CrowdOx will then send you a link that you can use to confirm your backer info and rewards. Once you receive the email and click on the link provided, you will be brought to a survey page that will walk you through the pledge confirmation process. After you have confirmed your pledge, you will be able to access currently available awards, and see which ones you'll be receiving at a future date. Be sure to double-check to ensure details were imported correctly! This is also a great opportunity to update your shipping address if you had a reward level with physical goods included. If you have any problem with this process, you can write us via the support contact info listed on the page or at our Help Center.

In addition, this means that pledge upgrades, add-ons, and late backer pledging are once again available. If you were waiting on a particular reward level or add-on, or you had a friend who was waiting on backing the game, now's the time! Help us spread the word!

• When doing your backer survey for CrowdOx, there won't be a choice for Steam or GOG code for your copy of The Bard's Tale IV. That option will become available close to the game's release.
• Once you've completed and submitted your backer survey for CrowdOx, you will be sent another email with links to any unclaimed rewards (such as game codes). The email won't necessarily go out right away, so give it a few minutes to show up and be sure to check your spam folder, too.
• If you have a problem with any part of this process or your pledge in general, you can reach out to us for help.
• The permanent link for the backer site is: https://app.crowdox.com/projects/inxile/the-bards-tale-iv

Backer Rewards Update
In our previous update, inXile's own Greg Underwood confessed to initially pirating the original Bard's Tale before finally purchasing it. Fortunately, having Brian Fargo for a boss meant that he was able to deliver his apology in person, who absolved him of his past transgressions with this very special certificate:

The Certificate of Absolution

Brian signing the very first certificate for Greg


Of course, many of our Kickstarter backers also asked to be forgiven, and we didn't want to keep Brian's blessing a Greg-exclusive reward. So, if you are one of our lucky backers who had the Guilt Absolution reward, you will now be able to find a high-res, printable version of this Certificate of Absolution by visiting CrowdOx and completing your backer survey!

Our Second Contest Winner!
Thanks to everyone who participated in our second "Write an Item Description" contest. We're pleased to announce that the winner of our drawing is... *drumroll*

...George Hope! George, drop us a private message on Kickstarter, and we'll get the process going! Thanks to all of you who participated! Remember - this second contest only happened because of how enthusiastic you have been about the game! We appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding Corner
Our suggestion for today's update is the quirky sci-fi adventure Obelus, where you play "an interplanetary insurance salesman, travelling and fighting aggressive fauna across the galaxy with no one but your trusty corporation approved mech AI for company." It's such a strange hook for a game, especially one that describes itself as an arcade combat sidescroller. With that narrative hook and some great looking pixel art design, we couldn't help but be intrigued. See for yourself!




That's it for now! You'll hear from us again later this month for our holiday well-wishes and a look forward to the future! In the meanwhile, remember to vote in the poll for our next update, and leave your comments below to let us know which archetype should win and which character class you hope to see revealed!

Until next update,
Paul Marzagalli
Public Relations & Community Manager
@phimseto

Follow Us:
Facebook | Twitter

 

[Gregz]

Itemization was a bit sparse in The Bard's Tale, but I'm not sure this is the best solution, especially when you can just google the answer to the puzzle. I'd prefer runewords or some other powerful weapons than you can grind for. Maybe if you've collected all runes but one, that could be available, but expensive, at Garth's to complete the runeword.

Who am I kidding, it's not like they're going to redesign things after reading this post.

 

[King Crispy]

As long as it's not some jumping puzzle then I'm okay with it.

 

[theSavant]

Damn expectations... after the last couple of boring updates I expected some breaking update with new ingame footage or so... - Instead: Puzzle Weapons



Oh well... I must learn to keep my expectations down. At least inXile stays down-to-earth... unlike some infamous Star Citizen game which keeps pushing expectations higher and higher (if inXile pulled the same trick, I'd probably be fantasizing all over my "expectations" and milked like a tard).

On the bright side these puzzle weapons make sense and I can see how they contribute to the game.

 

[Zombra]

Having just played and enjoyed The Room, I can say that I like this kind of thing. I like what I'm reading about the classes also - it sounds like a decent amount of thought is going into differentiating them so they'll all be interesting. Maybe it's just the surge of good weather here, but this update gave me a surge of fabulous optimism about BT4.

 

[grimace]

Guess I'm the only person getting updates for this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/the-bards-tale-iv/posts/2059588

I got the update.


https://youtu be/QK3B_w3ojdM

The puzzle weapon video was published on Sep 8, 2016 and included in this update again.

 

[Iznaliu]

Oh well... I must learn to keep my expectations down

InXile and Brian Fargo are experts at keeping expectations high but the reality disappointing; you should know that by now.

 

[TT1]

I think I've never been with expectations so low and so discouraged with a game that I'm backer

 

[Shackleton]

Have they released any information on the save system yet? When the update talks about trying to discourage 'brute force' attempts on the puzzles, the elephant in the room is surely the save system. I find it hard to believe that InXile are going to be hardcore enough to go with an ironman save system in a blobber, (it *is* still a blobber, right?), but any other save system would make puzzle weapons almost a chore rather than a challenge.

It's interesting a previous post mentions Star Citizen, I find myself thinking more and more these updates are like SC ones. It's time to start showing something other than ideas and concepts, or that ancient scripted demo. How far away is early Alpha? Is there even a game at all yet?

 

[Zombra]

Have they released any information on the save system yet? When the update talks about trying to discourage 'brute force' attempts on the puzzles, the elephant in the room is surely the save system. I find it hard to believe that InXile are going to be hardcore enough to go with an ironman save system in a blobber, (it *is* still a blobber, right?), but any other save system would make puzzle weapons almost a chore rather than a challenge.

I don't like permissive save systems either, but this seems like a strange time to bring it up. How many puzzle/adventure games have you played where it's "pass/fail", and once you fail a puzzle you can never try it again?

 

[Renevent]

Right, and a restrictive save system isn't the only way to stop brute forcing a puzzle solution. Another way is having enough variables/states where guessing/brute forcing the solution would be impossible. If someone wants to lookup the solution online that's on them.

 

[Shackleton]

Have they released any information on the save system yet? When the update talks about trying to discourage 'brute force' attempts on the puzzles, the elephant in the room is surely the save system. I find it hard to believe that InXile are going to be hardcore enough to go with an ironman save system in a blobber, (it *is* still a blobber, right?), but any other save system would make puzzle weapons almost a chore rather than a challenge.

I don't like permissive save systems either, but this seems like a strange time to bring it up. How many puzzle/adventure games have you played where it's "pass/fail", and once you fail a puzzle you can never try it again?

From the update:

Guess I'm the only person getting updates for this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/the-bards-tale-iv/posts/2059588

But don’t get too eager buying up every Seed Gem you see and haphazardly jamming ithem into your puzzle weapons. The elves are strict folk and demand perfection. When answering riddles on your puzzle weapons, incorrect answers are punished with a curse. Curses are negative effects that apply to attacks made by that weapon. Similar to boons, they start out light, but as you answer question incorrectly time and time again, the curse grows in severity. One of our curse categories is Decaying, which has three tiers of severity: Dull, Chipped, and Rust-Pocked. The first time you fail a riddle, your Elven Mace may become a Dull Elven Mace and suffer from a slight reduction in damage. Not so bad, even with the damage reduction it may still be the best weapon you have available. If you fail a riddle a second time, it becomes a Chipped Elven Mace instead. Now, instead of being dull, it has a % chance to be unusable for the rest of the fight after a single attack. If you continue to insist on guessing at the solution to the riddle, it finally becomes a Rust-Pocked Elven Mace, which imparts a much harsher curse: you’re only ever able to activate this weapon’s ability once per combat. Curses aren’t designed to make you throw away the weapon outright, but we do want you to think twice about trying to brute-force your way to a solution. There may be a way to remove curses in game, but don't expect it to be cheap or readily available.

So are they realistically expecting people to essentially ruin their weapon if they answer a puzzle or riddle wrong? Come on, we all know that the first thing 99% of people will do if the weapon is 'cursed' because they got it wrong is reload a save prior to the guess.

I'm sure some hardcore masochists will be happy to wave goodbye to a potentially endgame weapon because they can't spell or they clicked the wrong gem, but if the save system permits a reload then programming curses on items is pretty much going to be wasted effort. Might as well make it 'rotate the weapon to find the memory point' like in that terrible Middle earth game. Don't get me wrong, I think this is potentially one of the better systems they've unveiled for BT4, but the save system could neuter it before it's had chance to shine.

 

[undecaf]

Come on, we all know that the first thing 99% of people will do if the weapon is 'cursed' because they got it wrong is reload a save prior to the guess.

Powergamers will powergame. Anyway, they should come up with something interesting you can do with a 'cursed' item or the 'curse' itself that might disincentivize reloading (removing curses sounds like one already, if it's a quest). Doesn't need to be anything major either but just something of little intrigue (like intentially 'cursing' a weapon and then cheating it to someone elses possession for an effect; using the 'curse' to solve another puzzle or even win a certain fight; or there might be a 'curse vendor' who'll trade cursed items into something else unusual, what ever), as those who can't resist it reload anyway.

 

[Zombra]

Oooh, I didn't read the part about curses. Thanks Shackleton! Time for me to 180°. Some kind of rolling autosave on those sections, or maybe the interface takes a long time to start up, or something to discourage quickloading and brute forcing would indeed be a good idea. "You lose, press this button to win instead" is never good design.

 

[theSavant]

True. They better remove this thing with the curses and replace it with something like: traps in Wizardry... when you disarm the wrong way, your party is punished with a temporary curse, poison, or whatever. These effects can be annoying but are not necessarily a reason for reloading a savegame. And it makes you act more carefully.
A (lasting) degradation of the weapon however will always make you reload.

 

[Zombra]

inXile officially don't care about having an actual design for the save system:

Regarding Puzzle Weapons and peoples' concerns about their difficulty, it's the same with any other game and any other feature. If you want to look at a FAQ or "save scum" your way to the best Puzzle Weapon possible, go right ahead. Engage the game in a way that works for you. The challenge and possible consequences are there for those players who want it. It's as much a roleplaying feature as anything else - an imperfect puzzle weapon reflects a player's unique journey through the game.

 

[Shackleton]

inXile officially don't care about having an actual design for the save system:

Regarding Puzzle Weapons and peoples' concerns about their difficulty, it's the same with any other game and any other feature. If you want to look at a FAQ or "save scum" your way to the best Puzzle Weapon possible, go right ahead. Engage the game in a way that works for you. The challenge and possible consequences are there for those players who want it. It's as much a roleplaying feature as anything else - an imperfect puzzle weapon reflects a player's unique journey through the game.

 

[Jimmious]

Placing random scenery behind some famous quote is internet cancer
- Jimmious

 

[Shackleton]

Placing random scenery behind some famous quote is internet cancer
- Jimmious

Yeah, I didn't exactly look too hard once I'd typed in the quote tbh. This was one of the ones that actually had a readable font.

The more I think on it, the more I think InXile should have one of those tacky 'motivational' posters somewhere on their wall with this on it though. They're making a blobber that they want to appeal to people who don't like blobbers, and yet if they completely turn off those of us who do, they might well be left with a game that appeals to neither camp.

Which is of course assuming it ever gets made and doesn't go all 'The Mandate' on us.

 

[undecaf]

inXile officially don't care about having an actual design for the save system:

Regarding Puzzle Weapons and peoples' concerns about their difficulty, it's the same with any other game and any other feature. If you want to look at a FAQ or "save scum" your way to the best Puzzle Weapon possible, go right ahead. Engage the game in a way that works for you. The challenge and possible consequences are there for those players who want it. It's as much a roleplaying feature as anything else - an imperfect puzzle weapon reflects a player's unique journey through the game.

That's good news as far as I'm concerned. Let the scummers scum to their hearts content and let the rest of us play the game the way it goes. It's - admittedly - a bit of a lost opportunity if it's just blunt like that (that there likely aren't even any in-game mechanisms to discourage save/load), but at least they aren't scrapping potentially good ideas because someone might reload a few times to bulldoze the 'bestest' outcome (and then feel bad about it).

 

[theSavant]

I hope they give us that much "choice" also for distributing skillpoints... and not skill a character in a very narrow and predefined path.

 

[Infinitron]