Bard's Tale The Bard's Tale Trilogy - remaster by Krome Studios

[Hobo Elf]

Wow they really upped their game with the art and graphics in this entry. Really impressed by how good it looks.

 

[newtmonkey]

Looks great!!

 

[felipepepe]

I can't this repeat enough: they NEED to do a Gold Box remake after this.

 

[octavius]

I can't this repeat enough: they NEED to do a Gold Box remake after this.

Not if it's just a cosmetic one.
But I would like to see remakes with better AI and more skills and diverse items. Basically most of the things the IE games brought to the formula except the RTwP and romances.

 

[felipepepe]

A cosmetic remake on Steam with quality-of-life improvements like tooltips would already be a HUGE improvement and help more people experience those games. Let modders deal with vastly different upgrades.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Looking better than BT4, I see

quoted x 1000 because it's true


fuck your 4 classes weak ass bitch game, I'm gonna play the remasters until you've fulfilled your kickstarter promises (lol)

I'll be laughing my ass off if the remasters end up more successful than BT4.

Or have they done that already?

 

[Themadcow]

The Gold Box games very much could use a cosmetic makeover. The combat is ageless brilliance and a latter entry like Pools of Darkness would be superb in that BT remaster style. They might want to errrr "update" shit like mutliclassing and non-human restrictions though.

 

[Morkar Left]

Is it out yet?

 

[mondblut]

Looking better than BT4, I see

quoted x 1000 because it's true


fuck your 4 classes weak ass bitch game, I'm gonna play the remasters until you've fulfilled your kickstarter promises (lol)

Well, if not for BT4, we'd never have remaster, so I guess it's good for something.

I'd gladly have a Fallout 4 for any beloved franchise if it means the older entries get the Trilogy treatment. Hooray for the marketing for once.

 

[Sacred82]

Looking better than BT4, I see

quoted x 1000 because it's true


fuck your 4 classes weak ass bitch game, I'm gonna play the remasters until you've fulfilled your kickstarter promises (lol)

Well, if not for BT4, we'd never have remaster, so I guess it's good for something.

True, they just misnamed the kickstarter.



"In other news, we have convinced Burger Becky to whip up a BTIV in her spare time."

That would make the loading times more acceptable anyways

 

[mondblut]

I can't this repeat enough: they NEED to do a Gold Box remake after this.

Well, that's debatable. Unlike Bard's Tale, the goldboxes (with the possible exception of Pool of Radiance) have aged extremely well. Even EGA era graphics are good for what it is, and UI and quality of life are not an abomination the BT were.

I wish Ubisoft had a clue and did a remaster of Might&Magic 1 to market MMX.

 

[mondblut]

tooltips

What? What purpose would tooltips have in a goldbox game? "this button saves your game"?

help more people experience those games.

So they would demand fixed protagonist, romances and inclusion of a panromantic transmeztizo? No, fuck these losers.

 

[BEvers]

Playing through Curse of the Azure Bonds for the first time right now, don't see any need for a remaster.

Where do you want tooltips?

 

[ProphetSword]

The Gold Box games updated to include:

* Modern OS support
* Widescreen displays
* Built in Journal Entries
* Slightly updated graphics
* Quality of life fixes

...would be amazing. Anything beyond that (such as monkeying with the AD&D rules) would not be welcome.

But, in the meantime, I can’t wait to get started on BT2.

 

[Strange Fellow]

This discussion reminds me of a question I have about the FRUA version of Pool of Radiance. Can characters be imported from it to CotAB? Because I'd pay for a remaster that adds the extra classes, the Fix command, the improved backstab mechanic, and the font colour change to indicate a character is ready for a level up, and then let me play through the whole series after. There's also a handful of character import-related bugs, IIRC.

Playing through Curse of the Azure Bonds for the first time right now, don't see any need for a remaster.

Where do you want tooltips?

As mondblut says, it's mostly the first game that would benefit. An improved inventory/shopping interface would be nice, though.

 

[mondblut]

This discussion reminds me of a question I have about the FRUA version of Pool of Radiance. Can characters be imported from it to CotAB?

Nope. They can be probably imported to FRUA version of CotAB, if one exists (it might be, I haven't been paying attention for a decade), but that's as far as it gets. But I am pretty sure nobody in his right mind would attempt remaking Pools of Darkness for FRUA, because what's the point?

Regardless, Hasbro is not interested in going back to 2e (because that would remind us all how incompetent was the handling of D&D for the past 10 or 20 (YMMV) years), and the Forgotten Realms itself was ruined beyond salvation by the 4e spellfague shit and pretty much abandoned come 5e. Even if somebody would volunteer to remake just one of the goldbox subseries completely free of charge, I doubt any suits would agree to it because muh brand identity an' sheet. Do we even see any new D&D game on the horizon? Nah. Some mobile Drizztville on facebook would be a crown of their ambition nowadays.

 

[ProphetSword]

Curse of the Azure Bonds does exist for FRUA, and you can transfer your characters (you can transfer characters from any FRUA module to another in general).

 

[Infinitron]

I can't this repeat enough: they NEED to do a Gold Box remake after this.

They're doing Wasteland first (and I think you agree it needs this at least as much)

 

[Mortmal]

Playing through Curse of the Azure Bonds for the first time right now, don't see any need for a remaster.

Where do you want tooltips?

There's a need of a few quality of life improvement, auto prepare spells at rest, wide screen support, bigger fonts too. Graphical revamp like they did for BT1 is a good idea too. Gameplay is still pristine , my old eyes aren't. I'd buy more goldbox games, they have the means to do that , probably less costly than BT4. Why dont inxile do more low budget stuff like that .

 

[Infinitron]

It's out kids! https://steamcommunity.com/games/843260/announcements/detail/1699439264749269718

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight Released
24 OCTOBER - LINDS

InXile Entertainment and Krome Studios are pleased to announce that Volume II - The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight - has been released for The Bard's Tale Trilogy.

To ensure that you have the latest update to the game with Volume II unlocked, please close and relaunch Steam, to add the download to your queue.

To try to cover some of the questions that people may have, on changes that have been made to The Destiny Knight for the remaster, we've compiled a short list of the major items below, along with general fix notes for across both games. We have blacked out some very heavy spoilers, so if you want to go into the game spoiler-free, please do not highlight the blacked out text.

Destiny Knight Changes

• Destiny Knight's mechanics have been tweaked to make .
  
• BT2 monsters use some art from BT1, if the image matches the monster better.
  
• Names of duplicate monsters (archer,archer,archer) now have unique names so players can learn them (Appentice Archer, Adept Archer, Master Archer).
  
• You now have to learn how to use .
  
• Additional sage questions have been added to the game.
  
• Destiny Knight text is now in your character sheet (in blue).
  
• Bards carrying over from BT1 will retain BT1 songs, but can learn the new BT2 songs from the Scarlet Bard. Bard characters created in BT2 will know BT2 songs but can learn BT1 songs from Scarlet Bard.
  
• The Dreamspell is now .
  
• All Magician, Conjurer, Sorcerer, Wizard and Archmage spells from BT1, BT2 and BT3 are now usable in BT2.
  
• The wilderness map no longer wraps like in the original. This was changed so that we could implement a decorated height-mapped wilderness, with seamless map transitions.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Rhyme of Duotime now gives a toHit melee bonus as well as its other benefits.
  
• Snare tweak: .
  
• Snare tweak:
  
• Snare tweak: .
  
• Snare tweak:

Spoiler

Improvements, Bug Fixes and The Bard's Tale I Changes

CRITICAL GAME CHANGES

• Added a third dice to the character creation dice roll.

AUDIO

• Added audio for when traps disarm.
  
• Added Dork Ring sound.
  
• Add rooster crow for when dawn breaks, or when exiting the guild in the morning.
  
• Added a fizzle sound effect.
  
• Added save game sound effect.
  
• Add audio cue to when AwardItem forces us to drop an item.

THE BARD'S TALE I

• Added a casino to Skara Brae in Bard's Tale I to add ability to generate funds, and a bank in which to store your winnings.
  
• Gave Ogre Magi some magic.
  
• Add a new tip about spell casters identifying enemy spells.
  
• Dwarf King and Blue Dragon are a bit tougher to make Harkyn's Castle a bit more of a challenge.
  
• Mangar and Mad God now cast Disrupt Illusion at start of combat to protect against Mage Maelstrom and wind dragon.
  
• Setup random possession event in Mangar's tower.
  
• Added ability for changing walls and doors of a square - used this to make the "Something not right" area in Harkyns actually do something.
  
• Add some encounters with explicit spawn ranges to BT1, makes 396 berzerker balanced more like the original, makes Mangar battle tougher.
  
• All Magician, Conjurer, Sorcerer and Wizard spells from BT1, BT2 and BT3 are now usable in BT1.
  
• Removed some grind spots from Catacombs - this is for balancing the game in non-Legacy mode - grind spots will be retained in Legacy mode.

GAMEPLAY

• Antimagic now clears magical light, not music or lamp/torch light.
  
• Monsters only summon if there is a free spot.
  
• Fix dopplegangler was duplicating 1 spellpoint for non spellcasts due to some last minute drain level support.
  
• Change message in garths to just "Unidentified <itemType>".
  
• Monsters won't cast an already active buff spell again if it doesn't stack.
  
• Increased strength of freeze foes since it doesn't stack.
  
• Increased starter gold rate, reduced later gold rates.
  
• Fix antimagic - it was removing the smoke-in-your-eyes effect.
  
• Fix SkipTurn on monsters - Magestar and HypnoticImage were lasting forever!
  
• Add new instruments so people aren't stuck with HORNS for the entire game.
  
• Increase personal inventory size so that you can equip all item types at once - will enlarge inventories as it loads them.
  
• Added ability to stack arrows.
  
• Sped up spell regen and health drain squares.
  
• Rogues now auto-disarm traps if they have 100% skill.
  
• Doing a phase door now reports if it fizzles.
  
• Guild only resets to morning if you enter it at night now.
  
• SCSI spell now works in anti-magic zones.
  
• Add support for random possession squares.
  
• Remove shop recharge exploit - items that don't have full charges won't stay in the shop when you exit it.
  
• Cat's eye now detects hidden doors.
  
• Fix AI monsters no longer attack things out of range.
  
• Allow light spells to stack.
  
• Thieves temple no longer charges for rogues.
  
• Revamped item slot system. Shield, Wand, Bow and Misc items now use an Off-Hand item slot, while the weapons use Weapon-Hand item slot. This makes for a more intuitive equip system. Characters can choose to use shield, or throwable items, or a wand or a bow.
  
• All equipped items can now contribute to toHit bonus. toHit bonuses have been added to some items, as well as a few new items have been added to the game specifically to allow players to optimise for toHit if they want, usually at a sacrifice of AC. (eg useful for ).
  
• Increased monk toHit per level.
  
• Increased toHit bonus to attack from shadows.
  
• Add toHit bonus to Rhyme Of Duotime, makes it a very useful melee song - extra damage, faster attacks, better toHit.
  
• Fixed bug where Apport Arcane (or portals) after a teleport happened would confuse the automapper.
  
• Stopped the user being able to cast spells or do actions during a turn left / turn right.
  
• Fix automapping was detecting one sided walls from the wrong side.
  
• Add text-filtering for song playing.
  
• Level drain attacks now permanently saps 1000 xp as well as drop their level.
  
• Added some new toHit items - Huntsman Gloves (for hunter) and Ring of Accuracy (for all melee classes).

GRAPHICS

• Added spell effect for Apport Arcane.
  
• Added spell effects for Trap Zap, Detected Traps and Traps being Zapped.
  
  
  
  
• Added snow to Skara Brae.
  
• Added spell effect for Mage Flame.
  
• Added spell effect for Apport Arcane.
  
  
  
  
• Added spell effect for light ignition - used for Torch, Lamp, LERE, GRRE, STLI, Lightwand, Dayblade.
  
• Cat's eye no longer flickers the light.
  
• Added a visual for detected spinners.

MISC

• Fix bug in proper nouns - was converting them to "Mangar".
  
• Fix bug in taverns where back button from tipping would take you to "who will tip the bartender".
  
• Fixed tool tip information on why a save is locked.

UI

• Traps now indicate when they are disarmed, on the maps.
  
• Misc fixes for tool tip sizes.
  
• Added confirmation to deleting or overwriting save games.
  
• Added color coding to autosave/quicksave slots.
  
• Added save game sorting by date.
  
• Made the cursor and mouse scroll work in save / load UI.
  
• Fixed an issue where the script was cancelling the street name prematurely.
  
• Mark secret doors on automap when you walk through them.
  
• New spinner & trap icons so they overlay better on the map.
  
• Fixed bug where overlayed icons wouldn't appear on the map.
  
• Added icon to indicate when a character can advance a level, or learn a new spell.
  
• Combat icons now go semi-bright when the combat is completed.
  
• Identify now filters only unidentified items and doesn't reset to top of list once an item is identified.
  
• Skull now lights up if you're standing on cursed or blessed tiles. Tooltip shows what the curse/blessing is.
  
• Fix automapping so it doesn't detect the reverse side of tiles.
  
• Skull now indicates if any active curses or anti-apport/anti-phase door is active.
  
• Fix the automapper discover - tiles weren't working around map wraps.
  
• Fix shop selling unidentified item but revealing the name.
  
• Fix input issues hitting escape on spell filter.
  
• Fix input issues hitting enter when spell filtering to 0 spells.
  
• Spells go orange if no targets are in range.
  
• Add ranges to spell tooltips.
  
• Fix double space in Sanctuary Score description.
  
• Show the current ToHit bonus on player info screen.
  
• Fixed skull centering and skull eyes centering.
  
• Fixed size of highlight bar in party slots.
  
• The maximum message scroll scrolling speed has been increased.
  
• Monster groups are now sorted by range at the start of each combat round.
  
• Selling items at Garth's doesn't reset to top of list each time now.
  
• Alphabetize song list selection
  
• Fix issue where pressing F10 from a settings dialog would put the UI logic in a bad state.

 

[octavius]

This discussion reminds me of a question I have about the FRUA version of Pool of Radiance. Can characters be imported from it to CotAB?

You can probably use a Gold Box editor to edit your CoAB characters to be identical to your FRUA PoR party.

 

[mondblut]

auto prepare spells at rest

Everything but POR has it out of the box already.

wide screen support

It's 2018, every functional human being uses 2 or more monitors and naturally play stuff in windowed mode. What do you need it for anyway, to double the size of a panel carrying your character name and hitpoints?

bigger fonts too

WHAT? Have you even seen one?

 

[BEvers]

PoR looks fine with upscaling, and fullscreen isn't really required.

 

[Strange Fellow]

ProphetSword is right too, ingame journal entries would be very welcome. That was the best thing about InXile's Wasteland remaster (or should I say, their first Wasteland remaster).

Curse of the Azure Bonds does exist for FRUA, and you can transfer your characters (you can transfer characters from any FRUA module to another in general).

It'd have to be the whole series for me to consider using those versions instead. Maybe when I want to replay only PoR I'll use it, but if I'm going through both it and CotAB, it's safe to say I'm going to want to go through the whole thing.

This discussion reminds me of a question I have about the FRUA version of Pool of Radiance. Can characters be imported from it to CotAB?

You can probably use a Gold Box editor to edit your CoAB characters to be identical to your FRUA PoR party.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm afraid that would get in the way of my LARPing.

 

[octavius]

Personally I think PoR is the only GB game that is a bit iffy to play.
I'm more annoyed by the almost total lack of enemy AI (they eventually learn to target Fireballs) and the very limited selection of spells (many of them utterly useless), items and skills compared to the IE games.