Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Game News Bard's Tale IV Kickstarter Update #44: Dev Team Q&A, Remastered Trilogy Update

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Tags: Brian Fargo; Deep Silver; inXile Entertainment; Krome Studios; Paul Marzagalli; The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep; The Bard's Tale Trilogy

inXile have published the first new Bard's Tale IV Kickstarter update since the well-received alpha release in March. Unfortunately, there's no news yet about the beta, nor about the Practitioner archetype we've been waiting to see details about since February. Though I won't quote that part here, I would say the main highlight of this update is actually the news that the original Bard's Tale trilogy remaster is back on track with a new developer by the name of Krome Studios. They're hoping to have the first game in the trilogy ready by summer. What I will quote here is the FAQ inXile put together to answer some of the questions people have had about Bard's Tale IV over the past few months. Parts of it, anyway:

Q: How many dungeons will BT4 have & how many locations/zones will BT4 have?

A: The combined count is 25 dungeons or dungeon-like areas. That said, it's a dungeon crawler - you always have to be on your guard!

Q: What races will be playable in BT4? The Trow have been mentioned as a new race, but what others are confirmed?

A: Dwarves, Elves, and Trow, and there are different variety of Human cultures (Baedish, Fichti, Einarr, and Outlander).

Q: Will it be possible to create your full party?

A: Yes, though not all at once. You start off with one character, and you'll be able to swap that one out during the introduction if you wish. Over the course of the game, you'll be able to grow your party up to six.

Q: Will BT4 be a continuous world where all locations connect together as one big world, or will it have a travel map between locations like Wasteland 2?

A: Yes, you can access the entire world by walking, or you can utilize our fast travel system to warp to previously explored areas. For those old school types, you are never required to use the fast travel system – it's just there for convenience.

Q: Will there be references to the other cities outside of Skara Brae (such as those you visit in The Bard's Tale II)?

A: Yes, there will be references to the other cities outside Skara Brae. You may even get to visit one.

Q: Will BT4 be akin to BT1 in forgoing automatic regeneration of SP/HP in dungeons, so there's an element of longer term resource consideration?

A: The answer is yes - HP does not regenerate over time like the originals. HP doesn’t regenerate over time automatically but can through the use of items and abilities. We also added checkpoints in the form of Luck Stones. These strategically-placed artifacts will save the game and restore your party's HP, if you can survive to reach them. This gives the game that feeling of tension as you delve deep into the dungeons, but without needing to backtrack all the way back to the Guild every time you need a breather.

Q: How will attributes work? Will we roll for random attributes like the originals or will we have a point +/- system like WL2? Will attributes go up automatically when a character levels up, or will we get points to raise the attributes of our choice?

A: Everything about your character, including your attributes, comes from your skill tree. Your starting attributes depend on your starting archetype, and you can customize them via the skill tree as you level up. Each time you level up you get to choose how you spend that skill point. You might choose to upgrade an attribute like intelligence, learn to craft a new potion, or learn a new passive ability. Some of these skills, however, are locked behind advanced tiers that only the Review Board can unlock for you.

Q: Are the party's total action points based on party size?

A: Your party gets more opportunity as a quest reward for completing major plot points. You tend to get larger parties as you get more opportunity, so while they aren't directly linked, they do develop along a parallel track.

Q: The AP system shown in the alpha seems to be favor smaller parties. Is it still worth bringing more party members?

A: More characters is generally always better (except in a few rare circumstances), as it provides more HP on the battlefield to soak attacks, more abilities to chose from, and more people in the right place at the right time to perform key plays in combat.

Q: What is the maximum party size?

A: Six is the max party size. We also leave open two slots for summoning creatures if you have a full group. It can be 6+2, 4+4, 5+3... whatever party configuration works best with your play style.
In other news, yesterday we learned that inXile have decided to again partner with Deep Silver (now a subsidiary of THQ Nordic) to publish both Bard's Tale IV and Wasteland 3 - apparently confirming that there was indeed some sort of behind-the-scenes drama going on with Techland last year. Brian Fargo even made a video appearance at THQ Nordic's investors conference, along a with a short new Bard's Tale IV teaser trailer. Weird that there was no mention of this in the Kickstarter update.
 

Darkzone

Arcane
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
2,323
Attributes being treated the same as skills and abilities is always decline. It undercuts the primacy of an attribute system.
Technically there is a mathematical relation between them and therefore it depends on formula behind them.
 

HanoverF

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 23, 2002
Messages
6,083
MCA Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Codex USB, 2014 Divinity: Original Sin 2
Isn't it about time for Fargo to launch another scamstarter to pay for finishing this?
 
Self-Ejected

Sacred82

Self-Ejected
Dumbfuck
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Messages
2,957
Location
Free Village
Attributes being treated the same as skills and abilities is always decline. It undercuts the primacy of an attribute system.
Technically there is a mathematical relation between them and therefore it depends on formula behind them.

choosing between crafting item X or unlocking an AoE attack OR getting +1 strength that all your attacks profit from is absolutely fine. Especially in a day and age where base attributes don't tend to be static but can be increased over the course of the game anyway.
 

Invictus

Arcane
The Real Fanboy
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
2,789
Location
Mexico
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Where is the info on the remastered trilogy?
Edit: oh now I see right at the bottom... hey it looks pretty good, although damn that Amiga art still looks superb
 
Last edited:

Curratum

Guest
25 dungeons / ruins / castles / caves actually sounds pretty damn good in terms of size, even if some of them are the size of the average PoE dungeon, i.e. a room and a half.

I'm a huge fan of Cordell, Bauer and Reynold's work in the realm of pen and paper RPGs so I'm really looking forward to their designs, though I'm not sure we will know who made what in the final release.
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2005
Messages
4,567
Strap Yourselves In Codex+ Now Streaming!
Do they even have funds left to develop this game, with all that money being funneled towards Wasteland 3? Or was it the other way around...I can’t remember.
 

Darkzone

Arcane
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
2,323
Attributes being treated the same as skills and abilities is always decline. It undercuts the primacy of an attribute system.
Technically there is a mathematical relation between them and therefore it depends on formula behind them.

choosing between crafting item X or unlocking an AoE attack OR getting +1 strength that all your attacks profit from is absolutely fine. Especially in a day and age where base attributes don't tend to be static but can be increased over the course of the game anyway.
In the end everything boils down to DPS or DPT; even in PnP DnD. I know only one example where the Int attribute retrained its primacy despite a low or high speach skill and that was Fallout 1 and 2, but to be honest i don't know if it did led to different story outcomes, since i only played them 3 times.
 
Self-Ejected

Sacred82

Self-Ejected
Dumbfuck
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Messages
2,957
Location
Free Village
Attributes being treated the same as skills and abilities is always decline. It undercuts the primacy of an attribute system.
Technically there is a mathematical relation between them and therefore it depends on formula behind them.

choosing between crafting item X or unlocking an AoE attack OR getting +1 strength that all your attacks profit from is absolutely fine. Especially in a day and age where base attributes don't tend to be static but can be increased over the course of the game anyway.
In the end everything boils down to DPS or DPT; even in PnP DnD. I know only one example where the Int attribute retrained its primacy despite a low or high speach skill and that was Fallout 1 and 2, but to be honest i don't know if it did led to different story outcomes, since i only played them 3 times.

this game is not gonna be simulationist anyway; I think there are only 2 attributes? (health and mana or whatever they use is probably an attribute too and not derived from anything)

I was right about 4 of the races being human all along; or rather, it was 3 in the beginning. I guess Baedish are the new Celt-Romans and Outlanders are... quite possibly just a generic, non-descript dude if you want to. Can someone with the beta confirm?
 
Self-Ejected

Sacred82

Self-Ejected
Dumbfuck
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Messages
2,957
Location
Free Village
You start off with one character

:rage:

Fucking storyfag larping faggots can't stay contained in their fucking storyfag larping CYOA faggotry, can they? Like cancer, they need to taint and defile everything around them.

Can't wait till the corpse of RPGs finally stops its spasmatic twitching forever.


uuhhhh

the character is not pre-defined?
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
the character is not pre-defined?

Neither he is in any faggy larping visual novel CYOA simulator.

What of the other five?!

Q: Will it be possible to create your full party?

A: Yes, though not all at once. You start off with one character, and you'll be able to swap that one out during the introduction if you wish. Over the course of the game, you'll be able to grow your party up to six.

"Grow your party" seems to suggests a series of points over the course of the game where you get to create additional new characters, not recruiting pre-defined companions, no?
 
Self-Ejected

Sacred82

Self-Ejected
Dumbfuck
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Messages
2,957
Location
Free Village
the character is not pre-defined?

Neither he is in any faggy larping visual novel CYOA simulator.

What of the other five?!

you can drop him though. Makes you think, doesn't it?

What exactly their reasons are for that, who knows. Your character might just be some kind of messenger from Thermopylae, as soon as he makes it to civilization, a group of heroes set out to save the world. The end.

IMO "grow your party" suggests a series of points over the course of the game where you get to create additional new characters, not recruiting companions.

they've toyed around with the idea to save some slots for companions from the beginning. So I'd assume:

(4 chars + 2 companions or 5 chars + 1 companion) + 2 summons

or any number of characters + summons down to a 4/4 split (I'd assume a 1 summon per character limit, but who knows).



edit: my reading comprehension actually failed me here, because as mondblut pointed out... your idea is retarded.









so that's what InXile's gonna do :dealwithit:
 
Last edited:
Self-Ejected

theSavant

Self-Ejected
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
2,009
Yes, but still better than getting predefined characters, which you will hate through the entire game (like in Dragon Age).
 

Darkzone

Arcane
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
2,323
"Grow your party" seems to suggests a series of points over the course of the game where you get to create additional new characters, not recruiting pre-defined companions, no?
That's pretty fucking retarded idea.
"Grow your party" sounds so ambiguous that we should rather wait for the beta before we make definite conclusions.

Yes, but still better than getting predefined characters, which you will hate through the entire game (like in Dragon Age).
It could be right. It could wrong. It could be good. It could be bad.
 

MurkyShadow

Glittering gem of hatred
Patron
Joined
Mar 15, 2012
Messages
353
Location
ye olde europe
Codex 2012 Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong BattleTech Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit. I helped put crap in Monomyth
I'm not sure I feel happy with the 'up-res' of the classic trilogy art.
But then again I'm old and still enjoy playing the original C-64 version.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom