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

KeighnMcDeath

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“The DOS version is filled with significant bugs, the worst of which prevents monster special attacks (both status effects and breath weapons) from working at all. That combined with the many other bugs (so many that someone actually made a bugfix patch) makes this version not worth playing, except maybe with said patch. ”

No friggin wonder DOS version was so easy. I feel like it was a cheap victory now. A Paper Tarjan cut-out.
 

octavius

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[HAVING SAID THAT] Obviously people happily played this game back in the day and either didn't notice or didn't care.

Well, I personally quit playing BT 3 when I noticed none of that monsters had special attacks.
To me it was a huge disappointment after BT 1 and 2. On the Amiga the visuals also were a step back from the glorious vistas of BT 1 and 2.
 
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KeighnMcDeath

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I started to wonder about the exact numbers and effects on the songs from the bards. Seems some effort was started to catalogue this....
Bard Songs



BARDSTALE 1 SONGS

----------------------------------------------

1. FALKENTYNE'S FURY This tune increases the damage your party will do in combat, by driving them into a berserker rage.


2. THE SEEKER'S BALLAD This song will produce light when exploring, and during combat it will increase the party's chance of hitting a foe with a weapon.


3. WAYLAND'S WATCH This song will soothe your savage foes, making them do less damage in combat.


4. BADH'R KILNFEST This is an ancient Elven melody, which will heal the Bard's wounds during traveling, and heal the party's wounds during combat.


5. THE TRAVELLER'S TUNE This melody makes the members of your party more dexterous and agile, and thus more difficult to hit.


6. LUCKLARAN This song sets up a partial "anti-magic" field, which gives party members some increased protection against spell casting.



BARDSTALE 2 SONGS

----------------------------------------------

1. THE ARCHER'S TUNE Doubles the party's missile damage, and cuts the missile damage inflicted by a foe in half. Missile weapons are those weapons that are thrown or shot such as arrows, spears, and axes.


2. SPELLSONG Bonus to saving roll. This means the party is less likely to be damaged by magic and traps.


3. SANTUARY SCORE Lowers the Armor Class for all party members.


4. THE MELEE MARCH Increases the party's hit points for extra protection and also increase the damage points inflicted on enemies.


5. ZANDUVAR CARACK Protection from traps when played under normal conditions, but heals during combat.


6. RHYME OF DUOTIME Regenerates spell points at twice the normal speed when played under normal conditions, and provides extra attacks during combat.


7. THE WATCHWOOD MELODY Creates light. May work even in anti-magic zones.


BARDSTALE 3 SONGS

-----------------------------------------------

1. SIR ROBIN'S TUNE This lets you run away from attackers as long as the combat has not yet begun. During combat, this keeps the monsters from calling for additional help.


2. SAFETY SONG Sets up an an anti-monster aura, so foes won't randomly attack you.


3. SANCTUARY SCORE Lowers the party's armor class level up to a maximum of 15 points.


4. BRINGAROUND BALLAD In non-combat situations, this rejuvenates the Bard's hit points. During combat, this song will affect everyone in your party, including the Bard.


5. RHYME OF DUOTIME In non-combat situations, this regenerates the mage's spell points. During combat, it gives the party an extra attack.


6. WATCHWOOD MELODY This creates light so you can find your way around. May even work in anti-magic zones.


7. KIEL'S OVERTURE In non-combat situations, this calls up a compass so you can get your bearings. During combat, this casts the monster-frying Trebuchet spell for one round. (Trebuchet range: ALL FOES. Fries all foes with wickedly hot flames for 150-600 points).


8. MINSTREL SHIELD In non-combat situations, this lowers your armor class. During combat, it also partially shields your party so they only take half damage from monster attacks.


BARDSTALE CONSTRUCTION SET SONGS

-----------------------------------------------

1. Safety Song

-- protection from attacks from random monsters

-- in combat, relieves insanity and possession


2. Sanctuary Score

-- does a trap zap

-- in combat, lowers armor class for that round (level/2, max 15)


3. Bringaround Ballad

-- Rejuvenates bard's hit points

-- in combat, rejuvenates everyone's hit points in the party (from 1 to 5*level of bard points)


4. Rhyme of Duotime

-- Regenerates mages' spell points

-- in combat, gives the party an extra attack


5. Marcela's Melody

-- Creates light to walk around ... even in anti-magic zones

-- in combat, brings all monsters to within melee range


6. Kiel's Overture

-- Lets the party know what direction they are travelling

-- in combat, casts a monster damage spell (from I to 5*level of bard points)


7. Cain's Carrack

-- Adds to character saving throws

-- in combat, prevents all monster spell attacks for one round


Bardstale 1 NES version

---Out of Combat Songs---


The Traveller's Tune: This song will instantly teleport your party back to the Adventurers' Guild. An extremely useful song, and yes, it can even be used in dungeons!


Wayland's Watch: This song lowers the chance of random encounters.


The Seeker's Ballad: One of the most powerful songs, The Seeker's Ballad has the effect of enhancing your whole party's armor, lowering their AC by 2 while in effect.


---In Combat Songs---


Freeze Voice: This song freezes all enemies, making them randomly miss their turn in combat entirely!


Lucklaran: Lowers your enemies' chances of successfully casting spells.


Falkentyne's Fury: A very powerful song which enhances your party's battle skills, raising their attack and defense.


Badh'r Kilnfest: This song has a random chance of charming an enemy. If successful, the enemy will join your party! (It will stay in your party until you charm another one, it dies, or you return to the Adventurer's Guild.



BARDSTALE 2 NES VERSION


| Key |

| Name = Song Name

| TYPE = Battle, Non-Combat

| TARGET = Single/Multiple/All; Ally or Enemy

| Note = What the song accomplishes

| J.Name = Japanese Song Name ---------------------------------------------


Name |TYPE |TARGET |Note & J.Name

-----------------+------+------------

Law of Justice

|Non- | All Allies|Turns Floor, Warp, Avoid Traps

|Combat| Lord of Justice

-----------------+------+------------+-----------------------------------------

Lover's Song

|Non- | All Allies|Halves random encounter rate

|Combat| | Lovers song

-----------------+------+------------+-----------------------------------------

Traveler's Turn

|Non- | All Allies|Warps to dungeon entrance

|Combat| | Travelers Turn

-----------------+------+------------+-----------------------------------------

Shadow Braves

|Battle| All Allies|Increases attack power

| Braves / Shadow

-----------------+------+------------+-----------------------------------------

Double Edge Song |Battle|Single Enemy|Become ally

| | | Double edge song

-----------------+------+------------+-----------------------------------------

Ranger Road |Battle| All Allies|Halves enemy's magic damage

| | | Ranger Road

-----------------+------+------------+-----------------------------------------

Mirage |Battle| All Allies|Increases defense power

| | | Mirage

----------------------------------------------

Bah... when I get to typing it out: just scroll to bards

http://www.weekendwastemonster.net/crpgs/dw/DWManual.pdf


There was a may update here so I need to redownload:

http://identicalsoftware.com/btbuilder/


Dragon Wars had no bards nor did swords and serpents or Maze Master


Silversword bards start with 3 songs in this manual

https://silversword-rpg.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Silversword_Help.pdf


I need to get an iPad or figure how to play on pc. Looks pretty decent.



So, lots of songs across at least the main 3 and construction set. Some are similar. I was rather hoping you could just start with some and learn others as you leveled or be they hidden.


I was also hoping to replace the music file with something modern like Five Finger Death Punch or the like.... those songs do get annoying so soon sound goes off or I scale music off to low.


I just need to make/print a spreadsheet.
 

Strange Fellow

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I recognize one of the songs as a real piece of Renaissance music. I wonder if all the tunes are "stolen"?
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
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Obviously the Sir Robins tune is from Monty Python (unless there’s some earlier reference).
 

newtmonkey

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My plan was to go out drinking tonight with a buddy, but due to rain/typhoon that got rescheduled... so I decided to just get this game even though I had sworn to myself that I would wait until all 3 games and legacy mode are available before purchasing.

I don't mind the environment graphics at all, but still don't like the upscaled and cleaned up 2d art. It looks more cartoony than the original EGA art, and I just don't like it. Having said that, at least it's still animated like the original art (and unlike with the Wasteland remake).

There's not much to say honestly. They added range from the later BT games, made the Rogue class non-useless, and it's got a bunch of QOL features... but you can still play with keyboard only, so I'm very pleased.

I decided to go with Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Bard, Magician, Conjurer. My plan is to take the same party through all three games, so I definitely wanted a Bard and Rogue in this party. The Hunter's critical hit ability is fixed here (as opposed to BT1 DOS version). With all classes fixed and audio/visuals that are at least equal to the Amiga version (and the potential for bug-free version of BT2 and BT3 later this year), I guess this is the definitive version of BT now. (I wish they would add the option to select the original 2d art tho).
 

ProphetSword

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I didn't mind the art that much myself, but it would be nice to have the option to go back to the original art for those that want it, I suppose.
 

octavius

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The audiovisuals of the Amiga (and 16 bit Apple, I guess) versions of BT 1 and 2 (not 3) still look and sound great.
What is very puzzling is that nowadays many new retro games use fake pixelation. So why the hell couldn't they use real pixelation for the remasters of the BT games?
 

newtmonkey

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I would like them to add a retro mode where the audio/visuals are just taken straight from the Amiga (including interface, etc.), like how you can switch between old and new graphics in the Monkey Island Remakes.
 

KeighnMcDeath

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I’d be a fan of any of the platforms. Gotta say I like some of the creepy c64 and Apple II.

But the music.... eh it gets grating after a while due to short loops. Sound and action sequence is nice though. Now sure we don’t get corny hit sequences like World of Xeen.

Don’t get big titty witches either for that matter.

Legacy mode sounds fine for the old ways. Tbh, maybe they didn’t add enough extras in this remake. Here’s hoping for an additional construction mod set to even alter these three. And why can’t I port my ULTIMA 3 and wizardry characters? BOOOOOO!!!!!

Man, that was some weird crap porting and seeing what weird ass weapon/item took place from the other game.
 

newtmonkey

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I would love to see a final BT Construction Set released in the new engine once BT 2&3 are released. That would honestly be amazing.
 

ProphetSword

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I would love to see a final BT Construction Set released in the new engine once BT 2&3 are released. That would honestly be amazing.

I would hope if they do that, they offer the option to change the art. One of the worst things about the original BTCS is that had maybe four wall sets that were usable and only a couple of backdrops. I can't remember if you could change the game pictures either. This sort of thing is what ultimately led to BTCS being forgotten and FRUA (the Gold-Box construction set) still being used today.
 

newtmonkey

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ProphetSword
Very interesting, I've used FRUA, but never BTCS, I assumed it was decent without using it. I really doubt they will release a BTCS like application anyway (who knows if the trilogy will even be completed?), but if they do, hopefully they will address the shortcomings. This is all dreamland fantasy, so probably such a thing will never happen, but who knows?
 

ProphetSword

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I bought BTCS before FRUA came out. To its credit, it did allow you to do a lot of customization I wish FRUA had (create your own items, create your own spells, etc), but it was also very limited in other ways (the previously mentioned wall sets being so few in number, too few event types).

I just double checked, and sure enough, I was right about the number of walls. Turns out I was wrong about the backdrops...you don't even get to choose them like you can in FRUA...they are tied to the dungeon type. And two of the dungeon types aren't really dungeons. One is the city set and the other is a wilderness set. So, not a lot of variety there.

Here's a screenshot. You can click it to see it more clearly...

1zzs19d.jpg
 

newtmonkey

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I finished exploring the town and started exploring the wine celler. I dunno how I feel about the adjusted experience requirements, seems a lot easier than the original game. Still, I'm having fun with this remake, and it's nice to have a useful rogue in the party.
 

newtmonkey

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I finally finished exploring level 1 of the sewers. What a fucking awful map that was. I know the dungeons improve after this, so I'm glad to get it out of the way. I am kind of regretting not waiting until Legacy mode is available, because I think I am over-leveled by now. I am trying to play in the spirit of the original though, and just keep a save at the Adventurer's Guild and nowhere else. We'll see how long that lasts though haha
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
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I need to boot up Bard’s Tale Builder. I also need to just purchase Devil’s Whiskey even though I just know it probably won’t be compatible with my win10 machine. I suck at tweaking and it’s purely offline so no updates.

I would never believe I need a better machine to run the trilogy flawlessly. Damn onboard video. I’m waiting for next installment before I got it another go.
 

newtmonkey

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I can't guarantee anything, but Devil's Whiskey works flawlessly for me on Win 10.

I was actually surprised, as I thought after buying it I'd need to run it in Virtualbox WinXP, but it's fine.
 

ProphetSword

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I need to boot up Bard’s Tale Builder. I also need to just purchase Devil’s Whiskey even though I just know it probably won’t be compatible with my win10 machine. I suck at tweaking and it’s purely offline so no updates.

I would never believe I need a better machine to run the trilogy flawlessly. Damn onboard video. I’m waiting for next installment before I got it another go.

You can download the Devil Whiskey demo and try it out...
http://devilwhiskey.com/demo.html
 

Themadcow

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Feb 17, 2012
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I finally finished exploring level 1 of the sewers. What a fucking awful map that was. I know the dungeons improve after this, so I'm glad to get it out of the way. I am kind of regretting not waiting until Legacy mode is available, because I think I am over-leveled by now. I am trying to play in the spirit of the original though, and just keep a save at the Adventurer's Guild and nowhere else. We'll see how long that lasts though haha

My guess is that your willpower will break in Catacombs 1. That's when the lure of savescum kicks in...
 

octavius

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In the original the whole mid section was quite easy.
It was hard in the beginning and until Blue Dragons were no longer scary. Then it was quite easy until the last 2-3 levels of Mangar's Tower.

Is the Remaster really harder (and hopefully better balanced)? If so that's good news.
 
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