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

Joined
Dec 9, 2013
Messages
226
Location
Calgary
Destiny Knight Changes
* Destiny Knight's mechanics have been tweaked to make SPOILER - the last fight more interesting - you're no longer invincible when fighting Lagoth Zanta. The Destiny Knight absorbs damage with mana and can die if their mana runs out.
* 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).
* SPOILER - You now have to learn how to use the Dreamspell, which is located in the Destiny Stone dungeon level 1. And can only be learnt by Archmages.
* 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.
* SPOILER - The Dreamspell is now gated behind a new Saradon quest and clue set, the wizard that sent the players the original letter about Lagoth Zanta.
* 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.
*SPOILER - Snare tweak: The Snare directions (that were originally in the manual) are now embedded in the game as clues, throughout the Destiny Stone Dungeon.
* SPOILER - Snare tweak: Snares still kill you - but you can't save if a snare is active, so you can't lose your whole game if you're running with 1 save game slot.
*SPOILER - Snare tweak: Snares now have red vignette on the game window and a heartbeat audio cue.
*SPOILER - Snare tweak: Snares now show how much time is left when hovering over the Skull above the Game Window.

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 item generated 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
the Dark Crypt in BT2 with its melee-only, all antimagic nature.
* 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.
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
1,725
Location
Goblin Lair
They did it cuz Matt Barton complained in his video XD

They have a good sense of humor, and the BT Trilogy is really an amazing remake all around.
 

Themadcow

Augur
Joined
Feb 17, 2012
Messages
308
Such an exceptional job. Sure, they're contractors but every kb of this game suggests that they actually give a fuck about the Bard's Tale legacy and the game itself. So much stuff they didn't "need" to do, but have improved anyway. Not just that, but they're hugely responsive to bugs reports and suggestions - implementing most stuff in hours rather than days.

Give them $1m and tell them to make BT5 (or BT3.5) - it would own the hell out of BT4.
 
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Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
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I always find it amusing how in these auldie RPGs even an encounter such as 4x99 berserkers can end in just 1-2 turns after casting global aoe damage spell 2-3 times.

Also, I multiclassed my casters too early and now I don't have a max level magician or conjurer (class changed them both at spell level 5), which means no max level conjurer/magician spells. How fucked am I?
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
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Goblin Lair
I don't think you're so fucked, but if you are worried it's very quick to build up a new character, even in the Catacombs.

[Edit] One of the top level spells for Conj/Mag (I forget which) is full HP heal (another is heal +cure poison for all characters), so you might want that.
 

Darth Roxor

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I was referring more to possible breakage because some level 7 spell might be needed somewhere to progress, if that's not the case, then it's a-okay.

Heals don't concern me as much cuz I get HP back by abusing the bard.
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
Joined
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Well, in that case, I think it's okay. Worst case scenario, you can switch "back" (assuming you have two magic users).
 

Gord

Arcane
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
7,049
Yeah, it should be fine. Might even make the game slightly more interesting later on.
Otherwise it's all about spamming the same high damage aoe spells.
Then again it's clear that the game is balanced just around that.
Got a bit boring eventually, tbh.
 

Shackleton

Arcane
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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
I don't think you're so fucked, but if you are worried it's very quick to build up a new character, even in the Catacombs.

[Edit] One of the top level spells for Conj/Mag (I forget which) is full HP heal (another is heal +cure poison for all characters), so you might want that.

Don't forget Apport Arcane, the teleport spell. Saves a hell of a lot of backtracking.

Personally, I'd roll a new caster rather than miss out on the lvl 7 spells. Why didn't you switch classes though Darth Roxor ? Make the Conj a Magi and vice versa? I thought that was the usual path to Archmage tbh.
 

Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
Staff Member
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Personally, I'd roll a new caster rather than miss out on the lvl 7 spells. Why didn't you switch classes though @Darth Roxor ? Make the Conj a Magi and vice versa? I thought that was the usual path to Archmage tbh.

Because I'm dumb and did that before getting lvl 7 spells because I had no idea how the class changing actually worked :M
 

Shackleton

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
I'm so glad these got remastered and I doff my hat to Krome for the job they've done, because otherwise I'd never have realised that the game I spent many years yearning after and fondly remembering... isn't actually that good.

I mean, the dungeon design is pretty decent, with the requisite anti-magic zones, dark zones and spinners etc, but after around 1/4 of the game and the acquisition of lvl 7 spells, the whole 'attrition' aspect of the game goes out the window and it just becomes about nuking the mobs with AOE before they can get a hit on you and teleporting out when you get low on SP. I'm sure the increased XP, the auto-map and the save-anywhere all go some way towards destroying the original feel of the game, but it's hard to see how a version without those things would fly today.

I think I'll shelve it until legacy mode comes in, but tbh the blobbers released in the years since have all surpassed BT both in design and execution. Unsurprising, considering the limitations of the time. Christ, I played BT1 on a Spectrum 48K, it's no shock that it's not as developed systems-wise as something like Elminage Gothic or the Wizardrys.

I don't blame Brian for wanting to develop the genre; he just picked the wrong way to go with it.
 

Darth Roxor

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Jesus, Mangar's Tower is vicious. I'm in two minds about just Frenching it up and running away from every encounter until I get to the top and win.
 

Themadcow

Augur
Joined
Feb 17, 2012
Messages
308
Jesus, Mangar's Tower is vicious. I'm in two minds about just Frenching it up and running away from every encounter until I get to the top and win.

Yeah, I ripped my way through everything up to MT lv4 due to the XP changes and save system. Got absolutely ROFLSTOMPED by most enemy groups as soon as I got to MT4 though, and running away is far from guaranteed (speed boots on the first character help). I'd imagine Legacy mode will return the rest of the game to a similar level of challenge.
 

octavius

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Bjørgvin
Yes, the original BT took inspiration from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There's also the monks chanting in the temples, which really blew me away when I heard it on my Amiga:
 
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Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
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Finished BT1. Mangar's Tower was funny in that I just kept running away from every encounter, and the ones I couldn't run from I blasted with dragon wangs lol. Although that one floor (3rd?) with omni-darkness was definitely not funny, and whoever thought it was a good idea ought to be flogged.

Also, have I been playing this game ronk or are thieves a complete waste of character slot? I mean sure, at the start they're nice to disarm the traps and stuff, but after a certain point I just started zapping every trap I came across because that was preferable to spinning the 95% chance to disarm roulette, and after that the dude just kind of occupied the 5th slot and was useless since the only thing he could do was fire off arrerz (and God knows any non-generic arrerz run out pretty fast).
 

Themadcow

Augur
Joined
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Messages
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A thief was a requirement for BT3 but only for certain major encounters. To be honest, they've always been pretty lame.
 

Gord

Arcane
Joined
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In terms of combat they are ok-ish in the midgame, when they are able to somewhat reliably kill single enemies after hiding in shadows.
Problem is that single enemies become increasingly rare and AoE damage by your magic users rules supreme. In fact also fighters and paladins are little more than meat-shields eventually. In my recent BT1R playthrough, I dropped my thief at some point to open up a slot for summons (which are also not super great, but still better than a thief).
Dunno about the running from combat thing, though. Might be helpful to avoid some of the tedium in the final stages of the game, if true.
 

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