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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:
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.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.
