Game News Bard's Tale IV Kickstarter Update #49: Beta Feedback, Bard's Tale 1 Remaster Coming August 14th

[Sacibengala]

Anyway, they said the last update will be the classic style with bug fixes and some quality of life improvements. So it will be good to everybody. In theory of course.

 

[MRY]

The remastered art looks a lot worse than the old pixel art.

Well, the thing with a lot of these remasters is that they do this weird thing of keeping many of the constraints dictated by technology (for instance, the small view window here) while ditching other ones (resolution and palette scope) and adjusting but not fully modernizing others (such as adding smooth animation to movement, while maintaining relatively low frames of animation for combat). Many of these older games, including Bard's Tale, were technological marvels when they came out. When you do this kind of halfway update, it may make the game playable, but it decontextualizes it -- anyone looking at it would say that it is lousy audiovisuals for 20XX, but no one would say that it is amazing audiovisuals for 19XX.

Here's Brian Moriarty's cri de coeur re: Loom's EGA->VGA update; but all this would apply a fortiori to the Monkey Island I remake or the Bard's Tale one:

Would you ever like to see Loom remastered with updated graphics?

If by “remastering” you mean simply converting the original low-resolution 16-color art to high-resolution 24-bit color, my answer is a loud “No.”

Nearly every creative decision regarding the dramatic scope and presentation of Loom was influenced by the severe technical restrictions imposed by the available hardware. Adding more pixels and colors would only serve to emphasize those restrictions. The 256-color “upgrades” of Loom produced after the original EGA release clearly demonstrate this. They not only make the original design seem unduly antiquated, but also manage to obfuscate specific experience goals by adding superfluous colors and detail.

This video discuses Loom as well in this regard:


That said, there is a sizable contingent of players who would never, ever, ever play Bard's Tale without this update but will play it now. It's hard to fault such players, or to fault inXile for its outreach to them.

Moreover, I'm a little less dogmatic on this score than Moriarty (in part, perhaps, because I quite liked the Sierra VGA updates, so I'm just rationalizing). In the 19XX era, it's hard to know which incarnation of a game is the definitive one. Not hard with Loom, perhaps, but for many games you have CGA/EGA/Amiga/Commodore 64/Apple versions all existing in parallel.

For instance:

What jumped out to me was that foreground left guy did not appear to have elf ears in the original, and the guy to his right had muttonchops. But it turns out that the Amiga version is closer to the new version in that regard, and in terms of the color of the characters' attire (for instance, front right gets his superman color scheme in Amiga):

Likewise, the bard animation is straight from the Atari and Apple II/gs version:

The DOS version has a very different bard:

But these two were released simultaneously.

You might argue that these later updates are not indicative of the original intent. But the original release on Apple II (not Apple II/gs) doesn't look anything like the "original" posted by Strange Fellow. It is a hideous image of low tech that even oldschoolers would have a hard time preferring:

The same goes for the Commodore 64, which lacks any smooth scrolling at all:

All this is to say, I'm not sure what would be considered "canonical" Bard's Tale visuals; it seems like there was never a singular vision from which there were deviations. At most, there was a vision that got filtered through various era-specific tech mutatis mutandis. But even that isn't really satisfying. Why are the poses of the bards different between DOS and Atari/Apple II/gs? Why has the DOS beer's froth spilled over the lip, when the Apple/Atari beer's has not? Why is the composition of the scene different (with a still-life-style plate of fruit in one and not in the other -- and who eats fresh fruit in a bar with a glass(?) tankard of beer)? Why is the hierarchy of Interplay/EA flipped? Should the priority for the developer make us think the Apple/Atari one is definitive?

So, unlike with Loom, where you have an auteur who can point to a single game as the definitive one, here I think you just throw up your hands. Since Fargo blesses (directs!) the remake, it's hard to say it's inauthentic.

[EDIT to fix some typos]

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Glorious Amiga The Bard's Tale graphics:

 

[MRY]

More like ???ARCHERS???

That pic is making me so unhappy. "FIGHT 1" isn't helping things.

 

[Grauken]

If the update had the Amiga graphics as an alternate visual style, I would be quite happy, I just can't stand the cartoonish look

 

[CyberWhale]

Well, the thing with a lot of these remasters is that they do this weird thing of keeping many of the constraints dictated by technology (for instance, the small view window here)

Probably the most puzzling decision of them all. Make a remaster and still keep the small fucking window while repainting all the graphics (and doing a poor job of it).

 

[Grotesque]

I bet these will cost $5-10 bucks a piece... and to be honest from what I have seen of the reworked artwork and the more than welcome addition of automap I will definetly be buying the first game
Also really looking forward to the Bard’s Tale 4, looks like a fun & entertaining game

Look at you loser!

You've made a comment regarding games!
Swell!

 

[Darkzone]

Glorious Amiga The Bard's Tale graphics:

Spoiler

So many fond memories.

 

[Naraya]

This video discuses Loom as well in this regard:

Seriously WTF - did they really remove all close-up portraits in Loom VGA?!

This video is just... sad to watch

 

[MRY]

No, they removed like one or two.

 

[Harry Easter]

If they make it easier to handle with the charactercreation and the interface, I will buy this. I got fixed on this kind of game, after playing Legends of Grimrock 2 ^^.

 

[Decado]

Glorious Amiga The Bard's Tale graphics:

Spoiler

These are basically the graphics from the Tandy 1000 version, which I played the shit out of. Aesthetic and comfy as fuck, nothing will ever compare.

 

[Contagium]

There are a lot of people complaining about graphics/art that generally don't care about good graphics in a RPG.

It's almost as if Codexers...can not be pleased

 

[Bumvelcrow]

There are a lot of people complaining about graphics/art that generally don't care about good graphics in a RPG.

The style of graphics (not resolution or number of colours) has an impact on the character of the game. By changing the style they changed the game. I think the blocky Amiga graphics are far superior to the laminated remaster.

 

[Grauken]

There are a lot of people complaining about graphics/art that generally don't care about good graphics in a RPG.

It's almost as if Codexers...can not be pleased

Oh, another newfag that intentionally misunderstands the difference between graphics and art direction, how novel

 

[Contagium]

There are a lot of people complaining about graphics/art that generally don't care about good graphics in a RPG.

It's almost as if Codexers...can not be pleased

Oh, another newfag that intentionally misunderstands the difference between graphics and art direction, how novel

New to Codex, perhaps. New to RPG's...no.

I couldn't stand the art at first either, thinking it looked like something for a mobile game. Watching the actual gameplay videos, it doesn't look so bad .

Looking forward to taking a crack at a game I haven't played in 30 or so years again.

 

[markec]

Ive been playing the Monkey Island Special Edition and Im really grateful you can easily switch between old and remastered visuals.

So I dont see why Inxile cant just add some optional upgrades for players to choose from like scale of window.

 

[Infinitron]

So I dont see why Inxile cant just add some optional upgrades for players to choose from like scale of window.

Maybe they can, go to the inXile forums and ask about it. Remember the game will continue to be in development until they release all three parts, so there's time to add new features.

(also inXile aren't actually the ones developing the game)

 

[CyberWhale]

Ive been playing the Monkey Island Special Edition and Im really grateful you can easily switch between old and remastered visuals.

So I dont see why Inxile cant just add some optional upgrades for players to choose from like scale of window.

TBH I would like if there was a possibility to play the game with:

- original pixel graphics
- new sound if there is one
- large view window

Perfect combo right there.

 

[Sacibengala]

Going through the inxile page on how to get my gog kickstarter key for this remaster, I saw that a lot of stuff from torment did not got released. They said something about that or the absurd amount of money I spent on that (for my poor 3rd world standard anyway) just is one more reason for me to feel like an idiot?

 

[MurkyShadow]

I grew up playing the original trilogy on the C-64 and have been replaying it over the years.
Has somebody played the C-64 and the Amiga version and can chime in as to how the music/
the sound compares? I always thought there were some miracles done with the SID chip.
I remember, when I got my first PC and hunted down the cardboard packaged RPG Archives
and was in highest anticipation about the first time playing Bard's Tale on PC. And then...

PC-Speaker!

 

[Darkzone]

I grew up playing the original trilogy on the C-64 and have been replaying it over the years.
Has somebody played the C-64 and the Amiga version and can chime in as to how the music/
the sound compares? I always thought there were some miracles done with the SID chip.
I remember, when I got my first PC and hunted down the cardboard packaged RPG Archives
and was in highest anticipation about the first time playing Bard's Tale on PC. And then...
PC-Speaker!

Google BT soundfiles or look in youtube for the music. I have downloaded all the amiga soundfiles from BT2 some 7 years ago, because i wanted to play the temple healing music (Heal Chant) if i open the terminal. I think that the music for the Amiga version is comparable to the Apple IIGS, but i can't swear on it because it is too long ago that i played the Amiga version. Bardstale.brotherhood.de has also the soundfiles from different versions, but not for Amiga.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

I don't care about the graphics, I just want to know if it still has the horrendous health/mp refilling and saving mechanics of the original.

 

[Sacibengala]

Anybody got the email about the keys?

 

[Bohr]

Anybody got the email about the keys?

A few lucky backers have it seems