Game News The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep Released

[Valky]

The Bard's Tale IV has probably been ignored by most Codexers, who have never been huge fans of the blobber genre even in the best of circumstances

Eat a dick, blobbers are great.

edit: But possibly not this one.
edit2: The blobber, not the dick.

 

[Grauken]

I don't think I could stand the weeb visuals, personally haha. I thought I could get through them with Mary Skelter, but it was impossible for me.

I have plenty of games to play, but I hope that BT4 doesn't bomb totally, because I would like to see BT2 and BT3 remasters finished.

Well, at least you tried. While the remasters are nice in bringing new people in, I actually wish Heineman would release whatever alpha or beta of the BT3 apple 2gs version existed

 

[Grampy_Bone]

inXile needs some crackerjack programmers.

 

[Roqua]

When I got home what I figured would happen was happening with a campaign by hipster posers trying to Troika this game. Nearly 15 years later, same exact shit by the same exact type of retard on the same exact rpg sites still pretending they like crpgs while hating there dare be a non super-indie dev making real crpgs and not the hipster tripe and console shit they love.

 

[Electryon]

When they finally work out the kinks of isometric games (compare the graphics and performance of W2 and ToN) they decide to throw away their hard-earned experience to invest on a wanna be awesum graphics game. Seriously, who do they think they are fooling? This is not a BT's sequel, it's another attempt to dump the oldschool crowd for a broader audience. This is Brian Fargo with his delusions of grandeur doing a fuck up. Again. Not surprisingly, it's failing.

It's worth pointing out that no matter what it was sold as, this is NOT an awesome graphics game. I can understand why people think that based on the early trailers, and what was promised, but trust me, once you fire it up, you will quickly be dispelled of that illusion. And the cherry on top is that is still runs like absolute shit.

 

[Invictus]

This is so unfair for Fargo and Co, the game looks very good, the combat is a breath of fresh air for the genre, puzzles, good cartoony graphics and they get slapped in the face because of shitty performace? What game nowadays doesn’t have performace issues as launch?
Add to that the angsty “hey this is not Bard’s Tale lets burn the bitch” crowd and you get started with the wrong foot our the door exactly when you needed some excitement and sales
I will be buying mine on Friday’s payday at least

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

It's not like you don't have choices, Labyrinth of Refrain just came out on Steam, if you can stand weeb visuals

sorry cant stand weeb shit. I just don't get it, and its too bad because some of the games look good, but the weeb just completely destroys it. Its like dating a hot girl and then she takes her clothes off and reveals an enormous untamed bush growing nearly up to her belly button and part way down her legs...instant dick limp.

I can't understand why the Japanese like little children being their protagonists with giant eyes and stupid looks on their face. What is stranger is often the world and the other creatures besides the humans look good and normal, then they have these weird little kids and underage girls walking around in catholic school skirts and they look pasted on and often don't even fit thematically with the rest of the art.

Fucking triggers the shit out of me if you can't tell. I understand even less why americans would like this shit. Weeb absolutely Ruins everything it comes in contact with.

 

[Theldaran]

Untamed bush is great

 

[Sirbolt]

Played it for about two hours yesterday. Performance is horrible, and I can't really fathom why.

Some stuff rubbed me the wrong way though;
*No stat-bonus at level up?
*Weapons\armours are stat-boosters only. No differences between them except +2 Strength or whatever. Wierd stuff such as a double-handed sword that gives Intelligence +4.
*No random rolls in combat...

 

[Jinn]

*No stat-bonus at level up?

Yeah, kinda sucks. You can increase your attributes with skill points, however.

Weapons\armours are stat-boosters only.

Actually, some equipment grants you special skills you can use in battle as well as the normal attribute adjustments.

*No random rolls in combat...

While I understand what you mean, there are rolls at least to a small extent in the form of critical hits. Crits have a percentage to land.

 

[Zeriel]

All those negative Steam reviews, damn. They really should've taken some extra time to fix the performance.

Implying it can be fixed. Usually in such cases it can't.

 

[Infinitron]

All those negative Steam reviews, damn. They really should've taken some extra time to fix the performance.

Implying it can be fixed. Usually in such cases it can't.

They mean to try: https://steamcommunity.com/games/566090/announcements/detail/1685925928806603042

The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep Patch Road Map
19 SEPTEMBER - PAUL_INXILE

Hello everyone!

First of all, thank you for your patience and for your ongoing support. We are here to update you on the short-term road map for The Bard’s Tale IV so you can get a sense of what’s coming. We had a few more problems during yesterday’s release then we had hoped for, and we apologize for the inconvenience. We will try hard to solve all of your issues as fast as we can.

One of the biggest concerns has been the delay in delivering the final keys of the game. Both our partners Crowdox and Xsolla faced a situation where these were not distributed as planned and it took them some time to sort it out. Our partners have assured us that all remaining issues should be resolved by today.

We are also aware that some people are experiencing problems with dropping framerates, missing widescreen support, FOV sliders, or unusual high loading times between certain areas. In addition, a small amount of people are encountering a black screen on load. Thank you for all the feedback you have been provided so far, and we want to make sure you see what we are doing with it. Please take a look at our patch notes below for detailed information.

We are working around the clock to solve these issues as soon as possible. Also, we would like to ask you to let us know if there are any other issues that influence your personal gaming experience in a negative way. We have spent a lot of love, time and effort into the development of The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep, and there is no bigger reward for us than if you are enjoying it.

The team at inXile


Patch notes:

Spoiler

Patch 1 – Est. Friday 9/21

• We’re starting initial work on improving load times to help people playing on non-SSD hard drives. There is more work to be done but it’s a big focus of ours in the near future
  
• Initial work on optimization and framerate improvements.
  
• Auto-detection of hardware and adjustment of quality settings on initial load of the game. While there is currently auto-detection in the options menu, it wasn’t happening automatically. The game defaults to Ultra settings which is likely causing FPS issues for those without high end hardware.
  
• FOV adjustment slider.
  
• Fixing wide-screen monitor support. This is part one of a two part plan.
  
• First is getting the resolution settings working as intended followed by an art pass on the UI elements in patch 2.
  
• Fixes for a few side quests that weren’t triggering as intended
  
• Fix to puzzle weapons where if a puzzle is solved on the weapon while it’s equipped by a player, it will result in the puzzle reverting it’s state to unsolved. As a workaround now, it can be solved in the inventory perfectly fine.
  
• Optimization to Kaels Rudiment that dropped framerate while in combat
  
• Fix in Magnar’s Tower where a lever can be spammed in the shadow combat room that makes a bell hint unreadable
  
• Fix for a softlock if a tutorial pops up when a player reads a note
  
• Falkentyne’s Fury will no longer persist on the players party team after a combat has ended.
  
• Fix where the Strifespear’s abilities don’t play nicely with the Vanguard skill
  
• Update to the save system that will allow players to delete saves as needed.
  
• Fix for a bug where killing Charn Cultists with Falkentynes Fury, which would result in a soft lock.
  
• Fix for spellpoints not updating correctly on the stat sheet when gear is equipped and unequipped.
  
• Fix where in rare instances, activating a standing stone of gratitude before going into a combat can result in a soft lock
  
• Fix for a duping item issue by replacing a non-stackable trinket with a stackable one.
  
• Fix so MACO compass can’t be spammed outside of combat, allowing for a stacked stun chance.
  
• Fix where pausing the game during a cutscene after killing Yadis can cause the game to enter an unresponsive state.
  
• Fix for the wraith where it shows 3 mana before summoning but actually costs 4 mana.
  
• Other smaller fixes

Patch 2 – Est. Friday 9/28

• Continued improvements to load times
  
• Continued work on optimization and framerate. By this patch, we expect to have some solid improvements in place for some areas that have higher than expected hits to your GPU.
  
• Part 2 of wide-screen monitor support. Updating the full screen art and layout of UI elements like the quest text and mini-map to extend to the proper edges of the screen.
  
• Update to the save totem system and adding mini-map markers for where save totems are in the world.
  
• Updating and improving localization in all languages for noted issues and some awkward grammar
  
• Fixes to a variety of abilities to make their effects more clear.
  
• Balance pass to some weapons and abilities after gameplay feedback.
  
• Fix to masteries sometimes not saving their ordering when changing them in the mastery page.
  
• Fix to some sounds not playing in certain parts of the world and in some UI elements
  
• Fix to the party HUD staying open if you use a merchant while party HUD is up
  
• Fix for removing range diagrams from Songs of Exploration where unnecessary
  
• Fix for caltrops not firing off if summoned enemies enter their space
  
• Update to some text spacing and flyouts in combat for readability
  
• Update to map legends and mini-map to remove unnecessary items and improve readability
  
• Fix for health bars showing up in front of giants and some bosses
  
• Fix for some FaceFX issues on characters
  
• Fix for some models not displaying when inspected from the inventory
  
• Fix for some redundant text in the ability tool tips
  
• Fix for gold sense where it doesn’t turn when near a chest after it has been looted

Patch 3

• Additional Loading time improvements
  
• Additional game optimization and framerate improvements
  
• Addition of a Legacy Mode (hardcore mode with grid move, option to turn off mini-map, the A-Team, perma-death, auto-resurrect)
  
• Ability to speed up combat animations
  
• Inventory sorting
  
• Controller support
  
• Continued bug fixes and general improvements

 

[AMG]

*No random rolls in combat...

Somewhere in Poland, lukaszek just felt a sudden burst of happiness...

 

[Zeriel]

I mean, Might & Magic X patch notes said lots about performance improvements, but at the end of the day the game was still largely what it was at release. There's a world of difference between technical improvements you can put in your patch notes writeup, and getting it to the point where most people think the performance is good.

 

[Darkzone]

It's not like you don't have choices, Labyrinth of Refrain just came out on Steam, if you can stand weeb visuals

Thank you for showing us what i absolutely hate: School girls with colored lollipops in the arses are just for pedo weebs and jap pussy watchers with magnifying glasses.
Why don't they do some jRPG blobber on the base or like (including the art): Vagabond ? Or Cowboy Bebop as a 3d open world RPG ?

 

[CryptRat]

Why don't they do some jRPG blobber on the base or like (including the art): Vagabond ?

Inoue did the character design on Lost Odyssey.

 

[Theldaran]

It's not like you don't have choices, Labyrinth of Refrain just came out on Steam, if you can stand weeb visuals

Thank you for showing us what i absolutely hate: School girls with colored lollipops in the arses are just for pedo weebs and jap pussy watchers with magnifying glasses.
Why don't they do some jRPG blobber on the base or like (including the art): Vagabond ? Or Cowboy Bebop as a 3d open world RPG ?

Nobody even does anime like Cowboy Bebop anymore, so go figure.

That's probably because people can't handle "utsu" vibes - noir genre like CB.

 

[CyberWhale]

inXile needs some crackerjack programmers.

Nah, the game would still be unfinished and the release date would be moved to soon (2118).

 

[Darkzone]

Why don't they do some jRPG blobber on the base or like (including the art): Vagabond ?

Inoue did the character design on Lost Odyssey.

He should stick clearly to Vagabond, this magical steampunk is not his strong side. But i will not judge his work on this and neither the game, because i have not played it.

It's not like you don't have choices, Labyrinth of Refrain just came out on Steam, if you can stand weeb visuals

Thank you for showing us what i absolutely hate: School girls with colored lollipops in the arses are just for pedo weebs and jap pussy watchers with magnifying glasses.
Why don't they do some jRPG blobber on the base or like (including the art): Vagabond ? Or Cowboy Bebop as a 3d open world RPG ?

Nobody even does anime like Cowboy Bebop anymore, so go figure. That's probably because people can't handle "utsu" vibes - noir genre like CB.

And therefore they celebrate neo-noir CP77 (could be an exception in nihon)? People are stupid and don't know what they want and therefore instead of good things like CB we get the shit, like DB and OP.

 

[vorvek]

I played a bit yesterday and it didn't run like shit. It's not like my graphics card is monstruous (1070 non Ti), but never experienced noticeable drops. Character system looked like shit, models were awful, and NPCs had that early 2000s MMO vibe where everybody is staring somewhere near the horizon, even when they are talking to you.

On the other hand, even if it played at 15fps, that's like 15fps higher than the original trilogy.

 

[Grauken]

It's not like you don't have choices, Labyrinth of Refrain just came out on Steam, if you can stand weeb visuals

Thank you for showing us what i absolutely hate: School girls with colored lollipops in the arses are just for pedo weebs and jap pussy watchers with magnifying glasses.
Why don't they do some jRPG blobber on the base or like (including the art): Vagabond ? Or Cowboy Bebop as a 3d open world RPG ?

Well, I would have preferred something like this

but I take what I can, and design-wise most of the Jap-blobbers are at least competent

 

[thesheeep]

Hey guys, I took a look at the Steam reviews and it seems there is a dumpsterfire going on, so I brought some sticks and Bratwurst.

 

[Achiman]

The Bard's Tale IV has probably been ignored by most Codexers, who have never been huge fans of the blobber genre even in the best of circumstances (except perhaps when they're created by madmen from Australia).

Cleve is not from Australia YOU TAKE THAT BACK!
He's only here until the race riots have sorted themselves out in Kwanistan.

 

[Decado]

The load times are fucking atrocious and I have a pretty high end rig. What the fuck, guys?

 

[Zeriel]

They don't even have the excuse of blaming Unity this time around, do they? It's Unreal 4.