Bard's Tale The Bard's Tale IV Pre-Release Thread [RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Infinitron]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/04/19/the-bards-tale-4-aims-to-put-a-modern-touch-on-a-classic-rpg

THE BARD'S TALE 4 AIMS TO PUT A MODERN TOUCH ON A CLASSIC RPG

Not many realize it, but it’s true: The Bard’s Tale is one of the oldest franchises in gaming history. The dark-humor adventure/RPG began as a 1985 Apple II title under the direction of Michael Cranford with help from Brian Fargo, and Fargo has carried the torch ever since. In fact, the series has more or less returned from the dead twice: first as a hack-and-slash action-RPG for PS2 and Xbox in 2004, and then again for PC via Kickstarter in 2015 for The Bard’s Tale 4.

That Kickstarter was successful, and now The Bard’s Tale 4 is coming along quite nicely. I got a chance to play a brief alpha demo build, which showcased the Unreal Engine 4-powered visuals (a far cry from the Apple II’s sprites!) and a bit of its humor, but paid particular attention to the combat system. It’s structured similar to a turn-based tactical RPG, with a grid dictating which spaces your three party members can move to and attack from.

Naturally, certain attacks have different ranges, so you’ll need to shuffle your heroes around to put them in position to do damage and in position to avoid it. It took me a battle or two to get the hang of it, but before long I was casting spells with my mage before moving her to the back of the grid, and stepping into the face of my foes with my fighter’s two-squares-straight-ahead axe attack while using one turn to power up my third character’s spells. Bad guys come in waves, meaning a battle isn’t necessarily over nearly as soon as you might’ve thought. They’ll also cause bleeding damage with their arrows, which led me to hide my wounded in the back of the party, where I could administer to their injuries.

But Bard’s Tale 4’s combat isn’t its only trick. It’s also got environmental puzzles – there’s one in the alpha demo I played where I had to combine gears together in the right way in order to unlock a door, and it’s the very first thing you come to – and it teases its humor, too. I came to a guy with a knife stuck through his eye who needs help extracting the blade. Hilarity ensues.

For now, The Bard’s Tale 4’s release date is still a semi-vague “2018,” but from the gameplay demo I played, it would seem like Kickstarter backers’ money is being put to good use. I’m eager to see a more fleshed out version of the whole thing, including and especially the series’ trademark dark humor.

 

[Jimmious]

I dunno what the consencus is but I get a nice "fairy tale" vibe from what I see so far and I appreciate that

 

[Ninjerk]

No joke, I got new slot machine vibe from the alpha combat video from a week or two ago (I think it's the same vid as in Infinitron's post).

 

[Infinitron]

Newsweek? lol. http://www.newsweek.com/bards-tale-4-iv-preview-hands-interview-899807

‘THE BARD’S TALE IV’ IS ALL ABOUT THE PARTY (BOOZE INCLUDED)

I have a soft spot for bards. I’m a writer, after all, and anyone who writes likely gravitates to the romanticized notion of a teller of tales roaming the countryside bearing the news and drama surrounding the heroes of the day. But bards don’t always get their due in modern RPGs. Rarely is bard even a playable class, instead tending to be spammy, singing NPCs.

Not so with The Bard’s Tale IV , the successful Kickstarter project from inXile Entertainment that resurrects the dormant RPG franchise. It’s been 30 years since the last entry, 1988’s The Bard’s Tale III: Thief of Fate, but Creative Director David Rogers told Player.One those old classics still embody what’s best about the series.

“We looked at the core pillars. You like building that party of adventurers, customizing them and making them your own. You get to iterate,” he said. “Over the course of the game you build your perfect party.”

That party includes up to six characters pulled from familiar RPG classes like fighters and mages, in addition to the titular bards. My hands-on party included a bard who provided some damage and defense buffs. And drank. A lot. Booze fuels the special moves for bards, similar to the way mana potions might fuel magic.

Rogers explained the silly tone and humor help define what makes The Bard’s Tale IV more than your standard dungeon crawler, although those elements are there too. It’s very much the “if it ain’t broke” approach of giving fans the adventure they expect. There’s magical, quest-giving creatures and near-miss death traps and deep strategic combat that’s ripe for tinkering.

“Those are just good, old-fashioned fun,” he said. “So you don’t mess with it too much.”

But The Bard’s Tale IV messes with it a little bit by inserting puzzles practically everywhere. There’s the usual puzzles on locked doors and chests, but it goes much further. Even your special weapons are puzzles.

“We build puzzles into everything. If you love puzzle games, you're gonna love exploring. And if you love puzzle games, you're gonna love combat, because it’s also a puzzle,” said Rogers.

I encountered a few during my hands-on and was pleasantly surprised by the degree of difficulty. The first I encountered was a lock on a gate that hit a sweet spot of being just hard enough randomly clicking around wouldn’t solve it, but just simple enough that it only took a few moments of quiet contemplation to understand.

Rogers admits that it’s difficult to make good puzzles. Make them too easy and players get bored fast because there’s no challenge. He said he wants players to feel responsive towards puzzles, to engage with enthusiasm each time.

“If you err too cautiously, a puzzle isn't interesting,” he said.

And so while The Bard’s Tale IV incorporates a fair amount of difficult puzzles to keep the challenge high, it also builds in a few methods for giving clues. There’s the “magic mouth,” talking statues that offer clues for nearby puzzles. Your party members can help by telling you to pay attention to a particular detail or reminding you about an item in your inventory. He emphasized this new version is built off the old games and a lot of things still translate.

“That old map you made on graph paper, if you break that out you'll be able to find your way around. We held true to some really important things,” he said. “If you liked the old Bard's Tale, you get to go back to all these old places and see what's happened to them in the past 100 years.”

Rogers stressed that the goal was to make something accessible to all players, because the team at inXile strongly believes in the universal appeal of this RPG franchise. I am among the many RPG fans who don’t know much about the Bard’s Tale franchise, but I enjoyed my hands-on. Everything felt right. The NPCs had solid voice acting, there were neat puzzles all over the place and the combat satisfied the side of me that’s sunk hundreds of hours into games like XCOM.

“It's like a Shrek movie. There's jokes for everyone, and some jokes for people in the know that don't make the movie less enjoyable,” Rogers said. “The core pillars of what made old fans fall in love the first time are still relevant.”

New fans will get the chance to fall in love the first time when The Bard’s Tale IVreleases later this year. An alpha is currently available on Steam for some Kickstarter backers. You can get an extended look at the combat below, or check out the gameplay trailer at the top of this article.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

Holy cow, Newsweek still exists??? Is Fargo making a mobile version? He really seems to be trying to market this to a super casual audience. Who knows, it may even be a good business decision.

We may mock this Newsweek piece, but I only heard about Fallout because some PR guy at Interplay arranged for an article in a very mainstream paper—I forget if it was a local rag or a national one—about this upcoming RPG where your greatest fear would be mutants with rocket launchers, not orcs and dark magic. And I only saw that article because my dad, who at that point had never played a computer game other than solitaire in his life, read the story and brought it home from work. So going after a mass audience has worked for Fargo before, at least anecdotally.

Incidentally, I will give some potato to anyone who can find this article; pretty sure it had a picture of a super mutant with the text. Would’ve been in a greater NYC metro area local publication or the NYT, WSJ, WaPo, or maaaybe USA Today; definitely not a gaming magazine. Probably from early ‘97 or late ‘96.

 

[aweigh]

It's like a Shrek movie

 

[Grauken]

Ogre player race confirmed?

 

[Shackleton]

It's like a Shrek movie

What? You mean you didn't play the original Bard's Tale thinking "I wish this was more like XCom crossed with Shrek?"

 

[Grauken]

Rogers explained the silly tone and humor help define what makes The Bard’s Tale IV more than your standard dungeon crawler

And if you love puzzle games, you're gonna love combat, because it’s also a puzzle,” said Rogers.

 

[Dorateen]

But bards don’t always get their due in modern RPGs. Rarely is bard even a playable class, instead tending to be spammy, singing NPCs.

Should play a bard in Grimoire.

 

[MicoSelva]

The game now has both Steam and GOG shop pages.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/566090/The_Bards_Tale_IV_Barrows_Deep/

https://af.gog.com/news/coming_soon_bards_tale_iv_barrows_deep?as=1649904300

 

[Bara]

From the store page description

Choose Your Companions
Start your party with a single adventurer. Recruit new heroes to bolster your ranks. Level up and customize their skills and gear. Build a party that suits your unique play style!

Wish it was full party creation at the start but oh well, what I'm more worried about is if these new recruits are pre-gens that just let us customize their skills instead of blank slates for total customization.

 

[Dorateen]

Also from the store page, right above.

Craft Your Characters
Create your own characters and play as a Bard, Fighter, Practitioner or Rogue. Specialize your choice in 4-6 different subclasses. Choose one of seven cultures to build an array of characters which make each playthrough an unique experience.

It's probable that both options will be available. In fact, I never would have given it a second thought until someone linked the apparent Wasteland 3 system with Bard's Tale, and started that whole kerfuffle.

 

[Zombra]

Wish it was full party creation at the start but oh well, what I'm more worried about is if these new recruits are pre-gens that just let us customize their skills instead of blank slates for total customization.

At last count it was said that the party will have room for five created PCs plus one pregen companion. The prevailing theory is that they're doing the "start with one" thing because casual players got turned off by having to create their whole party at once in Wasteland 2 ... having them create their party one at a time is less intimidating.

Ninjad

 

[Bara]

Whoops didn't pay attention to the plural in characters there, thanks folks.

 

[fantadomat]

Is this going to come out?

 

[Father Foreskin]

Certainly, but out of what?

 

[V_K]

How's that even a question? Ur mum's ass of course.

 

[Father Foreskin]

Well atleast i can get it for free then

 

[Curratum]

I preordered the day I saw they were putting in grid-based movement. Free-movement blobbers never clicked for me, I'm a sucker for the grid. Hope it turns out to be allright.

 

[LESS T_T]

No Techland. They go back to Deep Silver that is now under the new owner, THQ Nordic: http://news.cision.com/thq-nordic-a...n-q1--ebit-increased-236--to-sek-107,c2521573

We got off to a great start together with the Deep Silver release of Kingdom Come Deliverance. I’m also happy to inform that Deep Silver will be publishing the upcoming RPG’s Wasteland 3 and Bards Tale IV. Both games are developed by InXile, a California-based studio founded by the industry legend Brian Fargo.

 

[Infinitron]

And Wasteland 3 too. There was definitely some behind-the-scenes drama there with Techland.

 

[LESS T_T]

Yeah, also with that BT4 domain registered by Techland.

 

[Hobo Elf]

THQ Nordic seems to be a pretty solid publisher so far so this is good news.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/the-bards-tale-iv/posts/2188974

The Bard Takes Some Questions!

TL; DR: Storefront news, Q&A, GDC Highlights, Bard's Tale Trilogy remasters update

Hi everyone, Paul here with the latest backer update! Hope you've been well! David, Jeff, and the team are taking in all the alpha feedback from backers and incorporating elements of it into our production, so a discussion of that feedback and our Wizard class preview will have to wait for next go-around. For now, though, something equally special: we have a pretty big update ranging across the entire history of The Bard's Tale! We've got a Q&A with The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep dev team based on questions from our forums, a look back at GDC (including some press coverage that you might have missed), and finally some big news regarding the remastered Bard's Tale Trilogy! There's a ton here so strap in and let's begin!

Making A Wishlist
Before we get to the Q&A, there is one big "we're getting close" milestone that we wanted to share with you: the store pages for The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep are live on both Steam and GOG!


The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep on Steam


And on GOG too!

Although our backers are already getting copies of the game, we ask that you please take a moment to "wishlist" the game for yourself (and encourage a friend to do so, too)! This helps with both sites' algorithms and increases the game's general visibility. Your support is a huge help for us as an indie studio, and we appreciate the assist.

Q&A with the Dev Team!
Thanks to everyone who sent questions our way! We obviously couldn't answer every single one, but don't fret if yours isn't here – we'll be answering more in the next backer update! If there's a question that you would like answered, please feel free to ask it in the comments section below! What follows is a dive into some of the more specific gameplay mechanics, so we hope you enjoy it!

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: How many of BT4's monsters are from the originals or are directly based on the portraits from the originals?

A: For rank and file enemies, many of them were built to fit the current culture and story of this Bard's Tale. About a third of the monsters are from the original games, and the remaining are new, with most inspired by Scottish folklore and mythology (we covered some of them in a previous update). Some of our old major bosses are coming back as well. And no, we won't be fighting Nazis (sorry, Bard's Tale III fans), but a couple of fan favorites like Herb and the 99 Berserkers make a return!

Q: Does BT4 have time-sensitive puzzles? If so, do they take place in real-time or turn-based mode?

A: There are no Shadow Snare puzzles like in The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight - something which requires a real-time solution or you fail (and, in the case of the Shadow Snare, your party dies). While it was certainly an unique feature back in the day, it was a bit too punishing and there are other ways to challenge the player and provide that fun gaming tension.

Q: How many of BT4's bard songs are from the originals or are directly based on the songs from the originals?

A: The vast majority are songs from the original games. Out of the nine magical bard songs that the bard has access to, only the Song of Compulsory Cavorting is brand new. We took the core of what the songs did, or the role it played in the originals, and updated it to fit our combat & exploration systems. They even sound like the old bard songs.

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: Will it be possible to permanently recruit monsters from random encounters?

A: While you will not be able to dominate enemies and have them join your ranks, you will be able to summon and keep a variety of monsters in your party.

Q: Will the player be able to fully customize their main character (class, race, gender, etc.), or will there be pre-defined settings (you're always a bard, you're always human, etc.)?

A: Yes, any character you create can be fully customized. You can pick your class, culture, portrait, and even your voice.

Q: Do enemies level scale in BT4?

A: Like the original, enemies don't scale. We set the level and difficulty of the enemy when we place them in the world. So you could come back to an older area and wreck shop because you're much higher level, or you could go into a higher level area and get your face stomped.

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.

Q: Are all the conversations fully voiced acted?

A: They sure are!

GDC 2018 Highlights
If you follow us on social media, then you'll know that The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep had a great reception at this year's GDC, something we were very excited and grateful about. It was warmly received by the crowds there, we had a few VIPs stop by, and of course a number of fans and backers stopped by to say hi and chat about the game with David and Jeff! Here are a few pictures from the event.

The Bard Draws A Crowd

The team had good crowds for all three days of the expo! Jeff, David, and Art Director Maxx Kaufman all had their hands full getting as many folks access to the demo as possible.

The Bard's Tale IV Creative Director David Rogers with Bard's Tale series creator Michael Cranford

A highlight was when Michael Cranford swung by to get his first look at the game in a while. He had a great time checking out the demo, and when I spoke with him later that day, he was absolutely thrilled with how the game was coming along and had developed since his last check-in with it. That kind of affirmation was really awesome, especially coming on Day One of the expo.

Kurt Heiden (pictured left) also stopped by!

Another series vet also stopped by. Kurt Heiden was the audio point person on Bard's Tale II and Bard's Tale III. Barrows Deep marks a return for Kurt, as well. He arranged/composed some of the Ability and Exploration Bard tunes that you will be using in the game!

In case you missed it, here is some of the press coverage from that week:

• Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/03/hands-on-with-bards-tale-4-the-first-proper-series-entry-in-30-years/
• Game Informer: http://www.gameinformer.com/games/t...awler-returns-with-new-dgc-sensibilities.aspx
• Gamespot: https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/25-coolest-upcoming-games-you-probably-havent-hear/2900-1917/5/
• Hardcore Gamer: https://www.hardcoregamer.com/2018/04/02/the-bard-is-ready-to-tell-a-new-tale-in-barrows-deep/295182/
• Kotaku: https://kotaku.com/bards-tale-ivs-special-weapons-are-also-puzzles-1823988857
• PC Gamer: https://www.pcgamer.com/booze-makes-you-a-better-wizard-in-the-bards-tale-4s-great-rpg-combat/

For long-time series fans (or backers curious about The Bard's Tale IV's roots), GDC also hosted a Classic Game Post-Mortem on The Bard's Tale and The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight, featuring series creator Michael Cranford. Courtesy of GDC Vault, you can watch that talk here. It's well worth a look.

That's It for Now
Paul here again to wrap things up. Thanks to Lindsay and Krome for this quick look at the original trilogy remasters. Right now, the plan is to complete work on the first Bard's Tale game and then release that to all of you to play while work continues on the next two games. We're hoping to have that for you this summer. Once work has completed on the other two games, the entire remastered trilogy will be made available to you via your CrowdOx rewards. This project is our way of delivering an extra thank you to all of you who backed The Bard's Tale IV, our other crowdfunding projects, and our other games through the years. We're grateful to have you as fans and we're excited to bring you The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep later this year!

Until Next Time,
Paul Marzagalli
Public Relations & Community Manager
@phimseto

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