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

[VonVentrue]

Now that he's expanded upon the (formerly incomprehensive and rage-inducing) Hearthstone comparison, it doesn't sound THAT bad.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

Many skills will have direct counters that will allow you to turn the tides in your favor based on your character choices and party make-up.

Hard counters confirmed.
So we laughed hard that inXile has read thread about Sawyer destroying the fun, when they quoted it during combat vote, but it turns out they may really did read it

 

[Lady_Error]

The "best of both worlds" sounds pretty much like being able to switch between step-based and free movement. I liked it when it was done in Realms of Arkania.

 

[Metro]

Non-grid-based blobber confirmed?

 

[Crooked Bee]

Major

 

[thesheeep]

Not another "Dance Dance Revolution - Fantasy Edition"?
Count me in!

 

[mindx2]

Major

Bee, as much as I love me some grid-based blobbing, I wouldn't mind a BT that evolved into a MM6 or 7 like game. I have very fond memories of those even though at first I was all learning it wouldn't be like my beloved WoX but you'd be able to move around like those flipping FPS thingies (at least that's how I viewed it back then... ).

 

[Infinitron]

It's the right thing to do. They don't want to be categorized as a Grimrock clone. If you're going to Kickstarter, you have to deliver something unique, and if you want big bucks you have to promise a large scope experience that doesn't come across as "limited".

 

[Crooked Bee]

Perhaps, but now I don't care about this game anymore.

 

[Infinitron]

Perhaps, but now I don't care about this game anymore.

That bad, huh? I thought you liked all first person RPGs.

I think there are more important things you'd need to learn about this game before making a decision about it, like whether it's even going to be a puzzly dungeon crawler, whether grid or non-grid.

 

[ArchAngel]

That sounded good and his HS explanation was exactly what I envisioned first time he mentioned it.

 

[Crooked Bee]

That bad, huh? I thought you liked all first person RPGs.

Yeah, I was looking forward to a proper, mid budget, turn- and grid-based Wizardry clone from a Western dev for a long time, and this was the only chance of getting it. (MMX isn't quite the same subgenre.) I know this kind of expectation is very very niche, but still. No point in making a Bard's Tale IV if it isn't going to be anything like BT. Call it Brian Fargo's Hearthstone Tale or something instead. Or, maybe there is a point marketing-wise, but it pisses me off all the same.

This game is DEAD to me. >.<

(Finally found a game to dedicatedly hate, yay!)

 

[Infinitron]

That bad, huh? I thought you liked all first person RPGs.

Yeah, I was looking forward to a proper, mid budget, turn- and grid-based Wizardry clone from a Western dev for a long time, and this was the only chance of getting it. (MMX isn't quite the same subgenre.) I know this kind of expectation is very very niche, but still. No point in making a Bard's Tale IV if it isn't going to be anything like BT. Call it Brian Fargo's Hearthstone Tale or something instead. Or, maybe there is a point marketing-wise, but it pisses me off all the same.

This game is DEAD to me. >.<

(Finally found a game to dedicatedly hate, yay!)

Well, maybe it'll have an optional grid like Lady Error suggested

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-27-channeling-xcom-porting-wasteland-2-to-ps4-and-xbox-one

And then there's a small team working on The Bard's Tale 4, a game Fargo announced on Twitter back in January, much to my surprise, an incredible 27 years after the release of The Bards Tale 3.

The Bard's Tale began life in 1985, with Interplay's Tales of the Unknown: Volume One. The Bard's Tale 2: The Destiny Knight followed in 1986, before The Bard's Tale 3: Thief of Fate came out in 1988. If nothing else, with Wasteland 2 and The Bard's Tale 4 Fargo is keeping '80s gaming franchises alive and kicking.

"It's going to be a proper sequel to the original," Fargo says, without giving much away.

"We felt a little cheeky and we did that comedy version in 2004, and we cracked ourselves up with it. But we recognise people wanted a true sequel. And they wanted that classic dungeon crawl. I think Bard's Tale is probably as close to my heart as any game as I've ever done before. And I love this style of game."

Then some good old-fashioned Fargo hype: "I think where people will hopefully be pleasantly surprised, is just how ambitious it is. From a graphical perspective, from a musical perspective, it's going to be bigger and bolder than what people are thinking it will be."

Chris Keenan is similarly enthusiastic, but a tad more reserved.

"There's a lot of room for improvement in that genre," he says. "They aren't going to be the huge, five million sellers, so they've kind of been a little bit lost in time. There's not a big swathe of them that come out. You've had your Might & Magic 10s and your Grimrocks, but there's certainly a lot of creative freedom we can take on it."

InXile, having enjoyed success on Kickstarter with Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera, is hoping for a crowdfunded hattrick with a Kickstarter for The Bard's Tale 4, due to go live this summer.

I'm a little concerned. Kickstarter is in a very different place now than it was when inXile and Double Fine and all the others were raising millions a day back in 2012. At least, that's the perception. But Fargo reckons Kickstarter is still great for developers who deliver, who gamers trust.

"When I announced The Bard's Tale 4 I had more interest and people tweeting me, shut up and take my money, than I ever did on the other two," he says.

"Ultimately, on Kickstarter, going out and begging for money is not the way. Are they excited about product, and do they think you can deliver it? If you have those two things, you can continue to have success."

Fargo won't tell me anything substantial about his plans for The Bard's Tale 4, but I do know he'll dip into its development, as he did with Wasteland 2 and as he's doing with Torment. "On The Bard's Tale 4 I'm hand-picking the musicians," he says. "I've already had one of the songs written and I'm having it translated.

"I'm always involved in every level, but I'm more of a producer than a designer. My job is to get everybody thinking right and hitting the right sensibilities and making a product no one person could ever do."

 

[ArchAngel]

Well I stopped my 2 week rant on WL2 forums due to deciding I will trust that Fargo knows what he is doing.
So after reading that all I can say is: Shut and and take my money!

 

[TheGreatOne]

I know it's not happening but another game like Wiz 8 could be cool

Not another "Dance Dance Revolution - Fantasy Edition"?
Count me in!

That's not how grid based TB blobbers work, Grimrock babby

 

[thesheeep]

Not another "Dance Dance Revolution - Fantasy Edition"?
Count me in!

That's not how grid based TB blobbers work, Grimrock babby

I didn't claim it does. Grimrock is not even TB, or is it?

But anyway, a grid based system has the potential of becoming such a dance feast.
There are other examples, of course. Games in which there is a grid, but not for movement, just for combat, with party positioning, etc.
Something like that would be cool, but for the moment I am just glad it is definitely no dancing

 

[TheGreatOne]

Well the whole circling around the enemy by constantly jumping from one grid to another is a problem of RT games

 

[Decado]

Major

Bee, as much as I love me some grid-based blobbing, I wouldn't mind a BT that evolved into a MM6 or 7 like game. I have very fond memories of those even though at first I was all learning it wouldn't be like my beloved WoX but you'd be able to move around like those flipping FPS thingies (at least that's how I viewed it back then... ).

Me neither. I wouldn't mind an FPS style ala Morrowind with a party of six or whatever, that could fun/fucking crazy. We're a couple of years into this nostalgia craze and I am as grateful as anyone for it, but I also understand Fargo and company wanting to stretch their legs a little bit. I'm not going to be super pissed if the dungeons aren't grid based provided the dungeons are still brutally difficult (a hallmark of the series, imo).

 

[Dorateen]

I admire Bee's integrity and holding inXile to such expectations.

What I could envision happening is Bard's Tale IV deviates from the original formula, and Fargo gets a pass (justified or not). But meanwhile Seven Dragon Saga took a lot of heat for not looking like the Gold Box games.

 

[Metro]

Perhaps, but now I don't care about this game anymore.

I wouldn't say I don't care but it went from me absolutely KS'ing to now requiring them to make a pretty good pitch convincing me what they're making is actually a Bard's Tale game.

 

[octavius]

How do you make a Bard's Tale game while at the same time making sure it's not a Bard's Tale game?
After all, Bard's Tale's gameplay was mostly step based mapping challenge and endless phased abstract combat, and I just can't see that in a modern game. So will it be another game using an old name to entice the oldfags, but the game itself being changed beyond recognition to make it sellable to the millions of console- and Steam-tards?

 

[ArchAngel]

I admire Bee's integrity and holding inXile to such expectations.

What I could envision happening is Bard's Tale IV deviates from the original formula, and Fargo gets a pass (justified or not). But meanwhile Seven Dragon Saga took a lot of heat for not looking like the Gold Box games.

It took more heat for having a crappy KS campaign.

 

[Zombra]

You know, I'm kind of not buying this grid-based betrayal business. I understand the attachment to the familiar, but I thought about it and realized this: at the time when I was playing the original Bard's Tale, if a friend had asked me what I liked about it, I would not have said, "It's awesome! You see everything from the perspective of your party; it's like you're actually walking around in the dungeons and towns. And the best part is that you can only make 90° turns!" Gridlock was something that happened in Bard's Tale, but I don't think it really qualifies as core to the concept or the series. One zebra's opinion.

 

[Wizfall]

I love both Wiz7 and Wiz8.
And i find Wiz8 extremely faithful to Wiz7.
In fact free movement or grid based i almost did not any difference in the gameplay.
Only thing that changed is that you could see enemies roaming in Wiz8 and not popping from nowhere just in front of you (but that is not related to the "free movement", some grid based game used the same spawn system like MMX).
I can understand in some extent the butthurt of people liking better a grid based system but it's crazy to tell it does change everything and that will not be a true BT game..