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

[PeachPlumage]

I heard that Enhanced Edition i mean real Release version is coming out soon

Maybe the real "Enhanced Edition" will be completed by Trent Oster in a few years... :D

 

[Infinitron]

https://twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/604321654907371523

Brian Fargo‏@BrianFargo
I just had to share a photo of how awesome the limited Bard's Tale IV reliquary box came out.

mindx2 !!

 

[stony3k]

https://twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/604321654907371523

Brian Fargo‏@BrianFargo
I just had to share a photo of how awesome the limited Bard's Tale IV reliquary box came out.

mindx2 !

That does look awesome

 

[mindx2]

https://twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/604321654907371523

Brian Fargo‏@BrianFargo
I just had to share a photo of how awesome the limited Bard's Tale IV reliquary box came out.

mindx2 !!

Also, good to know I have everyone of those game boxes he has on his shelf...

 

[PeachPlumage]

Heh, I knew it wouldn't be long :D

 

[mindx2]

I wonder if the 2 types of game boxes (album and "big" box) will fit into it and if there are any other goodies feelies treasures inside?

 

[Brother None]

Also, good to know I have everyone of those game boxes he has on his shelf...

Well, the visible ones. Brian has some really unique titles on there, like Interplay software they did before Interplay was a truly dedicated video game developer.

I wonder if the 2 types of game boxes (album and "big" box) will fit into it and if there are any other goodies feelies treasures inside?

We posted our rewards here. I don't think the boxes will necessarily fit into each other no, they're pretty divergent form factors (album style is like the old-fashioned square like that BT1 box, the collector's edition is more like the oldschool late 90s big box).

 

[mindx2]

Also, good to know I have everyone of those game boxes he has on his shelf...

Well, the visible ones. Brian has some really unique titles on there, like Interplay software they did before Interplay was a truly dedicated video game developer.

Then help hook me up there Brother... talk to your boss and help me get these things archived properly!!! *

I wonder if the 2 types of game boxes (album and "big" box) will fit into it and if there are any other goodies feelies treasures inside?

We posted our rewards here. I don't think the boxes will necessarily fit into each other no, they're pretty divergent form factors (album style is like the old-fashioned square like that BT1 box, the collector's edition is more like the oldschool late 90s big box).

I've seen the rewards and even asked a question there that wasn't answered but was just wondering if the Reliquary box was big enough for them to fit snugly inside. If not and the box just contains what the Big Box edition does isn't that just a lot of wasted space...?


*

Spoiler

Spent enough on InXile games already... and still married.

 

[Ondoval]

Bard's tale, the game that make me a follower of the great RPG God.
The box will be mine !

 

[Burning Bridges]

https://twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/604321654907371523

Brian Fargo‏@BrianFargo
I just had to share a photo of how awesome the limited Bard's Tale IV reliquary box came out.

mindx2 !

That does look awesome

It's a box.

 

[Infinitron]

New press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Back The Bard’s Tale IV in the first 24 Hours
Receive FREE Copy of Wasteland 2, The Witcher or The Witcher 2

Newport Beach, CA – June 1, 2015 – With The Bard’s Tale IV Kickstarter launching on June 2nd, inXile Entertainment is proud to announce an unprecedented crowdfunding offer: anyone who backs The Bard’s Tale IV on Kickstarter in the first 24 hours of the campaign will receive a FREE copy of inXile’s Wasteland 2, CD Projekt’s The Witcher, or The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

Released to widespread critical acclaim in September 2014, Wasteland 2 is the riveting sequel to 1988's Wasteland, the classic RPG and grandfather of post-apocalyptic gaming. Set in a devastated and harsh alternate reality, Wasteland 2's version of Arizona is rife with dangers and threats, and as a Desert Ranger, players will help bring peace to the highly reactive world through force, diplomacy and skill. Wasteland 2 was made possible by the generous contributions of over 70,000 backers. The PC version will receive a free Game of the Year Edition update significantly improving the game in late summer of this year.

Based on the acclaimed novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings were released for PC platforms in 2007 and 2011 to critical and commercial success, with The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings gathering over 50 rewards ranging from Best Graphics, to Best Story, to Game of the Year. Furthermore, CD Projekt has shown the kind of dedication to fans that fits the crowdfunding model as well, as it has previously released Enhanced Editions of both games as free updates.

If you back The Bard’s Tale IV in the first 24 hours at any reward tier from $20 upwards, you will receive a choice for a copy of Wasteland 2, The Witcher or The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings once your pledge is collected at the end of the Kickstarter.

The Bard’s Tale IV Kickstarter will launch on June 2nd, 6 AM PST. inXile is looking to raise funds to revive the dungeon crawl, bringing you a single-player, party-based experience, rich with challenging dungeons filled with dynamic phase-based fights as well as devious puzzles and riddles.

“This is our way to show our gratitude to those who continue to support us,” says Brian Fargo, inXile CEO. “We’re also very happy to be working with our friends at CD Projekt, who have shown they understand the right way to treat your fans!”

Wasteland 2 copies available for Steam or GOG.com.

The Bard’s Tale IV Website: http://bardstale.inxile-entertainment.com/

All that sucking up to CD Projekt has paid off!

 

[DosBuster]

Seems like Fargo's been setting up one hell of a marketing show, looking forward to what else he has planned.

 

[Infinitron]

Made an important thread on the official BT4 forums: https://forums.inxile-entertainment.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=13047

What can Bard's Tale IV learn from classic post-Bard's Tale blobbers?

We know that the original Bard's Tale trilogy was largely taking off the initial Wizardry games by Robert Woodhead and Andrew Greenberg. It was a "Wizardry killer", Wizardry with better graphics.

But what about the games that came after the trilogy concluded? I don't mean the new blobbers of today like Grimrock and Might & Magic X. I mean DW Bradley's Wizardry games, Wizardry 8, all the NWC Might & Magics from 3 and up, and so on. Should Bard's Tale IV be inspired by these games in the same way that the original trilogy was inspired by Wizardry?

It seems there's been a lot of talk about the original Bard's Tale games, and some talk about the new games, but not as much about those that came in between - which is arguably the height of the genre.

 

[jagged-jimmy]

Mhh, worth it to back just for the gift copy of Wasteland 2

Spoiler

to trade for a good game

 

[Diablo169]

Guess i'll have a Wasteland 2 key to give away tomorrow, provided the Kickstarter pitch convinces me.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Guess i'll have a Wasteland 2 key to give away tomorrow, provided the Kickstarter pitch convinces me.

You'll at least have to wait for the ks campaign to end, which is when your credit card gets credited, so it's in a month and not tomorrow.

This hype is starting to scare me, I'm afraid I'll wake up and all the early bird slots will be gone.

 

[Alchemist]

6 AM PST launch - hmmm, I either need to get up early or stay up very late.

 

[himmy]

This hype is starting to scare me, I'm afraid I'll wake up and all the early bird slots will be gone.

I should start a collection of sentences that would have sounded crazy 3 years ago.

"I'm afraid there will be just too much interest in the follow-up to a 30 years old blobber series" should go straight up in there.

 

[Ivan]

Bros, not having played any of the games thus far, is this like Grimrock (dungeon crawl with a greater emphasis on puzzles)?

 

[Lady_Error]

Like Grimrock, except turn-based combat and NPC's, shops n' stuff.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

It's supposed to be Grimrock in form, but Baldur's Gate in spirit. This is how they'll advertise it, I'm sure.

 

[Zombra]

Bros, not having played any of the games thus far, is this like Grimrock (dungeon crawl with a greater emphasis on puzzles)?

Not having preconceptions from the original games may be a good thing, as Fargo has already hinted at a departure or two (such as a "camera pulled back" separate combat screen). The main thing he's been pushing is a super engaging phase-based combat system where the player has to react to enemy actions instead of just having his guys attack, attack, attack - e.g. a spellcaster starts warming up and you need to do an interrupt attack to stop him. He did mention puzzles in an interview as well so that will definitely be part of it. No idea how much emphasis there will be though.

Hopefully we'll get a clearer picture in about 8 hours

 

[DosBuster]

hang on, did infinitron just fucking brofist harvest from his own post?!

 

[Infinitron]

hang on, did infinitron just fucking brofist harvest from his own post?!

I do that all the time. But I wish people would actually respond to that post. For now there's just this:

https://forums.inxile-entertainment.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=12758&start=20#p151668

 

[Trip]

On those combat system quotes: I haven't played Hearthstone, but the way I understand the "phase-based" concept in analogy to card-games is more how Fantasy Flight's Living Card Games play, especially the "denser" ones like Call of Cthulhu and Game of Thrones. (And having skimmed Hearthstone's wiki, I see it follows a similar template).

The HS wiki makes a good analogy to depth-first search algorithm:

Basically, a phase is a tightly constrained set of actions, which you can't perform outside of that particular phase, unless a card effect specifically allows it. In the "Operations" phase in Call of Cthulhu, for example, you can place Characters and Support cards on the table, (and play Events), and that's it. In the "Story" phase you commit characters to stories and resolve them, (and play Events) and that's it. Etc.

In default turn-based systems every action is initiated by the player or the AI opponent

In phase-based systems there are also framework actions, a preordained order in which stuff happens irrespective of input - for example, in Call of Cthulhu, story struggles are resolved and accounted for in strict order, whether you committed a character to the particular story or not; also, in the Refresh phase, you choose a character to go from "Insane" to "Exhausted", whether you want to or not, - with players given opportunities at certain points to interject their own actions in response to the changing game state.

Also, both player actions and framework actions initiate a whole loop of nested dynamic responses after each mini-change in game-state within the action itself.

(For example, you can't do anything about refreshing an insane character, basically the game "does" it, you just move the relevant cards around. But the act of refreshing a character itself, as automatic as it is, could trigger a whole clusterfuck of effects if the game-state is arranged in a way that allows it. Most of the gameplay actually consists of how to set up the proper conditions for winning the game before the other player does it, and also get in their way while they do it.)


So yeah, quite a bit of difference from vanilla turn-based, though it's essentially (and necessarily) all "turn-based".