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Bard's Tale The Bard's Tale Trilogy - remaster by Krome Studios

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
https://steamcommunity.com/games/843260/announcements/detail/1593635108391686768

New Bard's Tale Trilogy Patch Released - v4.29

We're happy to announce a new patch for The Bard's Tale Trilogy is now available on both "default" and "beta" branches!
This is a primarily a bug-fix release, though there are also some gameplay changes. Please see the notes below for details.
Additionally, we've added some support for overriding the selected language.

Any issues, please let us know!

LANGUAGE SELECTION
There is now an option to override the selected language (the one set by the "Language" tab on the properties of the game in your Steam library).
If you launch the game with the "-lang=" commandline (without quotes) you can select English, French, German, Spanish, Polish or Russian language by adding the 2 letter code, ie
-lang=en
-lang=fr
-lang=de
-lang=es
-lang=pl
-lang=ru

Additionally - once this new build has been run for the first time, there will be a new file called "lang.txt" created on your PC, in the "%appdata%/../locallow/InXile Entertainment/The Bard's Tale Trilogy" folder on your PC.
If you edit this file, you will be able to then override which language the game is displayed in; following the directions found within the file.

GENERAL FIXES
  • Performance improvements throughout the game.
  • Stability improvements throughout the game.
  • Fix for performance issues when transferring characters from BT1 to BT2.
  • Identifying an item at Roscoe's now counts as "using" the service, for a variety of achievements.
  • Enable tooltips for legacy mode options on the main menu; even if you had disabled tooltips in-game.
  • Fix for some commands being able to be activated and inappropriate times, eg “view inventory” while in combat.
  • Lighting fixes for when inside Casinos.
  • Fix for some taverns using the incorrect animation on their window, in BT3.
  • A variety of language translation fixes.
  • The entrances to dungeons in BT2 now fade as you enter/exit, to make the transition nicer.
  • Removed ability to select equip/unequip when in battle, if there are no items in the inventory.
  • Fixed PartyAttack so that it can target non-controllable characters.
  • Fixed for cameos being able to get stuck at slightly wrong scale, when combat effects play.
  • Fixed gate opening issue in BT1 on reloading a save game.
  • Fixed issue where the treasure screen can get skipped by when pressing keys at the end of combat.
  • Fixed for bug where player map would be switched off if you exited to main menu while in the AG, and then loaded straight into a map, instead of back into the AG.
  • Added new purple textures for mountain walls to match the text description, for various levels in BT3.
  • Fix for town gates rendering incorrectly from various angles.
  • Fixed death snare timers from being able to be activated multiple times.
  • Fixes for some minor clipping issues in the various Wilderness terrains.
  • Fixes issues where AntiApar to other dungeon levels was working but shouldn't be.
  • Using the joystick/keyboard to select next/prev character while viewing character profiles will now wrap top <-> bottom.
  • Added carpet spell effect to “Major Levitation”
  • Fixed the teleport not fully fading out to black.
  • Fixed items getting lost when changing class in individual inventory Legacy mode.
GAMEPLAY CHANGES
  • Harmonic Staff effects are now persistent when in Legacy mode.
  • Changed Alliria's last ghost so that it only accepts the rainbow rose now. It was accepting white rose also before which allows you to skip a large part of the puzzle.
  • Added support for “something odd” tiles. These reduce detection of traps/special/secret doors to 1 square instead of 3 and has its own automap icon and journal legend.
  • Health and spell drain ticks faster and takes 5% of the players health/magic per tick (rather than fixed amount dependent on difficulty). Taking a percentage means it will balance across BT1 -> BT3 properly.
  • BT2 - swapped path clues 1 & 7 in destiny stone so 7 is by the exit, and added a warning message before entering the snare, as per feedback from users so as to make things a bit more clear
  • Removed the bottom center door from Oscon's fort lv3 that leads the player to the portals that they should never be able to access. We believe this was a bug in the c64 and all versions of the original game as the design clearly is trying to just tease the player with those portals, but their positioning suggests they are never meant to be used.
  • Moved Alliria tomb entrance from N6,E0 to N0,E0; to match to the original hint book notes
  • Moved Werra battle to the south east room, where it was clearly intended, judging by the text pretty much saying its there, and the room is the only anti-apar area on the map. Constructed a small room for the shield, since the text also says that it is in the next room.
  • Status effects created by item magic now A) cannot be persistent -- automatically downgraded to 148 min timed; B) only has half-duration to normal spells - this makes items much less powerful and much more rewarding to find one.
  • Invisible walls now use a normal wall icon since they are not passable and knowing they are invisible is not useful when examining the map. Railings - which are visible but can be passed through - use the same icon as crumbling walls, since they function the same. Invisible walls and railings can only be discovered by walking into/through them. Crumbling walls now appear solid until you walk through them.
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
13,055
Has anyone managed to get their entire party insane? Does this trigger party combat automatically with all combatants fighting until dead? I recall on c64 i had a monk that kept trying to hit himself when insane.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
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Codex 2014
https://steamcommunity.com/games/843260/announcements/detail/3172148783723649211

The Bard's Tale Trilogy - OSX Open Beta v4.32
This beta build has both an updated Windows build, as well as a build for OSX!

b147ad76817a7c58fdc06346c54c3fa7661784a7.png


Hi all,

Today we've pushed a new build for The Bard's Tale Trilogy live on the "beta" branch on Steam. This build has both an updated Windows build, as well as a build for OSX!

Fixes/differences for the Windows build from the previous release are noted below.

We're hoping to have a short open beta period on Steam only, and then, if all is well, do the full release for both Steam and GoG.

We've set up a new discussion thread for OSX issues on the "OPEN BETA" forum - please post any problems there!
https://steamcommunity.com/app/843260/discussions/1/1607148447810808434/

Cheers!

Fixes since v4.29
  • Fixed an issue where TRADE items/gold doesn't work on controller, when full legacy mode is enabled EXCEPT Automap is still available.
  • Fixed an issue in Polish only; where you could not continue the game when
    you try to use the Acorn in BT3
  • Fixed a missing translation when curing insanity.
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
13,055
At fucking last I finally scraped up enough money to get a computer on installments; finally. Its an envy with finger print id corei7 10th gen, nvidia, but ony 512 or so gig SSHD. So, not a gaming machine but 17"+ screen is nice. And guess what,

The Bard's Trailer Trilogy FAILED TO WORK!
nah, i'm full of shit..works fine.
So about damn time to try it.
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
13,055
After egging Pix To get the Palm Os version of trial ultima 1-3 to work I think some serious remakes from his earliest before Akalabeth to say u5 could use a reboot. Now, I enjoy the classic top down view and I've played SMS U4 where dungeons are also top down. I also like some of the additional content in the snes & nes ultimas. And say what you like there is even awesome content in the FM-towns ultima trilogy (havent tried 4-6) and the gameboy ultima 3 with a 2nd quest. Hell, improve some ui, menus, upgrade gfx to like some of the rouge-like (albeit animated) or just say 32x32 joshua steele (though i think he was working on 64x64 at some point). I'd take 16x16 remasters even. I like 3D dungeons but... id be willing to try top down if made appropriate to dungeon theme (ie fire dungeon should be volcanic themed). And add extra shit. I'm not opposed to lore from some manga, books, and blogs either so long as the core game stays true.

i hated how slow the nes u3 was and the music was god awful. There was no dread like the c64 for combat, dungeon, or castle fire. Doesn't EA own the ultima rights?
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
https://steamcommunity.com/games/843260/announcements/detail/1625166014497769093

macOS Support added - Build 4.34 Released
macOS support and a variety of bug fixes!


Hi all,

Krome Studios and inXile entertainment are pleased to announce that the new build of The Bard's Tale Trilogy now available includes native macOS support!

In addition to our MAC gaming friends being able to play the game, there are several bug fixes in this build (4.34):
  • Fixed an issue where TRADE items/gold doesn't work on controller, when full legacy mode is enabled EXCEPT Automap is still available.
  • Fixed an issue in Polish only; where you could not continue the game when
    you try to use the acorn, in BT3
  • Fixed a missing translation when curing insanity.
  • Replaced any instances of 'Phillipi' with 'Philippi' One L Two P's.
  • Fixed the corners of the automap so you can cleanly map out the
    PASS letters
    In Dark Domain 2.
  • Added songs remaining tooltip to songs (hidden if you have unlimited songs)
  • Made songs list red if no songs are remaining.
  • "Find The Scarlet Bard" tips no longer appear in the Destiny Knight when running with Legacy Songs mode, since there is no Scarlet Bard.
  • Added long bow to the transfer item list, if it isn't in the shop.

If there are any issues, please let us know.
Enjoy!

Long term support, eh? (Yeah, likely because this is released on Xbox and GamePass few months ago.)
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,489
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Notable that adding Mac support is acceptable after the Microsoft acquisition, but not a PlayStation port.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Notable that adding Mac support is acceptable after the Microsoft acquisition, but not a PlayStation port.

Well FWIW they said the remaster was coming to Mac, even though when it was on Heineman.

Some of you may know that the emulated versions of these games work on most modern machines, but are a little rough around the edges. Thus, we have an agreement with the original The Bard’s Tale III programmer Rebecca "Burger" Heineman and her company Olde Sküül to update the games for modern machines! She will be working to make the games run natively, without needing emulators, on PC or Mac. This re-releases will be primarily based on the Apple IIGS versions of the games, along with updated art.

So you can say it's part of pre-acquisition commitments.
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
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Location
Goblin Lair
I'm currently working my way through BT3, but I wanted to repost my BT2 thoughts here:

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight

BT2 takes BT1 and just expands it in every way. Instead of one town with a few dungeons it in, you now have several towns with one dungeon each, and a wilderness area you can explore around them. You have more types of monsters, more spells, more songs, more items, more equipment, etc.

I found the combat to be even more mindless than it was in BT1. I did the "moderate" transfer from BT1 that caps you at a lower level, and this left me ridiculously powerful and immortal for the first 80% of the game, and then one step away from a party wipe toward the end because the game takes your spells and bard songs from you in many rooms.

So instead, the game focuses on dungeon exploration/mapping challenges and the "snares" you need to solve to get each wand segment.

The dungeons are generally more interesting than those in BT1, but they're still just giant mazes of rooms with neither rhyme nor reason. If you enjoy dealing with spinners, dark zones, antimagic zones, etc., these could be fun, but they don't really handle these special squares particularly intelligently. Contrast with Wizardry 1 Level 3, which uses spinners to really confuse you until you "get it" and then the rest of the level makes sense (complete with shortcuts to skip all the spinners once you've figured it out). In BT2, you have so many helpful navigation spells that most of these squares are basically meaningless. The only time all of the squares really work in this one is when they combine multiple effects in a single room (or level), such as an entire level of dark squares full of antimagic and antisong squares.

The "snares" are real-time puzzles where the game sticks you in a closed-off area of the dungeon and you need to solve some riddle within a certain time limit or it's a party wipe. It's a neat concept, and was clearly done to present some kind of challenge to even a powerful party, but it sort of makes me feel like I'm suddenly playing a different game made in the BT2 engine.

I feel conflicted about this one. I was unimpressed with the unsatisfying combat and character development, and annoyed at the focus on trick squares in dungeons. However, I became quite addicted to the game just like with BT1, and I found it very difficult to pull myself away from the game, and I apparently liked it enough to play through the entire game, so there's that.
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
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Goblin Lair
The Bard's Tale III: The Thief of Fate

I am pretty sure I am nearing the end of this game, but am unfortunately stuck at a fixed encounter with a bunch of Vortexes (extremely powerful and also magic-resistant!), a dragon, a bunch of warriors, and Red Beard. The closest I've come to getting through this encounter involved using every advantage I could think of and a total party wipe with 4/10 vortexes and Red Beard remaining. I believe I am severely underleveled at this point as I basically have run from every optional encounter for like half of the game lol. The biggest issue I have now is that the enemy eats through my front line within a few rounds even if I have one spellcaster focus on healing the party completely each round; they simply don't have enough HPs to survive the attacks that do get through their -50 AC. I can easily revive any characters that are killed at the end of the round, but since you cannot reorganize the party during combat, my spellcasters eventually end up in the front ranks and die pretty quickly.

I'll likely need to do some power leveling for a while, though probably not too much. Just enough for my front line guys to survive a few more rounds.
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
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Aug 22, 2013
Messages
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Location
Goblin Lair
octavius
There are (at least) two fixed encounter squares in the area that opens up after you free all the gods in Malefica, the one I'm having trouble with is the second one, as the first one can be powered through by casting high level damage spells each round. Dunno if that jogs your memory.

I've got a Paladin, Geomancer (prev. Hunter), Bard, Rogue, Chronomancer, and Archmage. I did the "moderate" party transfer from BT2 and have fought barely any optional random/fixed encounters, so my levels are quite low; not sure now what the exact levels are but every character other than my archmage (and maybe chronomancer) has much less than 1000 HPs, ranging from around 300 (rogue) to around 700 (paladin). I have everyone decked out in high level equipment, mostly the god equipment you get in each area. I can get my AC to -50 in the first round of combat, and I think that's as high as you can go.

I checked youtube to see if anyone had any strats, but every video I saw is your typical "every character jacked up to level 99" stuff you always see from youtubers.

I think the key is to take the Vortexes out ASAP, but I really can't think of anyway to do that as I am already focusing everyone but spellcasters on taking them out; since they are 100% immune to magic, it really limits what you can do. I suspect the combat is just a battle of attrition and you need to simply have enough HPs to last long enough to slowly take the Vortexes out one by one. My rogue can reliably hide in shadows and critical them, but that means I need to survive up to 20 rounds as it takes a round to hide and then another to attack. My melee characters tend to do around several hundreds of HPs when they connect, but I suspect each enemy in this encounter has several thousands of HPs, as even the weaker enemies take 3-4 castings of NUKE to kill.

[EDIT] I also tried having my rogue sneak up on Red Beard to take him out ASAP, but he's 90' away so it would take multiple rounds to even get to him. I also tried pulling Red Beard up to melee range but he is extremely powerful and quickly decimated my front line.
 

octavius

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I checked youtube to see if anyone had any strats, but every video I saw is your typical "every character jacked up to level 99" stuff you always see from youtubers.

Ain't that the truth!

This is my party a bit after that encounter, FWIW. No grinding (but then only weaklings and YouTubers would want to grind in a game where there is a new encounter every second step), but I never fled any battle either (so game got too easy):
yUGmmgx.png
 
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newtmonkey

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Goblin Lair
octavius

Interesting, in that case I suspect our party levels are pretty similar, I might be just a few levels lower based solely on HPs, but it's hard to tell anyway since the remake is, well, a remake and not a source port. I ran from basically every encounter possible throughout most of the game, but you get massive EXP awards for clearing each land, so I ended up leveling up quite a bit throughout the game. Only major difference is my Geomancer I suspect is much lower level based on SPs (though my Chronomancer and Archmage are WAY overleveled I suspect as they both have 1000+ SPs).

Do you remember the encounter I am talking about? It's probably very near Tarjan, likely among the last fixed encounters before the end. I've tried experimenting with different spells, but like I said, the most dangerous enemies in the encounter (Vortexes) are seemingly 100% spell resistant.

[Edit] Oh, one more difference, I've only got 6 characters haha. I haven't been using summons in BT3 due to the high number of squares that turn summons evil, but I should probably summon something for this battle, at least to help take out the Warriors and Dragon quicker. Any suggestions? I used Greater Summoning to get a powerful demon often in BT2.
 
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octavius

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I've watched the battle on YouTube, but I still can't remember any details.
As for summons I guess a demon is the best, or hope some powerful monster offers to join.
 

newtmonkey

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Goblin Lair
The Bard's Tale III: The Thief of Fate

Tarjan Defeated!

I went around looking for monsters to bind, but a Tarjan's Bull monster offered to join. -40 natural AC and 8000+ HPs!
That was the boost I needed to keep my front line alive long enough to clear out everything but the Vortexes and RedBeard. My Rogue did much of the work as my melee characters were pretty much useless even decked out in high level gear with multiple buffs, etc. It was just a matter of keeping everyone alive and s-l-o-w-l-y taking out one enemy every two rounds.

After that was the battle with Tarjan. He forces you to fight some minions first, and while they aren't really tough, you are not given a chance to heal/resurrect or even reorganize your party for the final battle. I really did not think I'd get through it, but my Rogue was VIP again as he slowly sneaked up to Tarjan and delivered the killing blow. My Geomancer was actually a huge help also as Earth Maw took out the single group of melee monsters, and Sandstorm pushed the deadly Vampire Lords out of melee range. NUKE once or twice every round took care of everyone else.

-----

Having now played through BT1-3 (and BT4...), I have to say I enjoyed BT3 the most, followed closely by BT1. I really did not enjoy BT2 as it focused too much on mapping challenges; I like mapping challenges when there is something "clever" about them (Wizardry 1 Level 3 is a particular favorite), but felt that BT2 just threw a bunch of spinners in giant magical darkness rooms and called it a day. I found BT3 to have the most memorable dungeon layouts in the series, sometimes approaching the level of quality seen in the Wiz 1-3+5. I especially liked Tarnitia, where you had to teleport back and forth throughout time to find the correct string of answers to give to finally reach the boss encounter.

The final string of battles in BT3 was far more difficult than anything else in the entire trilogy, and it felt quite satisfying to finally piece together a strategy to get through it, without having to sit there grinding up levels. I'd have to rank BT1-3 below Wiz 1-3+5 and what I've played of the Might & Magic games, but I'd still consider them all worth playing. BT4 is too different to compare to any of these classic turn-based blobbers, though if I had to include I would probably put it between BT1/BT3 at the top and BT2 at the bottom.

-----
-----

[EDIT] Just went back now and took care of the four achievements I was missing, so now I have completed the game with 100% achievements! The Spectre Snare and Harmonic Staff sure would have helped if I had them during my normal playthrough!
 
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Casual Hero

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For future reference; is the game most enjoyable with all the new addendums and balancing, or would I want to play it in Legacy mode?
 

Gregz

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The Desert Wasteland
For future reference; is the game most enjoyable with all the new addendums and balancing, or would I want to play it in Legacy mode?

I generally prefer the new version for QOL features, but they "fixed" the 4x99 berserkers fight which is absolutely haram.

Edit: octavius, to clarify, I meant that you can't repeat the encounter. This used to be a fantastic way to farm XP.
 
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KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
13,055
Can you get 30 for stats in 1&2 in this trilogy remaster? I just haven't booted it up. Still i be butthurt on no construction set. BOO HISSSSSD!!!!
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
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Messages
13,055
Does anyone recall if you could snare Mangar into the Special slot on DOS? I swore you could.

seems C64 you could
  • Spectre Snare – a huge fun, if you just force one of Mangar’s favourite followers into your own party. Hint: do not try on Mangar himself, he is hard to get and stays in party attack mode so that he still does harm to your chars.
Killer1.png

Mangar the Dark
Mangar


Amiga version
Vital statistics
Title
Mangar the Dark
Gender Male
Race Human
Faction
Level
Archmage
Location Mangar's Tower
"Death to those who would attack the mighty one!"

Mangar the Dark is the main villain of Tales of the Unknown, having locked the city of Skara Brae in eternal winter. He resides atop his tower, where the party must battle him and his minions.

The Final Battle

Mangar is no slouch, and has a -10 Armor Class, a base Spell Resistance of 14 (up to 21 with the variable!) 14-270 hit points, can cause Critical Hits in melee combat, can cast Restoration (and fully heal himself), and will enter battle screened by a force of 3 powerful Vampire Lords capable of draining your party's levels, and 2 fire-breathing Demon Lords capable of turning party members to Stone with their melee attacks! Mangar also likes to summon additional Demon Lords on his turns - prepare yourself for a rough fight!

Kill the Demon Lords first! They can turn you to stone if they hit you, though they may try to use a Breath Attack on you instead. It would be a very good idea to have one of your Archmages constantly casting Restoration to heal your party due to the hideous damage that will be unleashed upon you. Unfortunately, characters turned to Stone cannot be resurrected on the spot, only at a temple - they're out of the fight for good!

To finish the last battle without casualties, you'll ideally need to strike first, and strike hard, killing Mangar's minions before they can land a blow. This will mean a combination of high level and/or surviving many, many battles, or more likely some combination of both. In terms of Spell Resistance, Level 36 should be sufficient to spare you the worst of the Breath Attacks etc, but you'll also need extremely high armor class to prevail against the Demons and Vampires in melee!

Trivia

Images of Mangar

250

Amiga version
250

Commodore 64 version
 
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