f13.net

Another kickstarter by Brian Fargo and Inxile with a 14-day countdown for the kickstarter that begins 2nd of june. They will ask for $1.25M and will add at least $1.25M of their own.
Official site (http://bardstale.inxile-entertainment.com/)

Its a first person dungeon crawl where you you’ll build a six-strong party of adventurers - creating bards, magic-users and thieves from scratch. But in the time-honoured tradition of dungeon crawling, they’ll share just one pair of legs - exploring maze-like environments as a congealed mass behind the camera.
The game will snap to a grid for combat which some might call turn-based, but which Brian Fargo calls phase-based - a back and forth exchange of blows and buffs that sees the player cycle systematically through each of their party members.

Lots more info here (https://forums.inxile-entertainment.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=12979)

Early bird $20 tier. Free copy of wasteland 2, witcher 1&2 if you pledge $20 or more within 24 hours.
Link to their kickstarter page (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/the-bards-tale-iv?ref=nav_search)

Yes, I'm funding this. No questions asked.

Same here: the original, first Bard's Tale was the first CRPG I played on a 16-bit machine (Atari ST).

I still have the Clue Book for the first episode, complete with notes me and my father took back in 1985  :heart:

Of course!  :heart:
I also have the "solution", two pages that I ripped out of a magazine back then. I kept it inside the original box with all the manuals and hint books.

ZZGO

Argh! I'm conflicted on this since Legend of Grimrock does alot of the 1st person dungeon crawl right and for various reasons Wasteland 2 just wasn't a great game for me. I am/was a huge fan of the original Bard's Tales but somehow I get a (foreboding) feel it will turn out like the latest Might&Magic which was mediocre at best despite sounding good on paper.

Nope.

What's so wrong about Brian Fargo and Inxile? They asked for money, they delivered a huge game. It might not be the best ever for you (lots of people loved it), but it's not a disaster or a scam in any possible shame.

Oh come on, at least ask a few questions. This is Kickstarter.

I'm never doing crowd funding again.

The thing is, to me Wasteland 2 has proven that these guys are serious, professional, keep their promises and most importantly I like what they do. Sure I am curious about what's the plan and what it'll look like, but given the IP and the people working on it, I am willing to fund it.

Do I get a fire horn?

... and more importantly, do I get to MIBL 4 groups of 99 Berserkers into oblivion?  :grin:

I'll probably back this -- even though I prefer Wizardry to BT, there's no way Wizardry is ever getting a worthwhile follow-up (Cleve Blakemore doesn't count).

We have completely different takeaways concerning Wasteland 2.  Even though I'm somewhat curious about how the second half turns out; I'm likely to never complete the game. The first half was a poorly balanced/designed, buggy, ugly (seriously, wtf) slog of a game. 

I tried really hard to like it, but in the end it was just too much work. I feel like my money was ill spent and perhaps it would have been more worthy of a deep discount Steam sale.

Since I never played Bard's Tale, there's no nostalgia factor for me and I have to with my perceptions of Fargo and his team. They are not positive.  Pass.

I don't even understand the "ugly". By 2015 standards, for sure. But my expectations were super low, coming from the original.

It's one of the reasons I like you, man. It's how you stay positive.

Haha, I meant that being a sequel of a 1987 game (one of my favourites), graphics were completely irrelevant.

I liked Wasteland 2 as well, certainly better than 90% of the other Kickstarter games I backed. And better than many retro style RPGs I aquired otherwise.

I'm not a graphics whore regarding RPGs, though.

Preliminary pricing is up. (https://forums.inxile-entertainment.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=12985) $25 for early bird, $33 for regular copy (including the ever-so-popular "we'll forgive that you pirated our games when you were a kid" bit). Premium and physical-reward tiers are fucking crazy as usual, but that's fine.

The prices feel a bit high to me... mostly because oldschool cRPGing isn't a seller's market anymore. I would've gladly paid $25 (or even $33) for this game back in 2012, but I have so many great games in my backlog right now that this pricing model makes me want to wait for a steam sale instead!

Is there a mobile version? I would love to be able to play on my phone.

You know what?

Low prices created backlogs (we never had backlogs before Steam), and backlogs are creating a need for lower prices.

That's pretty funny 'cause it's true. Did anyone know a friend who actually owned a copy of the game? I did however pay for the port they did to the ipad so I'm good.:D

I bought a physical copy for my Apple ][+ at Waldenbooks (upstairs they had a software section).

Bard's Tale was one of the very few games that I actually bought on the C64.  That and the TSR games got my pocket money.

I didn't know anyone who owned a copy of the game at the time... but I eventually atoned for my terrible, terrible sins by buying the Ultimate RPG Archives (http://www.mobygames.com/game/ultimate-rpg-archives). BTW, that 'bundle' contained Wizardry Gold instead of Wizardry 7 ... I consider that to be part of my penance.

I spent $50 on Bard's Tale III in 1987 or something. Games was spendy as hell back in the day.

I bought all three.

I bought the third episode twice: one Amiga copy (although it was a bit faulty: Guru medidation often appeared in Skara Brae when I entered the building with Harmonic Gems), and another for the PC.

oldpeopletalkingwitheachother.jpg

I don't know what you're talking about.  I've had a backlog since the late 90s, as soon as I had disposable income.  I still haven't touched some of those games.

Alright you're all a bunch of bloody goody two shoes.

Reminds me of when a friend and I went in halves on a mail order copy of Curse of the Azure Bonds. We actually had something akin to a custody agreement for the periphals that came with it (ok you can have the journal for 3 days while I have the code wheel, then we can swap). Serious nostalgia attack incoming.

Yeah, I'm in the middle of packing up all my stuff and constantly finding forgotten mementos of my first job, a time when I could apparently walk the tightrope between "too drunk to go to the store" and "too sober to actually buy a copy of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, an interactive CD-ROM adventure".  Difference was those days they cost like $20-$40 a piece instead of a buck or two.

I bought it, which was out of the ordinary for me. A friend of mine has the original box still sitting on his bookshelf.

As I said earlier, those boxes are some of my most precious treasures. Sadly, I lost Bard's Tale II (and didn't own I, impossible to find at the time), but Bard's Tale III  for the Commodore 64 has its own shrine in my vintage physical collection. So yes, I paid for all of them.

This game will be shit, but hey if you consider it a sequel to an 80s game and have really really low expectations it'll be average to playable. You really should give them money because of this! Its a miracle* they're even willing to tug on your nostalgia and let you kickstarter it, actually getting a playable game is a bonus.

I appreciate your positivity Falc, but Wasteland 2 was not something that makes one want to back these people to produce a fun game.

I admit I am biased on this one, but you also should admit that it's not like everyone disliked Wasteland 2 as much as you did. Trying to summon a global appreciation average, an 81 Metacritic score (over 65 reviews) doesn't exactly speak of a product so bad you want to stay away from anything else that company will produce.

He hated Borderlands, too, so his fun centre, Q Zone or whatever might be broken.

I don't like the type of game borderlands is. Not because of the quality of it though.

I'm not on my pat malone re Wasteland 2.

So, if you back this with the first 24 hours of the Kickstarter, you get a free game, Wasteland 2, The Witcher or Witcher 2.

http://www.mmorpg.com/newsroom.cfm/read/35087/Back-Bards-Tale-IV-in-1st-24-Hours-Get-Free-Games.html

$20 early bird tier, combined with free copy of wasteland 2 in first 24 hours its really nice. I do have all those games already, but $20 is nothing.

Its nice that they give an honest date of october 2017.

Well, Unreal Engine 4 looks good (in-engine video) :heart: :heart:

https://youtu.be/fVB6dSckvJI

I have to say... not what I was expecting. This turned me off quite a bit.

In-Engine is not In-Game.

Don't base your expectations one way or the other on that video.  That'd be like judging Wildstar by its cinematic videos.

I don't know. I think I was expecting and hoping for less flash, and more grid based movement.

Since their opening launch docs said they were going for free-form movement then snapping to a grid for combat, your hopes were never going to be realized.

It's just a lot of shiny graphics to entice more backers. I'd be much more interested to see what combat is like... but apparently they're still figuring that out.

"Hey, man, it's dark in this enclosed airless space."

"Yeah, let's set it on FIRE."

:(

Yep, looks like combat view/style will be, let's say, "heavily influenced" by backers and funding.

Regarding the grid based vs. free roam, let's wait a bit: the expected gameplay for this kind of title could be unaffected by that decision (or by a simple toggle).

Meanwhile, funding is going better than expected, honestly: they passed the One Million mark (1,250,000 is the goal).

I am happy if they move away from the grid-based movement, as long as it makes an improvement to the feeling of the game. Then again, it will be released in 2017, not in 1997 so it shouldnt be too hard to make it feel right

(https://i.imgur.com/7ZTR5Yq.gif)


While we wait, on August 14th, Krome Studios will release the remaster of Bard's Tale I: Tales of the Unknown (after a failed attempt by former BT3 programmer and designer Rebecca Heineman):

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ7w5rof1GI

https://store.steampowered.com/app/843260/The_Bards_Tale_Trilogy/



As you can read in the description, within the end of the year we'll also get the other two chapters, plus a "legacy" mode for those old geezers who would like to replicate the original experience while keeping the updated graphics . Beside some QoL changes you can clearly see in the screenshots, I think the developers cut a bit of the initial grind: in the first chapter, Skara Brae buildings and the Wine Cellar were quite a chore.

I must say that I like the "paint over", it keeps the flavour of the original style, albeit without pixellation.

Hmm. I think I still have a few pads of graph paper I stole from work in the '80s, I should be good to go!

Even better here are two pictures of the original cluebook (still with the notes we took back then, of course) me and my father used back in 1987 when we  played it on the Atari ST  :grin: :heart: :heart:

Looks pretty nice.  Bard's Tale was the first game I bought back in the 80's, but I never got around to playing the sequels.  I guess I can stop pestering GOG about getting the games now.

The originals (DOS version) are available on GOG if you buy 2004's Bard's Tale (ugh):

https://www.gog.com/game/the_bards_tale

Remastered trilogy (and Bard's Tale IV as well) will also be available on GOG:

https://www.gog.com/game/the_bards_tale_trilogy
https://www.gog.com/game/the_bards_tale_iv_barrows_deep

I got the original trilogy a few months back when I bought into IV. Got to the first Mad God dungeon before my gaming ADD made me squirrel off to something else. I will probably start over with the new versions.

Bought the updated trilogy. Definitely has some QOL improvements, but it feels a bit off for some reason I can't put my finger on. One thing I really don't like is you have to input each movement command with a key stroke instead of holding down on a key. Really annoying.

e- another (possibly fatal) flaw- the game auto-pauses when the window lose focus. So you have to sit there in the window while your casters recharge spell points instead of surfing the web or doing anything else. Just terrible. Who fucking tested this?

Was going to install this tonight and give it a go for a bit before I saw it was 55 GB.  55 GB. :ye_gods:  Also, it's getting a lot of negative reviews on Steam for performance issues and not being what fans of the original series were expecting.

I played through the first few sections and honestly I am not impressed.  Lot's of mechanics problems.  And bugs,m oh lord the bugs (weapons disapearing, vendors not working, etc...)

Sounds like quality inXile craftsmanship to me. For added laughs, take a look at the human faces in the game.  :ye_gods:

It is definitely not Bards Tale IV. It might end up being fun eventually, but it certainly plays nothing like the earlier games. That was all I wanted...a re-skin with better UI elements and more items/treasure. Not whatever this is.

e- Played another 15 minutes or so and I think I am probably done. It is just so far off the mark from what I wanted. There are dozens or hundreds of mediocre or shitty RPGs to play- why would I bother with this one?

Ok, I get that they're two different games and require different things, but it's hard to believe that this and  "The Vanishing of Ethan Carter" (redux version) were made using the same engine.

Also, check out this:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/566540/Labyrinth_of_Refrain_Coven_of_Dusk/

Yep, "anime bullshit" (and steep price for now) as TB used to say, but it seems pretty good for a M&M/Wizardry blobber/dungeon crawler.

I wish I could ignore the anime, but it makes me so incredibly stabby.

Very early impressions so far are its ugly as hell, no grid movement currently irks me and its ugly as hell.

The only surprise to me here is that any of you are surprised by this.  This is pretty much par for the course for inxile and has been the whole time the company has existed.  Stop buying their games.   :uhrr:

Wasteland 2 didn't really grab me but I didn't hate it like I think I hate this game.  And a lot of us talking about it paid for this game years ago.

This game for me just reinforces my no kickstarter/early access policy I have for games now.  Also my nostalgia has well and truly been milked dry.

Wasteland 2 was alright.  I had fun.  This is just bad.

See, I think that and then the 'Old Games of All Time' thread tells me that I really crave some really good remakes.

100% agree with this.

I'll go the other way and say I'm enjoying it so far. Its obviously a small studio game, with the expected bugs and performance issues, but nothing that has really stopped me from playing.

The exploration and puzzle solving is fun, and the combat requires a reasonable amount of tactics.

If they clean up a few things, add some inventory management, etc - it'll be pretty good.

But it doesn't feel like Bard's Tale. I have been enjoying tue Steam reissue of Bard's Tale 1 way more than this cool new rpg oddly named Bard's Tale 4.

Wasteland is sacred to me, and yet Wasteland 2 did not fuck it up. This is simply not right. They are a small studio and yet they did way more than they should have done or was expected from them.

It isn't Bard's Tale.

They think its Bard's Tale because somewhere through the years it seems Brian Fargo decided Bard's Tale is an IP about his Gaelicphile lore and it kinda being a rpg with magical music.  I just wanted a new party based rpg with turn based combat and the sort of tight dungeon design you get from grid movement.  

You start the game with a single character that you don't get to create (later you can change your character, and they just magically polymorph into your choice) with only one other party slot open that gets used by pre-generated NPC's.  I haven't got to the point yet where I have earned a Mercenary Token which is what you need to grow your party, this is obviously worlds away from starting your game with your party of 6 characters you make yourself.

For me the combat further increases the divide.  Your whole party has a shared pool of action points, which means per turn you can potentially blow all the points with one character and the other is forced to stand there and do nothing.  I can't invest in this sort of ideal, its not a proper party to me if I'm not giving orders to each one, and their actions are their own and not limited by what I did with another character.

Personally I don't need 3d.  I wish now, especially with how ugly the game is, that they had emulated the style of the original games more and invested in a beautiful 2d style rather than this mess.

Lile Falconeer I am having far more fun with the remastered version of Bards Tale 1.

Lucas is very right. Labyrinth of Refrain is awesome. Made by the Disgaea people.

Teaser for the remake of Bard's Tale 3. It looks great, and if only they did Bard's Tale 4 like this. Idiots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAcUTNs4cbs

Great stuff  :drill:

Yeah, Bard's Tale 3 was "more of the same", but impressive in its scope: I mean, reaching the last level of the dungeon beneath Skara Brae  to face Brilhasti ap Tarj felt like a standalone game...And then you were just at the beginning of your journey! Anyway, getting the remastered version means we're also getting the "legacy mode" of BT 1-3, which should basically mean original trilogy gameplay, stripped down of every "shortcut" the remasters offer (I'll just tick the automap feature, if possible), but with updated graphics. Can't wait.

The Director's Cut was released yesterday. It fixes and improves lots of things from last year's release. The best part for me though is that it has been added instantly to the XBox PC pass, so basically if you are paying for that subscription (and why wouldn't you at $5 a month) you get it for almost free.