You did it! 100k goal achieved, and the Darkest Dungeon torch is in! Please continue to spread the word and help us keep it going!
The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep
The Bard's Tale IV
Wishlist Initiative update!
You did it! 100k goal achieved, and the Darkest Dungeon torch is in! Please continue to spread the word and help us keep it going!
The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep
Wish Upon a Bard!
When you wish upon a bard
A drop in price is your reward
If you go high then we'll go low
Your Wishlist add can make it so
More wishes make the game a steal
So tell your friends about this deal
When you wish upon a bard
Your dreams come true
The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep
Beta Update Version 1.1
<*>You’re no longer able to inspect enemy difficulty through walls. This will result in a lot fewer random chatter moments from your party as you’re exploring.
<*>Fixed several instances of Taunt not correctly modifying enemy behavior, which resulted in taunted enemies not attacking the taunter. Archers should now be much more susceptible to mockery.
<*>Fixed several issues in Kylearan's Tower in which you could get stuck inside certain rooms.
<*>Fixed a crash related to concerned citizens using Mangar’s Mind Jab.
<*>Fixed an issue in which characters armed with puzzle weapons would trigger the puzzle weapon’s effect on themselves when they were struck with a trap.
<*>The Volute Elven Sword no longer grants an ability, as intended. Its acidic passive applies to all abilities used by the character holding the weapon.
<*>Pressing Z in Alguin's tower no longer triggers a magical earthquake.
The Backer Beta Has Landed!
Hey Everyone,
Paul here. It has been a whirlwind for everyone since we launched the alpha systems test in March. We’ve been soliciting feedback, bug reports, and acting on all of it in the intervening months. All of the comments we have received from you have helped us make the game better and brought us to this point - the release of the beta build.
We’re excited because this time so many more of you get to experience playing the game for yourselves. The beta has a roughly 4-5x larger player base, and that’s something we’re very happy about. We’re thrilled for those of you who finally get to try the game out for yourself, and we’re looking forward to your feedback.
And there’s a lot of feedback to provide. The beta is a big slice that takes you through the beginning of the story, introduces you to the game’s core systems, and then lets you go play in that world for a little while. Character creation and customization, combat, exploration, puzzle solving, and (of course) dungeon crawling all await you. A list of known issues can be referenced here.
For all our fans, the release of the beta means that we are that much closer to our newly announced September 18th release date for the game. That’s almost upon us, so expect lots of news in the near future!
Until Next Time,
Paul Marzagalli
Public Relations & Community Manager
@phimseto
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New Website!
Have you seen our new website? If not, please drop by and let us know what you think: bardstale.com. We’ll be updating the site with new content in the future, so stay tuned!
The Bard Takes Some Questions!
TL; DR: Storefront news, Q&A, GDC Highlights
Hi everyone, Paul Marzagalli here with the latest development update! Hope you've been well! Today we’ve got a Q&A with The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep dev team based on questions from the community, and a look at the game’s appearance at GDC (including some press coverage that you might have missed). There's a ton here so strap in and let's begin!
Making A Wishlist
If you’re reading this, you likely already saw that the store page for The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep is now live on Steam! This represents a big step forward in the game’s development progress, and we’re very proud of how things are shaping up.
If you’re interested in the game, one thing we’d ask is that you wishlist it on Steam (and encourage a friend to do so, too)! This helps with Steam's search algorithm and increases the game's general visibility. We want to make the game’s launch as big a success as we can when it releases, and your support is a huge help for us as an indie studio.
Q&A with the Dev Team!
Thanks to everyone who sent questions our way! What follows is a dive into some of the more specific gameplay mechanics, so we hope you enjoy it!
[B]Q: How many dungeons will BT4 have & how many locations/zones will BT4 have?
[B]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!
[B]Q: What races will be playable in BT4? The Trow have been mentioned as a new race, but what others are confirmed?
[B]A: Dwarves, Elves, and Trow, and there are different variety of Human cultures (Baedish, Fichti, Einarr, and Outlander).
[B]Q: Will it be possible to create your full party?
[B]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.
[B]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?
[B]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.
[B]Q: How many of BT4's monsters are from the originals or are directly based on the portraits from the originals?
[B]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!
[B]Q: Does BT4 have time-sensitive puzzles? If so, do they take place in real-time or turn-based mode?
[B]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.
[B]Q: How many of BT4's bard songs are from the originals or are directly based on the songs from the originals?
[B]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.
[B]Q: Will there be references to the other cities outside of Skara Brae (such as those you visit in The Bard's Tale II)?
[B]A: Yes, there will be references to the other cities outside Skara Brae. You may even get to visit one.
[B]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?
[B]A: The answer is yes - HP does not regenerate over time like the originals. However, the use of items and abilities can restore and regenerate HP. 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.
[B]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?
[B]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.
[B]Q: Will it be possible to permanently recruit monsters from random encounters?
[B]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.
[B]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.)?
[B]A: Yes, any character you create can be fully customized. You can pick your class, culture, portrait, and even your voice.
[B]Q: Do enemies level scale in BT4?
[B]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.
[B]Q: Are the party's total action points based on party size?
[B]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.
[B]Q: The AP system shown in the alpha seems to be favor smaller parties. Is it still worth bringing more party members?
[B]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.
[B]Q: What is the maximum party size?
[B]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.
[B]Q: Are all the conversations fully voiced acted?
[B]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 stopped by to say hi and chat about the game with David and Jeff!
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.
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.
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:
For long-time series fans, 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
Thanks to everyone following the game's progress here on Steam. 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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