The Bard's Tale IV - Now on Kickstarter

[Kordanor]

Wiz 8 was a very good game that had a phase based approach, if I remember correctly. I think in BT4 they want to make combat a bit more dynamic, so you can be more reactive to the effects your individual character decisions have on enemies. Sounds like it could be a fun system.

Which again is just like in MMX

 

[Roq]

Which again is just like in MMX

Yeah hadn't thought of that - it looks like quite a similar system at first sight.

In any case the Kickstarter is going thorough the roof right now with an initial trend line of 20m!? Of course you usually get an S curve, tailing off after a couple days and then recovering at the end, with a slack period in the middle. Still, could be a pretty huge Kickstarter.

 

[Kordanor]

Just checked other projects on kicktraq and compared them a bit.

It's very intersting to see them in comparison:
WL2: https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2/#chart-daily
Torment: https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/inxile/torment-tides-of-numenera/#chart-daily
Pillars: https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity/#chart-daily

WL spread the beginning over a couple of days and had a significant last day.
Pillars had a very strong first and last day.
And then there is Torment…hit like a truck at the first day. But it's basically impossible to hold that. The last day seems almost insignificant in comparison.
But even though the have double of what Pillars had in the first day, the have about the same as end result.

That said, I guess inXile would be pretty happy if the end with 4 million in the end.

 

[Vindicator]

I pledged for the Premier Collector's Edition… I'm a sucker for a cloth map.

 

[Roq]

Just checked other projects on kicktraq and compared them a bit.

It's very intersting to see them in comparison:
WL2: https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2/#chart-daily
Torment: https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/inxile/torment-tides-of-numenera/#chart-daily
Pillars: https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity/#chart-daily

WL spread the beginning over a couple of days and had a significant last day.
Pillars had a very strong first and last day.
And then there is Torment…hit like a truck at the first day. But it's basically impossible to hold that. The last day seems almost insignificant in comparison.
But even though the have double of what Pillars had in the first day, the have about the same as end result.

That said, I guess inXile would be pretty happy if the end with 4 million in the end.

Great information, had some fuin looking through those stats! I reckon it will likely turn out much like tides, since InExile are now in touch with much of their potential customer base and later pledges from new customers will likely be more sparse. Be interesting to see if it gets more than tides in the end though - Maybe Wasteland 2 made some new converts on Steam.

 

[crpgnut]

Hmmm, read through the whole kickstarter and decided to back.

 

[wolfing]

as for combat, I read some interviews where they explained things a bit, so this is what I gather…
Movement (exploration) is grid based, though you can switch to free form. When combat happens, the screen 'zooms out' so to speak and you get a tactical combat screen, details are not defined yet (each character could be a portrait or a full 3d representation, depending on funding). Does this imply random encounters? don't know.
As for 'dynamic phased combat', all there is to it is simply turn based combat, where each side takes actions together, and the actions are resolved immediately. So, you order fighter A to attack, he attacks. Then you order Paladin B to guard, she guards, etc. Once you're finished with your party's actions, the same goes for the enemy.

 

[Carnifex]

I got enough enjoyment over the years out of the first three Bard's Tale games that throwing fifty bucks at them now still makes me feel like I'm in their debt. I suppose they could mess up the game, but I'm going to error on the side of fanaticism in this case.

 

[DarNoor]

They are half way already. Good for them. I hope they blow away their initital goal.

 

[Roq]

I'll be going for the GoG version - The paid mods thing made me fully realise that Steam badly needs some competition.

 

[rune_74]

It's doubly arrogant now because they have made a good deal of money. They can't even be bothered to invest some of it in order to have a playable prototype to show people before they pledge their money? To me this is sheer arrogance. Anyone other than they or Obsidian who would behave like this would get laughed out of Kickstarter.

Man, I am so not with you here, once again I think you are out to lunch...backed this and looks like it may make its goal soon.

 

[rune_74]

The impression I got was, "Hey we don't have a game yet but we spent $10,000 to send Brian and a film crew to Scotland." Do they need my money if they can just blow $10,000 bucks?

I own all the games they offered so I'll wait to just buy the game at release. I bought and played Wasteland 2 and wasn't impressed. Note, that this was at release and not after all the patching. I will buy Numenara and BT4 after patching

I'm not a big fan of tiny characters on screen. I prefer anything to isometric party-based. If it looks like Dragon Age, with larger characters then I may indeed pledge, but I bet it is the tiny 3/4 inch dudes like Wasteland 2. My eyes are old and strained enough already

So...never seen bards tale before?

 

[Roq]

One thing I like is they obviously have quite a good relationship with CDPR - they're giving Witcher 1/2 away for free if you pledge in the first 24 hours. But the warm relationship between inExile, Obsidian & CDPR is very different to how we see a lot of guys in the industry doing business and very positive I think.

 

[Brumbek]

In fairness, that project [Hunted: Demon's Forge] was a heavily troubled as the result of publisher meddling (it was one of the main experiences that pushed Brian far away from traditional publishing models). Furthermore, it's been a long time since then, and almost none of that team still works at inXile.

Yeah, that was the rumor. The typical thing of the publisher (Bethesda in this case) not giving them enough time or resources. That is all rumor of course. But the end product clearly was rushed and didn't deliver the promised co-op AI play. Still, I loved the visceral, fast combat and interesting voiced lore segments. Plus the game was a quick play with great pacing. And it was pretty much bug-free on PC. I still recommend it to any fan of third-person action fantasy games.

Hmmm, read through the whole kickstarter and decided to back.

That's the spirit!

 

[Couchpotato]

The only Bard's Tale game I played was the 2004 version.

So I don't see myself backing this game, and will wait for their next project they launch in a few years. Hopefully it will be a new Pathfinder RPG, or based on Van Buren.

Update: Let me add I'm happy for fans of the older games, and hope it's a success.

 

[Shagnak]

Backed!

 

[Roq]

The only Bard's Tale game I played was the 2004 version.

So I don't see myself backing this game, and will wait for their next project they launch in a few years. Hopefully it will be a new Pathfinder RPG, or based on Van Buren.

Update: Let me add I'm happy for fans of the older games, and hope it's a success.

The older Bard's tales were very different. The closest modern equivalent would be Grimrock, Wiz 8 if you played that - but BT4 will have more strategic combat than Grimrock (and hopefully won't discriminate against left handed people too ).

 

[wolfing]

The older Bard's tales were very different. The closest modern equivalent would be Grimrock, Wiz 8 if you played that - but BT4 will have more strategic combat than Grimrock (and hopefully won't discriminate against left handed people too ).

maybe more like MMX?

 

[Vindicator]

The only Bard's Tale game I played was the 2004 version.

So I don't see myself backing this game…

Bard's Tale (2004) is NOT the same as The Bard's Tale (1985)! They are completely different games. Bard's Tale (2004) was a humorous action adventure with Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance-style gameplay.

The Bard's Tale I-III (1985-1991) was more of a hardcore combat-heavy RPG with a 3D first person viewpoint and step based movement… very similar to Might & Magic, Dungeon Master, Legend of Grimrock and Lands of Lore. If you liked any of those games, you should think about backing this project.

 

[Roq]

maybe more like MMX?

Yeah - and as Kordanor pointed out earlier, the phased combat in IV sounds quite similar to MM. I was looking for games this century though .