Bard's Tale IV - Patch Plans

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Spaceman
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The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep has a patch plan. The first major patch is scheduled for the 21st September.

The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep Patch Road Map

19 SEPTEMBER - PAUL_INXILE

Hello everyone!

First of all, thank you for your patience and for your ongoing support. We are here to update you on the short-term road map for The Bard's Tale IV so you can get a sense of what's coming. We had a few more problems during yesterday's release then we had hoped for, and we apologize for the inconvenience. We will try hard to solve all of your issues as fast as we can.

One of the biggest concerns has been the delay in delivering the final keys of the game. Both our partners Crowdox and Xsolla faced a situation where these were not distributed as planned and it took them some time to sort it out. Our partners have assured us that all remaining issues should be resolved by today.

We are also aware that some people are experiencing problems with dropping framerates, missing widescreen support, FOV sliders, or unusual high loading times between certain areas. In addition, a small amount of people are encountering a black screen on load. Thank you for all the feedback you have been provided so far, and we want to make sure you see what we are doing with it. Please take a look at our patch notes below for detailed information.

We are working around the clock to solve these issues as soon as possible. Also, we would like to ask you to let us know if there are any other issues that influence your personal gaming experience in a negative way. We have spent a lot of love, time and effort into the development of The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep, and there is no bigger reward for us than if you are enjoying it.

The team at inXile


Patch notes:

Patch 1 - Est. Friday 9/21

  • We're starting initial work on improving load times to help people playing on non-SSD hard drives. There is more work to be done but it's a big focus of ours in the near future
  • Initial work on optimization and framerate improvements.
  • Auto-detection of hardware and adjustment of quality settings on initial load of the game. While there is currently auto-detection in the options menu, it wasn't happening automatically. The game defaults to Ultra settings which is likely causing FPS issues for those without high end hardware.
  • FOV adjustment slider.
  • Fixing wide-screen monitor support. This is part one of a two part plan.
  • First is getting the resolution settings working as intended followed by an art pass on the UI elements in patch 2.
  • Fixes for a few side quests that weren't triggering as intended
  • Fix to puzzle weapons where if a puzzle is solved on the weapon while it's equipped by a player, it will result in the puzzle reverting it's state to unsolved. As a workaround now, it can be solved in the inventory perfectly fine.
  • Optimization to Kaels Rudiment that dropped framerate while in combat
  • Fix in Magnar's Tower where a lever can be spammed in the shadow combat room that makes a bell hint unreadable
  • Fix for a softlock if a tutorial pops up when a player reads a note
  • Falkentyne's Fury will no longer persist on the players party team after a combat has ended.
  • Fix where the Strifespear's abilities don't play nicely with the Vanguard skill
  • Update to the save system that will allow players to delete saves as needed.
  • Fix for a bug where killing Charn Cultists with Falkentynes Fury, which would result in a soft lock.
  • Fix for spellpoints not updating correctly on the stat sheet when gear is equipped and unequipped.
  • Fix where in rare instances, activating a standing stone of gratitude before going into a combat can result in a soft lock
  • Fix for a duping item issue by replacing a non-stackable trinket with a stackable one.
  • Fix so MACO compass can't be spammed outside of combat, allowing for a stacked stun chance.
  • Fix where pausing the game during a cutscene after killing Yadis can cause the game to enter an unresponsive state.
  • Fix for the wraith where it shows 3 mana before summoning but actually costs 4 mana.
  • Other smaller fixes
[...]
More information.
 
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This reads like the patch log of a very early Early Access game.
What the hell were they thinking?

And the notes do not even address game design no-nos such as unskippable cutscenes (and the fact that many checkpoint place you right before them so you get to watch over and over and...).
 
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This reads like the patch log of a very early Early Access game.
What the hell were they thinking?

And the notes do not even address game design no-nos such as unskippable cutscenes (and the fact that many checkpoint place you right before them so you get to watch over and over and…).

I think space bar skips the cutscenes although I've only tried it once.
 
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One of the biggest concerns has been the delay in delivering the final keys of the game. Both our partners Crowdox and Xsolla faced a situation where these were not distributed as planned and it took them some time to sort it out. Our partners have assured us that all remaining issues should be resolved by today.

Well, remind me never to use those "partners". For a crowdfunding fulfillment company, I'd have thought that getting keys to backers in time for release would be job one. Why bother with them?
 
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This reads like the patch log of a very early Early Access game.
Not really. It reads like the patch log of a pisspoor port from consoles. Can someone check if this game is planned to be released on Nintendo Gameboy too?
 
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I got my key several days in advance, but I've heard some horror stories from other folks. Having to use and then reuse the survey was not only confusing to many, but tedious to practically all.
 
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Woah, from the sounds of things this might be in the $5 pile by Xmas.
 
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So far I don't think it is that bad. I mean it has some annoying interface issues and a few bugs but the bugs i've encountered so far are not really that major. For a turn base game the graphics are quite acceptable (to me). I think some people just expect tomb raider or whatever latest fps graphics. Yea something seems whacking with the graphics and a patch might fix it (both in terms of display quality and performance) but it doens't hinder playing.
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I would consider this a very good mm X as an equivalent (mm X was pretty bad imho even though a lot of people seemed to like it).

Woah, from the sounds of things this might be in the $5 pile by Xmas.
 
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I love Fargo about as much as @Drithius; loves Todd Howard. The guy just feels like slime to me. Always has.
 
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I'm having fun so far. Combat and exploration is neat but systemically it is simple. Perhaps it will be more involved further in. There have been performance issues, texture pop in and the like. I'm rocking a 1060 6gig with an I7 processor so should be fine really but I'm having long load times.

Overall I'm pretty sure I'll finish this game through. I am having a good time with it.
 
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I know there is a great deal of collective outrage and hand-wringing ... but we’ve seen FAR worse game releases WITHOUT such plans to address those issues ... and without so much angst.
 
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I think space bar skips the cutscenes although I've only tried it once.
Are you sure? I've read in multiple reviews now that skipping cutscenes isn't possible.
Might also be a difference between different kinds of cutscenes.
 
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People love to hate. Looking forward to this come the weekend and the first patch. As one of only a handful of Turn-based blobbers since Wizardry 8, I'm keen to forgive many an issue that can be addressed in a simple patch.
 
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I've played a few hours and am having a good time. It does need the patching and optimization. As a big Bard's Tale fan, I'm not sure why they don't start you in the Adventures Guild and let you make a party right away? Also, class selection seems a little lacking. What if I wanted to make a paladin or ranger right away?

Seems weird running around with one character after the opening scenes when you first enter the sewers. Think I may wait for a few patches to start playing again.
 
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was tempted to buy at day1, glad i didn't. If they work on it enough i might consider buying it.
 
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was tempted to buy at day1, glad i didn't. If they work on it enough i might consider buying it.

My sentiments exactly. I did buy it but got a refund. Generally it was ok, but the FPS drops and the occassional weird bug with looting items on the ground, I didn't want to risk it. If they patch it up I'll reconsider again, but the thing that bugs me the most is what another commenter said - you have to run around with one character for a while. I played about an hour and a half, no restarts, and still didn't reach the AG. Kinda puts a damper on replayability.
 
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I know there is a great deal of collective outrage and hand-wringing … but we’ve seen FAR worse game releases WITHOUT such plans to address those issues … and without so much angst.

oh fie! And woe! *wrings hands*…ah that feels better ;-)

I'll likely get this at some point, the next game I'm waiting for is Kingmaker…really hope that's not a bloody mess :-o
 
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