Bard's Tale The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep - Director's Cut

[Bohr]

I can sort of understand them thinking that a pc-focused game too similar to the old BT games wouldn't sell much in the current market (although if they end up losing money on this maybe they'll wish they made a niche blobber with no vo and basic graphics with little more than the KS budget) , so producing something clearly designed for a multiplatform release and with elements from Hearthstone etc, thrown in - in the hope it'll somehow appeal to a wider range of gamers. Ok. But when you promise a couple of sops to the more 'traditional' part of the fanbase, like a grid-based movement option, how can you not have that working at launch? Seems like they're just asking for bad word of mouth.

 

[Curratum]

VERY long load times.

 

[BEvers]

Sounds like the PCGamer review isn't ready yet:

 

[Jenkem]

I do not understand the modern fixation on crying. Fuckers cry at any conceivable opportunity.

Isn't Notch Swedish?

There's your answer.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Play the game aweigh

Did you play the game, Infinitron ?

Or what's the deal pushing it on people left and right?

 

[Jacob]

Guys, this page is still under construction but it shows some promise.
http://www.olderbytes.com/swords-and-sorcery-sovereign

 

[V_K]

Nobody is gleeful

Speak for yourself, speak for yourself...

 

[Infinitron]

Play the game aweigh

Did you play the game, Infinitron ?

Or what's the deal pushing it on people left and right?

I'm not pushing it on "people" - I'm pushing it specifically on this forum's blobber legends like Dorateen and aweigh because I'm interested in their (most likely negative) opinions of the game. Should be entertaining for all of us.

 

[aweigh]

BTW, in that same folder where Engine.ini is located (AppData/BT4/Config/WindowsNoEditor) you'll also find the general Options file for the game called GameUserSettings.ini. You can enable/disable all of the shit in there and then set it to READ-ONLY as well.

Numerical values for main settings are always 0-3, with 0 being None/Low, 1 being Medium, 2 being High and 3 being "Ultra".

One thing I noticed when I first opened GameUserSettings was that for whatever fucked up reason Textures was set to "1" even though I'd selected High in the game. Changing the numerical value and then setting the file READ-ONLY seems to have made it "stick".

EDIT: Antialiasing values are 0 (none), 1 (FXAA) and 2 (Temporal AA). The ScreenPercentage setting is also in this file and you can go above 100 if you want and have the rig for it... maximum is 200% which would be 4k if you use 1080p.

Also always, always lower ScreenResolutionPercentage instead of lowering your actual Display Resolution for the game, it's much better. Lowering your real resolution affects everything including 2D elements like the UI but lowering ScreenPercentage does not.

If you find everything looks too blurry check to make sure you don't have Temporal AA enabled, and if you want to use it without the blurry filter then use ReShade lumasharpen on top.

 

[Jinn]

Sounds like the PCGamer review isn't ready yet:

Incoming negative review - for all the wrong reasons - from the geniuses at PCGamer.

 

[Jenkem]

so who is doing the codex review?

 

[theSavant]

I can hardly see the glitches (I can, but they are negelectable), but what I see are the total fugly PS2 graphics. This is abysmal. Even for "medium" settings. I have seen modern games with "very low" settings which still look high end compared to that. That's just disgusting.

Which brings me to the next point:

LOLOLOLOLOL i just played the game for a half an hour and i am going to bed. It is ugly,when it started i looked around and thought it is on medium graphics because my card is old.....turned out it was on ultra with all the extras. It was really choppy so i decided to lower it to medium....here is how it looks

In my opinion this total ugly town with total fugly graphics has certainly turned off some people playing the game right at the beginning and give bad ratings. I would have preferred a nicer starting place (small village in wood) or at least a nicer town. I'm pretty sure people would have been much more forgiving if the start would have been more pleasing to the eye - take Oblivion as an example (people were very forgiving because of fresh green environment. However starting in a fugly town and continuing in a fugly dungeon that looks 10x times worse than Grimrock is certainly not the way to attract players - especially not hipster and WOW players which were targeted.

" Add that there are no hit chances (everything hits) and no damage variables (you make an attack, you hit for... how much strength did you say you had?) and combat stops feeling like combat, but more like a low level puzzle in a meeple placement boardgame."

WJHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT THE FUCK

WHY WHAT?? ?

Add that there are no hit chances (everything hits) and no damage variables (you make an attack, you hit for... how much strength did you say you had?)

As far as I am concerned, this game doesn't exist.

But yeah, this is the most damning aspect, graphic woes and bugs can be taken care of, but this seems such a fundamental design element that can't be changed, and makes the whole game a mockery

Actually this aspect with direct subtraction of damage, no damage variables, and no hit chances was mentioned multiple times after the kickstarter or in some documents. I remember it having heard or read at least 2 times.

 

[aweigh]

Yeah the pop-in and lod issue can be fixed by editing ini files, but the actual textures themselves... yikes.

 

[Jinn]

Oh, also here is another apology and a short-term roadmap from inXile on the steam community page.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/566090/announcements/detail/1685925928806603042

The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep Patch Road Map
SEPTEMBER 19 - 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

Patch 2 – Est. Friday 9/28

• Continued improvements to load times
  
• Continued work on optimization and framerate. By this patch, we expect to have some solid improvements in place for some areas that have higher than expected hits to your GPU.
  
• Part 2 of wide-screen monitor support. Updating the full screen art and layout of UI elements like the quest text and mini-map to extend to the proper edges of the screen.
  
• Update to the save totem system and adding mini-map markers for where save totems are in the world.
  
• Updating and improving localization in all languages for noted issues and some awkward grammar
  
• Fixes to a variety of abilities to make their effects more clear.
  
• Balance pass to some weapons and abilities after gameplay feedback.
  
• Fix to masteries sometimes not saving their ordering when changing them in the mastery page.
  
• Fix to some sounds not playing in certain parts of the world and in some UI elements
  
• Fix to the party HUD staying open if you use a merchant while party HUD is up
  
• Fix for removing range diagrams from Songs of Exploration where unnecessary
  
• Fix for caltrops not firing off if summoned enemies enter their space
  
• Update to some text spacing and flyouts in combat for readability
  
• Update to map legends and mini-map to remove unnecessary items and improve readability
  
• Fix for health bars showing up in front of giants and some bosses
  
• Fix for some FaceFX issues on characters
  
• Fix for some models not displaying when inspected from the inventory
  
• Fix for some redundant text in the ability tool tips
  
• Fix for gold sense where it doesn’t turn when near a chest after it has been looted

Patch 3

• Additional Loading time improvements
  
• Additional game optimization and framerate improvements
  
• Addition of a Legacy Mode (hardcore mode with grid move, option to turn off mini-map, the A-Team, perma-death, auto-resurrect)
  
• Ability to speed up combat animations
  
• Inventory sorting
  
• Controller support
  
• Continued bug fixes and general improvements

They better get working faster than releasing their first patch on Friday if they want to somewhat salvage prospective weekend buyers.

In other news, the game doesn't look terrible in certain spots. There is some decent lighting and art direction going on in some areas. Here's a few screenshots I took. Nothing spectacular, but they made me stop for a second.

Spoiler

 

[Grauken]

theSavant
I usually avoid updates like hell and it certainly wasn't something I expected when I backed a Bard's Tale sequel, seems utterly inept

 

[Roqua]

Sounds like the PCGamer review isn't ready yet:

I honestly can't believe he had trouble with any of the combats when he has only a two man party - unless he is going up against the red skulls. I got tired of it being too easy on normal and had to put it on hard. And now it plays like a game made for real people and not console retards. Clearly I am in the pro-BT4 camp and want this game, and inXile, to be successful and continue making rpgs and hope for a more meaty BT5, etc, but I am not going to ignore what the game did clearly wrong. Like having save points heal. Even with the bind save ones with no respawn enemies I can just backtrack to the last one and tag team between them to stay at full. That was a really bad call, along with the items having no intrinsic damage value on their own other than stats and abilities. The itemization isn't bad, but the rpg system and chardev is clearly too lite. Abilities linked to items in this case is okay, since it makes for interesting choices outside of "better stats."

I can't figure out how to respect and looked it up and they clearly state they were adding it so mercenary tokens can be used to respect as the adventure guild - but if you can I can't figure it out. They really should have an option where you get the recrtuiables with zero skill points allocated so there wouldn't be a need to respect like PoE2 did (I think, if I am remembering correctly).

But on hard it is a good combat system, and the game would just be a lot better with no save point healing. And without all the fucking music all over the place that isn't tied to the music volume in options.

 

[Kruno]

You can get healed at those luck posts...

 

[Jimmious]

Can someone explain why grid movement would be better? For the nostalgia factor or what?
I'm honestly asking, I'm not a blobber fan in general

 

[FeelTheRads]

Sounds like the PCGamer review isn't ready yet:

Incoming negative review for all the wrong reasons from the geniuses at PCGamer.

Going by those tweets I'm gonna guess the review will boil down to "I pushed the forward button and didn't win. Uninstalled."

 

[Kruno]

To be honest the game is clearly not designed with grid movement in mind. I wouldn't bother. I'll eat Infinitron if grid movement is better than real time in this game.

 

[Jinn]

To be honest the game is clearly not designed with grid movement in mind. I wouldn't bother. I'll eat Infinitron if grid movement is better than real time in this game.

I've actually been enjoying the free movement in the game, especially when coming in contact with an encounter.

 

[dragonul09]

Play the game aweigh

Did you play the game, Infinitron ?

Or what's the deal pushing it on people left and right?

He's covering all the corners, on one hand he's shilling for Inxile and Obsidian and on the other hand, he pushes people to play the game and write reviews, which translates into more traffic for Codex, a very jewlike business approach, he plays all the sides.

 

[Darth Roxor]

In my opinion this total ugly town with total fugly graphics might have turned off some people right at the beginning and give bad ratings. I would have preferred a nicer starting place (small village in wood) or at least a nicer town nicer.

Yep. I have no idea WTF they were thinking with that start, not only is the town itself fugly, but it's just that the entire thing is so sudden/jarring.

The game starts and you see some random people getting hanged... for reasons. Meanwhile some priest-looking guy is ranting about things. You turn around, there's some hobo-looking guy whom you apparently know who says you gotta go to some place and he joins up while talking nonsense. Then you go around the corridor setup of the town while whacking boxes, listening to random passers-by talk about... things. You finally make it to the place you were supposed to get to, when it's suddenly raided by coppers and you gotta run to the ssssseeewwweeeerrrrssssss because dont ask me what's even going on wtf.

No idea why it couldn't just start with the adventurer's guild getting raided and you escaping with the hobo in a cutscene. The town walk is completely unnecessary.

 

[BEvers]

Sounds like the PCGamer review isn't ready yet:

Incoming negative review for all the wrong reasons from the geniuses at PCGamer.

Going by those tweets I'm gonna guess the review will boil down to "I pushed the forward button and didn't win. Uninstalled."

No, he likes it:

 

[Infinitron]

He's covering all the corners, on one hand he's shilling for Inxile and Obsidian and on the other hand, he pushes people to play the game and write reviews, which translates into more traffic for Codex, a very jewlike business approach, he plays all the sides.

Making DarkUnderlord rich to own the grogs