Bard's Tale IV - Combat Commentary & Sound Design

[Silver]

A new Kickstarter update for The Bard's Tale 4 and more information on the combat system.

Lead Designer David Rogers walks through the details of our previous Bard's Tale IV video, breaking down each scene and going into detail on all the gameplay features being shown.

The Bard's Tale IV returns to the classic fantasy RPGs of years past. Featuring dynamic turn-based combat, a full party of characters to build and customize, and first-person exploration of maze-like dungeons with devious puzzles and riddles, The Bard's Tale IV is a true successor to the original Bard's Tale trilogy, and is crowdfunded by thousands of fans. Help us bring back the dungeon crawl and return to Skara Brae - the city that started it all.

https://bardstale.inxile-entertainmen...
https://www.facebook.com/TheBardsTale
https://twitter.com/Inxile_Ent

[...]

Sound Design Update - Introducing Brian DiDomenico

The Bard's Tale has always been well known for its presentation. It was one of the first titles to include music as a gameplay feature, and at the time its visuals were highly expressive and detailed compared to other dungeon crawlers of the day. Our goal is to continue carrying this torch forward on The Bard's Tale IV. You've seen our visuals and art design, which we've detailed a few times previously. Early in our crowdfunding campaign, we also announced the involvement of Julie Fowlis and Ged Grimes contributing the game's unique highland-tinged music, as well as our plans to bring back some of the classic Bard's Tale songs.

Sound design is one key aspect we have not touched on as much yet. Music can stay in your memory for years, and graphics are certainly important for drawing players into the game world. But more than anything else, it's sound that reinforces a game's atmosphere and feel. As a dungeon crawling experience, the audio is what immerses you into the experience, creating a sense of ambiance which is impossible to convey through music and art alone.

The Bard's Tale IV is deep in production, and many of our game systems and environments are rapidly coming together. At this stage, it's critical to have sound design work with our team and capture the unique mood of Skara Brae and the wider world of Caith.

To do this, we're bringing in Brian DiDomenico. Brian is a composer, songwriter and sound designer. Throughout his diverse career, Brian has contributed to many titles you might recognize, including Myst V: Revelation, Jade Empire, Mass Effect 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Lost Planet 3, Ninja Gaiden Z and most recently Here They Lie. Outside of games directly, Brian has performed and recorded music with Mankind is Obsolete, Dismantled and is currently the keyboardist in the Megaman-themed rock band, The Megas. He has also performed at several festivals and conventions including Video Games Live, MAGfest, BitGen, Nerdfest, the Capcom Cup. You can read more about him on his own website.

We're extremely excited to welcome Brian DiDomenico, and we can't wait for our designers and implementers to collaborate with him, and hear what he will be contributing to the game.

That's all for now, but as we barrel through production and start knocking down our internal development milestones, The Bard's Tale IV is looking better and better every day. We'll have more goodies on the game's progress and community updates to share with you soon!

David Rogers
Lead Designer

More information.

 

[ramses01]

Not sure why this wasn't part of the original post

 

[Silver]

This is much better. More videos like this InXile!

 

[BoboTheMighty]

Why's this turn based? Why not add some combos and dodge flips?

 

[Vindicator]

This is looking really good!

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

Why's this turn based? Why not add some combos and dodge flips?

I think I could go the whole rest of my life without doing another rolling dodge in a game.

 

[Darkheart]

Iirc, this video is already months old.
Nevertheless, it looks quite nice and I'm glad they went for turn-based.

 

[SSIGuy]

I really like the Opportunity Point system. Getting to decide who to use, which skills and in what order should add some nice depth and hopefully keep combat more engaging. I wonder whether there might be a mechanic where one can get access to additional points? That could be interesting (though maybe too hard to balance and it does look like the UI doesn't have room for that).

 

[fatknacker50]

Liking the info imparted this time with video. Please keep listening to us in relation to the rest of the game, I certainly wont miss bobbing party portraits..

 

[ramses01]

Why's this turn based? Why not add some combos and dodge flips?

Because turn-based, stat-based combat is the one true combat. If a game has active dodge, block, or aim, then the combat by definition sucks!

PS i got the sarcasm.

 

[lostforever]

I don't understand the debate between action/turnbased combat. I love them both. They are both so different comparing them is meaningless.

 

[wolfing]

I don't understand the debate between action/turnbased combat. I love them both. They are both so different comparing them is meaningless.

It's not about comparing them. It's about developers/publishers thinking turn based is obsolete and deciding games shoul be action, even games which would be much better if they were turn based because of their tactical combat.

 

[SSIGuy]

I personally prefer turn-based (and always have). Thankfully, I feel there have been a lot of good and great TB games over the last several years and don't feel they're being squeezed out for real time ones.

 

[Hastar]

Party based games should always be turned base. Games like Skyrim, with only one character, can be real time. I am an old grump though, so don't listen to me.

 

[mercy]

Somehow this "thing" gets less and less charming as "development" regresses.

 

[JDR13]

I really hate that ugly blue grid. I hope it can be toggled off.

 

[TomRon]

I'm really looking forward to this.

Funny that grid based movement is toggable. Not that I mind grid based, but free movement is always going to be my preference. Anyone here who will actually use grid movement?

 

[you]

looks good to me.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

I might, although squares may be easily discernable enough without the grid. I usually turn hexes on. Got them turned on currently in Expeditions: Viking.

 

[TomRon]

I might, although squares may be easily discernable enough without the grid. I usually turn hexes on. Got them turned on currently in Expeditions: Viking.

Oh, I always turn hexes on in turn based games. But in regards to real time first person movement I don't see the point. I'm not THAT old school that I prefer to draw my own maps.