Just discovered this RPG masterpiece

[ataribaby]

Hi all,
i just discovered this RPG and bought original C64 version to my collection. I have some question tha ti want nicely ask here. For what is intra party attack option good for? It is possible that special party guest can turn hostile? Last is about save game. I see i can save chracters or party but i think world is not persistant as i loaded party and statues i attacked was there again. What exaclty Leave game option do? It saves some additinal info and it is madatory to end game via this option to save progress or all saving is just to keep heroes stats and world is always regenerated after load? Thanks for answers.

[Brian the Fist]

Yes, you are right. This attack option is used in the case some of the party members turn hostile.

[Chaney]

Once you leave the adventurers guild, the samurai statues do reset. As far as saving party vs character. When you save a game name, it does not save the characters. It is just a quick way to recall all of your characters at once. To save the current progress of your characters, you have to remove and update them one at a time.

[ataribaby]

Thanks for answers. So for me maybe easiest way to save is save emulator state. That way i can get persistent world too i think. Cos i saw statues resets only when load new game,. If i just reneter guild and go out it looks ok. Maybe as long i go to cellar and it load another map ot will resets anyway. But i no tcomplain. It is like that by design i think Gread game anyway ...

Edit: just tried ZX Spectrum and C64 versions and entering/leave guild or go to cellar to load dungeon and back to town not resets statues. So it looks like saving emulator state i can get easy save with more or less persistant world.

[Marco]

Congrats for finding this wonderful classic. I'm surprised the statues didn't reset when you entered the guild -- it does on the apple II. They should reset whenever you enter a dungeon and leave, though.

The "party attack" is very rarely used. Around the Catacombs or the Castle, you'll start running into dopplegangers, which jump into the party and mimic another member. This can be a huge problem, especially if you haven't built up your spellcasters to the point where they can reveal the dopplegangers. The easy way to prevent this is to always make sure you don't have an empty slot in the party. Always have 6 characters, and always keep your S slot filled. By the time you run into dopplegangers, you'll be able to summon allies. The only other time when you need to "party attack" is if someone is possessed. Monsters that do that are rare, but there is one trap near the end of the game that does it.

If you "save state", this won't be much of an issue, but you should remember that if you shut the computer without saving off your characters (by formally leaving the game), everybody loses their gold. And there are situations that you might not be able to get out of even by restoring a save state and you're forced to shut the computer down (so beware of Kylearan's Tower!!).

Marco.

[ataribaby]

Congrats for finding this wonderful classic. I'm surprised the statues didn't reset when you entered the guild -- it does on the apple II. They should reset whenever you enter a dungeon and leave, though.

The "party attack" is very rarely used. Around the Catacombs or the Castle, you'll start running into dopplegangers, which jump into the party and mimic another member. This can be a huge problem, especially if you haven't built up your spellcasters to the point where they can reveal the dopplegangers. The easy way to prevent this is to always make sure you don't have an empty slot in the party. Always have 6 characters, and always keep your S slot filled. By the time you run into dopplegangers, you'll be able to summon allies. The only other time when you need to "party attack" is if someone is possessed. Monsters that do that are rare, but there is one trap near the end of the game that does it.

If you "save state", this won't be much of an issue, but you should remember that if you shut the computer without saving off your characters (by formally leaving the game), everybody loses their gold. And there are situations that you might not be able to get out of even by restoring a save state and you're forced to shut the computer down (so beware of Kylearan's Tower!!).

Marco.

Thanks for tips. I just started plaing C64 verison and i expolring wine cellars and drawing map by hand with pencil as i refusing use of already created maps. This wil takes all fun from this old school RPG if i will use premade maps and takes away all fun from game. Slowly collectiong experience as exploring wine cellars. About saves. i using save state now and statues are notreseted at all and yes i lost all stuff as i saved only party and not used Leave game option Learned from my errors. BTW it is wonderfull game. Thinking about to start writing remake in WPF framework. Just not sure if combat system mechanics and all statistics are known. I tested ZX Spetrum and C64 verisons and in both have statues state persistent as far you not reset game. I will try Apple 2 too then to see

[Quantum Reality]

Hi,

I've just (re)discovered this classic myself. I played BT1 SO MUCH back in the late 1980s and early 1990s; I must have logged god only knows how many hours with it.

Since I played the Apple ][ version back when I was younger, I've gotten AppleWin and the images for the Apple ][.

As a project to kill time, I've started trying to write a character editor for Bard's Tale 1. It will only work for the Apple ][, but it's something to do.

[Brian the Fist]

As a project to kill time, I've started trying to write a character editor for Bard's Tale 1. It will only work for the Apple ][, but it's something to do.

When finished do not hesitate to send it to me. I will then include it for download here at the Adventurers' Guild.