Which version of Bard's Tale III (3) is the best?

Discussions and help for Bard's Tale III: The Thief of Fate
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Id Attrib
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Which version of Bard's Tale III (3) is the best?

Post by Id Attrib »

Hello Folks!! The internet truly amazes me. Recently, I was rummaging through my belongings as I do every so often, and came across an old game manual for Bard's Tale II. As I held it, and thumbed through the pages, I realized that I'd never finished that God Forsakenly (yes, that's a word b/c i say so!) involving game. So, there I was, 15+ yrs later, attending to some Unfinished business!!

Perhaps a month or so later, I finished playing the MS-DOS version of Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight (via DOSBox 0.74 on a Windows 7 system). Whew!! No longer will that hard-copy Manual or Clue Book Haunt me!!

So, my original interest, was only in playing, and finishing, Bard's Tale II. Alas, I vaguely recall playing BT III back in the day as well. Now, I've began flirting w/ Bard's Tale III (also via DOSBox 0.74).



Now, here's my dilemna: I feel like BT3 (DOS version) is an annoying pain to play compared to BT2:

1) The rate of Monster Encounters seems absurd. I mean, it's CONSTANT!! Even with some maps I've collected, I feel like I don't have the patience (after playing BT2) to just "grind" constantly!! I'd rather focus on exploration!! Even w/ "Speedboots" imported, and playing the "Safety Song" to both avoid, and run-away from combat, I'm still annoyed!! I even tried changing the speed of the CPU cycle via the Emulator, but that slowed down the navigation too much. Ugh!!

2) I have no control over the combat text scrolling speed (like I did in BT2). In BT2 I could use [<] to slow down the scrolling speed, or [>] to speed up the scrolling speed. Is there a way to change this I don't know about?

3) What's the deal w/ using [K] to open doors versus the straight arrow key, like in BT2? What a Pain!!

4) Casting Spells requires selecting from a List... seriously? WT*?


BLaH!! I guess I just felt the need to vent. Here I am w/ Level 50 Characters from BT2, that I successfully transferred into BT3 only to find that "Non-Magic Users" transferred at Level 35, with stats stuck at 18 (layover from BT2). On a side note, does anyone know what the max/ceiling on stats are in BT3? I've only played through Unterbrae, and found my highest stat to be ~27. Also, my Level 35 Rogue that I transferred over only has a 60% rating on all of his abilities (Hide in Shadows, Critical Hit, Identify Items, etc.). Now, as a test, in comparison, I ran my Level 1 Paladin/Monk/Bard/Rogue through Unterbrae w/ my imported Mages to see how the stats would compare. The Rogue ended up w/ 99% in all areas at Level 36 after seeing the Old Man @ the Review Board.

Now, on the other hand, if you transfer some Archmages w/ equivalent experience points from BT2, you end up w/ some seriously powerful Archmages in BT3!!


Anyhow, I feel stuck flirting w/ all the mechanics to see if playing the DOS version is really going to be worth it. I REALLY wanted to have the benefit of xferring both my Characters, and their Items (Hello Speedboots & Nospin Ring!!) I've read most of the posts throughout this forum, and I'm wondering if starting fresh w/ the C64 would be better. Thoughts anyone? Also, if going w/ the C64 is your opinion, do you have a preference on which emulator to use? I've seen/heard of VICE and the one on this site - CCS64.

Any/all Feedback would be greatly appreciated!!
tpth
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Post by tpth »

The DOS version is pretty terrible, sadly, for all the reasons you list and more that become clear as the game progresses - dragons don't breathe, certain items don't work... The C64 is a far better experience if you can find it in yourself to grind your way past the Brilhasti dungeon. (Or just cheat yourself characters equivalent to the ones you would have transferred from BT2.)
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ZeroZero
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Post by ZeroZero »

VICE and also CCS are both brilliant emulators, I personally prefer CCS for its handling and compability
Id Attrib
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Not Complaining, ...Just, Noting

Post by Id Attrib »

Hello again,

First, Thank You for the replies - they really are appreciated. After a little work, I installed VICE and loaded up BT3. I have to say though, my initial experience is discouraging.

While the "random encounter" rate does not seem to be as high as in the DOS version, it does not feel significantly lower. The general speed of gameplay seems slow mainly due to overall "load time" (when monsters are encountered, or going in and out of the city/review board/etc). Warp goes waaaaaay too fast, and anything above about ~250% makes the Songs sound silly, and, of course increase the random encounter rate...

Also, the game wants you to change disk from Character Disk to Dungeon Disk each time you run in and out of Mad God/Unterbrae =\

...not that I'm really playing this game for the graphics, but those feel inferior to the DOS version too.

Mmmmmmm, I don't know. The jury is still out. In the end, I have to say that this brief outing w/ the C64 version gives me a deeper appreciation for the technology we have available today.



I will probably go back to the DOS version for now, but we'll see how things go.
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Darendor
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Post by Darendor »

I must declare that the Commodore 64 has superior graphics to the Apple II version. :?
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ZeroZero
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Post by ZeroZero »

I guess Methuselas was talking of the Apple II GS version...? Although I think there wasn't a version for that one... :S

BT III seems to have only been released for 4 systems, and of those the Amiga version has the best gfx. However, I don't know, what other drawbacks the Amiga version has above the "original" versions for Apple II and C64...
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danp68
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Post by danp68 »

I love the C64 version for nostalgia purposes but also because it really pushed the system's graphics back in the day. Good songs too.
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Darendor
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Post by Darendor »

I wasn't calling anyone out with my comment, I was merely giving my opinion.
Mordred
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Re: Which version of Bard's Tale III (3) is the best?

Post by Mordred »

there is another thread somewhere here on the forum about a bug-fixed msdos version of bt3.
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