BT 3: Questions before beginning (map, items, chars)

Discussions and help for Bard's Tale III: The Thief of Fate
Post Reply
DeCasale
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:20 pm

BT 3: Questions before beginning (map, items, chars)

Post by DeCasale »

Hello everybody! After solving BT 1 & 2 I´m heading back to the ruins Skara Brae. A few questions before starting BT 3:
- So, Garth is gone? What else can I do with tons of useless Items - drop into the landscape?
- Automapping. AUTOMAPPING! Should I map on my own nevertheless?
- Of course I transfer my victorious Characters from BT 2. Are there starter dungeons I can skip?

Thank you for your attention :)
caars
Posts: 145
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:01 pm

Re: BT 3: Questions before beginning (map, items, chars)

Post by caars »

DeCasale wrote:Hello everybody! After solving BT 1 & 2 I´m heading back to the ruins Skara Brae. A few questions before starting BT 3:
- So, Garth is gone? What else can I do with tons of useless Items - drop into the landscape?
- Automapping. AUTOMAPPING! Should I map on my own nevertheless?
- Of course I transfer my victorious Characters from BT 2. Are there starter dungeons I can skip?

Thank you for your attention :)
Are you playing the original, or the 2018-19 remake? That'll make a difference.

- Yes, you can't sell items. Nor do you need to. The only things gold is used for is:
1. Buying spell levels. Unless you are actually starting with totally new characters, this will barely put a dent in the money you'll get from defeating monsters.
2. Buying spells and bard songs. There's only a few of these (Gill's Gills, Divine Intervention, Gotta...got...a ... er. NUKE, and two of the bard songs). Again, the costs will barely put a dent in your gold.
3. A very few places where you have to buy a quest item. Even when the price is outrageous, you'll have such an absurd amount of gold that it won't put a dent in... well, you get the idea.
4. Temple healing. Which by the time you get past the starter dungeons won't really be necessary since you can reverse every condition with the spells you'll have. Still, since "bought" healing doesn't cost spell points and there's no Roscoe and you have such an absurd amount of money, I often healed at the temple just because there was pretty much almost nothing else to even use money for.

So yes, if it's an item, and you don't need it, drop it and don't look back.

One caveat: I have no idea if the remakes added shops or the equivalent of Roscoes to some of the later cities, which might make selling items, etc. more of a thing. But in the original version of BT3 you just dropped what you didn't need.

- Yes, make your own maps. The automap is primitive, and you'll need your own maps to mark out where to find important features when you are trying to complete quests. Again, that's the original version. The remake version of the automap is very, very robust and replicates the "note taking" you'd have if you'd been hand drawing the maps. So "original" - make your own maps (and use the automap as a 'check' to make sure your maps are accurate); "remake" - don't bother ... the automap feature will work just fine.

- Technically only the very first starter dungeon can be skipped (there are two "starter" dungeons) - and only if you happen to know the "code word" you need to get into the second (harder) starter dungeon. If you don't, you'll need to explore the first starter dungeon to find it. The second starter dungeon is required since you can't advance the game plot at all until you defeat its "boss." If you are importing characters from BT1/2, they'll be *seriously* overpowered for these starting dungeons, but you'll still have to play through them.

NOTE: Since a Chronomancer looses all previously learned spells, you MAY want to actually create a totally new mage to convert to your Chronomancer rather than converting one of the Archmages you worked so hard on from BT1/2. In that case, the XP from the starter dungeons will be pretty useful for leveling up your neophyte mage. Also, if you didn't have a Thief in BT1/2, you'll want to create one and level him/her up too (at least if you are playing a version of BT3 emulated from the Apple II or C64 version of the game - while there is a bug that lets you complete the DOS version without a Thief, you *cannot* win the game without a Thief if you are playing the emulated Apple II/C64 version).
Modules for BT Builder (still very much works in progress):
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
DeCasale
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:20 pm

Re: BT 3: Questions before beginning (map, items, chars)

Post by DeCasale »

Wow awesome, thank you for the perfect answer! I play the "real classic" version via Dosbox on a MacBook. Unfortunately I just figured out, that I first have to solve a problem much bigger: The character-transfer from BT2 doesnt work! The Game can´t find the files, allthough I typed in the correct directory (at least i´m quite sure I do so). BT1>BT2 made no problems. Can anybody help?!
DeCasale
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:20 pm

Re: BT 3: Questions before beginning (map, items, chars)

Post by DeCasale »

DeCasale wrote:Wow awesome, thank you for the perfect answer! I play the "real classic" version via Dosbox on a MacBook. Unfortunately I just figured out, that I first have to solve a problem much bigger: The character-transfer from BT2 doesnt work! The Game can´t find the files, allthough I typed in the correct directory (at least i´m quite sure I do so). BT1>BT2 made no problems. Can anybody help?!
Oh, I should have read the readme.txt. It works, thanks again, caars, for your clues.
DeCasale
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:20 pm

Re: BT 3: Questions before beginning (map, items, chars)

Post by DeCasale »

Thoughts after an hour of playing ... there are a few - but very effective - failures in the Gameplay:

- Doors open via "k" - hell, why not just by going forward?
- spell-casting by selecting in a list, not by just typing "REST"
- no "ouch" when hitting a wall? How to navigate in the darkness?
- The stats of imported Chars are all 18, level up costs millions of XP - this could become a problem later, I´m afraid ...

Is the game worth it?
caars
Posts: 145
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:01 pm

Re: BT 3: Questions before beginning (map, items, chars)

Post by caars »

DeCasale wrote:Thoughts after an hour of playing ... there are a few - but very effective - failures in the Gameplay:

- Doors open via "k" - hell, why not just by going forward?
- spell-casting by selecting in a list, not by just typing "REST"
- no "ouch" when hitting a wall? How to navigate in the darkness?
- The stats of imported Chars are all 18, level up costs millions of XP - this could become a problem later, I´m afraid ...

Is the game worth it?
The DOS import of the game is just god awful. It is NOT worth playing unless you can get a player-made patch the corrects the bugs and other gameplay issues (I know they exist but I forget where you find them - but I think if you search the forums here you can find them).

The other option is to play an Apple II or C64 port on one of their respective emulators (or buy "The Bard's Tale" on Steam specifically to get access to the "original 3" - which is NOT the same thing as the newer remakes): the copy of BT3 you get with that game is the Apple II emulated version (or is it C64? They look the same to me) with the emulator built in. If you really want to play the original, THAT's the route I'd highly recommend: the Apple II/C64 versions are *greatly* superior to the DOS version (even the art and animation is better, if lower resoultion), and all of the things you got used to are in those versions are there(including just walking through doors and codes for spells).

I suppose the final option is just to buy the remakes - if you opt in for the BETA, you can have access to a (mostly completed) BT3. The remakes are (IMO) extremely well done, although they do NOT play the same as the originals (they're a lot easier overall in most ways due to all of the bells and whistles and other changes - although the "spirit" of the game and the basic gameplay is still the same).
Modules for BT Builder (still very much works in progress):
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
DeCasale
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:20 pm

Re: BT 3: Questions before beginning (map, items, chars)

Post by DeCasale »

caars wrote:
DeCasale wrote:Thoughts after an hour of playing ... there are a few - but very effective - failures in the Gameplay:

- Doors open via "k" - hell, why not just by going forward?
- spell-casting by selecting in a list, not by just typing "REST"
- no "ouch" when hitting a wall? How to navigate in the darkness?
- The stats of imported Chars are all 18, level up costs millions of XP - this could become a problem later, I´m afraid ...

Is the game worth it?
The DOS import of the game is just god awful. It is NOT worth playing unless you can get a player-made patch the corrects the bugs and other gameplay issues (I know they exist but I forget where you find them - but I think if you search the forums here you can find them).

The other option is to play an Apple II or C64 port on one of their respective emulators (or buy "The Bard's Tale" on Steam specifically to get access to the "original 3" - which is NOT the same thing as the newer remakes): the copy of BT3 you get with that game is the Apple II emulated version (or is it C64? They look the same to me) with the emulator built in. If you really want to play the original, THAT's the route I'd highly recommend: the Apple II/C64 versions are *greatly* superior to the DOS version (even the art and animation is better, if lower resoultion), and all of the things you got used to are in those versions are there(including just walking through doors and codes for spells).

I suppose the final option is just to buy the remakes - if you opt in for the BETA, you can have access to a (mostly completed) BT3. The remakes are (IMO) extremely well done, although they do NOT play the same as the originals (they're a lot easier overall in most ways due to all of the bells and whistles and other changes - although the "spirit" of the game and the basic gameplay is still the same).
As a BT4-backer InXile sent me the classic trilogy via mail, obviously not the copy you recommend. Hmm, more bugs to come doesn´t sound very good .... Gotta find this player-patch, I guess. Thank you again, caars

EDIT: Mission accomplished - the patch works! A virtual beer for you, cheers
Post Reply