Old Fan...New Member!!!

Discussions and help for Bard's Tale I: Tales of the Unknown
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Van Slaylin
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Old Fan...New Member!!!

Post by Van Slaylin »

I just finished Bards Tale again after like 20yrs after the first time...What a wicked wicked game!!!

So here's how i found this site.

A couple days ago I was talking about how you can get an emulator for the apple IIGS and play the old games like bards tale and while looking for the download we found this...

My uncle had an original brand new Apple IIGS and I played on that sucker for hours!!! I remember spending an entire summer going down and fighting the 99x4 berzerkers LOL Finally finished the game and then started on part 2 which I think i almost finished...Truly was the best gaming I can remember.

Well when I found the IIGS emulator I couldnt believe how good the game held up to the test of time and so i started again from the beginning. Rolling new characters and mapped the entire quest...

When I found this forum I was shocked as the dates on the posts were like that day!!! I mean this game is pretty old and people are having daily conversations about it. My uncle laughed like crazy when he saw that and after a few googles managed to get a working IIGS copy and I'm sure he's playing it right now...again.

My next plan is to play part 2 but I think that if i roll new characters it might be more fun than importing the old ones that are so high up...

Anyways Big HELLO to all the fans...This was truly one of the best games I've ever played and if there was to be a part 4 I think it should look exactly like part 1...The APPLE IIGS version though...thats the one for me :D
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Horpner
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Post by Horpner »

I just finished the Amiga version a few weeks ago, and I really enjoyed. It's the first of the 16-bit versions, and it's kinda buggy, but still, it was great. I didn't know the IIgs version was so boss until a little while ago. When I get the urge, I'll play it again on the IIgs.

I've got three complete Bard's Tale games, in the box, in my closet. Bard's Tale for the Amiga, Bard's Tale II for C64, and Bard's Tale III for C64. I've still got the disks for the C64 version of Tales of the Unknown, but the box fell apart from being used so much.

It's still a fun game, today. I remember seeing the first Wizardry games after playing Bard's Tale, and I couldn't believe how primitive they looked in comparison. But I guess they were a little earlier.

I'm currently playing through Bard's Tale II on the Amiga, with my tranfered characters. I recommend you just transfer your characters in and keep going. You'll miss out on The Dark Domain, but that's no big deal. By the time you get to The Maze of Dread you'll be glad you've got your high level guys on your side. It's not that tough to start out with a brand new party, though, if that's what you want. They XP comes fast and furious in The Dark Domain, at least if you're low level.

If you haven't put away your game yet, could you please check out a few of the mystery square we've been discussing elsewhere on this board? The most curious one seems to be the one two square south of the four Spectres on the fifth level of Mangar's Tower. Nobodies been able to figure out what's supposed to happen there.
Death and drek? WTF?
Van Slaylin
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Post by Van Slaylin »

OK maybe I'll keep my characters then...when i have time I should try to show you guys there atributes and see if you guys think theyre any good...most are around lvl 25 or so...I think I have them all outfitted with the best stuff in the game but I'm unsure if maybe I'm over doing it as only one character has any empty spaces left...so when touring dungeons I cant really get much new stuff...

I was quickly reading about the squares you mentioned and I'm not sure if you've discussed this but I think the computer will check to see if you have the required items in your party, such as the silver shapes etc. and if you dont then I think you wont be able to continue...But I'll read more about it and try to find the squares myself however on the emulator you cant tell when disk drives are running...

My party has a Palidin, Monk, Warrior, Bard, 2 FULL wizards. Sometimes I'm thinking that I shouldget rid of one of my fighters as they seem to be somewhat useless at higher levels...
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Horpner
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Post by Horpner »

Van Slaylin wrote:OK maybe I'll keep my characters then...when i have time I should try to show you guys there atributes and see if you guys think theyre any good...most are around lvl 25 or so...I think I have them all outfitted with the best stuff in the game but I'm unsure if maybe I'm over doing it as only one character has any empty spaces left...so when touring dungeons I cant really get much new stuff...
The only quest-related item you really need to bring with you from the first game is the master key. The silver shapes and most of the other quest items will disappear on transfer. The spectre snare is of course extremely valuable, especially in the hands of your bard. See below.

The class requirements for some items change. For example Paladins can't wear dmnd plate in ToTU, but they can in TDK. The best items in the first game aren't necessarily what you want to transfer over. A few bard restrictions are lifted, too.
I was quickly reading about the squares you mentioned and I'm not sure if you've discussed this but I think the computer will check to see if you have the required items in your party, such as the silver shapes etc. and if you dont then I think you wont be able to continue...But I'll read more about it and try to find the squares myself however on the emulator you cant tell when disk drives are running...
I'm thinking specifically of the square at 8N, 10E. It apparently does nothing of consequence on the C64 and Apple ][e. It puts the Amiga into a tight loop that effectively freezes the game. I just want to add the behavior on the ][gs to the list. ;)
My party has a Palidin, Monk, Warrior, Bard, 2 FULL wizards. Sometimes I'm thinking that I shouldget rid of one of my fighters as they seem to be somewhat useless at higher levels...
The amount of raw damage they can do generally diminishes in importance, but when equipped with some of the powerful weapons in the game they can be just as good as ever.

I think your party is fine, really. You could experiment with dropping the Paladin or Warrior, and replacing him with another spell-caster. An extra spell-caster is always appreciated. I have three arch mages, but I rarely actually "need" all three at once. It's fairly simple to clone one of your BT1 wizards by transferring him in to BT2, renaming him, and then transferring him in again. If that type of shady dealing is beneath you, you can just train up a new one. It won't take that long before he catches up to your other two spell-casters as they slog through the arch mage levels. This is where the spectre snare comes in, as it makes a bard into a destruction machine. The downside is that a bard can be really effective just using his magic items and singing songs during battle. My bard doesn't get to sing much, or use his items much, because I need him to whack stuff with the snare.

Keep in mind that with three spell casters you'll be reliant on your special member being a decent meat-shield. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of some of the more interesting monsters you can summon, like the Wind Mage. He casts Mangar's Mallet one quarter of the time, but he's kind of fragile.
Death and drek? WTF?
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Marco
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Post by Marco »

I would recommend bringing in your old characters into Bards Tale 2. BT2 was designed to accomodate powerful characters from BT1. The "starter dungeon" in BT2 is irrelevant to the rest of the game, but it serves to bring new characters to a high enough level that they can proceed with the remainder of the game. Importing characters from BT1 will just mean that you don't need to do the starter dungeon, and you can just proceed with the first "true" dungeon of the game, the Tombs. Even with characters you thought were powerful in BT1, you will not find the Tombs to be a cakewalk, and it only gets harder after that.

I would recommend that you bring 3 or 4 spectre snares from BT1 -- one for each of your front rank fighters (unless you have a monk or something that cannot equip it). The nice thing about the 'snare is that your bard can use it. With the 'snare's critical hit capability, your wimpy bard will suddenly become a rabid killing machine, something that will come very much in handy in BT2.

I would concur with most of Horpner's advice. I have also experimented with having 3 archmages in the game. I have found it very helpful, but hardly necessary. There is one thing you should consider, though: there is a 3rd game in the series, and word on the street is that a thief plays an allegedly important role in the game. So if you take into consideration that you are going to eventually be playing BT3, you need to think about building up a thief character, which unfortunately is quite useless in the first two games. Your BT3 party is going to consist of an archmage, chronomancer (formerly an archmage), bard, thief, geomancer (formerly a fighter-type), and a fighter type. The 7th slot is going to be needed for certain people you will be running into in the game. Thus, if you put a lot of effort into developing 3 archmages in BT2, you're going to find that you won't be able to use them all in BT3.

Marco.
Van Slaylin
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Post by Van Slaylin »

OK thanks for all the advice...I'm still looking for a working copy of BT3 for the IIGS...i dont think there was one...but since 1 and 2 are good for the IIGS can my characters transfer over to say an apple version? Not sure I can get that to work with my emulator???

And what is the deal with the specter snare? I know where you get it in mangars tower but what does it do? Just get a foe into your party??? I've never tried it when i found it long ago and i havent gotten it yet on this time around...maybe this week I'll spend some time in mangers place...

Oh yeah and when the vampires suck a level from you...what should you do cause it seems like a big waste of EX points...I usually run from them!!!!
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Horpner
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Post by Horpner »

It has several effects.

When used in battle, it casts Baylor's Spell Bind.

When equipped, it improves your AC by, I think, -5.

When you attack with it as a weapon, it causes a critical hit 100% of the time.
Death and drek? WTF?
Van Slaylin
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Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:08 am
Location: Canada

Post by Van Slaylin »

WOW!!! OK thank you sir!!! I'm on my way to get one!!! That sounds like a wicked item indeed :lol: :lol: :lol:
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