The Bard's Tale II

[Saxon1974]

Here I am again posting about one of my favorite games of the past in the chance that anyone might be interested

This was one of my favorite RPG's as a kid, I remember playing it almost an entire summer.

Having a good time with my recent playthrough, but since Im older I think I am more able to criticize things I dont like.

One thing is magic seems way over powered, once you get mass kill spells 99% of enemies are killed by your mages, your fighters are just punching bags really..

That being said, I still enjoy the game quite a bit.

Anyone else have impressions from this game?

I finished the starter dungeon in the game and rescued the princess....

And wanna know what she looks like?


SPOILER in case your gonna play the game...scroll down to see










Here she is







Here are a couple more screens for the fun of it.

The Sage's Hut sits out in the forrest.

[Rune_74]

Which version is that...I played the apple version and I'm sure it looked better then that...I think. Was a cool game, I liked part 3 as well. I still cannot get over the game sryth at the moment so you trying to lure me will not work!!;)

[Saxon1974]

It's the C64 version. You probably mean the Apple IIGS version? The Apple II version is very similar to the C64 if not a little worse, but the Apple IIGS version looks very similar to the Amiga version.

I considered playing the amiga version however it doesn't have variety of wall graphics like the C64 does, all the walls of the castles, tombs, crypts have the same green walls with skulls, where they all look different on the C64.

I don't know if that is true on Bard's Tale III though, wish I knew that for when I play it.

This game is mostly a dungeon survival game, so if you like that sort of thing you will love it. The thing is, most of the fun here is discovery and making your own maps and most people dont have the patience now for making dungeon maps by hand. I have a binder with graph paper I been using and its really not that hard. You can play it with the maps you can find online, but I think that kills some of the fun.

What is this Sryth game you speak of?

[Rune_74]

Judging by past posts I thinkyou would totally be into this....

check out this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2037

[Saxon1974]

Judging by past posts I thinkyou would totally be into this....

check out this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2037

Wow, that looks pretty interesting. Haven't played a text based game since my Zork days back in the early 80's. If I get bored on my recent playthrough of BTII I might give it a go.

[Saxon1974]

Here's a couple more screens...

It says this is a black giant, but its odd that its not black.



A city wall in the wilderness.



The Kings Mage.



A magic mouth.



A skeleman must be some relative of a skeleton. I thought it might be a typo until it hit me for like 30 hit points.

[Rune_74]

Cool, I warn you once you start you will be eatin alive...I have played 3 straight days now...can not get enough.

[Rush]

Unless I am thinking of another game series altogether, I remember using the Bard's Tale construction set in the long, long ago. I had a lot of fun with it.

---Rush.

[Saxon1974]

Unless I am thinking of another game series altogether, I remember using the Bard's Tale construction set in the long, long ago. I had a lot of fun with it.

---Rush.

Your correct, you can see info on the series and the construction set here.

http://www.geocities.com/thebardstale/

[Hawkwind]

Ah...the memories! The Bards Tale was a great series of games and was probably the cause of more downtime on my BBS than anything... I too used to map everything by hand. It wasn't until the Might and Magic series where the Wizard Eye spell created the map for you that I gave that all up. Whatever happened to old JVC anyway after 3DO sold their souls to Ubi?

[Rune_74]

What did JVC have to do with bards tale or might and magic...bit confused here.

[Rush]

Thanks for providing the link, Saxon. I am going to check it out.

---Rush.

[Saxon1974]

What did JVC have to do with bards tale or might and magic...bit confused here.

I believe Hawkwind is talking about John Van Caneghem the creator of the might and magic games. Might and Magic II had an automap that mapped everything for you.

Here is the wikipedia info on him....

Van Caneghem founded New World Computing in 1983. The company was acquired by The 3DO Company in 1996. When 3DO went bankrupt in 2003, New World Computing also disappeared. In 2004, Van Caneghem joined NCSoft. Shortly after, he was inducted into Computer Gaming World's Hall of Fame. In 2005 he left NCSoft.

On September 25, 2006 it was announced that Van Caneghem, together with Lars Buttler, former vice president of Global Online at Electronic Arts, formed a new company named Trion World Network, headquartered in Redwood City, California, that would "leverage all the inherent capabilities of broadband, provide original entertainment, and define the future of media in the global broadband era".[1]

Hmm, that new company sounds pretty vague....

[Saxon1974]

Thanks for providing the link, Saxon. I am going to check it out.

---Rush.

No problem, this is also a great link.

http://www.bardstale.de/

[Hawkwind]

Saxon1974, you're exactly right -- that's who I was talking about. Thanks for the Wiki article. Makes me want to look up Lord British, too... LOL