The Bard's Tale Interview
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GB: When did you first decide to develop a new Bard's Tale game, and what obstacles have you had to overcome in order to make it happen?
Eric: Brian had wanted to do another game in the Bards Tale series for quite some time but was unable to do so for a number of reasons. When he and Matt founded inXile it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do an update on the game. The biggest obstacle (other than the development of the game itself) was probably securing the rights to the Bards Tale name. Once this was accomplished things have gone rather smoothly, well as smoothly as starting up a company and developing a game all at once can go.
GB: Since they use the same engine, can you briefly explain some of the similarities and differences between Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath, and The Bard's Tale?
Eric: As far as similarities go, of course the perspectives of the games are all very similar along with the emphasis on action oriented gameplay. That is pretty much where most of the similarities end however as we decided to do quite a few things different in our game. While most other games using this engine have tried to concentrate on providing a solid multi-player experience we opted to take the other route and provide a narrative heavy single player experience. We always wanted to provide a lot of character in our game and somewhere early in development (character) turned into outright comedy, so the tone of our game is quite different from what you'd find in almost any other RPG out there.
GB: Can you detail how character creation and advancement will be handled? Additionally, in Bard's Tale tradition, will there be a "review board" that will need to be visited in order to advance a character?
Eric: When the game begins the player is allowed to allocate a certain number of points to the Bards' attributes which are Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, Luck, Rhythm, and Charisma. The player is also able to select one talent at the beginning. Talents are abilities such as new combat moves, weapon proficiencies, and other things like giving your canine companion attack dog training. Although there is no review board, whenever the player gains a level they will be able to assign two more points into their stats as well as choosing another talent at every other level.
GB: Do you plan on including any references within the storyline or dialogue in the game that will refer to characters, locations, or even major enemies from the original Bard's Tale games?
Eric: We don't have the rights to the content of the original series so we don't carry over any elements directly from the first game. However, we do parody or make reference to a lot of classic RPG elements and situations. We also drew a lot of our inspiration from the Orkney Islands (Skara Brae, the setting of the first game is in the Orkney Islands and Scottish folklore and mythology.
GB: Will players typically find their equipment while adventuring, or will much of it be purchased from merchants or even crafted? As a side note, can you tell us a bit about how inventory management will work overall?
Eric: Equipment is gained both while adventuring and from shopkeepers, we tried to keep things fairly split between the two. Our inventory system is so streamlined that it's practically non-existent. We decided rather early that juggling items in the inventory and managing those 50 wolf pelts you picked up before you can go sell them to the shopkeeper just wasn't something we wanted to focus on. To that end any non usable items that you pick up are instantly converted into silver for you. Each of our weapon and armor upgrade paths is also linear so if you find a new sword it is either going to be better, the same, or worse than what you currently have. If it is the same or worse we cash it in for you and if it is better we automatically equip it for you. This of course brings into question how exactly we are able to provide the player with strategic choices as far as weapons are concerned. We do this by providing the Bard with many different and distinct upgrade paths. For example if you want to inflict lightning damage you'd use your two handed weapon, want to do fire damage then you have to pull out your bow.
GB: How many bard songs do you plan on implementing into the game, and can we expect to see some of the original Bard's Tale ones like Lucklaran or Falkentyne's Fury? What type of effects will the various bard songs have?
Eric: The Bard has 16 different songs that he can play during the game. Each of these songs summons a different companion into battle for him. These companions range from an Armored Knight to a wizened old explorers who finds traps for you the hard way. Unfortunately we were unable to include any of the songs from the original Bards Tale game.
GB: Tell us about some of the environments and obstacles players will encounter during their journey. Any favorite areas you'd like to talk about?
Eric: From undead vikings in a frozen tomb to some very angry Druids rampaging through the streets of a city, the Bard is never lacking in obstacles to overcome. One of the most interesting situations has to be when the Bard pays a trip to a farm owned by a crazy old Butcher. You see the dead have been rising from their graves and of course the animals that the Butcher has done his work on aren't very happy about how they've been treated in the past. You just haven't lived until you've fought off a horde of undead cows, chickens, and sheep. That's not even mentioning the big pit that the Butcher used to throw all his unused animal parts into, best steer clear of that.
GB: What types of creatures will players be going head-to-head against? Will there be "boss" enemies, as well as normal opponents? Any particular baddies you can give us some background to?
Eric: Along with the aforementioned undead vikings, druids, and zombie animals the Bard will also encounter things like evil ambulatory plants, clockwork soldiers, finfolk (nasty water dwelling creatures), and other things too horrible to mention. There are quite a few bosses and special characters that the Bard fights over the course of the game. One of the early bosses is an evil Bugbear that has been terrorizing the locals in Houton (the first town you come to). The locals of course would like the Bard to intervene on their behalf and if they come up with enough the money the Bard just might be willing to help, of course like most things in our game the Bugbear situation isn't quite as straightforward as it might seem at first.
GB: How will travel work in the game? Will players be required to walk to all locations in the game, or will there be quick transportation like horses, boats, or even a teleport spell?
Eric: Although there are a few raft/boat rides and a mount of sorts later in the game, The Bard will spend most of his time walking. Individual locations are tied together by a world map, complete with encounters both voluntary and involuntary. In general we tried to design the game so that the player never felt as if they were doing a lot of walking for the sake of walking. We provide shortcuts or even change the nature of the level as often as we can whenever the player has to travel through an area multiple times.
GB: What do you feel will make this new Bard's Tale stand out from the other console RPGs available on the market and where would you like to take the franchise in the next several years?
Eric: While we feel like we have succeeded in making a very solid action RPG with a lot of interesting mechanics there are quite a few of those on the market. In the end our sense of humor and character is what sets us apart. We really tried to make everything in the game (fun) for the player from our interface screens to the game itself we attempted to go that extra step to imbue our game with as much personality as we possibly could. The Bards Tale has really been a labor of love for everyone here at inXile and we can only hope that players will appreciate and enjoy our efforts.
We'd like to issue our thanks to everyone at inXile Entertainment, especially Eric, for taking the time to answer our questions!
