Searching for in-depth mechanics guide

[Demwar]

First, let me say that I love the job done on this old title. The devs did an awesome job on reintroduce an old classic.

One thing is bugging me, though:
There is almost no info on how several game mechanics even work. Not ingame and not online, anywhere.

One example- stats. I know STR increases damage, but how much?
What's the formula to calculate it?

"Sorcerer Shield" spells just describe that it gives an invisible shield to the caster. How much armor does it give?

"Battleskill" description: increases the accuracy and ferocity of a party member attacks.
What does it mean in numbers??

You can say I'm nitpicking but it affects gameplay directly.
How?
Should I cast Battleskill on a party member or use a damaging spell? Well it depends- if it increases my teammate accuracy by 40% or 10%? Damage done increased by 5% or 30%?

Besides I love descriptive data and knowing exactly the consequences of my choices in rpgs.
I have never seen a case where I just couldn't find this type of info anywhere.

Does anyone know a source to this type of info? I'd really appreciate it.

[TheQuestionMark360]

Hey Demwar, great to hear you are enjoying the game so much. A great site to check out would be The Bard's Tale Online. Could be a good starting point and has a lot of useful information... https://bardstaleonline.com

[Demwar]

Thanks for the response!

Well obviously I already checked the first site that shows up in a google search of "the bards tale guide"...

I'm aware of The Bard's Tale Online and although I appreciate the data that is gathered there neatly, it's not what I'm looking for.

They list the spells in the game but does not give their detailed effect, which is what I'm looking for.

Nor does they explain the mechanics of the stats and their precise effect.

Also checked the wikia. Again- no help there.
The search continues.

[Demwar]

I have to emphasize this oddity - I played a lot of rpgs, both old school and more recent ones, and NEVER have I gotten this lack of info in regard to some of the most basic mechanics of the game, such as stats and freakin what spells really do.

This is even wierder considering The Bard's Tale trilogy was so famous and released to that many consoles, including TWO remasters!

Why is it so hard to find a documentation of what does a level 2 conjurer spell do, beyond what the convoluted text tells you?

Really hope someone have an answer.
Otherwise, this will be one wierd mystery..

[topper]

For the kind of details you're looking for, you should visit the adventures guild forums at the BardsTale brotherhood. They have an entire section dedicated to the stats you're seeking, real deep 'in the code' stuff.

https://bardstale.brotherhood.de/talefiles/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=945

[GandGolf]

Originally posted by topper4125:

For the kind of details you're looking for, you should visit the adventures guild forums at the BardsTale brotherhood. They have an entire section dedicated to the stats you're seeking, real deep 'in the code' stuff.

https://bardstale.brotherhood.de/talefiles/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=945

Hopefully somebody will use that thread to update the Wiki page.

[Demwar]

Originally posted by topper4125:

For the kind of details you're looking for, you should visit the adventures guild forums at the BardsTale brotherhood. They have an entire section dedicated to the stats you're seeking, real deep 'in the code' stuff.

https://bardstale.brotherhood.de/talefiles/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=945

Thanks! I'll look into it :)

(funny how simply understanding what certain spells actually do is considered as "deep 'in the code'" but nvm..)

[topper]

I hope you didn't take offense to that, I wasn't saying you were looking for "Deep in the code stuff", but when you visit that forum, that is what you will find... the posters there are fanatical about finding out EVERYTHING about the game. Most people just want to know "What's the most powerful spell", or "where's the best fight" without knowing ANY of the mechanics of the game. Back when I found that forum, I was simply looking for a monster list for all the dungeons.

The next thing I know, I'm looking at a post about what the actual machine language code looks like for how the game handles the game event of simply walking into an empty house, and the dice roll table of dwarf monks per level, what every single byte of the character save file is for. The information they have is just amazing, and covers just about every aspect of the game.

[Pixie Actual]

Originally posted by Demwar:

(funny how simply understanding what certain spells actually do is considered as "deep 'in the code'" but nvm..)

Gaming is incredibly different now than it was when Bard's Tale first came out. The internet wasn't what it is now, anyone working on compiling such information probably did it more-or-less on their own and kept their notes in paper. Hell, that was often part of the *draw* of games like this, back then, was figuring this stuff out for yourself. And while some superfans of the time probably *did* compile some of the information you're looking for, a lot of it would've been archived or just totally lost as BBS systems and Usenet waned in popularity.

[Demwar]

Originally posted by Fungeon Master:

Originally posted by Demwar:

(funny how simply understanding what certain spells actually do is considered as "deep 'in the code'" but nvm..)

Gaming is incredibly different now than it was when Bard's Tale first came out. The internet wasn't what it is now, anyone working on compiling such information probably did it more-or-less on their own and kept their notes in paper. Hell, that was often part of the *draw* of games like this, back then, was figuring this stuff out for yourself. And while some superfans of the time probably *did* compile some of the information you're looking for, a lot of it would've been archived or just totally lost as BBS systems and Usenet waned in popularity.

That's true except for the fact that almost every aspect of either Ultima 1-3, Wizardry 1-3, Pools of Radiance (and some other games that got released in the same year as TBT and even before it) was documented online in a (mostly) orderly fashion.

Originally posted by topper4125:

The next thing I know, I'm looking at a post about what the actual machine language code looks like for how the game handles the game event of simply walking into an empty house, and the dice roll table of dwarf monks per level, what every single byte of the character save file is for. The information they have is just amazing, and covers just about every aspect of the game.

This sounds exactly what I'm looking for! Thanks :)

[When Can I Sleep]

I think the krome also changed the game mechanics in the remaster so it might be slightly different from what you find on the brotherhood. Nevertheless it is a great guide. And No, I dont't think Krome or its predecessors ever released any info on the game mechanics

[rayzh2013]

I was trying to just finish the classic game, now i end up learning how bt builder works, and building ui design, well at this rate i will be charging for professional UI design before finishing the trilogy