Bard's Tale Construction Set
Encyclopedia
The Bard's Tale Construction Set is computer software that allows the user to create simple dungeon crawl
video games using The Bard's Tale
game engine. It was created by Interplay Productions
in 1991 and distributed by Electronic Arts
. It was released for the Amiga
and DOS
.
Since it was not required to own The Bard's Tale Construction Set in order to play games which were created with it, one could easily distribute his or her own created games among other people.
Set in the small rundown village of Isil Thania, a band of adventurers has traveled from afar to witness the annual Star Light Festival in which an eerie light comes down from a star for one night only making the night into day.
While awaiting the Festival at the Rainbow Bar, a small twisted man leads the characters into the sewers (which feature the same maps found in the original Bard's Tale game), and from there the chracters engages upon a quest that takes them from one location in the city to the next, eventually to find the secret truths behind the Star Cult and the town of Isil Thania.
Playing the sample scenario reveals that several changes have taken place since Bard's Tale III. Characters accumulate experience much more slowly, and the scroll message window seems unpolished, often dropping parts of words down to the next line without a hyphen, an effect that some players find distracting.
The sample scenario, while inventive in many ways, still only utilizes four different wall pattern types, making the game's visual appearance highly repetitive over time.
The following non-commercial games are known to have been created using The Bard's Tale Construction Set:
The following games were started but remain incomplete:
(Since the software pre-dated the modern Internet, the vast majority of games created with it never found widespread distribution on-line, and have faded into obscurity.)
#183 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
served as a play tester for The Bard's Tale Construction Set, and went on to found the game companies Black Isle Studios
and Obsidian Entertainment
.
Dungeon crawl
A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinthine environment, battling various monsters, and looting any treasure they may find...
video games using The Bard's Tale
Bard's Tale (1985)
The Bard's Tale is a fantasy role-playing video game created by Interplay Productions in and distributed by Electronic Arts...
game engine. It was created by Interplay Productions
Interplay Entertainment
Interplay Entertainment Corporation is an American video game developer and publisher, founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by Brian Fargo. The company had been a quality developer until they started publishing their own games in 1988, like Neuromancer and Battle Chess. The company was renamed...
in 1991 and distributed by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. It was released for the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
and DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
.
Since it was not required to own The Bard's Tale Construction Set in order to play games which were created with it, one could easily distribute his or her own created games among other people.
Sample scenario
Included with the software was a sample scenario for the purpose of playing and learning from, entitled Star Light Festival.Set in the small rundown village of Isil Thania, a band of adventurers has traveled from afar to witness the annual Star Light Festival in which an eerie light comes down from a star for one night only making the night into day.
While awaiting the Festival at the Rainbow Bar, a small twisted man leads the characters into the sewers (which feature the same maps found in the original Bard's Tale game), and from there the chracters engages upon a quest that takes them from one location in the city to the next, eventually to find the secret truths behind the Star Cult and the town of Isil Thania.
Playing the sample scenario reveals that several changes have taken place since Bard's Tale III. Characters accumulate experience much more slowly, and the scroll message window seems unpolished, often dropping parts of words down to the next line without a hyphen, an effect that some players find distracting.
The sample scenario, while inventive in many ways, still only utilizes four different wall pattern types, making the game's visual appearance highly repetitive over time.
Created games
Commercial games created using the The Bard's Tale Construction Set are:- The Bard's Quest, a game series in three parts by Alex Ghadaksaz of VisionSoft (PC, 1994)
The following non-commercial games are known to have been created using The Bard's Tale Construction Set:
- The Bard's Lore: The Warrior and The Dragon, by John H. Wigforss (PC, 1998)
The following games were started but remain incomplete:
- Nutilan, by Dennis Payne (PC, 2000)
(Since the software pre-dated the modern Internet, the vast majority of games created with it never found widespread distribution on-line, and have faded into obscurity.)
Reception
The game was reviewed in 1992 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#183 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
Developers
Feargus UrquhartFeargus Urquhart
Feargus Urquhart is a Scottish computer game developer and CEO of Obsidian Entertainment.-Career:Urquhart is best known for his work at Interplay Entertainment, particularly as leader of Black Isle Studios...
served as a play tester for The Bard's Tale Construction Set, and went on to found the game companies Black Isle Studios
Black Isle Studios
Black Isle Studios was a division of the computer and video game developer and publisher Interplay Entertainment. Black Isle Studios was a division that developed computer role-playing games, and also published several games from other developers. It was based in Orange County, California, USA. The...
and Obsidian Entertainment
Obsidian Entertainment
Obsidian Entertainment is an American video game developer founded in 2003 after the disestablishment of Interplay Productions' Black Isle Studios, for PC and console systems...
.
External links
- The Bard's Tale Compendium
- Bt Builder - an attempt to create an open source implementation of The Bard's Tale Construction Set.