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Old Versions If you are looking for a copy of the old game try here. I don't know if the DOS version runs under Windows but you could try this. Please do not email me looking for copies. If you can't find it then how do you expect to ever win the game?! ;o) Newer Version A newer, modern version of the game has been released for the numerous formats including XBox, PC etc. Click here for details. The original Bard's Tale is a computer game based on the dungeon style of gaming. The game takes place in the town of Skara Brae and you control six or more characters in an effort to defeat a nasty chappy, who resides, predictably enough, in a tower surrounded by demons and other undesirables. Released in about 1985 the game should be very dated by now but thanks to a brilliant design, a wonderful mystic atmosphere and shear playability it's still just as much fun today. The graphics and sound set new standards for role playing games when The Bard's Tale first appeared on the Commodore Amiga computer. Sadly, the PC version suffers from an ancient EGA graphics interface and a dreadful internal speaker-driven sound. The game-play is, however, just as good and still as addictive as ever. It's possible to go at it like a lunatic in an all out effort to win, or, as I do, use it as a gentle form of relaxation, while beating the crap out of some foul computer controlled monster. Either way, it's a lot of fun!
A copy of the map of Skara Brae is available here. Apologies for the scribbles on it!
The table below is my character list (for the PC version), which can be downloaded for inclusion into your own game (although why anyone would want to do that is beyond me!). If you do download and use the characters make sure you have copied your own characters to a safe place first.
It was lasted updated on 13.02.01 (and is unlikely to be updated again since I've restarted the Amiga version!) A list of all updates to this table is available here. NOTE: The character files are very small (around 109 bytes each) and so may not download in the normal way (something to do with browsers not liking small files). If they don't download, point your browser here and download the files by right clicking over the file you want and choose Save Target As...
I have found an interesting little cheat in the PC version. To get all of the possible items available in Garth's Equipment Shop, rename the Items file to items.txt. Open it and copy the character ÿ (a "y" with a German umlaut over it) then append it to the end of the list, without any spaces, about 60 times or so. Save the file and rename it back to items (i.e. without the .txt). The altered file is also available here. Remember to back-up the original file in case anything goes wrong! NOTE: The Items file is very small and so may not download in the normal way. If it doesn't download, point your browser here and download the file by right clicking over it and choosing Save Target As...
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© Jim Doyle
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