超现实地带：城际 Alternate Reality: The City p.74

我有一个设想，就是放弃《巫术》的线框走廊，引入向你移动的纹理墙的框架动画（一种伪 3D 效果）。我想要一个看起来比《魔法师》更真实的世界。这是我的主要设计出发点。我还想让游戏中有着更多的魔法，拿着刀砍砍砍并不符合我的兴趣。

I had a vision for abandoning Wizardry's wire-frame corridors and introducing framed animation of textured walls that moved toward you (a pseudo-3D effect). I wanted a world that looked more real than Wizardry's. That was my primary design departure. I also wanted more magic involved in the game; hack and slash wasn't as interesting to me.

Michael Cranford,
《冰城传奇》的创造者

Michael Cranford,
The Bard's Tale creator

一年后发布的《冰城传奇 2：命运骑士（Bard’s Tale II: The Destiny Knight）》，让玩家看到了一个更大的游戏世界，有六个城市和大型户外区域，还有更多保存游戏的机会。玩家可以把《冰城传奇》第一部或是创世纪第三部（Ultima III）中的角色阵容转移到这个游戏，还可以在游戏中体会到银行服务，赌场赌博，和远程攻击的优势。

此外，本作还新增加了一个入门地下城，以协助玩家尽快熟悉所选角色，减轻第一款游戏的入门门槛。正如标题画面动画所描绘的那样，游戏的主要任务是集齐命运魔杖的七个部分，挫败邪恶大法师拉戈斯・赞塔（Lagoth Zanta）的计划。

这个系列的狂热粉丝们也会回忆起许多充满挑战的地下城里的“死亡陷阱”。这些都是实时的谜题，往往有一个稍微深奥的元素，甚至能难住的世界各地的玩家。我认为《冰城传奇二》是三部曲中最具挑战性的游戏——这是可一个不小的壮举。

Released a year later, Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight, saw a much larger game world with six cities and large outdoor areas, plus more save-game chances. Players could transfer their parties from Bards Tale I or Ultima III, use the services of banks, gamble in casinos and take advantage of ranged combat.

Also new is a starter dungeon to assist players in getting up to speed with their chosen characters, alleviating the first game's entry barrier. As portrayed in the title screen animation, the main quest in the game was to reunite the seven pieces of the destiny wand and foil the plans of the evil Archmage, Lagoth Zanta.

Ardent fans of the series will also recall the “Snares of Death” within the many challenging dungeons. These were real-time puzzles and often had a slightly esoteric element which befuddled and flummoxed gamers worldwide. I would argue that Bard's Tale II is the most arduously challenging game of the trilogy – which is no small feat.

Interplay 后来将《冰城传奇》这个名字输给了它的发行商Electronic Arts。因此该系列的第四款游戏不得不转型为《龙战（Dragon Wars, 1989）》。随后，《冰城传奇 4》经过多次尝试都没能成功复活，直到 2018 年，Brian Fargo 的 inXile 推出了原系列的众筹续作。

Interplay lost the Bard's Tale name to its publisher, Electronic Arts, so the fourth game in the series had to be transformed into Dragon Wars (1989). Many failed attempts to make Bard's Tale IV followed until 2018, when Brian Fargo's inXile released a crowd-funded sequel to the original games.

Michael Cranford 后来离开了公司，但在 1988 年发布的《冰城传奇 3：命运之贼（The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate）》给这个游戏系列带来了更加深远的影响。你必须穿越维度，解决他们各自的任务，收集魔法物品，推翻疯神——Tarjan。

自动地图功能的加入，以及在任何地方保存游戏的能力，为这个系列游戏的可玩性和便捷性提高了一个层次。游戏中地图的多样性，地下城里的描写性散文和整个剧情故事，使得第三部是系列中我最喜欢的也是最合我心意的。

就我个人而言，我在写这篇文中发现了很多乐趣，因为它拥有许多令人感动的和包含诗意的时刻——从清晰表达到浪漫，甚至悲剧。现在回想起跟朋友在 AD&D 回合中用游戏中的谜语打趣我还会很感动。

愿你们都能活下来，看看命运之贼为何如此命苦！为伟大的游戏《冰城传奇》干杯！欢呼吧！

Michale Cranford left the company afterwards, but in 1988 The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate brought an even wider scope to the series. You must traverse the dimensions and solve their individual quests to collect magical items and topple the mad god Tarjan.

The addition of an auto-map feature and the ability to save one's game anywhere added a layer to accessibility and convenience to the series. Due of the variety of locations, descriptive prose within dungeons and overall story, the third game remains my favourite and closest to my heart.

Personally, I found much delight in the writing as it's richly atmospheric and yields many poetic moments – from the articulate to the poignantly romantic and even tragic. I fondly recall using some of the riddles from the game in AD&D sessions with friends!

May ye all live to see why the thief was so fateful! Raise a tankard to the great Bard's Tale! Huzzah!