Wizardry The Wizardry Series Thread

[unseeingeye]

So, after much frustration and deep searching, I finally managed to secure a copy of the Japanese only remakes of the first three games for Windows in the form of Wizardry Llylgamyn Saga, update the game with the 1.10 patch, and then patch it in English and get it to run.

Using Windows 10 I was unable to get beyond the initial menu for the rendering mode, after which it immediately closes regardless what compatibility, administrative and screen modes I tried...

Just a quick update on running Llylgamyn Saga on Windows 10 (and probably 11); a friend of mine much more knowledgeable than me with computers figured out how to get the game to start and run. After installing it, patching it to 1.10 and then running the English patch, put it into compatibility mode (for me Windows XP SP 2 worked) and then rename the file "LLYLMIDI.DAT" to something else and it will then run. Sound still works, I think it is just the music that for some reason was preventing it from launching, but there we go, you can now run this game on modern Windows, all that virtual machine arrangement is ultimately unnecessary (unless you want the few music tracks to play, in which case I'm still at a loss).

 

[unseeingeye]

Well friends, we're almost there in our pursuit to run Wizardry - New Age of Llylgamyn! As Grauken recommended I get in touch with aweigh, and he managed to secure me with the necessary files, I finally figured out how to at least install it and get it to launch. If anyone wants the files send me a message and I'd be more than happy to help as I was so gratefully helped by others. To launch it, you need to mount the .bin file for whatever reason, not the .cue file. Then run the disc drive image and it should launch the setup automatically. After installing it, you will need to drop in the 'd3drm.dll' which is provided with the copy of Llylgamyn Saga with the English translation patch, or can be easily found online by searching. It is in Japanese but I am trying to figure out how to switch most text to English, if it is even possible (it is in Llylgamyn Saga after all). Will update with any progress! By the way this launched within Windows 10 without setting any compatibility or anything.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

The turntable shit in Wiz4 is already getting to be irritating on level 5. It seems like the turntables turn you a completely random direction; if you try and use dumapic on the turntable tile, you'll be rotated again as you leave the camp menu. So it's just a crapshoot. Very annoying. I hope they don't have an entire room of turntables like that ungodly room in level 8 of Wiz1.

 

[Grauken]

The turntable shit in Wiz4 is already getting to be irritating on level 5. It seems like the turntables turn you a completely random direction; if you try and use dumapic on the turntable tile, you'll be rotated again as you leave the camp menu. So it's just a crapshoot. Very annoying. I hope they don't have an entire room of turntables like that ungodly room in level 8 of Wiz1.

 

[octavius]

The turntable shit in Wiz4 is already getting to be irritating on level 5. It seems like the turntables turn you a completely random direction; if you try and use dumapic on the turntable tile, you'll be rotated again as you leave the camp menu. So it's just a crapshoot. Very annoying. I hope they don't have an entire room of turntables like that ungodly room in level 8 of Wiz1.

The correct term is "spinner". What you need is a Nospen Ring(*). Also, it's no challenge for a master blobberer unless it's also in a darkness zone.

*

Too bad they are only in the Bard's Tale games.

 

[JBro]

How do you typically deal with spinners in old dungeon crawlers?

 

[octavius]

With experience you can often spot a possible spinner from distance, like a symmetrical crossroads, or a very long corridor that looks the same if look backwards. Then it's time to check your compass.

 

[gman42]

With experience you can often spot a possible spinner from distance, like a symmetrical crossroads, or a very long corridor that looks the same if look backwards. Then it's time to check your compass.

...and of course in Wiz, do it *after* you've passed the square, because if you cast Dumapic while standing on it, you'll just spin again when coming out of camp.

 

[Butter]

Do not trust long straight hallways!

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

How do you typically deal with spinners in old dungeon crawlers?

In The Bard's Tale, you can cast a spell to generate a compass that will be visible on the screen:

Dungeon Master features a compass that can be held in a character's hand to provide visible direction, at the expense of whatever else the character could be holding:

 

[Humbaba]

Can't be worse than Dane Tower in wiz7 can it?

 

[Covenant]

Can't be worse than Dane Tower in wiz7 can it?

Am I the only one who thinks the Tower of Dane was awesome? Alright, the traps were a pain, but the climax toward the veneer of profound mysticism falling away and it revealing itself as basically an orgiastic cult, plus the whole demon fight, was really well done. I know Bradley's purple prose gets a lot of derision (more than its fair share, in my opinion), but I think it worked well in Dionysceus.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Bro, this Wiz4 floor with the spinners is so bad. It's SO bad. Progress is SO slow. Can it really get worse than this? It's like pulling teeth.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

I skimmed through a screenshot LP and caught a glimpse of the Maze of Wandering

 

[unseeingeye]

I know Bradley's purple prose gets a lot of derision (more than its fair share, in my opinion), but I think it worked well in Dionysceus.

I can't get enough of it, and don't think Wizardry 7 would be nearly as excellent had it featured less evocative writing. His writing is what makes that planet and its environments so enjoyable to explore; even just the simple sequence where you take the parchment from the skeleton is made memorable by it. The same goes for Wizardry 6, where without it you'd just be pressing a key while staring at the same stone wall graphic for dozens of hours.

 

[kroki]

I've decided to make a fully voiced RPC addon to Wizardry 8. Magda the (everyones beloved) Fairy Ninja. Here's a small teaser of whats to come. Suggestions welcome

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Just got to level 6 of Wiz4, where "the creatures of light and darkness await you". A whole level of advanced darkness was pretty much inevitable in a game like this. Can't wait till they start combining the darkness with the turntables.

 

[octavius]

In Bard's Tale 2 you have zones with Darkness, Spinners, and anti-magic, combined with random encounters checked in real time.

 

[kroki]

I've decided to make a fully voiced RPC addon to Wizardry 8. Magda the (everyones beloved) Fairy Ninja. Here's a small teaser of whats to come. Suggestions welcome

1.0 Release

 

[LarryTyphoid]

lol at the floor of darkness in Wizardry 4 also having directional teleporters hidden in the dark. If I had to map this out on graph paper I'd be paying for the assassination of Andrew Greenberg.

One thing I've noticed about Wizardry 4's floors so far is that they're all really repetitive. It's mostly one pattern stretched out across 20 tiles, usually splattered with tile-based hazards. Just look:

Wizardry 4 maps

I don't have all of these finished, of course, but you can already tell from what I have mapped out that they got fucking lazy. Reminds me of some of Ultima 5's worse dungeons. Maybe they figured the monotony would just make it even more hardcore and frustrating.

 

[octavius]

Yeah, I noticed that too; most floors have a theme.
It's not the chaos of The Chaos in Uukrul (the only CRPG dungeon level I was never able to map) or the whole dungeon in Chaos Strikes Back.

 

[gman42]

I don't have all of these finished, of course, but you can already tell from what I have mapped out that they got fucking lazy. Reminds me of some of Ultima 5's worse dungeons. Maybe they figured the monotony would just make it even more hardcore and frustrating.

Be careful what you wish for...

 

[LarryTyphoid]

I've decided that I'm not going to savescum at all in Wizardry 5. I've got 3 and a half prior games under my belt, so I should be able to pull off an "ironman" run. One of my mages already died in a trap on the first level because I failed a puzzle, but I managed to resurrect him with a lucky trip at the temple.

I might change my mind if I get wiped anyway but I don't think it'll happen. I'm almost a pro now. I can probably do it.

 

[octavius]

Good luck! Wiz 5 is defintely harder than 1 and 2, but easier (combatwise) than 3, so it may be doable if your guys don't lose their heads.

 

[Twizman]

Have fun! Curious actually how small one could go party-wise in Wizardry V in terms of required characters. Are thieves required? Finished the game myself and it felt like the fighters carried a lot of the workload.