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How do I get into Wizardry's mindset?

felipepepe

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The only must-know things are that you should draw your own maps and what L'Montes said about re-rolling. Not sure if you did this already, but definitely read the entire manual as well.

Other than that, the "mindset" is this mix of maze exploration with resource management, creating a tense dilemma of "should I go deeper or head back to town?". Dark Souls did this in the sense that if you died you would lose your souls, but you still could grab them back and kept all the items you found. Wizardry isn't so friendly - if your entire party die you basically have to mount an entire new party to rescue & resurrect them, wasting a lot of time & money. But you can use save states, the game is hard even with those.

BTW, Wizardry I is still an amazing game, but Lands of Lore I or Might & Magic VI/VII might be a less brutal starting point when exploring classic dungeon-crawlers. Or, if you want a true Wizardry experience that's just a bit more friendly and easy to get into, I'd recommend the fan-translation of Generation Xth. It has some of the best dungeons I've ever explored.
 

Hrymr

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Play wizards and warriors instead - it does not have enemys magicaly popping from air.
"Enemies magically popping from the air" sounds like the "turn-based combat existed because of the engine limitations" thing.
 
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aweigh

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wtf is enemies poppin from thin air? is someone actually complaining about random encounters? fucking incels getting cocky!
 

octavius

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Someone should make (or post a link to) a list of Japanese Wizardry (inspired) games that don't have anime style graphics, runs on a PC, is translated to English (or at least Engrish), with relases dates and download locations.
 
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aweigh

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Elminage: Original + Gothic available on Steam.
Stranger of Sword City available on Steam.

Start with those 3, although your definition of anime graphics will need to bend if you want to enjoy the 3 best blobbers of the last decade.

Alternatively (or rather additionally), Wizardry Empire 2, available from emulation websites (I recommend using retro zone dot co, or n i c o b l o g dot org); download the ISO and then download the English-patch (made by fellow codexers MrRichard999 and Helly) and enjoy the last best Wizardry game, which coincidentally was made by the current developers of the Elminage series of games which are the current successors to the Wizardry legacy. You can find the patch on the JRPG forum thread for the project or just go directly to rom h a c k i n g dot net.

Oh, can't forget about the excellent The Dark Spire on Nintendo DS which has really awesome western style "noir" artwork and a great soundtrack and was made by the team who handled the PSX remake-ports of Wiz 1-3.

EDIT: Also can't forget about:

- Wizardry Gaiden 4: Throb Of The Demon's Heart for SNES (find the ROM on emu sites, eng-patch is on rom h a c k i n g dot net, although you'll usually find the ROM pre-patched).

^ above is a fucking amazing Wizardry game, by the way.

- Wizardry Chronicle for Windows PC (same instructions as Wizardry Empire 2: find the ISO on retro z o n e dot co or nico b l o g dot org, then download the eng-patch from its JRPG forum thread or go directly to rom h a c k i n g dot net).

EDIT 2x: Damn, also forgot about the Generation XTH games which felipepe mentioned above. You can download the original Gen XTH scenario from emu sites (same instructions as for Empire 2 and Chronicle), or you can play the remake of Gen XTH released on Steam titled "Operation Abyss" and "Operation Babel".

There are differences between the original scenario and its remake, which is why I don't say to just go directly for one or the other. The original scenario is harder and features a more flexible multiclassing system, but the remake(s) have a ton of Quality-of-Life improvements and new (anime) art.

The Gen XTH games are made by the devs of Stranger of Sword City, btw.
 
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Tito Anic

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wtf is enemies poppin from thin air? is someone actually complaining about random encounters? fucking incels getting cocky!

:nocountryforshitposters:

Animu fap bait abominations traumatized your brain weeb! You need proper healing

iu
 

octavius

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Thanks, aweigh.
Except for Stranger of Sword City and the Steam versions of Generation XTH, the graphics look mostly acceptable.

I'll probably try Wizardry Gaiden 4: Throb Of The Demon's Heart soon.
 

groke

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SAVE THIS CHARACTER? NO.
Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera BattleTech I'm very into cock and ball torture
Remember that you can roll up a bunch of toons, strip them of their starting gold and then dump them to pay for resurrection costs if half your party gets nuked (at least during the early game); it feels like much less of a cheat than savestates, and the tedium of doing so gives you the deserved sense of punishment.
 

Dorateen

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Something I haven't seen mentioned, given the thread's topic about a proper mindset. Wizardry, from its earliest conception, is rooted in Dungeons & Dragons style role-playing. Developed in the late seventies, Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was launched in 1980, at a time when Gygax and Arneson had revolutionized the gaming hobby with this new construct of adventure. Wizardry was the attempt at adapting such a scenario to the digital environment. The quintessential dungeon crawler, an adventuring party simulator, many of the game's mechanics (descending Armour Class, thac0) and the bestiary of monsters come straight from D&D.

Therefore, the mindset one should consider is the formation of a team of a characters, some combination of Fighter-Mage-Cleric-Thief, with room to spare for customization. Working cooperatively, each party member provides needed support and fills a role, allowing survival of deadly encounters and confounding maze-like levels. It should be the approach of transferring the tabletop experience to this medium, that will best serve interacting with the rules and systems of Wizardry.
 

octavius

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Took Wizardry Gaiden for a test drive.
Using SNES9X and and an English version ROM.
Using V instead of Enter for input was unusual.
When creating a character, I see only Japanese signs when trying to name a new character?
 

Wayward Son

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How do I get into Wizardry's mindset?

Easy !
Murder your wife, your boss, the mailman, maybe even the president if you're a hardcore gamer (iron man mode), then try to flee the country avoiding being arrested/shot.
If you can do it, you're ready for wizardry 1-3 and M&M 1-2.

Enjoy ...
Jesus tap dancing Christ, what do you need for Wiz 4?
 

L'Montes

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Depending on versions, you have some other options too. Wizardry: Llylgamyn Saga was a PS1/Saturn release that all three (similar to the Snes 1-3 collection). I slightly prefer the PS1 version (also pretty easy to emulate these days). Interestingly enough, how to enable English in it (it was only released in JPN, but with English options) has come on the codex before:

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...sx-version-of-wizardry-llylgamyn-saga.107745/

There's also a PC version of that, which is different in various ways, and that has an English patch.

Whether or not you find the changes/upgrades to be worthwhile... well, you're already trying to play a SNES version I guess? I think it has a toggle to go back to Vector style if you cared to.
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
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How do I get into Wizardry's mindset?

Easy !
Murder your wife, your boss, the mailman, maybe even the president if you're a hardcore gamer (iron man mode), then try to flee the country avoiding being arrested/shot.
If you can do it, you're ready for wizardry 1-3 and M&M 1-2.

Enjoy ...
Jesus tap dancing Christ, what do you need for Wiz 4?

A lot of hate and rage to keep you going. Then you get to murder a
fake god.
So get into the mind of a basement dwelling atheist, that should be the right approach
 
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aweigh

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spoilers!!!

Also the PC port of the PSX remakes (it's not exactly a port as it's made in the Macintosh style of the Wizardry ports of the apple versions) is fucked beyond belief, i tried playing it but it just crashes non-stop and the saves get corrupted. there was a guy who was working on a patch for it but it disappeared into oblivion and the sands of time.

btw, did you know that wizardry video above was mine? jesus, that probably means my video on the pc version of those remakes is the only one.

I mean, even if it worked i would still prefer the PSX versions of the remakes because i don't like the Macintosh style of having the game part of the desktop ui (have it all in windows), but it would be nice alternative as the graphical viewport is slightly higher internal resolution.

EDIT: supposedly there is also a PC port of the PSX remakes of scenarios 4 and 5, but even after fanatical googling and usage of chinese and japanese torrent search engines and the like i was never, ever able to find it.
 
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Grauken

Gourd vibes only
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I think I had both PC ports, but lost them in harddisk crash, never tried them anyway
 

L'Montes

Educated
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spoilers!!!

Also the PC port of the PSX remakes (it's not exactly a port as it's made in the Macintosh style of the Wizardry ports of the apple versions) is fucked beyond belief, i tried playing it but it just crashes non-stop and the saves get corrupted. there was a guy who was working on a patch for it but it disappeared into oblivion and the sands of time.

There might just be a link to a download of the English patch for the pc port of the PSX remake in the youtube comments of that video I linked. Maybe. You didn't hear it from me (I downloaded it, but haven't tried the patch).

I think the PSX version itself is fine though, and it works pretty well in English for a JP-only release.
 

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