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Wizardry Wizardry IV: Throb of the Demon's Heart

MrRichard999

Game re-worker!
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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech
I still gotta look and see how they do the text in that game. If its nothing too crazy to work with it will definitely be a project to work on.
 

MrRichard999

Game re-worker!
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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech
Ok, so we got a few lines left to do for the small text and a patch should be released very shortly making it more accessable for people to play. :) Just sent the last few lines over to Helly to take a look at. Currently looking for anybody that might have some experience in figuring out this larger text which is the next step in working on this game. The large text yeilds all the conversations of the game, in game critical moments, and locations. Unfortunately it is laid out a lot different than the small text is and requires more coding know-how to figure out. Any volunteers? :)
 

Helly

Translating for brofists
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変態の地獄、Rance様と
Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit.
Fuck the absence of kanjis in old japanese games
emot-argh.gif
 

Diogo Ribeiro

Erudite
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Jun 23, 2003
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5,706
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Lisboa, Portugal
Having a lot of fun with this, and on my Windows Phone no less. It's a great mix of old and new (as in, Bradley's fur-o-mania and classes spliced with the random attribute gain/loss per level, older spells and simple but maniacal floor layout that seems to add to the compulsion), and while I've already explored the four areas, I've only ventured deep into the first tower and everyone in the party has just reached level 11 with some very nice loot (Best Plates, Night Capes, Bec de Corbins, etc).

It seems well paced, too. Sure, it gently eases you into its friendly first floors then drops "goddamn-a-floating-sword-just-beheaded-my-dward!" moments on you, but these are interspersed with tiny yet tangible in-betweens (the snappy combat, the sudden realization that your Thief can sense fake walls and pick door locks, the creeping notion that some NPCs may have a story of their own - I'm eager to know who that strange Lamia-like creature is but she always runs away the moment I cross the door...). And the level ups can be quite generous and more spiteful as well: my Lizardman Samurai once gained 40 HPs but no stat increases.

So far, some shenanigans include:
wp_ss_20151211_0001.jpg


I like the enemy party compositions, following a "leader and helper" set. Even when they grow predictable, there's always something there to keep it demanding, like how they switch front and back rows per round (harder when dealing with three distinct groups). Sometimes I feel I've only begun scratching the surface of what some enemies do, like a sorceress of sorts who keep summoning creatures to help, from imps to feather demons who rain electrodeath on the party. I've yet to see her summon the same type of enemy twice.

The variety's also nice. Whether one likes the stylized clash between a ghostly, feudal Japan and Dracon Warlords or not, the result's well played nonetheless, and it has no problem throwing horse-riding Daimyos at you followed by tiny Zombie Alchemists, Weasels or Ninja Dogs.

wp_ss_20151215_0002.jpg

The unvisited part of the map was where my leading Fighter was killed. A sword inside a cross shaped room was hovering and rotating upon itself. The "Search" command seems to give more info on surroundings and events, so I let my curiosity take the better of me. I got a "Sword?" and a dead Dwarf. Unfortunately, my only Bishop is level 1, back at the roster, so I wasn't able to identify it...

wp_ss_20151215_0003.jpg

wp_ss_20151215_0004.jpg


But when I got out, the sword vanished from my inventory and I got this instead: a congratulatory remark and 10,000GP (I guess my Dwarf missed the party). This also seems to trigger a warning on the two other areas, like so:

wp_ss_20151215_0005.jpg


Maybe it was related to the overall quest, but I'd have to parse through Richard's translated documents to see where it fits - and I'd rather wait for a much finely translated experience. Speaking of items, I'm happily stumped with stuff like Oger (sp) and Smile Masks (random drops which I can't sell), Statue of Bird, Statue of House, Tea Cup, and Feeds. I had a Kimono once, but found that I could give it to a woman on one of the first tower's upper floors. No screenshot of that unfortunately, but she let me pass into a room with a switch. Now I also have no idea what to do regarding the four paitings in one of the floors, which seem based on seasons and show some idyllic scene (a bird, a rabbit in the snow - and the statues don't do anything there, either).

wp_ss_20151214_0001.jpg

This has been my recent "nightmare" in turns of exploration. It's the basement of the first tower, only accessible so far by reaching the top floor, going through a center room with knotted sheets and pulling them - one reveals a chute into an area below, into another area with another chute, and so on, etc. The basement's rife with higher-level enemies (and more numerous per encounter as well), and more strangeness. I've gotten the Masks as random drops here, along with several funky events: a cauldron with a sticky, red goo bubbling in it; a jailer who asked me for 10,000GP (for which I presumed was a chance to visit the cells behind him, but I chose to slay him and still got the Key, anyway); some event object I can't divine but seems like two slabs on top of each other, for no apparent purpose; and a giant, kabuki-like face preventing me from exploring the lower center area, which is covered in darkness.

Fun times!
 

octavius

Arcane
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Bjørgvin
Since there doesn't seem to be an English manual or FAQ in existence, I have to ask some newbie qeustiosns.

How does Identify work?
Only Bishops and shop owners who can do it? Or is there a spell?
Level dependent for Bishops?
 

octavius

Arcane
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Is there class changing like in Wiz 6 and 7?
And are all the Wiz 6 and 7 classes in the game?

So far after some testing, the only prestige classes I've seen are Samurai, Bishop and Monk. No Ranger, Valkyrie, Ninja or Lord.

Nevermind, I see that the answers are yes.

The requisites must be different, though.
It used to be quite easy to get anough bonus points to create a Ranger or a Valkyrie.
 
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Grauken

Gourd vibes only
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I've got two Valkyries, so they are def. in there. Just started playing

Regarding bonus points, if you reroll long enough, you get pretty substantial amounts of bonus points, I made most of my chars with 18 to 20 extra points
 

octavius

Arcane
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I forgot about sex and alignment restrictions.

The design seems to be a good mix old (6-7) and older Wizardries. I don't recall alignment in 6-7, and the Ninja needing super stats are from the older Wizardries.

It's also interesting that new character with low bonus points can train for three years, before adventuring.
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
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Which dungeon did you start in?

I started with the Tower of Stillness, but I'm not sure it's the best dungeon to start, maybe the training grounds would be smarter

 
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aweigh

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this specific Wizardry game is really good. it's awesome that you're trying it out for what seems to be a first time playing a japanese wizardry? you picked a good one. This Gaiden game has a really good mix of Wiz 5+6 elements and design, imo.

my other japanese wizardry recommendation would be Wizardry Empire 2 (dl ISO from retro z o n e dot co, get eng-patch from jrpg sub-forum thread or from rom h a c k i n g dot net); coincidentally WE2 was also done by the same peeps who did this Wiz Gaiden game, by the way.

Personally Wiz Empire 2 for me is the pinnacle of classic Wizardry (it came out in 2001), and the guys who developed it are now doing Elminage series which i consider to be the true continuation of Wizardry legacy/mechanics.
 
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aweigh

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Oh, If I remember correctly you can view basic item stats on weapons and armor by using the appraise command from bishops? It's been a while since I played this one. I believe the store-owner's appraisal also does the same on already-identified items.

Initially I didn't know this and thought you needed the manual for item stats, ended up finding a japanese wiki/faq and using that to know what items to use. If you want I can link it anyway as the basic stats you can view on items still don't tell the whole story (for example if I remember right the appraisal doesn't mention # of hits and other stuff, only the damage range or AC property).
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
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You remember which was the best order to approach the dungeons, also are there cross-dungeon puzzles or is it just limited to each own dungeon

Also, fire away the link, I was wondering about the item stats

One thing I was wondering, as it combines old and new Wiz elements, are there like hidden skills? Like picking locks for the thief, is it entirely dependent upon his attributes or is there a pick lock skill that increases with each successful picked lock, but the game doesn't show any stats?
 
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aweigh

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Main FAQ landing page: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.pekori.jp/~emonoya/&prev=search

Direct link to the section with the Gaiden 4 general FAQs: https://translate.googleusercontent...201&usg=ALkJrhjI19UCIpdHWOeUzFrdFELzLfcaXA#g4

Example of the first section of their Gaiden 4 FAQ (which begins with general purpose questions):
wiz4faq01.png


Link their Gaiden 4 item data: https://translate.googleusercontent...700201&usg=ALkJrhhYMasQE27vZVmv303rrhRLWHK9ng

Boltac's Trading Post, the single largest collection of Wizardry FAQs and data on the web:
wiz4items01.png


Here is the japanese link: http://www.pekori.jp/~emonoya/

You have to either run it through Google Translate or use the right-click translation function on Chrome (which is what I do). The site is a bit weird to navigate since you need to use the frames on the left but I'm sure y'all can manage.

There was another even more in-depth Gaiden series collection of FAQs done by a hard-core fan but I need to find it among the dregs of my favorites.

EDIT: ...I tried finding that old japanese fan-site for the Gaiden series but no luck. Damn. A lot of the japanese fan pages for Wizardry games are gone as most of them were on japanese-equivalent services to Geocities and stuff like that.
 
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aweigh

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btw, could someone tell me how to make screenshots appear full screen? for some reason when I paste them inside mspaint.exe they come out like that, smaller. I had been fiddling with the select box sizing earlier and now it's stuck in that size.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Grauken what is that mapper you're using?

I might try Wiz6 straight after Wiz1, and I thought I might try a mapping program if there's a good one. But I could always stick with graph papah.
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
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GridCartographer

but if you want to try W6, you could go for the SNES version, that has an automap included that is quite good, also better than EGA graphics (I like those, very evocative of the mood, but lots of people prefer something more VGA)
 

octavius

Arcane
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Bjørgvin
Looks ike the Bishop can only Idenify and Assay items while exploring, not from the Tavern like in Wiz 1?
Would have been nice to examine items from the weapons menu.
 

octavius

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How do you know how much Magic Points you have left?

In which order are you supposed to Explore? In the order the three areas are listed?
 
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Tigranes

Arcane
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Grauken what is that mapper you're using?

I might try Wiz6 straight after Wiz1, and I thought I might try a mapping program if there's a good one. But I could always stick with graph papah.
This one's good.

Oh cool. I've started the SNES version for now - whether with SNES or this mod I'd prefer manual mapping, but I'm going to see how it goes.

It feels like encounters are more common than Wiz1 and you have to fight a lot more to get XP.
 

octavius

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Does a Thief's Ambush actually work?
I've tried several times, and it doesn't seem to actually do anything?

And why are most of the humanoid enemies not translated to English? Is Ashiragu and Nobushi considered as familiar as Ninja, Samurai and Ronin?
 

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