tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post5327870348743601241..comments2024-03-28T18:16:41.746-04:00Comments on Data Driven Gamer: Game 85: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad OverlordAhabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-74220500157492341482023-12-07T10:38:40.768-05:002023-12-07T10:38:40.768-05:00Thanks a lot for the reply! To me, the problem is ...Thanks a lot for the reply! To me, the problem is solved now, because I found out I can just direct a mame standalone shortcut to a dsk-file of the write-protected boot disk (with apple2p -flop1 "pahttodisk.dsk") and it works and mame starts automatically loading up Wizardry without that freezing problem just fine. The software list mode and the zip archive it uses may just not work at the moment with this particular game, because that mode can only use its own specific zip files. But as I said, it works just perfectly with that other method and an unzipped dsk-file now. AskForHelpWithMamenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-42473828774345237332023-12-05T17:01:45.081-05:002023-12-05T17:01:45.081-05:00I'm afraid I've never bothered with MAME&#...I'm afraid I've never bothered with MAME's software list mode. I only use MAMEUI, which does allow you to select specific disk images before booting.<br /><br />I'm not sure how MAME's software list mode manages write access, but you need to write protect the dsk file, not the zip file. Which means the dsk file has to be extracted. Unless there's another way of doing it that I just don't know about.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-31652724350534922482023-12-05T11:19:21.317-05:002023-12-05T11:19:21.317-05:00Oh sorry again. I just noticed I can start apple2 ...Oh sorry again. I just noticed I can start apple2 as "empty"within mame and THEN mount a dsk-file and mame will ask me for setting it in different modes, also read only. This way it works fine- I assume there is no way to do this with the generic automatic start with the software list.AskForHelpWithMamenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-56851586752282060372023-12-05T11:04:09.964-05:002023-12-05T11:04:09.964-05:00Sorry to bother you, but I want ask for a little b...Sorry to bother you, but I want ask for a little bit of help with getting the regular version of Wizardry 1 to run on mame (latest version 0.261, running all versions of Wizardry 1 from the current 0.261 software list, all have the same problem). I read several times I have to set the boot disk to read/only - I have the problem that the game freezes after the title screen, too. Now, setting the dsk file for the bootdisk to read/only with Win explorer works perfectly with the AppleWin emulator. But setting the zip files from the apple2 mame software list to read-only doesn't change anything, it still freezes. How I'm supposed to run the boot disk write-protected for the mame version? Do I somehow have to make mame start directly with the dsk file without using its software list mode? I found some options for the slots in the mame game menu, but nothing about anything within the emulator settings to set anything to read-only. I'd really like to run the game on mame because I'm more used to the setup within mame and can't seem to get AppleWin to run without black borders surrounding the game screen in fullscreen mode (whereas mame cuts off these borders just fine).AskForHelpWithMamenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-62586509931864028642023-01-17T11:41:35.778-05:002023-01-17T11:41:35.778-05:00There is also a December build, but this version i...There is also a December build, but this version is mostly identical to v2.1. The only differences I could see are that the level 10 monster tables are different (same as September build), and the treasure tables are slightly different in all three builds.<br /><br />Level 10 monsters:<br /><br /> | Sept/Dec | 2.1<br />Group 1 | 70-79 | 70-79<br />Group 2 | 75-84 | 74-83<br />Group 3 | 90-98 | 86-94<br /><br />Treasures:<br /><br /> | Reward 18 | Reward 19<br />Sept: | Item 82-94 | Item 82-94<br />Dec: | Item 81-93 | Item 81-93<br />Final: | Item 81-93 | Item 80-92<br /><br />I believe that even in the final version, reward 18 is incorrectly entered and should be item 80-92 (reward 19 includes more gold and has 10% odds of dropping a top-tier item, making it better than reward 18 even if the range of items should be the same).Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-63490602014672596162023-01-17T11:33:31.755-05:002023-01-17T11:33:31.755-05:00I assume you are referring to the copy dated 05-Se...I assume you are referring to the copy dated 05-Sep-81? This copy doesn't have a version number on it, so it isn't necessarily v1.0, but it could be. I did take a look at it, and though I don't have the means to analyze its code to find the full extent of its differences, I did poke around a bit and also extracted the data tables to compare with 1982's version 2.1, and it does give an impression of an incomplete build.<br /><br />One thing that isn't different is that, even in this early version, the Thundarr Easter egg and level 7 fire dragons are still disabled.<br /><br />Here's a list of differences I found:<br />* There's no scenario backup utility, and the game does not prompt you to use a backup disk. Any changes made to the scenario are permanent.<br />* There <i>is</i> a character backup utility, but there doesn't seem to be any way to restore them.<br />* The lost character restore utility has its 10 year penalty intact.<br />* Level 10's monster table includes the possibility to spawn Vampire Lords, Werdnas (yes, really), High Ninjas, and High Priests in random encounters.<br />* The richest treasures can drop deadly rings and also item 94, which doesn't exist and will probably give you a corrupted item.<br />* In levels 4, 8, & 9, some of the dead space areas are missing the one-way doors that let you escape should you MALOR into them.<br />* Levels 8 & 9 do not have any room flags set except for a single tile in level 8's spinner area.<br /><br />Item differences:<br />Thieves can use CHAIN MAIL (but not its enchanted or cursed varieties)<br />Priests can use HELM, HELM +1, HELM + 2 (EVIL), and CURSED HELMET<br />LATUMOFIS POT. has unlimited uses.<br />SCROLL/BADIOS is instead a one-use POTION OF DIOS. Note that this item's unidentified name in v2.1 is PAPER rather than SCROLL like the others.<br />THIEVES DAGGER is of type MISC instead of WEAPON.<br />DEADLY RING is worth $10 instead of $500,000.<br /><br />Monster differences:<br />HIGHWAYMAN has class "Undead" instead of "Fighter."<br />MURPHY'S GHOST has the "run" ability instead of the "sleep" ability. Good luck farming them now!<br />MURPHY'S GHOST hits for 1d0+1 instead of 1d1+1. In other words, 1 damage instead of 2.<br /><br />Low-level monsters in the September build have better odds of spawning with partners.<br />BUBBLY SLIME (ORC): 30% -> 10%<br />ORC (KOBOLD): 50% -> 20%<br />KOBOLD (ORC): 30% -> 15%<br />UNDEAD KOBOLD (KOBOLD): 35% -> 10%<br />ROGUE (ORC): 50% -> 20%<br />BUSHWACKER (ZOMBIE): 45% -> 20%<br />HIGHWAYMAN (ZOMBIE): 50% -> 20%<br />ZOMBIE (CREEPING CRUD): 50% -> 20%<br />CREEPING CRUD (BUBBLY SLIME): 70% -> 24%<br />GAS CLOUD (BUBBLY SLIME): 25% -> 15%<br />LVL 1 MAGE (HIGHWAYMAN): 50% -> 20%<br /><br />A few monsters have different names:<br />GHOUL (GHOUL) -> ROTTING CORPSE (WEIRD HUMANOID)<br />GHAST (UNSEEN ENTITY) -> GRAVE MIST (UNSEEN ENTITY)<br />WEREWOLF (WEREWOLF) -> WEREWOLF (WOLF)<br /><br />Some have incorrect plural versions that got fixed in 2.1:<br />LIFESTEALERS (UNSEEN ENTITY) -> LIFESTEALERS (UNSEEN ENTITIES)<br />MURPHY'S GHOST (UNSEEN ENTITY) -> MURPHY'S GHOSTS (UNSEEN ENTITIES)<br />BLEEBS (STRANGE ANIMAL) -> BLEEBS (STRANGE ANIMALS)Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-40414372936409380372023-01-16T21:24:12.276-05:002023-01-16T21:24:12.276-05:00Recently, a WOZ file of 1.0 surfaced on the Archiv...Recently, a WOZ file of 1.0 surfaced on the Archive. Mind posting about it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-9110213717123409212022-02-21T21:37:35.024-05:002022-02-21T21:37:35.024-05:00Hi Ahab.
I do not know how else to reach you.
Th...Hi Ahab.<br /><br />I do not know how else to reach you.<br /><br />The scenario I put on Asimov already has the proper inventory (as per the original "always in inventory bit, the rest is out" and boss fight.<br /><br />You can reach me at snafaru@zimlab.com to discuss.<br /><br />Thanks.<br /><br />Snafaru<br /><br />Snafaruhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17109839921841375491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-36197020509835227272022-02-01T22:04:14.851-05:002022-02-01T22:04:14.851-05:00In my retrospective of Wizardry, I actually found ...In my retrospective of Wizardry, I actually found it to be quite a bit fairer than I remembered it. Absolutely unforgiving, but even that was part of the appeal - the combat, the dungeon exploration, and the agonizing trips back to town after fights gone badly were all suitably tense with such high stakes, and unlike the PLATO games that inspired it, the gameplay is deep enough that success or failure felt like a consequence of my decisions and not just down to luck. I would not have rated it as high as I did if I had been going from memory, though had my session been terminated by a surprise encounter against powerful spellcasters obliterating my party with powerful turn 1 spells, perhaps it would have been soured.<br /><br />Wizardry III, on the other hand, is unfair to the point of it being flawed.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-14799711234044340762022-02-01T20:29:58.436-05:002022-02-01T20:29:58.436-05:00For you, me, and so many, many others...
To be ho...For you, me, and so many, many others...<br /><br />To be honest, I'm pretty sure either nostalgia or historical interest were driving factors for many, if not most, of us who decided to revisit this game. It was a very impressive achievement when it was new, and there really wasn't anything like it at the time, when personal computers themselves were still a very new thing and astoundingly crude by modern standards. But this game was also brutally unforgiving, in retrospect to the point of being downright unfair. Below a certain point in the dungeon, you can very easily be surprised and slaughtered by the wrong sort of wandering monsters, with no chance to save yourself, no matter how carefully you play. Certain hidden game bugs make the unfairness worse! Much of the game's play value, if you can call it that, lay in just throwing party after party into the meatgrinder in the slim hope than one, someday, would finally make it through...<br /><br />To a degree, this may have reflected the way pencil-and-paper Dungeons & Dragons, the game that inspired Wizardry, was sometimes played at that time. Though now we think of that game as ideally involving extended development of long-lived player characters, back then the reverse was often true. Gary Gygax originally designed D&D to have characters that were easy to roll up and just as easy to lose, with short, eventful, violent lives spent in dungeons that were brutal deathtraps. (A famous early TSR Dungeon Module named "Tomb of Horrors", written by Gygax himself, is perhaps the archetype of this view of D&D.)<br /><br />Anyway, I myself encountered Wizardry I in my teens when it was new, and very quickly got, frankly, traumatized when I got lost while mapping the 1st level, thanks to some rather unexpected features of that place. The mental image of being lost in pitch blackness, even though only on a computer, was a bit much for my overactive imagination. I continued a little further, but I really didn't have the heart to stick with it. So when I came back to the game, nearly 40 years later, it was in no small part with the idea of "let's finally get through this damned thing"! :D And, not having the patience to go through the original cycle of grind/lose party/build new party/grind/lather-rinse-and-repeat, I eventually decided to blatantly cheat by making extensive use of emulator state-saving to ensure I would never get wiped out or greatly set back in progress. I just wanted to get through the old game and be done with it. Well, I managed that.<br /><br />Consider this my confession. :)Colin Howellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16260291960921882366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-22559544242960122422022-02-01T19:13:04.256-05:002022-02-01T19:13:04.256-05:00Good idea! I needed that advice for my next playth...Good idea! I needed that advice for my next playthrough!Tman O3https://www.blogger.com/profile/04919982564043043631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-18546003734636752862022-02-01T19:12:03.328-05:002022-02-01T19:12:03.328-05:00I never get wrapped up in this game, and I find it...I never get wrapped up in this game, and I find it hard to see why you like it so much. It’s frustrating when my characters dieTman O3https://www.blogger.com/profile/04919982564043043631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-9216341313653532632021-09-23T09:12:15.638-04:002021-09-23T09:12:15.638-04:00For my Wiz1 crack you can just use the scenario ma...For my Wiz1 crack you can just use the scenario master, but for WOZ images (including later Wizardries) you will need to make duplicates. The WOZ copies know the difference between master and duplicate and will refuse to run on the master. The purpose is to keep the master disk pristine (but it checks for the master first so that you can't just give unlimited duplicates to your friends).<br /><br />You make a duplicate by using the Utilities on the boot disk and then following the instructions.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-53014783917053528512021-09-23T08:48:02.880-04:002021-09-23T08:48:02.880-04:00Ahab, thanks for the help with AppleWin.
I'm ...Ahab, thanks for the help with AppleWin.<br /><br />I'm playing Wiz1 and I was wondering what I should be doing when you boot the game and it asks for the "scenario master" disk and the "scenario duplicate" disk. I've played the game a decent amount already on the AppleWin emulator and I've always only been using 1 scenario disk. When it asks for the "scenario master" I put in the scenario disk and then when it asks for the "scenario duplicate" disk I just leave the master in there and hit enter and it always works fine.<br /><br />Should I create a duplicate of the scenario and use that when it asks for it? And how would I create a duplicate? Just make a copy of the master scenario disk file and rename it duplicate?Tim Kaisernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-53953290085092437412021-09-08T19:26:55.881-04:002021-09-08T19:26:55.881-04:00You might be interested to know that the reason fo...You might be interested to know that the reason for the text looking funny is apparently an incompatibility in the Pascal runtime. By default Pascal tries to invoke 80-column mode. This is the default when working with Apple Pascal. You can change this behaviour by altering a bit flag on the disk which forces 40 column mode. Wizardry actually has this flag set. So what's the problem? Apple Pascal 1.0 came out around the same time as the II+ and the Apple 80 column card had not been invented yet. So it attempes to disable the prevailing standard card. The Videx Videoterm 80. Which has a different firmware layout and the address that gets to disable the Videx card. - ends up entering this oddball 80/40 mode on the Apple IIe and //c. Axon Punchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03654322486717732061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-23417390468999820662021-01-23T15:27:48.843-05:002021-01-23T15:27:48.843-05:00My guess is that MAME's read-only access mode ...My guess is that MAME's read-only access mode doesn't actually simulate the write-protected notch that is required for Wizardry's copy protection routine to work, and simply causes all disk writes to vanish into the aether. This isn't a WOZ-specific thing either; my "fixed" DSK copy also will not work in MAME unless the file itself is read-only.<br /><br />AppleWin does seem to handle the WOZ format better than MAME does. Reading the metadata is the more logical approach, since the write-protection is a physical attribute of the disk that ideally should be modeled. Also last time I checked, MAME wasn't capable of persisting WOZ writes to disk, not even in write-to-diff mode.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-41076220077413652242021-01-23T15:02:55.448-05:002021-01-23T15:02:55.448-05:00> The file itself needs to have the read-only a...> The file itself needs to have the read-only attribute. It's not enough to just mount it in read-only access mode. I tested this myself with a fresh copy of MAME 0.227, using Apple II+ with the default configuration.<br /><br />Huh. And that works on my end too: turning off the file's write permissions makes it work with both MAME 0.226 and 0.227. Good to have a solution! The current MAME behavior is a bit weird and confusing. I would think that if MAME says it's setting the access mode to read-only, the file permissions on its host system shouldn't override that. I should ask the MAME devs about that.<br /><br />> Also, AppleWin doesn't give me any option to set the file's access mode. For a dsk, I would set this by right-clicking the disk slot button and getting a dropdown menu, but when I mount a woz, the options are greyed out.<br /><br />Ah, now I see what you mean; I didn't know about and didn't check the disk button context menu. I selected the image file for drive 1 from the Disk tab in the AppleWin Configuration window. When you select a disk image file from there, you get a dialog box which has a check box at the bottom labeled "Open as read-only", which I activated. This dialog box doesn't seem to test the file type or extension, since the check box remains active even for a .woz file. But the context menu reveals that this check box doesn't actually do anything in this case, as you explained.Colin Howellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16260291960921882366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-6732083305941950062021-01-23T13:45:14.766-05:002021-01-23T13:45:14.766-05:00The file itself needs to have the read-only attrib...The file itself needs to have the read-only attribute. It's not enough to just mount it in read-only access mode. I tested this myself with a fresh copy of MAME 0.227, using Apple II+ with the default configuration.<br /><br />Also, AppleWin doesn't give me any option to set the file's access mode. For a dsk, I would set this by right-clicking the disk slot button and getting a dropdown menu, but when I mount a woz, the options are greyed out.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-540593232672933372021-01-23T12:04:06.250-05:002021-01-23T12:04:06.250-05:00Huh. I just tried 0.226, but it didn't work ei...Huh. I just tried 0.226, but it didn't work either. I've been mounting the file with access mode read-only in every case, so that shouldn't be the culprit unless something is going wrong with MAME's write-protection logic.<br /><br />(When I tried AppleWin, I also explicitly set the file to be mounted read-only, since I knew nothing about AppleWin's WOZ metadata sensing.)<br /><br />Could there be some other difference between the systems we are emulating? I'm doing a standard Apple II+ with Apple II 16K Language Card and Apple Disk II NG controller (16-sector).<br /><br />Also I'm running at standard emulation speed, no speedups.Colin Howellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16260291960921882366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-2114173611762220552021-01-23T11:36:48.010-05:002021-01-23T11:36:48.010-05:00It works for me on 0.226. Make sure the boot disk ...It works for me on 0.226. Make sure the boot disk WOZ file is set to read-only, or else it will hang, as it would on real hardware if the disk is not write-protected.<br /><br />AppleWin mounts the disk image as write-protected based on WOZ metadata, so with that, you don't need to mark the file as read-only.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-63395701797496185732021-01-23T03:43:42.182-05:002021-01-23T03:43:42.182-05:00On further investigation, this looks like a MAME p...On further investigation, this looks like a MAME problem; when I booted the disk under AppleWin 1.29.16.0 (running under Wine 5.0), it could get past the title screen to the first menu just fine. I assume there's something about MAME's disk emulation that Wizardry's disk code doesn't like.Colin Howellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16260291960921882366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-23787163613219457492021-01-23T02:42:01.065-05:002021-01-23T02:42:01.065-05:00Have you ever tried the newly WOZ'd version un...Have you ever tried the newly WOZ'd version under MAME? I just grabbed it from the Internet Archive, but couldn't get it to work with MAME 0.227, and I'm wondering if that is MAME's fault or a problem with the Internet Archive's image. It boots to the title screen, but when you press a key to move on to the first menu, the screen just goes blank and the emulated machine hangs.Colin Howellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16260291960921882366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-24363122092227706282020-02-05T17:06:24.209-05:002020-02-05T17:06:24.209-05:00I remember playing this with friends for an insane...I remember playing this with friends for an insane amount of time in 1981-82 til we finally defeated Werdna. We were in 8th grade and after getting killed repeatedly we learned we had to read every word of the manual, keep creating characters until we had 6 characters with high attribute points and pool the gold from all of the deleted characters to start with Boltac's best items, and to accurately map the levels using Dumapic and graph paper while kicking every wall looking for secret doors. Most important of all was to back up our characters after every expedition.<br /><br />We finished 1 & 2 without any cheats but it took a long long time. I think we thought we were to old for this by the time the 3rd scenario came out. It's crazy almost 40 years later and I still remember Lomilwa, Maporfic, Bamatu, Dios, Dial, Dialma, Madi, and our favorite spell of all Tiltowait.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-47181935181981253712020-01-12T12:18:16.561-05:002020-01-12T12:18:16.561-05:00This game (along with Wiz2) has just been WOZ'...This game (along with Wiz2) has just been WOZ'd, and contains the missing miniboss as well as a Boltac's inventory almost exactly matching my fixed version. I've added a paragraph about it to the intro.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6264881409789872629.post-13622439005748109612019-08-23T20:59:20.389-04:002019-08-23T20:59:20.389-04:00I don't know about any issues with later Wizar...I don't know about any issues with later Wizardry installments, but I will be dissecting the available disk images before playing and checking for anything funny like that.<br /><br />I played using enhanced disk speed, but authentic CPU speed. I think I would have torn my hair out if I had to use authentic disk speed, and even with enhanced disk speed, there were still a lot of interruptions I could have done without, but overall I didn't find it unbearable.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131989140638867919noreply@blogger.com