I played through Proving Grounds last year on an a2 emulator after hearing about the zimlab recompiled 3.1 version. They made some minor quality of life changes and took out the Bishop bug that Sir Tech kept in from rev to rev. The character password prompt was removed, thankfully! It was fun to go "old school" including reading the WiziSystem tips book and drawn maps. The spinners on the apple II are obvious if you keep quick draw off. The image will erase and redraw, but one does need to pay attention.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

2 ай бұрын

Oh, I vaguely remember this - this was the thing where if the Bishop tried to identify item #9, he got tons of XP? Need to run back to my Apple II game and try that out.

Just a few notes: 1. The NES version of Wizardry 1 has a bug where AC does nothing. There's a patch to fix it. 2. The GBC versions(which don't have the above bug, and all 3 have english translation patches,) might actually the best instead of the Playstation 1 version. The differences are: - The maps are slightly smaller - Wizardry 1 has extra content in the form of the Treasure Vaults, which can only be accessed after you beat Werdna. Finishing the Treasure Vaults gives you a second "achievement" mark in addition to the one from beating Werdna, on your character. - Any characters can be transferred (back to level 1 and base stats, but still have achievement marks,) by having the game give you a password (all Japanese characters,) for that character, and you can transfer any characters between any of the first 3 Wizardry games. - The Japanese numbering order for these versions of the games is slightly different, as Legacy of LyllGamyn is considered Wizardry 2 and Knight of Diamonds is considered Wizardry 3. - The interface seems better designed and / or streamlined for the fact that it was on Gameboy Color, with portability in mind. - IMHO the best reason to play these 3 is that you can just load them on your phone in GBC emulator and play then that way, anywhere, anytime. Also, for almost ALL versions of Wizardry 1-3, there's a great Japanese site with incredibly detailed specifics regarding equipment, monsters, monster drops, map quirks, etc. I've been using it for years: www.pekori.jp/~emonoya/ Google translate helps with it, although I suppose knowing a little Japanese helps too.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

2 ай бұрын

Thank you for the helpful notes! I was aware that the GBC versions existed, but have never spent any time with them, and didn't try them for this video due to some combination of needing to draw the line somewhere, and inexperience with them. Having your perspective on them as being your fave is very helpful. At some point I should probably also try the Sega Saturn version!

I have been enjoying this video as I've recently purchased the new Wizardry. I am a longtime fan of the NES Wizardry where I got my start. That was one of the most brutal gaming experiences ever. One thing I love is when you say around 10:50 that video games "were really toys." I thought to myself ... Wizardry was a way of life. This was no toy; this was no joke! I mean it had a 244 page manual and the strategy guide (Proving Grounds of the Mad Overload - haha) was 74 pages. Ahhh, back when games were GAMES. Anyway, thanks for this vid. It was enjoyable to watch.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

17 күн бұрын

That comment needs a little bit of explanation. What I mean is that home consoles (think: Atari 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision) were firmly viewed *by the people making them* as childrens' toys, in the same class as Cabbage Patch Dolls. They were expected to be a short-lived fad, not an entertainment sector that would eventually make more money than movies.

The Japanese SNES trilogy game that had been fan translated (Wizardry I-II-III: Story of Llylgamyn) is my favorite version: it is the closest to original, includes all the quality of life updates you expect without being too much, and doesn't have the now outdated 3d graphics of the Saturn and PSX ports. I would love to play the Steam remake but it lacks the QoL and improvements introduced in the SNES version. You can't speed up battles in the remake, that alone breaks a game focused on grinding. And I agree, the SNES font is the best one 😅

@TeaLeavesProgramming

Ай бұрын

Speed of play is so important. I’ve been playing Tale of the Forsaken Land and although I am really enjoying it, it is just SO slow.

@SaffronWorldCR

28 күн бұрын

@@TeaLeavesProgramming 100% I played that game years ago and loved it, but the combat is soooo slow. I love how some JRPG nowadays include a fast forward option during combat. It's a game changer.

I’m pretty sure that in the Apple games, you could move any character from I to II, asterisk or no. They just said, don’t move low level characters, because they will die. So, you could run it with your team, even if you hadn’t finished (in my case because my older brother had beaten me to Werdna).

@TeaLeavesProgramming

2 ай бұрын

I looked it up and you are correct. Thank you for the correction! I remember being terrified when I moved my characters to Knight of Diamonds.

@stevebowles9086

2 ай бұрын

No worries, I really appreciate what you are doing here. I was shocked at how quickly I got through KOD. I thought there had to be more. Now, #3 (Legacy) burned some brain cells…

@TeaLeavesProgramming

2 ай бұрын

I finished PGMO and KOD (it was short but fun) but LoL was where I stopped. I didn't have both good and evil parties rolled up and so it felt like starting from scratch. I think I gave up just a few floors in.

I'm absolutely one of the people that this video is for because I want to try to get into the games but find the decision of where to start kind of daunting. I'm also someone who finds this particular type of tile based first person movement extremely confusing. Even if I had my grid paper in hand I would get hopelessly lost. I think my brain just has a hard time making contiguous space out of that. But these games are a huge part of the hobby I love so I want to at least see them. Also, PLEASE do that video on SMT spell names coming from Wizardry! Dragon Quest does the same thing and Final Fantasy does it to a lesser extent. People tend to forget it.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

9 күн бұрын

Thanks for the comments! I have been thinking about that SMT video for a long time.

I'm a compete nerd who played both the original version on 5.25" floppies on an Apple II+ clone 40 years ago and the new Early Access version from Digital Eclipse 6 months ago, and this is exactly right. Just play Digital Eclipse's version. It captures all the fun and difficulty of the original, while updating the graphics, sound and quality of life features to match 2020's standards. The thought that there is some intrinsic benefit to something just because it is from "back in the day", before developers had any kind of quality control or proper development processes or professional graphic art and sound and musical editing involved is just wrong. Games are better now. There is nothing wrong with admitting that. Just play the new version.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

Ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing your pov!

(sorry, I am typing these as I watch your video) Regarding the Spinners and Teleporters, those were most effective if you had to map on paper as you play. In-Game mapping really makes them obsolete.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

2 ай бұрын

Absolutely.

You didn't actually used my updated translation of Story of Llylgamyn since I've fixed every issues found in the original AGTP patch, and you also forgot the other ports (e.g. Game Boy Color as Vidvid57 said, PC Engine CD, WonderSwan Color). The WSC port of the first game has extra content and new Survival Mode, also has English patch made by me.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

Ай бұрын

Thanks for the additional context (and for your translation work!)

@MartinRodriguez-qk4hc

10 сағат бұрын

I played the NES, SNES, GBA, PS1, WonderSwan Color and TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine) versions. This last one is very particular because although you can get the Blue Ribbon, when you want to use it you discover that the Private Express Elevator does not work, and there is no way (that I know of) to fix it. I beat that version with a female dwarf mage, named Olga... I did all my experience on the first level of the dungeon, killing Creeping Coins and Murphy's Ghosts. I leveled up until I got the Haman and Malor spells, and teleported directly above the hole at level 9, which leads to level 10... The rest is history.

Oh cool, exactly the kind of video I was looking for, I'm a massive fan of dungeon crawlers/blobbers (Shin Megami Tensei, Might and Magic, etc) But somehow never got into any Wizardry games.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

17 күн бұрын

I keep threatening to do a video exploring the connection between the spell names in Wizardry and the spell names in Shin Megami Tensei/Persona.

"Hate to break it to you, you are probably a nerd." LOL! Epic.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

Ай бұрын

Meant with love.

Absolutely grateful for this video! Do you play the later Wizardry games?

@TeaLeavesProgramming

2 күн бұрын

I just picked up Labyrinth of Lost Souls in the Steam sale and am giving it a go. I played Wizardry 8 (and liked it), but have tried 6 and 7 several times and always bounce off for some reason.

The Digital Eclipse remaster works 100% perfectly on Linux, using modern technologies. (WINE+dxvk/Valve's Proton.)

@mercster

17 күн бұрын

God it's killin me, you say it three times "If you're on Linux, play on Playstation!" 😂 I know not your fault but, whew boy.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

17 күн бұрын

@@mercster I've had enough terrible experiences with Wine that I'd never recommend it to someone as their first choice.

@mercster

17 күн бұрын

@@TeaLeavesProgramming Sir... most people don't use WINE from command line anymore, do you use Steam? Steam has Proton, which is WINE+a whole bunch of other technologies wrapped up, pretty with a bow. Linux gamers run thousands of games just fine in Steam with Proton, it "just works." I'm tellin ya, you're giving outdated info. Have you ever used Steam's Proton? When's the last time you gamed under Linux?

@mercster

17 күн бұрын

@@TeaLeavesProgramming In fact, Wizardry remaster is verified Steam Deck Playable status... this means it just works on the steam deck. Which runs Linux.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

17 күн бұрын

@@mercster Sure, I think for anyone with a Steam deck (who doesn't want to go on to play Knight of Diamonds or Legacy of Llyllgamyn), the Digital Eclipse version is a reasonable choice.

Randomly found your channel. Been on a retro RPG kick so I guess I was blessed by the algorithm. Thanks for this video and for not being a weird elitist retro snob! A lot of the time when I find a smaller gaming channel it's run by a massive jerk or a bigot or something. Wizardry's remake was already on my list but you moved it to the top!

@TeaLeavesProgramming

16 күн бұрын

Really glad you found the channel, and welcome aboard! Extremism in the defense of being nice and normal is no vice.

Digital Eclipse version sucks because of forced autosaving. The developers are completely delusional seeming to believe that everybody did not reload after every +1HP level up. Not being able to speed up the forced combat animations also does not help. They decided not to address any of these in the 1.0 full release.

@TeaLeavesProgramming

Ай бұрын

After learning more about how the HP rolling works, I never reload - it all works out as long as you get another roll later.