The David W. Bradley's Wizards & Warriors Thread

[Nikanuur]

I fell in love with this game and its charming, imaginative places, races, puzzles and stories. I am so glad I got over the few clunky hours, battling the UI and rising frustration with how everything is messy. It all dissappeared some hours later in game, like a mist of poisonous vapors give way to a fragrant meadow of lush experience. Aaaah, sweet gaming heaven.

 

[Nikanuur]

W&W really fucking sucked. It's considered the buggiest, most imbalanced games of recent times. TOEE and Daggerfall included.

Buggiest maybe, imbalanced... aaah no. Back in the days, we ate bugs in games for breakfast. You are just a puny weasel of a wannabe human origins, bickering like one. Instead, you could try to overcome the bug by any means possible. 10 minutes every day before going to school/work until, finaly, in a month, you'd succeed to clip that wall, to fall through the insides of the world with many an unfathomable graphic artefacts emerging in a totally different place than before, 7 out of 8 characters dead from the fall, you'd ress the party and continue the game. Mwahahaha MWAHAHAHA.

 

[Gaznak]

Greetings, old-school mates.

I finally took a serious attempt to play this game (GOG version). After a few tries of rerolling attributes for new party members I gave up and used the Editor. No sky-high stats, just somewhere about 80 in sum for every party member, more of the physical stats for fighters, more of the mental stats for casters. Then I couldn't help to give my party some starting cash for a little initial shopping (without it I couldn't even get past the very first combat against a bunch of rogues outside the gates of Valeia). Creating the infinite horde of disposable 200-gold dummies for dumping is unbearable for me, sorry.

The battle system was always the main negative feature for me. I just can' get used to it still. First, I can't realize if the positions of my characters within the party matter (as it was in, say, M&M3-5 where two leftiest chars should be fighters to bear the brunt and bruises)? My wizard and rogue (two ones at the 'bottom' of the party roster) die constanty whatever I do, healing by priest spells or potions. Second, I can't grasp the real-time/turn-based thing, when nearest enemies are attacking in turns already while farthest ones roaming freely and shooting stuff at my party.

Anything else in this game is very charming in the old-school sense of words.

 

[Nikanuur]

Greetings, old-school mates.

I finally took a serious attempt to play this game (GOG version). After a few tries of rerolling attributes for new party members I gave up and used the Editor. No sky-high stats, just somewhere about 80 in sum for every party member, more of the physical stats for fighters, more of the mental stats for casters. Then I couldn't help to give my party some starting cash for a little initial shopping (without it I couldn't even get past the very first combat against a bunch of rogues outside the gates of Valeia). Creating the infinite horde of disposable 200-gold dummies for dumping is unbearable for me, sorry.

The battle system was always the main negative feature for me. I just can' get used to it still. First, I can't realize if the positions of my characters within the party matter (as it was in, say, M&M3-5 where two leftiest chars should be fighters to bear the brunt and bruises)? My wizard and rogue (two ones at the 'bottom' of the party roster) die constanty whatever I do, healing by priest spells or potions. Second, I can't grasp the real-time/turn-based thing, when nearest enemies are attacking in turns already while farthest ones roaming freely and shooting stuff at my party.

Anything else in this game is very charming in the old-school sense of words.

Damn, it's been ages I've played it. I can't remember anything like that, but I believe you. I must try it soon in hope to help you out. Aaaanyway, good job on using the editor. No really, I mean let's play some games hard-core, let's play some games helping one-self out to get to fun earlier.

 

[octavius]

Vorst Kombat system ever.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Rogues outside? Did you, by chance, accepted bounty for certain rogue boss? I did that mistake in my first playthrough (consisting on few attempts to even start it) and never made it again in further playthrough.

 

[Gaznak]

Did you, by chance, accepted bounty for certain rogue boss?

Well, I don't remember correctly TBH. I took two quests in Town Hall, one for delivering the letter to someone, and other may be the one you mean. I killed the rogues and their boss and seem to forget about reporting it to the quest-giver. And what horrible things await me if I did?

Now gradually the combat begins to flow easier and more comfortable. It still feels rather awkward but at least my chars stop dying constantly. Initial shopping is the gift of Heavens. Plate-mailed gourk is much better than leather-jerkined gourk. Also I still can't realize if shields provide any substantial help. While enemies with shields seem to block quite often my own chars are not so lucky so far (judging by the game log at the bottom of the screen). I read somewhere that people advise against shield-using in favor of bow-using off-hand. At the same time I also read often like "bow are useless". Well, my ratling rogue with its basic bow is a big support so far sharpshooting the free-roaming critters in rear lines of enemies. Maybe it's just the early game and bows turn useless later?
And arrows are quite heavy! It's good that my ratling doesn't have to carry much of them taking what's left of troll bowmen and such. And consumables are taken automatically, unexpected QoL-thing from Bradley

 

[Nikanuur]

By the way the thing with clipping the wall is probably somewhat exaggerated, but I really do remember doing that repeatedly on the span of many days, refusing to give up. It happened at the cemetary right after spoiler spoiler - a big point in the game. I got stuck behind a sarcophagus after a video or some such. Fatal bug, couldn't move but few inches. The party had had some levels already, I didn't want to begin again. So I tried and I tried and I tried and ...the afore-mentioned happened.

 

[Nikanuur]

Warious files like editors, trainers, faqs, maps, manuals etc...

http://www.tgeweb.com/ironworks/wizardswarriors/downloads.shtml

 

[Gaznak]

Warious files like editors, trainers, faqs, maps, manuals etc...

I have a Bradygames guide scan, and there's comprehensive Oystein's walkthroughs as well:

http://www.mj-oystein.no/oystein_dungeon.htm

 

[Nikanuur]

Warious files like editors, trainers, faqs, maps, manuals etc...

I have a Bradygames guide scan, and there's comprehensive Oystein's walkthroughs as well:

http://www.mj-oystein.no/oystein_dungeon.htm

These old txt pages of the old game fans... Like beacons of hope from a faraway promise-land suddenly coming quite closer :]

 

[Gaznak]

Like beacons of hope from a faraway promise-land suddenly coming quite closer

Rather like vestiges of a long-gone ancient civilization.

I miss these old sites so much. They die one by one falling like autumn leaves. Winter is coming for us, old gamers.

 

[infidel]

Can anyone tell me what options to use in DXWND for Windows 10 for this game (GOG version)? The most I can get out of it is this:

Or is there another way to make it work in windowed mode?

 

[Bad Sector]

dgVoodoo2 should work (try it without DXWND), i think i got it running with that. It has an option to force the game run in windowed mode too.

 

[infidel]

I've tried it and after fixing the "can't click on anything in 3D" bug, it at least allows me to play in 1920x1200. The window mode doesn't work though and I cannot alt-tab at all unless I use ctrl-alt-del. Plus there's white background for the character display on the top left but I can live with that. It's a start.

I have to wonder why they went with the full party while implementing running and jumping in 3D view, that's so weird. On the plus side, I can rebind movement to the more normal WASD.

 

[Bad Sector]

dgVoodoo2 has a control panel utility that allows you to override the application's fullscreen behavior, try that. Also make sure you are editing the proper config from the dropdown box.

About the party, well, it is a blobber - running and jumping is the least of weird things it has, considering you also get to mount a single horse as the entire party (see my post in previous page) :-P. But then the blob breaks down at weird places, e.g. having every character has to finish quests themselves.

It is a good game though.

 

[infidel]

No, that didn't help. Tried both options. The other ones work, so that means it's using the correct config.

 

[Jarpie]

Try graphics fix from here, and choose the correct resolution, choose the resolution which is scaled by factor of two from 640x480.

http://www.tgeweb.com/ironworks/wizardswarriors/downloads.shtml

 

[infidel]

Try graphics fix from here, and choose the correct resolution, choose the resolution which is scaled by factor of two from 640x480.

http://www.tgeweb.com/ironworks/wizardswarriors/downloads.shtml

Well, it makes it slightly less ugly by fixing the aspect ratio for me but nothing else otherwise. Oh, and it makes it quite a bit slower, I can notice the fps drop visibly.

As I've quickly found out, the dgVoodoo version always crashes when I open the sun spellbook during the combat. So for now I'm playing in fullscreen and hoping that DXWND guy will help out.

 

[Nikanuur]

I don't know if that'd fix your issue, but I remember that switching to non-accelerated (software renderer) made most of engine-related bugs go away. Coincidentally, the game looks better non-accelerated. More like "drawn" instead of "trying to pose as awsome 3D".

 

[infidel]

The game and the manual differ a lot about the attributes, except agility and fortitude. So who do I believe, especially about the disarming traps and mana regain speed?

Intellect determines a character’s ability to learn, most specifically regarding Character Skills. The higher the Intellect, the more Skill Points a character usually acquires during Experience Level Gains for increasing the various Character Skills. Intellect also influences magic ability for casting Sun and Stone spells, and it is used for evaluating certain interactions with opponents, such as Stealing.

Spirituality determines how much Mana a character acquires, and how quickly Mana is recouped after casting magic spells. Spirituality also influences magic ability for casting Spirit and Vine spells.

Will determines a character’s ability to overcome and resist an opponent, most importantly related to magic spells and magical effects. Characters with a higher Will attribute will tend to resist or reduce the effect of an opponent’s magic spells, while the opponent will more likely be affected by the character’s magic spells. Will also increases the overall power of the character’s magic spells, it influences magic ability for casting Moon and Fiend spells, and it may be used for other character interactions, such as Bargaining prices. (Note: Bargaining requires the Merchant Skill.)

Presence determines how much attention the character is likely to attract from others, whether friend or foe. During friendly encounters, Presence can be likened to a character’s personal appeal. During combat, however, Presence directly affects how likely opponents are to target the character. Character’s with a higher Presence can be thought of as having a kind of overpowering personality, and will tend to get attacked more often than characters with lower Presence. The exception to this is with certain Roles such as the Monk and Ninja, and for these Roles, Presence indicates the character’s ability to control their overall appearance — the higher the Presence, the less likely they are to be noticed and targeted.

Strength determines how heavy a weapon the character may use effectively. Using a weapon with a higher Strength Rating than the character’s actual Strength Attribute results in the loss of the weapon’s special ability. Characters with Strength greater than 15 may deal extra Bonus Damage when using certain weapons. Strength also determines how much weight the character can carry without taking an encumbrance penalty, which affects combat performance. Strength is also used when evaluating a character’s chance of forcing open a Treasure Chest.

Dexterity determines how effective a character is at striking an opponent during combat (see Hit Statistic). It is also used for special tactile skills such as Disarming Traps, as well as the ability to Steal.

Agility determines how effective a character is at avoiding strikes from opponents during combat (see Parry Statistic). Agility also determines how quickly a character may perform actions (see Speed Statistic). Characters with higher Agility will get to attack more often than characters of the same role with lower Agility. Note that a character’s Role greatly influences the speed at which a character can perform actions.

Fortitude determines a characters Hit Points, and chance of being resurrected in case of death. Characters with higher Fortitude will tend to gain more Hit Points each time
they go up an Experience Level. It should be noted that the Role of a character also greatly influences how many Hit Points a character will gain. Characters with high Fortitude are almost always resurrected successfully, while those with lower Fortitudes will have a greater tendency of disintegrating into bones or ash.

 

[infidel]

I don't know if that'd fix your issue, but I remember that switching to non-accelerated (software renderer) made most of engine-related bugs go away. Coincidentally, the game looks better non-accelerated. More like "drawn" instead of "trying to pose as awsome 3D".

Well, software mode also slows it down tremendously. And it still doesn't allow me to use windowed mode, though IIRC it doesn't scale the image up.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/index.php

I really like their forums look and DL pages. A pleasant look.

 

[Nikanuur]

I don't know if that'd fix your issue, but I remember that switching to non-accelerated (software renderer) made most of engine-related bugs go away. Coincidentally, the game looks better non-accelerated. More like "drawn" instead of "trying to pose as awsome 3D".

Well, software mode also slows it down tremendously. And it still doesn't allow me to use windowed mode, though IIRC it doesn't scale the image up.

I am sorry I couldn't be of much help. Does this topic have anything useful for you? Have you seen it yet?
https://sourceforge.net/p/dxwnd/discussion/general/thread/4fd7e850/

 

[infidel]

I don't know if that'd fix your issue, but I remember that switching to non-accelerated (software renderer) made most of engine-related bugs go away. Coincidentally, the game looks better non-accelerated. More like "drawn" instead of "trying to pose as awsome 3D".

Well, software mode also slows it down tremendously. And it still doesn't allow me to use windowed mode, though IIRC it doesn't scale the image up.

I am sorry I couldn't be of much help. Does this topic have anything useful for you? Have you seen it yet?
https://sourceforge.net/p/dxwnd/discussion/general/thread/4fd7e850/

I've checked the older threads but they were of no help. However, I created my own and I was in luck, the program author is active and very responsive. Turns out, GoG version places their own ddraw.dll into the game folder (other commenters said this was not uncommon) and it was interfering with DXWND. So, removing the file fixed the problem, the game is now in windowed mode and looking good!

I removed the outer part in the screenshot but basically I set the resolution to 1280x960 in DXWND, always centered, modal, adding black borders and hiding task bar which is pretty much perfect. The other thing I recommend is NOT to use the graphics fix and instead set the ingame resolution at 640x480. This way I don't have the aliasing artifacts and most importantly the fps is significantly higher - around 60 in dungeons and 100+ in the outdoors. Haven't measured it before since I didn't know how to enable the counter but it was coming down to 30 subjectively. Now it tends to drop only to 50 if you look into some points in the dungeon, this engine is not Quake.

Is there a hotkey to exit any menu? ESC is not working and clicking 3D view or small exit button is so annoying. And will I have to re-identify every weapon all the time before selling? This feels like such a waste of time.

As a side note, Cheat Engine's x1.2 speed is just perfect and you can set it higher in town to skip the annoying bla-bla of every show owner. Moreover, it makes every click much more responsive.