Wizardry Playing Wizardry 1-5 in 2021

[Arthandas]

I recently got my hands on a boxed copy of The Ultimate Wizardry Chronicles and decided to write a small guide on how to best experience it. This guide is 100% objective and disagreeing with me will just make you look stupid.

What you'll need:
DOSBox SVN
Shaders (Code -> Download ZIP)
Where Are We
Mapping tool to draw your maps with. I personally use Illwinter's Floorplan Generator, but there's also Dungeon Painter Studio or this.
Some thematic ambience

Setup:
1. Copy the "crt", "interpolation" and "xbr" folders from the shaders pack inside DOSBox directory
2. You may want to use a custom .conf file, if so, put in inside DOSBox directory, here's mine:

Spoiler

[sdl]
windowresolution = 1280x800
output           = openglnb

[dosbox]
machine = cga

[render]
scaler   = none
glshader = crt/crt-easymode.glsl

[cpu]
cycles = fixed 1000

I like to play in 4x scale hence the 1280x800 resolution, and easymode is my crt shader of choice (it requires openglnb and no scaler). Delete the [dosbox] tab if you prefer the neon pink palette. I lower the cycles to 1000 to make the game speed more on par with the real hardware. Here's how it looks:

Spoiler

3. Create a shortcut to DOSBox including the path to the executable in the target field (and the configuration file optionally), example:

C:\Instalki\EmuCR-Dosbox-r4466\dosbox.exe -conf "C:\Instalki\EmuCR-Dosbox-r4466\Wiz1-5.conf" "C:\Instalki\WIZARD15\WIZ1.COM" -noconsole

4. Run Where Are We and select the previously made shortcut to launch the game

Now, here's where it gets a little complicated. Where Are We is a fantastic tool which apart from being an automapper, displays information about your stats, equipment, monsters, spells and various game mechanics and that's what it should be used for.
Using automappers kills the sense of discovery and makes spells like Lomilwa (light) or Dumapic (coordinates) obsolete. The Maze is designed to challenge the map drawing skills of the player and its various teleporter and spinner traps become mere trivialities when the map is being drawn by the program. It's best to launch Where Are We only to check some info and draw the map yourself.

I tried to play the games both with my own maps and with the automapper and the latter made me feel like I'm missing part of the experience and definitely part of the challenge.

Drawing your own map may feel daunting at first but here's a protip: grind the first encounter room until your Priest gets to level 4 and learns Lomilwa (10000 steps of Light), it's a game changer and I wouldn't even start with cartography before casting it.

 

[unseeingeye]

I tried playing with Grid Cartographer but reverted to graph paper for the reason you mentioned.

I'd not heard of Where Are We though, thank you for the information I'll be certain to look into it.

 

[Arbaces]

I was just wondering what the best platform and release for the first few games was. I read somewhere that the DOS release of Proving Grounds was buggy, but presumably anything major was fixed for this collection. How do the first three in the collection compare to the Japanese SNES remake? Are the graphics worth the controls downgrade playing on SNES?

P.S. I'll have to respectfully disagree with your choice of shaders. I don't miss the screen door effect of cheap TVs at all.

 

[mondblut]

What you'll need:

What you'll need is Llylgamyn Saga.

Or Story of Llylgamyn and a SNES emulator. Also works for Wizardry 5.

CGA palette and wireframe dungeons: the two things we definitely DON'T miss.

 

[Arthandas]

I read somewhere that the DOS release of Proving Grounds was buggy

That's the first I'm hearing of it, maybe revision 1? I didn't encounter any bugs so far. Are you sure you're not talking about the NES port which had nonfunctional AC?

How do the first three in the collection compare to the Japanese SNES remake?

I don't know, you either want to play the originals or the remakes. The SNES versions are more than just visual updates, there are some other tweaks and changes and they're objectively better but if it's just the better you're after then you may as well skip everything before Wiz 7 or just play Grimoire.

 

[Atomboy]

Never realized they had one of those for Wiz I to V. I had an automap for VI and it was fantastic. I'm saving this thread for future reference! Thank you!
Also never realized they made I to V for SNES, I thought it was only for VI lol. Japan and Wizardry are such a weird love story.

 

[Arthandas]

Never realized they had one of those for Wiz I to V

Actually it's Wiz 1 - Wiz Gold.

Japan and Wizardry are such a weird love story.

More like a dick move They stole our western rpg and made it much bigger but not for gaijins

 

[Ultron]

Great thread! I have Wiz 6/7/8 in GOG and need to revisit them.

 

[mondblut]

Also never realized they made I to V for SNES, I thought it was only for VI lol.

There was no IV for SNES.

A little bird has reminded me that there was an obscure remake of 4 and 5 for PSX and Windows, called "New Age of Llylgamyn". However, the not-caveman version of 4 is apparently untranslated there, making the package fairly useless.

 

[octavius]

You also should change the video output from VGA to CGA so that you get the correct colours. Or use cghcolor.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Turbografx 3-4
All versions

hmmm playstation.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...rdry-developers-updated-march-07-2016.105918/

 

[Arthandas]

You also should change the video output from VGA to CGA so that you get the correct colours.

Thanks, I didn't know about this.

 

[Arthandas]

Japan and Wizardry are such a weird love story.

More like a dick move They stole our western rpg and made it much bigger but not for gaijins

In the end we still got the best one thanks to Cleve :D

 

[BruceVC]

Great thread and thanks for sharing, I have never played any of the Wizardry games but I plan to

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I always wondered about the spell names and where the ideas came from. I originally thought maybe it was a IRL language.

I forgot Wiz 5 added & removed spells.

Wizrogue I read they borked the spells. I wish that one hit GoG. I'll just have to find a place and DL it to my steam laptop.

ugh! Only a japanese wiki for Wizrogue:
Monk (Priest)
Magician (Wizard)

The issues with wizrogue is say a lighning based spell is named flame. Was that fixed? Dunno.

Now the expanded lists is sort of interesting. I should look at each wizardry and see what spells are where and if their formula was changed. Seems that jap wiki liked looking into it a little.
So redundant the links 1-5.
Wizardry 1 Spells
Wizardry 2 Spells
Wizardry 3 Spells
Wizardry 4 Spells
Wizardry 5 Spells
Wizardry 6 Spells
Wizardry 7 Spells
Wizardry 8 Spells
Wizards & Warriors Spells

Wizardry 7 Spells

WIZARDRY VII SPELLBOOK

For those who would stand against the weight of a universe to rise but one step further over its horizon.

Note: Cost -

Fire Spells

Energy Blast
Cost: 2
Caster: MAG
Affects: 1 Creature
A jolting spark of electric energy doing 1-7 hit point of damage per power level.

Blinding Flash
Cost: 2
Caster: ALC
Affects: 1 Creature plus power level
A giant flash of light that may temporarily blind opponents.

Psionic Fire
Cost: 4
Caster: PSI
Affects: 2 Creatures plus power level
A fiery burst of mental power doing 1-8 points of fire damage per power level.

Fireball
Cost: 6
Caster: MAG
Affects: 3 Creatures plus power level
Blazing fireballs that burn opponents and can do 2-10 hit points of fire damage per power level.
Fire Shield
Cost: 8
Caster: MAG
Affects: party
Creates a barrier impervious to fire that protects the party from fire-type spells.

Dazzling Lights
Cost: 6
Caster: PSI
Affects: 1 Creature plus power level
A spectacular display of various luminous effects causing victims to suffer one or more maladies.
Fire Bomb
Cost: 8
Caster: ALC
Affects: 4 Creatures plus power level
An exploding, incendiary spell that does 3-9 points of fire damage per power level
Lightning
Cost: 8
Caster: PRI
Affects: 3 Creatures plus power level
A bolt of electrical energy hurled at the opponents doing 1-10 hit points of electrical damage per power level.
Prismic Missile
Cost: 9
Caster: MAG
Affects: 3 Creature plus power level
Also known as Dancing Lights and Rainbow Rays, the various spectrums may affect creatures in many different ways.
Firestorm
Cost: 12
Caster: MAG
Affects: Cloud
A sweeping cloud of fire that lasts for several rounds and bums all creatures within it. Creatures affected, duration and damage done all depend on the spell's power level.
Nuclear Blast
Cost: 16
Caster: MAG
Affects: All Creatures
A miniature fusion bomb. This spell burns all creatures and does 5-25 hit points of fire damage per power level.
Water Spells

Chilling Touch
Cost: 2
Caster: MAG
Affects: 1 Creature
A freezing blast of cold which does 1-6 hit points of cold damage per power level.
Stamina
Cost: 2
Caster: PRI, ALC, PSI
Affects: 1 Character
Replenishes some of the character's stamina keeping the character awake or allowing him or her to go without sleep for a longer period of time. Amount of stamina replenished depends on the power level of the spell.
Terror
Cost: 3
Caster: MAG, PSI
Affects: 1 Group
Evokes fear and terror in creatures and may reduce their ability to fight or cause them to flee.
Weaken
Cost: 4
Caster: MAG, PSI
Affects: 3 Creatures plus power level
Physically drains the creatures making them vulnerable to attack, causing them to fight and react poorly, and lowering their resistance to magic spells.
Slow
Cost: 4
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: 3 Creatures plus power level
Slows creatures down. They can't move as fast to hit you and are easier to hit themselves.
Haste
Cost: 5
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: party
Speeds up characters' movements by giving them extra energy. Also helpful to counteract a Slow spell.
Cure Paralysis
Cost: 6
Caster: PRI, ALC, PSI
Affects: 1 Character
Attempts to cure one character of paralysis. Success depends on the extent of paralysis to the character's system versus the power level of the spell.
Ice Shield
Cost: 8
Caster: MAG
Affects: party
A barricade which resists the affects of cold and protects the party from cold and cold-type spells. Strength and duration of the Ice Shield depends on the power level of the spell.
Restfull
Cost: 8
Caster: PRI
Affects: party
A gentle spell that restores a portion of stamina to every member of the party. Stamina recouped is relative to the power level of the spell.
Iceball
Cost: 8
Caster: MAG
Affects: 4 Creatures plus power level
A flurry of stinging ice balls which cause 3-12 hit points of ice damage per power level.
Paralyze
Cost: 5
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: 1 Creature
Attempts to solidify all water in a creature's body. Duration and success depends on the power level of the spell relative to the power and amount of body water in the creature.
Superman
Cost: 7
Caster: PRI
Affects: 1 Character
Empowers a party member with a heroic boost of energy allowing him or her to fight with the power and finesse of a hero.
Deepfreeze
Cost: 6
Caster: MAG
Affects: 1 Creature
Attempts to freeze a creature's bodily fluids solid doing 3-30hit points of severe ice damage per power level.
Draining Cloud
Cost: 8
Caster: ALC
Affects: Cloud
Surrounds creatures in a mystical cloud that attempts to drain their lifeforce every round they remain inside the cloud. Duration and power of the cloud are relative to the spell's power level.
Cure Disease
Cost: 12
Caster: PRI, ALC
Affects: 1 Character
Attempts to cure someone of disease and its effects. Success depends on the strength of the disease relative to the spell's strength.
Air Spells

Poison
Cost: 2
Caster: ALC
Affects: 1 Creature
Turns the air poisonous around the creature, and causes 1-5 hit points damage per power level plus poisoning. Strength of the poison is relative to the power level of the spell.
Missile shield
Cost: 5
Caster: MAG
Affects: Party
Hardens the air around the party forming a shield that protects characters from missiles, arrows, hurled weapons etc.
Shrill Sound
Cost: 4
Caster: MAG, PSI
Affects: 1 Group
Whips the air creating a high frequency pressure wave that blasts the creatures with 1-5 damage per power level.
Stink Bomb
Cost: 8
Caster: MAG, ALC
Affects: 3 Creatures
An odorous cloud of stinking fumes that can cause 1-6 hit points damage per power level and may make them nauseated.
Air Pocket
Cost: 8
Caster: MAG, ALC
Affects: Party
Protects the party from air spells such as stinking clouds and suffocation by creating a pocket of fresh air around the party. Strength and duration of the pocket are relative to the power level of the spell.
Silence
Cost: 4
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: 3 Creatures plus power level
Causes air around creatures to stop transmitting sound, thus preventing them from casting spells. Strength and duration relative to the power level of the spell.
Poison Gas
Cost: 7
Caster: ALC
Affects: Cloud
Poisonous cloud that lasts several rounds and surrounds the creatures in the gas. Creatures inside the cloud suffer from poisoning and damage. The creatures affected, duration and damage done all depend on the power level of the spell.
Cure Poison
Cost: 8
Caster: PRI, ALC
Affects: 1 Character
Attempts to cure one character of poisoning. Success depends on the strength of the poison relative to the strength of the spell.
Whirlwind
Cost: 8
Caster: PRI
Affects: 3 Creatures plus power level
A swirling tornado whipping around the creatures and blasting them with 1-7 hit points damage per power level.
Purify Air
Cost: 10
Caster: PRI, ALC
Affects: party
Tries to clear the air of any dangerous clouds like Poison Gas and Firestorm. Success depends on the amount and strength of the clouds relative to the spell's strength.
Deadly Poison
Cost: 8
Caster: ALC
Affects: 1 Creature
May kill a creature outright or does extremely heavy poisoning plus 3-15 damage points per power level.
Levitate
Cost: 12
Caster: MAG
Affects: Party
Creates a 3-inch cushion of air underneath party helping to prevent or reduce damage in case they fall. Duration of the spell is relative to the power level of the spell.
Toxic Vapors
Cost: 8
Caster: ALC
Affects: Cloud
A giant stinking cloud of vapors that surrounds the creatures and causes 2-6 hit points damage per power level of the spell.
Noxious Fumes
Cost: 10
Caster: MAG, ALC
Affects: 3 Creatures plus power level
Horrid smelling torrents that blast the creatures' noses and cause 1-6 hit points damage per power level plus nausea.
Asphyxiation
Cost: 12
Caster: MAG, ALC
Affects: All Groups
Swallows air around creatures leaving none to breathe. Chance of creatures' death depends on their ability and need to breathe, strength and susceptibility relative to the strength of the spell.
Deadly Air
Cost: 16
Caster: ALC
Affects: All Creatures
Makes air surrounding the creatures entirely unbreathable and causes 4-16 hit points damage per power level.
Death Cloud
Cost: 20
Caster: ALC
Affects: Cloud
Black vapors that engulf a group of creatures and attempt to kill them outright. Every round creatures remain in the cloud, there is a chance they will die.
Mental Spells

Mental Attack
Cost: 3
Caster: PSI
Affects: 1 Creature
An invading pressure of thought swirling the creature's brain and causing 1-7 hit points of mental damage per power level and potential insanity.
Sleep
Cost: 3
Caster: MAG, ALC, PSI
Affects: 3 Creatures plus power level
Causes creatures to fall asleep and prevents them from attacking the party members or defending themselves from attack. Success and duration depends of the power of the creatures relative to the power level of the spell.
Bless
Cost: 4
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: Party
Magically lowers the party's armor class and enhances their chances to hit a creature relative to the power level of the spell.
Charm
Cost: 5
Caster: PRI, ALC, PSI
Affects: 1 Creature or NPC
Attempts to charm a creature to prevent it from attacking the party. Any creature charmed will also be easier to hit. When cast in non-combat situations, the spell attempts to charm an NPC so that it will regard the party in a friendly or at least neutral manner for the duration of the encounter. The higher the power level, the better the charm.
Cure Lesser Cnd.
Cost: 4
Caster: PRI, ALC, PSI
Affects: 1 Character
Attempts to cure a character of one of the lesser conditions: afraid, blindness, nausea and minor irritations. Success depends on the strength of the malady relative to the strength of the spell.
Divine Trap
Cost: 4
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: Treasure Chest
Permits the inspector of a treasure chest to determine the elements of the trap with great reliability by making the devices attached more readily apparent. The trap must, of course, be inspected after Divine Trap is cast for the spell to be useful. Success of the spell depends on the power and complexity of the trap relative to the spell's power.
Detect Secret
Cost: 5
Caster: MAG, PSI
Affects: Caster
Opens the caster's mind to anything that may be strange or out of place and allows him or her to detect its presence within the party's immediate area. The Detect Secret eye will "blink" when the caster detects something. Duration and success of the spell are relative to the spell's power level.
Identify
Cost: 8
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: 1 Creature or Item
Attempts to reveal the true name of a creature or an item. Success depends on the power of the creature or the cloak of the item relative to the power level of the spell.
Confusion
Cost: 6
Caster: ALC, PSI
Affects: 1 Group
A blast of mental energy that attempts to scramble the creatures' thinking causing them to run away, attack themselves, cower in fear, whip up a batch of fondue or otherwise act crazy.
Watchbells
Cost: 5
Caster: MAG, PSI
Affects: Party
A psychic bell cast in an attempt to wake other party members if they are asleep or unconscious when attacked by creatures. Success depends on the length of time the party has slept, how tired the party members are and 'bow solidly they sleep.
Hold Monsters
Cost: 6
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: 3 Creatures plus power level
Attempts to confuse the creatures into believing they are paralyzed. Success depends on the power of the creature relative to the power level of the spell.
Mindread
Cost: 8
Caster: PSI
Affects: Caster
Attempts to discern what's on an NPC's mind. Success depends on the intelligence of the NPC relative to the spell's power level.
Sane Mind
Cost: 10
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: 1 Character
Attempts to restore sanity to an insane character. Success depends on how nuts the character is versus the spell's strength.
Psionic Blast
Cost: 8
Caster: PSI
Affects: 3 Creatures plus power level
An extreme and powerful jolt of mental energy that scrambles the creatures brains and causes 1-7 hit points of mental damage per power level and may cause insanity.
Illusion
Cost: 10
Caster: PSI
Affects: Party
Attempts to conjure an illusion of a being so real that it can attack creatures and can be attacked back! The creatures' amount and powers depend on the spell's power level.
Wizard's Eye
Cost: 10
Caster: MAG, PSI
Affects: Caster
Allows the caster to see the surrounding area from an overhead view. The size and detail of the area seen depends on the power level of the spell.
Spooks
Cost: 7
Caster: MAG, PSI
Affects: All Creatures
Conjures an illusion that is so terrifying it may scare creatures away, causing them to cower in fear or otherwise reducing their capacity to fight well.
Death
Cost: 10
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: 1 Creature
Attempts to kill a creature outright. Success depends on the creature's power relative to the spell's power.
Locate Object
Cost: 8
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: Caster
Allows the caster to magically determine the location of certain buried or hidden items. Success depends on the item's location relative to the caster, how well the item in question is hidden, and the spell's power level.
Mind Flay
Cost: 18
Caster: PSI
Affects: All Creatures
A concentrated tide of mental energy that conjures every fear and devastates the creatures doing 4-16 points damage per power level plus potential insanity.
Find Person
Cost: 16
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: Caster
Tries to locate someone you're looking for, and may reveal all parties within a certain range. Success depends on the spell's power level versus to the location and stealth of the one sought.
Divine Spells

Heal Wounds
Cost: 4
Caster: PRI, ALC, PSI
Affects: 1 Character
Heals 1-8 hh points per power level. It will not cure lesser conditions, such as blindness, or resurrect dead characters.
Make Wounds
Cost: 3
Caster: PRI
Affects: 1 Creature
Invokes divine powers to cause bodily harm and inflicts 1-8 hit points of damage per power level.
Magic Missile
Cost: 4
Caster: MAG
Affects: 1 Creature plus power level
Small, but powerful missiles of magical energy hurled at an opponent doing 1-7 hit points of magic damage per power level.
Dispell Undead
Cost: 7
Caster: PRI
Affects: 1 Creature plus power level
Attempts to dispell an animated and undead creature. The success depends on the creature's power relative to the spell's power level.
Enchanted Blade
Cost: 4
Caster: PRI
Affects: Party
Magically enhances members' weapons and increases the likelihood of a successful hit on a creature. It also increases the chance a hit will penetrate the creature's armor. The duration and power the relative to the spell's power level.
Blink
Cost: 7
Caster: MAG, PSI
Affects: Caster
Allows the caster to disappear for a brief time during combat blinking out and in sometime during each round. He or she will always reappear to execute normal combat options. The duration of the effect is relative to the spell's power level.
Magic Screen
Cost: 8
Caster: MAG
Affects: Party
Creates a magical barrier that attempts to protect the party from all spells cast at them. The strength of the barrier is relative to the power of the creatures' spells and the level of the screen.
Conjuration
Cost: 10
Caster: MAG, PRI
Affects: Party
Summons creatures from the ethereal planes to fight for the party. The power and number of creatures summoned is relative to the power level of the spell.
Anti-Magic
Cost: 7
Caster: MAG
Affects: 1 Group
Forms a magical barrier around the creatures that may cause their spells to fizzle out or backfire. The barrier' s strength is relative to the power level of the spells cast and the power level of the And-Magic screen.
Remove Curse
Cost: 4
Caster: PRI
Affects: 1 Person
Attempts to lift any magically cursed and stuck items from a character. Success depends on the strength of the curse relative to the strength of the spell.
Healfull
Cost: 12
Caster: PRI
Affects: party
A super-charged healing spell that attempts to restore hit points and health to all members of the party. The amount of hit points restored is relative to the spell 's power level.
Lifesteal
Cost: 12
Caster: PRI, PSI
Affects: 1 Creature and Caster
Removes virtually all lifeforce from a creature and attempts to channel some of it back into the caster to heal him or her. Does 4-16 points magic damage per power level multiplied by the power level of the spell.
Astral Gate
Cost: 8
Caster: MAG, PRI
Affects: 1 Creature per power level
Attempts to banish a demon-type creature from this world. Success depends on the power of the creature relative to the power of the spell.
Zap Undead
Cost: 15
Caster: MAG
Affects: 1 Creature
A tirade of magical power that tries to destroy one creature of the undead variety with up to 1000 points of damage.
Recharge
Cost: 15
Caster: MAG, PRI
Affect: Item
Attempts to restore a magically enchanted item's charges. The hem must be in the castor' s possession, and must have at least one charge left to duplicate. There is a chance the item could be destroyed. Success depends on the item's complexity relative to the spell's power level.
Word of Death
Cost: 18
Caster: PRI
Affects: All Creatures
A divine word cast so powerfully it smashes the creatures with 4-16 points of magical damage per power level.
Resurrection
Cost: 20
Caster: MAG, PRI, PSI
Affects: 1 Character
Tries to revive a dead character. Success depends on the character's lifeforce relative to the spell's power level.
Death Wish
Cost: 20
Caster: PRI
Affects: All Creatures
Attempts to kill all creatures outright through sheer magical force. Success depends on the power of the creatures relative to the power level of the spell.
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

BAH! I need to make my own offline spreadsheet.

 

[samuraigaiden]

Arthandas

This is a great thread.

1000 cycles is still too fast. In order to actually read the messages that pop up after combat, I remember going lower.

 

[Arthandas]

1000 cycles is still too fast. In order to actually read the messages that pop up after combat,

Not true, there's plenty of time, also the games have in-game message speed option accessible with T while in the Maze.

 

[samuraigaiden]

I'm actually going to reinstall it just to check it, but I'm fairly certain the ideal number is closer to 500.

Another thing. These games, like almost all DOS games, were designed to be viewed on 4:3 monitors with stretched pixels. That is the intended look, not pixel perfect.

 

[Arthandas]

I'm actually going to reinstall it just to check it, but I'm fairly certain the ideal number is closer to 500.

Well, I'm playing it right now and the messages stay fairly long even with 1000.

Another thing. These games, like almost all DOS games, were designed to be viewed on 4:3 monitors with stretched pixels. That is the intended look, not pixel perfect.

No, they were meant to be played on crt monitors (which indeed were 4:3) and those don't display pixels.
When you view old crt/arcade games on modern monitors you always get imperfect look, it's either perfect aspect ratio with uneven pixels (and scaling artifacts) or pixel perfect image with "stretched" proportions, both are technically inaccurate and I prefer pixel perfect. No ones stopping you from enabling aspect correction.

 

[mondoar]

If you are a purist, the best way to play is on an Apple II emulator and by mapping the games yourself. Honestly, having played the old Wizardry games I would describe them as "mapping puzzles with combat" rather than RPGs. Once you have the dungeon mapped out and a powerful party, you can beat the game in 5 minutes. So 95% of the game is mapping and strengthening your characters so they can take on Werdna. Half of the levels of the game are empty mazes with monsters to fight. Even if you use an automap, it takes away most of the challenge of the game.

The PC versions are bugged in that stat decreases on level up occur too often. They're only supposed to happen about 10% of the time but they end up happening about 33% of the time. The formulas as originally intended are found here: http://www.zimlab.com/wizardry/walk/w123calc.htm

But the graphics of the PC version are better and the game runs faster so it's up to you if you want to sacrifice worse stats for a better UI and graphics.

 

[samuraigaiden]

These stats increases and decreases are not that important. This blog post explains it better than I could ever attempt to.

 

[v1rus]

Is it so hard to patch the PC version and fix the bug?

I genuinely dont know, seems like an easy fix, that someone would have done by now. I'm a complete layman on the subject matter tho.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I thought it occurred an awful lot compared to the c64.

 

[mondoar]

I have no idea how to patch it. I also have no idea how often stat decreases happen on other ports, whether it's other PC ports like the C64 and the Japanese PC 88/98s, or console ports like the NES, SNES, PSX versions. Though due to the frequency that stat losses occur in the Japanese Wizardry clones, I feel like the bug wasn't fixed on the console ports.

The Apple II versions of Wizardry 1 and 2 had an older UI style with a tiny view of the dungeon in the upper left corner. Starting with Wizardry 3 on the Apple II, they came up with that newer "windows" style UI where the dungeon view is the entire screen but with UI windows laid over it. The monster graphics are improved too. Then when they ported Wizardry to other systems, they used the "windows" UI for all the games. Wizardry 3, 4 and 5 run really slow on the Apple II, or at least on an Apple II emulator. I've never played it on an actual Apple II.

 

[Arthandas]

The PC versions are bugged in that stat decreases on level up occur too often.

It's debatable whether it's intentional or not. It doesn't seem bugged to me and I don't see anything wrong with this system. You have much higher chance o raising a stat than losing it (the chance to raise a sub-18 stat is 36% +1.9% for each year under 21 and -1.5% for each year over 67)
and your characters will generally get better stats with levels. I had 3 full parties (18 characters) and not a single one of them was ever gimped by leveling up. If the chance of losing a stat was only 10% then it would be piss easy to have a party of 18/18/18/18//18/18 demigods.

These stats increases and decreases are not that important. This blog post explains it better than I could ever attempt to.

Many things are different in the PC version, for example, characters start a lot younger (as young as 14), you get 5-9 bonus points instead of 7-10, the chance of stat dropping from 18 to 17 is much lower, some calculations are different...