Desperately need help with old Wizardry 7

[Heath Halverson]

I just picked up the Memorex Wiz 7 / Psychotron CD bundle for $10, but I am
having some big problems.

I found the map, but I can't figure out how to use it. Please don't say
press the button that looks like an open book. Every time I press that, I
get a dump to dos, with an "Insufficient Memory or Virtual Cache" message.
Same thing happens when I press the 'm' button.

The disk came with NO technical information whatsoever, except that it
tells me I need 588K of conventional memory (I have 612k with Dos 6.22)

Other problems:

(1) I don't understand character generation. I wanted a ninja or a samari
in my party, but I couldn't find a race that gave me that option.

(2) How do I figure out what all these things I pick up do? I keep raising
my characters 'artifacts' skill, but it isn't helping.

(3) How do I disarm chests? The only help file that came with the CD is
just a text file. When explaining how to disarm chests, it refers me to a
picture in the manual (which of course doesn't exist in the text file.)

(4) What are the most important keyboard shortcuts? I've found a few, but
not very many. (The help me file doesn't mention these at all.)

(5) Did I start with a decent party? I have:
Rawulf lord
elf mage
dwarf priest
Terry, the alchemist Farie
Dracon ranger
Hobbit bard

You can probably tell I have never played a game this complex before, and I
feel really lost.
Any help anyone can give would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Heath Halverson

[Karl Krieger]

heath...@usa.pipeline.com(Heath Halverson) writes:

>I just picked up the Memorex Wiz 7 / Psychotron CD bundle for $10, but I am
>having some big problems.

Hi, I hope I can give you some tips but you should keep in mind
that they are based on the german version of Wiz7 (the DOS version),
which came as a bundle of Wiz6 and Wiz7 on one CD.

>I found the map, but I can't figure out how to use it. Please don't say
>press the button that looks like an open book. Every time I press that, I
>get a dump to dos, with an "Insufficient Memory or Virtual Cache" message.
>Same thing happens when I press the 'm' button.
>
>The disk came with NO technical information whatsoever, except that it
>tells me I need 588K of conventional memory (I have 612k with Dos 6.22)

If you start the game, there should be a menue "Options" ore something.
There you can select among other things the memory configuration you
want to use. In my version it's either "Conventional DOS memory only",
"EMS" and "RAM drive". Both EMS and RAM drive worked for me. Of
course you need to invoke this ancient stuff in your config.sys before.

>
>Other problems:
>
>(1) I don't understand character generation. I wanted a ninja or a samari
>in my party, but I couldn't find a race that gave me that option.

Keep rolling new characters until you have enough bonus points to
allow creation of these high level classes. If you know D&D or AD&D
(the pencil and paper role playing games) you shouldn't have a problem
to understand what's going on.

>(2) How do I figure out what all these things I pick up do? I keep raising
>my characters 'artifacts' skill, but it isn't helping.

That's because your characters are clueless newbies at the beginning
of the game. If one of your magic users gets the option to aquire
the "Identify" spell, let him learn it and you problem is solved...

>(3) How do I disarm chests? The only help file that came with the CD is
>just a text file. When explaining how to disarm chests, it refers me to a
>picture in the manual (which of course doesn't exist in the text file.)

Uh, this is difficult to explain but anyway:

If you disarm a chest the respective menue shows you a "hint" field on
the left. There is also a field, which changes color from red to yellow
to green continously. The amount of green vs. red depends on your
character's lockpicking ability. Now press the "Disarm" or "Investigate"
or "whatever it's called in the English version" button. If the coloured
field was red in that moment, the trap will blow up and some of your
party will bite the dust (you have saved before haven't you?).
Otherwise the hints field will show a pattern like below:

- ? ? *
? ? - -

Interpretation: ? means your character has no clue if the corresponding
key (see "key buttons" at right) is part of the trap mechanism. - means
that he is sure that this key does not belong to the trap. * means he IS
sure that this is part of the trap.

No browse through the scrolling list of possible traps on the right.
For every trap there is a corresponding number pattern in the
hint field at the left. Examples:

1 2 - - or - 2 - 1
3 - - - - - - -

By comparing the possible patterns to the pattern your character found
by investigating the trap, you can try to find the right combination.
In the example above, the left pattern does not agree with the result
of the trap investigation, while the right pattern might be right. If
you think you have ruled out (right expression?) all wrong
combinations, try to press the key buttons in the order given by the
numbers. If your character was right, the trap will disarm and you can
loot the chest.

Don't blame me if there are mistakes in that description. I recalled
all that stuff from my mind because I am at work...

>
>(4) What are the most important keyboard shortcuts? I've found a few, but
>not very many. (The help me file doesn't mention these at all.)

I am using the arrow keys and the , and . key for movement. The rest
can be done using the mouse.

>You can probably tell I have never played a game this complex before, and I
>feel really lost.

I have just started like you. What can I say? It's part of the gaming
experience I guess ;-)

I am just walking around in New City and would like to free a prisoner
because I think he can give me critical infos. However the guards shred
my party to pieces. I think I have to beat up some more wandering
monsters to gain experience.

>Any help anyone can give would be appreciated!

You're welcome.

Karl

[hay...@halcyon.com]

In Article<pchafvr...@uabs11i1c12.ericsson.se>,
> >>>>> "HH" == Heath Halverson <heath...@usa.pipeline.com> writes:
>
> HH> I just picked up the Memorex Wiz 7 / Psychotron CD bundle for $10,
but I am
> HH> having some big problems.
>
> HH> I found the map, but I can't figure out how to use it. Please
don't say
> HH> press the button that looks like an open book. Every time I press
that, I
> HH> get a dump to dos, with an "Insufficient Memory or Virtual Cache"
message.
> HH> Same thing happens when I press the 'm' button.

This sounds like a system problem. I would suggest checking the Sir-Tech
website. I don't know what you've got for configuration. I.e., what dos
version, are you running in dos or windows? are you using smartdrv?
Dont know if this game uses smartdrv. Test it without it. Or maybe you
need to add switches to smartdrv. How much RAM do you have? Are you
using emm386 or something else? Are you loading dos high? Are you
running from your cdrom or did you install the game to a hard drive?
Maybe you need some switches on you mscdexe driver for the cdrom. Did
you get Wizgold or just Wiz7?

Sorry for all the questions I gave back to you. You can email me with
what you have in autoexec.bat and config.sys and the answers to the above
questions if you want to.

Good luck,

Hayway
>
> Well the (only ?) way to do it is to select the "use" button and then
> select the character with the map and finally the map ... I don't know
> about any other way. So my first advice for you is to fix the problem
> that you are experiencing with the game.
>
> HH> The disk came with NO technical information whatsoever, except
that it
> HH> tells me I need 588K of conventional memory (I have 612k with Dos
6.22)
>
> Well, that is the hasard of buying a cheap game, but it still sucks. I
> think I heard something about people getting a quick reference card
> from Sir-Tech but I'm not to sure.
>
> HH> Other problems:
>
> HH> (1) I don't understand character generation. I wanted a ninja or
a samari
> HH> in my party, but I couldn't find a race that gave me that option.
>
> When you create a character the computer rolls dices for you (as if
> you where creating charcters in AD&D) and those profession needs very
> high scores. So the way to do it is to try, try, try and try again
> until you get a score high enough but that can time a long time. So
> first make up your mind on what race/sex/profession you want you
> character to have and the do it ;->
>
> Another way to get a ninja if you can't get it (don't have the time to
> waste on the creation process) is to spread out the scores equally on
> all stats (like strength, int. etc.) and then when you have made it a
> couple of levels you might be able to change profession to ninja with
him.
>
> HH> (2) How do I figure out what all these things I pick up do? I
keep raising
> HH> my characters 'artifacts' skill, but it isn't helping.
>
> The spell "identify" can be quite good at that.
>
> HH> (3) How do I disarm chests? The only help file that came with the
CD is
> HH> just a text file. When explaining how to disarm chests, it refers
me to a
> HH> picture in the manual (which of course doesn't exist in the text
file.)
>
> When your thief tries to disarm a chest you'll see some letters, hmm
> damn, sorry but Im having some trouble to remember exactly how it was
> done but that basic concept is that your thief will give you some
> letters that are in the spell for the trap and also I think some that
> might be in the spell. Your job is to figure out what spell the chest
> was trapped with and select the right one from a list. This is very
> hard at the beginning when your thief hasn't got much experience in
> the area.
>
> HH> (4) What are the most important keyboard shortcuts? I've found a
few, but
> HH> not very many. (The help me file doesn't mention these at all.)
>
> Don't know, newer used them.
>
> HH> (5) Did I start with a decent party? I have:
> HH> Rawulf lord
> HH> elf mage
> HH> dwarf priest
> HH> Terry, the alchemist Farie
> HH> Dracon ranger
> HH> Hobbit bard
>
> Well, everybody has his favourites. The bard can be good at the start
> but I'm not a big fan of bards. In my opinion to magi are enough and I
> would start them of as mage and priest (so drop the alchemist) My
> favorite starting perty is combined of (fighting order):
>
> Fighter
> Samurai
> Ninja
> Monk
> Priest
> Mage
>
> I don't really bother that much with races but usually perfer humans
> for some reason.
>
> HH> You can probably tell I have never played a game this complex
before, and I
> HH> feel really lost.
> HH> Any help anyone can give would be appreciated!
>
> Well, the complexity is what we love about this game.
>
> /Anders
>
> Anders Johansson E-Mail: Anders.J...@uab.ericsson.se
> Ericsson Utvecklings AB or joha...@elixir.e.kth.se
> AXE Research and Development URL: www2.e.kth.se/~johansso/www/
>
> Maintainer of the Wiz 7 FAQ,
http://www2.e.kth.se/~johansso/www/wiz7.html
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

[Michel Berczeller]

heath...@usa.pipeline.com(Heath Halverson) wrote:

>Other problems:

Hi , lets explain everything

>
>(1) I don't understand character generation. I wanted a ninja or a samari

>in my party, but I couldn't find a race that gave me that option.
>

When you create characters you get bonuses , average 10 , you have to keep creating until you get at least 13-18 bonus
points , then you can choose a samurai , ninja , etc .

>(2) How do I figure out what all these things I pick up do? I keep raising

>my characters 'artifacts' skill, but it isn't helping.

You have to ASSAY things ( you need high artifacts value ) , or the IDENTIFY spell

> >(3) How do I disarm chests? The only help file that came with the CD is

>just a text file. When explaining how to disarm chests, it refers me to a

>picture in the manual (which of course doesn't exist in the text file.)

You need skulduggery , and also some luck . The most important is the little box that keeps changing colors (
green-yellow-red) if you press any button when it is red you trigger the trap . So you have to inspect , it would give
you some "-" , " * " or ? . If it is a * there is a trap in that place , - means no trap , and ? you don't know . Then
you have to see what trap matches that and try to disarm .

>
>(4) What are the most important keyboard shortcuts? I've found a few, but

>not very many. (The help me file doesn't mention these at all.)
>

r=rest
s=search

>(5) Did I start with a decent party? I have:

> Rawulf lord
> elf mage
> dwarf priest
> Terry, the alchemist Farie
> Dracon ranger
> Hobbit bard

Yes , and you can change them when you want if you have the stats .

>
>You can probably tell I have never played a game this complex before, and I

>feel really lost.

>Any help anyone can give would be appreciated!
>

>Thanks,
>Heath Halverson

Well , thats all , i think you'll need the FAQ , any questions , or something about wiz 7/wiz gold just e-mail me .
Michel Berczeller
mic...@iactiva.cl