Game balance remains good, as it always has been in this series, though the skills can create some problems: pickpocketing seems far too easy, and since skill points increase with use, a thief can max out this skill by repeatedly working an easy mark early in the game. Wizardry 8 slowly pulls together the threads of many different missions. Wizardry 8 download is another installment in the legendary series of RPGs. This time around we go to a mysterious planet of Dominus, home to Cosmic Lords and the place where a powerful artifact, Astral Dominae, was created. In the game we create a party of six, choosing from 11 races and 15 professions. Wizardry 8 raises the standard for fantasy role-playing with a vengeance. Prepare yourself for a new level of excitement, immersiveness and depth that made role-playing games one of the best-selling, best-loved genres of all time. Prepare to experience the culmination of a prestigious RPG series. Enter a vast world of intrigue and wonder. I have played the Wizardry series for many years, from Wizardry 1 through to the trilogy of Wizardry 6, 7 and 8. The game play of Wiz 8 was great, and I played it through many times before, but the mod that I have installed from your site, and efforts, has introduced another level of play and excitement that has renewed the game for me. FREE GOG PC GAMES PRESENTS. Wizardry 8 (c) Sir-Tech Software / Gamepot Inc. The universe is in the throes of violent upheaval and change. Vast and mysterious forces are preparing for the final confrontation.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
DOS - 1984
Also available on: Mac - Commodore 64 - Apple II - PC-88
Description of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is the first Wizardry scenario and is designed to introduce you to Wizardry, give you practice playing, and allow you to 'build' characters up to 7th level or so.
The evil wizard Werdna has stolen a valuable item from the treasure rooms of the mad overlord Trebor. He has placed it somewhere deep in the dungeons of Trebor's castle, and left fearsome monsters there to guard it. Your mission isto develop characters powerful enough to explore the deeper levels of the dungeon and recover the item.
It is rumored that a 'control center' exists somewhere in the dungeon, and that this control center allows explorers easy access to the deeper levels of the dungeon where the item may be found. Thus a logical first step would be to find this facility.
Useful fan site with additional extras: http://www.wizardryarchives.com/ (thanks James).
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord has an addon available: Wizardry: Knight of Diamonds - The Second Scenario, don't miss it!
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Screenshots from MobyGames.com / Platform: Apple II
Screenshots from MobyGames.com
Screenshots from MobyGames.com
Comments and reviews
Henry2019-09-110 point DOS version
Originally, you could view the save files. The stats / equipment were stored as hexadecimal. That is when I learned hex as a child.
kimphoto2019-03-160 point
I've played this on an IBM 8086 back in the early 80's. It used 5-1/4 floppies. the main disc (loader) had a thing called BOOTSTRAP that prevented making copies. you started the PC with the loader disc, then inserted a blank (play disc) to load the maps and characters. the cheat on this game was you made multiple play discs and transferred characters to 'trade' to the other disc (called storage) and you can duplicate the elite armor to all your main disc warriors. AND agreed, drawing the MAP on graph paper was fun. I did hate lever 8 when you had those spin traps.
glenn2017-08-171 point Apple II version
I played this game so much it broke the K key on my Apple.
I also remember the bug that gave a bishop some insane amount of gold for inspecting item #9. I remember it had to be an item the bishop couldn't normally equip.
mrjthecannibal2017-08-010 point
Doesn't mention the snes/famicom version which are by far the best looking. You can play them directly here :http://www.nintendoemulator.com/snes/1770. May need to go to options and change some things like the language.
old man by the bay2017-07-16-13 points
will this run on a win 10 new hp machine?
brun_games2017-03-101 point Apple II version
I recall a bug in this game where you could generate a bishop character, then 'I' item #9 and it would give you a giant (like 1.6E+10 or something) number of XP points which you could use to level up and then switch to the character class you wanted. It didn't work every time but eventually it would hit. My first buffer overflow, to be sure.
CP2017-03-010 point Mac version
Cerry, Ditto! Probably played around the same time you did. Sophomore year in college I believe. Don't know what I payed for it. In the early Apple ][ days we pirated almost everything, but I do recall actually buying this game and paying real money. Not even sure how I learned about it.
I just started again playing the Mac version I bought in the early '93. It's so much nicer to play than the old Apple ][ (or DOS) version. Very nice interface for the time. Separate window for each character. Easy mouse clicks to make things happens. Reasonable keyboard shortcuts.
I never did play any of the other Wizardry scenarios. If they were available on the Mac I might give them a try. I just took a stab at DOSBox for Wizardry I. God no, I can't be tortured with that kind of interface again. I can't see playing any of the other Wizardry scenarios in that environment.
Cerry2016-11-263 points
I played this on an Apple ][ when it was the only platform available (seriously) and it cost almost 100 bucks for the game, in 1984 money. I remember when I finally tossed the floppys. No one made anything that would play a true Apple ][ disk anymore.
We drew our maps by hand on graph paper and you know what people, that was freaking half the fun.
I am so tempted, but so lazy at my old age.
Peet2016-10-282 points DOS version
It's great to see this game available now. It runs fine on my machine. I noticed though that there are characters already loaded in the install, and three of them ('EMAN,' 'STEP,' and 'ZOT') are password protected, so they cannot be deleted. Anyone here know the password for these guys, or a way to erase them without the password?
Ghost Sdoj2016-09-171 point
Mikey, you said only 11 people speak binary code; you and the other guy....
Wouldn't that be 10?
(Or were you also including me, simply because I know how to count to 31 on the fingers of one hand?)
Anyway, Save Early, Save Often, and Have Patience.
krashd2016-09-060 point DOS version
Not sure if you'll receive this, JSBS1997, but I don't know how to reply to people with this weird commenting system.
DOS games are far too old to run on a modern PC so you have to emulate a PC from 1980-1995, most folks use DOSBox. It's free and you can google how to set it up, it takes a little tinkering but once up and running your PC will now have access to a million games from the olden days when cars ran on steam and games ran on large disks that took 4 men to carry.
jsbs19972016-07-22-5 points DOS version
I would like to play Wizardry I Proving Grounds game. Tried to run the online game and it requires creating a game disk. I loaded a dvd and it won't recognized the disc. I know this game ran on a floopy disc, so could that be the reason since I'm on a a windows 7 system. Do I have to open dos and run it? Thanks, Jesse ps: I also down loaded the game and it won't boot up too.
DRUNKEN BEADY EYES2016-01-140 point
yep,i agree.get the super nes or playstation versions,as those have an automap and NO BUGS.
ABANDON the pc version .LO
WIZARDYFAN2016-01-140 point
there is nothing wrong with wizardy or my abandonware,im just saying GET THE SUPER NES OR PLAYSTATION VERSION. all you 'true' wizardy fans already know this
Kaboom2016-01-030 point Mac version
If you wanted an adventure game with cheat codes, you just needed a cracked version of Telengard. It was programmed in Basic and was easy to play with all sorts of aspects of the game.
Doc2015-10-030 point
Probably been said but those Mac screenshots aren't Mac. They're Apple II.
Kampong Boy2015-08-310 point
Spent many a day Mahalito-ing and exploring the Dungeions. Those were the days of killing everything with the Blade Cusinart and Tiltowait. Finally killing the Mad Overlord Trebor (Robert spelled backwards). Thanks for the memories.
Mikey2015-08-01-1 point DOS version
Nobody needed cheats at this time. Most kids used to build their own computers (not snap-in or plug-n-play, but real soldering) and everyone spent a lot of time creating own programmes (real line by line programming). Once you were fit in hex-editing, you could do nearly everything! But nearly nobody speaks hex fluently these days and only 11 people speak binary code, me and the other guy. ;-)
Wizardry 8 Download Full Game
KATINO2015-07-140 point DOS version
the only regret being that cheat codes didn't exist at the time. You had to work for everything.
as i remember, i saw ads of '(hacked)uber wizardry characters' for sale on 5'disks on the backs of paper based monthly computer game magazines. not much different from WoW 'toons' sold on e-bay these days. people changes, style changes, but deep inside, kids are the same
gfgfwgfjewfiwjefewf2015-04-29-1 point DOS version
this version is crap. play it on super nes emulator or later playstation version from japan from late 90's (with english translation)
jack me off2015-03-040 point DOS version
create a party of bishops identify item 9 until sucesss raise them all to 99th level
fight fight fight parry parry TILTOLWAIT!
Paddyjack2014-09-110 point DOS version
Acually, cheat codes may not have existed but I remember I hacked into the program to increase all my stats and items. It was quite easy in those days to find the pattern of the stats :)
Buzzkill2014-08-14-1 point DOS version
Who remembers the level that had a perpetually recycling room, i.e. if you went away from the stairway that brought you to this level, it kept spawning the same room through the next door - forever. I mapped it out to over thirty rooms before turning back, and it took that many times through the rooms before I got back to the stairway. It is just as well, too, since several times I got hopelessly lost on this level...
P Smith2014-06-070 point DOS version
The Wizardry and Ultima series arrived around Dungeons and Dragons' height of popularity. It may have capitalized on it, but it didn't hurt D&D, it enhanced it. It offered another way for players to experience adventure, and it brought computer gamers to D&D. I spent countless hours playing this game, the only regret being that cheat codes didn't exist at the time. You had to work for everything.
For those who don't know, 'Trebor' is Robert Woodhead, one of the two designers of Wizardry. He was later the founder of AnimEigo, one of the largest distributors of subtitled and dubbed anime.
Maelstrom2014-05-12-3 points DOS version
While exploring lvl 4 I came upon a ring, which my Bishop identified as The Ring of Death. Any idea what this ring does? It sells at Boltacs for $250K! I don't recall ever finding this item before. I'm afraid to equip it, afraid to sell it in case it's some uber item, and have no idea what to do with it.
irongut992014-05-10-1 point DOS version
MANY hours of my mis-spent youth devoted to mastering this game!
Maelstrom2014-05-100 point DOS version
First computer game I ever played and still my all time favorite.
QuadDamaged2014-01-240 point DOS version
TILTOWAIT!
confused2014-01-010 point DOS version
the escape key doesn't seem to work for creating new characters. Any ideas ?
David2013-12-210 point DOS version
One of the best turn-based series ever! Played these old ones many times! Btw the 4th title has the distinction of being ther HARDEST RPG game EVER! It was so hard that the Apple 2e is the only format it was released for originally.
Travis2013-06-230 point DOS version
Such good memories. Thanks Sir Tech and abandonware community!
Kevin2012-12-070 point DOS version
I remember my dad playing this series, and Ultima, and Autoduel... it beat playing sports!
Johnnie Zombie2012-03-130 point DOS version
This game is a classic. Brings back great memories :-)
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DOS Version
Game Extras
Various files to help you run Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, apply patchs, fixes, maps or miscellaneous utilities.
Mac Version
- Year:1985
- Publisher:Sir-tech Software, Inc.
- Developer:Sir-tech Software, Inc.
Useful fan site with additional extras: http://www.wizardryarchives.com/ (thanks James).
Game Extras
Various files to help you run Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, apply patchs, fixes, maps or miscellaneous utilities.
Wizardry 8 Download
Commodore 64 Version
- Year:1987
- Publisher:Sir-tech Software, Inc.
- Developer:Sir-tech Software, Inc.
Apple II Version
- Year:1981
- Publisher:Sir-tech Software, Inc.
- Developer:Sir-tech Software, Inc.
PC-88 Version
- Year:1985
- Publisher:ASCII Corporation
- Developer:Sir-tech Software, Inc.
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Review: Wizardry 8 Game is a computer role-playing game created by Sir-Tech in 2001. It was the conclusion of Wizardry cycle produced by from the beginning of the 1980s. The game has a rather low for projects of this period the system requirements and a substantial margin of replay value provided the number of playable races character classes as well as a large open-world game.