Fresh Fish 8/FreshFishVol8-CD1.bin/useful/reviews/software/games/warwizard

Internet Message Format | 1994-10-24 | 22KB

Path: news.uh.edu!barrett
From: [e-mail] (Eyal Teler)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews
Subject: REVIEW: War Wizard v1.03, shareware version
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.games
Date: 24 Oct 1994 23:06:45 GMT
Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett
Lines: 458
Sender: [e-mail] (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator)
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <38hem5$[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Eyal Teler)
NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu
Keywords: game, dungeon, adventure, role-playing, shareware
Originator: [e-mail]


PRODUCT NAME

    War Wizard v1.03, shareware version

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

    A role-playing game played from an overhead view.


AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

    The shareware version available on Aminet in the game/role directory.
This is in the form of three archives - two contain the game, and one
contains the necessary fonts.

    The full version is available from:

    Name:        Brad McQuaid, Microgenesis Inc.
    Address:    1268 Clarence Drive
            Vista, CA 92084
            USA

    Telephone:    [phone] - Steve Clover's help line
            [phone] - order line

        [MODERATOR'S NOTE:  The "800" number is the only order
        line.  I called and asked.  People outside North America
        will have to use some other method to place orders.  - Dan]

    E-mail:        [e-mail]


LIST PRICE

    Shareware: $20 (US).
    Registration using VISA, MasterCard or Discover is possible.


SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

    HARDWARE

        Minimum configuration is 68000 CPU, 512K Chip RAM, 512K Fast
        RAM.  This will work, but according to the README file, it
        will be intolerable.

        Recommended configuration includes a faster processor (not
        necessary, but could help in some of the more cumbersome
        parts of the game interface), more than 1MB RAM (the game
        uses about 800K RAM when running), and a hard drive (this
        is a "must" because the game has constant disk accesses).

        According to the game's README_FIRST file, the game has been
        tested on the following machines:

            A2000, 512K Chip RAM, 512K Fast RAM, AmigaDOS 1.3
            A3000, 2MB Chip RAM, 4MB Fast RAM, AmigaDOS 2.0
            A4000, AmigaDOS 3.0

    SOFTWARE

        Tested under AmigaDOS 1.3, 2.0, and 3.0.


COPY PROTECTION

    None.


MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

    Amiga 500, 1MB Chip RAM, 2MB Fast RAM
    Fujitsu 100MB SCSI drive in A590
    Commodore 1084 monitor
    Kickstart 1.2, Workbench 1.3, ARP, DMouse


INSTALLATION

    Initial installation is done by unpacking the two archives into the
directory of your choice.  The installation instructions are near the end of
the README_FIRST file.  The table of contents in the Manual file wrongly
claims that these instructions appear in the GETTING STARTED part of the
manual.

    One needs to install the game fonts (from the third archive) in the
'Fonts:' directory.  'iff.library' is also needed and is supplied with the
game.  The assigns mentioned in the installation instructions are
unnecessary, although they might be of use when playing from floppy disk.

    In general, I would rate the installation process as reasonable for
anyone who's computer literate.  The misleading manuals, however, prove to be
a hindrance.


REVIEW

    Note:  the product reviewed is the shareware version of the game.
This is similar to the full version (available upon registration), but its
map is limited, and therefore some quests (including the final one) are
missing.  Apart from this, the two versions are the same.

    War Wizard is a role-playing game involving exploration, magic,
fights and character development. You start with one character but can (and
should) recruit three more to aid you in your cause.  The story is something
along the lines of finding several artifacts in order to defeat the evil
lord.  I admit that I did not read the blurb - it's the same old story, and
it's not all that relevant to playing the game (or so it seems).  It may be
more relevant when playing the full game.

    Your party can engage in several activities.  You'll mainly travel
the land, going from city to city. These "cities" include towns, fortresses,
and also dungeons, amongst others.  In the dungeons you'll find the
artifacts you've been sent after; in other cities you'll be able to find
shops, inns, and other houses where you'll be able to find useful objects,
by searching chests, and also find some information by talking to people.

    Shops are the places where you can get weapons, armour pieces,
magical item, potions, lock picks, and more.  You can also sell things.
You'll usually get less than half the price you'd pay for a similar item, but
if you have a few useless short swords +3 you earned during combat, you can
make quite a lot of money by selling them.

    Inns are perhaps the most important place in any city, as there are
some things you can do only in an inn.  Most important is the ability to
memorize spells.  Since you can remember only 5 spells at any time, hanging
close to a place with an inn is a good thing to do if you plan on having a
lot of fights.  Inns also allow you to camp without being disturbed.  This
is important, as lack of sleep will cause your party members to fall asleep
at inopportune moments.  Sleeping party members are useless in combat, and
once all your party members fall asleep, you won't be able to move.

    During your travels, both inside and outside cities, you'll have
fights.  This can happen for several different reasons, the most common of
which is perhaps random encounters.  These depend on several factors, such as
the area you're in and the time of day.  You can run away from fights (if
your enemies are not quick enough to close in on you), which is a useful
thing to do in random encounters.  There are also preset encounters.  These
appear on the city map, in a similar way to other characters, but you'll be
attacked when you arrive at that map square.  Lastly, you can attack people
yourself - those which appear on the city map, as well as those you
encounter randomly on your way.  Note that attacking a person inside a city
will make you an outlaw in that city and subject to attacks from the city
guard.

    Combat is the only time you'll see your party characters
separately.  Each character has a set number of movement points that can be
used for movement, weapon attacks, and spell casting.  In each combat turn,
each of your characters will attack (or do some other activity) in turn, and
between your character's turns, your enemies will attack you.  When attacking
with a weapon, you are able to choose the body part you'll hit.  Hitting the
legs, for example, will eventually cause your enemy to be unable to move;
hitting the arms will make it unable to use a weapon.  Another reason to
choose a specific body part is that the armour, which is made of several
different parts, may protect some body parts better than others.

    After you have won a fight (otherwise the game is over), you'll be
able to search the bodies of your victims.  There you'll find money, food,
and some valuables in the form of weapons and armour pieces.  This is
perhaps the best way to acquire these valuables and can be an incentive to
enter fights deliberately with people that you know have high quality armour
and weapons (although they'll be difficult to beat, for this reason).

    In terms of what you carry, the game is quite complex. Each part of
your (character's) body can (and should) be covered by a different piece of
armour - from boots on your legs, through the armour on your torso and the
collar on your neck, and up to the helmet on your head. Each hand can hold a
different weapon, and you can put magical rings on your fingers to be used
during battle.  In addition, you have a backpack that can store up to ten
items.  There's also a limit to the weight you can carry.

    All of the above are available on the backup screen, accessible from
the status screen.  From there, you can also access the spell screen where
you can memorize spells from your spellbook and scribe scrolls which are in
your backpack.  Scrolls are found in magic shops and in some chests.

    There's more to say about this highly detailed game, but you'll just
have to