Wizardry 8

Wizardry 8

Developers
	Sir-Tech Canada
Publishers
Retail (North America)	Sir-Tech Canada
Retail (Europe)	Crucial Entertainment
Retail (Japan)	Locus Company
Retail (Russia)	Buka Entertainment
Retail (North America) re-release	Encore
Digital (2013-2022)	Gamepot
Digital (2013-present)	Nightdive Studios
Digital (2022-present)	Drecom Co.
Engines
	SurRender 3D
Release dates
Windows	November 15, 2001
macOS (OS X)	November 15, 2013
Reception
Metacritic	85
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Continuous turn-based, Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control, Point and select
Genres	Adventure, ARPG, RPG
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Wizardry

Wizardry 8 is a singleplayer first-person adventure, ARPG and RPG game in the Wizardry series.

General information

Characters can be imported from Wizardry: Crusaders of the Dark Savant or Wizardry Gold (see Import characters).

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

PostCount.Net Wizardry Series forum

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc DRM.
GamersGate
GOG.com		Pre-packaged with nGlide.
Green Man Gaming
Steam		Pre-packaged with nGlide.

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

The OS X release is Wine-based.^{[citation needed]}

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch 1.2.4 fixes issues with the retail version. Retail versions that state version 1.2.4 on the CDs do not need this patch. Digital distribution versions are already fully patched.

For the Polish version, use the Ascension Peak patch.

Fix for blurred text

Enable setting in the game's options[citation needed]
Go to Options → Video. Enable "Correct for Blurred Text". Text and 2D elements will now be sharper.

Low framerate fix for Windows 8 and later

Use the Wizardry 8 low frame rate fix

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename intro file[citation needed]
Go to <path-to-game>\Data\Flics\Intro. Delete or rename sirtech.BIK.

Skip 3dfx logo

The 3dfx logo is shown when starting the game with the Glide renderer as a default nGlide setting.

Disable the "3dfx logo splash screen" setting in the nGlide configurator.

Running in 32-bit color

The Glide renderer (the default for digital distribution versions) runs in 16-bit color; 32-bit color is noticeably more detailed.

Use DirectX7 mode[citation needed]
Use DirectX7 mode (see Widescreen resolution).

Adjust combat speed

Wizardry 8's default combat speed is quite slow; Wiz8Fast can be used to increase it.

Use Wiz8Fast
Download Wiz8Fast (Alternative link). Extract it into <path-to-game>. Run it and choose a speed. Test and adjust as needed (the game needs to be exited before readjusting).

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\*.CFG
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/245450/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Saves
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/245450/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Import characters

Characters can be imported from Wizardry: Crusaders of the Dark Savant (*.DBS) or Wizardry Gold (*.SGM) saves.

Wizardry: Bane of the Cosmic Forge saves share the *.DBS extension but cannot be imported directly; import them into the sequel, then import that into Wizardry 8.

Import saves[citation needed]
Copy the saves (*.DBS or *.SGM) into <path-to-game>\Saves\Import. Start a new game and click the 7→8 button. Choose the desired save file to import from. Some aspects vary depending on the content of the save that was imported; see the manual for details.

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		Use Ctrl+F12 or /window parameter (must be using 32-bit color).
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Set in Options, Video Sync.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		For Windows 8 and later use the low frame rate fix. No frame rate cap.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Widescreen resolution

Widescreen resolutions stretch from 4:3; this mod makes gameplay Hor+ for 16:9 and 16:10 resolutions.

The HUD, menus and all other 2D elements still stretch from 4:3.

Use Extender

Download the Wizardry 8 Extender for Widescreen Support. Extract srVP_Wiz8Extender.dll into <path-to-game>\Dll. Go to <path-to-game>. Edit 3DVideo.CFG with a text editor. Change the first line to DirectX7 (try DirectX6 if that does not work) Change the second and third lines to the width and height of the desired resolution. Change the fourth line to 32 Save the changes. The game will now be Hor+ for 16:9 and 16:10 resolutions.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Toggle Mouse Smoothing setting in Options, General, page 2 / 3.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Set in Options, General, page 2 / 3.
Controller
Controller support

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, Sound Effects, Footsteps and Speech.
Surround sound
Subtitles		Spoken dialogue is subtitled by default.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		Set in 3DSetup.exe.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French				Fan translation, download here. Alternate link.
German				Fan translation, download here.
Japanese				Local retail version only.
Japanese				Unknown if taken from the Japanese retail version of the game or retranslated from English into Japanese, download
Polish				Local retail version only.
Russian				Local retail version only.

Issues fixed

Game does not launch (GOG.com)

Try this fix for the GOG.com version if the game does not start after installing normally.

Use wiz8 fix[citation needed]
Download wiz8 fix. Run it and choose Yes to confirm patching.

Setup tool only lists 640x480 and 800x600 resolutions

See Widescreen resolution.

Lines visible in-game

The OpenGL and Software (MMX) renderers have visual problems on modern systems; see Widescreen resolution.

Unable to move

Press Alt again
Play in DirectX 6 mode.

Unable to move (after using Alt+Tab ↹)

Using Alt+Tab ↹ will make the game act like Alt is held down, preventing movement.

Press Alt again to restore movement.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	6, 7
DirectDraw	6, 7
OpenGL	1.0
Glide	2.4
Software renderer

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System	Version 6.0m
Cutscenes	Bink Video	Version 1.0q

Modifications

The Cosmic Forge Modder allows editing and modding of the game.

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	95, 98, 2000
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium MMX 233 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	1.2 GB
Video card (GPU)	8 MB of VRAM DirectX 6 compatible