LAST EDITED ON Feb-25-08 AT 09:59 AM (Pacific)

I have a quick fix for the majority of text that scrolls by too fast in Wiz Gold.

To rememdy the problem requies a hex editor with a find and replace tool. I used a free one, which can be found here

The text for the messages are contained in the file MSG.gld which will be in your wizardry gold folder e.g. c:\wizgold. ***Make a backup of this file before editing***

Open MSG.gld file with a hex editor and perform a find and replace on the following strings:

find: &%]

and

replace with: &@]

This will change all '%' to '@' when inbetween '&' and ']' and there should be 1,118 changes in total!

The above characters are commands telling the game how to handle specific bits of text. Here we are changing a command that says to scroll text automatically to one requiring a mouse-click to proceed. Hence after saving the changes the game will now wait for a mouse-click to proceed with certain texts (just like how the narrator messages already work).

I have yet to test the game thoroughly after the changes so a backup may well be necessary!

There are still a few occasions where text scrolls as the code we are replacing does not catch all instances. This is due to the necessity of finding a string that is of equal size to that which it is replacing and unique in its application. To wit, replacing all %'s to @'s will cause havoc ;)

Please post with and queries or problems and I will try to help.

Good luck!

Edit: For another 52 fixes;

find: &%%]

replace with: &%@]

• RE: *Text Speed Fix* for Wizardry Gold ,sphynx, 11:16 PM, Feb-25-08
• RE: *Text Speed Fix* for Wizardry Gold ,fryet, 10:40 PM, Nov-11-09
  • Permission granted ;-),Llevram, 07:56 PM, Nov-12-09
    • RE: Permission granted ;-),fryet, 08:06 PM, Nov-13-09
      • RE: Permission granted ;-),Rodan5, 05:04 PM, Dec-13-09
        • RE: Permission granted ;-),rbrown, 04:14 PM, Jan-04-10
          • RE: Permission granted ;-),Rodan5, 08:58 PM, Jan-06-10
            • RE: Permission granted ;-),rabidamoeba, 08:04 AM, Jan-16-10

Thanks! This is great!

I was also able to follow the instructions above to make the changes, and so far it is working beautifully for me too (btw, the second edit changed 53 places not 52). I could attach the updated file to Google Docs for everyone else to download and link it here. Is that permitted?

All for anything I don't have to manage

Tools for Wizardry(r) 7

LAST EDITED ON Nov-13-09 AT 08:26 PM (Pacific)

Update: Google Docs wasn't working for me (file was getting altered) so I just signed up for Adrive.com. Let's see how this works. Use the link below to download the file MSG.GLD and copy it to your Wizardry 7 folder, overwriting your old MSG.GLD file (I recommend backing the old one up just in case).

http://www.adrive.com/public/ccbdb4832c1f7ac8da864d010aa955c889b2436d1327f2cfb4680c41e9b89f2e.html

Hey, thanks a lot for making that document. I just started playing Wizardry Gold for the first time ever, despite owning it for oh, fifteen years or so? I actually played through Bane and transported my characters into Gold, and the text was scrolling way too fast! There's still spots where it isn't quite right but on the whole this has helped a lot.
Between this, Mad God's editor, and the one patch that seems to be legit, I think I've got it tweaked to play as well as it's going to to my laptop. Now if only the automap showed walls... and does diplomacy really not matter in Gold?
Well, regardless I'm really enjoying my first-ever playthrough!

If you get your mapping skills up high enough, everything should appear on the map.

Ah ha! Thanks for that bit of info! Is mapping a skill that increases over time or only through spending points?

IIRC - Only through points, but I've never actually played through a game in GOLD. Not sure it works differently.