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"Wizardy 6/7 on newer computers"

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Conferences Wizardry(r) 1-7 Conferences Wiz 6 - Oh, don't be so Banal ;) (Public)
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Mirek (42 posts) Click to EMail Mirek Click to send private message to Mirek Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Feb-05-02, 00:08 AM (Pacific)
"Wizardy 6/7 on newer computers"
I have just recently experimented with running Wizardry games on my 1 Ghz Athlon on Abit KT7, 256 MB RAM, W98 SE and thought that perhaps somebody could be interested (just warning: I did not play any of the games for too long, usually just started and walked around for a while):

1. MOSLO
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Nice utility, unfortunately freely available version 1.32 and deluxe versions up to 2.1 do not work on such quick computers (according to Moslo website there is limit 500 - 750 MHz). I have not found any suitable freely available alternative.
So: either buy newer version of MOSLO or use MOSLOWIZ from Wizardry Archives. This works ok. It is possible that you will have to specify slowdown for MOSLOWIZ in the starting BAT file (it tries to estimate, but sometimes it slowes down too little and game fails - better to specify numer).
The same goes for Wizardry 7.
BTW: MOSLOWIZ from Wizardry Archives is a very useful program: it can be used for other games as well. It checks whether it slows a Wizardry game, but there is nothing to prevent you for renaming let's say ULTIMA7.COM on WROOT.EXE and slowing down Ultima 7 as well.

2. Switch off the cache in BIOS
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This worked for me, unfortunately it lead occasionaly to freezing of the computer after restart (even before OS started) and RESET was necessary. I could live with it, but MOSLO is more comfortable.

3. Emulators
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BOCHS
I think that freely available BOSCH emulator can run Wizardry 6 -I have not tested much, just started the game. It crashed on Wizardry 7. Since the speed can be specified, there is no problem in slowing down.
VIRTUAL PC
This is a nice commerciall emulator, fully functional free time limited trial version is available. It can run both Wiz 6 and Wiz 7, but you will probably need MOSLO (at best MOSLOWIZ from WA) since it is not possible to specify speed of the mulation. This could be solution for W2000/NT/XP users.

SOUND PROBLEMS
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Recommendation: if you have by a lucky chance an ISA slot in your PC (I have it ) buy additional ISA sound card (I have both ISA SB compatible and SB Live 1024). Otherwise you will have to very probably live without a decent sound. Apart from cases when using ISA card I was able just to get music in Wizardry 7 in Virtual PC emulator. Otherwise nothing or just some crackling sound in speakers.
In W2000/NT you can try to use some SoundBlaster emulator (programs VDMS etc. - there is at least one commerciall and one freely available program). I have not used them but having experience with the above mentioned PC emulators, I doubt that it will be a big success.

DOS in WIN ME
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There is a utility on Internet which enables to allow boot menu and booting to DOS in WinME (WinME DOS or what is its name). It works (I used it for a while), but I recommend you to use W98 SE if possible. IMHO this is the best OS for home use for somebody who wants to use both old games and the newest Windows programs.

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Lord Gram (259 posts) Click to EMail Lord%20Gram Click to send private message to Lord%20Gram Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Feb-05-02, 08:35 PM (Pacific)
1. "Another solution....."
....and a little more low-tech.

Buy a nice 486 computer. No compatability problems there. Just make sure you have a good copy of the OS and drivers and you're good to go. Takes a little more desk space, but it's a lot less hassle.

Lord Gram the Light

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ronnz (Guest) (1 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Feb-06-02, 07:00 AM (Pacific)
2. "RE: Wizardy 6/7 on newer computers"
I've found another way to play wiz6 on a new computer (tested on my 1.4 athlon thunderbird).

first make a windows98x bootdisk (I made one with 98SE)
copy moslo.com (I had a real old free version from 90 so the new free version should work as well) and the command.com from the new windows bootdisk to your wiz6 folder
boot your pc with this bootdisk.
change to your wiz6 folder and type moslo command.com and than moslo wroot.exe, this worked for me!

but, the game runs really slow so better use a higher value in moslo, maybe moslo /20 command.com and moslo /20 wroot.exe

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Kennedy (Guest) (12 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Feb-13-02, 11:00 PM (Pacific)
3. "Moslowiz?"
Is there anywhere you can get moslowiz or do you have to buy the Wizardry archives?
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Gandalf (44 posts) Click to EMail Gandalf Click to send private message to Gandalf Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Feb-14-02, 01:29 AM (Pacific)
4. "RE: Moslowiz?"
Go to http://www.softwarespecialties.com and choose "Other Links" and then "Patches and informative Wizardry files". There you will find the entry "Mo'Slo version.1.2 © Dr.David's Super Crispy Software & David Perrell".

Mike

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Kennedy (Guest) (12 posts) Click to check IP address of the poster
Feb-16-02, 00:44 AM (Pacific)
5. "RE: Moslowiz?"
Well, I have Moslo 1.32, but it can only slow down to 1 percent and that is not aparently slow enough. So does anybody know where I can get Moslowiz? I tried the link you suggested, but couldn't find it.
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Mirek (42 posts) Click to EMail Mirek Click to send private message to Mirek Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Feb-19-02, 00:39 AM (Pacific)
6. "Moslo"
I do not know where to get MOSLOWIZ apart from Wizardry archives .
If you look on various abandonware sites, you will be probably able to find MoSlo DeLuxe 2.0 or 2.1 (it can slow down to 0.1 % if it works for you). I do not tell you any precise site...
Otherwise buy Wizardy Archives (this is my recommendation, it really pays off to have all games and manuals on one CD, there is also printed manual and it is quite cheap) or newer MOSLO.

But there is one more interesting thing - it seems (?) that you have been at least able to run that old MOSLO. I do not remember now whether I tested with shareware version or Deluxe, but it froze the game for me (therefore I used MOSLOWIZ). There is following in MOSLO FAQ on the offical website:

********
Mo'Slo Deluxe versions 2.1 and earlier may not run on CPUs faster than 550MHz. Mo'Slo eval versions 1.32 and earlier may not run on CPUs faster than 700MHz. Current versions of Mo'Slo 4BIZ and Mo'Slo Deluxe run on all current Intel and AMD x86-compatible CPUs, and are designed to handle frequencies beyond 1THz (1000GHz)!
********

However it seems (from other messages on this forum) that people here (apart from me) are able to use that old MOSLO without problems.
So does anybody know how it is really with the usability of older MOSLO versions on quick processors?

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Mirek (42 posts) Click to EMail Mirek Click to send private message to Mirek Click to view user profile Click to check IP address of the poster
Mar-14-02, 11:48 PM (Pacific)
7. "Slowdown - possibly even better than MOSLO"
Somebody on these boards mentioned the existence of SLOWDOWN program, so I downloaded it yesterday and tried it a bit:.

It is possible to change the slowdown by hot keys (I know it is in MOSLO as well, but not in the shareware version) and it also contains a separate utility for switching on and off processor cache from DOS (which in itself enabled to play Wizardry 6 on my 1 GHZ Athlon).

At first sight very nice program, possibly better than MOSLO - it seemed "smoother" to me (I can not say it for certain, since I have been using it only for a very short time).

It has one big advantage over MOSLO - it is freeware and I think even source codes are available on the authors's webpage. The program has currently a new version, which was made on the 6. March 2002.

The program is possible to download from:

http://members.aol.com/bretjohn/

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