Wizardry I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was the very first computer role-playing game that I had ever played and it was also the first game that I had ever purchased. I was already a huge Dungeons & Dragons fan which was at the height of its popularity in North America when Wizardry I was released in 1981.
Wizardry was written by Andrew C. Greenberg and Robert Woodhead when they were students at Cornell University and published by Sir-Tech. The game was influenced by earlier games from the PLATO system, most notably Oubilette. There is a history of the PLATO games available on Cyber1 and dnd contributor Dirk Pellet had this to say:
“Sometime around 1977, Robert J. Woodhead (who was non-affectionately known on PLATO as “Balsabrain”) through means unknown to the dnd authors, obtained a copy of the source code to the current version of dnd (probably 6.0 or 7.0). He “created” “his” own game from it, in a file called “sorcery.” It had essentially all the same features of dnd except the messages, monsters, and magic items had different names and pictures (although identical functions). Apparently the illicit copy hadn’t included the charset. The elven boots were socks, among other alterations.”
“When the dnd authors were informed of the existence of Woodhead’s copy, and took a look at it (including looking at the source code in a monitor mode with a concerned sysop), the copy was promptly deleted, and Balsabrain learned that if he wanted to plagiarize PLATO games, he would have to do it OFF of PLATO. He put that lesson to use by plagiarizing Oubliette when he “created” “his” game of Wizardry and began to market it.”
You can certainly see the influences that Oubliette had on Wizardry. The overall structure is the same from the shops down to the wireframe dungeon. Basic combat is the same and even some of the spell names are exactly the same in both games. Dumapic is one such spell that is found in both games and has the exact same affects. There are, however, a lot of things that are different between the two games. Wizardry I has an actual plot and there are special encounters sprinkled throughout the ten levels of the dungeon. Wizardry also has more spells, a way to identify items, and a single player controls all six characters that make up the party. Oubliette was a multi-user game on PLATO and each individual only controlled only one character.
Wizardy I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was highly influential in the evolution of computer role-playing games that would follow. It was the very first time, on the home computer, that a single player controlled multiple party members. It was the very first time that experience points and levels were earned in a game that closely mimicked that of the tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons. The game also sported a complex magic system with different spells for wizards and priests. There were numerous magic items that needed to be identified and many of them were even cursed which was another first! The player could choose between multiple races and classes and the classes were restricted by ability scores. It was the first time that alignment was chosen AND COULD CHANGE based on your actions in the game. You also had the ability to change classes in the game. Many of these things were heavily influenced by the game Dungeons & Dragons.
I remember seeing the Wizardry box displayed on the shelf when I was purchasing my first computer system. Frederick Siroteck, the father of Norman, who owned Sir-Tech, and the company’s financier insisted that the packaging and documentation for Wizardry be professional. This greatly distinguished Wizardry from the other CRPGs of the same period. Many of them were sold in Ziploc bags! Mr. Sirteck made the right call because the pull of that box upon me was akin to the gravitational pull of the sun. The box was extremely hard, glossy, and had weight to it. It added to the mystery and allure of what might be contained within the box. I purchased it on the same day that I purchased my Apple IIC in 1984.
Wizardry defined an entire sub-genre of computer role playing games that exist today. There are many individuals who would classify themselves as dungeon crawler enthusiasts and Wizardy I is the grandfather of the dungeon crawler for home computers and has inspired an entire culture centered around the celebration and enjoyment of these games.
Wizardry was a commercial blockbuster. It shipped in September of 1981 and immediately became a hit. By June of 1982 it had sold 24,000 copies. In comparison, Temple of Apshai (1979) had sold 30,000 copies and Ultima (1981) had sold 20,000 copies at one time. Wizardry sold 300,000 copies in its first three years, outselling the original Ultima during that time. By November of 1985 Wizardry had sold over 500,000 copies. Within months after it’s release two commercial game-trainers for it appeared which Sir-Tech immediately denounced. The game also had, to my knowledge, the very first strategy guide called the Wizisystem.
In 1984 Sofline readers named the game the most popular Apple program of all time. The game was the top-rated adventure for five years running in Computer Gaming World’s reader poll, until Ultima IV replaced it in 1986. In 1993 Scorpia wrote; “while mainly hack-and-slash, it’s still a grand expedition, even today. In 1996 Computer Gaming World magazine named Wizardry the 16th best game ever. The editors wrote, “The seminal dungeon romp, this RPG sent AD&D fans scrambling to buy Apple IIs.” Oh so true.
Wizardry spawned seven sequels. The original Wizardry series is comprised of eight total titles. All of the titles were first released in North America, and then ported to Japanese computers. The first three games are a trilogy, with similar settings and plots, and gameplay mechanics. A second trilogy is formed by installments 6 through 8 – with settings and gameplay which differ greatly from the first trilogy. The fourth game, The Return of Werdna, was a significant departure from the rest of the series. In it, the player controls Werdna (“Andrew,” one of the game’s developers, spelled backwards), the evil wizard slain in the first game, and summons groups of monsters to aid him as he fights his way through the prison in which he had been held captive.
A spin-off was released in North America in 1996 called Wizardry Nemesis. It is a solo adventure involving one character only, with no supporting party.
The popularity of Wizardry in Japan was enormous and inspired several original sequels, spinoffs, and ports with the series long outliving the American original. Thirty-nine different spin-offs have been released in Japan with four of them making their way to North America. The latest, Labyrinth of Wizardry, was officially released in North America in 2017 and is the last original game produced in the series.
I cannot stress enough the importance of Wizardry’s legacy and innovation of gameplay in 1981. Wizardry, together with Ultima, completely established the conventions of role playing video games going forward. Later games such as Bard’s Tale, Dragon Quest, and Final Fantasy all owe their emulation to Wizardry. The notable Might & Magic series traces it’s look and feel back to Wizardry. The specific Wizardry formula, that of a turn based RPG taking place primarily in a dungeon via first person exploration is referred to as the dungeon crawl.
The popularity of the game in Japan also inspired various light novels, manga comics, pen and paper role-playing games and an original video animation produced by TMS Entertainment. A popular light novel series titled Sword Art Online also had a character who stated that his inspiration came from this game.
Wizardry I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is too grand in scope and has too large a legacy to cover in only one blog post. I will be dedicating the next several blog posts to this game covering it in as much detail as I can.
In my next blog post we’ll discuss character generation, character classes, and what constitutes the best party construct for the foray into the Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.