October 15, 2023: Old School Redux

A while back, I mused a bit about what it means to be "old school" as far as gaming. Those thoughts resurfaced for me as I saw a trailer for Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. If the title sounds familiar, it should; this computer game was originally released in 1981.

That trailer I linked to, however, is for a new game. Or rather, the old game, but with new features. As best I can tell, this version by Digital Eclipse is running the original Apple II code and overlaying modern effects on top of it. At any point, you can (as I understand it) "look underneath" to see the original version of the game. It's an interesting approach, not entirely dissimilar to what's going on with the Autoduel software on Warehouse 23. The Digital Eclipse game seems to take the idea much further.

The game also claims it includes various "quality of life" improvements to make it more accessible for modern folks, which harkens back to my earlier "What makes old school 'old' school?" pondering. It's in early access now, for Windows. I'm not a Windows gamer, but I'm still curious to see how it turns out. If any of you get to experience it (especially if you have memories – fond or otherwise – of the original), I'd look forward to your comments on the forums.

-- Steven Marsh