Hello again, adventurers! The team behind Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord released a major content update in late October, and now we've set our sights on the next one. Based in large part on player feedback, here's what we're looking to add and improve in December.
New Feature: Character Recruitment
Only skilled adventurers can survive the deepest layers of Werdna's labyrinth… so why not hire some? We're adding a new system that will let you hire mercenaries of varying levels to fight by your side. Not only will they permanently join your roster, but they are useful when recovering the gear and corpses of an earlier party that has met an untimely end in the dungeon. We hope this system will make recovering from party wipes a little less painful.
Enhanced Inn Functionality
"Camp functionality in town" has been a frequent request, so your party will now be able to swap gear at the Adventurer's Inn. We're also adding a more streamlined rest mechanic, which includes an easy way to restore the entire party's health. (Prefer not to use these options? You can toggle them off.)
Save Slot Management
We heard from many players who appreciated the save slots that were added with the most recent update, so we're adding more functionality this time, including the ability to rename, copy, and delete saves.
Improved Temple of Cant
We're expanding the Temple's usefulness to both new and veteran players; not only will the costs of reviving characters be adjusted to give low-level characters a more affordable second chance at heroics, but the Temple clerics will soon be able to help advanced adventurers recover from a level drain.
Expanded Gameplay Options
Some players thrive on Wizardry's legendary difficulty; other players find the old-school rules inflexible and frustrating. To make Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord more accessible to modern gamers without destroying the challenge that veteran players love, we're developing several new options that can be easily toggled on or off. For instance, we'll be adding the ability to redirect an action that targeted a just-defeated enemy (no more wasted spell points!), as well as an option to eliminate the random negative effects that sometimes come with party wipes, such as the loss of loot or the gruesome inconvenience of finding your corpses eaten by monsters. We're working on several options along these lines, largely based on your feedback.
Please continue to share that feedback in the GOG and Steam forums, with as much detail as you can muster – more info always helps, especially when we're trying to squash bugs! While we can't always respond to the forum messages and reviews you've been writing, we absolutely do read them and take that feedback to heart.
And while we do want to be as transparent as possible, please remember that when a game is in active development like this one, sometimes priorities and situations need to change. While we are targeting a late December release for the next update, we might not hit all the content goals we've laid out here in time, but we'll let you know if something is delayed. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
We wish you good fortune as you continue to battle the monsters of the Maze!
The Wizardry Team at Digital Eclipse