{"id":678,"date":"2010-01-08T11:12:03","date_gmt":"2010-01-08T16:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wurb.com\/stack\/archives\/678"},"modified":"2022-10-19T11:40:08","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T18:40:08","slug":"wizardry-iii-mapmaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wurb.com\/stack\/archives\/678","title":{"rendered":"Wizardry III: Mapmaking"},"content":{"rendered":"

By now, I’m no longer just patrolling the corridor immediately around the stairs out. I’ve explored dungeon level 1 rather thoroughly, making a map as I go. Mapmaking is an essential part of Wizardry<\/em>. And I don’t just mean that in the sense that you need to make a map or you’ll get lost and not be able to find the exit and run out of healing spells and die in the maze. All that is true, of course, but what I really mean is that mapmaking is a vital part of the feel of the game. <\/p>\n

For one thing, adding an automapping system would take away a large part of the game’s challenge. The designers used all sorts of tricks to make the dungeons confusing: map tiles that spin you to face a different direction, teleporters that send you to identical-looking areas without you noticing, one-sided walls, and so forth. Yes, even the architecture hates you in this game. There’s a mage spell that tells you your absolute position in the dungeon, but your spellcasting capacity is limited, and the particularly devious areas have anti-magic fields. The first dungeon level of Wizardry III<\/em> is relatively gentle: all it has is some disorienting corridor layouts. But I recall from my previous explorations, years ago, that there’s one level that’s basically a big grid with a spinner square at every intersection. 1<\/sup><\/a>[Addendum 14 January]<\/strong> My mistake: it turns out that this was in Wizardry IV<\/em>.<\/span><\/span>