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Wizardry 8 Technical Assistance

With these older games, sometimes it takes a few tweaks to get it to work great, or even at all. If you're having issues getting Wizardry 8 working or need assistance in making it look or sound better, this page should help. If you have other problems that need to be listed here, please use the Contact Us button at the bottom of the page and drop us a line. Be sure to be as detailed as possible (including which game it is for), and we'll see if we can find the answers to your problems.

Wizardry 8 closes immediately after opening it!

  1. The game starts with a series of opening videos, and if you press ESC to skip them, the Quit option from the menu will activate when it loads. Press the Space Bar instead to skip to the game.
  2. Confirm the graphics are set up correctly for your computer. For modern computers you have two options:

    1. Delete or rename the srDD_Glide2x.dll file so you can use modern options:

      • Navigate to the Dll folder where you installed Wizardry 8 and either delete or rename srDD_Glide2x.dll.
      • Launch the 3D Setup (3DSetup.exe).
      • Choose DirectX 7 and Directsound3D + Software - Full HRTF. Also choose your monitor's native resolution.

    2. Configure Glide to work with your system:

      • Launch the 3D Setup (3DSetup.exe).
      • Select Glide2x, the best resolution and DirectSound3D Hardware Support.
      • NGlide should be configured to Automatic back end and your monitor’s native resolution and refresh rate. You can turn off the 3Dfx logo splash screen if you wish.
  3. For Windows 10 and 11 computers, The User Account Control (UAC) may be blocking it.
    • Search for User Account Control Settings on your computer and ensure it is set to Notify and that you have administrator access to your user account.
    • Depending on where you installed the game, you may need to allow the application to access a folder.
    • Running the game with Administration Privileges (Run as Administrator) may also help, especially when using the Steam Version.

The Keyboard isn't working!

The keyboard not working after changing windows was a common issue for games made around this time. When you use Alt-Tab to change windows, the Alt key gets stuck active in the game. To correct the issue, press and release the Alt key in the game again.

I have garbled or no sound!

Open the Wizardry 8 Setup and change the sound to DirectSound3D Hardware Support. This should ensure it works on most modern computers.

It is difficult to move my party.

3D games of this era are best controlled through the mouse, and only using the keyboard for action keys. 3D games of this era are best controlled through the mouse, and the keyboard is used only for action keys.

  • To pick up an item, hover over it and click it with your mouse.
  • To turn your party, hold the right mouse button and move the mouse.
  • Hold down the right mouse button to control the camera, then press the left mouse button to walk forward. This also allows you to turn while moving just by moving the mouse.
  • Hold down shift while walking to run.

The rest of the controls are easily activated with one hand on the keyboard. Walking backwards does require the down arrow or the key remapped, but I have rarely needed to walk backwards.

How do I improve the graphics?

First, Either configure the NGlide, or remove it and configure Direct X.

  1. Delete or rename the srDD_Glide2x.dll file so you can use modern options:

    • Navigate to the Dll folder where you installed Wizardry 8 and either delete or rename srDD_Glide2x.dll.
    • Launch the 3D Setup (3DSetup.exe).
    • Choose DirectX 7 and Directsound3D + Software - Full HRTF. Also choose your monitor's native resolution.

  2. Configure Glide to work with your system:

    • Launch the 3D Setup (3DSetup.exe).
    • Select Glide2x, the best resolution and DirectSound3D Hardware Support.
    • NGlide should be configured to Automatic back end and your monitor’s native resolution and refresh rate. You can turn off the 3Dfx logo splash screen if you wish.

You can also configure your 3D settings in the NVIDIA Control Panel (if you have that type of graphics card). You will likely need to add the program manually to change the program settings for wiz8.exe (or wiz8_v128.exe if using the fan patch.) After playing around with the settings, I have found that these are the best settings to change:

  • Anisotropic Filtering: 8X
  • Antialiasing - FXAA: Off
  • Antialiasing - Gamma correction: Off
  • Antialiasing - Mode: Override any application setting.
  • Antialiasing - Transparency - 8x (supersample)
  • Texture Filtering - Anisotropic sample optimization: Off
  • Texture Filtering - Negative LOD bias: Clamp
  • Texture Filtering - Quality: High quality
  • Texture Filtering - Trilinear Optimization: On
  • Threaded Optimization: On
  • Triple Buffering: On
  • Vertical Sync: On

Don't forget to apply the changes before launching the game. This won't change the game into a realistic-looking game, but it will smoothen the rough edges. Video Sync also needs to be on in the Video Settings in the game!

A fan patch is also available that allows for widescreen support. The v1.28 version can be downloaded here. If you do, be sure the above Video settings are set for the Wiz8_v128 file and not just Wiz8.
Note: This patch is not an official patch and has issues of its own. You may need to revert to the normal version if you encounter any issues. Some have also reported issues with the introduction videos, so you may want switch to this patched version after starting your game.

Why does the combat text not show everything?

Verbose Combat Message is turned off. Go to Settings > General > Page 3 to turn on the feature. Expect a lot of information, but you will get better information about the damage done and even what spells enemies are casting.