Wizardry Trilogy & Turbo File

[deepthaw]

Finished Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord on Famicom last night (after um, 32 years of putting it off?).

Has anybody actually used the Turbo File to transfer characters into the follow-up scenarios? Any details on the nature of how the characters are transferred? (What they keep, don't keep, etc.) I'm familiar with the process on the computer versions and don't know how similar it is.

I also thought I saw where you can even transfer characters into Wizardry V on SFC using an adapater to use the Turbo File on SFC? Anybody know anything about that?

[P]

I have a Turbo File II (which is identical to the Turbo File, just with 4 banks and an expansion port) but unfortunately the battery slot is corroded and I've been unable to get it to work. I've only used the Turbo File at all in Mesen (for testing purposes), never on real hardware.
Hopefully I could repair it some day.

Yes some SFC games, including the Japanese version of Wizardy V, does support the Turbo File via the Turbo File Adapter.

There is also the Turbo File Twin for SFC which contain both an emulated Famicom Turbo File with adapter and a unique Super Turbo File which has 128 kB SRAM for games that supports it. Some games like Wizardry VI supports both modes.

I have the TF Twin too and have been able to use it with Wizardry V on real hardware.

One problem is that not all games allows deleting files, Wizardry V do however (and if you have the adapter you can use it to delete files on your Famicom TF that way), and at least one game even overwrites the data of other games.
The manual for my TFII does warn you that if you are saving Castle Excellent data it must be the first file that is saved to the TF. This is because it will always write to the beginning of the SRAM regardless if there is something there already, overwriting it. It was the first game to use the TF so it's badly programmed.
Similarly Haja no Fuuin game progress data should always be the last file saved to the TF. Haja no Fuuin game end data can be saved anywhere however.
I don't why, but that's what the manual says.

[deepthaw]

Got my Turbo File II in and -- kind of disappointing. If you move a character from one game to another, they're reset to level 1 and lose all gear/gp (which I expected) but their stats also reset *and* they lose any spells they'd picked up from class changes. It'll be nice to be able to start one of the other scenarios with a lord/ninja but other than that and bringing over the badges by your name for beating each scenario, it's very possibly better to just create new characters.

It also lets you backup your save to the Turbo File, so you could restore your party from a backup in the event of a full wipe - probably a better compromise than hitting reset as soon as you can when you run into dragons who instakill the party from full health during the surprise round with breath attacks.

[P]

Which game did you transfer to though? I think the Wizardry II is a high-level scenario and does preserve levels, while III resets them as you play as their descendants. The transfer is mainly so that you can reuse characters you've grown found of.

The Famicom games might not be numbered though and I think Wizardry III came out before II on Famicom, so I'm not sure it works the same way.

[deepthaw]

Which game did you transfer to though? I think the Wizardry II is a high-level scenario and does preserve levels, while III resets them as you play as their descendants. The transfer is mainly so that you can reuse characters you've grown found of.

The Famicom games might not be numbered though and I think Wizardry III came out before II on Famicom, so I'm not sure it works the same way.

Both of the sequels. Knight of Diamonds (scenario 2, but 3 on Famicom) is the one where characters came through untouched (level wise) on computer but I assume since it was rebalanced to start with level one characters on Famicom, they have it import characters the same way as Legacy of Llylgamyn.

Another thing I noticed - while importing into Llylgamyn it forced me to change out of any "illegal" alignments, like my good ninja and evil samurai. Attributes do seem based on the character you imported, my beefcake of a fighter (Conan) had 18's in every single stat and his imported level 1 version had 15s across the board.

[P]

I see, the original scenario 2 was released as an expansion while the Famicom release was meant to be standalone with the character transferal more of a gimmick that requires a special peripheral.

Oh so the game let you choose another alignment for those? But how did you get a good ninja and evil samurai in the first place?

I guess the starting attributes are simply based on the current attributes when you transfer them rather than some sort of invisible "potential" stat. That sounds like a good reason to use the Turbo File.
Did they become younger too?

[deepthaw]

I see, the original scenario 2 was released as an expansion while the Famicom release was meant to be standalone with the character transferal more of a gimmick that requires a special peripheral.

Oh so the game let you choose another alignment for those? But how did you get a good ninja and evil samurai in the first place?

I guess the starting attributes are simply based on the current attributes when you transfer them rather than some sort of invisible "potential" stat. That sounds like a good reason to use the Turbo File.
Did they become younger too?

Evil samurai by intentionally attacking friendly enemies until my alignment changed (I was preemptively building up evil characters for Llylgamyn) and the good ninja was by using a thief's dagger. It's pretty rare but changes any character into a ninja without resetting their level, having to be evil, etc.

I didn't check but assuming it's like the pc versions when you import, it resets their age as well - you're playing their "descendants."

I do have to say - Llylgamyn feels like a better scenario already. Feels more designed and "professional" if that makes sense. Probably because it was the third release originally, and they'd already had years to learn from the original scenario.

[P]

Ah I see.