OK, guys, got some screenshots for you from the Demo here:
The first is a shot of the screen with all character faces shown. The play screen is smaller in this case, showing the treasure chest.
This shot is the entrance to the demo level, the abandoned temple.
One of the first group of monsters you have to fight in the temple is a group of slimes. This is a good shot of how a ranged attack will work. In Wizardry 8, attacks are "phased", meaning that in each round, characters can either move forward or use range attacks; opponents will do likewise. The default combat option is the "turn-based" one rather than real-time, although real-time (continuous) combat is also supported.
Ouch! Small spiders ambush the party by throwing webs at them. You never know when something's going to sneak up on your rear, so be careful when entering rooms and make sure to look everywhere.
After the combat, an examination of the room. Notice the detailing involved. Small treasure caches lie in corners, so one has to be careful to search well.
Heh...while I was taking the last "Kodak moment", a group of bats decided to investigate. As in the Baldur's Gate games and Icewind Dale, one gets to select each character's actions before starting the round. The characters keep those "default" actions until you pause (continuous play) or until the round is over (turn-based).
Well, you can tell what I'm going to be doing over the next few weeks! Hope some of you decide to try it out and see how it runs for yourself. It looks to be great! Look for the full version in stores starting November 15 (at least in the US).
Cheers,
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