Installing two versions of wiz 8

[ashara]

Hi. After wandering around in old posts and continually seeing references to how game patches decreased the effectiveness of pickpocketing ( not to mention the possibility of multiple frogs legs dinners which can be so rewarding), I tracked down a still sealed version of what is apparently the first version released for a price less than what I paid for my 1.2.4 version last fall.

Now the dilemma. I don't really want to uninstall my current version, since I've finally gotten a samuri who isn't totally lame as part of a four person party that's in lower trynton now. I'm also sort of a klutz when it comes to computors ( my friends joke that it's my electrical aura - IT staff say I should be a beta tester cause practically everytime I call when the computor's gone wacky, they scratch their heads and say they've never seen the system do that before).

So, can I install two versions of the game on the same computor (with, unfortunately, XP)? If so, how do I do it ( the simple explanation please). Or is there someother approach I'm not aware of?
Thanks for any feedback in advance ( you folks have been great with help in the past when I've had problems).

[ashara]

Oops, I poted without scanning the other recent posts. It sounds like maybe I could load the original game into a new directory , but wouldn't the computor get schizoid? Also, it appears that the first version wouldn't let you get to ascension peak (if I understand the post correctly).
So is there some happy medium (giggling into her crystal ball),where I could have both games installed and only minimal patches on the original version?

[Ziggurat]

My guess is you can install a 2nd version in another directory, but the icon on your computer's desktop menu may only point to 1 game. After installing your ealier version of the game to a new directory, you may have to go to program files and then the directory of the newly installed game and then click on the begin file to start it (Wiz8.exe?) to see if it will work. To install the patch (first one, wiz8patch001), copy the 001 patch file in the new directory and then run that file. I have no idea if this will work! If it does, you may have to create a new shortcut for the new game so you can access it from your menu...from explorer you right click on the begin file and drag it to the deasktop. Maybe someone has tried this? I have both the original game and the patches so I may try it. (currently using Win98 SE)

[Nightowl2]

My suggestion: the safest thing to do, especially if you're not very techy, is to finish up your game with the Samurai party, then take it off your drive, install the older version of Wiz, install the patch, and then play.

Windows, any version of Windows, is a flaky piece of software. Why take chances?

Nightowl2

[ashara]

Thanks for the feedback. It seems from the responses so far that at least I have to track down where I can find the patch.
Any suggestions on that?

[Scatter]

I don't have the link any more, but i found a German site by Searching "Wizardry 8 patch download" that has all the retro patches. Seems like i remember a link to an American (Canadian?) site with patches in a recent post...

[Ziggurat]

ashara - contact me for the first patch 001 (zipped, small file)

[ 04-20-2004, 05:08 PM: Message edited by: Ziggurat ]

[Krull]

I've got two versions on my computer. What Zig says works.

The original version (1.0) went to program files/sirtech, which is the default path. I then bought another version (as it was cheap) and this was version 1.2.4.

When installing for the second time, you are given an opportunity to change this default path, which I did of course.

I patched 1.0 to 1.0b which is the Ascension Peak fix, and allows pickpocketing. This is my fun Wiz 8 where I try various things. Version 1.2.4 is for my serious Wiz 8 gaming.

Zig mentioned shortcuts. Once again, if you do a new shortcut to your second install, you are given an opportunity to rename the shorcut to the executable file. Wiz8.exe is the default as Zig said.