Can you change the class of characters after importing them to the other Wizardry games? Specifically, could I change the class of a character imported from Wiz 7 to a Gadgeteer or other class that's only in Wiz 8?

I see.

Well in that case i'm not going to worry about playing them in order so much as I really want to get to Wiz 8. Thanks for the answer.

If you meet the minimum requirements for Gadgeteer you can switch to that class before the game even starts. Your characters start at level 1, but with enough XP to reach level 5. So you can start as a level 1 (something) / level 4 Gadgeteer.

Sooo which answer is the right one? ussnorway makes it sounds like you can't 'class change' characters that are imported from a previous game even if they meet the stat requirements.

You can't change the class that your character imports as, no. But you can change to another class when you level up, just like normal... provided you meet the class's stat requirements. That leads to (for example) one level in Ranger and the rest in Gadgeteer.

You can drop this save game into your wiz8 saves folder if you don't want to play wiz7 first... feel free to drop any/ all that don't appeal.

new link = http://nibbit.net/assets/wiz8.7z

So characters import to Wiz 8 as level 1 but with enough xp for level 5 and can just change class after importing and starting the game if I understand this correctly. I would also have to plan ahead to make sure the character I change to Gadgeteer has the requirements and doesn't get screwed long term by poor stat choices.

Thank you all for the info. I may just go ahead and start from Wiz 6 after all, though I dread having to make maps, lol.

Yep! The only downside to this is that you have almost no control over what your imported level 1 stats are. It's almost entirely dependent on your race and class. You can use the Cosmic Forge editor's "Saved Files Viewer" function to view your current map if you don't feel like making one yourself. (Click "World" and then "View Party on Map.") This will show the map for the whole floor you're on, though, so it could be considered cheating. Also, if you dig around too much with Cosmic Forge, you can end up spoiling all sorts of stuff for yourself. Be aware.

Hmmm, i'll have to think carefully on importing then

What would be great is if I had a map of the areas but without the icons telling me what is where and spoiling that stuff.

Wiz 6 maps here: http://www.tk421.net/wizardry/wiz6maps.shtml

There are numbers on the maps, but no legend immediately obvious that tells what is there. So you have pre-made maps that just show the territory.

Same site has similar maps for Wiz 7.

-- Mal

Because that party has already been converted into a Wiz8 party... just put it into your saves folder and load it the same as you would any other saved game.

Lol! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks.

A bit late seeing this, but thank you! These are exactly the kind of maps I was looking for!