Wizardry 8's "Easter Egg" Retro Dungeons

Retro "Easter Egg" Dungeons

Here you will find explanations, maps, step-by-step instructions and walkthroughs for all three of Wizardry 8's hidden retro dungeons. What are the Retro "Easter Egg" Dungeons? Why are they called "Retro"? What does "Easter Egg" mean? Why doesn't the auto-map work when I'm in a dungeon? How do I activate access to the Cemetery Dungeon? (with screen shots) Show me the Cemetery Dungeon Dungeon Map (printer friendly) Cemetery Dungeon Walkthrough How do I activate access to the Northern Wilderness Dungeon? (with screen shots) Show me the Northern Wilderness Dungeon Map (printer friendly) Northern Wilderness Dungeon Walkthrough How do I activate access to the Mountain Wilderness Dungeon? (with screen shots) Show me the Mountain Wilderness Dungeon Map (printer friendly) Mountain Wilderness Dungeon Walkthrough

Retro Dungeons Explained

There are three (3) Retro "Easter Egg" Dungeons to be discovered in Wizardry 8. It's not sure who discovered them first, some believe an ex-SirTech employee dropped a hint on one of the various Wizardry 8 forums, others say they were told about it by a friend who discovered it by trial and error. However the dungeons were found, they play no part in the actual storyline of the game, they are there simply to be found and explored... plus the extra experience points and bonus equipment doesn't go amiss either!   The reason they are often referred to as "Retro" is because they have the classic wireframe look and appear in a grid pattern, just like in the original Wizardry 1 (Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord) and subsequent games. They are called "Easter Eggs" because they are not a part of the game, no dialog anywhere will inform the player of their existence, they form no part of the storyline at all. The only clue was the presence of three sets of six runes (or icons) which were to be found, plus a near­by object requiring a specific item.

Why doesn't the Auto-Map work in the dungeons?

This would have to be one of the most mis-reported "bugs". The Auto-Map does indeed work, it just that what it shows is of no real use. See, when a player enters one of the Retro Dungeons, looks at the auto-map, they will view the dots of enemies and items all over the place (assuming they have the X-Ray spell active). However, whenever they approach one of these dots, there's no enemy or item there?!?? They can walk right on top of the dot and still find no encounter or loot. This understandably leads to confusion, and some to declare the auto-map broken, but there is an explanation! See, there are three (3) Retro Dungeons, they are in actual fact "stacked" one on top of the other. So the Radar and the Auto-Map are showing creatures which might actually be above or below the party, on a different "layer" of the dungeon. Since there is no way to traverse between layers (well, unless you go to the effort of entering another dungeon and setting a portal there), you can't get to the item or creature, but the active X-Ray spell will still show them on your auto-map. So to help you out, because the dungeons are on a grid, they can be mapped using the traditional "graph paper" method (something any old-timer RPG player will be all too familar with), below are maps to all the dungeons. These were drawn by Moni (from the Ironworks forum), all credit goes to her for making them. Recently, some corrections were made to fix a few errors that were discovered, the maps shown here are the corrected versions. ** Spoiler Warning ** Clicking on any of the maps will take you to a page with instructions on how to activate access to that dungeon. So don't click if you'd rather work it out for yourself first.

Legend: Cemetery Dungeon: Northern Wilderness Dungeon: Mountain Wilderness Dungeon:

	Wizardry 8 is a registered trademark of Sir-Tech Canada, Copyright (C) 2001, all rights reserved. Last Update: October 6, 2004.