Further reading:

https://www.digitaleclipse.com/media/wizardry-oct-roadmap

"Greetings, adventurers! We hope you enjoy your first experiences with our modern reworking of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. This is an in development title and we're hoping a lot of your questions are answered in the FAQ. That said, we wanted to discuss what we have planned for the first content update, which is tentatively slated for an October 2023 release.
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Mouse Support
We know PC players often prefer mouse controls when playing RPGs, and while we prioritized controller support during early development (in part because it was more straightforward to assign Apple II keyboard input to modern controller buttons), we haven't forgotten tradition. We're working on mouse input at the moment.

Additional Character Portraits
The Training Grounds feature many varied human character portraits at the moment, but more fantastical races are on their way. Look for additional portraits in the next update.

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Human character portraits are available during our first phase; watch for portraits of other races in the next update.

Identification System & Bestiary
During combat in the original Wizardry, your characters would roll to identify enemies that were only represented as a line of text. If you successfully identified Skeletons, for instance, you might discover you were specifically battling Undead Kobolds. However, that system doesn't work as well when enemies are high-res 3D models instead of text strings. If you've seen a kobold before, you'll probably recognize it as a kobold the next time around, even if it's in silhouette or obscured by the dark.
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To bring Wizardry into the 21st century, we're reworking the enemy identification system and adding a large Bestiary in the process. Each time you successfully identify a new creature, you'll learn a little more about that enemy and what it can do; the monsters you've identified will also stay identified, creating a visual guide in the Bestiary, which you can review at any time via the pause menu.
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If you prefer the original game's feature, you can turn this new system off, but we think that most players will find it satisfying to build their Bestiary of monsters as they progress through the Maze. You can make the call next month; we're planning on implementing the new identification system and the Bestiary in the next update.

‍Additional Sounds
‍Our sound designer Bob Baffy is adding more audio for enemies and various additional sound effects in the game. So while you will hear some heroic audio during your dungeon crawls this month, you should hear even more in October.

‍Bug Fixing
‍Oh, we know we didn't get everything right the first time. With additional playtesting — and the assistance of players reporting and documenting what they see — we hope to have a pile of bugs squashed by the next update.

Please keep in mind that this is our plan, and that when it comes to game development, plans can never be promises. It's possible some of these features won't be ready next month, but if they can't make it, we'll update you with a revised roadmap. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Until then, we're eager for your feedback! Drop your thoughts in the GOG forums, and please be as detailed as possible — that really helps us track down issues. Thanks for your support, and we hope we can bring you an even better Wizardry experience next month!

- The Wizardry Team at Digital Eclipse"

https://www.digitaleclipse.com/media/wizardry-faq

"Today the studio is thrilled to announce the availability of Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord -- a 3D re-imagining of the classic dungeon-crawler that launched the immortal Wizardry series of role-playing games. This is Digital Eclipse's first in-development game, and that bold step comes with a lot of questions, for both us and our players. Hopefully this FAQ will address most concerns, but by all means, let us know what other questions you might have -- we will answer them as best we can!

What is Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord?
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was one of the first computer role-playing games. Released in 1981 for the Apple II, it set a standard for the RPG genre, inspiring many other dungeon-crawlers in the decades that followed. The 2023 edition is an all-new remake by Digital Eclipse, running in the Unreal Engine, but based on the original Apple II code.

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The code of the Apple II original remains at the heart of our remake of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.

Why revisit this game?
While the first game's innovations were huge, those pioneering steps did take place more than 40 years ago. As a result, the first game in the Wizardry series has many barriers to entry. Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is Digital Eclipse's attempt to preserve the original gameplay (and the original difficulty) but present it with the rich graphics, streamlined controls, and other modern features that today's RPG players have come to expect. It's intended as both a restoration and a reimagining of the original Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, one that is built for modern gaming hardware and lets players experience a true classic in the most comfortable way possible.

Where can I get the game?
The In Development version of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is downloadable at Good Old Games.

Why is this being released via In Development?
After two years in development, we're ready to share what we're working on with the community. We know there are devoted fans of this franchise worldwide, and it means something different to each of them. We want feedback from as many players as we can get, so we can incorporate as many improvements as possible before we bring this ambitious project to completion.

How much of the game will be functional during In Development?
The entire core game is playable, though there will likely be some bugs. Additionally, some visual elements are not 100 percent complete. The team is still working on additional environment and object textures, audio elements, and character animations; some existing elements will be replaced or upgraded during development. Incomplete assets are marked with a special "yellow tools" icon to let you know they are still in active development.

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The yellow tools icon to the left the enemy title indicates that this character is still a work in progress.

Some elements may change or stop working during the development process. Save games, for instance, are something that could break between major updates, although we will make every effort to avoid this. During In Development, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord should be considered an early build that you can play before it's done, so you should expect and prepare for some inconveniences associated with a work in progress. If you would prefer not to encounter those elements, you may be more comfortable wishlisting the title and waiting until work is completed.

Will the price go up later?
Yes. As the team adds more content to the project, the price will increase. Anyone who has already bought the game during In Development will receive that additional content at no additional fee; it will simply arrive in title updates and will not be packaged as optional downloadable content.

How long will the In Development period last? What is the target ship date?
Based on current scope and resources, the dev team anticipates that Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord will be content-complete and leave In Development before the end of 2024. However, this is far from a guaranteed commitment, as there are often unforeseen factors and various surprises that might lengthen the development process. As we navigate changes and obstacles, we will keep the community informed.

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Enemy animations will be added throughout development.

How frequently will the game be updated?
The team expects to add content to Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord about every two months until it is considered complete and officially ready to launch. Depending on the scope, some updates may take longer than two months to implement. You'll find the latest information on our development roadmap here.

What content is being added after In Development?
In addition to replacing work-in-progress assets with updated ones, we plan to update other in-game graphical and audio elements. We will also explore adding text localization, a guide to in-game enemies, and other features we believe will benefit players.
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How will you be incorporating player feedback and community suggestions?
The discussion forum at GOG makes the most sense for us as a central hub for communication. Our players are already there, so we'd like to meet you where you play. Bug reports will be very much appreciated, with as much detail as you feel motivated to provide — we want to squash as many as we can, with your help. We will also try to incorporate any player suggestions for features and improvements, as long as they can be implemented within the scope and resources of the project. In other words, we're all ears for your hopes and dreams, but we'll need to see what's feasible, so let's keep talking.

‍Which games will be represented in this project?
The core experience is the original Wizardry game, Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.

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Players can run the game with the original Apple II interface as an overlay if they choose.

Which PC operating systems are supported?
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is intended to run under Windows.

‍Which localized languages will be supported?
At the beginning of In Development, only English will be supported, but we are hoping to add additional languages over the course of development.

Will there be a console release as well?
We don't have a definitive answer at this time, but we would not seriously discuss the possibility of a console release until the game is feature-complete and leaves In Development.

Is this part of the Gold Master Series?
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is not currently part of the Gold Master Series, which is Digital Eclipse's line of interactive documentaries. Whereas GMS titles focus on giving historical context to classic games, our main goal with Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is to make the best updated version of this game possible. That said, we're always open to your feedback about which games and stories you'd like to see explored through the Gold Masters Series, so we can try to allocate resources accordingly.
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As this project progresses, we'll update this FAQ with the latest information, so please check this page later for more updates. Thank you for your support!"

lmfao u cant be serious

"Not the early access! It hurts my eyes seeing this, it is inappropriate!! WAAAAAHHHHH"

The entire game is playable start to finish, but some assets are still WIP.

This looks great. I have a few UI questions for those of us who like to play fast.

First, will we be able to disable the animations without having to turn on the Apple II interface? Sure, they look pretty, and can be great for drawing in new players, but once you've seen them, you've seen them, and after that they just kind of take time for minimal benefit. One think I love about the Wizardry games is that (with the exception of 8) they let you rip through combat as fast as your hands can fly over the keyboard, and I'd like to be able to keep that.

Second, will there be support for direct keyboard shortcuts? Or is it all going to be consoleish "down-down-down-enter" to get to Boltac's Trading Post, when in the original versions I could just press "B?" I can tolerate console-style interfaces, but not being able to use all these wonderful letters on my keyboard would make me sad.

Finally, will typing the spell names still be an option when casting spells? A menu is great for new players who haven't learned the spells, but I've been playing these games for over a decade. I know all the spell names and what they do, so being able to type the name would be much smoother for me than navigating a menu.

Then, the improvements will be graphic wise, and the normal bugs, optimization and tweaks.

I can live with it

I'm so excited for this - will buy soon.

Awesome, waiting for full release.

Looks great. Does Wizardry 1 have the same system as Elminage where stats can go up or down when you level up? Hated that.

Nice!

(not the killer bunny!)

Fantastic. And Early Access. Hopefully, that means it'll be a quality release when they're done with it.

You're talking about vorpal bunnies, correct?

Yes.

However, in this remake, that's not the case by default, according to the text in the options menu. (I haven't actually leveled up myself.) Supposedly, when you level up, you get to allocate the stat points, instead of stats randomly going up or down. There is, however, an option to make the game use the old system, for those who actually like it for some reason.

And it's not even my birthday:)

You do realize the game gives your characters happy birthday messages? (At least if you turn on the option to use old-school Age instead of the new Vim system.)

It seems nice enough, although I think the ability to fully switch to the original style instead of that overlay is a must.