Windows 10 and Wizard FE

[Brantharix]

Hey everyone,

The single Lich installer works perfectly, but i'm having major difficulty installing the Wizard Front End. Has anyone else been able to get this installed on Windows 10?

The "Wise" installer bombs out at "Searching for Wizard Front End". Windows event logs show it's a temp file that's causing some sort of exception and killing the installer. I've tried fiddling with the compatibility settings, running the installer as Admin, disabling UAC, Disabling AV, etc. It just keeps shutting down before the binaries are installed.

Any suggestions? I'm at the point of just creating a VM to play in at this point...

[Furryrat]

A long hang is common installing the Wizard FE but usually resolves within 5 minutes on machines using Win10 when I reinstall. If you are retrieving download packages individually and running locally, try deleting those and any SIMU folders already created, and then login through the play.net site, go to character selection, choose Wizard FE radial, and then hit play (not the download link) and have the Wizard FE install that way. If already installed, a .sal file is created which you would then run.

[Brantharix]

A long hang is common installing the Wizard FE but usually resolves within 5 minutes on machines using Win10 when I reinstall. If you are retrieving download packages individually and running locally, try deleting those and any SIMU folders already created, and then login through the play.net site, go to character selection, choose Wizard FE radial, and then hit play (not the download link) and have the Wizard FE install that way. If already installed, a .sal file is created which you would then run.

I wish the problem was a long hang. It does hang for a moment, but then the entire process dies. I'll try clearing out all Simu software and trying again.

After selecting "Wizard FE" and then clicking "Play", won't it attempt to download the FE via the Launcher? Or should I clear out Launcher and start over completely?

Thanks again for your response!!

[Furryrat]

I'd clear out the launcher too. I've not had to install the launcher separately for Wizard since the 90's. But yeah, it does work on Win10, it's all I have ever and will ever use to play GS, so keep messing with it.

[Brantharix]

Blah. Cleared everything out and started fresh. Same thing.

Launcher attempts to "update" the Wizard, it downloads the installer, runs it, then several seconds in and crashes. Windows logs show a problem with a temp file it creates.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

I'd start up a pen and paper DnD group. No delete and reinstall required, unless they are shitty friends.

[Brantharix]

I'm considering taking it a step further and doing a pen and paper GemStone IV group. Just need to find some fixed dice so I can mimic that awesome rng.

[FlayedAngel]

I'd start up a pen and paper DnD group. No delete and reinstall required, unless they are shitty friends.

I'm considering taking it a step further and doing a pen and paper GemStone IV group. Just need to find some fixed dice so I can mimic that awesome rng.
Oh snap, this actually sounds dope as hell.

[Avaia]

If you have Discord go to the Gemstone IV server, the Help channel, and ping Doug. When it comes to getting peoples game up and running he is Magic.

[drumpel]

Windows 10 is stupid when it comes to handling some older software. I don't use Wizard FE, but last company I worked with they hadn't updated their software to work properly with Windows 10. Their software worked on Windows 95 (yes, one customer still ran Windows 95 on an old ass computer...but the software ran and he functioned his small business on it) thru Windows 7. We never had to try and install on Windows 8/8.1....I suppose it may have been a clusterfuck of a chore like it is with Windows 10.

We had to do a bunch of permission changes on files and change ownership as well for .dll files under the System 32 folder and manually select a new location to install the software. We had to get things to install in the "Program Files" folder, not the defaulted "Program Files (x86)" folder that Windows wanted the software to get installed under, otherwise the software itself wouldn't know where to look to find the files it needs (yes, the software itself is ignorant of the "Program Files (x86)" folder. They wrote the software so long ago and never updated it...the software required all files to be in the System 32 and Program Files folder, any other locations and the software wouldn't run).

Hopefully you can figure it out. My guess would be a windows issue - it's trying to access a file that's not being allowed to be used/setup properly due to the installation location.

[Argovian]

Hey Brantharix,

I'm having the same problem with my Windows 10, was curious what you did to solve this? (Assuming you got it working?)

[Brantharix]

Hey there!

Sorry, I didn't! I gave up and just created a Windows 7 VM to play on. For some reason the installer would JUST NOT WORK on Windows 10 sadly.

[TomFrog]

I totally feel your frustration with Windows 10 and the Wizard FE issue. I've been through that too, and trust me, it's not fun. So, after some trial and error, I managed to get it working. But that was with the help of a professional who set up the encryption keys for me. So try to do it yourself or entrust it to a specialist.

[BasCampt]

I totally feel you on the Windows 10 and Wizard FE issue! I had a similar problem a while back, and it drove me crazy. So, here's what I did: I stumbled upon this website called windows keys, and they had a really affordable cheap windows 10 key (https://www.reddit.com/r/cheapwindowskeys/comments/wjvsae/cheap_windows_keys/). Initially, I was skeptical because, you know, "cheap" can sometimes mean shady, right? But I took a chance, and guess what? It actually worked! I got my Windows 10 activated, and the Wizard FE problem magically disappeared! Remember, always be cautious with third-party vendors, but sometimes, there are hidden gems out there that can save the day.

[Archigeek]

I'm considering taking it a step further and doing a pen and paper GemStone IV group. Just need to find some fixed dice so I can mimic that awesome rng.

Gemstone was based on the Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE age) Rolemaster System. It was a pen and paper system before it was ever an MORPG. I still have the rules somewhere. It's complicated, but you just roll 2 10 sided dice to create that d100 system, and if you roll a 96 or higher you roll again and add it, etc. Then consult the critical chart to check your damage. A bit tedious, but it was an entertaining shift from DnD. The critical damage was described in the charts, and very graphic, just like it is in GS today.