Ferazel's Wand

Ferazel's Wand
Developer: Ambrosia Software Publisher: Ambrosia Software Platform: Mac OS Classic Released internationally: December 23, 1999 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text.

To do: There seems to be some more that could be here, like more unused graphics and dialogue boxes.

Ferazel's Wand is another great Mac game and is considered by many who played it to be one of the best Mac OS Classic side-scrolling plaftormer games. A shame then that an official sequel of any kind has yet to be made, because it is one of the more unique games in the Mac OS Classic library.

Unused Music

A few tracks were left unused for some reason or another, likely because there weren't enough levels where these could be used.

Track Number	Music
7
11
14
19
20

Unused Sounds

A pause sound used in many of Ambrosia's other games, such as Harry the Handsome Executive.

Frog Jump Sound

Unused	Used

Frog Hit Sound

Unused	Used

Frog Death Sound

Unused	Used

The frog enemies had their sounds redone at some point, but their old sounds still remain in the final game.

Unused Graphics

While this screen does appear in the demo version, even the oldest demo version of the game says the game is coming out on January 2000 and the currently available demo says it's available now. It's also missing the "CD" graphic.

These are the zoomed-out map tiles from Harry the Handsome Executive. The zoomed-out map doesn't exist in Ferazel's Wand, but this graphic remains.

Tilesets

Tilesets are composed of three PICT resources: foreground tiles, background tiles, and wall textures.

Foreground Tilesets

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  Unused outdoor tileset with placeholders for later details.

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  Similar unused tileset with placeholders.

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  A stone/cave tileset.

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  A stone/cave tileset.

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  A stone/cave tileset with railway tiles.

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  Alternate Ends of the Earth tileset.

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  An early ice tileset?

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  Unused outdoor tileset.

Background Tilesets

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  Background tileset with tree trunks.

• 

  The same background tileset, but with a different water surface tile.

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  Background tileset with trees, bridge, and unused liquid graphics.

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  Very incomplete background tileset containing early liquid graphics.

Wall Textures

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  Dirt similar to Unemployed In Greenland.

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  Dirt

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  Rocks

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  Rocks

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  Texture for alternate Ends of the Earth tileset.

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  Rocks

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  Rocks

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  Rocks

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  Rocks

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  Rocks

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  Rocks

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  Rocks

Level Backgrounds

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  Possibly an early River of Fears.

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  Another early River of Fears.

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  Overcast mountains.

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  Savanna

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  Snowy tall mountains.

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  Abstract background, possibly for the alternate Ends of the Earth tileset.

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  Some unused foggy mountains and abstract backgrounds.

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  Possibly another abstract level background.

Front-Layer Graphics

These usually show up near the bottom of the level and obscure the bottom few rows of tiles.

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  Desert rocks.

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  Snowy rocks.

• 

  Ruined wall, darker than the one used in The Labyrinth.

Unused Sprites

Sign-Like Objects

These sprites behave like signs - they trigger a conversation when approached.

The book object has a conversation portrait, but the others don't.

Object Sprites

Small objects:

Graphics	Notes
	It looks like at some point, rope objects had anchors on the end. These were probably removed because they would look odd when rotated.
	This is an unused type of rollable rock that can be used to hold down switches, just like the gray and yellow ones.
	An unused variation of the common pile of rocks that contains a health or magic crystal.
	A couple of unused scythe variations.
	A bale of hay. Probably behaves similarly to the large crate.
	A cauldron. Since it's split into two pieces, it's likely that Ferazel could jump inside.
	Only the upper-left type of block in this sprite sheet was actually used; the rest were never placed in-game.
	There appears to have been a way to destroy these blocks at some point, but in the final game, they're indestructible.

These stalactites fall when touched. Only the leftmost one was used in-game.

Partially-destroyed versions of these bridges appear in-game, but there are also these sprites for the complete versions.

This bridge never appears in-game. It's split into two sprites since one would render behind Ferazel, the other would render on top.

Scenery Sprites

Urchin-like things? These have no animations and appear to be static scenery.

Various small plants.

Some larger rocks and plants.

Some wall decorations.

A rat hole and rat. The rats were probably just moving scenery and not enemies; there are no attacking or death graphics for them.

Some dead habnabits and an unused gravestone.

Some furniture with spiderwebs.

There are lots of variations of rocks you can stand on, like these. These are all the unused variations.

Various unused mushrooms.

A fallen tree. Similar standing dead trees were used in Storm Valley.

A couple of unused chandeliers. These behave like torches and have a health or magic crystal inside.

Character Sprites

It looks like there were to be forest nymphs in this game at some point. The blue robed figure has no conversation portrait.

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  Taryn

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  Sara

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  Forest Nymph Matriarch.

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  Blue robed figure.

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  Taryn conversation portrait.

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  Sara conversation portrait.

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  Forest Nymph Matriarch converstion portrait.

Enemy Sprites

Some kind of worm.

HUD Graphics

This may have been used after a boss was defeated. In the final game, the skull icons on the map remain colored after bosses are defeated.

Unused Items

Unused Spells

These are all the spells in the game, as they would appear in the inventory. Ice Crystals and everything to the right of VBlade are unused. Unfortunately, none of the unused spells actually do anything - Ferazel makes a spell-casting motion, but nothing happens.

Unused Items

This comparison shows the full items sprite sheet (top) and the unused items (bottom).

This is what the unused items would look like on the field.

The Ice Pick also has a field graphic, though it never appears on the field in-game since it's bought directly from a character.

There's also an alternate Red Xichron sprite. This one is a little lighter than the one used in-game and does not spin, but it behaves like the used Red Xichron when you pick it up.

Only two of the unused items actually do anything. The Vorpal Dirk replaces the Dagger when obtained; it's used the same way but does twice the damage. It looks like this when used in the field:

The Mist Potion turns you into a ghost for a short time, allowing you to pass through walls and floors and collect items, but not be attacked by enemies. However, if you don't make it back to your body before the time runs out, you die.

In addition to silver coins (worth 1) and gold coins (worth 10), there are unused platinum coins that are worth 100 silver coins each.

Unused Projectiles

These look like some pretty powerful spells, like the Fire Guardians' fireballs.

A drop of acid. Might have been meant to appear in The Labyrinth or the caves.

A ninja star of some kind.

Early fireballs?

Unused Dialog Windows

Continue Screen

In the final game, a unique screen appears upon death instead of a dialogue box.

Level Warp

A level warp dialogue box. In both Harry and Ferazel's Wand, option-clicking on new game brings up a dialog box with a small anti-cheating message.

Harry Leftovers

As Ben Spees, the main creator of this game, worked on Harry The Handsome Executive, it should come as no surprise that some leftovers from that are still in Ferazel's Wand.

A warning about unsupported processors. Ferazel's Wand wouldn't even need this, since it only runs on PowerPC Macs.

Copying machines were used to save in Harry, but they're completely absent here.

This was used in Harry for the general preferences, but they are completely different in this game.

Unused Level Features

Many levels are missing wall tiles in places where the player cannot see them, presumably due to developer laziness. One level, Western Reaches, is missing wall tiles in a place that the player can actually see - just go to the upper-right corner of the level.

A Scent Of Peril

There is an unused room on the right side of the map containing a ziridium brine pool and teleporter. The teleporter doesn't have a valid destination, so it's not obvious where this would have fit into the level. There is also what looks like a partially-overwritten testing area below this unused room, containing some breakable walls and a large pool of water.

Unemployed In Greenland

There is a large system of caverns at the upper-right of the map. Some of the slopes' corners have non-matching tiles and it contains no sprites, so it's likely it was scrapped early in development.

Hangnabit

Past the actual end of the level to the right is another few screens of mean-looking obstacles, then another end of the level with a ziridium brine pool, save point, and some fire seeds to collect. It's likely this was the original end of the level, but the developer decided the level was too long and shortened it by adding the current end. Curiously, the wall above the unused level ending doesn't go all the way to the top and there's a little floor up there, implying that there may have been a secret there at some point.

(Note: the full-size map of this level appears to be too wide for TCRF; this is only the right half.)

Obfuscation & Edification

This level contains multiple inaccessible rooms:

• Just left of the top-center of the level, there's an unused, empty room.
• Beneath the archway that you come out of just before the secret exit to Purple Haze, there's a tiny room with enemies inside it. You can't see them, but you can kill them if you fire a V-Blade from the archway.
• Above the level's non-secret exit, there's a room containing a few goblins and other enemies. Some of these can also be killed with V-Blade if you're standing in the right spot below the room.
• Below the room with three generators, there's a tiny acid-filled room with nothing in it.

The monsters in the inaccessible rooms are the same types that come out of generators in other places in the level. One hypothesis for their existence is that generator sprites may require a sprite to copy in order to work properly, so these are the template enemies for the generated enemies.

The Labyrinth

Right near the beginning of the level in the lower-left corner, there are some empty tiles that are marked as destructible by explosions. (This has no effect if the tiles aren't solid.) It's likely there was once a wall here, but it was removed and the destructibility flags were never cleared.

Iceconoclasm

There is an empty unused room at the right side of the map.

Fire In The Hole

There's a large, empty, partially-overwritten unused area next to the secret areas on the right side of the map. It's likely this was scrapped early in development, since it contains no sprites. It looks like it may have originally been an extension of the end area at the lower-right, since its floor and ceiling could line up with the end area's floor and ceiling.

Unused Sign Strings

STR# resource 500 contains some unused sign text:

Index	String
0	The sign reads, “Travellers: Beware of vermin!” Vermin, indeed.
1	String number quote, two, unquote.
2	A battered marker reads, “Escape passage construction authorized by High Habnabit Authority, D.S. 489.”
4	Insert a merchant or interesting character in this alcove.
5	Congratulations, you finished the level. Exit goes here.
7	The sign reads, “Caution: Bottomless abyss ahead!” ...Gee. It can’t really be BOTTOMLESS, can it? Well, perhaps I shouldn’t chance a fall, anyway.
9	The plaque reads, “Hither lies danger.”
17	Caution: This level is not complete and is here just so the map won't have big gaps in it. It'll be here in b4. In the meantime, here is a teleporter if you want to skip it, and sorry if we broke your suspension of disbelief.

Conversation Remnants

Strings in the conversation resources are stored as Pascal strings. When a string is overwritten with a shorter string, the extra bytes of the original string are not overwritten, offering a glimpse into what some conversations in the game were like during development. In this section, the red text is from a longer overwritten string and is not visible in-game.

Some individual lines in conversations were changed:

Conversation	Speaker	String	Notes
Mcnv 201 (Geroditus; A Scent Of Peril)	Ferazel	Geroditus! Geroditus... oh no... what happened to you?	Ferazel instead asks "What happened?" in the next pane.
Mcnv 202 (Andrew Welch; Purple Haze)	Ferazel	Gadzooks. I'm impressed. like Frank Zappa.
Mcnv 202 (Andrew Welch; Purple Haze)	Andrew Welch	Lo! — for it is only fitting. I govern unswervingly and unblinkingly: my scepter is steady; my wits are true.eth not mine ability to govern unswervingly.
Mcnv 202 (Andrew Welch; Purple Haze)	Andrew Welch	Leave me in peace! — for I have matters of grave import to weigh.	There appears to be no way to reach this conversation pane.
Mcnv 212 (Jason; Purple Haze)	Jason	I'll talk about the person I met when I was young... Pay me heed and don't avoid/The counsel of a marketdroid.
Mcnv 212 (Jason; Purple Haze)	Jason	In 198X we've found the Badd's top secret material called Albatros which was never put into practice.seeds are the only way.
Mcnv 213 (Eric Speier; Purple Haze)	Ferazel	Er... never mind... Take care.	This used to show up after Ferazel's "What's a television network?" in Purple Haze, but they correctly decided that it's funnier without this.
Mcnv 260 (gravestone; Obfuscation & Edification)		The grave reads, “Here lies Nerogazel, who left this life at Manditraki hands two miles west of the Salt Pillar in the Western Mountains.”ins.”
Mcnv 280 (plaque; Purple Haze)		The plaque reads, “Welcome to the secret level. All who pass through here are sworn to secrecy! Reading of this notice constitutes agreement to this legally binding contract! We also get your children and home.”And we have lawyers and Doberman pinschers,
Mcnv 300 (Thedorus; Obfuscation & Edification)	Ferazel	Wait... you don't mean “Dimbo,” do you?uin your day!	Thedorus actually says "Don't let Xichra's henchmen ruin your day!" so probably this was just moved.

Each shop conversation appears to have been copied from a previous shop conversation. Rojinko's appears to have been the first made, then an unused conversation (Mcnv 204) was made on top of it, then Elber's, then Cedric's. These strings in the Rojinko conversation already contain some unused string bits, potentially implying the existence of an even earlier shop conversation:

Speaker	String
Rojinko	Well, hello there, Mr. Magical... looks like I have a new friend! I'm Rojinko. I like having friends, as long as they don't have big mouths... know what I mean? Heh heh... It's a pleasure...d matters of wizardry. Why, your spellcasting skills make me quak
Rojinko	So what's cooking inside that cute little hooded cranium of yours?claims to have seen the Great Western Desert with his own eyes.
Ferazel	I don't associate with your kind.e jerk. I don't associate with your kind.
Rojinko	Oh, you know. I just like hanging out in remote dead-ends. Heh, heh. Trust me, I have my reasons.se on the ziridium mining party.
Rojinko	Here you go. Let me tell you, you're going to be real happy with that purchase... fill your magic power right up, it will. Run along, now.hurry along. I have things to do.
Ferazel	Money or no money, you better just give me what I asked for, you low-life!na get hurt!

The next shop conversation appears to be completely unused. It's with a person aptly named "Unfriendly Fellow", and goes like this:

 

• (only first time) Hey, pipsqueak, did I ask you come in here? I have a new friend! I'm Rojinko. I like having friends, as long as they don't have big mouths... know what I mean? Heh heh... It's a pleasure...d matters of wizardry. Why, your spellcasting skills make me quak
• (only after first time) Bothering me again, are you? Sheesh.Didn't get enough of my winning personality last time, eh, pal?.
• What do you want, anyway?that cute little hooded cranium of yours?claims to have seen the Great Western Desert with his own eyes.
• Responses:
  1. Who are you? doing here?
     • Does it matter? Look, just because I don't live with the rest of the clan, it doesn't mean you can turn up your nose at me. You're not any better than me. I'm sick of this attitude.
  2. Happen to be selling anything?ing to trade for?
     • So it's all business, is it? Figures. I have a pretty good gathering of fire seeds, as it happens. I might be able to let some go — for the right price.terested in a health potion or a magic potion, I can do good by ya.
     • Responses:
       1. Buy 3 Fire Seeds (100 coins)
          • Three fire seeds. Careful where you throw these things, pal — they'll set off a good bang.r magic power right up, it will. Run along, now.hurry along. I have things to do.
       2. Buy 10 Fire Seeds (250 coins)
          • There you are, ten fire seeds for Mr. Deep Pockets here. I don't even want to know what you're going to use them for. Just don't use them around here!
       3. No thanks.
  3. You're very rude. I don't like you.jerk. I don't associate with your kind.
     • Oh, you are just soooo better than me, aren't you? You're just the good little apprentice, eh? Run along now, before you get hurt.ighten children, nothing more.
  4. I'll just be leaving, then...
     • Good! Get out of here!little life, then.
• (If you buy something but don't have enough money)
  • I don't take I.O.U.'s. Cold coinage only.n't have enough money to buy that! Get outta here and stop wasting my time!
  • Responses:
    1. Oops, sorry about that. I'll come back when I have the money.
    2. Ah, well, I didn't really want one of those anyway.
    3. Money or no money, you better just give me what I asked for, you low-life!na get hurt!
       • Hey... no one, and I mean no one, talks to me that way, especially not a little pipsqueak nestwetter like you! You can forget about ever getting any more help from me. Now get out of here!
• (If you picked 3 above and re-encounter him later)
  • GO... AWAY! Leave me alone.

Elber's conversation contains a lot of string fragments from Unfriendly Fellow's conversation, and finally, Cedric's conversation contains a lot of string fragments from Elber's conversation. All of them are repeats of the above.