|
Post by Sketcz-1000 on Apr 2, 2012 5:30:41 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Gendo Ikari on Apr 2, 2012 10:31:15 GMT -5
Some errors and typos I noticed. - At the bottom of page 1, the screenshot says "Atari 2600" - On page 2, something went wrong with the quotation marks: eDeathCam', eshareware,', eL' and eR' buttons... - Also on page 2, it's not "auf wedersehn" but "auf wiedersehn". - Page 5: the first screenshot of Wolfenstein 2009 says "Cover". Also, Heretic may have not been Raven's very first FPS, since they also published CyClones under SSI, roughly at the same time if not a little earlier.
The memories... It's now roughly 20 years since a friend brought me a diskette with the shareware version of Wolf3D. The game has aged quite rapidly (the forward leap in technology and gameplay Doom did was incredible) but has still the charm of being not the first FPS, but one of the few that truly codified the genre (for better or worse). The article is quite brief about what prompted Carmack to write the engine but I like the comparison with Catacomb 3D (which too was a first-person rendition of an older Catacomb) and the incredible detail about all the official and unofficial ports, some of which I've neverd heard of until now. I always thought of the SNES version as sort of a "footnote" while in truth, it was the basis for several other ports. Will have to check out for the PC "backport" of the Mac version especially.
For the good mods, I would have also suggested Spear Resurrection and Spear: End of Destiny (http://www.areyep.com), two fan sequels of Spear of Destiny set after WWII, with Blazcowicz hunting some surviving nazi officials who haven't given up on their occult plans. The site is very detailed and has even complete levels guides. The games feature some enhancements used in other source ports, like textures on ceiling and floor, additional weapons and exploding barrels. Only, unless you have a Windows source port that supports them, you'll need a quite powerful PC to run them under DosBox because you'll need to crank up the CPU cycles a lot.
The 2001 game was excellent but it was just not revolutionary as the original was almost a decade earlier, so it wouldn't have left any mark if it wasn't for the good multiplayer portion. The 2009 episode didn't even have that, so... Also Activision didn't give much support, some think it was to have no in-house rivals to Call of Duty - Raven's Singularity was similarly mistreated. Unsurprisingly, Raven has been quite hurt by these flops and, to add insult to injury, has been a satellite studio to CoD development lately...
Finally, I had the chance to try Wolfenstein RPG on a Java phone and it was a surprise, simple base mechanics and lots of fun. The iOS version looks great.
|
|
|
Post by TheChosen on Apr 2, 2012 11:48:22 GMT -5
Great stuff. The VR game was most interesting since this is the first time I've ever heard of it.
There's also an interesting story regarding on Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein. For several years the game was considered as freeware, or at least abandonware. We had them on both Abandonia and Reloaded. Then all of sudden we got cease and desist and the downloads had to be removed. At the same time, somene put this on both Wikipedia and Mobygames article on MUSE software, and probably on other places too.
"NOTE FROM OWNER OF MUSE SOFTWARE COMPANY: ID Software did not buy or otherwise obtain the rights to Castle Wolfenstein or Beyond Castle Wolfenstein. ID Software. All rights to all MUSE Software products were then and remain now the sole property of Jack L. Vogt, Owner of MUSE Software Company."
We never did get a change to clarify the C&D, frankly because the powers-that-be only seem to care about hosting the site rather than running it, and honestly the whole thing sounded fishy. To our knowledge, this Jack L. Vogt never did anything to those games and the only notable thing about him is that he owns treasureunlimited.com website.
|
|
|
Post by KeeperBvK on Apr 2, 2012 13:55:33 GMT -5
- Also on page 2, it's not "auf wedersehn" but "auf wiedersehn". Now you've put in an entirely new typo. It's "auf Wiedersehen"
|
|
|
Post by Gendo Ikari on Apr 2, 2012 14:48:51 GMT -5
Whoops. I've looked in dictionaries to be sure to get it right but I ended up typing it wrong
|
|
|
Post by Weasel on Apr 2, 2012 16:39:27 GMT -5
I probably should have looked that up before slipping it into the article. =P
I am curious, though, how this community feels Hitler's Wolf3D death stacks up to his Bionic Commando/Rearmed version. Which is the best? How do you like your messy exploding Hitlers?
|
|
|
Post by bakudd on Apr 2, 2012 21:24:11 GMT -5
I have Tides Of War for Xbox and I played through the very first level but it was really boring and bad! But since you mentioned it was a exclusive prequel level I may have to try playing again.
|
|
|
Post by Weasel on Apr 2, 2012 21:58:36 GMT -5
I have Tides Of War for Xbox and I played through the very first level but it was really boring and bad! But since you mentioned it was a exclusive prequel level I may have to try playing again. Really, the game massively picks up after the (admittedly rather lame and forgettable) Ras el-Hadid. I wish there was an option to just skip it altogether and get straight to the original PC version levels...
|
|
|
Post by xerxes on Apr 2, 2012 22:11:38 GMT -5
Read this article tonight, thereby liquifying time I planned on using for something else.
I really appreciated the detailed discussion of Wolf 3D's ports, particularly how they shared (or improved) various assets. This may be the most complete explanation to be found anywhere.
A fine article for one of my favorite games. Kudos.
|
|
|
Post by Sac (a.k.a Icaras) on Apr 2, 2012 22:18:35 GMT -5
I remember playing the hell out of Wolf 3D back in the days before the internet, when stores would sell super cheap copies of shareware games on disk. I also remember in my last year of high school (1996 ) when I was doing work experience at a computer store, I was kinda ignored by the staff (To make up for it, the guy actually gave me a really good write up, impressed the hell out of my teacher. Funnily, friend a differant computer store had the same experience, I did, heh), but came across the mac version and was shocked to discover the flamethrower.
|
|
|
Post by Narushima on Apr 3, 2012 14:32:10 GMT -5
Excellent article ! I had no idea these two early Castle Wolfenstein games existed. And all the bits about mods are great.
And just to nitpick, page 2 starts with "Here's the bit that the majority of gamers probably remember the most". That should be "remembers", the subject being "the majority" (well, the whole Noun Phrase is, but that's the same).
|
|
|
Post by Weasel on Apr 3, 2012 15:03:03 GMT -5
I could also have changed it to "will probably remember" and it would still work - no idea why I didn't go with either of those.
|
|
|
Post by bladededge on Apr 3, 2012 15:21:30 GMT -5
The author covered major Wolfenstein mods, modding and fan works! It makes me very happy. An article on id games without mentioning the modding would have been doomed to show only a tiny part of the story.
I have fond memories of Wolfenstein's MapEdit myself. My uncle years ago was one of those tech-heads who grab everything the moment it rolls out, and he not only had the internet, but Commander Keen, Doom and Wolfenstein and all the associated bits of paraphernalia, including discs full of shoveled-in levels (which I can personally attest were almost universally terrible). Every time I was over his house I'd wind up spending hours on that computer making levels and shooting through them. Even uploaded a few (universally terrible) levels of my own; I wonder if they're still out there somewhere.
|
|
|
Post by vinsanityv22 on Apr 4, 2012 3:01:51 GMT -5
I just wanted to point out, that while an excellent feature, it DID neglect to mention the Wolfenstein/Doom easter eggs in RAGE. If it's going to show the Doom 2 Wolfenstein easter egg, shouldn't it point out this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGJ3br970XsIt's a little thing, but it's still a cool little bonus in Rage (also the Quake room). I just thought it should get a little nod...
|
|
|
Post by Weasel on Apr 4, 2012 3:03:54 GMT -5
I had honestly forgotten about the RAGE easter egg, which honestly isn't quite as in-depth as Doom 2's - it's one room and an item that's worth a one-time $100 bonus in game, should you decide you really want to sell it. Cool little reference, but it's nothing compared to being able to play a couple of levels with little twists.
|
|