=================================WOLF-BYTES======================== ----------The Wolfenstein 3D Newsletter For Rabid Wolfers---------- ===========A free service provided by Castle Wolfenstein=========== Issue #1, September 13th, 2004 ::In This Issue:::::. --------------------- Dedication Foreward Xarkon Reviews: Conflict In The Fatherland Wolf-Bytes interview: Majik Monkee Wolf-Bytes interview: ChiefRebelAngel A Wolf3D Drinking Game This Month's Featured Wolf3D Mod World Wide Wolfenstein: The Best Wolfenstein Sites On The 'Net Retrogame Retrospective: Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein Epilogue ::Dedication::::::. ------------------- This issue of Wolf-Bytes is dedicated in loving memory to Silas Warner, creator of Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, the two games that influenced the reason why you're reading this: Wolfenstein 3D. Silas passed away earlier this year due to cancer. R.I.P, Silas. ::Forward!::::::::. ------------------- Guten Tag! Welcome to the first ever issue of Wolf-Bytes! This is something I've been working on for years, and it's finally come around. Thanks for subscribing, and I hope you choose to stick around for the future issues coming very soon. Xarkon was the first contributor to Wolf-Bytes in its earliest stages. He sent me a review for Conflict In The Fatherland that's very well written and worth a look. Xarkon has expressed interest in having a regular review column, so we'll see how that turns out. I was lucky enough to get two last-minute interviews for this issue. Majik Monkee is the author of some great Wolf mods, in case you didn't know. His work includes Halls of Stonehenge (which was a big hit), Operation: Hundscheisse and his latest and best (in my opinion) work, Operation: Letzerschutz. I also got an interview with ChiefRebelAngel, a relative newcomer to the scene with a lot of talent and some big plans. Retrogame Retrospective is a section where we chronicle older games, particularly in the FPS genre, although anything good, old and action oriented is worth mentioning. In World Wide Wolfenstein, we select some of the best Wolfenstein sites out there each month. Keep your eyes on it to find some cool Wolfenstein sites. Who knows... One day, your site might be listed there! Wolf-Bytes also chooses each month, out of the millions of Wolf mods out there, a featured Wolfenstein mod. Only the best of the best make it each issue, and you can be assured that you're going to read about only quality games here. We select both modern and past games in order to keep a fine balance. Since this is the first issue, I thought it'd be appropriate to focus on mostly the great things of the community, so some of the choices in the selected mods and sites might be obvious to established members. Future issues will be more diverse, but right now - It's celebration time Wink Anyway, if you sat and read all that, you probably want the content now, so... Go for it! Have fun! -Ian Franken, webmaster, Castle Wolfenstein editor, Wolf-Bytes ::Xarkon Reviews Conflict In The Fatherland::::. ------------------------------------------------ Conflict in the Fatherland is great game! I first played it a few years ago when I was starting to modify Wolf3D. The mod is fairly the same story to Wolfenstein3D except with a better/enhanced storyline. He elaborated where ID software could not. Each and every level in Conflict in the Fatherland is hand-crafted by expert level designer Brian "B.J. Blazkowicz" Rowan. He really has done a great job. With a full game manual as if it were a game released on the shelves of your local Video game outlet, it provides highly informative help so you will never get lost. There are great new sounds which are remakes of the original Wolfenstein3D or Spear of Destiny Sounds. Some are quite new sounds such as the newly drawn Chain gun which he remodeled to be a MG34 GPMG weapon. Brian remade all of the weapons sounds and the guard’s death sounds. This is a great mod for those who loved the original Wolfenstein3D graphics and levels. Brian Rowan’s "Wolfenstein3D: Conflict in the Fatherland" is a great game for all first person shooter lovers. Personally I think it is an awesome game and I will continue to play it until I beat all the levels and get more than an average of 80% on each level. The one and only downfall of Conflict in the Fatherland is that Brian Rowan could have enhanced the graphics a little bit more. He touched up those few mistakes ID made which bettered Conflict in the Fatherland compared to Wolfenstein. Little things like touching up the colors of the lights and the SS’s uniform from blue to Black. They look awesome, but he could have done a little more. None the less, "Conflict in the Fatherland" is a great game for people of all ages. It can be quite thrilling at times believe it or not, seeing one of Dr Schabb’s evil undead mutant soldiers jump at you from around a corner is quite scary at times especially when he takes off 10% of your health every shot he fires with one lift of his arm. I suggest downloading Conflict in the Fatherland by Brian "B.J." Rowan today. If you already have it, play it!! You can download it from the Wolf3D Dome then go to the "C" section of the downloads. Review by Joel Corrigan (AKA: Xarkon) ::Wolf-Bytes Interview: Conjuring the Magic of Majik Monkee::::. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Majik Monkee is the author of the hit TCs "Halls Of Stonehenge" and the recent "Operation: Letzerschutz". His other credits include "Operation: Hundscheisse" with Dumscheissekopf, a bizarre and very humorous mod based on Wolf3D. He is also the webmaster of the highly praised website "Image World", a site that offers some excellent quality public domain images for other people to use in their Wolfenstein mods. In this interview, we discuss Majik's upcoming projects, his past sets, and pizza... Q = Me MM = Majik Monkee Q: Halls of Stonehenge is a slightly out of the ordinary Wolfenstein TC. Typically, mods with a lot of borrowed graphics from other non-Wolf games don't get a lot of attention, but HoS has become quite a favorite with today's crowd. Were you surprised by this ? Also, what do you think is the reason for HoS' popularity ? MM: Well, it's hard to say really. I think there are a few factors that play into that, though. First of all, I started working on HOS the moment I joined the the Wolfenstein community, and I was very pumped up about it. From the moment I first posted about it, I was splashing pictures of enemies and stuff from the game, and hyping it ad naseum day by day. By the time the project was nearing it's release, I was afraid that all the hype might have backfired, and people would be sick of the game before even having played it, but I think it still worked favorably in the end. Secondly, even though the graphics are almost entirely borrowed from Blood (there are a couple odd ones edited from Doom and one from SOD), I think the fact that there's never been an officially released mod with Blood graphics in it helped give it a degree of newness, in spite of the fact that all of the material was borrowed. Last of all, I can't ignore the fact that I had some incredibly talented people help me with the project. Coming in as a newbie, I didn't know anyone in the community really yet, and didn't realize just how lucky I was to get the people who volunteered to help with the project. There was MCS who did the initial coding, Greg (brothertank), who handled the bulk of it, and then finally, Chris, who wrapped it all up and added a lot of neat extra features to the game. I think the most important aspect of all, though, was the maps, which were handled masterfully by ack. HOS was my first attempt at mapping, and it could have been a disaster if I'd tried to handle them all myself, but luckily, that didn't happen. There were a lot of other folks who helped with stuff, and I won't name them all here. In answer to your first question, yes...I was VERY surprised that HOS became so popular. I never fully understood it, even with the reasons mentioned above, but I'm glad it was worth the effort. Q: Since HoS uses a lot of Blood graphics, I guess you're a pretty big Blood fan, then ? MM: Yeah, I was until they came out with the sequel, which stunk. Actually, I still like the original, and still play it on and off sometimes. The problem is that my PC is about eight years old now, and it's becoming picky about playing games it used to run before, and Blood is one of those. I liked the original Blood because of it's humor, believe it or not, not the over the top gore it was so well known for. When you get past the splattered brains and rolling zombie heads, the game is a very solid FPS with a lot of variation, and that's what I look for in that type of game. Q: What other games besides Wolf3D do you play ? MM: Well, I used to be a video game freak, so if you'd asked me that a couple of years ago, the list would be about a mile long. These days, I don't get to play quite as much as I used to, so it's a pretty limited list. The only newer games I play are Half-Life (PS2), Metal Gear Solid (PS1), and Final Fantasy 7 (PS1). I know...those aren't really new anymore, but I don't usually invest in video game systems until they're old news and marked down a lot. PC wise, I play Outlaws a lot, Redneck Rampage Rides Again, Dark Forces (1 and 2), and of course, Wolfenstein mods. I think that about covers it...I'm a huge RPG fan, and still play games on my SNES a lot of the time, especially Final Fantasy 3, one of the best games of all time. Q: You've become one of the most respected pixel-masters in this community. I personally think your art is among some of the best I've ever seen in any Wolf mod. Have you ever drawn or done graphics for a game before Wolf3D ? MM: Well, that depends on how you look at it. About 15 years ago, when Nintendo and side scrolling action games were the big thing, I was obsessed with the idea of designing my own side scroller. When Window's Paint Brush program came along, I drew layouts for some games with levels, characters, special items, and all that good stuff. There were no readily available side scroller editors, especially since the internet didn't really exist yet, but I always held out hope that one day I'd be able to turn them into actual games. I also did some graphics of my own for an RPG that Adam Biser and I were working on (he was building an engine entirely from scratch for the project, but it's on hold for now), though a lot of the graphics for that project are borrowed. Overall, I'd say that Wolfenstein was my first experience with creating and importing graphics into a game. Not my first editing experience (that was Duke 3D), but the first where I changed some visual aspect of a game. Q: Where does your inspiration for new graphics come from ? Some of your bosses and walls are very unique... Is it just a lot of experimentation, or do you have a strong vision in mind before you sit down at your PC ? MM: Only about 10% of everything I make is designed for actual projects, and about half the time, I'm not quite sure what I'm doing until I'm about half finished. My first experience with character editing was with Hundscheisse. I was basically switching heads and bodies of various bosses, trying to come up with the most ridiculous looking enemies I could think of. It wasn't until a while after that I began delving into the world of characters involving more complex editing. Most of the time, I'll be typing away at my job, and a vague but powerful image of a character will pop into my head, and I'll form it as much as I can in my brain until I get a chance to start working on it. Usually, I'll decide how realistic it is to design based on existing materials I can use, or how well formed my idea is. For every character you see I've designed for the Image World or someone else's project, there are twice as many that either got thrown out the window before they were started, or got pitched in the recycling bin after only a couple of frames. A lot of my most time consuming work hasn't been made public yet...it's the graphics I did for "Kurt vs The Master" and the "DHWTC" project. I think everyone will be in for a surprise when those projects are released. Q: Are there any games besides Wolf3D that you'd like to make graphics or mods for ? MM: I'm not really sure, to be honest. My problem is that I'm a perfectionist, and if I can't get my graphics or levels to look as good as those of the original game, I hesitate to get started with it. I rejected the idea of modding Doom graphics and levels because it's hard to hand draw enemies and sprites that look as good as the models used for the original. As far as the newer games with character "skins" and wire frame models, that's all totally new to me. The closest thing I've ever attempted to creating a design for a full 3D character was creating skins of me and my brother for "The Sims", and that was a lot of work. I'm not saying I'll never do it, but considering the best art editor my PC can handle right now is MS paint, my options are a little limited. Q: Operation: Letzerschutz is out, and it's a hit! I really like the "traditional" Wolf-TC feel to it. Though it's got a lot of code changes, you're not really distracted by them unlike a lot of games today and the focus is on the gameplay alone. Was this your goal with O:L ? MM: Definitely. I always felt like I cheated a bit when I designed HOS. It was my first mod, and I went right for the elaborate, highly noticeable code changes (mainly the harmful objects, ceilings and floors, ultra powerful extra weapons). Then I "co-designed" Hundscheisse, and while that was closer to a traditional Wolf mod, the fact that it was so intentionally corny caused me to feel like I was still missing something. When I began planning OL, it was my vision from the beginning to do something very traditional. I originally planned to leave the code unchanged (aside from episode names and sky color), because I wanted to preserve the traditional feel as much as possible. Over time, though, I realized that some of the things I wanted for the game that there wasn't room for could still be added without taking straying from my original vision, thus the extra weapons and enemies. It was tough near the end of the design process, because I kept seeing screenshots for new mods that had all these great features like shading and floors and ceilings and other advanced goodies. I just had to keep telling myself, "Those are good for that project, but that's not what OL is about." The fact that it was so well received after it's release is very satisfying. It tells me not only that the OL team did a great job putting it all together, but that the Wolfenstein community is still open minded enough to give credibility to a mod that's still very traditional and true to the original Wolfenstein. Q: Out of the mods you've done, which one is your favorite ? MM: I'd have to say that OL is my favorite. I have a strong sense of attachment to all of my work, but OL represents the fullfilment of my dream to contribute something very traditional to the mod scene. I also love the variety in the game...we've managed to cram six very different environments into the game for each episode, using the limited supply of walls and sprites the Wolf engine offers (with only a couple added). The secret levels have a lot of variety as well, and show some of the personality of those who designed them. One of the things I like the best about OL was that I did nearly half the levels for the project. That was always something I wished I'd done more of in HOS (though we'd have missed out on some of ack's awesome levels then), and doing a lot of maps was one of my main goals for this project since it was first conceived. Q: What are your favorite Wolf3D addons / TCs ? MM: I would have to say at this point that my favorite mods are "Coming of the Storm" and "Operation Heimzahlung" by WSJ. I love these mods because of the realism he always incorporates into his work, and there's always a good balance between action and puzzles. My close second favorites are "Wolfendoom" and "Spear Resurrection" by AReyeP (and MCS). Both of the latter are very well designed in all aspects...though occasionally a bit too mentally challenging for me. In all fairness, I've only played a couple dozen mods since I joined the community, so there might be other mods out there I could add to my list that I haven't played. I'm working on that right now though since I finally have some free time again. Q: Can you tell us anything about your upcoming project S.K.U.N.K.Z ? Any crazy new features you can tell us about ? Also, who's going to do the coding for it, you or somebody else ? MM: Well, S.K.U.N.K.Z. may well be my biggest challenge yet. I know it's easy to do a cartoon type mod, but doing one well is a whole different matter. I never dreamt when I was designing the graphics for the game that it would be one day handed over to me to complete entirely, but I was willing to take on the task for the sake of seeing the game completed. S.K.U.N.K.Z. spoofs the trading card industry, which I don't personally have anything against, but I feel it's made itself a target for some jokes by becoming such a huge craze. The game's not meant to be political, though...just fun. As for coding, I'm not sure what features will be implemented in the end just yet. It's based on SOD, so I know there will have to be a little coding (unless we want to see BJ talking to the President at the end). I can't code, though, so I know it won't be me doing it when the time comes. Q: What was the last mod you played ? Was it any good ? MM: The last mod I played was "Project Eisenritter". It was great! I've played WSJ's newer mods, and it was cool to see where some of his material originated in this mod, and it helped me to understand how he's built upon that for his newer works. Before that, I played "Revenge of Poopdeck Willie", which helped me appreciate even more what a great game Eisenritter is by comparison. Q: Is it true Australians put eggs on their pizza ? MM: Gosh, I hope not. I'm not an Aussie, so I couldn't tell you for sure. I once tried it on a frozen "breakfast pizza" I bought as part of a fundraiser, and it wasn't very good. Some people eat mayonaise on their french fries, though, so different strokes for different folks I suppose. I do have a special fondness for squid and octopus, though. Q: Do you really feel that monkies have magical powers ? Have you yourself ever personally known a magical monkey ? MM: Well, unless making funny faces at you or throwing things at you at the zoo (which is why most zoos keep apes behind glass now) requires magical powers, I don't think they have any special abilities...I've never known a monkey who I felt posessed the gift of magic. Actually, the name Majik Monkee dates back to years ago when I was first trying to join an internet forum (back when computers didn't have mice and there were no operating systems, just text based chat). I had a hard time finding a name that hadn't been used, and eventually, I stumbled upon this one. The strange thing is that ever since then, the name is never used at any of the forums or anything I've tried to sign up for, so I never use anything different (unless I'm going incognito). If you see a Majik Monkee out there on any other web forums or web based media, chances are it's me. Smile Q: Any last words you'd like to leave us with, Majik ? MM: Yes. To all you would-be-modders out there remember this: A well done mod may take a lot of time, but it will bring you satisfaction for years to come. A poorly done mod with your name on it, though, will haunt you for the rest of your life. Oh, yeah...and never trust someone who's first name is just an initial, especially if you don't know what it stands for (ex. "F. Lee Baily"). I think that about covers it! Majik Monkee's Image World website can be found at the following URL: http://www.angelfire.com/droid/majikmonkee/imageworld.html ::Wolf-Bytes Interview: Hail To The Chief, baby::::::. ------------------------------------------------------ ChiefRebelAngel has a vision: To make a killer Wolfenstein mod, and he's pulling out all the stops. A relative newcomer to the scene, he has already produced some great graphics for his upcoming game, Castle Helvete which we're sure will be some stiff competition for all Wolfenstein mod makers to come. I asked the Chief if he'd be interested in doing an interview because I feel he is a fine representation of the great things to come in the Wolfenstein community. He accepted, and we talked about graphics, Wolf3D, gaming, comics, punk rock, Gilligan's Island...Just read for yourself! Q: = Me Chief = ChiefRebelAngel Q: Castle Helvete looks stunning! The story sounds great, the features sound cool, and the graphics are among the best I've ever seen in any Wolf-mod. Have you ever made any mods for any other games besides Wolf3D ? Chief: Thanks! The story is kind of a work in progress, I haven't worked out some of the finer plot points. Let's just say that the finale will involve Himmler and Odin's special son (Thor, for those of you who know nothing of comics or mythology). The features are coming along, Jonathan Storey is the codemaster of this project, although he isn't extremely experienced in code modification. As for previous mods, I was working on a Doom mod off and on for like a few years. I've also created tons of Duke Nukem3d levels, but none of which were ever completed. Q: Are there any other games you'd like to mod for besides Wolfenstein ? Chief: I missed the boat on Half Life, but I find Doom3 to be very interesting. I'm planning on continuing my education after this semester by attending a classical/3d animation college. I'm useless when it comes to modern 3d Studio Max and Maya type programs. I have many, many ideas for weapons, characters and levels. So who knows, maybe someday there will be a Doom3 mod by ChiefRebelAngel Productions. Q: What other games besides Wolf3D do you play ? Chief: For modern games it's Doom3, Soldier of Fortune 2 MP and Call of Duty. I didn't mind C&C: Generals either. For the classics it's got to be the almighty Rise of the Triad, Wolf and Spear, and of course the Doom series. Q: Here is a question a lot of Wolfenstein modders get asked: Why do you choose to mod Wolfenstein ? Chief: Instant results. With Wolf, I can create a decent level in an hour or two, as opposed to days with a modern FPS. I can get just as emmersed playing Wolfenstein as I can playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Q: Now this is something I'm curious about... How on earth do you make so many graphics so quickly ? You've got over 80 new textures alone last time I checked! It's been hardly two months since you first announced Helvete! Chief: Well, to be honest, I have tons of old rough Doom textures lying around. Many were unfinished, none were ever released. I just ported them to the Wolfenstein palette, and played with them a bit. With new textures, It takes me around 45min to an hour to draw one from scratch. I think of patterns, themes and ideas all of the time, so when drawing, it's all planned out already. I do improvise sometimes, and usually come up with great looking stuff on the spot. I want to have my own signature feel to the art. I also began working on Helvete months before it was announced, but it wasn't until then that I started taking it really seriously. Q: What kind of code changes do you plan on having in Castle Helvete ? Chief: Whew! Where do I begin? Most of the changes have been seen before, Floors and ceilings, added weapons, characters etc. I would like to add more than 100 textures to this project, but I'm sure ol' Wolfy couldn't handle it. I really want to change the menu graphics, but leave the functions the same. I would like the DH Kommando (mutant) to throw grenades as well as shoot (Like the Enforcer from ROTT), but that's all complicated stuff which I really know nothing about. I would like 6-9 enemies, but once again, memory issues prevent this. Q: Do you have any beta testers on stand-by to help with the pre-release of Helvete ? You can ask for help in this newsletter if you need anyone... Chief: As far as I know, it's just Jonathan and I for now, but volunteers are always welcome. Maybe Kyo Kusanagi can help me out. Q: As someone who is still pretty new to the Wolfenstein scene, what do you think of the community so far ? Chief: It's punk rock. The wolf community is smaller, more intimate, you can actually remember people's names and avatars. It's underground and extremely dedicated. Everyone seems really friendly, and they give constructive criticism, and lots of praise! Q: What are your favorite Wolfenstein add-ons / TCs ? Chief: From what I've had time to play: Spear Ressurection is the ultimate add-on, all others will be compared to this masterpiece for eternity. Anything Majik Monkey does is of the highest caliber. I was really fond of 'The Coming of the Storm' as well. Kreml3d, Trench warfare and Double Trouble look very promising. Q: I read that you almost designed graphics for Ken Silverman's (of Duke Nukem fame) new game. How did that come about, and why didn't you do it ? Chief: Yes, that's true. Ken's been developing a 'voxel' (cubic pixel) based engine for a few years now. I contacted him through e-mail and began to correspond. I designed a rocket launcher for him, which took me a while. He loved it, and I began working on other things, but the weight of school caused me to halt development, which is very unfortunate. The great thing about Ken is that he not only can program excellent visuals, but he has a real knack for creating user friendly tools. Maybe I'll send him some more stuff when Castle Helvete is complete! You can check out his website at: www.advsys.net/ken Q: Besides modding, what else do you do ? I hear you draw comics... Chief: I'm a lover of all comics and graphic novels. I was raised on comics, It's how I learned to read (I'm sure it shows Smile). I sing for a band called 'Voice of Treason', a small time thrash/Hard Core band. Very political stuff. If you look around on soundclick.com, I'm sure you'll find us! Q: Do you have any cool Wolfenstein-related experiences to share with us ? Any weird dreams, hallucinations, stories with friends, etc ? Chief: I always promote Wolfenstein to all my friends, but they reply with ridule and scorn. None of my friends are gamers, they would rather watch tv or play music which is cool. I think I'm the only Wolfer for like 300 miles. When I was a kid, I would draw Hans in my scketch book over and over, he was quite scary. I used to walk around in the hallways of Castle Wolfenstein for hours, long after the nazis were dead. I just liked hanging out there. I used to try to run around the pillars so I could walk outside (y'know that grassy landscape texture?). Q: Do you know of any Wolfenstein drinking games ? I thought about posting an old one I had years ago, but never got around to it... Mine would've left you plastered after level 1, anyway. Do you have any suggestions for another one ? Chief: everytime the officer says 'I'm from mars!" you have to drink a double of Crown Royal whiskey. Yeah I know, he really says 'Nein so was!", but it sounds funny. Q: If you were shipwrecked on Gilligan's Island, who would you go for: Ginger or Marianne (most common) ? Or, you also have Mrs. Howell, and if you're gay the Professor or the Skipper, or The Rest... Chief: I would definetly try to signal my girlfriend Kaya, she is more beautiful than anyone in the world (except for Gilligan...). Q: That about wraps it up! Any last words for the rabid Wolfers out there ? Chief: Listen to Grind-core, or maybe some black metal. Never be ashamed that you love Hall & Oates. Never abandon the Wolf, and most importantly: be good to one another! The official website for Castle Helvete can be found at: http://www.angelfire.com/comics/derrah/ If you're interested in helping out Chief with Helvete, you can reach him via e-mail at: fourdoz@hotmail.com ::A Wolfenstein Drinking Game:::::. ----------------------------------- I recently found this thing scrawled on a notepad from years ago, and if you like booze and Wolf3D, you might get a kick out of this one. The beverage of choice is whiskey, but you can substitute it for whatever you prefer (I'd suggest vodka or Jaegermeister). It's even fun with Dr. Pepper. This is best played with more than one person, although of course it can be done on your own. Enjoy! Here goes... For every crown picked up: Drink a shot For every One-Up picked up: Drink two full shots For every boss (excluding Ghosts of Hitler): Drink three shots For every new life gained: Drink four shots Everytime you die, drink four shots and hand off to the next player if applicable If you find a secret level, drink two shots Every SS killed and / or Officer killed: Drink a shot (Note: This can be devastating on Episode 6! Recommended only if you're a sailor) I never really messed around with this too much, it was more something I wrote out of boredom one day. Try mixing it up a bit, let me know if you come up with any good ones. Remember, kids: If you don't drink, don't start. There's your public message from Castle Wolfenstein. ::This Month's Featured Wolfenstein Mod: Schabbs 2000::::. ---------------------------------------------------------- It seemed appropriate to me to start off the first issue of Wolf-Bytes with one of the first (and still the best) Wolfenstein TCs ever: Schabbs 2000. Newschool Wolfenstein fans might not get into the oldschool style feel of Schabbs 2000, due to the lack of major EXE mods, but stop and check out the atmosphere of this game: It still makes an impact years later. Along with highly original level designs, some cool EXE changes (I've always loved the almost too-bright ceiling colors and cool music selections) and a killer storyline, this is the game that inspired hundreds of other mod-makers and totally rewrote the book on mod-making. Without games like Schabbs 2000, Assassinate Hitler and Chokage, I doubt there'd be much of a Wolfenstein community at all. This was, along with the other two I mentioned, "the" game that really brought more attention and respect back to Wolf3D. If you've played it before, you know what I'm talking about. If not, give today's mods a rest for a few minutes and check out Schabbs 2000. If you still have any sense left in you after that drinking game I posted above, you'll love it. ::World Wide Wolfenstein:::::::::. ---------------------------------- This month's websites: Mr. Lowe's Wolfenstein 3D Page and The Wolf3D Dome. Mr. Lowe's Wolf3D Page is a major piece of history. I recently checked it out again after taking a brief break from the Dome (Mr. Lowe's new site, run jointly with Tristan van Putten of "The Final Solution" fame), and it's amazing going through the old news archives (going allll the way back to 1999). These archives chronicle some of the greatest highs and lows in the Wolfenstein community, and I can't help but grin whenever I check it out. It's fun stuff looking at when this or that add-on or TC came out, or the time Nate Smith almost got sued by Id, or when some guy named MCS-Amsterdam released a little game called Wolfenstein Collection (who would later go on to work with AReyeP on the masterpiece Spear Resurrection). Next to the archives, I also get a kick out of checking out the old 'Banners' page on Lowe's site. It's amazing, since a lot of these sites aren't even around anymore and this is all we have left of them. I strongly remember seeing banners for The Wolf3D Bunker, The Wolfenstein Domain and The Wolf3D Vault plastered everywhere, all of them taking you to some of the coolest Wolfenstein sites around at that time. I guess if you weren't around back then, the banners might not mean much, but to older members, they'll definitely bring a smile to your face. The scene was a LOT different back then! Newcomers to the scene all know and love The Wolf3D Dome, the definitive Wolfenstein resource on the Web. The Dome is Mr. Lowe's new site, and is a lot more upgraded from his original page with a nice layout. I remember when this site first went up back in 2001... I think it had a black and blue layout initially. There used to be forums there, but those are long gone. Being a part of the Wolf scene then rocked, and I remember meeting Tristan for the first time when he emailed me back in 2000 (I was running the third version of Castle Wolfenstein). Today, Tristan works at the Dome and also does webdesigns for various projects. It's cool to see people start out small and end up doing major projects that really change this community. Makes you feel old and crusty and also proud to be a part of this scene Wink Hats off to Mr. Lowe and Tristan. Check their sites out again, even if you check them religiously every day. I'm sure you'll find out something new about Wolfenstein you never knew before. Mr. Lowe's Wolfenstein 3D Page can be found here: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~brlowe/ The Wolfenstein 3D Dome can be found here: http://www.wolfenstein3d.co.uk/ ::Retrograme Retrospective - Castle Wolfenstein:::::. ----------------------------------------------------- I recently replayed the original Apple II Wolfenstein games from 1980, and I'm amazed at how well the gameplay holds up to this day. Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein were the games that later influenced Id Software to make Wolfenstein 3D (essentially, Wolf3D is a 'high tech' remake). I didn't play the original games until only a few years ago when I got hold of an old Apple //e computer that came with a Beyond Castle Wolfenstein disk. Although the game uses fairly crude graphics and sounds, it's still very addictive and challenging today. It was a breakthrough for its time because of the digitized German voices, quite possibly the first game to ever use real digitized sounds. Castle Wolfenstein was followed by a sequel called, appropriately, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein which had a lot of the same effects, and also a new storyline involving a Hitler assassination plot. You could do a lot of cool things in this game, including holding a German officer at gunpoint, disguising yourself as a German soldier thus fooling the enemies, and there were also "alarms" that the Nazis would set off, thus alerting the bad guys to your location. If you never played the original Wolfenstein, give it a whirl. I'm pretty sure it can be found on a few abandonware sites out there (a PC version is available at The-Underdogs.com, although I couldn't get it to work even on an old XT). Oldskool.org has a new, improved version of Castle Wolfenstein up for download. I haven't checked it out, but it looks like it should run pretty well. Did you know that Castle Wolfenstein was also one of the first games to start the "Mod" craze that is so popular today ? In 1983, a mod for Castle Wolfenstein called Castle Smurfenstein was circulated. It featured new graphics, sounds and a new storyline (Basically, you kill Smurfs, those nasty blue things from the children's cartoons). Castle Wolfenstein is generally credited with being the first game to have any real mods released for it that drastically changed the gameplay (even Tom Hall remarked on this). It's pretty interesting, because look at how many mods there are available for Wolf3D today! ::Epilogue::::::. ------------------- That wraps up the first issue of Wolf-Bytes! I hope you enjoyed reading it and are looking forward to the next issue, coming next month! If you'd like to contribute anything to this newsletter, feel free to do so! I gladly welcome any editorials, stories, emails, reviews, articles, news, rants... Whatever! This is a service for the community, and it can only be what you make it. You can email any contributions to me at: wolfbytes@mail.com You will get full credit for anything you send. Questions / comments can also be sent to this address. See you next issue! -Ian Franken, webmaster, Castle Wolfenstein (http://wolf3d.freelinuxhost.com/index.html) editor, Wolf-Bytes Wolf-Bytes is published monthly each year and is provided as a free service by Castle Wolfenstein. It is maintained by Ian Franken. If you wish to unsubscribe from Wolf-Bytes, you can do so at the following address: http://wolf3d.freelinuxhost.com/wolfbytes.html