WOLF 3D 0.5
REVIEW
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Game Title: Wolfenstein 3D
Genre: 3D ego shooter
Supported Machines: [x] ST [x] STE [x] TT [x] Falcon [x] CT60
Minimum Memory: [ ] 512 kb [x] 1 MB [ ] 2MB [ ] 4 MB [ ] more
HDD Installable: [x] yes [ ] no
Coding Laguage: m68k asm (hisoft devpac 3.1)
Description: a straight port of the original game (the mac version).
Game Design: uses the original mapdata (logicware)
Coding: ray /.tSCc.
Artwork: ninjaforce (apple IIgs group: http://www.ninjaforce.com)
Sound: dma-sc / sector one
Current State: ~75%
Planned Release: sometime in 2005, definitely
Website: http://ray.atari.org
Contact: ray(at)atari(dot)org
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I cannot truly remember when the WOLF 3D project was started, more than 3
years ago I suppose. Crazy and very skilled coder Ray of tSCc thought that
this game could be ported to the ST and indeed other crazies did it for the
Apple GS while the machine only runs at 2.8Mhz. A couple of days ago we
were offered a new preview called 0.5 and this is time to talk about what
is imho the most promising game for the ST !
Let's start with a little history : Ray started coding this game basing his
work on the peecee version but soon changed direction when he found out about
the Apple porting. Hence most of his engine was built and then deleted twice
and to be honest when you have a look at the very first preview you think it
looks ugly and slow. So much has been done from this moment !
With that new preview, one year awaited, the game truly shows an awful LOT of
enhancements, even I was taken by surprise tho I had a preview version no one
else but me was supposed to have :)
The preview starts with the very colorful title screen, dunno how many colors
but a lot more than 16 ! Then we are set in a square room since this preview
can read map files and gives you the first level of Wolfenstein to play with.
The game runs very smooth on a simple ST tho 2Mb of ram are required. Ray adds
that the final version will happily run on 1Mb systems tho. Textures are still
nice looking and if you are looking for more speed you can rescale the game
window using + and - keys. This time there is also a high detail mode you can
switch with the * key but it's only recommended on Falcon. On ST the game
surely runs slower but still can be played imho.
So, what do we have here ?
> level maps included and a full level to play with
> static items and ennemies shooting at you are into the party too
> cool sampled sounds when opening doors or facing ennemies
> secret passages as seen in the earlier preview
Except that you still cannot shoot at ennemies, the game is already fun since
you can walk around, open doors, pick up items and look for secret places. ST
owners like me may have troubles opening doors sometimes but Ray is already
working on that issue. Oh and btw there's a gun painted on screen, cannot wait
to use it :)
What's missing ?
> shooting at ennemies
> health and ammo counters, not to forget keys and maps
> music ? But I already know Dma Sc has done a great job here :)
CODE : the game runs fast enough on a humble ST and in 60hz. You can resize
the game window if you are looking for extra speed ! I haven't noticed any
slowdown even with 4 ennemies on screen at once.
GFX : great title screen showing more than 60 colors I believe. The ingame
player's panel enjoy its own 16c palette while another 16 colors can be seen
in the main window. All textures and objects tho naturally blocky still look
very good.
SFX : sampled voices and sfx like doors opening or shooting definitely sound
top quality here even tho Ray says the replay rate is kinda low. With Dma Sc
in charge of the main tune, we also know that music will rock as well !
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L a s t w o r d s
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This preview brings a lot of new and cool things, mostly static items and
moving ennemies that show that the framerate is still solid on a humble ST.
Sound is cool too and brings a lot to the atmosphere. It is good to see Ray
going back to this project after he had to spend a lot of time on BEAMS
(finishing someone else's work in a pain in the ass but Beams rocks !). Now it
seems that WOLF 3D is coming very close to completion as mostly counters are
missing and tho I'm no coder I don't think this is the hardest part :) The 3D
engine runs flawlessly, it sounds good too, controls are sweet, textures are
gorgeous and you can freely choose your game window size.
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F e e d b a c k ?
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This is a chance for me to kick some asses here ! There are both active and
inactive people in our Scene but oddly it seems that the people complaining
are the ones doing nothing :( Have you downloaded this preview ? Have you
liked it (to be honest who COULDN'T like it ??) then move your fucking lazy
ass and drop a mail to Ray/tSCC at ray@tscc.de
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STS signing off
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