Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: Wolfenstein 3D

Showing posts with label Wolfenstein 3D. Show all posts

2010/04/13

Video Game Character Lookalikes: B.J. Blazkowicz from Return to Castle Wolfenstein

This is going to be a bit different from most of the other posts I’ve done on lookalikes in the past, seeing as their have been at least three incarnations of B.J. Blazkowicz in the Wolfenstein series. There’s B.J. in Wolf 3D, RTCW, and Wolfenstein, and they all look pretty different from one another.

Finding a lookalike for B.J. in RTCW wasn’t too difficult, as I remembered Michael Cudlitz who played Sergeant Denver "Bull" Randleman in Band of Brothers, which is coincidentally playing right now each week on DSTV.

Captain William Joseph [B.J.] Blazkowicz [left], and Michael Cudlitz [right]

2009/12/08

Wolf and a Half: Wolf 3D mod for Half-Life 2, Demo out now

I read about this on Bluesnews as well as N4G.com. I had a change to have a look at it today, this Wolfenstein 3D mod for HL2.

There’s not a whole lot of detail, certainly not as much as you’d expect from a mod built in the source engine, but it does retain a kind of Wolf 3D feel to it, when I look at the screenshots. And I like that, because I’ve always liked Wolfenstein 3D.

I’ve heard of this mod before, and now this time the big news is that a demo including 5 maps has been made available for download.

Also, this guy is in need of some new team members for his mod company, S.D.A., so if you know something about modding, help him out.

So there’s a Wolf 3D mod for HL2, but I also know of a Wolf3D mod for Doom 3, which looks even better, I think, although this mod, the last time I read about it, was “put on ice”.

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http://www.moddb.com/mods/sda

Wolf3D in Half-Life 2

2009/11/26

Commander Keen Remake Happening, Not by id Though

A lot of classic id games have gotten tons of attention over the years in some way or another, whether it's sequels or source ports and HRPs attended to by massive fan communities, Wolf 3D, Doom, and Quake have had it all.

But you may be surprised to know, as I was years ago, that id made another series years before all these titles: Commander Keen.

Well, this series of games has its followers, and in some forum called NZCGI (New Zealand Computer-Generated Imagery), a guy named Laz is going to lengths to make his own remake or "tribute" in his words, to this great series of games starring B.J. Blazkowicz' grandson. He's doing this project on his own, using Unity with Java/C Sharp code. The screen caps that he's posted there so far look pretty damn good.

It's a shame though that this is likely without id's consent, and they have shut down projects in the past, like UDoom, which I've talked about before, where id issued a C&D (cease& desist) order to the makers of a mod for Unreal Tournament which aimed to remake levels from Doom for multiplayer use.

So, like Kotaku said, this project might not ever be released, and it's a shame.

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NZCGI
Kotaku

2009/11/25

Id Software’s Rage to Have Classic id Game Weaponry

Tim Willits of id Software told Total PC Gaming that when Rage comes out next year, it will not only have some brand new toys to play with as far as guns go, but will also feature some classic id weapons too.

"Rage will feature many of the classic id Software weapons of the past, along with some new and unique Rage weapons as well. We are focusing not only on great weapons, but on engineering items that will add to the variety of gameplay. We will also have multiple ammo types available for a number of the weapons."

“We are focusing not only on great weapons, but on items that will add to the variety of gameplay”

"Rage also has an economy where you are allowed to choose how you spend your money earned through combat and racing,"

"You might decide you love the wingstick (a boomerang-cum-shuriken weapon) and stock up on them, or you may feel inclined to purchase parts to build more sentry bots or to keep your armour upgraded and repaired."

One thing I’ve noticed with id games is that one thing they didn’t do that the Unreal series has done all along, is implement alt-fire with their weapons. You might want to put that in there too, Tim.

So anyway, I went and got a list of all of the classic id games’ weapons, from Wolfenstein 3D, the Doom series and the Quake series.

Games that weren’t directly developed by id, like Quake 4 and Wolfenstein, don’t count for the purposes of this list. Remember, classic id weapons.

So here’s the list. Leave your favourites in the comments if you wish. There will also be a poll on your favourite classic id weapon (the best new guns from each game), which you can find at the bottom of the right sidebar.

Axe (Quake)
Berserk (technically not a weapon, but a powerup) - (Doom series)
BFG 9000 or 10K (Doom and Quake series)
Blaster (Quake II)
Chaingun (Pretty much every id game in some form)
Chainsaw (Doom series)
Fists (Doom 3)
Flashlight (Doom 3)
Gauntlet (Quake III)
Grenade (Quake II& Doom 3)
Grenade launcher (Quake series)
Hyperblaster (Quake II)
Knife (Wolf3D)
Knuckledusters (Doom and Doom II)
Lightning gun (Quake I and III)
Luger (from Wolf 3D)
Machinegun (Quake II, III and Doom 3)
MP 40 sub machinegun (from Wolf 3D)
Nailgun (Quake)
Pistol (Doom)
Plasma gun (Doom series and Quake III)
Railgun (Quake II and III)
Rocket launcher (Doom and Quake series, used by boss enemies in Wolf3D)
Shotgun (every id game except Wolf 3D)
Soul Cube (Doom III)
Super Nailgun (Quake)
Super or Double Barreled Shotgun (Doom and Quake series)

I would personally like to see the super shotgun and of course the BFG in some form. To leave these out would be folly, as well as the chainsaw perhaps, and the Chaingun… and the Railgun. Damn, just put them all in there! Borderlands did! Well, their weapons were mainly randomly generated, but still.

By the way: is it just me, or does that guy with the hat remind you John Romero, just a little, around the eyes? I guess the classic weapons aren't the only thing making a return.

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http://www.thatvideogameblog.com
http://www.nowgamer.com/news/1802/xxx

2009/11/13

Musical Association with Video Games: What are you Thinking?

Friday the 13th

Do you remember that old word association game, that some people claim is used by psychologists and such on their patients? Well, when you listen to music, with a particular track, there’s usually some sort of thought that comes into your mind, and every time you listen to that track, that’s what pops in your head. Sometimes it’s easy, because the theme of the song pretty much does it all for you- it’s literal. But other times, there’s some inexplicable idea that revolves in your head when you listen to a song, maybe because it can be interpreted in many ways.

Well, I’ve just been thinking about it lately, and I have some examples of video games I think about when listening to some music tracks. I’ve been listening to Megadeth’s latest album, Endgame, since it came out back in September, and there’s a track on there by the same name, “Endgame”, and when I listen to it, I first think about Thief, particularly those Hammerites, and Cragscleft prison in Thief: The Dark Project. This is probably because of the theme of the song. "Endgame" deals with the infamous Guantanamo Bay Facility. As the song progresses however, I start to think about Wolfenstein 3D or Spear of Destiny, especially like a boss level at the end of an episode. Why I think it’s perfect in this sense, is because of the lyrics:

“This is the end of the road; this is the end of the line,
This is the end of your life; this is the end.”

Also, another track that makes me think of Wolf 3D is “To Live is to Die” by Metallica, especially part of the intro riff.

Another example: While listening to "The Unforgiven", by Metallica on their black album, it may be because of James Hetfield’s emphasis on the part of the song which makes me think of Duke Nukem 3D, when you kill those alien troopers and they scream.

"What I've felt,
What I've known..."

Finally, If I listen to "Wherever I May Roam", like a posted about the other day, while listening to the intro, I think about Assassin's Creed, and as the song progresses I get images of Quake II, because parts of the song remind me of the Sonic Mayhem composed track that plays when you're in the factory levels, like the Processing Plant.

Megadeth's "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due", and Motörhead's "Assassin" also turn my thoughts to Assassin's Creed.

Weird, you say? Well, you do it too, you know.

2009/10/28

It’s Your Birthday: John Romero

On this day, back in 1967, Alfonso John Romero was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He turns 42 today.

John Romero is a designer, programmer, and developer in the video game industry, and is one of the original co-founders of id Software. He’s worked on a number of their games like Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny, Doom, Doom II and Quake. He also worked as Executive Producer and Game Designer on Heretic and HeXen.

Other than id Software, he worked at or co-founded companies like inCider, Capital Ideas Software, Origin Systems, Inside Out Software, Ideas From The Deep, Softdisk, Ion Storm, Monkeystone Games, Midway Games, Gazillion Entertainment and Slipgate Ironworks. Slipgate Ironworks recently experienced some layoffs. Slipgate Ironworks is owned by Gazillion Entertainment, of which John is the Executive Vice-President and Creative Director. He’s also the Chairman of the CPL Advisory Board.

Interesting facts about John Romero:

He’s lived in Colorado, Arizona, California, and England.
John started programming games when he was 11 or so.
He is credited with coining the term "deathmatch", and is thought of as the “father of deathmatch competitions”.
John likes to make sound effects and taunt people while he plays games. There’s a song in Doom II, called “Waiting for Romero to Play”, because he was so electrifying and entertaining.
The pose of the space marine on the cover of the Doom box was taken from a photo of John Romero.
Daikatana is labeled as one of the worst games of all time.
John Romero was once killed but came back to life.
John is a big fan of wikis.
He refers to himself as “The Romero”.
John almost worked at Blue Sky Productions, eventually renamed Looking Glass Technologies. Looking Glass Technologies made System Shock, which was technologically superior to Doom and Doom II, but was overlooked despite this.
He once put his Ferrari up for auction on eBay. He seems to love them as much as John Carmack does.
He’s been married about three times, including his current wife, and has three children.
His son works at Slipgate Ironworks.
He’s named after his father, Alfonso. His mother is Virginia, and he has a brother named Ralph.
John is often said to have the best hair in the industry.
John was the final boss, The Icon of Sin, in Doom II. He was presented as a head on a stick.
John likes listening to heavy metal music. This is why most of the music in Doom is inspired by metal bands, although the MIDI tracks were composed by Bobby Prince.
John likes being in the spotlight. John Carmack said so.
There’s a 95 % chance that John Romero will read this.

Quotes by John Romero

"I completely love playing and designing games and always will. I am so into games that I listen to game music all day. That may sound strange, but you can guarantee I'm a hardcore gamer and would never let you down by designing a crappy title." – Daikatana

"If you walk into CompUSA or Babbage's and see the vast array of game titles on the shelf, chances are that 95% of those titles are not worth playing." – Daikatana

"Daikatana will be the greatest game of all time"

2009/09/25

Déjà vu: Wolfenstein Pulled out from Germany

Wolfenstein, the latest in the legendary series, has been recalled from German stores. Stores have been ordered to take down any and all copies of the game in stock. And this was all allegedly because of one swastika that was spotted in the game, and this was missed by Activision. That little thing is what caused all this? Well, any Nazi symbols are illegal in Germany nowadays, apparently.

Of course, as I’ve heard before, it was the Nazis who started the war, not the Germans. Some German readers who have commented on the story at various websites have more or less said, "It's more complicated than that. You're not German, so you don't understand."

Yeah, we do. You lost the war!

This situation has occurred before. Remember Wolfenstein 3D? The game was banned in Germany due to the swastikas and "Horst Wessel Lied" being the theme song. People still played it there though, although not legally, but referred to it under the name "Hundefelsen 4C".

When the game was ported to different platforms, the dogs were replaced with giant rats (which was alluded to in Spear of Destiny), the swastikas and such were replaced, and Hitler was replaced with the “Schtadtmeister”.

Anyway, about Wolfenstein: Planet Wolfenstein notes that it's not known whether a new version will be made and sent there to replace it. The game hasn't sold extremely well (it certainly didn't outsell Madden 10, so you won't get your money back), and teams at Raven and Endrant that worked on the game have been laid off. This happened right after the game's release.

Might as well not bother then. In fact some people question why Raven bothered in the first place. I liked the game, though. Thank goodness I don't live in Germany. No offence...

Sources:

Wolfenstein Recalled in Germany - UPDATED
German Wolfenstein PC Recall
http://www.planetwolfenstein.com/
Wolfenstein Sells Just Over 100K Combined
Latest Wolfenstein pulled from German store shelves
http://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittbericht.php?ID=5982811

2009/05/06

What 3D Realms has to say About Wolf 3D Turning 17

The other day I wrote a piece on "Apocalypse Then: Wolfenstein 3D", which was in respect to "the grandaddy of them all". I checked, and 3D Realms also had something to say about Wolf 3D, seeing as they published the game when it first came out, under Apogee Software, and were also due to make an addon for it, which eventually became a separate project- Rise of The Triad: Dark War.

http://www.3drealms.com/news/2009/05/wolf3d_turns_17.html

2009/05/05

Where are the Stars now: B.J. Blazkowicz

B.J. Blazkowicz is the protagonist from Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and is under contract to star in Wolfenstein, the sequel to RTCW.

William Joseph (B.J.) Blazkowicz, of Polish descent, served in the O.S.A. branch of the United States Military during World War II. He was captured and held prisoner in the depths of Castle Wolfenstein in a dark, dank cell, on his own. He managed to break out and made his way through level upon level until he reached the exit and escaped the castle.

He then embarked on a quest afterwards to take down some of the major figures in the Nazi regime and German army, foiling their plans for biological warfare in the Nocturnal Episodes of Wolfenstein 3D. Eventually he ended the dream of the third Reich, eliminating Hitler down in his bunker.

“It was complete balls- not historically accurate- because Hitler killed himself, as anyone will tell you.”

Then id made a prequel to the events, in Spear of Destiny. He had to retake the legendary Spear that pierced the side of Christ; else it would stay in the wrong hands and turn the tide of the war. B.J. made a comment, saying, “It got really bizarre. The things in Spear of Destiny were way different from Wolf 3D, with angels and bats with guns and weird stuff.”

Id then put out what has been referred to as the lost episodes of Spear of Destiny, and B.J. had to go back and finish up with those.

After having waged a lone war against the Nazis for two whole games, B.J. was then forced to star in another game, this time it was Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which was basically a remake with modern technology, but sent B.J. to places that he hadn’t been before, which he claims made a nice change instead of Spear of Destiny, which was basically like Wolfenstein 3D, but with the enemies having a wardrobe change, and new music playing in the background.

B.J. now has orders to star in yet another id game, Wolfenstein, which is the sequel to RTCW.

“You think they would have come up with more original names. Out of all the games, only Spear of Destiny is different. The other three all have 'Wolfenstein' in the title.”

B.J. usually refers to himself as William and hates his nickname for certain reasons. He also doesn’t like to abbreviate Spear of Destiny, as it “spells a rude word”.

“They’re a bunch of sickos, the people who thought up this stuff.” He claims.

He married Julia Marie Peterson after World War II and later had a son. Their son, Arthur Kenneth Blazkowicz, or A.K., became a television talk show host in Milwaukee and later changed his last name to Blaze. His son was named William Blaze or Billy Blaze for short, the protagonist in an earlier Id Software title, Commander Keen.

“To think they made it so I was related to that little pogo pouncing squirt; of all the nerve.”

B.J. lives in a chateau in Germany, where he is currently working with id and Raven Software on Wolfenstein.

Regarding the parodies and references to Wolf 3D in other games, like Telltale Games' Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, where there is a mini-game referred to as "Castle Poopenstein", B.J. says that they have “no respect whatsoever”.

When asked to comment on whether Rise of the Triad should have been part of the Wolfenstein series, he said, “Of course! I was geared up to be in that game, and then they changed their minds, and it ended up starring all these other people instead and things changed. I would have been psyched to star in it.”

When he was asked if it was true that he once had romantic ties to Gretel Grosse from Wolf 3D, he said, “I’d sooner kiss her brother, Hans.”

Apocalypse Then: Wolfenstein 3D

May Day (holiday)

On this day in gaming, in 1992, the legendary Wolfenstein 3D was released.

Wolf 3D is often called the granddad of FPS games, even though Doom helped carry the genre even further. The term “Doom Clone” was used throughout 1993-1997, and was replaced by the current first-person shooter term we use today. Shouldn’t it have been “Wolf Clone”?

The game received a prequel of sorts in September, Spear of Destiny, four months later. Another game in the series is Return to Castle Wolfenstein, released in 2001, and the latest installment, called Wolfenstein, will hopefully be released this year.

2009/03/28

Wolf 3D for PS3 and Xbox 360

After all these years, id Software's classic first-person shooter, Wolfenstein 3D, is going to be playable on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The reason for this is probably to promote Wolfenstein, the fourth game that is set to come out later this year, also to PS3, Xbox 360, as well as the PC, thank Atom. Think about what a slap in the face it would be if it didn’t, since Wolfenstein 3D’s first stop was the PC, back in 1992.

Wolfenstein 3D was also open-sourced and released on the iPhone this week.

2009/03/21

Games and violence…against animals?

Okay, so now gamers are not only racists (Resident Evil 5), and psychotic killers (every FPS shooter game), but now they’re sadists and animal haters too.

Breanni Lucci, who is the president of a private high school’s Animal Rights Club, started a petition after seeing her brother shooting dogs in Call of Duty: World at War. Apparently, more than 100 classmates have supported the petition which she will send to Activision.

The last time we had something like this was when Nintendo demanded that id software had to take the attack dogs out of Wolfenstein 3D for the Super NES version, which were replaced with giant rats.

The killing of dogs isn’t the main aim of the game, as you have to take on the axis forces of Germany and Japan in the game. These were also violent dogs that could kill the player, and so if you were to leave them alone, they would either be gunned down by someone else or they would kill you. That’s self-defence in my book.

Once again, clueless people who don’t play games rush to conclusions and act without thinking. Let’s hope Ms. Lucci doesn’t take up politics and we end up with a Jane Thompson on our hands.

2009/03/14

New CGR article: Wolfenstein 3D

As of today, I've written another Classic Games Resurrected article, the ninth in the series, and it is Wolfenstein 3D. This game is regarded by many to be the grandaddy of them all, the game that invented the FPS genre.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Wolfenstein-3D