Wolfenstein 3D

What is it?
?
What computer or emulator will it run on?
A 286. You should have some extended memory. It plays well in DOSBox.
Tags
3D, Gravis Ultrasound, on the German Index.
→ Download Wolfenstein 3D Shareware ←

You're William J. "B.J." Blazkowicz, the Allies' bad boy of espionage and a terminal action seeker. Your mission was to infiltrate the Nazi fortress Castle Hollehammer and find the plans for Operation Eisenfaust, the Nazi's blueprint for building the perfect army. Rumors are that deep within the castle the diabolical Dr. Schabbs has perfected a technique for building a fierce army from the bodies of the dead. It's so far removed from reality that it would seem silly if it wasn't so sick. But what if it were true?

As an escaped prisoner in a Nazi war prison, you will move smoothly through a 3D world full of amazing detail and animation. Unlike other 3D games, you'll run through a sensational and realistic 3-D environment, with intelligent moving guards and opponents.

Released on 1992-05-05, Wolfenstein 3D is usually considered the first 3d-shooter ever. In its time, it was quite a success; Scott Miller, co-owner and partner of Apogee Software, said in an interview for (meanwhile defunct) Makegames.com that it grossed $250,000 a month for over a year.

DOS

System Requirements

The system requirements of the original PC version are astonishingly low. For fluent gameplay on a slower computer, reduce the window size. I've played it on a 10 MHz 286 with 5MB RAM with enjoyment. For maximum window size, you will need something faster. On DOSBox, it will play well with the default 3000 CPU cycles. According to the official specs, the game needs 528k base memory, but if it finds enough EMS or XMS, it will be content with as little as 256k, so drivers and TSRs should not be a problem. Be sure to have a soundcard (AdLib or Soundblaster); sound is part of the gameplay and sounds really terrible over the PC speaker.

Gravis Ultrasound

From the Gravis FTP site you can download a patch that will enable sound and music on the Gravis Ultrasound, ULTWLF13.ARJ. This patch will replace the Soundblaster samples and music with GUS .SND files and mod music. Both are supplied but can be changed by the player at will. I can say nothing about the sound effects, but the supplied music has no resemblance whatsoever to the original music. The patch modifies the main executable, so unless you have made a backup, you cannot go back to normal.

On Other Platforms

Wolfenstein 3D was originally a PC game, as the whole FPS genre remained PC-specific for quite some time, but was later released on other platforms, too. Most of these versions were inferior to the original.

SNES (1993/94)

This was the first port on which most of the subsequent are based. It introduced two new weapons, a flame thrower and a rocket launcher using different ammo, and an automap. Due to Nintendo's politics, all the blood and gore has been removed, as well as all Nazi references.

Atari Jaguar (1994)

This was the first 64 bit console, before the Nintendo 64, and contrary to the SNES, it was up to the job. You also get all the additions from the SNES version without the censorship. Sprite graphics have been reduced so enemies face you all the time, which results in the loss of some gameplay features. View is full-screen, instead of a status bar, numbers are displayed right in the view. You can find screenshots, boxshots, the manual and more at AtariAge.

Macintosh (1994)

Based mainly on the Atari Jaguar version, inheriting its enhanced graphics as well as its reduced gameplay, this port is in general well done and enjoys quite a popularity in the Macintosh community. It should be played on a PowerPC for full enjoyment.

Acorn/Archimedes (1994)

It is a direct port of the PC version and shares the same graphics at a marginally higher resolution (320×256). Some bugs were fixed, but none of the console add-ons were included. The port was done by Power Slave and originally released in a box. Later it was available on the disc of RISC user magazine, October 1997 (Volume10 Issue 10).

3DO (1995?)

It was created by the same team that created the Macintosh version and is practically identical, except that it has the music of the original.

Apple ][gs (1999?)

Begun in 1994 by Bill Heinemann, who developed the Macintosh and 3DO versions. Finished later by Eric Shepherd and released as freeware.

Game Boy Advance (2002)

This is the latest official conversion, they tried to make it as close to the original as possible, but you can save only at the end of each level, and the GBA is simply not made for 3D games.

Unofficial

Apart from these official versions, there have been unofficial code ports and remakes. These are all outside links.

Around 2001, someone tried to port the game to the Atari Lynx, but it appears this port was never finished.

Wolfenstein 3D in Germany

Wolfenstein 3D is one of the few games that was not only indexed, but also confiscated in Germany. There were two verdicts, one from 1994-01-25 for the PC version (Amtsgericht München) and one from 1994-12-07 for the Atari Jaguar version (Amtsgericht Berlin Tiergarten). The reason for this is §86a of the German penal code (Strafgesetzbuch) which forbids the display of symbols of anti-constitutional groups, in this case of course Nazi swastikas. Possession of a confiscated game is not illegal, only offering it for sale in any form.

Of course it was put on the index as well, as most first person shooters after it. Though indexing, unlike a confiscation, is a broader measure and basically affects all versions, the GBA was indexed seperately in 2003.

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Last modified 2010-05-08, 2009-06-05