Return to Castle Wolfenstein Ships

Screaming Lunatic writes "Woohoo, Return to Castle Wolfenstein has finally shipped. Check this story out at Yahoo. You should be able to buy it at the regular gaming shops. I highly recommend buying it rather than hacking it, as noted in Graeme Devines .plan file." CD: I am seriously flashing back to the Apple II game with a similar name, hope this doesn't suck like daikatana.

Comments

Wolf3d =^)

[Hercynium]

Man, I'm surprised how long this took to hit /.

Well, I've been playing the demo for two weeks and IT ABSOFRIKKENLUTELY ROCKS.

I don't envy the developers

[rcs1000]

It must be really hard producing a sequel of such a classic game after such a long period. They will be judged against people's rose tinted rememberances of the original Wolfenstein 3D. And no matter how good it is, people will say 'Ahhh I enjoyed the original more.'

It's also hard, because the FPS genre is not new anymore. Can RTCW be a better game than Deus Ex or Counterstike? Maybe. But whatever it is it will be hard for it to be revolutionary.

That said, I'm sure I'll buy it as soon as it hits the shops. Just as soon as I finish Civ 3 that is!

*r

Re:I don't envy the developers

[Quizme2000]

I played the MP demo/beta version, and I must say that gamers can look forward to becoming isolated, unshaven caffine junkies (if not already). The game is true to the orignal in the most important area--replay value. Entertainment doesn't have to be ground-breaking to be great, just immersive IMHO. Just hope santa brings me better moniter before I go blind.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[Fascist]

IIRC, Wolfenstein 3D or Wolf3D was its colloquial name. I think it's because, on the PC anyway, the executable file was called wolf3d.exe

Re:I don't envy the developers

[gol64738]

i recall the playing original Escape from Castle Wolfenstein on the Commodore 64.

a year later, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein came out with better graphics and gameplay. now that was what a good game was all about!

Re:I don't envy the developers

[WNight]

Not compared to Team Arena. That was a cheap hack that they sold just to rake in a bit more. Wolf3d is the same engine and very little else. And it actually has a single-player element, one that doesn't involve out-railing bots. (God, their AI is crap.)

Q3:TA was a few new runes, some new models, and some new maps. Nothing amazing either. A day or so picking over planetquake for 3rd-party levels will get you the same quality. Ca-ching.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[WNight]

Yeah, I'm sure the game would sell well at the original price of $60 USD or more.

Come crying when piracy actually hurts sales. That means, when someone who would have purchased the game doesn't because of downloading it.

Sure, thousands will play the game for free, but what does it really hurt? They wouldn't have paid for it, so they get something for free and the developer doesn't lose anything. Everyone who bought the game still has it too, so they didn't lose.

Who's the victim?

Re:I don't envy the developers

[flacco]

Not compared to Team Arena. That was a cheap hack that they sold just to rake in a bit more. Wolf3d is the same engine and very little else. And it actually has a single-player element, one that doesn't involve out-railing bots. (God, their AI is crap.)

Q3:TA was a few new runes, some new models, and some new maps. Nothing amazing either. A day or so picking over planetquake for 3rd-party levels will get you the same quality. Ca-ching.

Christ, Romero, still bitter?

Re:I don't envy the developers

[Nailer]

They will be judged against people's rose tinted rememberances of the original Wolfenstein 3D. And no matter how good it is, people will say 'Ahhh I enjoyed the original more.'

Are you sure? From the trailer and the multiplayer preview it looks awesome - check the realistic explosion on the building, the physics of the soldiers flying in with parachutes, and, or course, the flamethrower, which I think I'll probably remeber as much as the first time I heard `meinleiven' (or whatever) come out of the shiny new SoundBlaster 2.0

It will also be one of the first single player focused 3D shooters to be released on the Linux platform for ages (depending on whether or not Heavy Metal FAKK 2 makes its way to the shelves quicker or not). Rune and Heretic were third person, and Q3 and UT were multiplayer focused. This has me salivating for a good single player FPS - they're a lot more atmospheric than multi or third person games.

And of course, the obligatory reminder that you all should buy it from Tux Games (for all you Yanks), Everything Linux or wherever else will ship with the Linux binaries to show your support for your OS of choice ...

Re:I don't envy the developers

[Uerige]

You remember when that was? Most of us don't know about Wolfenstein 3d nowadays...

Re:I don't envy the developers

[Tet]

And no matter how good it is, people will say 'Ahhh I enjoyed the original more.'

Are you sure? From the trailer [wolfensteinx.com] and the multiplayer preview [wolfensteinx.com] it looks awesome - check the realistic explosion on the building, the physics of the soldiers flying in with parachutes, and, or course, the flamethrower

All of which are completely irrelevant. They're just eye candy, and while they may look great, it's the gameplay that will determine whether it's better than the original or not. If you look at some of the greatest games of all time (e.g., Tetris, Angband, Doom, Hybris, Galaga) they may not have realistic explosions, or accurate physics models, but what all of them have, in buckets, is amazing gameplay. Compare Quake and Doom. Quake had far, far better eye candy, but Doom was the better and more playable game.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[ted_nugent]

Troll? Hardly.

I agree, but I take it a step further. Copy protection is a blatant attempt to deny my fair use rights. I always avoid buying copy protected products wherever possible. It doesn't work, and it hurts the customer.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[ted_nugent]

Doh! Forgot to mention the bit about cd-keys being a lesser evil than anti-copy schemes, but still an evil.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[WowTIP]

Compare Quake and Doom. Quake had far, far better eye candy, but Doom was the better and more playable game.

Uhm... Exactly how was Doom more playable than Quake? Better controls? Better mood?

Yes, in single player mode Doom kicked Quake's ass, mostly because it was the most visually appealling game at the time. Quake otoh survived very long as a multiplayer game, much longer than Doom.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[Tet]

Exactly how was Doom more playable than Quake?

Mostly more hectic action. Because Quake was the first of the poly-based FPS games, the hardware at the time wasn't capable of putting enough enemies on screen at any one time. Whereas Doom made your heart race as hordes of enemies all rushed towards you at once, Quake was a much slower paced game. It was many, many years before another game came along that rivalled Doom in terms of sheer "they're all out to get me" panic. That game was Serious Sam, and it blows every other FPS out of the water, IMHO.

And FWIW, I preferred Doom to Quake for multiplayer games, too. The only drawback was the 4 player limitation. Other games managed to get the multiplayer aspect right a lot sooner. UT was a great multiplayer game, for example.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[WNight]

You're right, it wasn't a troll. Perhaps it's inflamatory, but it's an honest opinion.

I wouldn't mind (much) a perfect copy protection that kept me from distributing copies of a game yet didn't get in the way. A smart-card you have to let the computer read when you install the game, or something similarly strong but unobtrusive. It'd be nice if it allowed backup copies to function properly as well.

What I mind is having to fish through my CDs every time I want to play a different game. I hate how Diablo 2's copy protection didn't work in my CD drive and Blizzard's response was that I should buy a new drive.

I hate how Q3's CD-Key authorization server went down for a while and instead of sticking a computer up that just authorized everything they didn't let anyone play. Instead of risking a few warez copies being able to play for a few hours, they said how terribly sorry they were, but they had no choice...

It's that kind of crap that makes me crack games when I buy them. I'm not going to let them dictate how I use my computer. Diablo 2 worked well when played off the HD (though it did take a big hunk of space.) My Q3A server (gone now) worked through the authorization problems by being cracked on ignoring the master servers anyways. It let everyone one, regardless.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[WNight]

I agree. If you simply make a copy yourself because you refuse to buy it, you're not hurting the developer. But if you buy a forged copy from someone, you're encouraging them to profit at the expense of the developer.

The forger has incentive to cut into actual sales, which (IMHO) casual piracy does not.

People talk about how Q3 and Halflife Counterstrike both encouraged people to purchase the game because of the CD keys... Bull. Everyone I know who was serious about Quake 1 and Quake 2 had purchased a copy. Ditto with Q3. The ones who only played it casually at LANs didn't.

What most people do is try a new game at a LAN party or by downloading it, then buy it if they like it. That's why nobody I know bought Shogo, or Blood 2, or Heist. Even though all sounded interesting. But I know some who saw (and got to install and play) Deus Ex, Evil Islands, and recently AvP2 and went out and bought them, even though from what they'd seen in reviews they weren't planning on it.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[Zillatron]

Just hope santa brings me better moniter before I go blind.

Are you sure a better monitore wouldn't encourage behaviour that might make you go blind?

Re:I don't envy the developers

[WNight]

Romero would have said that all of Q3 was cheese.

I merely think that charging for an add-on pack of mediocre quality is a blatant milking of the cash cow.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[Samus]

Actually Soldier of Fortune, Heavy Gear 2 and Shogo have all been released by Loki. All of which have single player campaigns. Multiplayer SoF sucked. Actually I'd say the single player campaign sucked too. The plot was pretty off the shelf and lame. I never played the others.

Re:I don't envy the developers

[Nailer]

That's true - there have obviously been single player FPSes released on Linux before, but SoF, Shogo and HG2 came out ages ago - the point I made is that this will be the first one that's been released in a very long while (ten months or so).

Shogo was released by Hyperion, BTW

Re:I don't envy the developers

[mgblst]

which I think I'll probably remeber as much as the first time I heard `meinleiven' (or whatever) come out of the shiny new SoundBlaster 2.0

It was actually Mein Leiben... which off course means, "my life" or "my love", which came about from the inherent homosexuality of all nazis after seeing a beautiful american warrior!

Multiplayer tests....

[jea6]

I think most /.ers will agree that the multiplayer test map was very promising. I heard complaints about the "mod-ness" of the game play but really feel that the graphics are well put together. And from what I understand, the single player action is even more promising. Cross-site link me to the Geek Wish list. This is definitely on it.

Re:Multiplayer tests....

[hkmwbz]

Yes, some have complained that the game looks like a Q3 mod. Thankfully, these people spoke too soon - before they actually got to see the real game in action. Judging from early reports, RTCW is actually a step forward for the genre. For example, you can now demolish just about any surface in the game. So rather than sneaking through doors, you could potentially blast the wall open and make a one man army attack. Must be a blast (sic).

Holy Shit!

[nettdata]

I didn't know the Apple ][e game was in colour! I only played it in monochrome green.

Re:Holy Shit!

[aka-ed]

This was the greatest benefit I got out of my $500 (1981 dollars) Sanyo monitor...seeing those weird off-violet and green shades at the borders of the marching stick-soldiers...

achtung! halt!

Wolfie 3d

[doofsmack]

I played the old dos game a long time ago. That rocked. I can just imagine it now...

Re:Wolfie 3d

[Anonymous Coward]

In the good old days we never had anything like those newfangled things like controllers or keyboards or screens!

The CPU was actually just a tree trunk with bits of string attached! The screen refreshed at 2 frames a minute because we had to wait for someone to rake the sand pit dry and redraw it with a twig!

And real gamers, my goodness they were real! They didn't sit down to play dang-nabbit, they hung upside down from the ceiling with their eyes closed and they always chewed gravel to help them concentrate!

You young people, you're too spoiled and you dont appreciate how hard it used to be *mumble* *mumble* *froth at mouth* *collapse*

Re:Wolfie 3d

[TeraCo]

Umm.. 1991 is 10 years ago, which is a long time in computer terms.

mini review... minimal requirements...overall feel

[Cosmic Cow]

For those of you who are wondering the minimal requirements, it works fine here on both my Tiger K7 and my trusty old BP6 with 366Mhz celeron and geforce2MX 400, I can play at 1024x768 with compressed textures, high details, but I've putted the display to 16bits (anyways, it's not like you'd notice a big difference from 16 to 32 in a fast-paced game). It's smooth, it rocks...

Of course if you're planning on joining a 40 people server you might want a bigger cpu than a Celeron 366mhz :) but for single player and 10-20 people it works okay... worse case scenario, you reduce the resolution from a notch.

As for the graphics, it's about like Q3A (same engine) but there are a lot of visible changes, one that you will notice right away is the details on the characters, and also all the motion, probably John will step in and talk about some of the aspects of the design, it looks like motion capture applied to the characters. The graphics aren't a big step up like from quake 1 to quake 3, but the overall mood and gameplay is really good. When I first played the demo, I thought that game would really suck because of the respawn time and the choice of weapons, but when you get to know it and get a well-balanced team that knows how to play, the level, and use special habilities like medic, or engineers defusing,etc.. it's really starting to get addictive. So to anyone who didn't like the test, do like I did, play it a bit more, and if you like the quake style and the RTS style, wolf is a good balance of both.

The single player is good, when I read the interviews, I was expecting a "max payne"-like story line in between each level, it's not as good, but the mood is really there and the levels are really nice. Like I said, it's not a Revolution, but it's an evolution. It's worth to buy if you're into that kind of games.

Hope this is useful to anyone out there :)

Patch

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember folks ... this a computer game. And games get no QA.

So it isn't worth rushing out to buy and install it. Before you're half way through, the first patch will be released and your savegames will be rendered useless.

Wait for the inevitable 1.1

Re:Patch

[Anonymous DWord]

Before I'm halfway through? Hah! Not the way I play! Man, you've never seen moves like these- super-backspin-kicking-slash-shoot attacks! Bang ka-POW! Of course, with my luck, the first patch will screw with all the timing settings and my descending laser bullet of CERTAINDEATH will miss horribly, thus deciding my fate before I've even had a chance to say goodbye to my loved ones.

Damn, I love FPS.

Re:Patch

[Blymie]

Our games go through a continual QA process throughout their entire development cycle. Games destined for consoles such as PS2 and GameCube are
very heavily QA'd since these games cannot be updated with post-release patches.

-

In other words, "Since we can count on bug reports from users after they have paid good $$$ for the game, we can cut back on QA costs".

Alternatively : "We can let users buy our game, be unable to play it, and wait 3 months to release a patch to fix known problems, because we can do post release patches".

Return to Wolfenstein

[DataPath]

I remember playing Return to Wolfenstein on the Atari. Kickin game... 80x40 resolution, more in depth, and harder without being impossible.

linux

[victwenty]

ok, so the demo ran fine under wine(x)... anyone know if the full version does?

Re:linux

[Afrosheen]

Why the hell would you need winex? There have been linux clients all along...and they're going to rellease a full version linux client soon.

Already on usenet

[Sabalon]

Saw it on some of the darker corners of usenet today - incomplete of course.

Sigh...wonder if the final release will lock up my machine like the tests :(

Re:Let me get this straight...

[SteveM]

You people disgust me!

We all try very hard. Thanks for noticing.

And thanks for the chuckle.

Steve M

On the other hand...

[kypper]

If you'll play Civ3 with it's Kenny G style music, you'll do fine with Wolfenstein 3D and ID software's GREAT music history. (NIN? Rob Zombie? I LOVE ID)

Re:On the other hand...

[rcs1000]

I'll be honest with you: I play Civ with my music. But I love iD. I've been playing their games (Commander Keen, anyone) for such a long time I feel like they're a part of my life.

Just don't tell my girlfriend: she thinks I'm working.

Available at EB

[CaptCosmic]

Saw a copy of this at Electronics Boutique last night.

Interview with kevin Cloud @ homeland.com

[Cosmic Cow]

For those of you that might find this interresting, there's an article on homeland.com with id co-founder and artist Kevin Cloud, who was the main coordinator at the company for the game's development, to find out about their expectations for the game and what might be next for the Wolfenstein franchise.

Happy Reading.

Re:Interview with kevin Cloud @ homeland.com

[GISboy]

Excellent linkage, dude.

Kevin Cloud pays hommage to Activision.

IMO, Activision has kicked ass since the Atari days; Atlantis and Subterranea (damn addictive game) up to and including MechWarrior (any version). (even that jungle/Indiana Jones type game...what was it? I forget)

Correct me if I am incorrect, but don't they work close with Interplay? I saw a mention of Descent and damn that brings back memories.

Descent was revolutionary, period.
Game play was fast and furious, the robot/monster AI was (and still is) fscking phenominal.
Don't take this wrong, but all DooM's monsters did was attack, attack, attack....Descent 1, and especially, D2...the would bait, stalk, gang up, retreat and hunt your ass down.

That was totally *mind blowing*! And the first one had in the FAQ, a section called DooM Recovery 101 because it was true 3d before/during the time of Quake's introduction.
(set me straight on a timeline, it is fuzzy after all these years)

Uhhh...ahem...sorry about that "rabid fan'ish" sounding diatribe...
What I am trying to nail down to a fine point is:
All of these games are/were revolutionay, in their own right.

Wolf was there "first" FPS wise, DooM made it "immersive" and Quake made it "inpressive" in several areas. But the one common thread was the "enemies" were not that bright.
What I am saying is if Activision had a hand in it, like I think they did with Descent, RTCW is almost going to be a guranteed winner.

Just my thoughts, opinions, experience and observations.

Cheers,

GISboy

Re:Interview with kevin Cloud @ homeland.com

[TheAlchemist]

Actually, it was Imagic who produced Atlantis and Subterranea for the Atari 2600. :)

..Al

Flame throwers, right on.

[GISboy]

I can't wait to play. The flame thrower is a wicked weapon, but Kingpin did it first to my knowledge.

Kingpin is easy to describe: Imagine Q2, heavily modified to be more visual than Q3, more violent and "realistic" than any game I can think of off the top of my head.

RTCW looks about the same as Kingpin, in some respects, but takes it one step further.

Can I hear a "Mein Leibin!" (I think that is how it's spelled).

Is it too late to recommend this for the "Geek Gifts" catagory...I want it!

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[denzo]

I can't wait to play. The flame thrower is a wicked weapon, but Kingpin did it first to my knowledge.

Actually, there was a flame-thrower Blood (and Blood 2?). There was also a flame-thrower in the Mac version of Wolfenstein 3D (so it's really the second time it's appeared in a Wolfenstein game). Not quite the same fancy effects as in RTC Wolfenstein or Kingpin, but... ;)

Can I hear a "Mein Leibin!" (I think that is how it's spelled).

It's "mein leben," which means "my life" (i.e., my life is leaving me).

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[Anonymous Coward]

What about... RISE OF THE TRIADS!?!?!!!?

As far as I know, there were more different ways to incinerate your enimies than any other FPS out there :)

Hehe.. does anybody remember the bounce pads? 'Hand of god'? ''shrooms mode'?!?!?!?!
click here for a review

At the time, was there anything even remotely as funny?

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[Vidmaster_Steve]

There was also a flamethrower in The (for lack of a term that would do it justice "bad assed") Marathon series of games for the Mac (and a Durandal port for Win95).

There ain't nothin' in the world like heaing the infamous "Flaming Bob Death Scream" when you toast (TOZT) a civvie.

Fond, fond memories... I wonder if Bungie'd ever consider porting (or even making a new) Marathon to its gorgeous Halo engine..?

_______

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[number one duck]

See also "strife", the best flamethrower done to my knowledge using the original doom engine. also syndicate, although that is a horse of a different color.

Hell, I once wrote a flamethrower using "dehacked" to modify the doom executible. Take your rocket launcher, switch it to barrel explosions and the flame that the resurrecting-demon's had... crank up the speed and yank out some animation frames. It was quite nice since Doom took into account missile speed and automatically ruined your accuracy... hold down the trigger and it would flame back and forth through the whole room.

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[Anonymous DWord]

I don't think I ever wasted as much time in high school as with ROTT. Every day, we'd install it on the LAN, and every night Mr. Murray would uninstall it. Eventually, he gave up.

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[GISboy]

Really? Blood 1 and or 2?

For some reason I don't remember it...I do recall the packs of dynamite...interesting.

Knew about the Mein leben, except for the spelling, obviously. What were some of the other phrases the "Officers" uttered?.

Oh, the first time I got torched in Kingpin and killed that way I type in "It BURNS! It BURNS".

ROTFLMAO was the reply from all the players.

I love it when ppl get "in jokes", gamers especially. Unlike the Amen/mein leben joke in my initial posting. Oh, well.

I guess the flamethrower in Kingpin stood out for its graphical excellence and its recentness.
And "pain-skins" also was a "first", not counting the "Wolf/DooM dude's face", but the actual characters in game.

From what I've seen RTCW is something to be reckoned with, graphically and gameplay wise.

Hell, the "nostalgia factor" alone is enough for me. Almost like the WinDooM and GlDooM ports...man those were wild.

I seriously hope there is an "Ultimate DooM" map port...the team that did those maps were sadists, and I loved it.

Ultimate Wolf, humm, has a nice ring to it.

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[diadem]

flame throwers aren't a new idea, there were doom mods for them (plasma gun replacement), but Wolf3d does it WELL.

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[stompro]

ROTT had one of my favorite weapons of all time, Drunken missles, I just get a large amount of joy out of their use. Unreal4ever had a drunk missle weapon, and one other game (anime fsp)... can't think of the name. I love the fact that any number of those little missles might come back and smack me in the head. When I play online games I am usually my own worse enemy, killing myself half the time, with drunken missles I have an excuse. Ok, I have talked tooo much now, back in the hole.

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[Tuonenkielo]

I think you mean ONI as the anime fsp? That game had those missile swarms too. They weren't completely 'drunken', if I remember correctly, they just spread out first then locked on target and came in from multiple directions.

Wicked...

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[Osty]

And "pain-skins" also was a "first", not counting the "Wolf/DooM dude's face", but the actual characters in game.

Actually, Quake 2 had painskins first (obviously before Kingpin, as Kingpin used the Q2 engine). Now, Kingpin was the first to implement "deformable" bodies (in that you could blow off feet, hands, arms, legs, head, lower torso, and maybe one or two other parts, based on where you were shooting. Q2 and earlier games did have decaptations and such, but those were simply death animations). SOF did it better, but Kingpin did it first.

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[Osty]

You're sure it wasn't just death animations? As far back as Quake 1 (well, with the TFC mod, anyway, which had a sniper), death animations existed for decapitations. I specifically didn't mention hit-locations, since I'm sure Kingpin wasn't the first to do such things as one-hit head shots. Kingpin's whole claim to fame was the ability to blow the limbs off of enemies without them dying (well, decapitation would obviously involve dying, but you could shoot off a guy's arm or hand or leg and they could still live). I don't know what game you're referring to from your description, but I'd really bet what you were seeing was a death animation.

Rebellion's Aliens vs. Predator also had "detachable limbs" (for lack of a more concise description), but I believe it was released after Kingpin. Soldier of Fortune took it to extremes. Where Kingpin had something like 12 hot spots, Soldier of Fortune had over 20. Of course, imho, neither Kingpin nor SoF were good games, but then that's just my opinion.

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[Mr_Tom]

Bah!

Syndicate had the best running-around-screaming flamethrower. And dontchaknowit! :-)

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[lobsterGun]

I wrote a flame thrower mode for Doom YEARS ago. It was actually rather simple. I just mod'd the range/refire_delay for an existing gun then inserted some custom graphics into the WAD file.

Sure is bogged down some of the slower systems, but it ran just fine for those of us with l33t 486s.

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[Lostman]

Someone remembers the joys of Blood 1 besides me?

I thought there wern't THAT many of us left. I had the game at some point and loved it.. played mplayer with it ALL the time. Then I got used to Quakemultiplayer and gave up blood for a while. Got the itch for it last year and couldnt find where I had placed it so I went and bought another copy.

Blood didnt have a true 3d engine like quake did but for single player Blood was SSOO much better. If you listen carefully you can still hear the wise cracking caleb and the cheesy showtunes. . .

BTW: in blood it was a "hairspray can" and a match.. not a true "flame thrower" but operated in the same way. Still good.

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[stompro]

No, it isn't ONI I am thinking of..... grrr what was it. Oh yah, Shogo mobile armour division. Where did I put that cd...

ATi Launch Demos

[chris_oat]

well, this is certainly a cool game and i'm glad to see it finally hit shelves but if you would like to see some bleeding edge rendering techniques in the field of real-time graphics then go check out the ATI launch demos. these demos were just posted today (a few hours ago i think). you will need a Radeon8500 to run the demos. personally i find the nature demo to be the most interesting, the water looks comparable to what you might see in a pre-rendered sequence. also, the skin in the rachel demo (rendering nice looking skin is a classic computer graphics problem) looks pretty close to what you might see in the final fantasy film... except at real-time frame rates. of course my opinion is more than a bit biased. :)

Linux version?

[reddeno]

Was there not a Linux demo of this before? I seem to remember playing it... Did id drop it?

Re:Linux version?

[swv3752]

I've been wondering the same thing about a Linux version. I played the Deamo and it was fairly cool. And i know there was a Macversion, so where is the Linux version fo the Game?

Re:Linux version?

[geekd]

The linux version of the multi-player test 1 (there is no "demo" yet. When people say "demo" they mean the mp-test) came out a week after the windows version.

The linux version of the mp-test 2 came out the day after the windows version.

Here is a section of Todd Hollenshead's .plan file that refers to the linux version of the final game:

No date yet on the Mac version, but it's coming soon (not gold yet,
though). We don't have plans to sell Linux in retail, but Timothee
has done great work on the downloadable binaries so far, and I expect
that to continue.

So there ya go.

I have been looking, but I see no final linux version yet. But it's been just 1 day. I just hope that Timothee isn't on vacation or something, because the tin box is sitting right here just waiting to get installed... (Timo: hint hint) :-)

-geekd

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[alen]

Try Ebay. Within a month you can get most games for much less than retail.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein & Graeme Devine

[Kreeblah]

Hmmm. I just saw this at my local BestBuy today. And here I thought I simply missed the release announcement on Slashdot . . .

Regarding the CD key banning, there's something I'd like to point out: what happens if you buy a copy of RtCW and the CD key that you get has already been blacklisted? Say someone uses a keygen. Keygens come up with apparently valid keys which can be used to install software/etc. However, the same CD key could very well also be sitting in a box on a store shelf somewhere. This happened to a friend of mine with Diablo II (although they do not blacklist keys; he just couldn't log on because of it), and Blizzard killed the other guy's account (seems justified . . .). However, suppose the keygen has produced a key that has been posted on the Internet and shared. I doubt that id would just say, "Oh, that's yours? Well, we'll just take it off of the list of banned keys." Hopefully, the customer could fax a copy of a receipt or something and get a new key mailed if this was to happen.

On a side note, I'm surprised at the note that Graeme Devine had something to do with this. Last I heard of him was in the interview at the end of the 11th Hour strategy guide. Good luck Mr. Devine, wherever you are.

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[SquierStrat]

Thanks for the tip!

I get alot of hardware off of ebay but...never tried software! Good deal!

A good review

[Torinaga-Sama]

I found a link to a pretty good review of RtCW while scanning Fark today.

http://www.newsgeek.net/article.php?sid=964&mode=& order=0

If the Multiplayer is as cool as this guy thinks it is I could be digging myself out of my two year deep Counter-Strike rut. :-) It is really not breaking new ground with different player classes and objectives but I think it is the first big name game (read: going to get a boatload of press) that incorporates objectives into the shoot and slash multiplayer scene.

I didn't do the multiplayer test. Does anyone else have any input on how cool/lame it is?

First hand experience.

[SuperguyA1]

The Game rocks!!!! I bought it yesterday. The single player is better than average(good story, graphics and gameplay) but the multiplayer is the best out there. Combining the best parts of Team Fortress Classic(characterization and strategy) with Plot and Objectives. Plus smooth play, cool weapons and Huge maps!!!!!!!! Definatly worth the more than average new game price in my opinion.

Re:mini review... minimal requirements...overall f

[denzo]

I've only played the multiplayer demo (both versions so far) and haven't gotten the full release game yet. It ran pretty well on my 900MHz Athlon w/ a GeForce DDR card in Win2k. I remember reading in some preview articles that RTC Wolfenstein was supposed to tax systems pretty well, but I haven't observed this yet. I've only had slowdowns with the demo when leiutenants throw airstrikes, the explosions do hell on my system.

Although, the characters are supposed to be much more detailed in the full version, especially in single-player mode--I'm assuming that they may leave character models less complex for multiplayer mode for better performance, although I can't confirm this yet.

But overall, it looks like it'll perform pretty well. And there's always the details settings to adjust for slower systems. I know one game that'll really spank all current systems will be Doom 3. :P

Nostalgia Factor

[llamalicious]

Does anyone else here @ /. get all misty-eyed when remembering best of the first FPS', Wolfenstein, Doom, Heretic, ROTT, Descent... oh the number of hours wasted at college, at home, at work.. er.

With the newest set of games showing up, with T&L and 100's of voices and polygons coming out the wazoo, does anyone but me still fire up Descent or ROTT just to get some serious thrills and log absolutely mindless, continuous fragging time...?

Are there any /.ers out there rewriting some of those classics with the same gameplay, but all the newest features.

I don't need my Descent missions to be more complex, I just want them to have 21st century graphics!

Re:Wolf3d =^)

[shogun]

Really? The first demo or the second demo dont really exist then?

Wolfenstein 3D was NOT the original!

[Myriad]

It must be really hard producing a sequel of such a classic game after such a long period. They will be judged against people's rose tinted rememberances of the original Wolfenstein 3D. And no matter how good it is, people will say 'Ahhh I enjoyed the original more.'

Uhm, hold on a sec, perhaps it was before your day but Wolfenstein 3D was NOT the original! The original was "Castle Wolfenstein" for the Apple (not Macintosh here, we're talking Apple II IIc kind of Apple).

Check the link from the front page to see what the real Castle Wolfenstein looked like.

Man, I loved that game... :)

Re:Wolfenstein 3D was NOT the original!

[FiDooDa]

that link shows the game in color! WOW i wish i had that then :) It was only green on black for me, so many memories.

Re:Wolfenstein 3D was NOT the original!

[Peter La Casse]

He didn't say that Wolfenstein 3D was the original. He said that this game will be judged against the original version of Wolfenstein 3D, which this is the sequel to.

I don't think there's much similarity between the Apple II version of Wolfenstein and this new Wolfenstein except for the name and possibly the plot.

Re:Wolfenstein 3D was NOT the original!

[david duncan scott]

"Plot"!? "Scenario" is probably stretching the word, but yeah, I know what you mean.

Does anybody have the manual for the Apple game? I'd be curious if it lists the names of the people involved -- I think I knew a couple of them back in the day.

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[RedX]

Are these opened and used games being sold on Ebay? If so, it's interesting that it's apparently illegal to re-sell Windows OS or Office but not a game. Guess it comes down to the legalease that the company chooses to use in their EULA.

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[alen]

Strangely the computer games are in consumer electronics\video games\pc games\games

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[RedX]

MSRP on the cardboard box edition is $49.99 while the collector's tin is $59.99. Seems to just meet your limit of $50.

hrm, wonderful

[laslo2]

of course, those of us who don't run windows pc's appear to be SOL. grrrr.

/me goes back to q3a.

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[newbiescum]

The real big thing to be cautious tho is if the owner has kept a copy of the CD key or has distributed it beforehand. Without a unique and individual CD key (only one person can use it at a time supposedly), you're going to be out of luck regarding Internet multiplayer until they put in a patch that doesn't check the CD key (they haven't done it yet for Q3A, which has been out for some time now, 2 years maybe?).

If you're patient, wait until this weekend's ads in Best Buy and CompUSA. They usually knock the price to around $30-$35, and my local TX stores always still have them in stock. Your mileage may vary. Or if you're really impatient, buy it now and bring the receipt back later within a few days.

One game i won't buy

[Compenguin]

Neither of the Demos would run on my box with out crashing, and i paged through the READMe looking for a workaround but was unsucessful

Re:One game i won't buy

[Afrosheen]

I'm running Mandrake 8.1 with an Nvidia card and it's super solid. Actually it hasn't crashed or locked one time and I play the hell out of it. So I guess your box sucks. Sorry.

Re:One game i won't buy

[BigBir3d]

which drivers did you use for LM 8.1?? i ahve not any luck yet... :-(

Re:One game i won't buy

[Afrosheen]

I rebuilt the rpm from nvidia. Works like a charm of course. I also rebuilt it for the new mandrake kernel 2.4.8-34.1 today. Email chris@+nospam+by-a.com for the rpms.

Re:Let me get this straight...

[kungfooguru]

First thing, if they were alive they would be having a grandole' time playing wolfenstien, and watching Cowboy Bebop. Whats the point in living life if you dont enjoy it. A close friend of mine died Friday in a car accident, and im trying my hardest to get back to living normal. This includes shooting up americans running up a beach, and i enjoy it.

Ok lets say i do stop doing anything fun because of all the people who died. Then terroists won!!!!!!! That means ive given in to what they want, they want us to be miserable. That is what they are tryin to do to us. I am not squandering my time, im living life the way God wanted me too, I am enjoying it. You can have fun sitting and watching the CNN waiting for them to have a new video of Bin Laden, but im going to have fun.

Oh and by they way we arnt in a war against Islam, someone hasnt wathced CNN close enough. Only morons think that, we are at war with terrorists. Islamic people did not do this, terrorists did. I know plenty of Islams and they would take effence from what you said, and i do. Islam is a great religion, that does not support violence, get your facts straight you racist pig.

Hmmmmmmmmmm...

[rice_burners_suck]

This is going to be SUCH AN AWESOME GAME! I'm going to run to the store first thing tomorrow morning (if they're actually open on Thanksgiving) and buy it. Awesome.

Oh well.

Re:Wolf3d =^)

[neafevoc]

I actually picked it up yesterday right before class.

The guy at Software Etc was still unpacking the boxes.

I'll confess, I never bought a single PC game in my life. And after playing the tests, I was already sold. (I remember playing Wolf3D, becoming unbelievably sick not more than 10 minutes.)

I had a shoddy G400 Marvel (for games? yeah right.) I went out and bought an MX400 card just for Wolf. (But I wish I had some kind of GF3... 'cause the game is simply stunning.)

So the game itself. The single player and multi-player are literally two different games. If you've played the test, and though mp_beach was huge... yeah right. I think that's the smallest map in the game.

I'm finishing up mission 2 for the single player mode. I don't know what to compare it against since I haven't played the likes of Half-Life or any other story based FPS.

I think it's too awesome though.

Sorry for being vague... but those who have played other FPS and RtCW... could you enlighten me if this 1 player story mode is ground breaking?

Seems like it to me. (Oh, I have played GoldenEye and Perfect Dark on console... but I can't compare it... since the control on the computer is so much easier.)

Re:Return to Castle Wolfenstein & Graeme Devin

[ywwg]

Graeme was hired by id software a while ago, over a year at least, maybe longer.

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[SquierStrat]

That section name is twice redundant. :-) How expected hehe!

Wolfenstein 3D was not the First...

[Myriad]

A lot of people seem to think Wolfenstein 3D was the game that started it all... well, maybe in terms of FPS, but not the start of the Wolfenstein series.

The first was Castle Wolfenstein, a great old game originally for the Apple computer (as in II, II+, IIc kind of thing, not Mac).

For those looking to re-live the past, a copy is available here.

Re:Wolfenstein 3D was not the First...

[_Sprocket_]

A lot of people seem to think Wolfenstein 3D was the game that started it all... well, maybe in terms of FPS, but not the start of the Wolfenstein series.

Castle Wolfenstein had some interesting aspects. Use of a software voice synthesizer was pretty cool, if a bit rough. Wolfenstein II added some additional stealth aspects (sneak up on a guard and knife him, find a secluded spot to reset that damn briefcase charge, etc). Both cool games. Of course - I always had a hard time seeing those two classics as linked with Wolfenstein 3D in any other way but name.

The first was Castle Wolfenstein [jollyrogers.com], a great old game originally for the Apple computer (as in II, II+, IIc kind of thing, not Mac).

AND for the Commodore 64 (C=64) too! :)

Re:Wolfenstein 3D was not the First...

[Dahan]

Use of a software voice synthesizer was pretty cool, if a bit rough.

It was digitized, actually... didn't sound all that great coming out of the one-bit Apple II speaker, but it was cool back then :)

Anyone know what it actually said? I didn't know German back then, and I still don't. I always assumed it was something like "Stop! Come here!" (sounded something like "Halt! Kommen sie!" but apparently that's not proper German :)

Re:Wolfenstein 3D was not the First...

[_Sprocket_]

Anyone know what it actually said? I didn't know German back then, and I still don't. I always assumed it was something like "Stop! Come here!" (sounded something like "Halt! Kommen sie!" but apparently that's not proper German :)

I seem to remember something like that when you were spotted. The one that I remember well was "kaput" when you were captured and the game was over. :)

There's some nice screen shots and audio saples at this site. Although, they mention the C=64 and Atari 800 but neglect to mention any Apple machines of the era (heck - I didn't remember an Atari version).

Re:System

[neafevoc]

How crap will it run on a 600Mhz Athlon and a Matrox G400?

I ran a similiar setup (Matrox Marvel G400 w/ 16MB) with test1 and test2.

And when I turned all the effects off (using 800x600), I got around 30fps.

Since then, I bought an MX400. I still get 30~40fps... but I turn everything back on :)

On CD keys, etc.

[Alpha State]

I can't be the only one here who uses cracks of my favourite games (that I've already bought) just to avoid having to swap CDs all the time. In fact I have a laptop without CD drive and this is the only way I can run games on it.

The CD-key is similarly annoying. I can see the point if they are going to check for online gaming, but why do they insist on needing it for single player games? (I rarely game online at all) Even for online gaming, they can only block 2 people trying to connect to the same gameserver with the same key - they could do this just by storing a serial number that the game uses on each CD, avoiding the silly mistake-prone key typing.

I can't understand why they keep using these methods of "copy protection", when they obviously don't work and the games sell huge amounts (the good ones anyway).

(BTW, I'm sure the game is great, I can't wait to relive the glory days of SS impersonating and grenade throwing I used to have in school.)

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't need the CD to play single player or multiplayer on a LAN. You need the CD key to install the game and to play online.

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[xyzzy]

The CD keys are only used in multiplayer games, and they don't authenticate with the server you are connecting to, but with a master server that ID maintains -- else, how could they run a blacklist of banned keys?

You should still be able to play single player w/o the CD.

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[Stormie]

they could do this just by storing a serial number that the game uses on each CD, avoiding the silly mistake-prone key typing.

Dude, CDs are mass produced. That means they have to all be the same. That's why the keycode is always on a little sticker stuck onto the box.

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[fiftyfly]

"storing a serial number that the game uses on each CD" Beacuse this only works is each serial is unique, which means each cd would have to be unique, wich is, of course ridiculous.

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[Clovert Agent]

I've just had a CD key experience with Quake 3. Having bought the game, I moved countries, taking the box (flattened to fit in a bag), manual and whatnot with me. What I didn't take was the jewel case, just the insert, and of course the damn key is on a sticker on the case. Silly me.

One reinstall later, I need the key. Exchanged a couple of emails with the support team which boiled down to "we sympathise but we can't help you". Great.

So, I've effectively been forced to become a pirate, and download a CD key from a warez site. Stoopid.

I understand their position too. "Oh, I lost the key" is a pretty transparent line after all :) Still, it's frustrating and unnecessary. I don't believe CD keys prevent piracy or even discourage it, and in my case it's actually hindering legitimate use and _encouraging_ piracy. Go figure.

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[loosenut]

The CD-key is similarly annoying. I can see the point if they are going to check for online gaming, but why do they insist on needing it for single player games? (I rarely game online at all) Even for online gaming, they can only block 2 people trying to connect to the same gameserver with the same key - they could do this just by storing a serial number that the game uses on each CD, avoiding the silly mistake-prone key typing.

Once the game is installed, it shouldn't bother you. It's a single, one-time key entry, and any mistakes you make typing it in will be picked up immediately. It also seems lot easier to have a CD-key than it is to produce serial numbers for CDs. I could be wrong, but I thought they were all exact copies. Otherwise CDDB would be ineffective, wouldn't it?

It is also a very effective form of copy protection. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem letting friends copy my game. But, now, if they want a copy, they need a key. They could either randomly generate one with a keygen (and risk screwing someone else over) or use mine, in which case we wouldn't be able to play together, or even on different servers at the same time. The readme says that the keys are checked with a master server.

And that's what makes it such great copy protection. You don't need the CD once the game is installed, and you can copy it easily enough. But you won't risk losing functionality!

Allow me to post a portion of the readme:

Some Common Sense About Your CD Key: It's important to remember
that your CD Key is unique. No other copy of the game will have
that key code. You need to treat that code as something valuable -
protecting it from loss or theft. Without it, you cannot
reinstall the game, or play on-line. You may not be able to
replace the key without some difficulty and expense. Think carefully
about allowing someone to borrow your CD Key. The Return to Castle
Wolfenstein Multiplayer Master Server will not allow duplicate
keys on-line at the same time. Don't be fooled by claims about CD
Key generators. Not only do they not work, but many "create"
additional CD Keys by stealing and transmitting the keys of gamers
who try to make new keys.

[pirate voice] I'm sooooooo scaaaaarred!

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[Hobbex]

The copy protection DOES work

That is because it is not "copy protection". Nothing stops you from copying the game data, or running it in any manner you want.

The CD-key system is simply account system, where you pay for an account on Id's server network. It would be possible to get around it - simply by cracking the server code to ignore checking the CD-key, but apparently most people who run servers on the Internet feel compelled to enforce Id's accounts for some reason (which is pretty dumb unless Id is giving them some of the money really). It would be interesting to see if Id would go after people running cracked servers (planning to stand with the MPAA, John?)
Once you realize it is an account system, you have to view the security from that perspective (as Divine notes regarding attacks that steal keys from peoples machines). I don't know the exact protocol, but I would worry that it is not secure against game servers sniffing for peoples keys, or any of the more subtle attacks that almost always work against corporate designed protocols. I would be pretty pissed off if a key I payed for was stolen through shabby design by Id, only to be accused of trying to forge my way into the network...

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[Xugumad]

Alien vs Predator 2 is the only game I've found that does actually only request your CD key if you access the multiplayer menu. Nice touch, IMHO.

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[Kallahar]

They can't put a unqique key on the CD because they use mass stampers. Each CD is 100% identical. If they were to have different data on each CD, the costs of production would skyrocket...

Good thought though :)

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[Magius_AR]

Why don't these idiots start posting the cdkey on the cd itself where it belongs?

I've had some games put it on the back of the CD case, some on the front, some even dumb enough to stick it in the game instruction manual that I throw away after awhile (operation flashpoint).

I don't KEEP cases...most of my games quickly get relocated to a bigger cd binder for easier storage. So I end up having to write the damn key on the disk myself with a Sharpie. And if the CD happens to be mostly black (operation flashpoint again), I'm mostly screwed.

For the love of Mike, you think they'd have some sense.

Magius_AR

First of the Genre: Ultima Underworld

[dido]

The first real first-person-shooter game (sort of), would rightly be Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss. I think it would be the game that started the FPS revolution, except that Wolfenstein 3D and later, DOOM, brought the revolution into full gear.

Re:First of the Genre: Ultima Underworld

[llamalicious]

no no no. Think back to 1990, with Day of the Viper from Accolade.

Kicked butt running on my Tandy 1000HX with 640KB, and the three voice setup did a good job of emulating Adlib, so I had sound too!
I still have the (mostly worn out) 720KB floppy, and I've got the 1000HX w/ CGA monitor...

That's why my first post said: "best of the first"... not "very first", but I agree with you as far as the timing of games go, UUTSA might have been up there were it not for the likes of W3D and DOOM...

Re:First of the Genre: Ultima Underworld

[stompro]

Right on, I have that stupid copy protection, round, rotaty-thingy, in the my desk right next to me. To bad I don't still have a 5 1/2 inch drive so I can still play it. Hmm, I wonder if I still have the box it came it.

Re:First of the Genre: Ultima Underworld

[fleener]

The first FSP was "Midi Maze" on the Atari ST. Up to 15 machines networked via midi cables. Each person was represented by a 3D smiley face - running around (well, floating) in a maze. It included a map editor too.

Re:First of the Genre: Ultima Underworld

[dido]

Well, from what I remember, the boys at Id Software saw Ultima Underworld and that was what inspired them to create their ground-breaking game (can't remember where I heard this story though). They did Origin one better with W3D of course, giving pure action as opposed to the somewhat more complex role-playing that was always (well, almost always anyway) the hallmark of the Ultima games, so perhaps it's not quite so right to consider UUTSA as an FPS game, even though it arguably it inspired that genre.

Re:First of the Genre: Ultima Underworld

[cheekymonkey_68]

Hmm I always thought 3D Monster Maze on the ZX80 was the orignal FPS....and that was in 1980 or 1981.

It may have been in black & white but it was a 3D FPS for sure, I'm sure it must have inspired someone out there ;)

Re:First of the Genre: Ultima Underworld

[SCHecklerX]

I would *LOVE* to have ultima underworld redone with today's technology. Although READING what the characters were saying instead of listening was definitely cool. I'd love to see that game with q3's engine, though!

Poor fighting

[wackybrit]

Noticed this in comments from several people who've bought the game..

The whole point of this game is the fighting and shooting.. especially in the single player scenarios. For some reason, the enemies don't even flinch or jerk when you shoot them.. and apparently this ruins the fighting experience.

Either way, from all the things I've heard, I'm put off buying it now, and $50 is too much. Perhaps I'll wait for GTA3.

and the Mac version is when :) ?

[wdavies]

heh, not a Mac audience here I know, but just curious (as I am a Mac/Linux zealot). This was my first 3D game I played ever (hmm, not counting a wireframe flight sim that ran on $30K workstations back in the late 80s :)).

Regards, and have a happy thanksgiving !

Winton

And that's the way it should be.

[Chasing Amy]

As the guy above pointed out, there will be a Linux client download available. So you're not really SOL. But I put a provocative subject line on my post anyway to get people to consider this.

You see, I'm glad that there appears to be one primary platform for computer games. I don't cae that it's Windows. It could just as well be Linux or Mac or whatever for all I care. But I do care that most new computer games are developed for one given OS.

You see, unlike the console world I don't have to have 3 or 4 different expensive bulky boxes in order to be able to play all the cool new releases. I just have to have one expensive bulky box. And I don't have to boot to 3 or 4 different OSes either--I just run Windows when I want to play a game.

Now, sure, I wish all games came out for every OS. Who wouldn't want to be able to just use whatever he likes, be it a Windows or Linux PC, or a Mac running either OS X or OS 9, and run any game he wants? But that will simply never, ever, ever happen, because there is no money in eating into your thin profit margins to make ports to every OS and architecture in existence. Instead, most developers pick the most popular OS--the one with the most users, that is--and code for that.

The result is a unity in the PC gaming world that will probably never come to the console world. I'd like to be able to just buy one next-gen console, and play all the console games on it. I wish I could buy either a PS2 or Gamecube or even an Xbox and use it to play Luigi's Mansion, Munch's Oddysee, Soul Reaver 2, DOA3, and all the other cool console games that are coming out. But I just can't and that's that.

Comparing it to the PC gaming scene, I'm glad I wouldn't similarly have to have Linux, Windows, and a Mac just to play most of the cool new games. Instead, just having a good PC running Windows means I can run almost every cool new PC game I could want. Rare is the really cool game that's Mac or Linux only. Almost all come out for Windows, and almost always first.

Would it be nice if the primary PC gaming platform were Free Software? Of course. But it isn't and I'm fine with that as long as I don't have to boot between many OSes or worse yet keep several different boxes to play different games. Windows 98SE can play almost every game ever written for the PC from the DOS days of the early 80s to the present, and of that I'm glad because I can and do play many of them, old and new. I'm glad that, as outdated and technologically weak Win9x is, it has kept almost-perfect game compatibility. It's like if Nintendo offered a machine which played all games from every console and region from the NES on through the Gamecube. AS a man who likes his games, I think it's perfect for what it is in that respect.

Now of course soon games will start to be targeted for a newer platform. I wish it were Linux or something else free and Free, but it will be WinXP and again I am fine with that as long as it maintains the sort of unity of platform we enjoy in the PC gaming world. Again, we are lucky that it isn't how it is in the console world, where there are several major platforms with exclusive games, which completely change every few years and with the exception of the PS2 completely break all chance for backwards compatability.

Complain all you want, but we have it easy. I'd never complain about having a near-universal gaming platform with nearly universal backwards compatibility. Neither Nintendo nor Sony are any better than Microsoft either when it comes to corporate behavior, so I count myself lucky and look at the good in this PC gaming platform.

Re:And that's the way it should be.

[Quasar1999]

Working at a company that just ported two games from PC to macOs, I would have to strongly disagree that porting cuts into thin profit margins... as a matter of fact it expands those profit margins, if anything... Do you know how many people only have a mac, and refuse to buy a PC, yet still want games... or even better, the huge number of linux only users, who would rather die than use windows? Sure it's only about 10-15% of the original windows gaming market, but it's still a nice bonus, and porting to other OS's usually takes 3 months (4 months if it involves stripping out DirectX and replacing it with OpenGL)... Not that expensive...

And as for consoles... I won't even touch that one... :P

Re:And that's the way it should be.

[Tim C]

You see, unlike the console world I don't have to have 3 or 4 different expensive bulky boxes in order to be able to play all the cool new releases. I just have to have one expensive bulky box.

Of course, in order to get a decent gaming experience from your PC, you're probably going to have to spend about as much on it as you would on those 3 or 4 consoles combined. A GeForce3 Ti200 alone costs about as much as if not more than a PS2.

That said, I do largely agree with you. As much as I dislike Microsoft and Win9x (and NT for that matter; not used 2k, ME or XP), it is nice to be able to walk into a shop and barely even have to worry about system requirements, let alone exact matching of OS and hardware.

Cheers,

Tim

Re:And that's the way it should be.

[Jedi Alec]

But who needs a Geforce 3? a Decent Geforce 2MX 400 64mb/TV-out is perfectly affordable, and if you know what you're doing, you can even get some more performance out of it by moving the cute little sliders to the right...and fact is that PC can also be used for other purposes, assuming you didn't manage to find a good Spreadsheet program for Playstation 2 :-)

CDKey

[Ndog]

From the link about CDkeys:

Wolf uses the same cdkey generation technology as Q3A. THERE HAS NOT BEEN ONE SINGLE HACK on this system. Many so-called cdkey generators are in fact virus attacks that steal your own good cdkey, or worse, corrupt your files.

So, I don't have a CDKey and download a CDKey generator to get one, and it is actually a virus attack to steal my good cdkey? Does this seem like a stupid statement to anybody else, or if it is true, don't the CDKey authors seem stupid? Who would write CDKey generators to steal CDKeys, when most of the people who try to use them want them because they don't want a CDKey? Am I missing something?

Re:CDKey

[Nevyn]

This is just a guess, but I'd bet that most of the time it's _multiple_ people who want _multiple_ CDkeys but only have one real copy of the game.

So stealing their one genuine CDkey would be useful.

On the other hand I can't believe their "no hack on this system", unless they are narrowly defineing that to be people playing multiplayer successfully by just passing a CD around with friends.
It's impossible for them to tell if you just play single player, and it's impossible for them to make it so someone can't just edit the binaries to take out the checks for single player.

Also if someone has hacked it properly, then they won't know about it because it'll look genuine.

'thon rules

[Pope]

I wonder if Bungie'd ever consider porting (or even making a new) Marathon to its gorgeous Halo engine..?

Uh, would you consider Marathon sorta ported to Unreal?

Re:'thon rules

[Vidmaster_Steve]

Shit yes brother, shit yes... Many kudos go out to the guys behind this. I download as we speak...

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[Stonehand]

MSFT has the money and time to go hunting down resellers of OSes (plus, MSFT Windows CDs aren't required to be in the CD drive for some perverse SafeDisc check -- meaning that people can install, copy if they figure on ever reinstalling, sell, and probably get away with it).

Try DOD, folks...

[Luminair]

Apparently most of you haven't tried DOD for Half-Life...

If you had, you'd see that the company contracted on to create the multiplayer (practically as an afterthough) pretty much took all the cash they could muster and spent it on copying and improving DOD as much as possible.

At this point, as far as I can see, DOD still has better gameplay as Wolf does.

DOD is at the maturity level CS was at around beta 6. And though it has less players, it's arguably more original and fun than CS. Most people who try it get addicted very quickly, as long as they're burnt out by CS. If you're still a newbie to CS and haven't clocked two years of it, maybe DOD won't turn you on as much.

Re:Try DOD, folks...

[Xenolith]

Yep, DOD is good, RTCW is way better. Things that the RTCW multiplayer game has that is not in DOD...Medic and Engineer classes... flamethrower... air raids... rocket launcher... large terrain engine... in-game objective descriptions... etc.

The only blatant rip off that I can see is the delayed spawn or "reinforcements". Like DOD, the RTCW multiplayer is a war simulation, with objectives and classes, which are not unique to either DOD or RTCW.

DOD is for comps that can't handle the Q3A engine or people who don't want to shell out $50.

Re:and the Mac version is when :) ?

[Pope]

OS X only demo was out a little while ago, Mac final version *very* soon, like a month or two.
Sure beats waiting the 3 years in took to get AvP! :)

Re:Return to Castle Wolfenstein & Graeme Devin

[Luminair]

Umm... the chances of a keygen working online, after being generated by one of the few pirates who would try it online, is, ah, nearly astronomical?

In the even such an unlikely thing occured the person would probably take the game back. One or two lost customers is a good tradeoff for not having a robust support system in place for used keys...

Little old Ladies

[Alien54]

I can remember in a retail store from a long time ago a little old lady who was addicted to Wolfenstein. She loved it, and apparently was quite good at it.

This would be at least one of several classic scenes for a movie someday. The grandma teaching kids how to play doom. or is the local champion, or something. classic

Linux gamers

[Ender Ryan]

For all you Linux gamers, I know you're out there, hopefully in a couple days or weeks or so a Linux binary will be released. When it's released, Tux Games will sell the game with an extra CD with the Linux binaries on it.

If you care about the future of Linux gaming, please, please wait and buy it from Tux Games. If you buy it from your local Best Buy or whatever, if just looks like another Windows sale, but if you buy from Tux Games they will see that it was sold from a Linux games retailer.

Re:Linux gamers

[Anonymous Coward]

Move along, vagrant.

Re:Linux gamers

[adolf]

Are there any resellers other than Tux Games who are going to carry the linux version of the title?

I do like a bit of choice of who (and how much) I pay.

Can I expect to see it on the shelf at Software Etc., or will it be strictly a special-order item?

-

Re:Linux gamers

[Graff]

Anyone hear anything about the Mac version? I play the beta it all the time on my dual 533 G4 and it runs sweet on it! I can't wait to buy this sucker.

Re:Linux gamers

[GroovBird]

There will be no Linux version in the shop, and there never will be. The way they see it is if you buy the original game, you can download the Linux binaries off their site.

Tux Games is merely providing the service of adding these binaries on an extra CD for those who don't like downloading a few MB from the net.

Dave

Re:Linux gamers

[treke]

http://tuxgames.com. They are located in London.

Re:Wonderful

[Blymie]

I won't comment on the rest of your post, but this much had to be said about your statement that "Hitler killed 300,000,000 people in interment camps"

Three hundred MILLION people? You're claiming that Hitler killed 1/8th of the Earth's entire population during WWII in death camps?

Kind of hard to believe. Let's not play revisionist history here...

This game rocks

[jloukinas]

I give this game 5 stars for my ass pucker when I am ducking around a corner from the enemy. The single player advernture is awsome! The 70 I paid ( out of the standard ) was well worth it! I have not been able to pull myself away for 2 days now! There goes turkey day!!

Have fun all.
sunadmin@fuse.net

Re:This game rocks

[jloukinas]

Making my ass pucker is what I mean...
You guys get it right...??

J

My comments

[Sludge]

Well, I got the game yesterday, and played it until 5 am. I then woke up and played it until around now. I'm on mission five, the snowy terrain map. (Note: I go through games very slowly and never miss a nook or cranny. I annoy myself, but I cannot help it.)

Things that are good:

• Anywhere where there is fire, the game is damned beautiful.
• The ghouls and ghosts part of the game is tastefully done, and well integrated so far. I was disappointed when I read that they were going to put this in, but it's been the most intense part of the game yet.
• The stealth mission was a lot of fun. I enjoy killing things before they're aware of my existance. I am personally guessing that there is a routine in the player code that gives them more health when they spot you. The game seems to really encourage killing things while they're still unaware of your existance.
• It uses the Quake 3 engine which means it's familiar, works well and is portable.
• Lots of good textures. A lot of games ship with only decent textures. This game comes close to the texture art in Q3 at points, which is the best out there, in my opinion.
• I think those are authentic Nazi propaganda posters on the walls, that have been scanned and put into the game. Right on!
• The artificial intelligence is really quite good. You can still break it down into different methods in your head, and learn how to react to each mode of attack/defense the AI takes on, but it still manages to deservingly sap your health.

Bad Stuff:

• The developers seem indifferent to putting corridors with lots of doors and gray walls in their game. This makes the first couple of missions VERY stock FPS. In fact, I was downright bored playing at first. It picked up later, but has started to waver again.
• The Nazis speak english, and only english. I want German with subtitles. Talk about an atmosphere reduction.
• You can't kill civilians. To me, this is annoying because of the principal at play here: The game has probably been toned down in an attempt to obtain a softer rating.
• Same principal as above, I have yet to encounter any dogs!
• Enemies don't twitch when they're shot with a machine gun. You'd be surprised at how much satisfaction this takes away when blowing up round after round of bad guys.

Now, for the comparison: Halflife versus Return To Castle Wolfenstein. What if RTCW came out the same day as Half-Life? I would be VERY impressed with the image quality in RTCW over Half Life and the high res textures would be amazing. However, I would still choose Half Life as a better single player game, because the variety of monsters is what made that game so amazing. RTCW seems to have some surprises in store for me, but nothing too exciting yet.

As of the first four missions (each containing four levels) of the game, I would rate this game 7/10. It's a good FPS, but it borrows more ideas from the genre than it gives back to it.

Re:My comments

[krogoth]

I've been playing the multiplayer test 2 a lot lately, but I'll wait for the linux binaries to show up before buying it (even if I have money before then :). I think they grey walls with dark metal doors are part of the atmosphere - they didn't spray-paint thinks neon colors to raise the morale, and it would be unrealistic running through a German bunker that looks like a kid's TV show. Of course, if they overuse that throughout the whole game it could get a bit tiring.

Re:My comments

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, talk about the atmosphere reduction when I discovered that the "German Elite Guard" (woohoo) use British machine guns.

I'm sure they would equip their "elite guard" with one of the cheapest and (arguably) least reliable weapons used in WWII!

Re:My comments

[Azzmodan]

I think those are authentic Nazi propaganda posters on the walls, that have been scanned and put into the game. Right on!
---

To bad some of those posters have dutch text instead of german ;)
The SOLDAT poster for example has dutch text.

PS. My first ever post on slashdot ;)

Re:Let me get this straight...

[woodstok]

Not to be a smartass or anything but people who worship Islam are called Muslims and not Islams.

Re:CALL to ALL ROTT'ers

[llamalicious]

lol, that's what I was wondering.

all you need is an IPX over TCP/IP setup to play.
shouldn't be all that hard to figure out.

Maybe the folx @ gamespy can devise something to that effect.

Flame throwers, my pilot lite must be out

[GISboy]

I can't believe I did not recall Flamethrowers in Blood 1/2...yet remember "It burns, It burns!" from B2...

Sheesh, selective memory strikes again.

Oh, and on a funny note, I've gotta say that all this talk of flame throwers is getting me hot.

Or maybe this thread needs a special +1 flamebait?
(insert rimshot)

Re:Flame throwers, my pilot lite must be out

[MiTEG]

I believe in Blood and Blood 2 you had a flare gun, and if you shot enough rounds at someone they would catch on fire and yell "It burns! It burns!"

Re:Flame throwers, my pilot lite must be out

[GISboy]

Yes, flare gun...dang..how soon I forget.

Only thing I really recall about B2 was the "Lithetec" engine was pretty spiffy and it was used in Shogo MAD.

win/linux?

[martinflack]

So does it run on Linux?

Re:win/linux?

[yem]

Not out of the box (unless you bought it at ). TTimo @ ID Sofware is making linux binaries that will allow you to play in linux. Binaries for the Test are already out and working beautifully. Get the Test2 binary HERE

Subtitles!?

[WNight]

Oh yeah, text hanging in your view. That makes it so much more lifelike!

The only reason that argument even begins to make sense when the Anime nuts use it is because they dub OVER the original voices with no-name voice actors. Here, the English was the original.

This is really a lot more realistic. BJ (the main character) can speak German, so this is what it would feel like to be him, hearing the guards talk and understanding them.

Castle Wolfenstein - first impression

[diadem]

(cut and paste from my site)

Well I just got the game and let me say I am impressed. The graphics in the game are phenomenal - similar to the multiplayer test but with a lot more details. There are cobwebs on archways, skeletons bones littering the floors, and characters even blink when giving a speech talking. The nice thing is that game has little details that didn't have to be added, but were. The so far plot is interesting and easy to get into.

Gameplay is balanced and fun. It feels like a cross between Halflife and the Wolfenstein levels from Doom. I just started and have already observed a few interesting features.

I fought my way into a room with a wooden floor. Some of the floorboards were missing and you could see under you. Unfortunately, the nazis could also see up. They let loose and opened fire as wooden chips started flying. When they shot the right place, part of the floorboards just shattered! It seems like a small touch, but it was very impressive to look at. In my opinion its the small things that can help make the videogame.

So far, from my first impression the game gets an A+. A more detailed review will be given in about a week when I have played the game further.

Re:System

[MisterPo]

600Mhz is really not that shabby. Its the Matrox card that is no good for gaming. DirectX performance is passable, but Matrox's OpenGL performance is abysmal.

I keep my G400 for the dual monitor support, but for gaming I use Nvidia stuff. If you can get used to the fuzzier graphics then you will a heck of a speed bump :) Upgrade!

Po

Re:Return to Castle Wolfenstein & Graeme Devin

[Afrosheen]

AFAIK, it's impossible to generate a real key that works online. Your key is verified at id's master server when you try to join a server. You may generate a valid key (56bit des) when you play single player, but it's not gonna fly online. Do some research on Quake3 being 'cracked' if you want proof. Q3 online was uncrackable, as is RTCW.

Activation key

[Old Wolf]

Why does nobody object to iD maintaining an internet database of activation keys, but all get up in arms with Microsoft does it?

Re:Activation key

[Afrosheen]

Because id is cool. They make good games, they support Linux and OSX, and they have a good reason for storing a database of their keys. Actually it's their own database, they don't 'collect' keys from people, they validate keys submitted from clients against their prebuilt database. All they do is check to make sure you're a nice guy and you paid money for their software.

Re:Activation key

[yatest5]

I think the obvious answer to your question is that they're all hypocritical fuckwits on here - there goes another karma point, but I've got shitloads, so bite me, fuckos.

Re:Activation key

[Anonymous Coward]

ID already had the database of keys before the products were shipped. You just verify against it. Also, losing access to a game due to some key problem isn't catastrophic.

On the other hand, MS didn't have a premade database of keys. They require you to disclose information about your system in order to generate one. Losing access to your productivity tools or your entire OS can be a very big deal.

Re:Activation key

[Pyrosz]

I didnt know we objected to this practice??

All they do is add a key to the list when its produced and when you connect to them it just checks to see if that key you sent was actually created. They might store your IP upon connection for piracy purposes but I'm not sure...

Re:Activation key

[fobbman]

Because AFAIK RTCW collects serial numbers and IP addresses and it's only a game that won't work in multiplayer online (will work single player and maybe on a LAN).

Microsoft hashes your entire system and it is production software (Office, Windows) that quits working completely if you do not re-register in time.

The comparison is like comparing your cell phone dying to your artificial heart.

Re:Activation key

[TobyWong]

As opposed to you, the last true defender of freedom and all that is true and good blah blah blah.

Three cheers for our hero, yatest5!

*yawn*

If you really do believe that everyone that posts on slashdot is "a hypocritical fuckwit" then do yourself a favour and stop visiting the site. No let me rephrase that... do EVERYONE a favour and stop visiting the site. Moreover, see if you can find a plastic bag big enough to fit over your bloated head and hold it tight around your neck so no "hypocritical fuckwit" air gets in. A couple minutes of that and you won't have any more problems with "hypocritical fuckwits" ever again.

Re:Activation key

[yatest5]

Of course I didn't mean that everyone on here is a hypocritical fuckwit - just enough to put a biased slant on any story and the comments on it.

Just because I disagree with the general opinion doesn't mean I should stop coming - in fact, I should probably visit more to stop the blind idiots disappearing further up their own arse into magic linux-land.

If people don't like what I post, it gets modded down, and if you set your preferences correctly, you can avoid that stuff - however, because anything pro-linux (no matter how dumb) gets modded up, and anything pro-ms / sony / mcdonalds etc. etc. gets modded down to the level of goatse.cx posts, there is no way for people to view this site and see all sides of an argument without having to trawl through loads of crap.

It's always good to act big and hard on a website - good work, hope you had a nice wank over that, Toby.

Re:Let me get this straight...

[tlipcon]

I know plenty of Islams and they would take effence from what you said, and i do.

I know plenty of Muslims and they would take offense at you calling them "Islams."

And besides, you spelled offense wrong... and "I," and that's just in one sentence. Amazing!

-Toad

Re:System

[Afrosheen]

P2 400, 320mb PC100 ram, and a cheapo chinese Nvidia Geforce2mx 32meg card. Runs like a champion (the tests). I'll check out the full version when a linux binary is released.

NEW MAP FOR FULL VERSION!!!

[Afrosheen]

Tram Design released his Generator map for the full version today! Get it at tuxbox.by-a.com or at tramdesign.cjb.net. Also tuxbox has the binaries for linux if you need those to play the test. The new map does NOT work with the test.

Killing Tip

[archveult]

I am personally guessing that there is a routine in the player code that gives them more health when they spot you. The game seems to really encourage killing things while they're still unaware of your existance.

From my experiences with the multiplayer test, I observed you inflict more damage whenever your target has his back to you. Even if you aren't taking care to be quiet, if you run up behind someone with a knife you can cut them down in one or two shots from full health. Compare that to half a dozen or so required if you strike them from the front. My most often used multiplayer tricks, therefore, are to (1) hide around a corner and wait for enemies to run past you, exposing their back, and (2) never flee with your back to the enemy.

Re:Killing Tip

[archveult]

Forgot to mention the above tip isn't given in the readme.

Since I don't want to waste this comment saying just that, here's another tip:

They disabled Q3's bunny hopping (aka strafe jumping), however, you can still increase your speed if you jump onto a surface slanted downwards towards the direction you're headed, and then jump just as you hit it. You'll fly forward through the air a little faster than normal, and if you keep jumping, you can keep up the speed.

On the test level, I use this when I'm an axis sniper trying to get behind the allies: If you do it right from the breach you can very quickly get down to the water... you'll be moving so fast and high you can even jump clear over all the barbed wire in the way without taking damage...

Re:Killing Tip

[archveult]

Great, just what we need. Tips for cheaters. I'm sorry, but the Q3 bunny hop was a physics bug. They didn't "disable" it in RTCW, they "fixed" it. Apparently they didn't catch every case, as your post points out. Exploiting a bug is cheating just as much as running an aimbot. It detracts from the game, and makes it less fun for everybody else.

Fixed it, disabled it, whatever. Exploiting a minor bug is not cheating if everyone has the opportunity to do so and it only negligibly affects gameplay. Furthermore, if the developer is producing patches to a game and they don't fix the bug, it effectively becomes a sanctioned feature. So it is with Q3 strafe jumping. I doubt the RTCW people will be fixing this one simply because it's so trivial (though I guess certain map designs would make it a problem).

I won't even comment on your so-called "tactics" for the beach landing map. People like you make online gaming annoying. You probably teamkilled on purpose as well, didn't you?

I never (purposefully) team kill. You misunderstood me, perhaps because I didn't capitalize "Allies": I, the Axis sniper, run behind our enemies, the "Allies", to snipe them from an unexpected position. I do not snipe my fellow Axis "allies".

Re:Killing Tip

[Sludge]

Great, just what we need. Tips for cheaters. I'm sorry, but the Q3 bunny hop was a physics bug.

It was taken out in one of the Quake tests, but put back in due to popular demand. This makes it a bug turned feature.

Re:Killing Tip

[archveult]

No, I understood your intent. The point I was making is that you're the kind of bastard player that does stuff like camp respawns (what else would you call it when you get behind the other team's spawn points and cap them as they run up the beach?). That class of asshole players also tends towards teamkilling. Perhaps you're not a team killer, but I've seen enough assholes in too many games that do the things you spoke of doing and also are anti-social (well, more anti-social than the typical gamer, as we all tend to be anti-social to some extent :) assholes.

Ah. Yes, I sit on the respawns. (Actually very rarely as it isn't very actionful / doesn't get you points / doesn't win you games.) But thanks to RTCW's design, there's nothing stopping those respawning players from sniping/panzerfausting me on the respawn, while they're invincible. And there are lots of them and one of me, and being away from my lieutenants I'm running out of ammo, and the sniper gun jerks back throwing my aim off on every shot, and so on...

In other games, sitting on respawn points for kills could be considered bastardly as you say (back in Quake 1 we memorized the specific respawn order of maps to sequentially rack up spawn kills), but I wouldn't agree with RTCW. The designers did a very good job on the mauser.

You might argue that they couldn't target me fast enough. I'd argue they just have to be good enough. You could argue that they might not be good enough. I'd argue that, well, sure, beating down newbies is evil. But that doesn't make the tactic wrong. It just makes using it on newbies wrong.

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[enderwiggen]

It's definitely worth the wait. BestBuy without fail will put a game on sale (usually at least 20% off) either the Sunday after it has been available in the store, or one week after that, usually the latter. Thus, my prediction is that it will go on sale in the December 2nd ad.

However with Friday being the "big shopping day", it could go on sale then... either way it'll go on sale soon and i can never find a reason to pay the full price upfront if it will be cheaper by waiting a week.

Re: keygens & Graeme Devine

[dee why]

I'm really surprised to read Graeme say "no known cd-key generators for Q3A exist" while I personally have used at least one, successfully. Please dont flame me to death for pirating Q3A, I've tried it for a couple of days and then went back to good ol' TF2.8 - much more fun for me in coop multiclass than just fragging around :)

If you want to try the original...

[Anonymous Coward]

I had some trouble getting an Apple IIe emulator working in Linux, but I finally got to play Castle Wolfenstein using YAE. You can download it from:
http://quark.netfront.net:6502/

You'll need APPLE2E.ROM and DISK.ROM:
ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/emulators/ rom_images/apple_iie_rom.zip
ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/emulators/ apple_2_for_windows/apl2em/apl2em.zip

But to unzip that second file, you need an old version of info-zip (since the new ones don't support 'shrink'):
ftp://ftp.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/OLD/src

The game seems pretty tough. I've figured out some of the keys; does anyone have a full listing?

ATI driver support?

[statusbar]

Remember to rename the exe file to 'quake.exe' to squeeze out a better frame rate!

--jeff

Does anyone have a full count of all the missions?

[doorbot.com]

Disregarding the individual stages or parts to each mission, is there a full count of all the missions? I'm on 4 now, and I'm hoping it goes much, much higher... :)

So far so good, the only downside is that I got shafted by Electronics Boutique on the price, but when you're individual demand is high, and price is inelastic, well, you're willing to pay $59.99.

At any rate, at least the game runs without the need for a no-CD crack. All this business of CD keys seems rediculous to me. Companies are trying to protect themselves from rampant piracy. How many times do you install the game that typing a CD key is so incredibly painful? I mean, you did buy the game right?

On a more personal note, I'm enjoying RTCW so far. The view bob is making me a bit sick (which is unusual) but that usually means I'm really into the game. It also means I lose track of time and play until 2 AM when I have work the next day. But the animation is very nice, and the graphics are visually appealing (although not "revolutionary"). But best of all I get to kill hordes of evil Nazis. It really doesn't get better than that, and it never gets old either.

I'm looking forward to Medal Of Honor as well.

And for any Gray Matter employees reading this: Great work! I hope to see some new multiplayer map packs soon!

Micro-walkthrough - secrets for first level

[wfmcwalter]

I put a page up with screenshots and all seven secrets for the first level of the single player game. It's at www.mcwalter.net .

More soon.
FIn

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...Exchange

[newbiescum]

Most stores (namely CompUSA and Best Buy) will refund your money for the price difference between the initial price and the advertised one within 30 days of purchase. Or at least they used to till about last summer (the last time I made a purchase before an ad came out for a piece of hardware). I'm not talking about returning the game, but getting a refund for the advertised price. Considering the usual Christmas season, this can amount to hundreds of dollars if you purchase a few games ($60 is the retail price many stores are selling RTCW at, usually the following ads on similiar games such as Quake 3 are $30-$35 either a week or two later). Figure you purchase 4 or 5 games for friends/family/yourself, then you net a good pocket of change to buy that Dreamcast or whatever.

I blame JonKatz

[Screaming Lunatic]

Well I submitted this story within hours of id/Activision/Gray Matter/Nerve/B.J.Blazkowicz/Heinrich Himmler announced that the game had shipped.

But I blame JonKatz. Why?

Isn't it always his fault?

Subtitles

[thrig]

Heck, the original had subtitles in it.

And the original was in German, too-- "Aus Pass!" and a gun usually learned one which button to hit...

In the old Wolfenstein 3D game...

[Krokus]

...I thought for the longest time that the enemies said, "Froynlaven!" when they died. :)

-goobers

[mirko]

I visited the Activision web site and found the "concepts" page.

What I enjoyed most was the supersoldiers'groowth tubes... This somehow reminded me of AlienIV, when Ripley#8 finds out about Ripleys#1-7...

I hope that the W3DII scenery will finally be breakable, this time, so that you may just play in grind-core mode by exploding walls with your infinite ammo'ed bazooka (hence the subject of this mail ;-) instead of wandering for hours in order to find a key/keycard/crystal or whatever amount of pixels...

This'd then be a real virtual world instead of a guided tour like most others which required you to go through several steps to a level's goal...

Re: keygens & Graeme Devine

[0xA]

The only keygen I ever saw for Quake 3 wasn't a generator, it was a VB app that had a list of keys that were valid. If you kept hitting 'generate' you'd notice that the keys would be the same and in the same order. Eventually I'm sure they all got added to the banned list.

Nobody every managed to make a key generator for half-life that would work online either.

Re:Return to Castle Wolfenstein & Graeme Devin

[Cow4263]

IIRC, This was a problem after Q3 was released. With people using other people's legitamate keys. You had to call Id and they would issue a new key... or I could just have a horrible memory :P

Them damn talking Nazis in Muse's Castle Wolfenst

[StrawberryOnSlashdot]

I played the original quite a bit on the Apple ][ + and recall the Nazis saying (really more like barking):

• "Halt!" ("stop!")
• "Ko-pen zee!" ("come here!")
• "daus pass?" ("your pass?")
• "Heil! ("I, too, am a feeble-minded sheep")
• "S.S.!!!" ("Hi, I am a S.S. Stormtrooper and am about to get medieval on your ass!")
• "Kaput!" ("game over man, game over...")

I don't recall if they added more sayings in the sequel Beyond Castle Wolfenstein...

Castle Wolfenstein
written by Silas Warner
Muse Software

Re:System

[H310iSe]

couldn't get it to load (even in safe mode) on my TNT2/Athlon 500 (asus KVM mobo) but on my 1.4 athlon with a -=16 meg rage 128 pro (all-in-wonder)=- heh, phear me -- I'm getting great play at 1024x768 (16 bit only though). I've seen screenshots from a Gforce3 and they are purty...

Thing is, the game is pretty boring so far. Run, shoot, get more ammo, shoot more, run, hide die die die die die shoot. save. it's *not* Deus Ex or System Shock - it reminds me, for some reason, of Hexen.

I liked Hexen, but, you know, it's just Hexen.

Here is the picture

[Azzmodan]

http://www.xs4all.nl/~rclspaan/Assets/rtcwdutch.jp g

It reads: voor uw eer en geweten op! - tegen het
bolsjewisme. De Waffen-SS roept U!'

The original(real) poster reads:
'Nederlanders, voor uw eer en geweten op! - tegen het
bolsjewisme. De Waffen-SS roept U!'

The poster is authentic but i don't think a dutch poster should be hanging in a german castle in germany

Multiple processor support?

[Rasp]

Does anyone know if this is built to take advantage of multiple processor machines like Quake 3?

I picked up my Tyan Tiger MP yesterday. :) :)

Graeme Devine, Phoenix from the Ashes of Trilobyte

[Azerphale]

It's amazing to see that Graeme actually stuck with the game industry after such a catastrophe with the fall of the company that tamed the CD-ROM for gaming. See Haunted Glory [gamespot.com] for the misadventures (and silly pictures) of Mr. Devine at Trilobyte.

What I wish to know is what ever happened to Rob Landeros? Last thing I can find on him is quite depressing. [justadventure.com]

Here's to expecting more good things from Graeme,

-Rob

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[SquierStrat]

There is a difference between MSRP and how much people are charging: I said people are charging $60 and $70.

Graeme saves us from evil pirates

[Seemlar]

From Graemes plan:

Many so-called cdkey generators are in fact virus attacks that steal your own good cdkey, or worse, corrupt your files

Obviously, Graeme thinks the people who read his .plan are idiots.

Picture me sitting here with my brand spanking new downloaded copy of RTCW. I run a keygen.

Oh no! That evil virus attack just sent my valid Wolf key to some insideous pirate! Except it didn't.

PIRATES USING KEYGENS DON'T HAVE VALID KEYS.

He used this same stupid assed scare tactic when Q3A came out. It was stupid then, and stupid now. But at least he added the evil terrifying file corrupting ability bit.

I'm tempted to just download the game and play through the singleplayer game for the heck of it.

Re:Graeme saves us from evil pirates

[Anonymous Coward]

Regardless of Graeme's motives, I could make the same point for any other piece of software which is highly unlikely to be legitimate. For example: many so-called Xbox emulators are in fact virus attacks that steal your passwords, or worse, corrupt your files.

And secondly, you're wrong. Pirates using keygens may or may not have valid keys, but THEY DON'T HAVE AS MANY AS THEY WANT. Take, for example, a pirate trying to get a friend online with RTCW over the phone, IRC or ICQ.

At this point, you'd be an idiot to run a RTCW keygen you got from God-knows-where. So I wouldn't say this is a scare tactic, just a dose of common sense.

Joystick support hard to come by nowadays.

[TerraFORM]

Traditionally, id software has been the only major game manufacturer to contiually support joysticks in their games. However, I have heard in many newsgroups and posts that this is not the case with RTCW. I think that this is sad.

Surely, the VAST majority of gamers use the k/m combo. But I contend that it is a small matter to add (or continue) joystick support. I have always used a joystick in gaming (did the Atari 2600 have a k/m? No. It had a joystick). Notwithstanding the inherent ergonomic nightmare that using a k/m presents, the joystick I use (pantherXL) is superb--a trackball on the left for looking and aiming, and a joystick on the right for movement. 14 additional keys around the stick and trackball can be bound to what normal k/mers would use. I never even have to reach for the keyboard.

I guess I'm in the dwindling minority of gamers who still use the joystick. If id won't support us, I see a dark future ahead for joystick users.

Half-Life - variety?

[Ender Ryan]

What variety is it you are talking about. I have played through quite a few hours of Half-Life (just started playing it recently, runs in wine now...), and I have to say that "variety" is one of the things that is really lacking in the game. Every level has pretty much the exact same monsters.

My other complaint with Half-Life is, the sound effects are the cheesiest I have ever heard in a FPS, they're absolutely terrible!

Other than that, it's an excellent game. So far, my favorite part of the game was killing that giant tentacled monster. That was great, and truly original in an FPS.

I'm really looking forward to playing RTCW.

Re:Little old Ladies-GEEKS!

[lobsterGun]

Quoth Lenny Bruce: "There's nothing sadder than an ageing hipster."

Nazi killin! :-)

[jeff13]

The first computer I got had Rogue Spear. I think that's it, a Wolfenstien progenitor. 2D pixel Nazi shootin'!

Now, one night I downloaded that Wolfenstien demo, you know the one. It's been all over Gamespy. Well... I've been killin' Nazis for 2 hours every night on the same map! Did I mention on the same map?!?!!!

War is HELL. Let's go! Shnell shnell!!! Watch out for turkey dinners. :-D

But does it use hexadecimal?

[Derek Finch]

Can you see vital signs in hexadecimal? If not, it's a waste of bits.

Yes Linux version is coming !

[nsebban]

Tux Games can take your pre-order for this game. You can read more on the Linux version of this game here.

In my opinion, you should buy it here, as :

TuxGames is a really reliable site

It will show that you support Linux community :)

Re:linux more popular than jesus

[anomaly]

FYI - While I have been a linux user since '94, and all but one of my PCs is running Linux today, Jesus is far more popular with _this_ computer geek than is a free operating system and applications. :)

Give Mr Wolf A job

[cafeteria]

Silas started it all.

Re:Let me get this straight...

[kungfooguru]

i only used 'islams' because that is what he used in his reply, i wasnt thinking, and for the 'i' thing, fuck you.

You didn't buy a game for a long time ...

[redzebra]

That said, I do largely agree with you. As much as I dislike Microsoft and Win9x (and NT for that matter; not used 2k, ME or XP), it is nice to be able to walk into a shop and barely even have to worry about system requirements, let alone exact matching of OS and hardware.

Uhum You didn't buy a game for a long time since in that case you would know that for any game you buy you have to tripple check the hw requirements (Pentium2/3/4, Mhz, 3D Accel...) and software requirements (DirectX 5/6/7 win95/98 not win31 ...)

P.S.... don't worry about this glitch in you're thought's... you're not the only one. The MS marketing department spent billions in making people think this way ...:-)

Re:You didn't buy a game for a long time ...

[Tim C]

I admit, I don't buy games very often; the last (full-price) one I bought was Black and White. I do have to take some issue with your comment, though - most games ship with the version of DirectX that they require (although I've noticed that some of the more recent ones I have don't...), so that's not really a problem. Further, there really is no excuse at all to be running Win3.x on a gaming machine, and 3D accelerator cards have been standard PC hardware for about 3 years now.

I guess I'm probably just spoilt because I have a fairly standard 700MHz P3 + TNT2Ultra + Win98SE; as always, for more unusual configurations, YMMV :-)

Anyway, I have only ever had one game that required a particular type of processor - Unreal, which apparently needed the MMX extensions of a real Pentium, and refused to run under my Cyrix. Beyond that, assuming your hardware isn't archaic, you really shouldn't have any problems beyond poor frame rates. Of course, for some of us, poor frame rates are the reason we occasionally spend more on computer hardware in a single go than we do on clothes in a year :-)

Cheers,

Tim

Damn Talking Nazis

[DavidBrown]

You forgot:

"Kamarade" ("I surrender")

Disclaimer: I don't know German, but I remember the soldiers in Wolfenstein would say this when you stick them up.

Remember the AI of Wolfenstein? If you keep your pistol hidden and then pull it out when you are right next to a soldier or even an SS, the enemy would raise his hands and let you search him.

After which you shot him. Or used the knife in BCW.

Bye the way, Castle Wolfenstein for the Apple ][ was the FIRST computer game I ever bought. And it was still one of the most playable. Except for Three Mile Island. Now that game was a bitch.

Re:Damn Talking Nazis

[StrawberryOnSlashdot]

Oops, yes "kamarade" rings a small bell somewhere in the back of my mind...

The saddest part about searching Nazis was when you would walk up to them with an empty gun, pull it on them, search them as they put their hands up, take their bullets, re-load your gun, and proceed to shoot them with their own bullets.

Kind of a Apple ][ take on Dirty Harry...

"I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself..."

used colony ship for sale

[Pope]

Free as in open source :)

Smell the multi-platform goodness...