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Beyond Castle Wolfenstein Re-Compiled

Posted by simoniker on from the back-to-the-classics dept.

hypethetica writes "In memory of game developer Silas Warner, a fan-based port of the original PC boot-diskette version of the 1985 classic, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, has been disassembled, CPU speed fixed, and Soundblaster support has been added. The new game executable, blessed by Silas' widow, runs in DOS, Windows, and DOSBox emulators. Both the executables and source code (x86 assembly) are available for download."

9 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. More DOS Games!!! Yay! by lunarscape · · Score: 5, Informative
    There are still some minor timing issues left, but it's certainly playable on my P4 here at work--er, I mean, at home. Yes, home.

    The guy who did this (jeff?) seems to want to remain fairly anonymous for some reason. I couldn't find any info on who he really is on his page. It's the same guy who did the Jumpman conversion a while back.

    Oh! And he's looking for another project!!! Who are you so I can send you my shelf-full of old DOS games I can't play anymore??? (Though I'm sure none of the disks work anymore.)

    Actually, he has a pretty nice tutorial on how to recreate source from bootable games and how to implement speed fixes. It's a pretty nice read.

    1. Re:More DOS Games!!! Yay! by wcb4 · · Score: 3, Informative

      And he's looking for another project

      I vote vote Sun Tzu's Ancient Art of War.. I loved that game. Found a copy a year or two ago and it was unplayable (enemies moved so fast you could not counter) Would love to play that one again though, wasted many , many hours back in college playing it.

      --
      I reject your reality ... and substitute my own.
    2. Re:More DOS Games!!! Yay! by hypethetica · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm not really annonymous (the source code at least has my first and last name in it.)

      I just want the attention to go to the game and the nostalgia, not to me. The last thing I want is to take credit away from the original author.

      Thanks for the comments and for trying it out. I hope it works for you and brings back some old times.

      -jeff!

  2. Re:This is a very different game than Wolf3D by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    From the Wolf3D FAQ.

    "The The idea for Wolfenstein came from an old Apple ][ game called Castle Wolfenstein that the id guys liked. They had come up with the idea of the 3D, texture-mapped, smoothly scrolling ngine, and needed a game to use it with. Castle Wolfenstein seemed ideal. They couldn't think of a better name, so their legal guys went out and got the copyright on the name, and Wolfenstein 3D was born!"

  3. Re:Is this legal by hypethetica · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes it's legal. I knew this question would be raised, so I added a thingy in the faq:

    In October of 2003, congress passed 4 clauses to the DMCA which allow reverse engineering for this type of application.
    Specifically "3. Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access. ...The register has concluded that to the extent that libraries and archives wish to make preservation copies of published software and videogames that were distributed in formats that are (either because the physical medium on which they were distributed is no longer in use or because the use of an obsolete operating system is required), such activity is a noninfringing use covered by section 108(c) of the Copyright Act."

    -jeff!

  4. Did somebody say... by Rayonic · · Score: 2, Informative

    ... Prince of Persia?

    You're welcome.

    --
    [PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
  5. Legal status by 0x0d0a · · Score: 4, Informative

    Take another look at the text involved.

    The exemption is *only* WRT reverse-engineering on anti-circumvention on software to which you are able to do what you're doing under copyright law. It does *not* provide a new fair-use exemption under copyright law.

    The DMCA's clauses providing exemptions for reverse engineering to ensure compatibility do not extend to shielding one from copyright infringement. The original work is still copyrighted. Just because you (may) not be hit by the DMCA's anticircumvention laws doesn't mean that you are legally clear in regard to the actual copyright on the software. You have modified a disassembled copy of the original (rather than producing a clone, which would be legal), and hence are distributing a derivative copy of a copyrighted work to which you do not own the copyright or a license to the copyright. The DMCA doesn't concern you -- traditional copyright law does.

    The clause in the DMCA gives the example of the Internet Archive needing to be able to put software to which they *have rights* and are not infringing on copyright ("If the Internet Archive is given computer software..."). The exemption only allows them to modify the software. It does not grant them more rights under copyright law.

    Read discussion here

    The extent of this ruling is to cover people that write and apply cracks that allow software to run on newer media formats that would otherwise not have the right to do so (If the CD becomes obsolete, it is legal to bypass Safe CD). It does not mean that any works that are protected by Safe CD become public domain.

    It is possible that Silas' widow owns the copyright, if Silas published his own game. In this case, she probably *does* have the ability to grant you distribution rights, and you're fine.

    --
    May we never see th
    1. Re:Legal status by hypethetica · · Score: 4, Informative

      It is possible that Silas' widow owns the copyright, if Silas published his own game. In this case, she probably *does* have the ability to grant you distribution rights, and you're fine.

      Which she has. I probably should have quoted the entire section from my FAQ:
      Q) Do you have the rights to distribute this game?

      A) Yes. Silas Warner's wife has granted permission to release the source code and game executables as a small memorial of his work.
      id Software owns the name "Wolfenstein", but not this particular piece of work. id's legal department has been notified of this project, and so far, have not stepped in to shut it down. Sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness than to get permission.
      Hopefully anyone who sees the effort involved in returning this piece of software to the modern world will see that it was done as a labor of love, not as a way to line pocketbooks.
      --

      DMCA wise, I guess it's kinda grey. It allows for reverse engineering to bypass protection (which I did), but not neccesarily for releasing the whole friggen source code! ;) I did spend some serious time searching for some kind of ruling for/against this type of work, but I couldn't find anything to support either case, as this is a rather unusual situation.
      As if it's not obvious, IANAL. I'll gladly seek your councel if the hammer comes down on me for doing this, but I think I can sleep soundly.
      -jeff!

  6. Re:This is awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Silas Warner's Resume