ECWolf 1.2 Released

Just released a new version of ECWolf today. If I didn't forget to do anything it should be a fairly solid improvement over the old release including higher vanilla accuracy.

Full details and change log highlights are on my weblog: http://maniacsvault.net/entry60

Edit: 1.2.3: http://maniacsvault.net/entry66

Blzut3's page said:

"I'll be working on porting Super 3D Noah's Ark."

Best news ever.

Eh? Isnt that the Jesus game with the slingshot & stuff?

Yeah. Dunno why id licensed Wolf to that developer. Weird stuff.

Fuck that, support for Blake Stone?

Heh. You guys aren't seriously hating for a game just because it has some connection to religion. If you enjoyed playing Chex Quest, you'll probably enjoy Noah's Ark as well. Noah's Ark isn't even an easy game. Did you know you can disable the bible quiz in the DOS version? Even answering the questions wrong gets you 4 points of health (as opposed to even more health and ammo if you get it right). ;)

In any case Wisdom Tree actually sent me the game for free so I could port it. Although they haven't said anything specific, they may end up using ECWolf commercially (the GPL edition of course).

GoatLord said:

Dunno why id licensed Wolf to that developer.

For the same reason they licensed to everyone else. Money.

Blzut3 said:

Heh. You guys aren't seriously hating for a game just because it has some connection to religion. If you enjoyed playing Chex Quest, you'll probably enjoy Noah's Ark as well. Noah's Ark isn't even an easy game. Did you know you can disable the bible quiz in the DOS version? Even answering the questions wrong gets you 4 points of health (as opposed to even more health and ammo if you get it right). ;)

In any case Wisdom Tree actually sent me the game for free so I could port it. Although they haven't said anything specific, they may end up using ECWolf commercially (the GPL edition of course).

For the same reason they licensed to everyone else. Money.

The game is shit; would not pirate.

... Wisdom Tree?

Wisdom Tree's still around? Wow.

Dragonsbrethren said:

Wisdom Tree's still around? Wow.

They're not really active, but they'll sell copies of their games as long as they have some. http://wisdomtreegames.com/

wisdom tree deserve at least a little credit for seeing that 3D shooters were going to be the next big thing long before most other, more professional, outfits.

bonus points for porting resources to brutal doom.

Well it appears I embarrassingly forgot to test the save function, so ECWolf 1.2.1 is now available. (Hey, something needs to go wrong during release right?)

Wisdom Tree also deserve credit for sending source code and free game to port developers. (Well, one port developer, at least.) Do you think Atari would do the same thing with Blood?

Functional Noah's Ark support in ECWolf also means:

Now for the part that people come here for: What's new in the Noah's Ark engine (over vanilla Wolf3D)?

• Texture mapped floor/ceiling - Like most of the games based on the engine. Noah's Ark has textured mapped floors and ceilings, but only allow one texture for the entire map (similar to Blake Stone and ROTT). ECWolf already supports this via the defaultfloor/defaultceiling properties. If I recall correctly any way, the texture used is defined in code.
  
• Automap - Uses an automap similar to that found in the SNES version of Wolf3D (make sense) or ROTT. I know a lot of you are waiting for this.
  
• MIDI music - This one surprised me. From the loose files it looks like the SNES version of Wolf3D used MIDIs converted to a custom format, so they added native MIDI code to the DOS version. This may be the single feature that holds the full port back from 1.3, but we'll see. Obviously at some point the sound code will be addressed as the Mac version of Wolf3D and ROTT use MIDI as well.
  
• Projectile weapons - Based loosely on the flame thrower and rocket launcher in the SNES version of Wolf3D. ECWolf supports player missiles, although I may need to check for game play differences.
  
• Cast call - Uses a zoom-in effect of sorts. Also used for the Game Over screen if I recall correctly.
  
• SNES like status bar - Basically it includes an item (fruit) counter. Probably would be wise to have status bar scripting ready.

Resurrecting thread to let everyone know 1.2.3 is now available.

Good to know you're still working on AOG support!

Super awsome!