Wolfer Q & A: AReyeP

Name: Steve Walley
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa (Formerly Melbourne, Australia)
Nickname: AReyeP

Q. Where did your nickname come from and why did you choose it?
A. Back in the late 90's when I was using bulletin boards I used to use the alias "Wolf" (Guess from where lol!) but then another person was using the same name so I started using R.I.P. (I took that from my Nephew's band name at the time). However, when I started using the internet I found there were other "R.I.P.'s" out there, so I changed it to AReyeP (pronounced ARR-eye-PEE), it was supposed to be pronounced the same although some think it's ARR-YEP :) It worked well, there were no other AReyeP's out there so there was no confusion. :)

Q. When did you first play Wolfenstein 3d?
A. 1992, A month or two after it came out. A guy at work was playing it and allowed me to play it on his PC during the nightshift's I was working (I didn't have a PC at home). It ran on a 286 and had PC speaker sound! (Bleeps etc.). I was hooked, this game is responsible for me buying my first PC! lol!

Q. How did you come to be part of the Wolfenstein 3d Community?
A. I was sitting bored at work one day in 2000 and I did a Yahoo search for Wolfenstein 3d to see if there was anything of interest. I found Colonel Bill's website and I was amazed to find there was an active Wolf Community, I joined straight away.

Q. What is the best part about being involved in the Wolfenstein 3d Community?
A. Making new acquaintances. I also met my wife and made some real friends through it - genuine people.

Q. How did your collaboration with MCS Amsterdam come about?
A. After modifying the code for my "WolfenDoom" mod (minor changes for menus etc.), I had an idea for an unofficial sequel to Spear of Destiny (which would eventually become "Spear Resurrection") but I was a coding dummy. I'd ask questions on the forum and MCS would always be the one to answer me. At one stage I thought he may even be someone from id Software as he seemed to know so much about the coding! :) Eventually, I asked if he'd like to team up with me on the mod and he agreed. We made a perfect Wolf team.

Q. You have released probably 2 of the most famous Wolf 3d mods of all time, where did the idea for each of those come from?
A. As mentioned above, I wanted to make a new mod after releasing "WolfenDoom" and instead of something stand alone, I thought a sequel to Spear of Destiny seemed like a good idea. I could give it an in depth storyline and hoped it would make for an interesting mod, and so Spear Resurrection came to be. It worked well and afterwards we thought about a new mapset for it but with new features being added by MCS all the time. We eventually decided on another full sequel and named it "End of Destiny". I wanted to keep either the words "Spear" or "Destiny" in the titles to retain a link with the original Spear of Destiny.

Q. Do you have any plans for another mod?
A. Yes, it's still in formative stages at the moment though and nothing is definite. I make no promises!!

Q. What has been the most rewarding things that's come from Wolf and your mods?
A. Meeting and marrying my wonderful Wife, and getting to know some very good people.

Q. What is your favorite Wolf 3d mod that you've played other than your own?
A. Orb of Dilaaria by Adam Biser. That was just so unique and brilliant, for a Wolf mod it was streets ahead of it's time.

Q. Why do you feel that Wolf 3d has such a lasting legacy being that is was released so long ago?
A. It was the Grand Daddy of 3d games, plus perhaps as it is so easy to make levels for compared to the newer 3d games. It's easy for beginners to break into, yet offers a lot for those willing to put the effort into it. People have asked me why I don't make levels for newer games, I could, but they take so long and I'm not willing to spend days on one level, besides, levels for other 3d games are often a dime a dozen as so many people are making them.

Q. Where would you like to see Wolfenstein 3d go from here?
A. Full support for newer operating systems and running at higher resolutions, with SDL we have these. I'd like to see the original id games and the older classics mods converted to this format so as they can all live on without the need for 3rd party programs such as Dosbox.

Q. Any words of wisdom you would like to leave us with?
A. Wolf wisdom or life wisdom? Wolf wise, make a mod because you want to and for your own enjoyment. If it seems a chore, leave it go and if you're making it for general release on the internet, then don't rush it, if it's worth doing it's worth doing properly.
Lifewise, be the best you can. Treat others as you'd like them to treat you and don't be conned by the New World order. :)