It's been a while

Hi, yes it's been a while. I've been given some space on a server for a website and I plan on getting around to getting it up and running soon. I have the full version of DreamWeaver, which I'm kaing the site with, but I just can't get the site I've created to post so a friend will (eventually) come and help me out with getting it up and running. Everything that is here will be transferred to there then and this will no longer operate.

Wolf news is scarce as it has been a fairly quiet year this year. SDL is obviously the big thing for the year and seems to have helped increased some interest in Wolf again. Nice to see some older Wolfers poke their heads in at time this year also. Nice to see both Barry and Zach visit Wolf again in some capacity.

I have a new idea for a mod that will be fairly ambitious and probably take quite a time to bring together. The SDL coding is going to be the main issue as a lot of changes are required and I'm very average at coding. Once it gets going officially I will make an announcement at DHW and supply details then.

Thanks for reading.

March 2008 Update

Yeah, yeah, I missed February but I do have a good excuse! I was out of the country for nearly all of February and although I got back in the last couple of the days of the Month I had far too many things to concentrate on like getting back to work and stuff.

I stated in one of my previous posts that the Wolf Community seemed to have a lot going on at the moment but there has been a big change in this of late. The Community has really slowed down this year with almost no mods being released so far. Ripper has released a new Wolf engine that I understand nothing about but from when I can glean from the posts at DHW it sounds like a pretty amazing thing. There seems to also be a lot of mods in development, Venom Inc. have announced about 87 mods that they are developing which will cover almost every big movie franchise ever made! I've also heard mention of 'Final Fight 2' being in development as well, the first one scored a Dome award so I wish everyone involved with any of these projects good luck with them and I hope some of then do get made and released.

Wolfsource, the Wolfenstein 3D Wikipedia has been developing nicely and now contains a huge amount of information about some of the Wolfers in the Community as well as a lot of in-the-works mods and some information on some released mods. Unfortunately it seems that a lot of the older (In experience only) Wolfer's don't seem to have embraced the Wiki like a lot of newer Wolfer's have. I'm sure that these people have a huge amount of information in their knowledge from over the years, not to mention a lot of trivia and information about the mods that they have worked on and released as well. It would make the Wiki an even better place as an information base if some of these people could be encouraged to spend a little time adding some of their knowledge in.

Thomas has returned to the Community and he and I have already picked back up on some projects that we were working on before he left. You should see something being released very soon from us and hopefully a couple more things coming out over the year. I have also been working on something else fairly BIG but I can't say too much about that at this stage, stay tuned for an announcement regarding that sooner or later. Maybe as a special announcement wehn the following finally happens...

My website development has hit a major snag as I really have no idea how post a website! I have made one before and I still have some instructions on how I did that last time so I will start to develop it soon and then try again how to get it up and running. I've decided to do Mod reviews on the site as well. I've already written a few detail reviews about some mods complete with a rating system and some other insights about each mod. Some other things that will be on the website will be information on my releases plus details and updates on what I'm working on plus a News page that will take over from this blog when it eventually launches.

Escape From Castle Holle Released!!

Well it's been a while since I posted. I have actually thought of adding to this each month but I've been given some server space so my intentions are to create a website for my mods and news and switch this blog to there but each month has come and gone and I haven't managed to get that done just yet. I will be working on getting the website up soon, hopefully.
After 2 years work and a few delays I finally released 'Escape from Castle Holle' in December. You can download it HERE.

I was really happy how this came out and the feedback, although small, has been nicely positive about it, I really hope that everyone enjoys playing it and that they get a good challenge out of it, it was a lot of hard work and theres quite a few surprises in there for those that play it all the way through.I was fortunate to be awarded the Wolfenstein 3D Dome award of the Month for December 2007 for 'Escape from Castle Holle', thanks Brian it is greatly appreciated.

AReyeP and MCS released and add-on level for End of destiny as a Christmas present to the Community. The level is challenging and fun and great to play and I recommend everyone has a go at it. You can download it HERE, it is also located at AReyeP's site which can be accessed HERE of via the Links section on the right of this page.

I've had some major PC issues lately and this has severly affected me getting anything done, luckily these came after EFCH was released. First, my motherboard crashed so I got that replaced then I started having HDD issues. I also copped a trojan which caused a heap of problems and everything kept crashing so I saved what I could and formatted my HDD. It all seems to be working a bit better now but I realised that my Windows hadn't been getting it's updates when I reinstalled it as I got 90 in one go! Everything is running much smoother now except that for some reason all my music files go corrupted so i lost the lot, over 2,500 songs! I had about 500 on my laptop and another 1,000 are from CD's that I own but that still means that 1,000 songs that I've copied or downloaded have all been lost, not too happy about this let me tell you...

Well thats it for another Month, I will keep posting each Month now until I get the website up and running. I will advise of the address and when it will be live - stay tuned and keep wolfing!

September update

Well things are looking pretty active Wolf wise at the moment which is always a good thing. There have been a number of significant things happen in the last month.

- Map of the month club
- Community mappack was finally released
- Lots of new mods to play
- Escape from Castle Holle
- Football (Australian Rules) finished for me for the year

1. The Map of the Month club ahs been a huge success and has generated an enourmous amount of interest within the community. The quality of the maps has been very high and really enjoyable and challenging to play although the maps appear to becoming a lot harder though as each month goes by where we really are getting into Master level type maps, I hope this doesn't scare off new players or people that aren't as practised in the ways of the Wolf like the mappers that have been contributing in this competition are.
Still theres lots of positives about this competition.
a.) 1 guarenteed new mod each month
b.) New maps from some of the best mappers in the community
c.) The chance to map with features and wall/sprite types that they haven't been able to map with before.

For me the opportunity to map with some of the SR and EOD walls was one that I simply couldn't pass up, I've admired the quality of them for so long that I was fasinated to see what I could do with them. I did make a map for the August release of MMC, it took me most of the month to get it finalised, probably nearly 20 hours I would estimate, problem was I had italmost completely mapped out in my head and it just took so long to get the playability right. I'm really happy with how this has come out and I think that the people who play it will enjoy it as well. Someone needs to knock AReyeP off his victory podium, why not me!?

2. The community mappack that I have been involved in with Thomas, Tricob and WLHack was finally released.
You can get it HERE (Updated to version 2: 08/10/2010)

I'm so glad that this has finally been released. It also includes a level by Brian Lowe (Schabbs) as well as RonWolf. They are both great mappers and along with everyone else has made for a really great release for people to play. I have 8 maps in the set and they are all based mostly on the original game. The best level IMO is E6L1 made by Thomas, one of the finest levels I've ever played of an original setting.

3. There was also some other mods released this month as well as some others that I'm really looking forward to.
- Andy_nonymous has released the 3rd in his MACenstein series and after playing through a couple of levels the quality is as good as the first 2 in the series.
- Max released a mod title 'Northern darkness' which looks like it has had some really great work put into it, the main problem for me with this was the first weapon which appears to be a bottle. I was unable to use this weapon for some reason and every enemy I came across killed me straight away without me damaging them. I gave up because of this after a while, if someone has worked out how to get this working or has some idea on a way to successfully play it please email or PM me at DHW as I'd love to take a closer look at this.
- I was lucky enough to Beta test Ian Summerfield's (Little Cherub) new mod and it is spectacular! It is titled 'Guns and Glory' and has some amazing graphics and enemies in it. the plan and the way he has used the 6 episodes in this is fantastic and something that a lot of people will be talking about once it is released. I STRONGLY recommend that you all try this out once it has been released.

4. Escape from Castle Holle - There hasn't been much work on this this month as the damn mapclub kept me pretty busy but I have still managed to polish a few things up on the game. the mod is in beta stage mostly and is being tested. I have 2 levels to finalise and then a couple of small things like Par times to do but as soon as the testing has been done the mod will be released. I have had some problems with getting the floor codes right and I want to send out a vewry big 'Thank you' to AReyeP for helping me out with some guidance and rules on getting the floorcodes right - your input and assistance has been invaluable!

Here's a new screenshot though!I have been collating a collection of things that were leftovers from all the maps I've made and I'm thinking about combining them into a collection tentatively titled 'Scenarios' at this stage. A lot of the levels are just one 'scenario' that has a trick or a challenge to it while some are nearly full levels. it wont take long to play through the whole thing but it isn't designed to be a flowing normal style mod, just a collection of, well, scenarios really.... more news on that later.

5. Football - Well the season has drawn to a close for those teams that haven't made the finals and sadly my team, Essendon Football Club, are one of those that didn't make it this year. Although they did win 10 games compared to last years 3 there was still a lot of disappointing preformances and inconsistant play. We will have a new coach next year as our coach of 27 years was passed over by the club. Also one of the best players in the clubs 130 year history retired as well, it's sure going to make things mighty different around the club and as the supporters of clubs that aren't successful always say 'there's always next year!'

Until next month, have fun and keep Wolfing! (And excuse all my spelling mistakes!)

August update

Just a few things to update this month;

Escape from Castle Holle - Currently sitting at about 95% completed. I have 2 maps out of 31 to complete and then it will be right to be released which should hopefully be by the end of the month. This is currently in beta stage and testing is continuing with some great input so far. :)

Map of the month club - This has been a fantastic community event at DHW that has everyone buzzing. I contributed to the July release rather unexpectantly. It was about 9.30pm on the 31st August when out of the blue a map idea just hit me. I sat down and mapped the whole level in about 2 and a half hours. I've never made a level that quick in my life. It was a bit shorter than the ususal levels I map but I was pretty happy with it. I certainly don't think I'll win but I'm happy I was able to contribute. The quality of the maps has been really excellent and it's great to see some new maps from Ack, AReyeP, BrotherTank and others as well. I really look forward to seeing what people can come up with for August's maps.

BJ Rowan - I was in the greatest shock and excitement to come across a new website for one of my favorite Wolfers BJ Rowan. Brian hasn't been around the wolf scene much for a few years and hasn't released a mod since 2000. Brian is responsible for one of my favorite mods of all time - Project Totengraeber. This is the mod I've played through the most, the mapping is fantastic. To see that he was working on another mod was just awesome. I encourage everyone to download his latest work and have a play through it.
Website
Desperate measures

Mappers EXE - Well, to be honest I'm not sure what is happening with this. Last I had heard it was being sent of to WLHack for some source code fixing and that was about 2 months ago. I know that all the maps are done and this should be right to be released somewhat soonish after the coding has been repaired. It's a shame to have it almost completed and just sitting there but we might just surprise you one day with it's release.

Nearly there!

I know it's been a long time since I updated, I have received a big promotion at work and have a lot more to deal with, not to mention the 25 people under me! So many more meetings and things to deal with, but I got a nice payrise and a new laptop, so that's pretty sweet.

Escape from Caslte Holle is nearly completed. I have completed 28 levels out of 31 and sent them off to be Beta tested. I can't wait to see what people think of this, I hope at least in some way all the hard work I have put in gets some level of appreciation. As much as I've made this for the love of the process on my part it's also been to give something back to all the people who's mod's I've enjoyed playing over the years.

Everything else in the mod is completed 100% except for the par times.
The remaining 3 levels are done to some degree they just need to be finished off and tested and then the mod will be out, depending on how quickly the testing goes (And there's no rush on that) then the mod should be out by the end of August, possibly earlier.

I keep planning to make a map for one of the Monthly competitions at DHW but every time I start to map at the moment I just keep coming up with ideas to go into my own mod. So until EFCH is finished, as much as I'd love to, I won't be particiapting in the 'map of the month' competiton. June's maps were fantastic to play through, some real diversity in the maps. I only voted once for 1 map, I think it's the fairest way.

I've been playing through 'Femstein' lately, not for the nudity but for the game play and the graphics. This is a really great mod and the nudity just becomes blase after a while, there are some things in it to give you a good laugh as well. The mapping is exciting and challenging and the quality of the graphics never ceases to amaze me, I highly recommend everyone having another look at, if you can see your way past the nudity (Or see it as a humorous thing) then you will find a really great mod that is well worth playing. Doomjedi is an incredibly talented artist, i'd love to work on a mod with his spectacular graphics included at some stage.

Wolf news

Wow, I can't believe how many mods have been released lately and by quite a few new people as well, It's always good to see that the community is still alive and doing well.

Operation Wintersturm - WLHack has released a 3 level mod that he made in a week and it is pretty spectacular, in 6 months I couldn't make a mod with all the features that this has in it, his coding and graphic work is just increadible. Although this is only 3 levels long it has fantastic game-play and great story and each level brings something new.
My favorite is Level 2, with the exceptional train tracks, new graphics, timer and bombs, this is one of the best levels I have ever played in any mod. I can't recommend this highly enough.

WSJ - I was in complete excitement to see that one of my favorites modders has returned in some capacity to the community. For those that have never played any of Wolf's mods then you are missing out on some the most innovative and best game-play style mods ever released. Wouldn't it be exciting to see what Wolf could produce with all of the advances since he last modded?

Mappers EXE - All the levels have been completed. Tricob and WLHack are working on the final coding and then the mod should be released, hopefully in the next few weeks.

Escape from Castle Holle - Still moving along very quickly, well quicker than things normally go for me! All levels have been designed, there is still about 5 to be completed and tested but after that there is nothing else left to do.
I have now added intermission screens and spent an enormous amount of time updating all the levels that were made when this mod started 2 years ago. Some have had minor changes and some very major, all have been updated in some way as I have coded increased sprite and enemies into the mod since.
I have also made a couple of new walls that further enhance some of the levels that were already made which has lead to my changing the order of some of the levels....again.
I'm really happy how this has come out, I hope people don't just look at this as a 'simple' mod, this has litterally taken 100's and 100's of hours to get everything right.
- Every single sprite and enemy's placement has been scrutinised and replaced many times.
- Every level has been tested, played, changed, tested, played, changed many, many times in order to get everything exactly right.

Cathedral - Has not been worked on for a few months now, I have a long list of ideas to get to when I can concentrate fully on this.

EFCH update

Hi Everyone.

I know it has been a while since I logged, but I'm back now!

I have been working flat out on 'Escape from castle Holle' trying to get it completed. There have been huge updates and changes as well as all the original levels from the demo being remodeled to better fit in with the later produced stuff. Some levels have been moved again and even 1 enemy and 1 boss have been totally recoloured. This should be out within a month, hopefully. I just want to get it fully beta tested first before I release it. Reminds me that I better ask someone to test it for me.

Anyway here's some long overdue screenshots I've been promising. They don't show much but I don't want to spoil anything!

I'm baaaaaack

Hey everyone,
I know it's been areally long time since I last did a blog but I've been really busy transistioning to a new role at work as well as going overseas to Thailand for a few weeks.

I have completed the last (And my 8th) level for the Mappers Exe. Tricob hasn't been around for a while so I'll have to wait for him to rear his head again before I can send it off. I believe that the Mappers EXE isn't that far off being completed, I think that nearly all levels have been completed now.

Cathedral hasnt been touched in a couple of months now. I havent forgotten it, it will be worked again in the future, but the reason listed in the next paragragh is the main reason why.

Escape from castle Holle is nearly finished! I have been spending all of my 'Wolf' time on completing this. I have done more coding (95% completed), some minor graphics touch ups (100% now) as well as finishing off the remaining levels. I have done 2 previously half finished levels as well as a Boss level and a secret level in the last week. Everything has been flowing really smoothly on this.
I am hoping to finally have this released by the end of May at the very latest, it all depends on how much time work takes up as well as other usual things in my personal life.
I'm really jazzed that this is looking like being finished and I won't be stopping until I get this done. I think theres only a handful of levels left to do!

I will post some screen shots soon.

Until next time!

Random update

Not much going on in the Wolf world for me at the moment. These are the only updates of anything that I have.

1. I started beta testing Thomas' new mode Castle Assault but he released it anyway.
2. Spear revisited final version was released, I've been playing through it, it's pretty cool, check it out.
3. I've been doing sprite work on Cathedral of late, some nice results so far, though having problems with a directional sprite, but I'll sort it out.

4. I am making an extra level for the Mappers exe. It's secret level and mostly done, should be finished off some time today hopefully.

5. I'm feeling guilty about EFCH. The project has been sitting pretty dormant for nearly 6 months now and all it needs is some maps made and some other minor things done. Once I finish my involvment in the mappers exe I think I'll finish the maps off and release the mod.
I have been working on it since November 2005.

I might change my mind again next week though, meh, who knows....