So here I sit, typing this update on my MacBook, an amazing Apple product, writing about a game I worked on 16 years ago which just happened to be a mere 3 years after I stopped writing for my first Apple love, the Apple II platform. It’s been a long time between heavy use of Apple products but now is the time for me to fully switch back into Apple mode. I’m already addicted to my iPhone, Apple TV and MacBook. Next up: iMac and Mac Pro and I’m off and away – goodbye Microsoft.
I just figured I’d announce my switch on Wolfy’s birthday. The relevance? Wolfenstein 3D was a game lovingly crafted by 4 guys, 3 of which were longtime Apple II fanatics and coders; a game that was based on one of our all-time favorite Apple II games, Castle Wolfenstein. So you see, it all comes back around to Apple one way or another.
(To see something Wolfy made with Legos, check this out)
Update: I just saw that SxePhil on YouTube said happy birthday to Wolf3D!
Download this page in PDF format
Happy b-day Wolfy! I remember seeing it for the first time on some demo PCs at Circuit City or some store like that. I was so blown away by the “3d-ness” of it all that I didn’t even have the words to describe it to my parents. “Mom! It’s this game where you fight Nazis! And, it’s REAL! No, you don’t understand, it’s not like Mario Bros. It’s REAL!”
Happy B-Day, Wolfenstein. I’m probably better off that I never knew you “back in the day” because I probably would never have finished school.
Happy b-day Wolf, i love you.
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BTW: Hey John, its mean that you like OpenGL more than DX
yes nazi is real. im remember play wolf in my 2dollars psp – plastic screen poop, and see adolf hitler in my room…damn…
he says – Romero done a GUD joBi!
and the voices… Hi Hitler! and again Hello Hitler! and Yo Hitler! wolf change my life.. and now my name is Tobias Romero Hitler.
amazing game! hope you create great titles for Mac Romero! have fun!
I love the original Wolfenstien so damn much. It was the first PC game that turned it into a serious gaming machine. And then along came DOOM and conquered the entire industry…
I’m glad to have been one of those who caught it first time around.
Yeah, Happy Birthday! It’s amazing how long it has been (does this mean we can call it a classic?) My grandma actually got me into the FPS games like wolf3d (played all six episodes on GBA), said they had good psychological benefits (id?) and she also plays doom…on hard (ultra-violence, i believe).
Happy birthday Wolfenstein!
Oh, how I miss those days when a team of four people could make a game heads and shoulders above the competition!
John – so does the switch back to Apple mean that your upcoming projects will be released on Mac aswell?
Apple Love!
Damn Romero, if you like youre MacBook, you’ll go bananas with the Mac Book Air!
I have on of those babies, SSD model, and let me tell you. Its almost orgasmic. Its like Steve Jobs knows how to get in there in youre soul and let it run free for a while.
Just the fact you can grab the Air with one hand, just get it in the morning, go back to bed, and use it over the covers like it was some kind of uber-tv-remote-control or something is like eating ice cream on a heat wave!
This is life style changing.
And I’m not even going into the Mac Goodyness and Wonderness that makes Microsoft the next Lizards of Earth to be gone in smokes.
And Amen to that!
I still remember wolfenstein as one of the best games ever, that and doom. That was some awesome games.
That was the golden era of the games.
Thank you for that one mr Romero!
Question John, what launch platform(s) is your MMO targeting? I don’t really see a huge difference between Macs and PCs anymore these days, having used both a lot. Price and performance are close, and style is up to the user’s preference. I’m personally nostalgic about the Commodore line of products, as well as early PC’s (286-486 era).
Happy Birthday Wolfy !!!
I played it on IMB ps/2 256 cpu with 1 mb ram and from a 3.5″ diskette !!!
I had some lags during the loading from the diskette, but I was very happy to play this game !
It was the first revolution in game industry prior DOOM.
It is a big surprise to see wolfensteins textures in the secret lvl of DOOM II.
Happy Birthday !
P.S. Sorry for offtopic, “The Battle vs Evil continues in DOOM 4″
You can check IDs site =) Just wonder how much time will it take 2,3,4,5 years ?
Happy birthday Wolf3dy!
Really, you wanna say goodbye to Microsoft? then what? Code in xcode? you serious? c’mon! nobody can say goodbye to Visual Studio!
Giggity Giggity Goo!
I, too have switched back to Apple in the past couple of years. Well…I guess it’s like I’ve adopted a wholly *nix perspective, I guess. Still have gentoo and Ubuntu around.
Happy B-Day Wolfenstein3d! Have you seen Voxelstein?
http://voxelstein3d.sourceforge.net/
I was a little kid when Wolfenstein 3D came out. I remember playing it. It scared the CRAP out of me. =D
Fifteen years, and one horrible gaming addiction later, I’m happy to say ID software ruined my life in a fantastic way.
Happy Birthday Wolf3D… I still remember what a wonder this game was when it came to our little country via BBC networks. Endless nights of killing nazis, damn that was fun. Wish gaming was still in that era… Those were times for best games ever!
As for Apple. We all love it, looks like these days everyone are switching to Apple. I simply love my MacBook Pro and iPhone. John please bring some good gaming action to Mac!
Hey John, take a long look at selfpromotion.com
It’s a site run by Robert Woodhead of the Sir-Tech Wizardry series. Rob’s been a hardcore Apple/Mac programmer for well over 25 years. He even has some applications for the iPhone and such.
Happy birthday wolf ^^
My first fps…..
HEY JOHN I LOVE YOU MAN!!!!!
ps: happy b-day wolf
Has it been 16 years already? Wow! I remember playing it on my 386 and having to shrink the screen to get a good frame rate. A great moment was when Hitler was in the robot–destroy the robot and Hitler runs all over. Man–cool game! Also loved Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein–my mom is German so people at school asked me to translate (never learned the language.)
Dude i`ll somehow make sure your name will be respected again. Thank you and the rest of ol` id for Wolf. And thank you for Quake … it trully changed my life and what i want to do with it
Happy Birthday Wolfenstein!
You know, Apple has a good operating system nowadays with the OSX generation because it’s based on a Unix architecture, but let me remind you that the previous generation was a complete piece of crap that froze all the time, even more that Win98. The thing is, Linux rules man, Linux used Unix structures way before Macs. And just compare Beryl with the crappy mac interface… it’ll make your mac look like a sad piece of junk. As for the MacBook air, take a look at those crappy specs… very thin, but no processing power whatsoever.
I’ll admit that the quality of Apple products is outstanding, however I’d always spend my money in more power and not just looks, brand, etc.
heh linux
Wow Wolf3D is almost as old as I am!
I remember testing this game for you like it was yesterday.
John, say it ain’t so that you’ve gone forever to the dark side. Please come back….!
Wolf3D is the best forever!!!
The Wolf3D is second game we have played, the first one, of course — Doom I, heeee ha!
We love the all the games made by id. We are crazy about them and got dizzy
Ma Xiaoguang & Ma Xiaoming
from Dalian, China.
John Carmack and John Romero are genius!
Ma xiaoguang and Ma Xiaoming
from Dalian, China
Hello John you are the great programmer.
I need help I do a game for university “Sodoku” if someone
I can help
thanks
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3169/2604930361_041e45a362.jpg
well that didnt work
Happy b-day Wolf3D! Been a huge fan of that game since the day it was first released. Must have played it 1000′s of times on my old 386 when I was in high school. Thanks John for giving us one of the greatest gaming gifts of all time.
And the game lives on.
There is still a community that is devoted to the game that made iD and you famous John…. Lots of new games created for it.. many new maps.. And now we even have an SDL version that will run native in any Windows Platform from Win98 to Vista! The new source is also cross platform to many other Os’s as well. So you might want to check it out. And again… Thanks for a great 16 years of fun and enjoyment from our little community.
BrotherTank
DieHardWolfers Admin
So John…
Will this MMO you are building secretly… will support macs then? I surely hope so… Make it universal so us in the PPC G5 Realm can enjoy it
Long time fan;
Badr
Welcome back to the world of Mac, big boy…I’ve been playing DOOM on my powerbook. Addicted all over again. Is it still the greatest game ever made? I say “yes.”
john
have you considered to give a try to linux and/or the open source world?
greetings and congratulations for you work
Speaking of Wolf3D, have you tried Voxelstein 3D?
http://voxelstein3d.blogspot.com/
John,
Did Dungeon Master (1987) and/or Alternate Reality (1985) inspire some of the graphics ideas for Wolf3D? If not then what were?
Happy Birthday Wolf3d. Congrats.
Greetings! Can I take photographes from your blog for my school project?