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Wolfenstein 3D

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D cover
Developers
id Software
Publishers
Apogee Software
Retail re-release GT Interactive
Retail re-release Activision
Mac OS MacPlay
Browser Bethesda Softworks
Engines
Wolfenstein 3D engine
Release dates
DOS May 5, 1992
Mac OS (Classic) 1994
Windows (DOSBox) August 3, 2007
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Subscription gaming service
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person
Controls Direct control
Genres FPS
Themes World War II, Sci-fi, Fantasy
Series Wolfenstein
Wolfenstein 3D on HowLongToBeat
Wolfenstein 3D on IGDB
Wolfenstein 3D on MobyGames
Wolfenstein 3D on Wikipedia
Castle Wolfenstein 1981
Beyond Castle Wolfenstein 1984
Wolfenstein 3D 1992
Spear of Destiny 1992
Return to Castle Wolfenstein 2001
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory 2003
Wolfenstein 2009
Wolfram (unofficial game) 2012
Wolfenstein: The New Order 2014
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood 2015
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus 2017
Wolfenstein: Youngblood 2019
Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot 2019
RealRTCW (unofficial mod) 2020

Wolfenstein 3D is a singleplayer first-person FPS game in the Wolfenstein series.

Key points

Wolfenstein 3D source code was released in 1995, making the game very mod-friendly.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
DRM-free
Released in either the Original Missions or the Nocturnal Missions editions.
DOS
Retail
DRM-free
Released in either the Second Encounter or the Third Encounter editions.
Mac OS
GamersGate
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Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
Pre-packaged with DOSBox. Comes bundled with Spear of Destiny.
Windows
Green Man Gaming
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Windows
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Microsoft Store
DRM-free after installation through Microsoft Store client (notes may include more details)
Xbox Game Pass for PC. Comes bundled with Spear of Destiny. Not available in Germany.
Windows
Steam
DRM-free after installation through Steam client (notes may include more details)
Pre-packaged with DOSBox. Comes bundled with Spear of Destiny.
Windows
Official website (unavailable)
DRM-free
Pre-packaged with DOSBox.
Windows
Amazon.com (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Bethesda.net (unavailable)
Bethesda.net Launcher
Windows
A web browser version of the Original Missions is also available. Some legacy options have been removed.

Version differences

The Mac OS version of the game is basically a port of the console versions (high res sprites, front facing enemies, extra weapons, etc.). However, unlike the DOS version, it was designed for modding; custom levels (referred to as Scenarios) were readily selectable from the episode menu.[1] It should be noted that the Shareware version of the Mac port was known as the First Encounter while the retail version known as the Third Encounter contained ports of the original DOS levels in addition to the console levels; Second Encounter was the standard version.

Monetization

Type Notes
One-time game purchase The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service Available via Xbox Game Pass for PC.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Nocturnal Missions Second trilogy expanding on the Original Missions. Included in all digital releases.
DOS
Wolfenstein 3D: Super Upgrades Map compilation pack, available as freeware on 3D Realms' Wolfenstein 3D page. Includes some utilities as well, including a front end map selector, a map editor and a random level generator. Recently it is ported to Windows using Wolf4SDL that can be found here.
DOS
Windows

Essential improvements

DOS Patches

  • Patch 1.1 can be found here whilst 1.2 ("the elevator fix") can be found here.
  • UltraWolf is an unofficial patch that adds Gravis UltraSound support to Wolfenstein 3D. Note that it is not compatible with version 1.4. Additional sound effects can be found here.
  • WolfMenu is a mod frontend for Wolfenstein 3D under DOS.

Source ports

The release of the source code have helped make Wolfenstein 3D (and it's expansion) playable on modern systems, while adding additional features and bug-fixes.

Name Description
Wolf4SDL A source port that retains the original gameplay and style of Wolf3D and Spear of Destiny while providing bug-fixes and OOL feature.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
NakedWolf3D Fork of Wolf4SDL aiming to be a painfully authentic Wolfenstein 3-D source port, exactly as it was in 1992 with zero additions, enhancements or gameplay alterations other than where required to run on modern systems.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
ECWolf Based on Wolf4SDL and ZDoom code. Provides many useful features such as support for wide screen resolutions and unlimited save slots, and aims to provide a wide array of mod editing capabilities. Experimental support for the Macintosh port is also available, see here for more.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
WolfGL A source port that uses OpenGL.
Windows
Linux
NewWolf Meant to be a modernization of Wolfenstein 3D, providing native Windows support along with other significant features. Uses OpenGL.
Windows
BetterWolf Slight modification of the original DOS version. Adds proper strafe keys, an optional auto map replacing the HUD's weapon icon and crosshair.
DOS
WinWolf3d A simple port made to be played on Windows.
Windows
MacenWolf A port of Mac Wolfenstein 3D to be played on Windows, based on Wolf4SDL code.
Windows

Sprite Fix and Rotation Project (ECWolf only)

Fixes the sprites of the game and its expansions and adds missing rotations.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
DOS <path-to-game>\
Windows <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 1]
Mac OS (Classic)
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2270/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game data location

System Location
DOS <path-to-game>\SAVEGAM*.WL6
Windows <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 1]
Mac OS (Classic)
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2270/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Use ECWolf.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Use ECWolf.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
For DOSBox toggle with Alt+ Enter (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Use ECWolf.
60 FPS
120+ FPS
Frame rate is capped at 70 FPS[2] (even when using ECWolf).
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

In-game general control settings.
In-game general control settings.
In-game key map settings.
In-game key map settings.

Audio

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
No speech.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Russian
Fan translation by «Бюро переводов Old-Games.ru»

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
4 Co-op
Use the SplitWolf mod.
LAN play
Online play

VR support

Issues fixed

No Sound

Wolfenstein 3D can fail to detect Adlib (and as a consequence Sound Blaster) support, if the machine is too fast. In the case of DOSBox, this can be triggered if using 20000 cycles or more.

Lag/Low FPS (Steam DOSBox release)

Modify the wolf3d.conf file[citation needed]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\base and edit wolf3d.conf.
  2. Set fulldouble to false.
  3. Save and close.
Use ECWolf

Super Upgrades crashes in DOSBox

Use an external shell[3]
The external menu program tries to rename some files using wildcards which DOSBox does not support, thus causing the crash.
  1. Download 4DOS command shell.
  2. Place 4DOS.COM in the root of the mounted C: drive.
  3. Enter SET COMSPEC=C:\4DOS.COM in DOSBox prior to running the addon.
For convenience, put the SET command in the autoexec section of a configuration file dedicated to the game.
It is advised to re-install Wolf3D and the addon due to leftover files that do not get renamed.
To make the map descriptions work, place FreeDOS's MORE.COM into Wolf3D's root folder.

The Mac version does not run on OS X

Use ECWolf[4]
  1. Setup a Mac emulator for the classic OS (or use native hardware) and install MacPlay's Wolfenstein 3D on the disk.
  2. Copy the data file and executable app and MacBin them.
  3. Rename the binary wolf3d.bin and the data file wolflvls.bin.
  4. Copy them to the OS X machine and into the data folder for ECWolf.
  5. Download this shim file and place it in the data folder with the rest of the files for ECWolf to detect the scenario.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Software renderer
DOS video modes VGA
ExecutablePPC16-bit 32-bit 64-bitARM Notes
Windows
Use ECWolf.
macOS (OS X)
Use ECWolf.
Linux
Use ECWolf. PowerPC version requires compiling ECWolf from source code.
Mac OS (Classic)

System requirements

DOS
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 5.0
Processor (CPU) Intel 286
System memory (RAM) 528 kB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 3 MB
Video card (GPU) DOS Compatible (VESA)
Mac OS
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 6.0.7
Processor (CPU) 25 MHz
System memory (RAM) 2200 kB
Hard disk drive (HDD)
Windows
Minimum
Operating system (OS) XP, Vista, 7, 8
Processor (CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo
System memory (RAM) 2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS game data. For the GOG.com release, file changes in DOSBox are redirected to <path-to-game>/cloud_saves/ even if GOG Galaxy is not used (this folder contains all redirected files, so some files in the cloud_saves folder might be temporary files or other files that do not contain saves or settings).
  2. 2.0 2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/2270/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (2270) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References