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NovoWolf

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NovoWolf is a mod for registered Wolfenstein, made by Thomas Weiling. It was released on December 2, 2009.

Description[]

The mod features 21 levels; 20 regular and 1 secret. Some of the source code changes include seamless level flow, changed ceiling colors and music order, animated objects, raising the static object/enemy limit, different boss behavior, 4 keys with uniquely colored locked doors, extra added items and a new enemy. The flow of the mod is very much in the vein of Spear of Destiny with four separate unit each guarded by a boss. Dungeons, castles and laboratories make out the player's itinerary.

New graphics are featured, courtesy of Bruno Déo Vergílio (reprising his role from Castle Assault) as well as Wolf Skevos-Jones, whom Thomas would e-mail with frequently around this time, as he was a big source of inspiration for the mod itself. He supplied re-colored enemies (turning the blue hues of the Spear mission packs into gray), including a scientist which would later surface in Castle Totenkopf SDL. Some of his Heer guards were also put to use.

A major inspiration for the mod was an old favorite of Thomas', The Final Solution, and NovoWolf borrowed numerous graphics, musical ideas and atmospheres from that particular mod.

Genesis[]

Similar to 2006's scrapped project Wolfram in scope and idea, work was initially begun on the project in July 2007. As with Wolfram, it was decided upon using the Spear Mission packs as an aesthetic base rather than classic Wolfenstein 3D, which had otherwise been Thomas' preference. In terms of coding, Dean Horton once again signed on the project and though the initial idea was to use the Spear of Destiny source code, this was ultimately decided against.

These coding changes were initially put together by Dean, and seemingly there were no bugs to start with. From July to October 2007, work on the project went steady, with an estimated release date of Christmas.

Coding issues[]

Sometime in November 2007, the EXE stopped working. At this point, the first 14 levels were fully finished. Certain levels were left inaccessible, and actor sprites acted odd. Dean, who had invested a lot of time and energy on the coding, sent it off for BrotherTank to see if he knew what to do. Other people eventually also became involved in helping out, including AlumiuN who would prove vital to the project (see below) as well as MCS and WSJ, who was told of the issue in passing by Thomas. As these bugs were sadly never thwarted in 2007, it was decided to shelve the mod for the time being. The main issue was likely a memory bug, though there might have been other causes.

Thomas became restless and instead decided to try his hand on a different project, for which Dean also did the coding: The Bitter End.

Further progress[]

After a slow winter and spring of 2008, The Bitter End was eventually released on April 20. Thomas then started another new project with Dean on board, W.O.L.F., and it did indeed feel as if NovoWolf had become a lost mod. The files were still available, however, though there was no functioning EXE at this point, so the possibility to at least finish off the maps as a start was always there.

As W.O.L.F. came to a close in late 2008, Thomas decided to venture into NovoWolf once again. As the process of W.O.L.F. was an extremely fertile one for Thomas, often finishing several maps over the course of one day, it was second nature to churn out the remaining 7 levels for NovoWolf. Sometime before Christmas 2008 the maps had all been finished, though there was no way to play test them. To add insult to injury, it had been more than one year since there had been a functioning EXE for NovoWolf, and as such Thomas could only imagine what the maps would turn out to be like. Around this time, Dean recommended sending the files over to AlumiuN who had become one of the go-to people in terms of coding in the Wolfenstein 3D modding community over the course of 2007 and 2008. In hindsight, this would prove to have been the best choice imaginable.

Over the course of 2009, NovoWolf hung over Dean and Thomas' heads, and as neither of the two had a copy handy (see below) the mod seemed more or less to be lost, either partially or completely. However, come the summer and fall of 2009, teaming up with Havoc for the initiation of the Wolf Overkill project and being inspired by SDL, Thomas mentioned the issue of NovoWolf to Havoc who said that with SDL technology, the memory issue (which it most likely was) would be very easy to solve. The only issue being that NovoWolf was nowhere to be found - initially.

Status as a lost mod/author's editorial[]

In December 2008, I spent some of my 18th birthday money on a brand new computer which ran Windows Vista initially, and that I would later do up with Windows 7. In the process of starting over on a brand new computer and wiping the slate clean, I also took a small break from Wolf3D - initially. Some folders were migrated over from the old computer, mainly other peoples' mods, a few editors and the like. Though not aware of it at the time, NovoWolf was not included on the data drive and was for all intents and purposes lost. Dean did not have a spare copy handy either, certainly not a modern revision featuring all finished maps. He probably had one that featured maybe up until level 14, though that would surprise me. I seem to remember it was a very early version and that the new enemy hadn't even been implemented in the version he had lying around.

When we were working on Wolf Overkill early on, I mentioned this mod to Havoc, the issues and the frustration it had caused. The fact that the mod was nowhere to be found was an afterthought... I can't recall how we didn't figure it out at first, but of course it would make sense that AlumiuN had the thing lying around. He had also tried to solve the issue and got pretty close, if I recall correctly. I was over the moon when I finally received an e-mail from him, complete with the project, all the maps, the works. All material had been left untouched since November or December 2008. It is with no small irony that AlumiuN ended up being credited as saviour in the Read This!

- Thomas Weiling

Project reboot as an SDL mod[]

With AlumiuN having sent over the set (circa October or November 2009) some retouching was done to the maps and graphics, though there were still some rough edges unsolved (e.g. the Read This featuring a guard enemy that had been replaced as far back as October 2007). By far and large the mod remained much as it was and had been before its untimely demise. Havoc had a running SDL EXE ready by mid-November 2009, and both Dean and Thomas were greatly pleased to see the mod in the flesh, more than two years after its inception. Some play testing commenced, and the mod was finally released on December 2, 2009. A small bug that dealt with saved games was discovered and quickly squashed, with a revised EXE appearing on December 6. This was the first SDL mod Thomas released, and it was very well received.

See also[]

External links[]

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