The Road to Despair

The Road to Despair
Title screen
Author(s)	Executor
Release Date	April 11, 2001 (Initial) April 22, 2003 (Final)
Base Game	Registered Wolfenstein
Sourceport	DOS, SDL
Features
Type	Mod
Code Changes	Yes
Maps	34 (Final)
New Graphics	Yes
Files Included	GAMEMAPS.BJ3, MAPHEAD.BJ3, VGAGRAPH.BJ3, VGAHEAD.BJ3, VSWAP.BJ3

April 2001 title screen

June 2001 title screen

The Road to Despair is a mod for registered Wolfenstein, made by Executor under the nickname Viper. It was based on Totengraeber and featured many changed graphics over many different incarnations.

It was the first installment in a proposed series dubbed Megastein 3-D. The final version featured 34 levels; 30 regular and 4 secret.

The storyline is futuristic; taking place in a then-future 2012 where World War III has begun with Germany becoming a Neo-Nazi regime.

Genesis

Originally available outside the Dome in April 2001, it was released with 8 new levels and the changed graphics mainly affected wall textures and music. Here Executor went under the name Harrison Murray.

On June 15, 2001 an updated version, dubbed v0.5 Beta was posted on the Dome, making this the mod's debut on that site. This featured 13 new levels and a new title screen where no modder credit was featured. This mod featured no new guards as such, though their sounds were changed.

On August 5, 2001 v0.6 Beta was posted on the Dome, featuring 19 levels. The download featured an install EXE.

Word was silent on the project for a while, until October 26, 2002 where an update was posted on the Dome, which also linked to other Megastein projects that never got finished, Vaults of Zin and Pandemonium in Berlin. This update also presented the new status bar design, which saw the old Totengraeber design replaced by the one from Projekt: Vertilgung.

It was also in this update where Viper became Executor.

On March 6, 2003 v0.8 Beta was released, which contained 29 levels. After this release, the status bar was replaced by Tekkoudan's status bar after a dispute and the mod was re-released on March 28, 2003.

What was dubbed the final version was released on April 22, 2003. This became known as version 1.0. Though the Dome update mentions 48 levels were done, only 34 of these were new, with the remaining original Totengraeber levels being out of reach for the player. A boss and an end game jump is present on level 30.

Features

Graphics and sounds came from numerous places, and a large credits file was included. The Final Solution v3.0 and Spear Resurrection were original go-to's, and a number of guards made by WSJ were also present in the mod. Some new music chunks were also borrowed from Blake Stone, among others.

A unique, modern-looking guard wearing a microphone and a bullet proof vest was also featured in versions 0.8 Beta and onward.

The mod is playable in SDL using the Totengraeber port.

External links

• Download The Road to Despair (April 2001 version) at The Wolfenstein 3D Vault
• Download The Road to Despair v0.5 Beta at The Wolfenstein 3D Vault
• Download The Road to Despair v0.6 Beta at The Wolfenstein 3D Vault
• Download The Road to Despair v0.8 Beta at The Wolfenstein 3D Dome
• Download The Road to Despair v1.0 Final Version at The Wolfenstein 3D Dome
• News at the Dome: MAR/APR 2003 SEP/OCT 2002 MAR/APR 2001