The front page (June 25th 2019)
Wolfsource is a Wolfenstein 3D website, launched on the 16th of January 2019 by Zombie Plan. The name is borrowed from Zombie_Plan's older wiki project.
The website was created in lieu of any other active news websites at the time, in an attempt to provide a stable news platform, and place to learn to create and find Wolf3D related content. The content on the website is compiled and created with collaborations from members of the community on the Wolf3D.net Discord.
Since May 2020, a reconstruction of the website has been underway, moving away from the current structure to a more community-inspired effort.
Sections
News and articles
The front page of WolfSource serves as a news page which announces mod releases, as well as other events that are tied to Wolf3D. The website is also willing to host articles from other users.
Games Information
WolfSource is fitted with information on Wolfenstein 3D, how to play it, where to get it, and the more popular source ports. Similarly, information exists on the site on how to obtain source ports for Blake Stone and Rise of the Triad.
Mod Archive
WolfSource hosts a comprehensive archive of mods for Wolfenstein 3D, Blake Stone, Super Noah's Ark 3-D, and Rise of the Triad. This list of mods does not rely solely on its own server to provide downloads, instead providing links to mods' websites and download mirrors, where available. In this way far more information about the mods in question is conveyed and in some cases mirror redundancy reduces the risk of the downloads becoming inaccessible if something happens to WolfSource's server.
Modding Resources
WolfSource provides a wealth of information and resources for modders. Along with standard links to useful utilities and tools, WolfSource provides tutorials and sample DECORATE code for ECWolf (much of which is contributed by Blzut3 and AstroCreep).
Wolfsource hosts a simple front-facing gallery system, allowing users to post previews of and links to their custom art to be used in modding efforts. However this system is lacking, not allowing for the direct uploading of zip-files. Instead, a user needs to upload it to another platform, then link to the files.
The gallery was also used to test the grounds for some Art Contests. Only one official contest was held, "The Key To Success" had users submit custom sprites of the Key item in Wolfenstein 3D, and vote for their favourites. The winning user was Wolf3DGuy.
There is also a section for uploading and downloading IMF format music for use in mods.
Jobs Board (Defunct)
WolfSource used to host a job board, testing the grounds for a way to advertise personal skills and be approached for collaboration in projects. However, due to the restrictions in the application and the lack of uptake, the board was scrapped with plans to incorporate the ideas of the board into the reconstruction of the website.
Forum (Defunct)
Wolfsource implemented a message board on the 20th of May 2019, as a backup place to post in the events that DieHard Wolfers or the Wolf3D Haven were down. It was restarted on the 6th of October that same year, but was neglected in favour of other aspects. Due to issues with the server the forums stopped functioning, and due to the reconstruction and low intake, has not been restored.
Discord
The Wolf3D.net Discord is a community chatserver built for discussion about all things related to the Wolf3D engine, from games and mods to source ports and news. Along with the usual general chat channels, the Discord contains places to chat about each aspect of Wolf3D modding, as well as channels dedicated to the development of several projects (Including mods, ECWolf and LZWolf) and editors.
Server Rules
The server has a simple set of rules for users to follow:
- Keep conversation civil/constructive and respect other users and people while on the server.
- No trolling or raiding.
- Do not share the private personal information of others on the server.
- Keep conversations to their appropriate channels, where possible. Bot commands go in #memes-and-spam
- No hate speech of any kind.
- Do not post content considered NSFW or offensive.
- No software piracy
Controversies
In January 2020 the discord server split into parts due to ongoing drama and argues between different parties and individuals. Aurora, having her own side in this drama, orchestrated a bigger part of the split behind the backs of people and played Zombie_Plan like puppet. Despite Aurora openly admitting it multiple times in public Zombie_Plan has remained in denial and sticks to having had the upper hand in pulling the plug. Half of the moderator team got dismissed by Zombie_Plan and moved with other, partly disgruntled, members to different servers. Some of the ongoing projects, which had started on the server, moved away or got cancelled in the process. One of them being the WL6 wiki. The server has remained online but with a fraction of the activity of the year before despite the user base constantly increasing. Devoid of long discussions it has shifted towards a more safe space friendly environment focusing primarily on ECWolf and LZWolf developments in the aftermath.
In June 2021, due to personal issues Zombie_Plan was away from Discord for an extended time, and on the 10th the server was raided by a small group due to drama unrelated to the community.
After that attack, a new moderation team was put in place, along with new structures to the team to prevent the issues prevailent with the original moderation team and attempting to reconcile issues that plagued the server in the past.
The announcement of the new team was followed shortly after by a single remaining friend of banned members sporadically spamming skeleton gifs and disregarding rules or moderation invervention. Their continued and malicious memeing lead to their being banned, at which point a single member of this group sent a single gotse image to Zombie_Plan. The psychological damage induced in the act is impossible to assess. I hope you're doing well.
Twitter Feed
WolfSource transmits some of its updates to a Twitter feed as a way of getting the word out about the goings-on of the Wolfenstein community into the world wide web. This functions as a tool for reaching out into the greater realm of internet consumers, but also functions as a simple tool for advertising releases to members who may follow on Twitter but don't check the site frequently.
Updates to the feed over 2020 were sporadic, featuring often only single, randomly selected news items per month, as attention was turned to the reconstruction of the website in lieu of the smaller elements of the website. However, in July of 2021 activity has picked up again, with more active interactions and broadcasting of community news.
Website Reconstruction
A reconstruction of Wolfsource from the ground up commenced in May of 2020, focused on creating a more flexible and useful site for the community.