Is SDL the Future of Wolfenstein 3D?

As a relative newcomer to the world of Wolfenstein 3D I was surprised to find that there is no standard 'modern' sourceports. By standard I refer to, as an example, the Doom scene. In the Doom scene there are a number of ports out there but the WADs are in general built around these ports whereas in the Wolfenstein scene it seems, to me, that most releases are based on custom builds of the engine. In recent times more and more map sets are released in the SDL format but they are still usually stand-alone custom builds. Do you think that SDL will become the future standard and therefore unify the scene in a way similar to ZDoom or do you think the scene is too long in the tooth and will just carry on with custom engine builds? This isn't meant as a troll-post, I'm just curious for peoples thoughts on the future of Wolf3D.

EDIT: Spelling.

Yes, I agree with you. Almost all mods now are made in Wolf4SDL even though it will take some time for Wolf4SDL to really have the Wolf3D modding controlled

Do you think the community is embracing it fully then? Or is it just a couple of the more prolific modders/mappers? Personally, I'd like to see it taken further so that things like automaps or implemented as standard (W3D maps can be a little confusing at times - especially with my sense of direction!) and mouse wheel weapon scrolling. Something tells me, though, that there'll be a stalwart faction resistant to changes like that. My experience of the Doom scene puritans tells me that much!

I think is is being embrace by the majority. Why not? Whatever problems you have, I'm sure SDL coding can fix it.

Per-Scan wrote:Do you think the community is embracing it fully then? Or is it just a couple of the more prolific modders/mappers? Personally, I'd like to see it taken further so that things like automaps or implemented as standard (W3D maps can be a little confusing at times - especially with my sense of direction!) and mouse wheel weapon scrolling. Something tells me, though, that there'll be a stalwart faction resistant to changes like that. My experience of the Doom scene puritans tells me that much!

I think most in the community is accepting it. If we don't then as more and more switch to new computers then the community will dwindle further as many people find dosbox awkward to use.

There will always be some who will prefer the original game but I personally am quite happy with SDl. The only drawback at the moment is the shortage of mods in it but already Totengraeber SDL is available and hopefully there will soon be a lot more released.

Honestly, what is not to like about SDL? Same feel for Wolf3d... :S Maybe people like to see the dos prompt starting before the game starts?

Dark_wizzie wrote:Honestly, what is not to like about SDL? Same feel for Wolf3d... :S ...

I agree but people can be stubborn and that can be frustrating to watch and to be honest, as a new comer, it's quite surprising that it's taken this long for a 'standard' non-DOS solution to arise. While DOSBox works it is another (imperfect) layer to set up just to play an essentially simple game. Personally, for older mods I just use VDMS as it automates everything for you but I do prefer the better sound quality and higher resolutions of SDL ports.

Schabbs, is it possible to easily port old mods over to SDL? Maybe it would be possible to write a conversion program?

Per-Scan wrote:


Schabbs, is it possible to easily port old mods over to SDL? Maybe it would be possible to write a conversion program?

Virtually all shareware mods can be easily ported over as I have just done with Halloween SDL. It's usually just a matter of replacing any changed files (vswap, maps etc) in the Wolfenstein 3-D SDL shareware set.

The full version mods with coding changes like Totengraeber will need the equivalent coding changes done in the SDL version. I've only done coding changes in Dos versions so I'm not sure how much work this involves. It will also of course need the SDL dll files added.

There is some doubt about if full version mods with no code changes can be posted as 'all files included' in an SDL version. I assume it would just need the standard Wolf 3d SDL exe and dll files added but it would need id software to be happy with it.

I take it that changing the 'full' versions breaks the GPL(?) agreement hence requiring permission from Id? A while ago someone at Doomworld spoke to John Carmack regarding ownership and modification of Strife (Doom based RPG). He got a response from JC saying he was unsure who exactly owned parts of it but, and I quote, "I doubt very much that anyone would care what you did with it...". I would presume he would have the same sentiments regarding W3D. If you want I could try and contact him to see where that issue stands.