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Formal Annoucement of ECWolf 2009-08-04 05:05:23
With a mod already in the works using an early code base I think it's about time I formally announce this project. The project is called ECWolf ("Escape from Castle Wolfenstein" if you need a reason).
Why are you doing it?
I'm doing this mostly because no other Wolfenstein 3D port out there satisfies all of my wants. First off Wolfenstein must look like Wolfenstein and Wolf4SDL does a good job at this. Secondly it must allow for modern control schemes. Third it must be cross platform. Forth I want a port that can be easily extended, a mod maker should not need to worry about the source code.
Over the years there have been ports that satisfy most of these, but certainly not all. So I've decided to solve this myself... If I can find the time.
So what can we expect?
I've started porting some code from ZDoom into Wolfenstein. Namely I can load WADs, PK3, 7z, PAK, GRP, etc and I've already started using the resource manager with ecwolf.pk3.
Before anyone tells me, "but the wl6 files do not have named chunks." Believe me I already have a solution to this issue. I'm going to give them all names at start up based on a chunk to name map.
In addition I've rewritten the menu code into a nice object oriented approach. As a result I've added support for 1000 save slots along with an extended controls menu. (Now you can enjoy WASD or your favorite variant thereof.)
I also plan to have ECWolf detect your game data at run time instead of compile time so one exe will fit all. Perhaps I can reverse engineer support for other Wolf games? Also, I'm considering making a patch program to simplify this task (bring everyone to a single Wolf3D 1.4), but I may need to see about contacting id for permission on that.
What about your other projects?
None of my other projects are currently going to be affected by this one (in fact they may be helped since I'm reusing some of my code from other projects). ECWolf is currently a... Well lets just call it a side-side project, which means my Doom projects are going to take priority. Obviously if the interest is great enough this may change but that is the way things are headed.
I've uploaded some screen shots of the improvements.