News
ECWolf 1.2.2 bug fix release w/ Windows GUI game picker 2013-08-03 05:05:59
I have decided to make ECWolf 1.2.2 available today. This release is primarily a bug fix release so nothing should be broken by updating. Windows users will definitely want to upgrade as this release finally contains the GUI game picker bringing the Windows release on par with the Linux and Mac releases.
For those feeling nostalgic, K1n9_Duk3 contributed a PC Speaker emulator which can be used instead of the Adlib sounds. Below is the change log highlights:
- Fixed inverted roll off for A_Explode.
- Fixed A_MeleeAttack's accuracy argument wasn't read correctly. Also added hitsound and misssound arguments.
- Fixed multiple doors could not be opened by a single trigger.
- Fixed some more issues with the deathcam.
- Fixed random() in DECORATE never obtained the maximum value.
- DROPBASEDONTARGET flag will now account for replacements.
- Corrected Knife damage range to be accurate with vanilla.
- Status bar will display 999 when health or ammo go to or above 1000.
- Added PC Speaker emulator.
- Added GUI iwad picker for Windows and crash reporter.
Head over to the ECWolf page to download. Comment on the forums.
Blake Stone source code has been released! 2013-07-08 19:28:20
For those who haven't yet heard the Blake Stone Planet Strike source has been released! As a bonus for those who keep track of these kind of things, it's released under the GPL as well. As a result, I've started a branch for Blake Stone support in ECWolf. (Kind of weird the Planet Strike commits go before the release huh? ;) ) Supposedly one of the reasons it wasn't released before is everyone was just assuming it was lost.
But wait, ECWolf is dual licensed isn't it? At this time, I do not think the Planet Strike source release will be changing that. As far as code that can be cut and paste into the ECWolf code goes, I don't think there's a whole lot there. While ECWolf still uses Wolf3D code at its core, a lot of important systems have been rewritten in order to allow run time scripting or remove limits that it would likely take just as much time to adapt the old code as it would be to rewrite from scratch. What this does allow is providing far more accurate context than a disassembly can provide.
Now it does seem to be the case that the Aliens of Gold source was lost, but that shouldn't be a huge deal. Some of the AOG code seems to be in the Planet Strike source either hanging around dead or commented out. One again though, this does provide more accurate context for the disassembly. This will mean that Planet Strike support will be added first though.
So you may be wondering, what exactly are you working on now (with regards to ECWolf)? The plan still remains to support Noah's Ark as soon as possible. This is being developed in the main branch and eventually Mac Wolf will be developed there to. Simultaneously I'll be trying to churn out a Blake Stone port in the ECBlake branch (horrible name considering where "EC" comes from). When the branch is merged ECWolf will bump major versions again to 3.0. The reason for the branch at the moment is I want to get a port out faster than I can add adequate modding features to properly support the game.
Also, I would like to give a shout out to Svecke who donated the Wolf Pack on Steam as well as a pre-order of the new Rise of the Triad (which of course, includes the Apogee Throwback pack). I should now be able to actually test the automatic lookup code and expand it to Blake Stone myself. More immediately, due to a packaging error on Apogee's part, the pack includes Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold 1.0, so I was able to update my patching utility to work on all versions of AOG!
ECWolf 1.2.1 2013-06-12 04:57:00
My apologies to the 40 some people who downloaded ECWolf 1.2. A critical bug with saving was identified so a new build is up.
ECWolf 1.2 Released 2013-06-11 06:36:23
ECWolf 1.2 was tagged yesterday and is now available for download on your OS of preference. This is a fairly big release and comes with some mod compatibility issues, so be sure to update your mods! As always I feel the need to remind everyone that ECWolf will not be keeping mod compatibility until 2.0 is released.
The updated techdemo is available from the downloads page and now includes the depth fog feature. An updated version of Executor's port of Gary Ragland's Assassinate Hitler mod is available here as well.
Lets take a look at the highlights for this release:
- ECWolf will now look for *.sd1 files and if it finds them attempt to set SOD back to the original state.
- Command prompt window should now be held until the user dismisses it when an error occurs.
- A map translator can be set in the gameinfo section of mapinfo. Also translators can include the base translator via include "$base".
- Removed depthfog as an option because...
- ECWolf can now partially load RTL and RTC map sets with a little bit of work. What this does mean is some features from the ROTT map format are supported including touch plates, switches, and changing the light level. These features can be used in standard WDC format maps, the ROTT info plane is stored in the 4th plane in that case.
- Support for high resolution floor/ceiling textures (limited to powers of two).
- 1920x1200 and 1600x1200 will aspect correct the menus as well since the scaling factor can be a whole number in both directions.
- Added support for flash states.
- Added WeaponGiver
- Added decorate properties: scale, xscale, yscale, player.viewheight, player.forwardmove, player.sidemove
- Added A_Explode, A_AlertMonsters, A_GunFlash, and A_Light
- Added actor flags WEAPON.NOALERT, WEAPON.ALWAYSGRIN, INVENTORY.ALWAYSPICKUP and RANDOMIZE
- There is now a primitive status bar configuration script LATCHCFG. This is for assisting in porting classic mods to ECWolf, but will be removed once a proper scripting solution is available.
- Fixed issues with fast moving projectiles.
- Fixed mission pack save games could be loaded in normal Spear of Destiny and vice versa.
- Fixed weapon cycling skips on lower frame rates.
- Fixed various minor vanilla fidelity issues regarding animations, sprites, and sounds.
- When using an exit switch in a boss map, go to the next map and not the victory sequence like in vanilla.
- Some items can now always be picked up even if you don't need them like in vanilla. Also the gibs can be used as health like in vanilla as well (as opposed to only the blood pool).
- Fixed issues with deathcam animation and ensured proper delay.
- Fixed high resolution sprite rendering issues.
- Fixed issues with movement bobbing and victory sequences.
- Fixed issues with Mac OS X's case insensitivity.
- Fixed issues with save game versioning.
- Improved joystick support by allowing axes to be bound to any function.
- Weapon is re-raised on level transitions like in Doom (only applies for non-instant switch weapons of course).
- Partial support for loading Macbins.
- Partial SDL2 support (you'll still want to use SDL 1.2 though).
- The SDL directx driver isn't forced on Windows and will now default to windib.
The wiki will be updated with documentation for all of the new features once I get some time. Also if anyone finishes a mod for ECWolf, I'd be happy to host it on this site as well.
To make a quick note on the renderer changes and the directx vs. windib points. It seems like I've been able to the optimize the renderer to be faster while still allowing floor/ceiling textures to change scale. However, on some hardware configurations the windib back end will result in a lower frame rate and on others a higher frame rate. If the directx back end worked for you and you are getting a lower frame rate with ECWolf 1.2, you may set the back end manually through the SDL_VIDEODRIVER environment variable.
What's next for ECWolf? As I've detailed before, I'll be working on porting Super 3D Noah's Ark. There's no schedule set in stone for that yet of course, but given that I want to do releases approximately every 6 months, we'll hopefully see Noah's Ark support within a year.