[ZX Spectrum] Having Fun With Wolfenstein 48K Engine (Alone Coder, demo, 2012)

DOWNLOAD: (source code) Okay. You might remember that little (that’s when you compare to the modern games which are just about 5 DVDs big) first-person shooter called Wolfenstein 2004. You might also remember its’ 48K port, as first seen in HRPG’s demo, Critical Error. And now, Alone Coder has released it separately, with its’ source open and some changes added in. First, it allows you to navigate the map, that’s considering that the controls are a whole lot better than in the 128K version, because of the strafe feature: A and D strafe while O and P turn. That might look like an odd control scheme at first, but if you don’t have the Kempston mouse, that’s just a perfect solution for the Spectrum keyboard which is in fact different from a keyboard you now have below your head. ;) Second, the screen area has been shrinked, but that’s only to gain advantage for sprite processing. Yes, it has sprites, even despite there’s only one kind of them at the moment. ...and here’s the third difference: since it’s opensource right now, it’s also possible to alter the map you’ll be walking on! Considering that the old Wolf2004 maps are (kinda) compatible with the new one. So, the thing you see on the video is an example of what you could make in the local map editor whenever someone would make a complete game on this engine. It’s not a perfect example, though, considering such things as: 1) the starting point is hardcoded, 2) the sprites are hardcoded here, 3) it’s not a demonstration of my mapping skills anyway. And yes, indeed, the maps in Wolf2004 are smaller than in the DOS original, Wolfenstein 3D, but to a viewer that doesn’t expect anything, they will look too freaking big to fit in 48K of memory with sprites and shit. In fact, the allowed map size is big enough to make something like a deathmatch game! Which can be played either with bots, or via splitscreen (I mean, look at how many FPS the engine makes so far!) or Spectranet (although that’s doubtful, considering how much place is left for the rest of the code). Therefore, kudos to Alone Coder and Shiru, with everyone else who supported this project for about sixteen years of its’ existence. P. S. Just to note, compiling the custom map demo not only requires some knowledge on Wolf2004 Map Editor, but also some knowledge on how to compile (or, at least, assemble) stuff in ALASM, a ZX Spectrum assemble program.