Wolfenstein 3D Postmortem

The original Wolfenstein 3D had stealth mechanics. John Romero explains why they were scrapped to create the fast-paced, genre-defining shooter we know today.

#1about 1 minute

The state of id Software before Wolfenstein 3D

In late 1991, id Software had just shipped five Commander Keen games in six months and was working with 16-color EGA graphics and early Sound Blaster audio.

#2about 2 minutes

Pivoting from Commander Keen to a new 3D game

Facing burnout after multiple Commander Keen titles, the team decided to create a new 3D game, with Romero suggesting a modern remake of the 1981 classic Castle Wolfenstein.

#3about 2 minutes

Starting development and switching from EGA to VGA

The project began using the 16-color EGA engine from Catacomb 3D, but a crucial suggestion from publisher Scott Miller prompted a switch to 256-color VGA for a cleaner look.

#4about 1 minute

Creating the engine and adapting the Ted 5 level editor

John Carmack built the VGA renderer using a 2D matrix for level data, which allowed the team to adapt their existing 2D editor, Ted 5, for creating 3D levels.

#5about 3 minutes

Discovering the core fun in high-speed action

Initial plans to replicate the original game's stealth mechanics were scrapped after playtesting revealed that fast-paced running and gunning was the most enjoyable part of the experience.

#6about 5 minutes

Turning down a $2.5 million acquisition from Sierra

After a promising visit to Sierra Online, the team received a $2.5 million stock acquisition offer from Ken Williams but the deal fell through when he rejected their counteroffer for $100,000 in cash.

#7about 2 minutes

Using sound zones to create dynamic enemy alerts

To avoid activating all enemies at once, the team implemented "sound zones" using floor tile data, allowing gunfire to alert only enemies in connected areas and creating suspense.

#8about 4 minutes

Expanding the team and moving from Wisconsin to Dallas

After hiring artist Kevin Cloud, the team made a spontaneous late-night decision to abandon their new Madison leases and relocate the entire company to Dallas, Texas.

#9about 3 minutes

Adding secret areas and acquiring the Wolfenstein trademark

To add mystery, the team convinced a reluctant John Carmack to implement "push walls" for secret areas, while new hire Jay Wilber successfully located and purchased the Wolfenstein trademark for $5,000.

#10about 2 minutes

Recording the memorable music and voice effects

Composer Bobby Prince flew in and set up a studio in the office to create the game's music and record all the iconic enemy voice effects, which were performed by the development team.

#11about 2 minutes

Devising a novel shareware and upselling strategy

Publisher Scott Miller proposed releasing the first episode as shareware to take pre-orders and created a brilliant pricing model that incentivized players to buy a six-episode bundle with a hint book.

#12about 3 minutes

Building the installer and shipping the game

After creating a fake "PC-13" rating screen, Romero had to quickly code a custom multi-disk installer, leading to the game's official shareware release at 4 AM on May 5, 1992.

#13about 3 minutes

Finishing the full game and inventing speedrunning

The team crunched to finish the remaining 50 levels after the shareware's massive success and inadvertently created the concept of speedrunning by publishing their fastest level times in the hint manual.

#14about 1 minute

Q&A on Unreal Engine and Doom sound effects

Romero shares his admiration for Unreal Engine and reveals that the iconic Cacodemon death sound from Doom originated from a commercial sound effects library.

#15about 5 minutes

Q&A on rapid development and work-life balance

Romero explains their fast QA process was based on highly iterative coding and testing from their 80s assembly days, and confirms that they worked nearly all waking hours during development.

#16about 2 minutes

Q&A on the philosophy of piracy and open source

Romero discusses their approach to piracy, which was to ignore it and never use copy protection, instead focusing on fostering a community by releasing game source code early.