6th August 2026: DarkWolf update
Kalnaren has once again posted a screenshot from the upcoming ‘DarkWolf’ mod. Looks quite fantastic!
A teaser video was also posted today. Get a load of the laser guns zipping back and forth!
4th August 2026: Loremaster’s Quest released
After a quiet few weeks of summer holidays, a new mod has surfaced today. Death Knight Adrian once again brings together Hexen and Heretic in ‘Loremaster’s Quest’. Features four new maps and a completely changed audiovisual atmosphere. DOS only.
15th July 2026: Newsmeister Weiling’s Wednesday Night Wanderings Vol. 8 – Back with a vengeance
We are back! With a vengeance. Vengeance. Revenge. The taste is sweet. At least until you wash it down. Then it becomes even sweeter! Yes, there have been many vengeful Wolf3D mods out there over the years, but Wolf Skevos-Jones’ ‘Weapons of Vengeance’ and its many spinoff sequels have been somewhat forgotten. When Wolf Skevos-Jones originally released the mod in 2003, the community was hungry for more. However, it was only released as a demo – but nonetheless contained tons of weapons, many new graphics and an amazing array of enemy and an atmosphere, particularly in its opening map, that owed a lot to the popular WWII shooters of the era, including Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Battlefield 1942 and many more.
It did not take long for its resources to be plundered. Over the second half of 2003, Sandy would release numerous mods that either relied heavily on ‘Weapons of Vengeance’ or any other mod that Skevos-Jones had released up until that time. Furthermore, the delicious and crunchy new status bar would also be used by Kyo Kusanagi once he arrived on our doorstep in the heady summer of 2004, when ‘Coming of the Storm’ was still fresh out the fridge and getting all dewy.
Nonetheless, this was what we was treated to on August 12th 2004:
Sandy had a habit of using original photographs taken during WWII. This particular photo looks as if it has been taken in an occupied country rather than Germany itself, but I could be wrong. ‘The Deadly’ is nevertheless a somewhat intriguing title. But take a look at the status bar. The beautiful deep brown now has the classic hues of blue on top of blue seeping in and key slots throwing shade across the ammo indicator. BJ is still wearing a glove, however. Is it supposed to be cold out? You can’t really tell. For all we know, the blackness on top of the bushes – lifted straight from AReyeP – could be gaffer tape. And what is Mr. Wolf’s green guard with the headset doing in a supposed WWII scene? Granted, this feller was about as rampant in the summer of 2004 as l33t SpElLing and the 128 kbps MP3 LimeWire rip off of the latest Good Charlotte. Were we ever that young?
Of course, Skevos-Jones himself had Brian Lowe write a disclaimer that it was in no way an official sequel. Perish the thought!
… But apparently, this was not enough. Roughly two weeks later, the third installment was released. Seemingly a demo had been briefly available, but it was quickly replaced by this full version. Sandy’s art department were apparently in a call meeting at the time. For this release, Brian Lowe used his ever valiant and helpful Wolf3D heart and actually bundled the mod with an EXE where the ceilings make more sense. This had originally been put together for Kyo Kusanagi’s then-released ‘Assault on Germany’, a mod that likewise uses a lot of uncredited Skevos-Jones material in addition to the omnipresent Wallpack 3 walls. Brian Lowe had a lot of rapscallions to keep in tow back in the summer of 2004! A lot of good it did us. I MEAN THEM. Oh yes (…)
The black night sky is now black. And this time, there’s a much more believable WWII enemy in front of you. Sounds lifted from ‘Coming of the Storm’, of course. But a thing I do not personally remember from either Skevos-Jones or the original ‘Weapons of Vengeance’ is the Cacodemon dancing around, spewing fireballs at you. Oh well. At least here’s one cool thing Skevos-Jones didn’t do!
Seemingly, this was the end of it. It seems. Whether or not Sandy ever plotted ‘Weapons of Vengeance 4’ I do not remember. I certainly don’t think so. But somebody must have thought so. Because THIS suddenly turned up out of the blue sometime in 2009:
Kloki38, who would later go on to much better things and profusely apologized for this mod, had put this out on a Slovak Wolf3D site in the spring of 2009, with its waft not quite drifting by all of our collective DieHard Wolfers and Wolfenstein 3D Dome noses. Nonetheless, Dean Horton picked up on this as this fifth installment (fourth, right?) uses his 2007 mod ‘Escape from Castle Holle’ as its base. While that’s all well and good, the mod follows in its questionable sequel footsteps:
While the key slot colors now fit – though still obscure the ammo counter somewhat – the weapon slots have not been replaced! Interestingly, this looks towards the original 2003 ‘Weapons of Vengeance’ more somewhat due to its pistol graphic and the turret guard behind sandbags. Furthermore, most of the audiovisual atmosphere leans more towards ‘Project: Eisenritter’ than ‘Coming of the Storm’. I wonder if we will ever see a sixth volume? Surely by now none of us hold any Fear of Weapons of Vengeance? Though I suppose most people would rather see Wolf Skevos-Jones finish it off as a full version in time for its 25th anniversary in 2028 complete with elevated planes and a built-in coffeemaker. Pretty please?!
Unofficial sequels can be a lot of fun. Within the world of literature and in particularly films, they sometime take on a life of their own, amassing many fans, with some even favoring the sequels over the original thing. So there you have it. Why spend time on downloading polyphonic ringtones or see if the 240p chick video looks better in RealPlayer than Windows Media Player when you can go to Monkee’s Image World or download a Wolf Skevos-Jones mod and make as many sequels as you can muster? Don’t knock it till you try it, folks!
13th July 2026: DarkWolf update
Kalnaren has just posted new preview screenshots of the upcoming ‘DarkWolf’, inspired by the Star Wars universe. They look pretty cool!
12th July 2026: WL6 Wiki moves to The Wolf Front
The WL6 Wiki has now been migrated to The Wolf Front! Any future edits should now take place here rather than the old Fandom domain, though that also remains active.
11th July 2026: DHW MMC Spring 2026 released
The next batch of maps from the DieHard Wolfers’ Map of the Month Contest is now ready to be devoured! There are a whopping 9 maps featured, going in all kinds of directions. Quite the summer scorcher! For SDL. Updated 14th July.
9th July 2026: Lego Wolf3D update
Latest news from ModDB is that Lego Wolf3D has been updated after more than a decade! The player must again make BJ brick out of prison. Hopefully all the pieces fit!
28th June 2026: Darkest Hours update
‘Darkest Hours’, a mod initially started by Cabo_Fiambre who has since disappeared, is now up and running again as a full-blown community effort. Once more, Gerolf handles the organizational side of things and all mapping spots have now been filled out. The mod is expected to be released sometime in late August.
19th June 2026: Bobby Prince RIP
Bobby Prince passed away three days ago. He composed the music for Wolf3D and Spear of Destiny in addition to numerous other id games, including DOOM & DOOM II, Commander Keen, Duke Nukem II as well as Rise of the Triad and Duke Nukem 3D (together with Lee Jackson). Bobby’s music is just as much a part of the Wolf3D experience as the features, the maps, the graphics and the sounds themselves. The music is so illustrative and links up so well with the maps it appears in. Even if it might look like a bug – and probably is – what would E2M8 be without ‘Going After Hitler’? E3M7 without ‘Twelfth Hour’, its odd shape and its impossible maze? E3M9 and E6M9 being triumphant, important boss maps just as much because of ‘The Ultimate Challenge’ as well as housing Hitler and Fatface. And don’t even get me started on DOOM! Some of us delve into that music every day, some of us rarely do. Some of us only listen to it when we are actually in-game. Nonetheless, what Bobby’s music has meant to both us, as players, as well as to the games, cannot be understated. Remember the first time you heard ‘At Doom’s Gate’? Remember the eerie-sounding Horst-Wessel-Lied that opened the equally eerie Episode 2? Remember the unsettling, terrifying pizzicato stabs from ‘Puttin’ It to the Enemy’ where all the dread and doom of WWII just came washing down on you? Putting ‘Adrian’s Asleep’ on loop trying to calm down after a stressful day? Worked every time. That was Bobby Prince’s gift. Some of the tunes are relatively simple, granted, but they are iconic and unforgettable.
Bobby started his music career as a young man in the state of Georgia backing up soul giants such as Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye and The Marvelettes. He then served in Vietnam when the war was at its worst, at the tail end of the 1960’s. I have a feeling that both the soulfulness and the dread of his young life made its way into the music which we all enjoy and love after all those years. Though he has left this mortal coil, his music will be here still, being a part of so much of so many people’s childhoods, youths, adult lives, lives in general. In a sense, Bobby Prince will live forever. So toast a glass to a giant, and remember – you gotta eat your vegetables!
R.I.P. Robert Caskin Prince III, 1945-2026
17th June 2026: Newsmeister Weiling’s Wednesday Night Wanderings Vol. 7 – Orbs in orbit
This evening I suddenly remembered that a few days ago, ‘Orb of Dilaaria’ turned 20! When this mod came out, it was very much unlike any mod that had come out previously, including ‘End of Destiny’. It was highly anticipated, respected and feared. It featured more than 60 maps and did away with all the manners and mores of WW2 and instead cast the player into a fantasy-based sword & sorcery-esque universe with a whole new protagonist, a brand new set of weapons and behavior thereof, a totally redesigned status bar and absolutely superb coding, topped off with ack and his ingenious touch in terms of maps – out of this world. Literally!
The title says it all, really. But in actual fact, before this mod was released, two other Orbs had been announced, none of which went anywhere.
Above is Tricob’s ‘Orb of Disarray’. The screenshot looks very much like a slightly souped-up ‘Operation: Kill BJ!’ and the coding changes that were listed for this thing were relatively conservative; Padlocked doors, however, needing four pieces of a key to open one door, sounded pretty cool. And the very odd maximum ammo number 225! Later renamed ‘Orb of Calamity’, the mod was never released.
In the heady summer of 2003 when activity was booming and mods of all kinds of quality were being released left and right, ‘Orb of Ishkar’ was announced. Listed as being part of a series of mods, one with the somewhat oddly named ‘Scepter of Shitook’ being on the table at a future time, nothing else was posted but the title screen. The bright green glowing cow carcasses, the colorful garnish and the odd lettering on the gray wall looked pretty sweet, nonetheless. Both the wall, the horned enemy on the right and the sorcerer-looking feller on the left were lifted from the Hexen/Heretic universe…
… Which brings me to my conclusion this fine evening. When Ishkar and the Sceptic Shit That Took Itself on a Table was announced, ‘Halls of Stonehenge’ was not far off. Yet another mod to shake the classic WWII formula and bring in something more sinister, supernatural and magical. Even if it borrows a lot from the Blood universe, it has aged incredibly well and is well worth revisiting – both in DOS and SDL. See also ‘medEvil’…
… And even just last week, Death Knight Adrian put out a mod, yet another one, where the Hexen/Heretic universe comes to the forefront. It’s fantastic when people try to shake the cage ever so slightly and bring on something completely different. Now go ahead and don your cape, replace your plastic-capped keyboards with ones made of plywood and twine and go nuts in trying to take down any 8-bit beast you can muster. Tally ho!
15th June 2026: Blood Arrow released
Over the weekend Death Knight Adrian released ‘Blood Arrow’. Taking its cue from primarily the Hexen and Heretic universe once again, the mod features 5 levels and changes to both sounds, music and graphics. The opening level in particular is quite indicative of Hexen, though material from both the DOOM and Warcraft universe is also present. DOS only.
15th June 2026: V2s Over Appalachia released
Another mod that came out over the weekend was Zanu_AF’s ‘V2s Over Appalachia’. A successor to ‘Acid Blitz on Sunset Strip’, the atmosphere has been moved a few decades ahead from World War II and the hills of Germany have now been switched around with Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah river. It is listed as being the first volume, so an expansion or a sequel might be in the cards at a later date. High definition music and many new graphics and sounds are included, with the opening hospital section being particularly evocative. Looks like yet another interesting ride! For LZWolf.
13th June 2026: Alcis: Operation Rosenstein released
Here’s a new mod that recently surfaced on ModDB from FSLordon. ‘Alcis: Operation Rosenstein’ takes place in the Halo universe, and features a large number of new graphics with inspiration from that particular universe. Some of the music has been changed or switched around, and a handful of new sounds are included too; though some of these originate in already released Wolf3D mods or games. 60 maps are included! It appears that no coding changes are featured, as both DOS, ECWolf and SDL options are available.
10th June 2026: Newsmeister Weiling’s Wednesday Night Wanderings Vol. 6 – Resurrected from the grave
Tonight my mind is on the very word “resurrection”. Even if English is not your native language, that word still lingers large on your mind and evokes a sense of importance, of something that is simultaneously supernatural as well as the most natural thing in the world. You mow your lawn. Grass resurrects itself in a matter of days. Rainwater gets evaporated by sunshine. It rains again. Resurrection. You go to sleep and have fantastic dreams, and wake up back in your own somewhat mundane reality. Resurrected once more. Oh yeah, and something about the guy on the cross too, I suppose. Resurrection in general is a trope that has taken up quite an amount of space in the many Wolf3D mods that have grazed our screens for the past four decades or so.
Even before ‘Spear Resurrection’, an absolute milestone of a mod, we had Nate Smith’s ‘Schabbs’ Resurrection’ where Doctor Schabbs came back to life in a sort-of Terminator guise. The mod was released in the spring of 1999, an extremely vital and exploratory period in terms of Wolf3D source code editing, and did feature some nice hacks in terms of increased ammo limit and the fact that upon starting the game, the player got not only 8, but 12 bullets! This was the bee’s knees back then. Also, Nate had a hankering for messing with things that had at that point not been used a lot in the realm of Wolf3D but relegated to Spear of Destiny; there was a neat integration of graphics and sounds from not only Spear of Destiny, but also the Spear mission packs (known colloquially as The Lost Episodes). The year that brought about Unreal Tournament, System Shock 2, Age of Empires II and Heroes of Might and Magic III still had a dedicated core of Wolf3D nuts wanting to further the game and inspire people to improve it even further. Heartwarming.
‘Spear Resurrection’ needs no introduction. It is simply just one of those mods, one of the most iconic Wolf3D modifications of all time, complete with its own atmosphere and a definite sense of before-and-after. This year, in November, it will turn 25. Playing it even after all those years there is still a freshness there, all owed to the ingenious mapping of AReyeP, the fantastic coding changes courtesy of MCS, and the mixture of being both really well done and detailed while still being understated and having tongue placed firmly in cheek. An absolute peak for Wolf3D mods, if not just for mods in general, for any game.
Then again we have dear old Pat Grey and one of his non-Creator-based mods entitled ‘Hitler’s Resurrection’. Containing only a handful of new maps, they are nevertheless uniquely designed and pretty fun to play. The mod can easily be beat in a few minutes if done right. The design is slightly realistic while still owing a lot to the original game. ‘Mini Hotel’, one of the maps has been named. Hotel atmospheres in games, that repetitive, realistic and prefabricated scheme is perfect for Wolf3D with all its limitations. See also ‘Batman’ and ‘Wolfen-terror’. Making room after room, a lobby here, a rec room there etc. is definitely something that not only the Counter-Strike mold of games can nail to a tee. In the world of Wolf3D and Spear of Destiny, those design ideas can come to the forefront because it simply does not get any more similar and blocky. Unless we’re talking some fancy half-outdoor glamping type of hotel. Then we might wander into Plutonia Experiment territory. Even if the self-serve lobby will spawn you a bunch of imps.
In 2003, Wes Desjardins and Alex Brosseau, two at the time prolific and highly active modders, released ‘Wolfenstein: Resurrection’. Probably one of the few Desjardins mods to be fully realized, the set leans a lot on Wolf Skevos-Jones in terms of atmosphere, and even cameos Return to Castle Wolfenstein with its title screen. Even if it has the typical 2003/2004 “serious” mod thing of starting in a seemingly never-ending handful of outdoor maze maps, some of the design in the later maps is quite desolate and fitting of both its title screen and the whole idea of resurrection. A spooky ride with mutants and scientists all within the backdrop of a gnarly old castle. Rock solid storyline.
Now we’re in mid-2004, and Majik Monkee’s influence has hung heavily in the air for a few months. What he brought to the table in terms of Wolf3D modding cannot be understated. Often teaming up with mapping beacons such as ack and coding wizards such as Adam Biser, ‘Revenge of Poopdeck Willie – Resurrection’ came out in late August/early September 2004, an amazing brief period which also saw an entirely different kettle of fish come to the forefront, talking about death and resurrection, in the shape of ‘The Untold Story’. Soon after, ‘Operation: Letzterschutz’ was released, yet another iconic and expansive mods with tons of new graphics and sounds and a definite atmosphere taking place in the wake of WWII in South America. However, just before this, Majik put out this Poopdeck thing which is likewise ingenious, well designed, tongue placed firmly in cheek (keep in mind, interestingly enough, a lot of the “serious” modders in Wolf3D always had that side to them) which probably got overshadowed by ‘Operation: Letzterschutz’. Another mod to reconsider for those of you who never played it. Tons of fun!
Please indulge me in a small personal aside where, I suppose it’s an open secret by now, I absolutely adore and love ‘Schabbs 2000’. Some days I think that’s the greatest Wolf3D mod of all time, the best maps, the best atmosphere, everything understated and detailed without being too suffocating and just being… Oomph! There are no words. Imagine my surprise when Ling Yan Li turned up with ‘Schabbs 3000’ out of the blue! How dare he! Obviously, there was a lot of respect and homage paid to the original mod. And a few months after that, he put out ‘Resurrection of Heimzahlung’. I thought that was very ballsy. Wolf Skevos-Jones, even in them days, was highly respected and renowned. And yes, there had been many, too many perhaps, mods aping his design and simply deemed ‘homages’ even if they were basically just carbon copies of his mods, on a smaller scale and often put out within the confines of regular Wolf3D or shareware, as the modder had no inroad towards coding or asking somebody for help. But ‘Resurrection of Heimzahlung’ was actually pretty interesting. The original ‘Operation: Heimzahlung’ had only about 20 maps, whereas this resurrection has 38. Some additions and ideas have also been lifted from – interestingly enough – ‘Spear Resurrection’. So there. Yet another one where all the stars line up and link the machinations between the mods.
Justy Zam made a tiny, clever set a while back entitled ‘Coming of the Resurrection’ which mixes two biggies; the aforementioned ‘Spear Resurrection’ and Wolf Skevos-Jones’ ‘Coming of the Storm’. It’s a brief mod, but the two atmospheres fit in perfectly together. The cherry on top of the cherry. What could go wrong?
… And then there are the sundries. ‘JJStein – Resurrection’. Brian E. Lowe, bless his heart, often gave all the space and room in the world for pre-teens with inane mod ideas and 1-level demos and a lot of material to be desired. It’s there. It can be played. Not judging here… But having the magic word in the title does it no favors! ‘The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw’, its title actually lifted from a 1966 album title by blues rockers Paul Butterfield Blues Band, is merely dear old ‘WolfBel3’ dressed up in Lost Episodes-type audiovisuals.
… So there you have it. Now, go and resurrect your souls and bask in the afterglow of these either over-exposed, under-exposed or simply just exposed mods. It’s always fun with BJ Blazkowicz, his limited arsenal and a ton of goofy pixels o’Germans. Bon appetit!
6th June 2026: Spikeford’s Cool and Epic Wolfenstein Mod released
Here’s a brand new set from Spikeford. It features 10 levels, and includes both DOS as well as ECWolf EXE files. Upon accessing maps 4 and 9, however, the DOS EXE crashes due to heavy amounts of objects and enemies, some of which may have been intended for ECWolf. For example, the ammo box from Spear of Destiny is present but is not able to be picked up. Otherwise, it looks like a classically inclined set with a handful of new graphics and attention to detail. ECWolf recommended.
3rd June 2026: Newsmeister Weiling’s Wednesday Night Wanderings Vol. 5 – The unsung maps of Wolf3D
The past couple of days have seen good activity in getting the ‘Knights of Castle Wolfenstein’ set released, where the shareware version comes to the forefront. For many years, this was how most people knew of Wolf3D. I suppose 90 % of everybody who felt they ever played Wolf3D mainly only remember the opening map and Hans Grosse’s exceptionally well proportioned, clever and iconic boss map more than, say, E1M6 with all its red brick intricacies and interlocked rooms. Some maps get a bad rap, deservedly so. Some maps get perhaps too much exposure. And then there are those that are just simply forgotten, or less discussed. Tonight I have three original Wolf3D maps on my mind, given that the month of June was also when the first 6-episode version got released – on June 10th, 1992.
I could write romantic essays about each and every Wolf3D and Spear of Destiny map if I wanted to, and I’ll always keep the threat open: I might! However, this evening the following picks for classic Wolf3D maps that do I personally feel do not get that much attention are the following:
E3M6. The overall design is really clever. The first thing the player sees is a locked door, which hides a large stash of treasure – yet this is not disclosed until the door actually gets opened – and you’ll have to find that key by navigating a ridiculous steel maze. The next room you see, columns and wood panel blocks cordon off an area rife with officers with the zoomies, where they have all the benefits of getting a good shot at you, but not you at them. And the clever way to use pushwalls to get to the silver key, picking it up while all the enemies are facing the other way? Pure genius! Episode 3 in general has a pretty nifty, speedrun-friendly and small aesthetic, but this particular map, together with E3M8, I suppose, breaks that mold ever so slightly in that the enemies are more cleverly placed, and you really have to be brave to take on the entire map starting with just a pistol and 8 bullets.
E5M8. Personally speaking, looking back, this was a map I often forgot about in the old days. You don’t seem to remember a lot from it, but upon closer inspection it has it all, really. The opening room where you spin through a narrow, winding corridor and end up smack dab in the middle of a few marching enemies. The elevator being there, completely blatant in front of you, like a flasher in a subway station. Just standing there grinning at you behind those barrels, and no, you can’t get anybody to open the door! For my screenshot, I teased the SS in there by using no-clip just to get this cool shot. But to this day, though I know it can be done with a bit of skill, I can only remember getting one of the first enemies you meet to open that door and exit the map with a par time of about 20 seconds just one time, a total fluke. The remainder of the map has a nasty red brick maze, the design of which lives on in Spear of Destiny; the blue swastika wall area which BJ Rowan spoofed in Totengraeber’s brilliant secret map 71, and the unassuming, quiet diversion where a potted plant is playacting column near an area with a stash of crowns. Such a short and sweet map. The usage of wall textures and subdued sprite placement here is absolutely eminent.
E6M4. Episode 6 is more or less the magnum opus of classic Wolf3D mapping in many respects, certainly in terms of size and enemy combat. As much as Episode 6 introduced a more steady flow of new textures such as gray brick, marble, the delicious brown stone and even softwood partition, the bulk of the first part of the episode is interestingly enough rooted very much in the same textures as the first episode, more or less. A lot of gray stone, blue stone, red brick. E6M4 has it all. It uses gray stone in a less explicit and more interesting manner, including a very odd, diagonal room where the ceiling lights line up the entire edge, with a small blue wall island while guards mill about you. Officers run amok both in fancy marble, a tiny pickup room where even slime is seen, otherwise a rare guest in Episode 6, and the softwood partition makes its only appearance in a regular (non-secret) Wolf3D map. Though not overtly large and chaotic as some of the later Episode 6 maps can be, there is still an aura about this map that makes you want to hunt down more enemies and secret areas. It is such an understated, overlooked map where all the regular enemies play nice, even including dogs, and neat details such as a small room having an empty well next to nothing, and a full well next to an area of food and ammo – nourishment. Follow the water. That’s where life thrives. God is in the detail. And the detail is very much the altar to which some of us pray to in Wolf3D. It’s not without reason that some of these maps remain forever rooted in our hearts and minds, almost 35 years on. Even if most people seem to remember eating chicken, killing German shepherds and Hans Grosse’s boss map, I’d still vouch that more people would enjoy the deeper scope of classic Wolf3D maps if they had had the chance to play them back in the 90’s when everybody was sharing the shareware version. Imagine episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 had been blacked (sorry, greened) out and the only episode you could play as shareware would be Episode 6. Would it have enticed more people to get into Wolf3D? I suppose not. E6M1 is one of those maps that get a bad rap. But I babble on about Babylon. Now it’s time for you all to warp to a random map in Wolf3D and nurture yourselves in all its pixelly goodness. A splendid time is guaranteed for all!
27th May 2026: Newsmeister Weiling’s Wednesday Night Wanderings Vol. 4 – Based!
It’s yet another mid-week update from Wolfie Land. This evening, my heart goes out to some of those mods that most of us have probably played, mainly vaguely, or just know about in passing or simply due to their hilarity. Wolf3D, particular in the early 2000’s when everything was hot and happening with proper 3D shooters such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Halo, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and so on, was viewed as being very stodgy and blocky, laughed at for its obscurity but however sometimes recognized for what it meant to the genre. During that time, the early 2000’s in particular, some Wolf3D mods surfaced that were indeed based on these more vivid, “realistic” and, I suppose, up-to-date games. Some of these games were for a console, some were for PC. Nonetheless, despite Wolf3D’s seniority, it was still quite an easy game to modify to suit your creative vision, even if you were into mainly only games that were hot shit anno 2003.
One of the first mods I remember playing is ‘Perfect Darkenstein’. Based on a Nintendo game called Perfect Dark, the set is fairly overlooked, it has to be said, as it does contain quite a bit of atmosphere, some unique sprites and sounds and rudimentary coding changes. There’s also ‘Counter-Wolf’ which came out in a bunch of versions by Ryan King, though an older, similarly titled set had also made the rounds in the wake of Counter-Strike’s initial 2000 release. That game was major. I suppose it still is. A lot of the e-game tournaments, it seems, still center around Counter-Strike and similar atmospheres. Taking a hand-held weapon to an enemy, viewed from a first person angle, never gets old. David O’Rafferty, known for making mainly mods based on outside games, also made two volumes of Metal Gear Solid in the context of Spear of Destiny! I suppose if you squint you can almost feel the container storage areas. It definitely taps into that game’s ideas, even if the guards now appear to wear discolored chef’s hats. There’s also ‘Medal of Honor Airborne’ which I often forget, even if it introduces something not seen often – episodic flow in Spear of Destiny. It also features plenty of coding changes, but one of its lower points is the fact that the screen seemingly cannot be adjusted in size. ‘Quakenstein’ I always wondered about. I remember playing it in 2004 when it came out, but dogs and a somewhat lo-fi Cacodemon from DOOM? Is that Quake? Nonetheless, the spirit is there. And there is a fair attempt at recreating the Quake logo in the menu, so I suppose that counts. Last but not least – O’Rafferty rears his wonderful, pastiche’ing Aussie head again – we come to ‘Grand Theft Auto III’. A mod just as notorious for its lo-fi quality as for its artistic spirit, it is always fun to play as the protagonist drives a vehicle, and so do all the enemies. A great bit of fun – much as the spirit in which these mods were conceived – and that is what it is really all about, I suppose. Stepping away from Wolf3D/SOD lore and WWII for a while, if done with just a bit of conviction, is always a good deal of fun. Try some of these mods out if you haven’t already!
26th May 2026: The Knights of Castle Wolfenstein released
It’s finally here! After more than two years of being underway, the collaborative set for shareware Wolfenstein, ‘The Knights of Castle Wolfenstein’ is finally ready. Each participant was assigned one episode’s worth of Episode 1, with the set featuring 60 maps in all. Contributors are ack, Tris (with help from Ronwolf1705), Thomas Weiling, Gerolf (who also curated and organized the set), Orka and Justy Zam. Quite a package! DOS only.
20th May 2026: Newsmeister Weiling’s Wednesday Night Wanderings Vol. 3 – Hype, mystery, exposure, visibility?
Tonight I am thinking about the mystery, intrigue and machinations behind the first time you start a mod. Looking at some of these old news, it appears that a lot of projects, particularly back in the day, were announced without a clear goal in mind, with numerous screenshots being merely slightly edited original Wolf3D maps with perhaps some of the new features added for effect. A boss in E1M1. A missile launcher where a chain gun ought to be. That sort of thing. Then you look at some of the major players out there and I always found it amazing that Wolf Skevos-Jones never announced anything. AReyeP & MCS, though the 2003/2004 End of Destiny-hype was definitely a thing, also were fairly conservative and mannered in what got leaked out before its release. I mean, you look at something like ‘Project Verdammt’ and just go into full facepalm mode, as every week there was a different protagonist and a set of features. And what did we end up with? A tiny demo that did nothing to showcase anything remotely like what Jimmy Ingham, Zach Attack and the gang had in mind. Sadly.
It seems those days are long gone. Not a lot of announcements as such, or “working demos” or stuff like that. However, last month we had that funny ‘Needle of Tears’ mod which definitely already had something of value. There was something about that mod being still in an early stage, yet having something substantial, and an active and participatory DHW thread that was really refreshing. Having scoured the news archives since forever and having followed Wolf3D mods for so long, I always found it interesting to see how a mod can start in one place with screenshots in January, go through all sorts of changes throughout the year before its November or December release. Status bar looks different. New walls. New enemies. Suddenly the new ceiling colors are traded in for fancy third plane things. I always thought that was fantastic. There are still some early drafts of ‘Operation: Panzerschiff’ and ‘Project Weltuntergang’ I would just love to get a hold of.
A thing I do not miss, however, is the sometimes inevitable death of a mod after many months of inactivity. People asking, ‘Well, where is it?’ and so on. There was a time where many projects were announced, plenty of hype stopped in for a drink and popped off again, never to come back. ‘Helvete’. ‘Spear Doomsday’. Good-looking, interesting projects where it appears a lot of work was done but all these years later it’s just… Fluff. No downloads to speak of. A few surviving screenshots that hadn’t yet kicked the (photo)bucket or been nuked when Angelfire and Geocities packed up and handed the keys to the internet over to all the evil big tech bigwigs and insipid influenzas that continue to make our lives miserable with each passing day.
Here’s to all the lost projects… Never to come back… A few shots to refresh your memory. Here’s to ‘Helvete’, ‘Spear Doomsday’, ‘Project Verdammt’, the legendary ‘Kreml 3D’, Kyle Albert’s intriguing ‘Stolen Secrets’ and one of the coolest title screens I’ve ever seen. Cheers! In an alternate universe we are spinning these mods, posting our progress, finding out the best tactic to survive Mecha Stalin’s final huge Kremlin map and getting lost in ChiefRebelAngel’s amazing, brooding landscapes of artwork. ZuljinRaynor got a Dome Award and Project Verdammt 2 takes it all one step further. Here’s to what could have been!
14th May 2026: Zwischen Mauern released
The latest from Ozeki is ‘Zwischen Mauern’ which features 33 seamless maps, three of which are secret. Yet another classic-styled set, new graphics include those from Spear of Destiny and a few from ‘Spear Resurrection’ as well. Ceiling colors and music order has also been changed. For ECWolf.
13th May 2026: Newsmeister Weiling’s Wednesday Night Wanderings Vol. 2 – May Day!
No, I’m not thinking about the goofy little dudes in their small airplanes from ‘Chokage’. Or maybe I am? As we delved into last week, the month of May is indeed the month of Wolfenstein. Over time, several major as well as minor masterpiece mods have come out in that particular month. BJ Rowan’s first set dates from May 1994, ‘The Renovation’, which was one of the earliest map sets to use a somewhat realistic impression of designing hallways, ceiling light alignment and other features such as, in a time where a lot of people still thought maps could just be smatterings filled with bosses or treasure pickups. May 1998 saw the first version of ‘Chokage’ released before the coding madness took over, showcasing interesting mapping design and a subdued, hilarious audiovisual atmosphere. May 2000 saw the introduction of the legendary John Bucksnort, who released his first set, ‘Grossed Out’ that month. In May 2001, the wider world was also made aware of the first screenies of a new fangled mod called ‘Spear Resurrection’ that looked much more professional than most things up to that point. In May 2008, the first flurry of the then-recent SDL port saw mods and small ports beginning to surface. May 2012 saw Team Raycast announce ‘Batman vs Bane’… Yes, quite a busy month!
I suppose I have left some things out. I just remember, both from the DieHard Wolfers’ Forum and later Discord, that the month of May in particular brings the idea of spring cleaning, new thought, clearer vision and more drive forward. For the most part. Some mods also went the way of the dodo during springtime months, perhaps due to the whole renewal aspect. Personally speaking, May 2005, 2006, 2012 and 2019 stand out to me as there was a lot of activity around then, particularly in the mid-2000’s. In 2012, we were all anticipating Wolf3D’s 20th anniversary. And in the spring of 2019, the major move forward in making the WL6 Wiki a reality was firing on all cylinders. But there are so many years to look back at now, all of a sudden. The number of mods and incidents can be quite overwhelming. Nonetheless, I have culled a few classics and curious from the merry, merry month of May for you all to take a look at – from the classic Dome era. Some are famous. Some are anything but. They all have that special, crisp May glow, nonetheless. Screenies below.
- May 1999 = ‘Conflict in the Fatherland’ by BJ Rowan
- May 2000 = ‘The Road to Neuschwanstein’ by Barry Christian
- May 2001 = ‘Dungeon Cephalis’ by Amirtes
- May 2002 = ‘Haunted House’ by Codetech & Megabyte
- May 2003 = ‘TexZK’s Story’ by TexZK
- May 2004 = ‘Coming of the Storm’ by Wolf Skevos-Jones
- May 2005 = ‘Double Trouble’ by Ryan de Haast
- May 2006 = ‘Bunkersturm’ by Raphael
- May 2007 = ‘Trilogy Revisited’ by Serpens
- May 2008 = ‘Silencer’ by Redeemer
- May 2009 = ‘Krankenstein’ by Vincent
- May 2010 = ‘Wolfenstein: The Ultimate Revenge’ by Blacklime Industry
8th May 2026: Wolfenblood – Operation Winterblood posted
WolfPlayer111 has recently made us aware of this set, a part of the ongoing ‘Wolfenblood’ series. Looks pretty atmospheric. Apparently it was originally released back in January 2025 but has now gotten wider exposure. For LZWolf.
6th May 2026: Newsmeister Weiling’s Wednesday Night Wanderings – for the love of WL1
Today, the Wolf Front has been open for just about a day. And it has been a pleasure to delve into the news over the past many years and try to make something that comes just remotely close to the legendary Wolfenstein 3D Dome News that Mr. Brian E. Lowe maintained for more than a decade. As the Wolf3D shareware v1.0 version came out 34 years ago yesterday, I just gave it a quick go again for who knows which time and I immediately just fell into it all over again. I suppose this is what contributes to the longevity of this community – it’s simply because the source of which we all get our creative energy from is so timeless, immediate and fun. You start the game, wham, you’re there, already on the run shooting Nazis and eating chicken. No ten-minute trial videos. No long-drawn storybook stuff with pics or weirdly gyrating 3D-animated characters. No overtly complicated controls or prolonged loading time. Just short, sharp, shock action for the whole world to enjoy.
Will we ever truly forget the first couple of times we played this game in the first place? I know I never will. Whenever you fire up Wolf3D, the original game, particularly the early v1.0 shareware version, you always get taken back to the shock and awe and the curiosity that followed in those very early impressionable stages. In a sense, the energy we get from this game is probably as close to eternal life as we’ll ever come. Starting all over again. It never disappoints. 34 years on. Wolf3D. Always the best!
21st April 2026: Wolfenstein 3D – Needle of Tears released
JackfeldSeinfeld has released a working demo of his ‘Needle of Tears’ project. A DOS mod, its many coding features include multiple textured floors and ceilings, in-game messages, a fifth difficulty skill, enemies leaking blood when taking damage and more. Using a ‘Spear Resurrection’-like approach, many new graphics are also featured. 6 maps have been made for this particular demo. Looks like quite an ambitious release. Updated 24th April.
20th April 2026: T2 – Phase Two released
Thomas Weiling has released the second phase and final version of last year’s ‘T2’. For this final version, the extra added walls from Phase One have been removed, keeping a classic-style set of graphics only. Featuring Chris Chokan’s WL6MAX12 EXE, which uses Wolfenstein 3D v1.2 as its base, many limits have been exceeded, maximum visibility has been greatly increased and likewise, functionality is fast and dependent. 60 maps are featured, all quite large in size. DOS only.
14th April 2026: Return to the Submarine released
NukeProductions has released ‘Return to the Submarine’. It features 3 maps and numerous new graphics. For ECWolf.
13th April 2026: DOOM – Moonbase Assault released
The latest mod from Death Knight Adrian takes place in the DOOM universe. ‘Moonbase Assault’ features 5 new maps and an audiovisual atmosphere completely entrenched in classic DOOM. DOS only.
1st April 2026: DHW MMC Winter 2025 released
The latest DieHard Wolfers’ Map of the Month Contest has been released! It features 6 maps where, once again, anything goes. Quite a bunch of mixed nuts once more. For SDL.
28th March 2026: Wolfenblood – Legacy of the Golden Heads released
Wolfplayer111 has released a follow-up to last year’s ‘Wolfenblood’. ‘Legacy of the Golden Heads’ features 8 new maps and an audiovisual atmosphere that merges together the worlds of Blood and Wolfenstein 3D. For LZWolf.
26th March 2026: Sixteen Tons released
D4V3_01 has released ‘Sixteen Tons’ for LZWolf. Featuring only one map, it takes place deep in the bowels of a mine. Features dynamic lighting and realistic movement.
22nd March 2026: Haphazard released
IcyFruit has released ‘Haphazard’. It features 4 maps that each are designed in the shape of letters from the alphabet. Be advised that coding changes include increased static object limit, which the attached DOS EXE for some reason does not work with. The SDL EXE that is also attached in the download does work, however.
21st March 2026: SlaughterMap released
SodEnjoyer92 has released a map for ECWolf entitled ‘SlaughterMap’. As the title indicates, it is heavily guarded.
13th March 2026: Kirkushlike sets
On archive.org, a user by the name of Kirkushlike has submitted a number of sets for download. Most of these feature just one level each, very much in the original style. The odd one out, ‘An Adventure in Hell’, features bloody, gore-laden imagery but the remainder of the sets remain very much in the original style. Other than the aforementioned Hell-set, the names of the map sets are ‘The Fuhrer’s Office’, ‘Headquarters’, ‘Red Bricks’, ‘The Secret Laboratory’ (which features 3 maps), ‘WL1’ and ‘WL2’, the latter of which can be found in two slightly different versions. All sets come bundled with all files equipped, and the Hell-set excepted, all use standard registered Wolfenstein v1.4.
It also appears Kirkushlike hosts a version of Wolfenstein 3D for Android.
28th February 2026: JagenWolf released
awes145 has released ‘JagenWolf’. It features two sets – one is a slightly edited version of Wolf3DGuy’s ‘The Second Encounter’ and another one requires the original Wolfenstein 3D map files which the player must supply. Both of them takes the atmosphere and overall look and feel of the Jaguar version of Wolfenstein 3D and puts it in a DOS context. Updated 4th March 2026.
21st February 2026: Trücizna released
Here’s a brand new map set from Serpens! Using the Spear of Destiny demo as the base, he has put together 2 tasty maps. Atina did the new title screen.
15th February 2026: Spear of Destiny: Amped! released
After having been in the works for nearly two years, this community effort map set for Spear of Destiny has finally been released! Conceived by MrWolfForever in May 2024, seeking to amp the original set of maps, many contributors did their very best for this diverse, enticing set. Revived by Gerolf starting in 2025, the set has recently been coordinated into place and is now at long last ready. Skelly, Gerolf, Shodan, beamy_donut, Wolf_King, Penguindog55, Thomas Weiling, Metatron, Orka and even MrWolfForever himself contributed for this full 21-map replacement. Maps only. The player will have to supply the remaining files.
14th February 2026: V-Day II: Blitzkrieg Dating released
The latest bunch of nonsense from the Try Hard Wolfers team uses this particular day, Valentine’s Day, as its springboard to this very sexed up version of a German prison camp. Interactive enemies, many new graphics and sounds, 5 new maps and one of the highest number of females ever in a mod since the days of ‘Hotel Romanstein’. Quite a ride! DOS only.
10th February 2026: Eisenfaust: Legacy – Valentines Edition released
Here’s a saucy concoction from Team Raycast. This ‘Valentines Edition’ of the famous ‘Eisenfaust: Legacy’ mod features heaps of new graphics and takes place in quite a female environment. Of the more impressive things about this mod other than the new and intriguing audiovisual atmosphere is the fact that Doomjedi made 9 out of the 13 maps himself and they all look fine. The other maps were made by Linuxwolf. Be careful not to swoon! For SDL.
10th February 2026: Escape from Durdchenwald released
Solmyr has released ‘Escape from Durdchenwald’ which features 6 new maps and a number of audiovisual changes. For ECWolf.
21st January 2026: Disciple of the Madman released
Orka’s latest mod is ‘Disciple of the Madman’ which is based on Spear of Destiny. The set features 19 maps, 3 of which are secret. Many new graphics and sounds are also featured. Coding changes include a completely redesigned status bar, interactive in-game messages, increased ammo, extra health item and an extra added treasure item. An extensive credits list is also included, as many of the new graphics are based on previously released material though quite a few unique concoctions are featured in the mod. Quite an ambitious undertaking! For SDL.
19th January 2026: Wood-Panelled Jest released
Chwoka has released an LZWolf set. ‘Wood-Panelled Jest’ features one huge maze that traverses vast amounts of wood panel. Don’t get lost!
13th January 2026: DHW MMC Autumn 2025 released
The next batch of maps from the DieHard Wolfers’ Map of the Month Contest is now ready to be devoured! This time, 5 maps are featured, going in all kinds of directions. Hold on to your hats! For SDL.
12th January 2026: The Golden Parrot v2.3 released
Fraggeur has issued a patch for ‘The Golden Parrot’. It is now possible to riposte after a parry, more intermission art is featured and some minor other features have been slightly updated.
12th January 2026: More to Life released
Thomas Weiling has released yet another set, this time titled ‘More to Life’. Similar to ‘True to Life’, this set uses the same idea but within the confines of Spear of Destiny. These 21 maps were put together in just three days.
10th January 2026: Borimir released
Death Knight Adrian has released ‘Borimir’ which expands on last year’s ‘Heretic: Saranda’ mod. This time, elements from Diablo and the Warcraft universe are also present. Many new graphics and sounds are featured in addition to 6 new maps. DOS only.
8th January 2026: True to Life released
Thomas Weiling has released ‘True to Life’, a 60-map replacement that was put together in only seven days. The maps were very much designed with the original set in mind.
4th January 2026: Backroomstein released
JammerC64 has released ‘Backroomstein’ which essentially is just a redesigned version of his mapping contribution to the recent ‘Where the Fuck Am I’ contest. The atmosphere is very much inspired by the Backrooms phenomenon and the new graphics serve this purpose well. For SDL.
