Introduction: How to Edit Wolfenstein 3D Gun Sprites (basics)
This was the first FPS game I ever modded and let me tell you even though the game is dated, it's still a fun game and always even more fun when you make your own gun you made and get to play around with it!
the best editors I've found are Chaosedit, and Floedit2 both you can make gun wall or foe images from MS paint (and I use that for the ease and familiarity of it) and are simple to understand and use
*only use 256 color though!!!* - and save under 256 colors (if it wants to discolor it copy save then paste and save)
Yet making good looking guns requires some practice, some basic knowledge about first person views, and of metals metallic properties.
The point of this guide is to hopefully try out this game, and if you like it be able to control the game to your liking, like make it harder, more realistic, or maybe make it a funny copy of modern games (Ive seen halo mods, and they are not actually bad)
Also note yes I did download this to my schools computer, and now many people play it (and with new levels every week it only makes the game more of a challenge)
downloads to these programs here
http://www.wolfenstein3d.co.uk/newsjul2003.htm - great mod website
http://www.3drealms.com/wolf3d/ - wolf3D its "1wolf14.zip"
http://www.wolfenstein3d.co.uk/utilities.htm - find and click for floedit
http://www.chaos-software.de.vu/ - click the v1.6 and download the "ChaosEdit preRelease v1.27"
Step 1: First a Little History
*info from wikipedia, ID the makers website, And personal experience*
Wolfenstein 3-D is generally regarded as having popularized the first person shooter genre on the PC. It was created by id Software and published by Apogee Software. Released on May 5, 1992 for MS-DOS, - (wow 6 months older then me exact!) - It has been ported to a wide variety of systems, including (but not limited to due to hombrew) 3DO, Super NES, Game Boy Advance, Acorn Archimedes, Atari Jaguar, Iphone/Itouch and the Apple IIGS.
The first three episodes of the game focus on the character of William "B.J." Blazkowicz's (you) attempts to escape from Castle Wolfenstein and overthrow the Nazi regime.
B.J., an Allied spy, had been captured while trying to find the plans for Operation Eisenfaust, and was imprisoned in Castle Wolfenstein. Initially armed only with a knife and a pistol (obtained by overpowering the guard in his cell), B.J.'s initial goal is merely to escape the castle prison. Taking on SS guards, stealing their machine guns and ultimately acquiring a chain gun, he eventually finds himself face to face with the Episode One boss, the ultimate prison guard Hans Grosse
The game goes on for a total of 6 episodes making 60 levels. I recall going to game stores and them selling this thing on flopy disks for $7.50 and every episode could be bought from shareware, or from the store for another $5 and with all episodes making it still the one of the cheapest unused games being $30 for the full thing (most Snes or genesis games i recall were a lot more)
This game came out before ESRB (in America I'm sorry i don't know about Europe maybe someone from over there can tell me) , and is one of the many games why ESRB came out,
- the makers actually rated the game PC13 (a pun of PG13) yet ESRB rated it Mature or 17+! (even the GBA one, when there are more bloody and violent games out rated Teen) - so keep in mind that rating is there to stay unless ESRB raises it like they did with Elder scrolls
The game in 1994 was BANNED in Germany, and still is! (Kinda weird that they still haven't gotten over this game, so what do they have for WW2 FPS? Americans Vs Japan? - or none...)
The game was later ported to the SNES, and fans really wanted it, (Wolfenstein 3D on a console! you would think you would ever see the day!!!!) AND!!.... It was heavily censored due to nintendos cencorship... All Nazi references (or almost all very few remain) like Hitler posters or Swastikas where taken out, the guards say "halt" in English , Attack dogs where replaced by Mutant Rats from a later bosses experements. Blood was turned white and called "sweat" yet I called it spit, cause it looked like it came from the mouth and I watch boxing or something before I played the game., And because this had no Nazi stuff, it was allowed in Germany!!!!! (yet they got blood to be green)
ID actualy commented in The Official DOOM Player Guide about the reaction to Wolfenstein, claiming it to be ironic that it was morally acceptable to shoot people and rats, but not dogs (lol so true)
Anyway the Graphics on the Snes one are the worst it has the worst pixelation at distances I have ever seen wall sprites were 32x32 (unlike the PC's 64x64) yet the weapons were 128x128...Now to be fair, it was running purely on SNES hardware (no FX chip here) , which is amazing. Strangely the GBA version is perfectly fine on a tiny screen! Half the time I shot brown plants with blue vases thinking they where the guards (the colors are the same! the Nazis had brown coats and pants with blue boots)
anyway the next major port was in the 32/64 bit era (i say both at the same time cause the 32 was wayyyyy to short to be an era) and It was to be ported to the 32x (Sega 32x motha fucka - AVGN reference) but was scraped (There is a project on Sega-16.com however to completely convert the PC version to the 32x, and it is going very well i must admit!). so to the next 32 bit system that used CDS!!! (no not the PlayStation - and yes its 32 bit) the Panasonic 3DO - this is noted for being exactly the same as the AppleII computer and some might say the AppleII might be the best port for a computer
and the 3DO one is considered the most to be the best, or second best console port.
the other one many people say is the best or second best is the Atari Jaguar!
This version is unlike ALL other versions of the game.
The graphics on it are unique to the system, they are baised off the Doom graphics (and very highly detailed), and it is said the game was made in a weekend, to test out the Jaguar's 3D, It worked so well, almost too well, The frame rate is at a blistering speed, making it very smooth, as for why it worked too well, is cause the fireing rate on the machine gun is actualy very fast! Basicly in the SNES version the chaingun has a fireing rate of somthing like 600 rounds a min, the machine gun in the atari has about 600 as well! Also the classic bar on the bottem was taken off, BJ's face was returned to the normal PC version (I liked that face better tbh) the score was taken out, so treasure added 4 health to you, and extra lives Maxed you HP to 200.
By far this was my favoite port, and one of a few reasons I bought the Jaguar.
that's the basic history for ya, though there are mondern ports like the gba, the wii hombrew, the iphone/itouch but none of these realy showed ground breaking ideas. And there probably wont be since they have basicly made mondern games, like Return to Castle Wolfenstien, (another game thats highly edited) and the new... Wolfenstien... (yeah the industry is having a hard time comming up with names these days)
Step 2: What Gun Do You Want to Make and Where
In Wolfenstein PC there are 4 weapons, a dagger, a pistol, a sub machine gun (some people make it an assault rifle) and a heavy MG, These may be changed to your liking though they are usually kept within these category due to firing rate.
also note there is no reloading in this game, you pick up ammo, and its in your clip
also note all weapons (except knife) use the same ammo, so you are free to use any weapon in game.
all sprites in game are 64x64 pixels, sorry no pasting without resizing...
there is no damage diffidence with guns (yet some people claim there is yet its not that much) but firing rate is the main difference the pistol is the slowest due to being semi auto, The SMG is the most used for its balanced rate of fire. and the BMG (big machine gun) fires the fastest because it fires a bullet at both firing animations (the SMG fires for one and another frame of recoil or something comes after then goes back)
keep these in mind for your project,
I would say you should play the game first and press I L M at the same time (a cheat code) it gives all weapons, 99 ammo, 100% health, both keys, but it turns your score to 0
it is useful if you want to find out what kind of weapons you will be using most often.
Now that you decided on some weapon(s) time for you to decide where will you put them.
normal wolf3d has them put in the center, or you can have them to the side like many fps these days do.
there are some advantages to drawing them ether way
From the center* - At first it is hard (to get size right and perspective correct (next step will tell you about it). but after that is all done, detailing it is very easy.
From the side*- At first it is easier, but later as detail gets in it can be limiting, also it is annoying to aim (though you don't need to be precise. this can be fixed with cross hairs/lasers like on other FPS,
Step 3: Starting With Perspective
The first thing you should know is about perspective, this is the effect that far off objects appear smaller and how all like meet up at one point (example shown in first picture) notice how all the vertical walkway lines meet up. this give the feeling of 3 dimensions
this step is very Important because you down want to go in game with a gun like in picture 2 it looks... non fitting it doesn't even look like a gun, (i know i drew it bad for starters) but if you look at pic 3 it's better looking even though the shading was taken out.
once again i will stress all images are 64x64
the secret to the perspective is knowing your horizon, for Wolf3d the horizon is right in the middle of the screen, but games like doom it may differ. so the exact middle is 32,32 (when its a 64x64 image there is really 63x63 so 32,32 is the horizon
for a middle view then you want to establish how wide the gun will be.
but for the side view you want to establish where the gun ends are.
once you get an idea you can draw lines from the center like in pic 5 (blue is middle, pink side, and red is 32,32) - if it looks funny or to long, don't worry that part can be erased.
Step 4: Giving Shape
Like all 3d images this will have to start with a wire frame, before it becomes your gun, and gets all the details.
for the front view this is basically done, but you can start making the wire frame to details like where the guns iron sights are, if any part of the gun starts to raise up
on the side view this part can be tricky, you really are making like a wire frame image that gives a 3d look without any form of shading (more on that later) try to make just the gun and no arms, or hands
*keep in mid if the image goes off this screen its not in the direct corner of the game so it will look weird.*
now to "fill in" your gun, find the basic color of what you want the gun part to be, make sure the wire frame is not the same color and fill it in.
Step 5: Trim Then Color ( Like a Coloring Book)
If you gun has a different shape to it (like an mp40 barrel to the rest of the gun, or grooves) now you be the time to "trim" it to a shape when you like the final shape we are ready to make a floating good looking weapon!
right now you gun looks like a simple ugly, basic colored frame. now to add your details! (i Wont go in to depth cause it is all your creation, but I'm giving you ideas on how to make it look as realistic for a simple gun to look.
main gun parts like iron sights should be added and a different shade the the part of the gun (or if your like me you could make it orange like some modern revolvers "quick aim sight"
you might want to add a slide, or bolt for blow back features wile firing!
Shading! - this is a must to realistic look, things under parts (like a mag) should be darker, and parts like the stock might get lighter as they go up giving a round look , - don't expect to be exact on this part on your first try, and if you use chaos edit the shading can be so much easier, and make the gun look great.
-using shading you can get rid of the shaping lines
after you make the gun is the time you should make the arms, and hands if your gun needs it.
try to make the shading decide the shape of the hand
Step 6: Your Done With Your Gun! Now to Make the Other Frames...
you can't really fire a gun with 1 frame there is 5 frames to know of though, this may be changed depending on the weapon and what YOU want. (note the 3 will always fire the bullet, and 4th as well if its the chaingun)
1- normal stance (when not fireing)
2- aim stance
3- Fireing
4- Recoil, or in the Chaingun 2nd bullet
5- Stop Fireing weapon
Sugested ideas
1-normal aimed stance
2-pulling trigger
3-firing with the blowback, posable shell ejection
4-resetting from the recoil, and shell still falling (in case of chain gun another firing)
5-shell last big of falling before it goes off screen
the MGs when holding the button down transition from 2 to 3 until you release the button.
so now you gotta create this and overall it's easy!
recoil can be the gun moving diagonal 1 space back (side view) of back 1 for frontal (but if you want an over the head kind of recoil then this is not the place (I haven't be successful at it yet <=\ )
a way also to show recoil is to have the laser/cross hair move as well!
a gun does produce a "bang!" when it fires, you can make a small amount of fiery flash from the tip.
another thing that some people do is make everything 1 shade lighter if the light would effect it, and 1 shade darker if it is in shadow this produces a very weird but it it works awesome effect
try to add details that gun really have like blow back, or a trigger pull! or (my personal favorite) bullet shell ejection (this is why people make the 2nd frame for the pistol the firing).
when you fire a shell comes out, and during other frames it falls to the ground.
once you have all 5 frames (or less if some are not needed) you can import them to flo or chaos edit. be sure to export the other gun though to just in case you ever need to go back (gun to big of file)
Step 7: Some Things to Keep in Mind While Editing
always have backup files just in case something goes honorably wrong with the game.
never save a change while in game this can cause your game to be corrupt, and slow your computer down to a standstill.
always do the I L M cheat to check if your new gun works before playing the game (then start a new game) sometimes to many colors, in one of the images can cause an error, and that causes you game to close.
well that's about it for editing the game gun sprites, walls and foes are almost the same idea, and I feel that the guns is a good way to start then you can make your own modifications.
cause foes can be a little dificult with their... 8 directions, and each of them has a runing, or walking sprite, and firing sprite = a total of 27 sprites
this is Sypran, signing out
