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GAME · 1992 · USA

Wolfenstein 3D

9 archived facts 6 topics

Wolfenstein 3D, released in 1992, is the first-person shooter that put id Software on the map. Its development left behind a trail of odd design decisions, censorship battles and an unusually tangled family tree.

9 Interesting Facts About Wolfenstein 3D

Interesting Facts (4)

  1. #001

    When the game launched, Nintendo of America was known for publishing titles free of violence and suitable for families. For the Super Nintendo port, id Software's developers had to follow a long list of strict rules to satisfy Nintendo of America's standards, among them cutting blood, gore and any mention of Nazis. In retaliation, id Software later passed the game's source files to Wisdom Tree, a maker of Christian video games, which used them to create Super Noah's Ark 3D (1994).

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  2. #002

    John Romero and Tom Hall had a hard time persuading engine programmer John Carmack to put secret doors in the walls. He initially saw it as an inelegant fix for an unnecessary problem, but eventually gave in.

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  3. #003

    One set of survey results showed that more copies of the Wolfenstein 3D shareware were installed on computers than MS-DOS (several different types of DOS existed at the time of the survey).

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  4. #004

    If your health ever drops below 4%, just "drink" the puddles of blood found in certain stages and it should jump straight back to a mighty 4%. As a bonus, you get the sound of someone slurping the last of a soda through a straw.

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Production Story (1)

  1. #005

    E2M8 cannot be finished at 100% in every category. The maps contain a push-wall maze built for a contest that required players to find a sign reading "Call Apogee Say 'Aardwolf'". The contest was cancelled once the game shipped, but the sign stayed in. Looking back, the developers admitted they should have taken it out before release, since players deluged them with calls and letters asking what it meant. Later versions swapped it for a standard prop from the game.

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Characters & Cast (1)

  1. #006

    Since video games could not render real-time 3D environments, this one used a technique called "ray casting". Each column of screen pixels shifts according to the direction the player walks, creating the illusion of a 3D environment.

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Easter Eggs & References (1)

  1. #007
    Contains a major spoiler — show

    A secret level references Pac-Man.

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Deeper Meaning (1)

  1. #008

    The game was banned in Germany in 1994 over its controversial content, since Nazi symbolism was then considered propaganda. German game magazines avoided the real title and coined nicknames such as "Böser Wolf 3D", "Hundefelsen 4E" and "Wolkenheim 4D". After German law was relaxed in 2018 to permit games containing such symbolism, the ban was lifted in October 2019.

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Life & Family (1)

  1. #009

    id Software laid out the family tree of Wolfenstein 3D's hero, B.J. Blazkowicz, confirming that he is related to two of the studio's other characters: Billy Blaze of Commander Keen and the Doomguy of Doom (1993). Born William Joseph Blazkowicz, B.J. is the grandfather of Billy Blaze, whose real name is William Joseph Blazkowicz II; his legal surname comes from the stage name of his father, a talk show host and news anchor. Billy Blaze in turn fathered the Doomguy, born William Joseph Blazkowicz III. It remains unclear whether id Software's B.J. and MachineGames' B.J., or the original Doomguy and the Doom Slayer of Doom (2016), are one and the same character and therefore part of the same bloodline, given the differing backgrounds of their respective versions.

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