We are happy to announce a new version of Blade of Agony is underway. Version 3.2 will focus on multiplayer. Ever dreamed of stepping into B.J. Blazkowicz’s shoes with your best friends at your side and rushing through countless nazi bases and secret facilities? The wait is over...
So what can you expect in the v3.2 version?
Stay tuned, we can't wait to get the release done and look forward to your feedback.
About three months have passed since the release of Blade of Agony and the feedback so far has been impressive. We would have never expected such a global impact with so many positive, encouraging and kind words, so thanks to all of you for this.
Not only highly reputed gaming sites have been showcasing our game, YouTubers all around the world have been uploading Let's Play videos of our game which is kinda fun to watch as you finally can experience the maps from a player's perspective which is very different from our personal point of view as developers.
And even though we are happy about every single video being posted, we want to mention one particular person who spent a lot of effort to record a full 100%-completed walkthrough of all three chapters which we want to consider as definite source in case you encounter a dead-end or if you just want to find all the secrets and easter eggs that we've scattered around. Thank you pagb666 for your dedication - we really appreciate this, and we are sure that this set of videos will help a lot of players out there.
Since the release of v3.1 of "Blade of Agony" we have received numerous messages, comments and emails. Besides positive messages and words of support, we have also received a lot of opposition and disappointment.
"You have given up", "You have given in to the shitstorm", "You have lost my respect".
After more than 6 years of working on a project of the heart, these words of course hurt and disappoint us very much and after we had answered some of the comments on ModDB and by email, we now feel that an official statement is necessary to gain understanding and shed light on the matter.
The changes and mitigations we have implemented for version 3.1 do not stem from cowardice we have shown towards some users of the Doom community. Blade of Agony is a creative, free and artistic interpretation within the Wolfenstein universe. And as long as we are unpaid developers working on such a project in our spare time, it must be ensured that we realise our vision as we see fit. This is exactly the motto we have been working by for the last 6 years, releasing the last 3 chapters. So why the adjustments to v3.0 now?
As some of you know, the team around "Blade of Agony" consists of a colourful bunch from all over the world, including Israel and Germany. Wolfenstein 3D and swastikas have long been banned and punished in Germany in the field of entertainment. Since 2018, these laws have been defused, but games of this kind are still under the strictest observation by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (FOftPotC).
Although we as developers strictly condemn any form of discrimination, racial hostility, anti-Semitism and glorification of the Second World War, there were concerns on the part of various German gaming sites and news sources about whether we had not crossed a line with some content (including the depiction of a concentration camp, the explicit mention of affected population groups or the World's Fair in Paris with historical anti-Semitic content). From that point on, it was clear to us that we would have to reconsider the content in order to weigh up possible personal damage (for example a punishment from the FOftPotC if they deem the game unacceptable) from all the developers of the project concerned.
The Second World War was the most horrific conflict in our history, and we as a development team do not want to ignore, censor or even deny these atrocities. However, we have asked ourselves what position we are in as entertainers. Wolfenstein is and always has been a fictional scenario, so we have no duty to educate the people who play our game. We want to tell an exciting story. So our yardstick in defusing the game was "What content is necessary to achieve that and what content can we do without?"
Blade of Agony has been released in several versions before and as we changed, removed and added content from version 1.0 to 2.0 based on experience gained and advice received, this is an organic process that has now also taken place between 3.0 and 3.1.
While we can understand some of the disappointment, we hope players will understand why some changes had to be made and why we can no longer officially support v3.0, and ask that you do not share public links on our ModDB page. Of course, we have no influence on what happens in the private area.
We hope that you continue to have as much fun with Blade of Agony as we had during its development and we still wish you a good time.
Thank you,
Daniel Gimmer
and the entire Blade of Agony development team
Comerades, it's Friday 9th of July and we hope you are ready to get psyched once again! The new version 3.1 of Blade of Agony has just been unleashed on ModDB's project page. So what can be expected? Is it all censored? Are swastikas gone and are Nazis only generic soldier cannon fodder? People expected the worse, but we can promise you there is no need to fear radical changes.
New features in v3.1
So what does the latter point mean? After feedback from the players all around the world, we took a closer look at some of the design-choices that we made and asked ourselves if some of the content, that has been considered to be "edgy" contributes to the story and the atmosphere, or actually doesn't. We have made some minor choices and even though some people believe that we went too far or "bent the knee", we think that our vision is still intact without these nuances and we really hope that you will enjoy the new version with all the additions we made.
Enjoy, and get psyched (you know how that works!)
Best regards,
Tormentor667 and the Blade of Agony Team
After the original v3.0 of Blade of Agony has been taken down one month ago to calm things down, we are proud to announce the release of the updated version 3.1 which will be unleashed on Friday 9th 2021 - yes, already next week. As we have gone already into details about unfortunate coincidences and mistakable controversies in past articles, it's about time now to showcase what has been changed and improved. The new version is not just about changes, it's also about completely new features, but let's take a look:
What's new for v3.1?
Is this enough to keep you psyched? Well, we are, and we can't wait to release the new version of Blade of Agony to you - it was worth the wait and it is worth to play it (again).
PS: A very special thanks goes to our beta testers x3003, hawkwind3, Shockwave508 and everyone else who was active on our GitHub issues page. Another thanks goes to mgrinzPlayer for the new launcher. Thanks to all of you helping us improving the game. This wouldn't have been possible without you!
During the last days and weeks we, the development team behind "Blade of Agony", received a lot of emails, comments and news about the release of the project. While the overwhelming majority found the result and the execution of our work successful, there were also critical voices, among others, which we take just as seriously.
First of all, Blade of Agony is a fictional scenario based on the alternative narratives of the Wolfenstein game series by id software and Bethesda and the corresponding canon. It does not represent accurate history, our political stance or thinking of the development team. We reject any form of racial hatred, discrimination, (Neo-)Nazism, anti-Semitism or glorification of the Second World War.
We have invested a lot of time and work to communicate this message in our game, to deal sensitively with the content and to create a respectful game experience without discriminating against people or groups of people. Despite meticulous care, we have not succeeded perfectly in all points, which is why we have taken the current version of "Blade of Agony" offline until further notice.
We are currently working on a revised version in which we will correct these mistakes and respond to the players' comments and reasonable demands. Until then, we ask for your patience and understanding. Stay psyched!
The final release of Blade of Agony has been unleashed more than a month ago now and the feedback has been amazing so far. We are currently working on the 3.1 version and several hundred issues have already been adressed as well as various new features, that have been added during the development. Now, to stay in contact with you and all the players out there, we decided to create our own Discord channel where we can discuss your ideas, your feedback and well... talk about the game. Join us, we are hyped to see you there!
Some days ago a Blade of Agony player named Evilhalfer stumbled upon one of the super secrets, prudently placed by the developers into one of the maps. We congratulate Evilhalfer for finding the super secret and praise his attentiveness!
The super secret contains a link to a hidden webpage with a form, where you can post your personal experience with Blade of Agony, and also questions to the developer team if you want to. Please do not hesitate to write us there if you manage to find the page: we will be very pleased to hear from someone who played our game this thoroughly. These feedback messages are treated by us with the highest priority.
Good luck in secret hunting!
What a crazy night that was, and an even crazier first day. It's been barely 24 hours since the release of Blade of Agony and it couldn't have been more exciting for us developers.
Last night we sat together in a video meeting, equipped with a couple of bottles of beer, a bottle of wine and some cigarettes, and talked about the last 6 years. 6 years of building wonderful friendships, of working hard side by side on a vision that is now available to a wide audience. And: we couldn't have imagined the response any better.
Ozymandias81, DoomJedi, DoomJuan, MaudDib90, Tormentor667 (fltr)
Just a few hours after the release, the first Twitch livestreams were running, a few moments later we cracked the 2.500 downloads (!) mark on ModDB and reached number 2, and this morning no one less than John Romero himself sent out a tweet about our work.
The feedback so far is insane, and we are very happy about the kind words and messages that have reached us in the last 24 hours. Thank you to everyone who has downloaded and played Blade of Agony so far, and thank you also to all those who have donated a few dollars
We, in turn, will be enjoying the spectacle in the upcoming days, collecting bug reports and continuing to work on the project, as we have a few more surprises in store for you, so: Stay psyched!
After a total development time of 6 years, 1 month and 20 days, we proudly present you the final version of Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony, a standalone fan-game in the spirit of first-person shooters from the late 90's, set in the WWII and powered by the Wolfenstein canon. This is our vision and creative freedom how a official sequel of Wolfenstein 3D might have looked like, inspired by games like RTCW, Call of Duty and Medal of Honor but with a twist.
Blade of Agony is much more than just a pastiche of the classic shooters that inspired it; the project offers a unique experience with many features not often seen in free fangames:
The team was working hard to create an experience that is dedicated to all those oldschool gamers born in the 80's and 90's; not only when it comes to the visuals and gameplay but also for the easter-egg and reference hunt, for the retro feeling the nostalgia and the attention to detail. There is so much to discover for you, and we really hope that you enjoy what has cost us a lot of sweat, nerves and life time. May it be as fun to play for you as it was for us all to create it!
Check our downloads page for the complete standalone package, download it now and get psyched!
A few days ago, the czech gaming magazine Score published a full preview article of Blade of Agony's Chapter 3 release after we've given access to a release candidate version to them. What can I say - it was worth it and the whole team is totally excited by the article, the kind words and the overall score of 92%. It is a great honor to see interest in our project and that even professional gaming journalism takes care of this.
If you aren't speaking czech yourself, don't worry - click on details for a full translation of the article done by MuadDib90, no spoilers included.
One of the most important ingredients of a good game is to make it accessible to a large audience of people. Using English as the base language for Blade of Agony was already a step towards this, but before starting with the development of the third and final chapter of our project, we thought about making it available in other languages as well - common languages for people who aren't native English speakers, or who have problems with enjoying a game written in a different language - other than their mother tongue.
The developers behind the game can be considered a potpourri of nations, from countries all over the world, so why not use this to our advantage? Said and done. The final version of Blade of Agony will be translated into over 10* different languages, including German, Italian, Russian, French, Spanish and many more. Our team and numerous volunteers spent months manually translating every single sentence, every single word into the appropriate target language, giving the opportunity to almost everyone who wants to enjoy the game in their native language. Viel Spaß damit!
*a few languages aren't completely finished yet. If you want to help us, check our Google Spreadsheet and drop us a line!
The war is balancing on a knife's edge. It's not taking much longer for one side to win. Both sides have exhausted their forces, their morale is down to earth, and it's just a question of time when the war ends. While the Allied Forces have been leading their efforts successfully against the Thor's Hammer project and Hitler and his scientists continued to examine the Spear of Destiny, the only thing you are looking for is revenge...
Wolfenstein | Blade of Agony's Chapter 3 (including an completely overhauled Chapter 1+2) will be released in the first quarter of 2021. For now, check our teaser trailer at YouTube or on our media section, we are looking forward to your comments. Stay tuned, get psyched!
Video by Twitter @theswabiangamer, Thanks so much for your effort and dedication!
After almost 6 years of being in development, we reached a special milestone today. With the latest commit on Tuesday, November 10th, 2020, the mod is fully playable, that means: all chapters can be played through from start to finish.
Because any of us in the dev team lives several thousands miles apart from each other (not to mention COVID-19 restrictions), we had to celebrate this with some good old German beers in our chat group, exchanging a few photos and videos to make sure everyone was drunk to celebrate this glorious moment - well it wasn't that glorious anymore after beer number then but... well, we had some fun, now on to the news people are waiting for.
In the middle of the year, we were certain that a release in the fourth quarter of 2020 was realistic. But during our own playtests, a large number of issues came up, and we needed to adress those first. This was also the reason why finishing the maps took us longer than expected. We fixed game-breaking bugs, we improved the storytelling, and we added new content to the first two Chapters - we polished like crazy.
Now that all of the maps are done, we will start to balance, fix, and finish the mod in order to make the best possible experience available for all you players out there. This also means that we need to spend some more time on the mod in order to achieve that. As of now, we are confident that a release in the first few months of 2021 is a reasonable target. Until then, we will make sure to keep you informed and entertained when it comes to Blade of Agony.
I recommend subscribing to our YouTube channel. We will be posting some interesting content on our YouTube channel over the next few weeks for those who are really impatient. Until then, stay safe, and have a good time.
![[Road to Wolfenstein] Devblog 10 | Bringing the experience to perfection](/media/widgetkit/Screenshot_BoA_20210418_223126-4cbd7db607a7d2dbf81d6be00a950758.jpg)
Public inactivity doesn't necessarily mean inactivity behind the curtain. After months of tireless commitment, we can finally announce that the third chapter of Blade of Agony is finished - well, at least the rough outline. Chapter 3: The Final Confrontation, renamed for story-consistency, as well as an homage to the original Wolfenstein 3D, is playable from start to finish now. I admonish people not to cheer and ask for the download link though.
Even though we are making big steps towards the release of our game, there is still a lot of work left to do: Translations, ensuring plot and lore consistency, gameplay testing and implementing further improvements for the best possible experience.
A few days ago we added a custom help and info system directly into the game, that resembles the areas of our page. This will definitely come in handy for all those playing the mod for the very first time but somehow missed the website. On top of that, a new epilogue and cutscene system has been implemented, beautifying the old text displays with a nice frame and some custom art images.
One of the bigger tasks that needs to be finished before the final release is translating all of the in-game text. There is already a team of translators working on a Google spreadsheet that we've prepared, but if you (or anyone else you know who is a native speaker of Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Turkish or French) might be interested in helping out, let us know and
Well, we don't want you to visit this page for paragraphs of boring text, do we? We've added 18 brand new screenshots of chapter 3 to the media section, so before you leave, you might want to check these out - and stay tuned!
People who are familiar with the id software universe already know that Commander Keen, Doom Guy and B.J. Blazkowicz are somehow related to each other. For anyone else not in the know: Billy "Blaze" Blazkowicz aka Commander Keen is William "B.J." Blazkowicz' grandson.
It's obvious that this fact is the perfect hint when it comes to the question: "What kind of secret levels does Blade of Agony offer?". Ever since the Chapter 1 release, there was a game console prototype in Professor Gutenberg's lab, but it did nothing. For the release of Chapter 3, you will finally be able to do something with it. In all 3 episodes, the player can find a single, unique prototype of a game cartridge that can be put into the console, and you will be able to do the impossible: Play a game based on your future grand son's destiny. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?
For the development of these levels, AFADoomer analyzed the reverse-engineered source code of Commander Keen - Goodbye Galaxy, and with the help of the dedicated and skilled community of the Public Commander Keen Forum, we were able to replicate the look and behaviour of all the items, enemies and game mechanics from the Shadowlands, and implement these into our game using ZScript. After making some mapping magic happen, we believe it truly feels like a 3D Commander Keen title. We are proud of what we've achieved by working with the Commander Keen fandom, and we can't wait to hear your feedback on the secret missions. Stay tuned, it's closer than you might think.
After the past three months have been pretty silent when it comes to public news, the team had been working unweary on the final chapter of Blade of Agony. We made huge progress leaps in the mapping department and there is only one map left to be finished in the main part of the third chapter - Airport Berlin Tempelhof (without mentioning our secret operation and the three specials that can be played at the console, but more about that in the future). After that we will concentrate on polishing the storyline and the structures, adding sidequests and making sure everything works without any flaws and is playable from the start to the end.
"And what comes next? A release?" Well, it's not as easy as that. One of our additional goals for the final release is the localization and the voice acting. For the localization we plan to release the game in various different languages (german, italian, russian next to english) to reach a wider audience. On the other side, we want to improve the atmosphere with a special audio addition, therefore we plan to add voice actings to the briefing, the dialogues and the ingame messages. But this all can only be done as soon as most of the game is set in stone to avoid gaps or redundancies. Anyway, we won't be able to do all this on our own.
So if you are used to translating texts in the languages we aim for, or if you are interested and skilled in doing some voice acting for a specific character in the game, drop us a line, get in conctact over the forums and let us know. We are looking forward to any kind of support in this area.
![[Road to Wolfenstein] Devblog 09 | Mapping "The 3rd Reich"](/media/widgetkit/Screenshot_Doom_20190809_075934-6428844b61cc3b92e17f00edd44ab39a.jpg)
From the beginning, we followed a certain philosophy when it came to map design: "Every mission has to be unique." Taking a look at the first two chapters which have already been released, I can say we managed to keep up with that. From a desert excavation in Tunis, to a snow-covered volcano in Iceland, to the liberation of Paris - no single mission is like another; there is so much to discover, and I can still promise you that there is little or no repetition through all the places you have already visited.
Ideas for the first chapters have been quick at hand. For the third and final chapter, things have been more difficult at first - that's why we can't estimate a release date yet. How can we go above and beyond peoples' expectations for missions like Operation: Astrostein? Don't restrict your imagination. For The Final Confrontation (the new title for Chapter 3, as well as an homage to Wolfenstein 3D), we will push GZDoom to its limits once again, but we're still staying within the limits of what GZDoom can reasonably handle. In the upcoming version of Blade of Agony you can expect the unexpected.
![[Road to Wolfenstein] Devblog 08 | Replay Value](/media/widgetkit/replaysummary-019d7db48e058a3dd41baea42fedd583.jpg)
The process of bugfixing and improving our previous chapters of Blade of Agony is something that we have already written about. We want a polished final product with the release of Chapter 3. This also means that we are considering ways to enhance the replay value of our project. Youtube and Twitch have revived the competitive spirit of gaming, and encouraged players to out-perform each other, no matter whether it is by speedrunning, or just maxing out their kills, loot, and secrets. So how can we implement features that support these kind of people?
At the beginning of the development, I decided to get rid of the intermission sequence because it ruined the atmosphere which is so important to this project. Regarding the aspects from the introduction paragraph though, I was considering renewing the concept of showing your stats at the end of the mission, but in a way that is more integrated with the game just as most of the other aspects are - that's our philosophy. The idea of a mission summary in the Allied Headquarters was born, and AFADoomer brought these ideas into a working implementation.
After completing each mission, you will be able to check this blackboard in order to find out: Did I kill everyone? How much loot did I collect? How many secrets did I find, and how long have I been playing this game? It's competition time! Share your results with a screenshot, or just try to do better on your second or third run. Maybe you will even find a hidden bonus if you are good enough...
No, your eyes are indeed working properly.
Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony Chapter 3 will now be releasing exclusively on the Epic Games Store. There will be no release of Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony Chapter 3 on Flathub, Snapcraft, Steam, Itch.io, GOG, ModDB, or even this website, at least until next year.
Tim Sweeney saw what we were doing, and saw how our game could become a major attraction to the Epic Games Store, and offered up a grand total of $2 million to us, in order to convince us to release exclusively on the Epic Games Store, as well as help us migrate from GZDoom to Unreal Engine 4.
This wasn't an easy decision for us to make, but after a lot of careful consideration, we decided we could go through with it. For those disgruntled fans that donated to us in the past, but are displeased with our move to the Epic Store, you can ask us for a refund by clicking here.
Thank you - and click on "Details", it's worth it!
![[Road to Wolfenstein] Devblog 07 | Improved stealth mechanics](/media/widgetkit/sneakscript-c4cd27f5b77b4d770a6830b68d95578a.jpg)
In the process of creating a project with the kind of scope and scale of Blade of Agony, you tend to try out things that haven't been done before. Having a kind of Metal Gear Solid-style introduction to Chapter 2 where William breaks out of a prison was a brave, but dangerous undertaking. Will players like a completely new mechanic in a Doom mod, or will they hate it? The community's response was mixed - some people liked what we did, but others said that we were wrong to make such decisions. To be honest, we didn't find it as enjoyable as we hoped, but we believed that after some fine tuning and improvements, we can make the new gameplay mechanics a lot more enjoyable. And so, we started all over again...
AFADoomer spent a very long time improving the stealth mechanics for Operation: Ausbruch (C2M1), and I remember it taking me almost the same time to play the map over and over again after changing things and editing actor placement and structures in order to make the map benefit from the script changes. We can firmly say that the escape is a lot more intuitive now, and many things that felt like they were totally "random" can now be controlled from the player's point of view. We didn't want to make it too easy, so we added a few interesting mechanics like alarm switches that can be activated by guards to draw other guards' attention towards you. Since it is a waste of effort for only one single map, you can expect some more of that gameplay in Chapter 3 - this time the way it is meant to be!
![[Road to Wolfenstein] Devblog 06 | SFX Shaders](/media/widgetkit/heatshader-6906afbe393864202bfacdfc7f994000.jpg)
Shaders being added to the GZDoom engine opened a completely new dimension of special effects to mods. We have already introduced the power of Post Processing Shaders with noise, flares or motion blur, but this is only one part that can be controlled by the player. Shaders can also be used to enhance the atmosphere and realism of a project, and this is what we took advantage of.
Imagine a long endless street in the desert, it's daylight and the sun is boiling the ground without mercy. If you look closely, you can not only feel the heat, you can see it on the asphalt, and in the distance on the horizon. You can see the heat in the air. This is one example of an effect we've added to various hot places in the game (e.g. lava rivers, hot engines). Another addition is the distorted player view when you are hit by the shockwave of an explosion. Instead of seeing clearly, you need some time to recover from the shock and see clearly again. These changes also affect the gameplay, but it's a very realistic and interesting addition that makes the environment and the battles more intense.
And with some slight tweaks, these shaders can even be applied to textures, which will give you a totally new experience in the briefing room at the HQ. Finally, we have those scratches and flickering light that every diascope has had in the 1940's.
![[Road to Wolfenstein] Devblog 05 | Revamping Maps](/media/widgetkit/longc2m3-6ccdbf8a9f28a0a9dd373cb57b3b82a8.jpg)
While mapping is a very organic progress, you sometimes lose the objectivity when it comes to size and length. Instead of knowing when it's time to stop adding more, you simply think "Wow, this is something I could add here as well". This is what happened to a lot of maps in Chapter 2, especially Operation Schlangenkopf (C2M3). While we were watching various gameplay videos on Youtube (specifically ZikShadow and MrIcarus), we simply went overboard, putting more and more stuff into one single map. Players needed almost an hour to complete one map. This is simply too much and absolutely not satisfying.
We needed to check all the maps (from the beginning of Tunis up to the Astrostein missions), and find out what areas are needed to keep the tension and gameflow, and what portions of the map could be removed because they do not add to the overall experience. C2M3 was a very good example. As soon as you collect the yellow key, you enter a huge area of containment and underground labs that just doesn't add anything to the story or the gameflow. It's just there. Removing it was the logical consequence, and that's what we did with a lot of places. Instead, we tried to add something in the spirit of the map, or tossed areas around to make the progress more fluid and organic.
Sometimes, if you play your own maps again after a while, you start to think of different approaches, different solutions, different possibilities that will make your original vision more convincing. The second half of Operation Astrostein is a very good example of how a map can still improve, despite it already being finished (Yes, this is a spoiler; I hope you've played Chapter 2 already). When I first created the map, I had a very clean futuristic design in mind, just like the original Astrostein episodes. After visiting New Berlin again however, I thought that this approach wasn't realistic. I imagined this place to be more dirty, more dangerous, something between Coruscant and Los Angeles from the blockbuster movie Blade Runner. And that's what I turned it into - and it's worth a second visit, I promise.
Believe it or not: I actually watched almost every Wolfenstein Let's Play video on Youtube - at least those in a language I know (sorry for skipping the Polish, Czech and Russian ones), and for me this is the most useful feedback you can get on your own maps. You can see and hear how people react in certain situations, what they think and how they approach your creation. We listen closely to the feedback we get and there are hundreds of changes and improvements that we made in order to improve our players' experiences. So thanks a lot to all of you for sharing that - it got noticed!
![[Road to Wolfenstein] Devblog 04 | NPCs with a brain](/media/widgetkit/npcswithabrain2-6f0430ff968c7926695250c7448db839.jpg)
How terribly insulting it was for us to hear that most of the people playing the second chapter of Blade of Agony hated our friendly NPCs: Douglas and Ryan (well, the latter still for a reason) were a pain for the players. Instead of helping you, giving you cover, and being a new and interesting gameplay feature, they just - well - sucked. It was about time to change something here.
AFADoomer took the community's feedback very seriously, and started re-writing most of the code in order to improve sidekicks like Douglas, Ryan and Ascher, so that they were actually useful companions, rather than annoying obstacles that get in your way instead of covering you. They will now try to avoid being in your line of sight, they will try to move away from you if they are in your way, and most importantly, you can interact with them. Just like in Half-Life 2, you can "use" them once to make them hold their position, and then "use" them again to make them follow you. So if you want a sidekick following you, just leave everything as it is, and if you are more of a "James Bond" special agent who doesn't need or want support, simply leave them behind; it's up to you.
![[Road to Wolfenstein] Devblog 03 | Compass 2.0](/media/widgetkit/compass-0822e24c26c3b35e3ce96418dbfaaa25.jpg)
In the past releases of Blade of Agony, the compass seemed to be a bit rudimentary - a feature we added for the sake of being added, but not really worth using. We always thought that we should either remove it, or re-work it as to make it worthwhile, and that's what AFADoomer took care of.
The completely reworked compass is now available as an item that can be bought during Chapter 1, and is part of your inventory from the beginning of Chapter 2. It now works very intuitively, and not only shows the locations of the mission objectives (both primary and secondary), but also shows you the location of important objects, such as mission elements that must be collected, as well as the locations of treasure chests and the keys to open them, and even optional stuff that can be gathered.
Objects that are far away will be barely visible on the compass, but as you get closer to such objects, they will fade in and move closer to the center. Now it really makes sense to get a compass and use it, as it will be helpful for finding your way through larger maps. You won't ever get lost again... as long as you have hoarded enough gold to buy the item.
![[Road to Wolfenstein] Devblog 02 | Modern Shaders](/media/widgetkit/postprocess-22258a5fac372c58f37ea767f4f18801.jpg)
Shaders are something that is already part in modern games for some time now: Motion Blur, Vignette, Lens Flares, Film Grain and many more features. These additions have lately been showcased by Total Chaos, an amazing mod by wad'a'holic which makes you ask yourself: "Am I still playing Doom?". These shaders have been implemented and developed by Nash - and yes, Nash is part of our development team. We only had to see if it enhances the gameplay experience and if it fits our philosophy, or if we only want to add these features for the sake of having them.
Remember old videos from World War II, most of them have scratches, noise, a vignette and are black and white. Whereas greyscale and scratch effects will not work well in a first-person shooter game (I mean c'mon, where does all the beautiful gore go?), we felt that film grain and a vignette perfectly fits the game design philosophy and makes for a fitting feature. The decision was easy to make.
For the lens flares, it took a while though, same goes to the motion blur. Both effects are aesthetic and visual. In some places, it greatly improves the experience (just take a look at the effect in the screenshot; the fire feels extremely bright and blinding). We were not sure, but considering that all effects can be adjusted or totally turned off to your desire, we have decided to add what we have for those who want it. If you are a purist though you can still deactivate all of it, including the noise and vignette, set your resolution to 320x200, and enjoy the mod in its 1994'ish glory.
![[Road to Wolfenstein] Devblog 01 | AI improvements](/media/widgetkit/dodging-1f1b2150322f3145c336cceac0f63ec9.jpg)
First of all, happy new year to all of you out there. Since our last news item, it's been almost a year, and even longer since the release of Chapter 2, so I thought it was about time to let you know: We are still working very hard on Chapter 3. The past 12 months have been a hard time for us developers, since some of us had to struggle with job and family issues. Despite the slower progress, we kept working, not only on the 3rd chapter of Blade of Agony, but we have also been improving what we have already released. Why? We are listening, and we take your feedback seriously.
Shadows of the Reich has received mixed reviews. Some people loved it from the beginning to the end, but there have also been others who had some gripes, and made a good point. Therefore, we wanted to make sure that these issues were sorted out, and with the final release of the game including all three chapters, we wanted to ensure you have the best possible game experience that we are capable of creating.
With the upcoming development blog entries, we will talk about what we have been doing "behind the scenes", giving you an inside scoop on the things we have been working on, and stuff we have improved and added. Hopefully, that will make waiting for the final chapter a bit easier. This is the first entry out of many more that will be posted, so stay tuned and make sure to come back from time to time; It's worth it!
One of the problems we've faced in the past is the AI (artificial intelligence) of the soldiers. The code of every enemy soldier is based on Doom's demons and zombies - no need to be pretty smart, it's simply "walk, aim, shoot/bite, loop", nothing less. We are aware that human beings (even though they are Nazis) should act a bit less predictably, and that's where we started to make improvements. First of all, we gave the AI a few new tricks - now, the enemy soldiers can try to dodge your attacks from time to time (this is what you can see in the screenshot above). In addition, enemy soldiers can now try to take cover or run away if you toss grenades at them, or if they are wounded. Makes sense, doesn't it? Last, but not least, some enemies will not leave their covered zone until you get closer; instead, they stay where they are. It's not much, but it adds new dynamics to the combat, and feels like an appropriate change. Let's see what our coders AFADoomer and Ozymandias come up with over the next few months to make the gunfights even more interesting - stay tuned!
Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony is now available as a snap package for GNU/Linux Distros that support it. Thanks to mcphail, installing and playing Wolfenstein on Linux has never been easier.
For those unfamiliar with snaps, a snap package is a GNU/Linux app in a container. A container is a self-contained environment for running apps. All of the libraries the app needs to run are bundled inside the container with the app. If the app requires a library that is not included in the snap (such as graphics drivers), it is used from the host system. Detailed information about installing and playing the Wolfenstein snap can be found in our F.A.Q.
We did it! After polishing the second chapter of Blade of Agony for the past 3 weeks we are here to proudly present the release of "Shadows of the Reich", an all new episode that directly connects where the thrilling action and plot ended in "The Staff of Kings", which is also included in the release with a lot of improvements and additional surprises. So what's new?
...and that's only a fraction of all the things to come. Don't waste any more time, get psyched, get "Shadows of the Reich" just now!
We have been waiting for this day since November 12th last years so the least thing I can tell is, that we are as disappointed as you might be now that we have to say: There will be no release of Blade of Agony's Chapter 2 this saturday. After discussing this internally for more than a week, we had to decide that we want Shadows of the Reich and the original chapter The Staff of Kings to be the best possible experience for players. But currently we are struggeling with issues our beta testers reported as well as problems with the performance on large maps and special effects with weaker or older computers.
Sure, we could have said "If it runs too slow, deactivate the effects or buy a new machine" but this is not our philosophy. We want to reach as many persons as possible, who are interested in this project and try to give everyone the same experience when playing (without reducing settings just to make it run with a few fps faster). We really hope you understand this and we already want to thank you for your patience during this delay, as we promise to prepare the best sequel that can possibly be made. Stay tuned - stay psyched!
You are imprisoned, the Reich continues to develop their technological advantage and the Allied forces are being pushed back on all fronts. Time for your escape, William.
After another 6 months of development we actually can't wait for the release of the final trailer for Chapter 2 from Blade of Agony in just about one week. If you feel the same, we have prepared a short trailer for you about "Shadows of the Reich" which can be considered - just the way George Lucas would like it - as the dark part of the trilogy. Expect the unexpected, watch the trailer now and get psyched!
After another half-year since the release of the first chapter of WolfenDoom: Blade of Agony Chapter 1: The Staff of Kings, we are proud to announce the date you have all been waiting for.
Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony Chapter 2: Shadows of the Reich will be released on May 20th, which also marks the 17th anniversary of Realm667.
And with this announcement, there will also be a few improvements that come with Shadows of the Reich, including a near-complete overhaul of The Staff of Kings (replaying that is a "must"), new models, new and reworked textures, and improved game mechanics. Shadows of the Reich continues from the point The Staff of Kings left off, with you in a Gestapo prison in eastern Europe. You will encounter new enemies, new weapons and new locations through 8 different missions -- even 2 more as a reward if you are attentive enough.
There is one thing that is new in Shadows of the Reich that we are most proud of - something that has taken an unimaginable amount of effort, dedication and work: High-resolution sprites for all enemies and NPCs throughout the mod -- not only upscaled, but highly detailed artwork similar to the Wolfenstein 3D Mac version - something that hasn't been seen in a comparable project yet. Check out the new screenshots in our media page for a proof of concept, and stay tuned for more information soon.
"You are B.J. Blazkowicz, the greatest spy and biggest risk-taker the Allied forces have ever known. Take on the might and fury of the Third Reich as you blast your way to victory!" After a development time of exactly 21 months, we are proud to finally announce the release of the first chapter of Blade of Agony titled "The Staff of Kings". With a total of 7 maps, orchestrated music, combined low-poly models and pixelated 90's style beauty, armament from the battlefields of WWII, interactive NPCs and many more amazing features never seen in a Doom mod before, this is one of the largest releases the community has ever seen - at least in terms of digital size and scale. Join historical battles, relieve the action from the Second World War from a new perspective and battle the diabolical Adolf Hitler, who is twisting science and the occult in his pathological mission to conquer the world. The fate of all free peoples hangs in the balance - failure is not an option. Get the first chapter of Blade of Agony now from our Download area, make sure to read the info pages while it's loading to not get lost too easily.
Almost two years have gone now and we are proud to finally announce the release date for chapter 1 of our Wolfenstein project Blade of Agony. On the 13th of November, we will unleash the first 7 maps that are part of "The Staff of Kings". Expect a story-driven and action-packed experience, based in the european battlefield of 1940. There are so many things to discover that I strongly recommend watching the trailer. And for a good knowledge of situation, characters and story, it makes definitely sense to read the rest of the webpage's content to be ready to start with chapter 1 in about two weeks. We are totally excited and can't wait for the day as we are looking forward to your feedback and your thoughts. Get ready to get psyched - watch the trailer now!
After a development of 16 months, mostly in private and inside the community of its base game engine ZDoom, it was about time to start getting the attention of the whole Doom community! Working as a media designer and developer for print- and web-based marketing products, I felt responsible for doing more to promote the project. To cut a long story short: Welcome to the official page of our project Blade of Agony, a mod based on the classics Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, with influences from Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Medal of Honor. Here you will find in-depth and detailed information about the project, its features and also the releases — as soon as there are some! Bookmark the page, like our social pages and stay tuned.
