Recently, I was cleaning up an old box from my childhood home. Among other things, it contained some old 3.5″ floppy disks. For the young folks out there, these very much were a real thing 🙂 Thankfully, I have a USB floppy drive that still seems to work with my modern Windows PC. I came across all sorts of stuff, including some code I wrote in high school, game files, etc. However, one TXT file jumped out.
The file contains the log of a AOL chat room from the early 90s (1992?). Not just a regular chat room, but the AOL “Rotunda” which seems to have been a moderated chat with some ability for the audience to pass questions along to the panel. I honestly don’t remember this, and if it was 1992 I would have been quite young (10), thus I may have come across the transcript a few years later when the other files on the disks are dated as (1995).
In any case, the chat features many of the original staff of id Software including Jay Wilber, John Romero, and Tom Hall. It included a lot of talk about Wolfensten 3D, games in the works, and even a giveaway of Wolf 3D on floppy disk!
OnlineHost Want a FREE copy of Wolfie? 🙂
AFL Bobloo Send me your REAL name and address…and disk size
AFL Bobloo (3.5″ or 5.25″)
I imagine I’ll run across some other stuff like this as I sort though files and will post just in case there’s at least one other person on the internet that finds it a fun trip down memory lane! Here’s the entire chat.
OnlineHost Welcome to the auditorium! Remember, your comments are seen only
by other members of your row.
OnlineHost * * * Copyright 1992
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OnlineHost Welcome to the Rotunda, America Online's auditorium
for special Computing and Software events. Online
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OnlineHost The auditorium is divided into two areas:
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OnlineHost You can hear what is said on stage and what is said
by others in your row.
Comments made by others in your row are preceded by the row number. Comments made by those on stage have no number in front of the comment.
OnlineHost Please note that you can speak to others in your row,
but what you say cannot be heard by those on stage.
To ask a question of or make a comment to those on
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the Apple software or the Interact function of the PC
software.
OnlineHost The total number of people in the auditorium is
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at the top of the screen in addition to the names of
those on stage. This does not mean you are on stage.
OnlineHost Every effort will be made to get
to as many questions as possible
within the time available.
OnlineHost Apogee was started in 1987 with the release of the
popular shareware game Kingdom of Kroz. From that
point they have grown steadily, and in the past year
and a half Apogee has grown from five people to 26.
OnlineHost Recent releases of such games as Commander Keen and
Duke Nukum demonstrates how well Sega Genesis and
Nintendo games can be duplicated on the IBM PC. And
Duke Nukeum adds even more innovations to Apogee's
list of accomplishments--primarily, Duke Nukum is the
first IBM game with multi-layered levels.
OnlineHost Apogee is the only publisher committed to bringing
these types of games to the IBM world. And this
committment has paid off.Commander Keen has been
ranked number one on the ASP Shareware Top Ten List
for many months, and Duke Nukum is currently
skyrocketing to the number one position.
OnlineHost Commander Keen was a breakthrough game for Apogee,
since it demonstrated our ability to create
Nintendo-style games on the IBM PC, with full-screen
scrolling and smooth animation. No other game
publisher had ever done this prior to Commander Keen.
OnlineHost We're also committed to the shareware concept as a
marketing tool. Our innovative marketing method is
to release episode one of a game series as shareware,
such as with Duke Nukum, and hope that players who
enjoy the game will want to continue their adventure
in the follow-up episodes, only available through
Apogee.
OnlineHost Apogee is located in Garland, Texas, just outside
ofDallas. It is headed by Scott Miller (President)
and George Broussard (Executive Vice President).
OnlineHost Id Software, the creators of Commander Keen, have
broken new ground with their all-new Wolfenstein 3D.
This is very first ever "texture-mapped" three dimensional (3D) game with REAL-TIME scrolling and panning!
OnlineHost Most 3D games, such as all the flight simulators
available commercially, use the polygon fill method.
Wolfenstein 3D uses a 3D technology that has NEVER
been seen commercially.
OnlineHost Wolfenstein 3D is simply a technology breakthrough!
As an escaped prisoner in a German war camp, you will
move smoothly through a 3D world full of amazing
detail and animation. Unlike other 3D games, you'll
move SMOOTHLY through an incredible and realistic 3D
environment, with intelligent moving guards and
opponents.
OnlineHost And now, we welcome both Apogee and ID to the
Rotunda!
AFL Bobloo Greetings, Jay
ID Softwr Hello…good to be here
PC Simon Hi, Jay..and welcome to the Rotunda, the Games Forum….
PC Simon from a lot of your fans out there in the audience :D
PC Simon For those of us who knew your previous games….
PC Simon and had seen their development…we were STILL, I think,
PC Simon all put away by what you folks created in Wolfenstein
PC Simon It was like the proverbial (albeit somewhat cliched) quantum leap :D
PC Simon How DID you get the idea for doing this game? :D
ID Softwr We are all Applie II fans from way back and as many have guessed…
ID Softwr Wolf3d has it's roots in Castle Wolfenstein from MUSE software….
ID Softwr In fact we had intended to include ALL of the neat tricks of Castle
Wolfenstein…
PC Simon RIght..I played that on both the Apple // and the C64
ID Softwr in Wolf3d. The problem was that play became a problem with the…
ID Softwr interface getting in the way of the fun. So we decided to make it a
straight shooter…only 3-D.
PC Simon One question that a few members had was how you managed to get the rights
to a game that was
PC Simon originally published by another company.
ID Softwr Our commercial distributor, FormGen, carried the torch on that one…
ID Softwr They hired the legal dudes to wade throught the paperwork and get the
rights…
ID Softwr We just signed a check for the fees. :)
PC Simon Well…we are all certainly glad you got them…because even without all
the tricks, this one is
PC Simon even more fun than the original (at least for me :D)…but I'm a sucker
for
PC Simon high-tech glitz and good scrolling :D
ID Softwr Not to mention the blood and guts! :)
PC Simon Do we have any questions from the audience yet, Bob?
AFL Bobloo Sure do…
AFL Bobloo Jamie2527 has a problem he'd like some help with…
Question The digitized sounds in Wolf 3D is locking my computer up! Any
ideas? I am using the new
Question version!
PC Simon Well..I just pretend that they're rubber bullets, Jay :D
ID Softwr Ok I have the answer!
ID Softwr It's here somew
AFL Bobloo Can't ask for more than that!
ID Softwr CAPT COMIC had the same problem and found the answerr for us
ID Softwr It seems his serial card was at fault….
ID Softwr The answer is detailed in a message from CAPT COMIC in the APOGEE
section….
ID Softwr in a sentence he had to work with his hardware addresses to straighten
it out…
ID Softwr I suggest you have a look at the message.
AFL Bobloo How2Flirt wants to know:
Question With the other episodes will there be other characters besides
guards and dogs?
PGM Guest1 Yes, there are Mutants, Officers and, of course, cool Bosses!
AFL Bobloo CrazyCanuk has a hope…
Question Grenades??? Please??? I understand the interface could be a
prob… But it would just be
Question so much fun!!! Hehehe…
PC Simon Our new guest, on the PGM Guest account is John Romero!
PGM Guest1 Perhaps the NeoGeo version will have grenades…
AFL Bobloo Nouveau1 asks…
Question Will the other 5 episodes feature the ability to get german uniforms
or any other weapons
Question or items? You mention new sounds and guards..what are some new
things that will be found in the
Question next 5…
PGM Guest1 No getting of uniforms or anything better than a chaingun…
PGM Guest1 …because we wanted PURE ACTION and not a lot of garnish!
PC Simon (John is Systems Engineer for ID Software, by the way :D)
PC Simon And you got lots of pure action :D
AFL Bobloo CraigB4711 says…
Question Several people I know have complained that the secret doors are
discovered by chance
Question rather than logic. I'venoticed it also. Was there a reason for
that?
PGM Guest1 They aren't required, but a sort-of general rule is to look…
PGM Guest1 …behind pictures, etc. There's no visual hints.
AFL Bobloo Brigand G asks:
Question What does it cost to register Wolfenstein? Just curious.
PGM Guest1 It cost $35 for the trilogy, $50 for all six, or $20 for the…
PGM Guest1 …episodes 4-6. And $10 for the 70+ page Hint Book
AFL Bobloo And with that…
PC Simon HOWEVER… somebody is going to get it for a lot less than that right
now!!
AFL Bobloo Yepper!
AFL Bobloo It's time for our door prize…
AFL Bobloo Or.. one of several, I should say.
AFL Bobloo And… who is our winner?
OnlineHost And our winner is Nouveau1 !! Congrats
PC Simon Indeed, yes
AFL Bobloo Congtrats!!!
PC Simon Congrats, Nouveau1 !!!!
ID Softwr All right Nouveau1. Enjoy.
PGM Guest1 CongaRats!
AFL Bobloo Nouveau…send your REAL name and address to me, and I will forward
it on
PC Simon Nouveau..also include the disk size you need…3.5 or 5.25…
AFL Bobloo To the folks who can get your prize out to you :)
PGM Guest1 Can I win one, too?
AFL Bobloo Indeed. Thanks for reminding me of that part, Simon. :)
AFL Bobloo that was my question, John… hehehe
PC Simon Ummm…John…are you sure you WANT another one, John? :D
AFL Bobloo Anyhow…
PC Simon Do we have more questions, Bob? :)
AFL Bobloo Here is a good follow up question….
AFL Bobloo to all of this…
AFL Bobloo From DCampbell
Question Have you shipped the sequels yet?
ID Softwr Yes…but we are filling a ton of back orders to fill…
ID Softwr Apogee expects to have them filled by late this week…
PC Simon Those disk dupe units at Apogee must be going full tilt :D
ID Softwr You know it. Overheating is more like it. :)
AFL Bobloo Tovarishch has a follow up question regarding the sound problem
Question Is this the same when the sound comes and goes randomly?
PC Simon By the way…..when using the Apogee boards..you should always post tech
questions for a game in the
ID Softwr Not sure…we can't duplicate it here in the office.
PC Simon specific folder for that game…it'll get answered faster that way.
AFL Bobloo CraigB4711 has a question…
Question Each time I run the game, I have to set the sound effects to use my
AdLib card. Is there
Question a way to have it maintain that automatically?
PGM Guest1 It should be saved in the CONFIG.WL? file. You must be having…
PGM Guest1 …some kinda weirdo problem! Is it a REAL Adlib card?
AFL Bobloo And Nouveau1 has a question that he will know the answer to
shortly..:)
Question Will the new episodes work with ROLANDS and PRO AUDIO SPECTRUM
16's????
PGM Guest1 No.
AFL Bobloo BrigandG wants to know
Question Are you looking at any other applications of Wolfenstein's 3D view?
(e.g. space combat,
Question golf, etc..)
PGM Guest1 A new shareware game is being developed that uses the Wolf…
PGM Guest1 …engine. There are a couple more games that use our next…
PGM Guest1 …generation engine.
AFL Bobloo Duane 777 says…
Question Any thought on making a car game, totally different and exciting
like wolf? (if you need
Question suggestions i have plenty!)
PGM Guest1 We were thinking of making an F-Zero-type game, but we…
PGM Guest1 …trashed it in favor of some new technology we need to…
PGM Guest1 …develop.
AFL Bobloo Tovarishch wants to know:
Question What is the maximum possible score on scenario 1?
PGM Guest1 Somebody knows. I can get 500,000+ points by making it out…
PGM Guest1 …in 5:20!
AFL Bobloo ZenGEOS asks…
Question why are episodes 4-6 less than the 1st trilogy?
AFL Bobloo (Sheesh… you FLOORED me with that score.. and TIME… )
PGM Guest1 Because it'
PGM Guest1 is a GREAT DEAL! You need to have already purchased the…
PGM Guest1 …first trilogy to execute it, though!
PGM Guest1 ga
PC Simon You have to have a 1-3 registered in order to purchase 4 -6 separately
:)
AFL Bobloo Another question from CraigB4711
Question I've seen a program that reads a file of Wolf 3D and creates
printable maps. Do you have
Question a problem with people doing that?
ID Softwr No…in fact we are thinking about an official Map printer/editor.
ID Softwr And it will work with v1.1.
AFL Bobloo How2Flirt is curious:
Question Will there be more cool "cartoons" like at the end of part 1??
ID Softwr DEATHCAM!….
PC Simon Yes…we should mention to Craig…that the old map editor we had will
NOT work with 1.1 :)
ID Softwr When you toast some of the bosses in the later episodes you get to….
ID Softwr see the action at a different angle with DEATHCAM. :)
AFL Bobloo hehehe.. I like it :)
AFL Bobloo A question now
AFL Bobloo From Iam Online
AFL Bobloo Who wants to know
Question Are the sequels that same thing with different maze? Or completely
different?
PGM Guest1 The sequels have lots of new wall graphics, new bosses, but…
PGM Guest1 …there are still the same enemies.
AFL Bobloo Here is a fascinating question. Thanks for asking it, Craig!
Question Did the response to Wolf 3D surprise you? I've been amazed at the
interest people have
Question had in the game. Of course, I'VE been amazed with the game! :-)
PGM Guest1 We were expecting this game to get a huge response because…
PGM Guest1 …of the technology and because we put it in shareware.
AFL Bobloo How2Flirt has a comment for you…
Comment I really wish you'd tackle a RPG ….
PGM Guest1 Someone else is tackling an RPG: Scott Host of Galactix fame.
PC Simon Great :D
AFL Bobloo JamesW7802 asks a great question, too…
Question I have Version 1.0…..will the patch or 1.1 help me more and in
what way?
PGM Guest1 Yes, it will fix lots of niggling little bugs and it's half the…
PGM Guest1 …download size!
AFL Bobloo What do you say, Simon…
AFL Bobloo That time again?
PC Simon I think so, Bob :)
AFL Bobloo I couldn't agree more…
OnlineHost … Nor I :)
OnlineHost I get to do the fun part!
AFL Bobloo That you do, Hostie :)
OnlineHost How about it, PatrickMc
PC Simon Congrats, Patrick!
OnlineHost Want a FREE copy of Wolfie? :)
AFL Bobloo Send me your REAL name and address…and disk size
AFL Bobloo (3.5" or 5.25")
ID Softwr Great Patrick.
AFL Bobloo And I'll forward it on to those who will ship it out to you!
AFL Bobloo Congrats again :)
AFL Bobloo Well now…
PC Simon Do we have more questions, Bob?
AFL Bobloo Back to questions
AFL Bobloo We sure do :)
AFL Bobloo EDJ wants to know
Question Do you plan on adding extra utlilties to Wolf 3-D other than walls,
like extra objects or
Question enemies for this game or sequels?
PGM Guest1 In episodes 2-3 there's Mutants and Officers. In 4-6 there's…
PGM Guest1 …new wall graphics and of course, new bosses. The retail…
PGM Guest1 …version of Wolf will have new bosses as well. And, I can't…
PGM Guest1 …forget to say there's also a DeathCam in 2-6!
AFL Bobloo KB27 wants to know…
Question CAN YOU GIVE US SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONTESTS THAT YOU
KEEP REFERING TOO?
PGM Guest1 Aw geez!!! Speak o' the devil! We're not sure what's going on…
PGM Guest1 …with the contest since there's map editors and all. We're…
PGM Guest1 …still thinking about it.
AFL Bobloo Nouveau1 played the Apple version as did many of us… and asks..
Question In the old Wolfenstein for the apple the guards would SCREAM &
SCREETCH when you shot
Question them… any new audio effects in these new episodes…also Will you
be creating more than just 6
Question episodes in the future???
PGM Guest1 There's TONS of new screams and stuff! The dogs scream …
PGM Guest1 …when you shoot them and on the Secret Levels there's a …
PGM Guest1 … chance that someone will "cut the cheese"! HA!
AFL Bobloo Oh My!!
AFL Bobloo hehe
AFL Bobloo How2Flirt asks another
PC Simon LOL :D
Question Are you considering Cd-rom products?
PC Simon An interesting effect, to be sure…..
PGM Guest1 Yes, we're thinking about buying King's Quest V sometime…
PGM Guest1 …Just kidding. The new "Gryphon" system that Microsoft is…
PC Simon :D
PGM Guest1 …behind will be a fine candidate for a port!
AFL Bobloo EDJ asks another
Question Will there be a larger selection of weapons and will the scenes of
violence become more
Question graphic?
PGM Guest1 How could they? Please offer any suggestions!
AFL Bobloo CraigB4711 wants to know…
Question What does the hint book provide? Maps, codes, anything else?
PGM Guest1 Maps, hints, lots of Wolfenstein Lore and the hints are FUNNY!
AFL Bobloo Nouveau1 wants to know
Question Will there be more than just 6 wolf3d episodes in the future???
PGM Guest1 The hint book also speaks of … A SECRET JUKEBOX!!!
PC Simon ::perking up:: Secret Jukebox? :D
AFL Bobloo Hmmmm Shades of Elvis…
PGM Guest1 Yes, the retail version will have 20 levels, the Lynx version…
PGM Guest1 …will have 30 levels and the NeoGeo will have ?? levels.
AFL Bobloo Sort of a follow up
AFL Bobloo From James W
AFL Bobloo Who asks
Question In the other episodes, are they as many levels as episode 1 and then
the secret level (10)
Question or are they more levels and more secret levels….like secret level
in a secret level? :)
PGM Guest1 Every episode has 10 levels - 9 plus a secret level and the…
PGM Guest1 …secret level in the 3rd episode is AWESOME!
AFL Bobloo Here is something I hadn't really thought of…
Question Why do the objects always face you? (example:The feet of dead guards
always face you, the
Question knights always faceyou, etc)?
PGM Guest1 That's called "uniaxial rotation" and that lets us have more…
PGM Guest1 …graphics in memory by not having eight rotations of every…
PGM Guest1 …object in the game!
AFL Bobloo You asked for it.. And EDJ has some thoughts for you :)
Comment Head shots, more splattering blood, more ways of dying.
AFL Bobloo And Jake T says…
Comment Will you be auditioning for those "special" sound effects you
mentioned earlier? :D
AFL Bobloo hehe
ID Softwr We'll if you want to fly to Dallas….:)
AFL Bobloo ROTFL!!
PC Simon Notice…he did NOT say…
PC Simon WE'LL fly you to Dallas :D
PC Simon (Sounds like a possible contest :D)
AFL Bobloo Hmmm.. I wonder if that would be deductible :)
AFL Bobloo Here is another follow up for you…
Question What is a LYNX version, and who will DISTRIBUTE your retail version
of wolf3d?
PGM Guest1 FormGen is our retail distributor, based in Canada. As for…
PGM Guest1 the Lynx question: do you live under a rock? The ATARI LYNX!
AFL Bobloo ZenGEOS has some more gory suggestions for you…
Question how about moans from not quite dead guards & slowly flowing blood
for some time…neat to
Question go back to a room &see the blood trail from a not quite dead guard
moving to another room!
PGM Guest1 A future project is being considered: Bilestoad 3-D! Does…
PGM Guest1 …anyone remember the old Apple version?
AFL Bobloo Zoomdude says…
Question I've heard mention of a two player game using the 3D engine in
Wolfenstein. Any previews?
Question Btw…I am a Wolf addict…GREAT JOB and thanks for your support on
America Online! :)
PC Simon That sounds familiar, John..but it's been a lotta years and a lotta games
:D
PGM Guest1 That two player idea was the F-Zero game that got trashed.
AFL Bobloo ZenGEOS has a general question about ID software…
Question When will the next game series from ID be released (tentatively) &
what will it be about?
Comment How about additional weapons (ie. rocket launcher, tear gas, hand
grenaded,etc.)?
PGM Guest1 First of all, it's "Id" as in "did". Our next project will be…
PGM Guest1 …the final Commander Keen trilogy!
AFL Bobloo And..
AFL Bobloo From Uncertain… comes…
Question Will any of demos of the other sequels to Wolf be offered ?? And
if so, when will they be
Question available ?? :)
PGM Guest1 Wasn't episode one enough of a demo?
AFL Bobloo :)
AFL Bobloo And with that…
PC Simon I think 10 levels is more than generous..and it really doesn't qualify
as a demo……it's more of
PC Simon a game than some you buy in the stores :D
OnlineHost Yep It's that time again, huh, Simon?
PC Simon I think so, Bob…another registered Wolfenstein 1-6!!
AFL Bobloo Let's see
AFL Bobloo Wanna pick me, hostie?? :)
OnlineHost Sorry, Bob
OnlineHost I think I've got a winner right here!
AFL Bobloo Ok!
OnlineHost Jake T.. What do YOU say??
AFL Bobloo Ohhh! Neat
AFL Bobloo Congrats, Jake!
PC Simon Congratulations, Jake! :D
ID Softwr Enjoy the game Jake.
OnlineHost Send AFL Bobloo your REAL name and Address and disk size
PC Simon Now..back to some questions! :)
OnlineHost And he will forward it on to the people with the software :)
AFL Bobloo Sounds good to me..
AFL Bobloo Nouveau1 asks…
Question Please elaborate on your Bilestoad comment…I loved that game on
the apple II…
ID Softwr We have been tossing the idea of a 3-d Bilestode type game around.
ID Softwr We all loved the game and would love to play it in 3-D.
AFL Bobloo Iam Online now asks..
Question How 'bout doin' ALIENS in Wolfenstein format? Now thats a game!
PC Simon :D
PC Simon I should interject that there does seem to be a very great interest these
days in games with a
PC Simon space setting among our members….
ID Softwr We can only afford to go after so many copyrights in one year. :)…
PC Simon LOL!!!
AFL Bobloo hehehe
ID Softwr We had wanted to do an Aliens game, but pushed it aside to do Wolf3d.
AFL Bobloo Zoomdude asks
Question What are your opinions and plans to work with some of the newer
sound cards coming out
Question such as the new Sound Blaster Pro and the PAS 16. Do you plan on
writing future games to take
Question advantage of this technology?
ID Softwr We aleady work with the SBPro. No plans to do anything with the PAS16,
but you never know…
ID Softwr If we get the specs, we may just suppport it.
AFL Bobloo Sounds good
AFL Bobloo This one
AFL Bobloo is from JamesW
AFL Bobloo Who asks
Question Since map editors prevent you from having a contest in Episode
1….what about the other
Question episodes?
ID Softwr The map editor authors will quickly have their programs wirking with the
other episodes.
AFL Bobloo And this, from ZenGEOS
Question Will the final KKeen be all new like 4-6 was compared to 1-3?
PC Simon It's always tough, I know……we've seen that with so many games…. :D
ID Softwr Tom Hall here: It will be 256 color VGA, background AND…
ID Softwr foreground parallax, cool music, sounds, and very interesting…
ID Softwr gameplay. We have time finally to really do Keen up as good…
ID Softwr as we possibly can. Keen 7 will be cool.
AFL Bobloo <--- color me drooling…:)
AFL Bobloo That sounds really marvelous…
AFL Bobloo I can't wait.
PC Simon Me too, Bob….I want THAT one :D
AFL Bobloo I assume there is no release date in mind on that one?
ID Softwr It will be done…when it's done. (Apologies to Tim Swihart.)
AFL Bobloo LOL!!
AFL Bobloo Boy… have I heard Tim say that a lot.
PC Simon Yeah :D
PC Simon Since we have no more questions in the queue, Bob…
PC Simon I suggest we close up shop here..and adjourn to the PC Games Meeting
Room….
AFL Bobloo Sounds like a good idea to me!
PC Simon where we can meet informally with Jay and John :)
PC Simon Take it away, Bob! :)
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AFL Bobloo Thanks for joining us, folks.
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