Jaguar Wolfenstein Fax
The following is the text of a memo sent from Atari Corp. to id Software, about various problems found and suggestions for the Jaguar version of Wolfenstein 3D. While it's a small piece of trivia, I'm presenting it as a brief glimpse into (1) Atari's staff testing efforts and (2) some of the more amusing comments included. Sam Tramiel's request is especially interesting when you realize that his father, Jack Tramiel, was a survivor of Auschwitz.
Atari Jaguar Fax Memo
To: John Carmack, id Software
From: Bill Rehbock, Atari Corp. (Fax: 1-408-745-2088)
John,
I've got a couple of quick comments and "heads-up" for you as we go into final testing of Wolf. Some of these you are probably aware of already, and if so feel free to ignore :-)
First, two issues from our test group that occured in the last version you sent down my comments regarding their comments are in bold.
Fatals:1. It is possible to pile up a lot of bodies and make the game screen go black; this is the black screen tafal. This happens when 40-50 bodies are piled up. One place it is easy to pile up bodies is at the beginning of level 5-6. I pile them up in the entrance to the secret area near where the player starts. I activate the enemies by opening doors to their areas and shooting, and then run back to the entrance, wait, and shoot when they walk in front of the entrance. (See problem 1) This could easily be fixed by making bodies on the bottom disappear.
Problems:1. If too many objects are on screen at the same time, the sound glitches. If even more are on screen, lines appear. As more objects are on screen, more lines appear. On level 5-2, at the beginning where all the barrels block the passage of 6 guards, a few black lines appear and the sound glitches. In the example in fata 1 of level 5-6, the sound starts to glitch at around 12 bodies. Lines appear at 16 bodies.
Comments:1. This version is even better than the last! We like the turbo button, strafe button, added structure, end of level tally screen, and difficulty settings.
2. We look forward to hearing the music!
3. GREAT JOB! Keep up the good work!
Suggestions:1. We would like more samples in the game. They should be the same samples used in the PC version, or at least they should be in German. The use of many samples is a great addition to the game. Also some sound FX samples would be cool such as footsteps, breathing, and the cool sucking, slurping sound that the player's character makes in the PC version when he is very low on health, and he has to eat dead bodies.
2. We think that a speed control for the game would be a nice touch. Currently the game is just so fast, that some people cannot play it. An options screen where the player can adjust things of this nature would be great. I wouldn't worry about this one at all.
3. MORE BLOOD! MORE FLYING BODY PARTS! MORE ENTRAILS!
4. The DEATH CAM is a very cool feature that we would like to see implemented.
5. Would it be possible to have the flamethrower spread out as it crosses the room? I don't mind the flameballs the way they are. Also, can we have a new graphic for those enemies who are shot by the flamethrower? This would be nice if we have the cart space. What we would like to see is an enemy catch fire and then burn to a crisp instead of having the enemy die as if he were shot by a gun. Sam Tramiel has requested that you can toast the pictures of Hitler with the flamethrower :-)
6. We sould like to see the rocket explosion graphic re-drawn so that it looks more devastating.
7. Is there any way to put a ceiling in the game? This would separate our game from the others out there. I realize that the ceiling just isn't in the game engine, but will the final version have the "reflections" of the lights on it?
Now, just a few other things and questions...
Sincerely,
Bill Rehbock