September 1993 Prototype

This is a sub-page of Proto:Rise of the Triad (1994).

In March of 2023, a very early prototype build of Wolfenstein 3-D, Part II: Rise of the Triad was leaked to the general public. It was confirmed by Scott Miller, founder of Apogee, that the build is more than likely legitimate.

Prototype GraphicsGreyshirts! Spooky wizards! And lots and lots of stone walls.

Test MapsNew maps for testing things! But what, exactly...? Only "William" knows!

General Information#

Almost all of the files are dated from 1993, ranging from February 4th to September 24. The MAPHEAD.WL6 (map chunk list) and TEDINFO.WL6 (Tile Editor v5.0 temporary file) files have a date of July 9th, 2017, though it's unknown who modified them, why, and in what ways.

:* There exists an alternate release where only four files are dated from 1993. In all likelihood, it was probably modified in some way by a third party.

The engine is a very tiny modification of the GT Interactive Wolfenstein 3-D v1.4 release. This means the following:

:* There is no "this is registered software" screen before the game rating screen.

:* The "Read This!" menu option is missing.

:* The ANSI end screen had been truncated to simply say "Thank you for playing!"

The engine now allows for ceiling and floor graphics. (It uses the wall textures by default.)
None of the pre-existing maps appear to have any obvious differences, nor does the sound or music. However, a handful of graphics have been updated or changed.

:* On some maps, the sound blocking seems altered, leading to guards from closed-off to be alerted by gunfire when they shouldn't be.

New test maps have created for Floors 2, 3, and 4 of Episode 1. The original Episode 1, Floor 2-4 maps have been moved to the end of the file. (Map slots 63, 64, and 65.)

:* Additionally, there's a completely blank map at Map 61 and two more test maps at Map 62 and 66, inaccessible by normal means.

Debugging keys are available at any time, even without using the "-goobers" parameter and pressing Left Shift - Left Alt - Backspace in game.

:* The "Debugging keys are now available!" message still displays if the player bothers with meeting the aforementioned conditions.

:* The M+L+I cheat conflicts with the debug keys listed below, meaning the player will be ambushed by dogs and guards when inputting them.

All in-game storytelling, such as the post-episode cutscenes, seem to be replaced by blank, white screens.

New Debugging Keys#

This build of the engine includes a couple of odd features not seen in previous Wolfenstein 3-D builds. Unlike the normal debugging keys, these are always available.

Key	Effect	Notes
7	Enables textured floors and ceilings.	These are not toggles. They specifically enable or disable the floor/ceiling.
8	Enables textured floors, disables textured ceilings.
9	Disables textured floors, enables textured ceilings.
0	Disables textured floors and ceilings.
A	Change the direction of nearby enemies.
F	Cycles floor textures.	Cycles through any of the wall textures in memory pages 0 to 105.
J	Cycles the sprite of any nearby corpse.	Cycles through any of the sprites in memory pages 106 to 361. Also cycles the sprites of nearby corpses of the same type.
K	Set the hit points of nearby enemies to 0.	Kill enemies in one hit.
L	Summon a Killer Dog to the block southeast of the player.	Holding the key spawns multiple units. If a wall is in the way, it becomes a "ghost" wall. Doing this may also crash the game.
C	Cycles ceiling textures.	Cycles through any of the ceiling textures in memory pages 0 to 105.
M	Summon a Guard to the block southeast of the player.	Holding the key spawns multiple units. If a wall is in the way, it becomes a "ghost" wall. Doing this may also crash the game.