|
 |
Rise of the Triad Goodies Pack Released
 Ten years ago this week, we were right in the middle of shipping the registered version of Rise of the Triad. In fact, this Thursday marks the actual 10 year anniversary of the completion of the first registered version of the game (v1.2). To commemorate this anniversary, we're releasing the "Rise of the Triad Goodies Pack".
This download contains all the files that are in the \goodies directory on the registered Rise of the Triad CD-ROM. It contains maps, utilities, levels, all kinds of coolness for Rise of the Triad fans. Some of the files contained in here are not usable with the shareware version of the game, and require the registered version.
The registered version of the game is currently available in our online store, and if you put together the download from our online store coupled with this goodies file, you have about 95% of the content of the entire Rise of the Triad CD, and 100% of the ROTT Content on said CD. The remainder of the content was other Apogee/3DR Shareware games and information.
With the release of the ROTT Goodies Pack, this now means we have released everything we have ROTT materials wise online, except for the registered game itself. Some of the things in the goodies pack require the registered version of Rise of the Triad, which we still sell in our online store as a downloadable file (it is not currently available on CD).
We hope you enjoy this release of ROTT Goodies! If you're interested in Rise of the Triad, you can get more information on the game here.
Download Links for Goodies Pack:
* Fileshack
* Fileplanet
Finally, there's something else we should mention. Awhile back we released the source code to Rise of the Triad, and someone has put together a Windows version of the game called "WinROTT". It's a work in progress port of the game to Windows, and you can check it out with the link above. Please note that Apogee/3D Realms has nothing to do with this file, and can't help with it, but thought some folks might want to check it out.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:15 PM
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Rise of the Source Code
And you thought it would never happen...
Today we're doing something I bet most everyone out there thought we'd never do. No, it's not Duke Nukem Forever, but something some folks on the net have been asking us to do for ages. Today we're releasing the source code to Rise of the Triad! The source is being released under the GPL license, and we still retain copyright on the game (plus we still sell Rise of the Triad), but folks have been asking for something like this for a long time, and here it is.
We are dedicating the release of the Rise of the Triad Source code to our late friend and Rise of the Triad programmer William Scarboro, who died tragically back in early August of 2002. I'm sure if he were still with us, William would be happy to see this out there, and see what folks might do with the code.
In the archive are some thoughts about Rise of the Triad by Tom Hall (the game's producer), and Scott Miller (Apogee/3DR CEO/Founder). You can check out the readme here before downloading the entire archive. In addition to this file, we have several other ROTT related downlods available - check out our ROTT page for the full list.
The folks reading this who aren't programmers probably won't have any interest in this, but those who are programmers might want to check it out. You can download the file (which is roughly 4Mb zipped) here.
Enjoy! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. See ya next year!
UPDATE #2: A new section has been created in our forum for discussion related to the release of the source code. You can also discuss various mods and projects that spring from the source code. Check it out, but the paint is still wet!
UPDATE: Just realized that 8 years ago tomorrow (the 21st) was the release of v1.0 shareware of Rise of the Triad online. This source release was released almost 8 years to the day that we originally released the game in the first place!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 9:45 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wolfenstein 3D Part II: Rise of the Triad
id Software has recently licensed GreyMatter to work on a sequel to the old 1992 game, Wolfenstein 3D. This new title, "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" uses current technology, and should be a fun new chapter in Wolfenstein lore. However, that wasn't the first attempt at a "Wolfenstein 3D II" game.
As some of you may or may not know, Rise of the Triad began it's life as nothing more than an expansion pack for Wolfenstein 3D. The original full title of the game was "Rise of the Triad: Wolfenstein 3D Part II". It was to use the same game engine code as Wolfenstein 3D, and have new levels, art, and characters. As time went on, the Wolfenstein 3D name was dropped, and the project became much much more than just an add-on for Wolf 3D.
Recently, in an old file here at 3D Realms, we found the original team design spec from Tom Hall in September of 1993, which contained episode descriptions, an outline of where the storyline was to go, and new features in the Wolfenstein game engine. We now bring you this document, along with some graphics from the game back then. You can see how Rise of the Triad's early design spec carried through in several areas to the final product.
The page has artwork, comments on the document, as well as some comparison graphics of a couple of game characters in their original incarnations, as well as what they looked like in the final game release. If you're into Rise of the Triad, you should check this out!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:15 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extreme ROTT Levels Released!
ROTT fans rejoice! You have some new levels to play!
But first, a little trip down memory lane.. Back in late 1994, we released the shareware of Rise of the Triad. The full version shipped in February of 1995, and most people thought that was the end of the game.
Later in 1995, we released a relatively unknown add-on pack to ROTT called "Extreme Rise of the Triad". Extreme ROTT had some more utilities than the original CD had, it had some fan created things, and had 42 all new levels that did not appear in the original Rise of the Triad game. The add-on was discontinued shortly afterwards, and the materials have been unavailable since then.
However, we now present for registered Rise of the Triad fans the additional level data that was on the Extreme Rise of the Triad CD. This small RTL file, when used with the full version of Rise of the Triad will give you 42 all new levels to play. This add-on was created by Tom Hall (now of Ion Storm) and Joe Siegler (our webmaster). These new levels include some tricks not thought of during the original game development, and are generally regarded as some of the best level design ever come up with for Rise of the Triad.
You can download download the file from here, or visit our Rise of the Triad page, where you can download a gaggle of other things for Rise of the Triad including other free level packs we've released since the game came out. One of the packs is a cool group of levels that got rejected for one reason or another.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:30 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rise of the Triad
PC Gamer, Vol. 7, No. 6 (June issue), in the column by Colin Williamson, entitled "The Killing Box," writes:
"It's time to hop into the Way-Back Machine and pull out 3D Realms' Rise of the Triad. Don't deny it, I know you have a copy...Included in this game is "Dog Mode," the most brilliant power-up in the history of computer gaming. When you pick up this item, you're transferred into a Doberman, and can leap onto your opponents and rip their throats out...Just imagine the canine equivalent to Kingpin..."
We'll leave it to our gentle readers to read the rest of Colin's interesting column! If you're interested in checking out Rise of the Triad, you can download the shareware episode from our downloads page, and it can be ordered online through our new online store, too!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:45 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rise of the Triad is Five!
December 21, 1994. 2AM. Several of us were at Apogee HQ coding our first in house produced 3D game, entitled "Rise of the Triad". Things are going well in the final push to release the game. Then, in a move right out of some sort of Stephen King novel, the entire area suffered a power blackout. It was rather eerie, it really felt to us at the time like id Software was out at the power distribution boxes for our neighborhood with wire cutters. :)
During the hour or so delay, we lounged around in the programming room, some of us slept, and others went down to the lobby of our office building and shot off water rockets (All Hail "The Avenger").
Eventually, the power came back on, and the work commenced towards the final push towards v1.0 shareware was back on. Especially considering we thought the power would go out again at any second. It didn't, and somewhere around 4 or 5 in the morning, the upload of #1ROTT.ZIP began to Software Creations.
Today is the 5 year anniversary of Rise of the Triad, our 3D action shooter released on December 21, 1994. This game was groundbreaking, with several innovations that were copied in games that came after it. Some of the items that were used first in Rise of the Triad before any other game were:
* Parental Lock of objectionable content
* Random game enemies (the same enemy wouldn't always be in the same spot when you replayed the game)
* Non linear episode progression (ending one specific level wouldn't always take you to the next one)
* Jump pads (used most recently in Quake III)
* Bullet holes in walls
* Ability to jump on top of objects in a game
* Live Remote Ridicule (insult people in a LAN game using a microphone - forget those built in insults!)
* Enemies that play dead instead of just dying immediately.
* Rocket jumping
* Capture the Flag
There's a lot more than this, too. A lot of these don't seem like much, but at the time, most of these things hadn't yet been seen in a 3D action game. If you're into ROTT and game history, then you owe it to yourself to check out these pages:
1. "Rott in Hell" - The definitive history of the best deathmatch game of all time (by Kevin "Fragmaster" Bowen)
2. ROTT Worship Site - Up to date goings on with ROTT from a fan perspective.
Rise of the Triad was the game that had the largest amount of user level editors created for it (there were four that we're aware of - this remark refers to one of our games, not any game). Not only that, Rise of the Triad was the first game that we released the same level editor that we used to make the game to the public! Not all that long ago, we released six levels for Rise of the Triad that had never been released (well, freely) before. If you missed these levels (The Lasersoft levels), make sure to check 'em out.
If you've never played ROTT before, or you have played ROTT before, why not break out the game and give it a whirl again in honor of it's fifth birthday? The shareware episode (as well as all the other files mentioned above) are available from our Master Download page. Check it out, and get retro! If you're interested in more history of this sort, check out our Milestones & History page, as well as our Detailed Release History page.
P.S.. Yeah - I'm free!!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:28 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rise of the Triad Levels Released!
In a bit of a throwback to one of our earlier games, we've released a pack of levels for our mid 90's release, Rise of the Triad. You can download this level pack by clicking on the ROTT logo below.
Back in early 1995 when Rise of the Triad was a new game, there was a special shareware version of the game produced entitled "Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins Deluxe Edition". The game itself was the same, the only difference between the regular shareware and the deluxe shareware was the inclusion of 6 additional levels (3 regular & 3 Comm-bat) in the deluxe version that never appeared in any other variant of the game. The six levels are entitled:
Regular : Prelude to a Kill, Jumpin Jehoshapat, & Gadzooks!
Comm-Bat: The Siege, The Box, Rise & Tide
All 6 levels were designed by Tom Hall, and you can use these either on your registered Rise of the Triad game, or on the shareware edition. The other levels in these level packs are the existing shareware levels - these extras are in addition to the shareware levels that are already in your game.
In October of 1999, these levels were finally released to the general public, as this product is no longer sold commercially. As a piece of historical note, the level "Rise & Tide" was actually named after a magazine review of Rise of the Triad at the time that mistakenly referred to the game as "Rise & Tide".
If you're a fan of Rise of the Triad, you should check out the ROTT downloads on our master download page. There's tons of over levels available for your registered game, as well as level editors and other cool stuff.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:00 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
