Desperate Measures
| Release Date | 2007+ |
| Number of Levels | 10/60 |
| New Graphics | No |
| New Sounds | No |
| New Engine | Yes |
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Episodes Completed: E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 |
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Requires 6-episode registered Wolfenstein to play. |
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| > Download Now < | |
Desperate Measures (2007+)
CODENAME: BJW60IV
Back to Basics.
The first entirely new Wolfenstein project from this author in seven years, Desperate Measures seeks to be a spiritual successor to my own Conflict In The Fatherland. Inspired by simple yet effective add-ons like Acktung, it abandons the glitz and glamor of custom graphics, revolutionary engine changes and massive storylines, and instead delivers classical Wolfenstein at its very best.
Totaling an ambitious 60 levels, Desperate Measures will be released by-the-episode, providing gamers with an ongoing pipeline of new material. Featuring reimagined stories based on the original Wolfenstein episodes, minimalist source code changes (ceiling colors, secret elevator back maps, etc.) and a return to the classical level design techniques of yesteryear, Desperate Measures is out to prove that less truly is more.
Update 2007.06.23 — EPISODE ONE Released!
The first episode of Desperate Measures has been released! Get it now and experience "The Stronghold," which finds B.J. Blazkowicz on a mission to locate secret biological weapons at a key Nazi stronghold. Full details are included in the readme, or see the online documentation.
Episode two is currently in development, with two out of ten floors complete.
Getting Priorities Straight.
I had always intended to transition from Project Totengraeber directly into a new add-on, even leaving players a hint about "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures" on Totengraeber's end art screen. That was almost a decade ago, and my life has changed almost completely since then. Marriage, a career, and a future have largely taken the place of games.
But in 2004, I rediscovered the Wolfenstein community, and much to my surprise, learned that some of the old greats were still out there. I reintroduced myself briefly, but once again found I didn't have the time to seriously pursue the hobby. Still, something nagged at the back of my mind — something that told me to dust off my cobbled-together DOS rig, fire up Mapedit and relive the past. And so, Desperate Measures were undertaken after all.
Following the reckless ambition of Project Totengraeber, and a long hiatus from Wolfenstein, I decided that a simpler approach was needed for my next add-on. I had recently discovered Acktung and felt it was one of the greatest add-ons I'd ever played — despite it being only a simple set of levels without any ancillary additions. It felt good to get back to basics, and that's what I decided I must do.
Explosive development on episode one commenced in 2004 and wrapped up a few short months later. The complete episode was even playtested by a friend. Yet, unsure of my delivery strategy, or whether further development could be sustained, I let the game sit on my hard drive untouched for three more years.
Enter 2007. With another burst of Wolfenstein-themed creativity coursing through my neurotransmitters, I dusted off Desperate Measures and decided to get even further back to basics. I had introduced a new guard, some new treasure items and a host of other source code changes during my initial development in 2004, and I decided that all of it had to go. I reverted back to a clean copy of the original source code, then made just a small handful of selective additions that changed only the core components of the game: Ceiling colors, background music, secret elevator locations. I then decided that level design was going to be my only focus from then on.
Furthermore, I decided that I was going to create a new Wolfenstein website and promptly release the first episode of Desperate Measures — and so, here we are.
Untold Secrets.
- Originally titled Desperate Times, Desperate Measures, I decided to shorten the name of the project for simplicity's sake. Codenamed BJW60IV, it can also be abbreviated BJDM.
- The original engine I developed for this project featured a new "shock troop" guard (replacing the mutant), the jewels pickup from the Wolfenstein alpha, a new set of hand-crafted wall textures, faster doors (based on the doors from Corridor 7), dynamic secret elevator map return code, and much more. I later decided that these changes weren't in keeping with my minimalist approach, and they were all scrapped. Rather than just toss them, I shunted them into a potential "next project" folder, codenamed BJW60V. Hey, you never know.