14 DAY TRIAL // Id Software has released an open-source port of Wolfenstein for the iPhone. The paid version of the app (for non-jailbroken users) is also available in the iTunes App Store. Id Software published a lengthy letter from John Carmack in which the developer explains how Wolfenstein for iPhone came about. The source code for Wolfenstein 3D has also been released to the public.
“I had been frustrated for over a year with the fact that we didn't have any iPhone development projects going internally at Id,” read's Carmack's letter. “I love my iPhone, and I think the App Store is an extremely important model for the software business. Unfortunately, things have conspired against us being out early on the platform.”
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“I was just starting to set up a framework to significantly revise Q3 [Quake 3] when I considered the possibility of just going to an earlier codebase to experiment with initially,” Carmack continues. “If we wanted to factor performance out of the equation, we could go all the way back to Wolfenstein 3D, the grandfather of FPS games. It had the basic run and gun play that has been built on for fifteen years, but it originally ran on 286 computers, so it should be pretty trivial to hold a good framerate on the iPhone.”
Needless to mention, the lead programmer of some of Id's most popular games eventually managed to get Wolfenstein up and running on Apple' handset, noting that “Wolfenstein 3D Classic is non-stop action and all of the memorable enemies are there for you to conquer from Hans Grosse to MechaHitler!” Additional highlights include all six original episodes with 60 classic levels and those unforgettable weapons (remember the brutal chain gun?), as well as the clever new touch controls and tilt controls.
Download Wolfenstein 3D Classic via iTunes App Store ($4.99)