Editing Rise of the Triad (section)

==Development history==
===Original concept===
''Rise of the Triad'' began its life as a follow-up to ''Wolfenstein 3D'' (though it reportedly shares some similarities with director [[Tom Hall]]'s "Doom Bible", which laid out Hall's conception of the video game ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' and even shares the name of one of the protagonists). The working titles of the game were ''Wolfenstein II''<ref name="GamaSultanSW">{{cite web |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/apogee-software-when-the-sultans-of-shareware-went-retail |title=Apogee Software: When the sultans of shareware went retail |first=Alexander |last=A ntoniades|date=April 8, 2014 |work=[[Gamasutra]] |publisher=[[UBM plc|UBM Tech]] |access-date=February 8, 2018}}</ref> and ''Wolfenstein 3D: Rise of the Triad''.<ref name="Gama20years"/> It was to use the same game engine code as ''Wolfenstein 3D'', and have new levels, art, and characters. The artwork took around six months to do.<ref name="GamaSultanSW"/> As the game was getting into deeper development, project leader [[Scott Miller (entrepreneur)|Scott Miller]] was contacted by [[John Romero]], informing Miller that the project had been cancelled. Miller suspected that this was because [[id Software]] did not want to draw the spotlight away from the upcoming ''Doom''.<ref name="Gama20years">{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4112/20_years_of_evolution_scott_.php |title=20 Years Of Evolution: Scott Miller And 3D Realms |first=Benj |last=Edwards |date=August 21, 2009 |work=Gamasutra |publisher=UBM Tech |access-date=August 5, 2013 |page=5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808123226/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4112/20_years_of_evolution_scott_.php |archive-date=August 8, 2013 }}</ref> In order to keep as many of the numerous game assets the team had already created from going to waste, Tom Hall came up with a new storyline which still incorporated the Nazi themes seen in the Wolfenstein series, however they would ultimately depart from plotlines involving Nazis, with the final narrative concerning a cult apparently inspired by the Californian folk legend of the [[Dark Watchers]] or 'los vigilantes oscuros'.<ref name="Gama20years"/>

According to the Apogee website, the original storyline was the following: <blockquote>After the fall of [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], the true powers behind him have drawn into seclusion, planning their next strategy for world domination. Three large corporations guided Hitler as a puppet, and now plan the subjugation of the planet to their organization, the Triad. Their new plan: having developed nuclear weapons and new V-3 rockets to carry them, they plan to get a stranglehold on the world with the threat of [[Armageddon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://legacy.3drealms.com/rott/originalspec.html |title=3D Realms Site: Rise of the Triad Original Spec |publisher=Legacy.3drealms.com |access-date=16 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815142753/http://legacy.3drealms.com/rott/originalspec.html |archive-date=15 August 2016 }}</ref></blockquote>

===Engine===
The engine is an enhanced variant of the [[Wolfenstein 3D engine]]. The level design uses 90-degree walls and unvarying floor and ceiling heights in individual maps, limitations that are vestiges of the Wolfenstein 3D engine. However, the ''Rise of the Triad'' engine also includes features not possible with the original Wolfenstein 3D engine, such as elevation, panoramic skies, simulated [[dynamic lighting]], fog, bullet holes, breakable glass walls, and level-over-level environments (made possible by "gravitational anomaly disks", suspended objects that collectively form stairs, floors, etc.).{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} The level layouts were created with Tile Editor version 5 (TED5), which was also released with ''Extreme Rise of the Triad'' for users to customize their own maps.<ref name="ApogeeCat-Sep96">Apogee Software September 1996 Catalog, Page 7.</ref>

===Developers of Incredible Power===
The team behind ''Rise of the Triad'' called itself The Developers of Incredible Power (DIP). Its name was created by [[Tom Hall]], the lead designer of ''RotT''. Other members of DIP included Mark Dochtermann, Jim Dosé, Steve Hornback, Chuck Jones, Nolan Martin, Tim Neveu, William Scarboro, Joseph Selinske, Susan Singer, and Marianna Vayntrub. ''Rise of the Triad'' was the only game released by DIP. A second game that was planned, ''[[Prey (2006 video game)|Prey]]'', never took off, but its title and parts of the original design were eventually recycled by [[Human Head Studios]]. The team was disbanded, and some of the members worked on the bestseller ''Duke Nukem 3D''. Others started their own companies or left the computer games business. Scarboro died from an asthma attack in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legacy.3drealms.com/news/2002/08/william_scarbor.html |title=3D Realms News: William Scarboro Has Died |publisher=Legacy.3drealms.com |access-date=16 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110125009/http://legacy.3drealms.com/news/2002/08/william_scarbor.html |archive-date=10 November 2014 }}</ref>

===Cut elements===
Several planned elements were cut from the game, including female versions of certain enemies, like Low Guards, Strike Force soldiers, and the Overpatrol. Originally the game was going to load both sets of guards into memory, then determine randomly which to place at each appropriate point. This had the side effect of making memory requirements much higher than normal for the time, so in order to conserve performance, the alternate versions of the enemies were removed. Stills of the alternate enemies can be seen during the credits, as "actors who were cut from the game". Other cuts survived, like the ROTT Reject Level Pack (stages that were cut) and some artwork (some can be found on the CD). There is a motion capture session that was not used in the final game, but can be found online.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJZ4udNVQtY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/cJZ4udNVQtY| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Rise of the Triad Unused Video Capture Sessions|website=Youtube|author=Joe Siegler}}{{cbignore}}</ref>