This mod for Raven Software's 2009 Wolfenstein game is intended to enhance Wolfenstein single-player and improve gameplay balance, making it feel more like a true sequel to the 2001 game Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
Retrostein combines the powerful weapons, paranormal abilities and regenerating health of Wolfenstein 2009 with the tough enemies of RtCW, ensuring that the game maintains a fair level of challenge throughout. Now Heavy Troopers and Elite Guards will be enemies to be feared, and you will want to buy ammo for special weapons like the Panzershreck and Tesla Gun.
Retrostein also includes some (but not all) of the HUD/movement features from Neurological's "NeuroWolf" mod, designed to make the game feel less "consolized".
Balance features
- Reduced reaction times of all enemies
- Increased health of most enemies, new values based on equivalent RtCW enemies
- Adjusted weapons & upgrades to compensate for altered enemy health, exotic/heavy weapons are still powerful (Enemy and Weapon Details)
- MP40 and MP43 pickups now give less ammo
- Petrifying shockwave from Mire "Shearing Crystal" will not insta-kill enemies with Veil powers (originally only Scribes had this immunity)
- Slightly reduced damage multipliers for Empower upgrades
- Final Panzerschreck and Flammenwerfer upgrades unlocked by Castle mission rather than Airfield (so you can actually get some use from them)
Movement features (from NeuroWolf v0.4 by Neurological)
- Increased sprint time
- No delay on sprint start
- Decreased head bobbing for sprinting, weapon recoil and melee attacks
(Other NeuroWolf features have not been included as they were changes for personal taste rather than essential improvements)
Visual features (from NeuroWolf v0.4 by Neurological)
- Increased number of corpses on screen from 5 to 10
- Removed glowing highlight effect on ammo and weapon pickups
- Removed waypoint compass
- Removed health warning message from HUD
- Removed directional indicator for planted dynamite
- Shortened transition time for in-game Main Menu
- Removed Button Tips on HUD (like "Press F to Pick Up" or "Press R to Reload")
- Increased FOV from 80 to 85 (NeuroWolf's FOV of 90 made some weapons look slightly odd)
(Other NeuroWolf features have not been included as they were changes for personal taste rather than essential improvements)
----------------------------------------------------------------
The SS are rare enemies in the first half of the game but their black uniforms become common in the second half. They use the powerful MP43 assault rifle which makes them dangerous in the harder difficulty settings. In the unmodified game they have a third more health than standard Wehrmacht soldiers but your powerful weapons and Veil abilities make this minor health difference completely irrelevant.
In RtCW the equivalent to these guys were the Black Guard paratroopers. They were armed with the dangerous FG42 Paratrooper Rifle, and they had a whopping 75 health, which was ludicrously high given that some levels were almost exclusively full of Black Guards.
In RtCW the other types of late-game soldiers armed with MP40s were also given a health boost in the second half of the game; the Wehrmacht soldiers had 45 health and the SS soldiers in black uniforms had 60 or 75 health. Retrostein's compromise is to give the SS soldiers 45 health like the late-game Wehrmacht soldiers in RtCW.
----------------------------------------------------------------
These mutants have been given a minor health boost, but the main danger comes from their fast movement. If you find yourself getting swarmed by these guys, try using Mire to slow them down. The Mire "Shearing Crystal" shockwave upgrade stops them from being a threat as it will instantly petrify them, even through shields.
----------------------------------------------------------------
No other changes were needed, since they were already tricky enemies due to their shield and dodge abilities, and natural immunity to being petrified by the Mire "Shearing Crystal" shockwave or disintegrated by the Shield "Reactive Crystal". Note that they have a 3x melee damage multiplier, and it is possible to melee attack a Scribe through his shield.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Elite Guards are primarily melee attackers, which meant that they were very vulnerable to your short-range insta-kill Veil powers. It also meant that they needed a big health boost as they need to be able to survive enough of your bullets to get in close.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Similar to the Elite Guards, but even more so, as they only have melee attacks and you will always be using your Veil powers to counteract their invisibility and high speed. Vulnerability to being petrified made them no threat whatsoever.
----------------------------------------------------------------
His weak points are now "places that aren't bullet-proof" rather than ridiculously fragile. He's now just a little weaker than a Prototype Super Soldier in RtCW. He can still be quickly wiped out with two Panzershreck rockets (same as in the unmodified game) or an MG42 machine-gun turret as they can penetrate his armour without needing to destroy the weak points first. Has natural immunity to Mire "Shearing Crystal" and Shield "Reactive Crystal".
----------------------------------------------------------------
He needed the immunity because he only has a short-range attack, so like the Assassins he was unable to attack you without being in range of your insta-kill powers. His armour protects him from being instantly disintegrated by one blast from the Leichenfaust 44 (as well as being fire-proof), so it is not inconceivable that it can also protect against your Veil powers. Presumably it is made from similar materials to the Heavy Trooper's powered armour.
A couple of Nazis talk about the resistance shooting Drachen Trooper fuel tanks, but they are not actually "weak points" unless you use explosives or Empower, which is a surprisingly realistic touch. A flamethrower fuel tank will not explode if punctured by a bullet unless it is a special incendiary bullet, and Empowered bullets are hot enough to melt glowing orange marks wherever they hit. Using Empower with non-bullet weapons works too, though; particle cannon, Tesla Gun... even the Flammenwerfer.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Particle Cannon's long-range "Particle Lens" upgrade and the Panzershreck's "Seeker Crystal" upgrade are pretty much made for dealing with these jetpack guys. The MP43 does the job too, but isn't quite as much fun.
----------------------------------------------------------------
An interesting thing to note - if a Despoiled suffers more than 20 damage from friendly fire it will get angry and attack the Nazis!
================================================================
With these changes the Empower upgrades are still very powerful, but there is no longer such a massive game-breaking jump in effectiveness between the basic power and the upgraded power. (Without upgrades Empower has a 1.5 damage multiplier, this is unchanged.)
================================================================
This ensures that it still takes 3 melee attacks to kill a Wehrmacht soldier and 4 melee attacks to kill an SS soldier. Attacks from behind do 50 damage, while stealth attacks on unaware enemies do 125 damage, this is unchanged. Note that you can do melee attacks through Scribe shields!
----------------------------------------------------------------
No change, standard damage is still 60. This is no longer enough to instantly kill Scribes, Elite Guards or Assassins (which can be explained by their Veil powers protecting them). Now the Fragmentation upgrade (120 damage) is actually useful for something!
----------------------------------------------------------------
In normal Wolfenstein a Kar98 shot to the arm or leg will instantly kill normal soldiers. In RTCW the bolt-action Mauser rifle needed two bullets until you got the sniper scope which also gave you a damage boost while you were zoomed in.
Retrostein's compromise is that chest shots are instantly lethal - rewarding you for aiming skills - but limb shots cripple limbs and cause death several seconds later. (The Big Bore upgrade makes limb shots instantly lethal... and gruesome.) Without the Big Bore upgrade you'll need to do headshots on SS soldiers as Retrostein makes them tough enough to survive a chest shot unless you have the Big Bore upgrade. (In RtCW the late-game soldiers were tough enough to survive an enhanced-damage sniper shot!)
The Bayonet will instantly kill normal Wehrmacht infantry and Scribes, and you can stab Scribes through their shields. SS soldiers will need to be stabbed twice; Elite Guards and Assassins will need to be stabbed three times.
Personally, I'm not a fan of the Kar98 silencer as the loud bang noise is much more satisfying (especially with the Big Bore dismemberment effects).
----------------------------------------------------------------
In normal Wolfenstein the MP40 kills soldiers with 3 bullets and with the Big Bore upgrade it is just 2 bullets. Back in RtCW you needed 5 bullets to kill a basic soldier; Thompson and Sten Gun could do it faster but they used rare ammo or would overheat.
Retrostein's compromise is that it will take 5 bullets to kill a normal soldier if you spray wildly, or 4 bullets if you get all the bullets to hit his chest. With the Big Bore upgrade (10 damage) it will always take 3 bullets (regardless of limb shots), turning the MP40 into a Sten Gun without the overheating problem. The Big Bore upgrade is pretty essential if you want to use it against SS soldiers and other tough enemies; alternatively, save the MP40 for use exclusively on ordinary soldiers and use other weapons on the tougher enemies.
----------------------------------------------------------------
In the original unmodified game the Big Bore upgrade is absurdly overpowered, causing it to do more damage per second than heavy weapons like the Particle Cannon and with plentiful ammo everywhere.
The RtCW equivalent of the assault rifle was the FG42 Paratrooper rifle, which did 15 damage per shot but had very powerful recoil and a small 20-round magazine.
Retrostein's compromise is that buying the Big Bore upgrade for the MP43 will make it as powerful as the old FG42 but without any of its disadvantages.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Particle Cannon is an energy weapon equivalent of RtCW's gatling "Venom" minigun, though in unmodified Wolfenstein it actually does less damage per second than the old Venom due to the enemies themselves having half as much health. I have boosted the damage so it is now as powerful as the old Venom Gun and the slight improvements to the Particle Lens and Flux Arc upgrades mean that once it is upgraded it has capabilities that that make it an obvious improvement over a conventional bullet-based weapon.
You can obtain Particle Cannon ammo simply by wandering around the city and hunting Heavy Troopers. In the unmodified game this was trivially easy; a "heavy trooper" was just another name for "free particle ammo". In Retrostein, Heavy Troopers are much tougher, but the reward is worth it. If you are having trouble finding heavy troopers, try reloading the last autosaved checkpoint in the city (one that was triggered by wandering around rather than completing a mission) as often it will change the random enemy spawns.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Originally the Seeker Crystal was not available until the Black Market vendor at the end of the Airfield mission, which was disappointing as you could only use it for a few minutes at the end of the game. It is quite expensive ($2500) so Retrostein allows you to buy it slightly earlier and actually get some use out of it.
The Panzerschreck is great for taking out squads, machine-gun nests and Heavy Troopers. The boost to the splash damage means near-misses can still kill Scribes, Elite Guards and Assassins, though to be sure you should try to him them right at their feet. The High Explosives upgrade will cause very large, powerful explosions that can wipe out groups of tough enemies, while a direct hit will insta-kill anything except bosses.
Panzerschreck ammo cannot be found anywhere until the last third of the game, so it is worth spending $100 at the Black Market to get your ammo refilled, especially if you first buy the Ammo Pouch and/or Magazine for increased ammo capacity.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Improved Fuel Pump was rather expensive; it allows you to fire the weapon continuously for a longer duration, which is FUN but only occasionally useful. The Pump Overdrive upgrade is perhaps the most desirable upgrade as it improves the weapon's range, which is useful AND fun.
I've lowered the cost of the Improved Fuel Pump and increased the cost of the Pump Overdrive by the same amount. Originally the Pump Overdrive was not availble until the Black Market vendor at the end of the Airfield mission, which was disapointing as you could only use it for a few minutes at the end of the game.
Bizarrely, the Flammenwerfer has a very low base damage of 10 per second (and less towards the edges of the flame), but enemies have fire damage multipliers. In the unmodified game many enemies had a 10x multiplier so it did 100 damage per second. This has been changed to 5x so it does 50 damage per second. This means that against individual targets it will now do less damage than the Particle Cannon (which makes sense, the Particle Cannon is a sci-fi weapon), but in group situations the flamethrower will have the advantage as it can hit an entire squad simultaneously.
Flammenwerfer ammo is quite rare, but there is a chance that you may encounter a Drachen Trooper in the city at some point. Flammenwerfer ammo can be picked up in the Castle and Airfield missions after the Cannery where you first obtain it. If you want to have fun using it in the city or in an optional mission then it may be worth spending $100 to refill your ammo, but it is not worth it if you are about to do one of the last main story missions.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Back in RtCW the Tesla Gun was fun but surprisingly weak; in Wolfenstein it is actually useful as it has a stun effect that prevents most enemies from being able to fight back. (Note that you cannot stun Assassins and Elite Guards, but you can stun surprisingly large enemies like the Heavy Troopers, Drache Troopers and even some bosses.)
Retrostein boosts its damage so that it will kill normal Wehrmacht infantry and tough SS soldiers at approximately the same speed as it would do in the unmodified game.
The "Arc Nodes" melee upgrade is superior to the Kar98 bayonet, as it can insta-kill SS soldiers (though they may survive and be stunned if you hit their gun or limbs) and it can be used to paralyse heavy enemies even if you have no Tesla ammo.
No enemies carry the Tesla gun and you cannot find Tesla ammo until the Castle and Airfield missions, but it is very ammo efficient as it only uses about 1 unit per second, so there is no point saving your Tesla ammo for special occasions. Once you run out you should definately consider refilling it at the Black Market for $150, especially if you first buy the Upgraded Battery for increased ammo capacity.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Just a minor change to ensure that 2 shots are still enough to disintegrate Drachen Troopers or Despoiled, rather than 3 shots. The last two LF44 upgrades are not available until the Black Market vendor at the end of the Airfield mission, and I have chosen not to unlock them early, they are your final reward.
Recommended for Wolfenstein newcomers - an alternative version that does not remove Button Tips like "Press F to Travel to Midtown East". Level transitions...
First official release. Works with both Retail and Steam versions of Wolfenstein. Check the readme for installation instructions.
Is there any way to turn on compass and crosshair?
The bat file is not working.
P.S im using the myabandonware version.
update: just get it from steamunlocked and it will work
This comment is currently awaiting admin approval, join now to view.
By the way, what is TransformRatio??
How do you modify the game's weapons and monster's damage and amplifiers? I'd like to change things for my taste too.
After playing this for many years, I've eventually decided to lower the health of the SS troops from 45 health to 33 health. This is mainly because the Particle Cannon sometimes glitches out and doesn't hit SS enemies properly, and I attribute that to the fact that the beam wasn't entirely designed for hitting large numbers of enemies that don't immediately vaporize. It only happens occasionally, but since I play this game a lot, especially with this mod, it becomes more and more noticeable. With 33 health, the 90 upgraded damage from Retrostein for the Particle Cannon kills the SS troops at the same rate as the 55 upgraded damage from the vanilla game.
Now I actually do prefer having it still at 45, like in RTCW, so the reason I'm posting this is if anyone here knows what the deal with this weird little bug is. Is it just something that happens naturally or if the health actually makes a difference? I lowered the health recently and haven't encountered the issue so far, but still, a definitive answer would be best.
I'm sorry, but the .bat file doesn't start the game. It merely pops up a window for a split second and then closes. I have not modified the bat file, and I have followed the instructions for the retail version.
Did you ever figure out how to fix this? Same problem
Sorry, that Guest reply was also me, Moddb was just being annoying, didn't sign me in properly
Did you ever figure out how to fix this? Same problem
does anybody know how to fix this?