Wolfenstein 3D features artwork by Adrian Carmack and sound effects and music by Bobby Prince. He and designer Tom Hall designed the game, built on Carmack's engine, to be fast and violent, unlike other computer games on the market at the time. After a design session prompted the company to shift from the family-friendly Keen to a more violent theme, programmer John Romero suggested remaking the 1981 stealth shooter Castle Wolfenstein as a fast-paced action game. In mid-1991, programmer John Carmack experimented with making a fast 3D game engine by restricting the gameplay and viewpoint to a single plane, producing Hovertank 3D and Catacomb 3-D for SoftDisk as early examples of this. Wolfenstein 3D was the second major release by id Software, after the Commander Keen series of games. All together these make up 60 levels spread across 6 episodes, and when discussing Wolfenstein 3D it is typically assumed that 'Wolfenstein 3D' refers to the full package of 6 episodes. The game has been divided up three ways: the shareware version which is the first 10 level episode on its own released for free, the 'Original Missions' consisting of the first three 10 level episodes, and 'The Nocturnal Missions' which consist of the latter three 10 level episodes.

Wolfenstein 3D is a base game and the game that started the Wolfenstein 3D family of games.

Wolfenstein 3d initial release date