Those of you playing Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory will have noticed that the internet server list currently comes up empty. This is due to an issue with the master server that is being investigated by the fine folks over at id. In the meantime, forum member Paul has put together a back-up master server that you can use to get your multiplayer fix for now.

This workaround is not officially supported and any modifications you make to the game are "at your own risk".

With the disclaimer out of the way, you can find Paul's workaround in this forum thread. Steps are offered for both server admins (to make their servers show up in the new list) and players (to retrieve the new list within their game). On a side note, Paul's solution is set up in such a way that it'll automatically be overridden the instant any official master server comes online.

ClanBase has announced the latest NationsCup for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and is currently looking for team captains. The NationsCup is a bit like the World Cup of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, with each country fielding a single team consisting of its best and brightest players.

The tournament is currently accepting applications for each team's captain. If you fancy leading your country into battle and can hold your own in Wolf: ET, you can submit your application through this page. The submission window for this closes on 25 December. Next up, players get to vote on their team captains, and once that's sorted, qualifiers will begin, followed by the tournament itself on 23 January.

For a breakdown of this NationCup's schedule, as well as the guidelines for submitting your application, head on over to ClanBase.

Which country do you think will come top this time?

The first game Splash Damage ever officially contributed to, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, is 10 years old! Following our success with the Operation Marketgarden map, Splash Damage crafted three all-new multiplayer maps for the RtCW Game of the Year edition: The Damned, Rocket, and Tram Siege (still one of this humble editor's favorite maps of all time) took that game's objective mode to new environments and laid the foundation for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.

As a small birthday treat from us, we dug out the original whiteboard topdown for The Damned, which you can find at the top of this post (click it for maximum bigness).

Here's to you, Return to Castle Wolfenstein!

A new version of the ETXreaL graphics modification for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory has been released. Now up to version 0.3.0, ETXreaL enhances Wolf: ET's renderer with several new visual bells and whistles. The feature list is quite exhaustive (and we've got the full thing after the jump for the curious) - suffice to say, the end result is a boost in visual fidelity that fans of Wolf: ET are sure to appreciate. While the mod isn't finished yet, people test-driving this version and providing feedback will be most helpful to the development team behind ETXreaL.

YOu can download ETXreaL from SourceForge. More information about this release along with the full changelog can be found in this forum thread for more information about ETXreaL 0.3.0. Keep reading for ETXreaL's full feature list.

Several new tournaments are about to kick off for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory - read on to find out what's happening where!

First up is Crossfire's Battle for Berlin tournament. Open to the 16 best teams in the game, Battle for Berlin not only seeks to crown Wolf: ET's best clan, but also looks to set a new standard for tournament coverage. Alongside news updates, interviews, and editorials, QuadV will be airing "Game of the Week" coverage every Thursday, with match shoutcasts and other entertainment. Sign-ups are open until Thursday (that's just two days from now!) - you can enlist your 8 man squad over here on Crossfire.

Elsewhere, Australian e-sports site CyberGame League has begun a new Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory league, with 12 teams battling it out for supremacy and $750 in prize money. There's ETTV coverage to be had, as well, and the league is also still accepting sign-ups for the waiting list.

Finally, JeeSports has just added Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory to its line-up, with an inaugural 6 vs 6 tournament getting underway this Sunday. To participate, you'll first need a team, accounts on the JeeSports site, and then visit their site this Sunday at 1 PM UK time to "check in". Visit JeeSports' Wolf: ET section for more information.

Spotted any other upcoming Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory cups, leagues, or tournaments? Let us know in the comments!

Gracing the March issue of PC Gamer US is the latest version of their Top 100 Games of All Time, listing, much as one would expect, the 100 best games of all time (as chosen by PC Gamer). Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is once again present and accounted for, calling in air strikes and constructing barricades in the #55 spot. Not only does that mean that Wolf managed to hold its own very nearly almost 8 full years after its release, but it's actually moved up an impressive 15 places since the UK version of the same list came out last year. Wunderbar!

Update: The full top 100 is now available online via PC Gamer's swish website. Here's what they had to say about Wolf: ET:

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was never about the shooting. I played the medic class like a guardian angel, skipping through rivulets of bullets to reach shot-up team-mates and nurse them back to health. These days, clever team play is as important to online FPSes as lethal mouse-skills – so I'm pinning the rise of objective-based shooters squarely on Enemy Territory’s proud Allied/evil Nazi chest.

We'll gladly take the blame for that.

During his annual QuakeCon keynote speech last night, John Carmack mentioned that the full Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory source code is now available under the GNU General Public License. This is great news for aspiring modders looking to use the game's innards as a basis for their own project, as well as community-driven improvements for Wolf: ET itself. An official, potentially press release-laden announcement is apparently still to come, but in the meantime, you can grap the source from one of the mirrors below:

• id Software FTP
• Fileshack
• Rapidshare
• Splash Damage

Happy developing!

Somehow, impossibly, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was released seven full years ago. Okay, it was actually seven years ago on Saturday, but we weren't in the office on Saturday, and Monday was a public holiday, and I only just had enough coffee to remember that it was THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW. What is important is that our little game is 7.

That seems at once entirely unacceptable and a source of deep pride. To absolutely everyone and anyone who played it, modded it, admin'd servers for it, complained about the weapon balance, learned to find and use the mortar, located the barking dog, worked on it, voted for it (I'm looking at you, Insanely Dedicated People That Got It To Number Bloody Sixteen In PC Gamer's Top One Hundred Games Ever), we can only say Thank You Thank You Thank You. Without you, SD wouldn't be where we are, doing what we do.

While we're here, why not fire up the old warhorse for some now-looking-somewhat-retro WWII MP FPS Hoo-hah? You can buy it via my personal PayPal account download it for free from our Wolfenstein Barracks page.

A couple of months ago, PC Gamer asked its readers to vote for their favourite PC titles of all time in order to build the official PC Gamer Readers' Top 100. The results have now been revealed and we're thrilled to see that Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory not only made the list, but managed to climb it all the way to #16!

Here's what community member ailmanky had to say about it on the PC Gamer site:

No other game matches the teamplay of Enemy Territory. Mods are still being developed and improved. Maps are coming out almost every month. A big community is actively producing content and helping each other.

A big thanks goes out to everyone who's played Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory over the years, those have created (and are still creating!) new content for it, and, of course, everyone who voted for it to be included in the Top 100. Jawohl!

Voting for this year's PC Gamer Top 100 is drawing to a close in less than two days, making this your last chance to ensure the Enemy Territory games make the cut. Both Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars are up for inclusion, with Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory previously making PC Gamer's own Editorial Top 100 at #69.

Voting could not be simpler: Just make an account, pick your five favorite games of all time (use the links above to quickly get to ET goodness), and submit the list.

As an added bonus, the PC Gamer crew is also looking for user comments to be included in their upcoming print feature about this year's Top 100. If you fancy being featured in the article and want to tell them why you like the Enemy Territory games, drop them a line at pcgamer@futurenet.com or post in this forum thread on their website.