Catacomb Adventure Series

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"THE CATACOMB ABYSS 3-D is the first part of a three-part series of games known as The Catacomb 3-D Adventures. Parts 2 & 3 are titled THE CATACOMB ARMAGEDDON 3-D and THE CATACOMB APOCALYPSE 3-D respectively. A three-part series of 3-D fantasy adventure games developed by Softdisk Publishing.... complete this extraordinary trilogy... Catacomb Abyss 3D, Catacomb Armageddon, and Catacomb Apocalypse--add a fantasy story of sorcery and blood... to create an experience that would capture the gamers' imagination and sprout into a whole new genre."
--Compiled descriptions

Relevant Games:


2D DOS Games:

3D DOS Games:

Apple II & IIGS:

Related Games:

Recreations:

Homage Games:

The Catacomb Adventure Series was a trilogy of games that followed from Catacomb 3D. They were not developed by id Software but internally by Softdisk with a new staff for Gamer's Edge, who also made the later Dangerous Dave sequels. All of the games, including the original Catacomb titles, are now distributed legally by Flat Rock Software through their own web store and via gog.com. Flat Rock have also released the source code for the games under the GNU General Public License in June 2014 in a manner similar those done by id and partners. This has lead to the creation of the source port ReflectionHLE which ports all of the 3D Catacomb games to modern systems, as well as other games using the TED mapping format. Another project, CatacombGL, is an enhanced OpenGL port for Microsoft Windows.

The credits for the series are Mike Maynard, James Row, Nolan Martin (programming), Steven Maines (art direction), Carol Ludden, Jerry Jones, Adrian Carmack (art production), James Weiler, Judi Mangham (quality assurance), and id Software (3D imaging effects). The series' development head, Greg Malone, later became creative director for Duke Nukem 3D and also worked on Shadow Warrior for 3D Realms. Department heads Mike Maynard and Jim Row, meanwhile, would co-found JAM Productions (soon joined by Jerry Jones), the creators of Blake Stone using an enhanced Wolfenstein 3D engine.

The series also introduced an item called Crystal Hour Glasses, which would temporarily freeze time and allow the player to stage shots to destroy enemies upon the resumption of normal time, pre-dating later bullet time features in games such as Requiem: Avenging Angel and Max Payne.

Reception[edit]

"So honestly after a while, playing through these became a bit of a slog, and Abyss is the only one I finished. However, it was interesting to see how Catacomb fits into gaming history. All those shooters we enjoy today count this as one of their direct ancestors. Walking around mazes shooting at chunky sprites, we were exploring the foundations of what would become one of the most important genres of computer game. We might have been kind of impressed, but we had no idea what marvels were to come. It’s amazing to think just how much progress happened in the next ten years; Half-Life feels light years ahead of this. Anyway, Catacomb 3D has come to be nearly forgotten in favour of its Nazi-shooting successor. I reckon that, even if it’s something you’d have to be a really serious retro-gamer to play for more than 15 minutes, it’s worth our raising a drink to this ancient ancestor of the shooters we enjoy today."
--Force for Good

Series[edit]


Catacomb 3D & Adventure Series - Campaigns:
Catacomb 3D (1991) Catacomb Abyss (1992) Catacomb Armageddon (1992) Catacomb Apocalypse (1993)
Catacomb Adventure Series
Games: Catacomb Abyss - Catacomb Armageddon - Catacomb Apocalypse
Lore: Petton Everhail - Nemesis - The Towne
Common Enemies: Demon - Troll - Evil Eye - Skeleton Warrior - Mage
Common Items: Bolt, Zapper, Xterminator, Cure Potion, Scroll, Jewel, Key, Treasure Chest - Crystal Sphere - Crystal Hour Glass
Developers: Greg Paul Malone II - Nolan Martin - Michael Maynard - James T. Row - Jerry Jones - Carol Ludden - Steven Maines
Catacomb Abyss
Characters: Petton Everhail - Nemesis
Enemies: Zombies - Bats - Wraith - Skeleton Warriors - Mages - Blue Demons - Water Trolls
Orcs - Green Trolls - Evil Eyes - Red Demons
Items: Magick Missile - Cure Potions - Treasure Chests - Keys - Zappers - Xterminators - Scrolls
Jewels - Crystal Sphere - Gates - Crystal Hour Glasses
Catacomb Armageddon
Characters: Petton Everhail - Nemesis
Enemies: Zombies - Giant Ants - Treants - Bats - Killer Rabbits - Mages - Skeleton Warriors
Vipers - Two-Headed Demons - Wretched Poxes - Evil Eyes - Succubi - Sea Serpents
Items: Magick Missiles - Cure Potions - Treasure Chests - Keys - Zappers - Xterminators
Jewels - Crystal Sphere - Gates - Crystal Hour Glasses - Barriers
Catacomb Apocalypse
Characters: Petton Everhail - Nemesis
Enemies: Wizards - Spectres - Robot Ants - Time Lords - Android Mages - Walking Tanks - Sentry Eyes - Cyborg Demons
Blue Demons - Fishmen - Golden Trolls - Death Squads - Devil Rays - Cyber Poxes - Invisible Horrors
Items: Magick Missiles - Cure Potions - Treasure Chests - Keys - Zappers - Xterminators
Jewels - Crystal Sphere - Gates - Crystal Hour Glasses - Barriers - Time Gate