Catacomb (video game)

Catacomb
Developer(s)Softdisk
Publisher(s)Softdisk
Director(s)Tom Hall
Designer(s)John Carmack
John Romero
Programmer(s)John Carmack
Artist(s)Adrian Carmack
Platform(s)
Release1990
Genre(s)Shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Catacomb is a 2-D top-down third-person shooter developed and published by Softdisk.[1][2] It was originally created for the Apple II, and later ported to IBM PC compatibles. It supports EGA and CGA graphics. Catacomb is programmed by John Carmack, who would later work on successful games such as Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. The fast action and the ability to strafe in Catacomb foreshadow Carmack's later work.[3] The enemy movement code in Wolfenstein 3D is based on code from Catacomb.[4]

Catacomb was followed by multiple sequels, which were all initially published by Softdisk. The DOS game The Catacomb and the three Apple II games Sylvan Idyll, Ether Quest and Sand Trap are also top-down third-person shooters. Additionally, the Catacomb series includes four first-person shooters for DOS: Catacomb 3-D, Catacomb Abyss, Catacomb Armageddon and Catacomb Apocalypse.

In March 2013, Catacomb, as well as its sequels The Catacomb and the Catacomb 3-D, were published on GOG.com as part of the Catacombs Pack.[5] The source code to the game was released by Flat Rock Software in June 2014 under GNU GPL-2.0-or-later in a manner similar to those done by id Software and partners.[6][1]

  1. ^ a b Halfacree, Gareth (9 June 2014). "Early id Software game engines open-sourced". Bit-Tech. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  2. ^ Fahs, Travis (23 September 2008). "The Early Years of id Software". IGN. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference HardcoreGaming101 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Carmack20190808 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Release: Catacombs Pack". GOG.com. CD Projekt. 14 March 2013. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  6. ^ Larabel, Michael (6 June 2014). "id Software's Softdisk Open-Sources Some Really Old Games". Phoronix. Retrieved 6 June 2014.