Catacomb

Name: Catacomb
Programmer(s): Tom Hall and John Carmack
Publisher: PC
Year: 1990

Description:

Catacomb was a groundbreaking 3D maze game released for the Apple II in 1989 by Softdisk Publishing. Created by John Carmack, who would later become famous for making Doom, this game showed what the Apple II could do with 3D graphics when most games were still using simple 2D sprites.

In Catacomb, you play as a wizard exploring underground mazes filled with monsters and treasures. The game uses a first-person view, meaning you see through the eyes of your character. Your main weapon is a fireball spell that you shoot at enemies like trolls, bats, and demons. The goal is to find your way through each maze level while collecting treasure and staying alive.

The game features 10 different levels, each harder than the last. You start with 100 hit points and lose health when monsters attack you. Healing potions scattered throughout the mazes restore your health. Keys open locked doors, and secret walls hide bonus treasures. The mazes get bigger and more confusing as you progress, with some levels having over 100 rooms to explore.

What made Catacomb special was its smooth-scrolling 3D graphics. Most Apple II games moved in jerky steps, but Catacomb let you turn and move smoothly through the corridors. John Carmack wrote special programming code that made this possible on the Apple II's limited hardware. The game ran at about 15 frames per second, which was impressive for 1989.

The controls were simple but effective. You used the keyboard arrows to move forward, backward, and turn. The spacebar fired your magic missiles. A map helped you track where you had been, though it didn't show unexplored areas. Sound effects were basic beeps and boops, typical for Apple II games of that time.

Catacomb sold well through Softdisk's disk magazine service and helped establish John Carmack's reputation as a programming genius. The success led to two sequels: Catacomb II and Catacomb 3-D. These games directly influenced the development of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, which changed gaming forever.

While simple by today's standards, Catacomb proved that the Apple II could handle 3D games. It showed young programmers that creative coding could push old hardware beyond its limits. For Apple II owners in 1989, Catacomb offered an exciting glimpse into the future of computer gaming.