Catacomb 3-D (DOS)

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Catacomb 3-D
Catacomb 3-D - DOS.jpg
Platform: DOS
Year: 1991
Developer: id Software

Catacomb 3-D (also known as Catacomb 3-D: The Descent, Catacombs 3, and Catacomb 3-D: A New Dimension) is one of the earliest first-person shooters ever made. You play the role of a mage who must descend into the catacombs to find and vanquish an evil lich. You will have to battle with orcs, trolls, and many other monsters in this labyrinth, so find powerful spells to help you defeat your enemies. This is the game that paved the way to the very popular Wolfenstein 3D (DOS) engine.

Note: The sequels of Catacomb 3-D don't play music, but their data files contain the same music file as Catacomb 3-D.

Screenshots

Catacomb3D-DOS-1.png

The title screen.

Catacomb3D-DOS-2.png

The main menu.

Catacomb3D-DOS-3.png

Busting up an orc.

Catacomb3D-DOS-4.png

I discovered a secret treasure cache.

Catacomb3D-DOS-5.png

Trading blows with a troll.

Catacomb3D-DOS-6.png

The Gamer's Edge release.

Music

Catacomb 3-D contains only a single music track that is replayed over and over again through the entire song. Bobby Prince composed Too Hot to Handle to be only 8 bars in length. It had to be this short to fit on a 360k floppy disk with the game data. The song would later be used in Commander Keen IV: Secret of the Oracle (DOS).

The song was written in Sequencer Plus Gold and then converted to IMF to play on an AdLib board. A reworked full-length MIDI version of Too Hot to Handle can be found in the game's audio rip.

Recording

# Title ComposerArranger Length Listen Download
01 Too Hot to Handle Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 0:42
Download

Credits

(Sources: Gamer's Edge, Softdisk)

Game Rip

Format

Conversion

Download

IMF.png

MIDI.png VGM.png

Download

(Info)


The audio files were extracted from the Huffman-compressed Audio.C3D file, using Wolf3D Data Compiler. The IMF music was recorded with Nuked OPL3 emulator. A VGM rip has also been made. A re-created MIDI version of the song has been made by Bobby Prince, and is included in the download. The PC Speaker and AdLib sound effects have also been extracted.

Audio Devices

Music

Icon - AdLib.png Icon - Sound Blaster.png

Sound

Icon - AdLib.png Icon - PC Speaker.png Icon - Sound Blaster.png

Releases

  USA.svg   USA
BoxMissing.png
Title: Catacomb 3-D (Gamer's Edge)
Platform: DOS
Released: 1991-11-??
Publisher: Softdisk Publishing
  USA.svg   USA
BoxMissing.png
Title: Catacomb 3-D: The Descent AKA Catacombs 3
Platform: DOS
Released: 1992-??-??
Publisher: Softdisk Publishing

Links