Catacomb 3-D (PC) Gameplay (Wolfenstein 3D Predecessor!)

Blasting goblins and trolls in id Software's Catacomb 3-D, arguably the most significant stepping stone to the legendary Wolfenstein 3D.
Released just seven months after Hovertank 3D, Catacomb 3-D (also known as Catacomb 3-D: The Descent) features a more advanced engine with texture-mapped walls and even background music. It's also one of the very first shooters to put players in control of an actual character as opposed to, say, a vehicle.
Interestingly enough, Catacomb 3-D is actually the THIRD game in the Catacomb series and sometimes goes by the name Catacombs 3. The first two entries, which were also made by the id Software team, were top-down action titles. Catacomb 3-D was followed by three more entries and although none of them were made by id, they all improved on 3-D's foundation by adding even more gameplay elements and complexity.
If you'd like to check out this historical game for yourself, you're in luck: the entire Catacomb series is available in one pack on GOG for just $5.99. You can grab it here:
www.gog.com/en/game/catacombs...
For more info on Catacomb 3-D and the Catacomb series, check out these links:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacom...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacom...)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfens...
Additionally, here's more info on id Software and Softdisk:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_Soft...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softdisk
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:24 Map 1: The Approach
01:14 Map 2: Nemesis's Keep
02:49 Map 3: Ground Floor
05:11 Map 4: Second Floor
06:54 Map 5: Third Floor
10:05 Map 6: Tower One
12:40 Map 7: Tower Two
13:04 Map 9: Access Floor

[@RickClark58]

I have heard of this game but never played. The magic hand was used in ROTT as a special weapon. I see where they got it from now. The two look very similar. An easter egg I didn't know existed. Thank for sharing this.

[@5ilver42]

11:47 looking at the yellow wall on the left of the screen. I think I have discovered what it was about this games field of view that made my head hurt so bad. As a workaround/optimization you can see that it does not scale walls that get closer than some certain distance, which has the consequence of making things look like a bit of a "reverse fish bowl" effect, where instead of ballooning out the middle of the screen, instead here we see a flattening of the outside of the screen.
This strafe turn around the corner here has been incredibly revealing to me about how this game renders it's graphics!

[@EvatronX]

i still dont understand why wolfenstein got all the glory as "the first fps" when this and hovertank were about the same quality

[@Chubzdoomer]

Yeah, Wolfenstein 3D isn't really all that much more advanced than this game. I guess Wolfenstein's theme (and violence?) just resonated more with people.

[@Epimundo]

"Mein Lieben!" and other digitized voices helped :)

[@UnchainedEruption]

Well it's the first shooter where you use guns to shoot, I suppose. Guns are cooler than a guy shooting spells from his wizard hands.

[@ninetyZeven]

RIP Orcs! Brutal!

[@ninetyZeven]

( .. goblins, whatever )

[@Povilaz]

Very interesting.

[@UnchainedEruption]

I love how your character has a mullet. Mullets are cool and seriously underrated.

[@Phantassm]

I remember this one! Played it a little bit.

[@DJCrAzYGuYTube]

Well played, sir.

[@UnchainedEruption]

The midi track reminds me of Van Halen's "I'll Wait" on 1984.

[@GalaxyStranger01]

I'm kind of surprised that nobody has made Catacombs and Blake stone GZDoom mods.

[@Chubzdoomer]

Both of those would be awesome! Blake Stone is overlooked far too often. A Doom version would rock!

[@GalaxyStranger01]

@@Chubzdoomer
I know - I think about doing it from time to time. I even started a Wolf3D direct port, converting the maps to GZDoom. But, alas, it's time consuming and I'd need help getting a hold of sprites and sounds.
Hell, I'd love to do Hovertank 3D as well.
That would be an amazing mod series, getting those four games ported over... And the cool part is, someone could start making their own new maps and adventures with the core content.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

At which point iD software said "Lets take that Gauntlet clone we made...but make it first person!"

[@UnchainedEruption]

The fabled Wolfenstein prototypes id worked on

[@merleatmo]

Wow this was way before mario from Nintendo...very familiair sound fx....🤔

[@sitodev]

How are you playing in this resolution? I’ve played a bit in DosBox but I didn’t think it could get this high.

[@simplytough]

Chubz! 👍👍

[@WebGame2k]

the music

[@glasgowgoatse]

I feel like I've heard this in Commander Keen too

[@DJQBC]

@@glasgowgoatse you're right, this is used in CK4

[@noblephoenix6151]

Haha, epic

[@prezadent1]

No, it's id

[@johnedelmann6711]

​@@prezadent1 r/whoosh

[@prezadent1]

@@johnedelmann6711 ?