Terror of the Catacombs

Overview

The Catacomb Apocalypse (also known as The Catacomb Apocalypse 3-D) is a sci-fi fantasy first-person shooter developed and published by Softdisk Publishing for DOS PCs in 1993. It also received a boxed retail release by Froggman (as Terror of the Catacombs).

The third and final part of the Catacomb 3-D Adventures, and the sequel to The Catacomb Armageddon, Catacomb Armageddon concludes the adventures of renowned wizard Petton Everhail. The lich Nemesis, haven been thwarted yet again, devises a new plan involving time travel, forcing Petton to use time portals and battle against not only his current minions, but his future ones.

Its source code was later released under the GNU GPLv2 license, and can be found here. The game was also included in the 2013 modern compilation Catacombs Pack by Catacomb Games.

Enemies

Similar to previous games, the Novice difficulty reduces each enemy's HP to 25% while reducing their damage output by half.

Each enemy also has their own Gem affinity, which shows their location in the Crystal Sphere when that Gem is collected.

• Bugs (10 HP, Yellow) - Giant robotic flies that launch projectiles from its chin-mounted cannon (each of which deal 7% damage).

• Wizards (10 HP, Green) - Based on the Orcs from previous games, these goblin-like wizards are slow and fragile, but can cast fireballs at the player (each of which deal 7% damage).

• Future Mages (12 HP, Blue) - Based on the Mages from previous games, these robotic machines from the future are fast-moving and launch fireball blasts at the player (each of which deal 7% damage).

• RamBones (12 HP, Yellow) - Based on the Skeletons from previous games, these futuristic skeletons are equipped with miniguns that launch barrages of miniature rockets (each of which deal 7% damage).

• Blobs (13 HP, Red) - Black spectres of dark energy that that can regularly submerge into the shadows (making themselves less vulnerable). They launch ranged blasts of dark energy at the player, which deal 5% damage each.

• Aqua Men (15 HP, Green) - Only found in the Water Node of Time. Similar to the Water Troll in Catacomb Abyss, these creatures regularly submerge in the water (making themselves less vulnerable). Their melee attacks deal 7% damage.

• Rays (15 HP, Yellow) - Hostile manta rays that can regularly submerge in the water (making themselves less vulnerable). They launch ranged sonic blasts at the player, which deal 5% damage each.

• Mec Eyes (15 HP, Purple) - Based on the Eyes from previous games, these floating eyes launch barrages of lightning balls (each of which deal 5% damage) at the player. Some Mec Eyes are instead sentries and do not attack the player, instead following a set path (which can lead the player to important locations and secrets).

• Trolls (15 HP, Yellow) - Based on the Trolls from previous games, these light-skinned creatures deal a large amount of damage per melee swing (10%).

• Egyptian Heads (16 HP, Yellow) - Found only at the Axis of the Time Lords, these floating heads (with egyptian headgear) start off as decoration, before becoming active and chase the player down while launching barrages of projectiles (which deal 5% damage each).

• Stompies (20 HP, Red) - Slow, but durable bipedal war machines from the future. They fire blasts from their shoulder cannon, which deal 7% damage each.

• Invisible Dudes (20 HP, Red) - Tough beasts with futuristic cloaking devices. They are completely invisible, for most of the time, until they attack or be attacked. Their melee attacks deal a large amount of damage per swing (10%).

• RoboTanks (25 HP, Blue) - Monstrous, slow-moving, heavily-armored robots of war that can deal a significant amount of damage (15% each projectile) from its cannons.

• Demons (30 HP, Blue / Purple) - Similar to the previous game, these hulkish demons are very tough to kill (requiring lengthy barrages of fireballs). Despite being half as durable as those from previous games, they still deal a significant amount of melee damage (15%). There are two variants: normal blue demons (revealed with the Blue Gem) and futuristic cyborg demons (revealed with the Purple Gem).

• Nemesis - Similar to previous games, the Nemesis is the final boss and a unique, tougher version of the Mage with deadlier fireballs. As the player progresses through the game, they encounters doppelgangers (or clones) of Nemesis that have less HP and deal less damage, which get progressively harder towards the final boss fight. He is only revealed in the Crystal Sphere once all five Gems are collected.

Returning from the previous game are also electrical force fields, which deal significant damage to the player when touched and can be disabled by shooting it. Also returning from Catacomb 3-D are fireballs that bounce between walls (which deal 10% damage and can now be destroyed by shooting them repeatedly).

Levels

Unlike The Catacomb Abyss and The Catacomb Armageddon, The Catacomb Apocalypse brings back the hub level system from Catacomb 3-D, albeit in a limited capacity.

• The Sanctuary of the Dead
• The Wizard's Garden
• The Council Chamber of the Time Wizards
• The Axis of the Time Lords
• The Wizard's Maze
• The Underground Sewers
• The Flooded City
• The Computer Core
• The Chamber of Invisible Horror
• The Encounter Chamber
• The Testing Chambers of Nemesis
• The Passage to the Surface

The fourth level, Axis of the Time Lords, is the game's hub level. In order to progress, players must collect a key from each of the four connected levels (in any order): The Future Node of Time, The Fire Node of Time, The Ancient Node of Time, and The Water Node of Time. In addition, players can find all five Gems in a secret room in the hub level.

There are also two hidden levels that are only accessible via the warp cheat.