Living the Dream: The Making of Catacomb 3-D

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Note from the Author: This work, titled “Living the Dream,” was originally included in the collector’s edition 3D boxes of Catacomb, published by Romero Games. It is republished here with their kind permission.

Among the standout features that players initially noticed in Catacomb 3-D wasn’t just its texture-mapped walls, but rather a unique aspect – your hand, which would materialize from the screen center to hurl fireballs forward. This detail particularly caught my attention when I interviewed Adrian Carmack for the FPS: First Person Shooter documentary, as he fondly mentioned, “I truly appreciated that it was actually my hand.

Back then, the perspective of seeing a game world through the eyes of disembodied hands wielding large weapons (or projectiles) in first-person shooters was revolutionary. In Catacomb 3-D, this concept was groundbreaking and pioneered the genre. During our documentary interview, John Carmack explained that the inclusion of the hand wasn’t a subject of much debate. He felt it was fitting to have an onscreen element serving two purposes: indicating the current weapon and providing a partial aiming guide by marking the center of the screen.

In John Romero’s words, “We chose to represent a hand instead of the whole character for several practical reasons. It would have been challenging to draw a detailed third-person view of a character’s back at that time due to limited computing power. Instead, we believed that depicting a hand was sufficient to indicate to the player that they were casting spells, and those spells were originating from the area directly in front of them.

The concept of using a weapon in first-person shooter (FPS) games can be traced back to Catacomb 3-D, including related features and discussions surrounding it. A question that arose early on was whether the weapon should display an aiming dot or reticle. There were disagreements about whether having this feature makes things more realistic, despite the fact that it might make aiming more challenging for players. As John Carmack stated, “It took us some time to have discussions about whether the weapon would have a visible aiming mark, and there were arguments about whether it’s more authentic if you don’t have one even though it makes aiming harder.” These debates about weapon design in FPS games are still ongoing today.

The origin of weapons in first-person shooter (FPS) games can be traced back to Catacomb 3-D, along with associated features and discussions. One point of contention was whether the weapon should have a visible aiming dot or reticle. There were disagreements about whether having this feature makes things more realistic while also making aiming harder for players. John Carmack explained, “We had debates about whether to include an aiming mark on the weapon and there were arguments about whether it’s more authentic if you don’t have one.” These discussions regarding weapon design in FPS games continue today.

The intensity of your fireballs can be boosted as well, amplifying both their impact and the sensation of assuming the role of a mighty spellcaster in robes. Adrian Carmack appreciates this mechanic, “where you press and hold your mouse button for more power,” he said, “it’s quite enjoyable and makes the game entertaining.

As a devoted gamer, I’ve got to say this: The crux of the situation is clear – Catacomb 3-D revolutionized the gaming world in an unprecedented way. For the first time, players didn’t just control a weapon, but felt like they were embodying a character within the game. It wasn’t about some faceless, nameless entity solely for firing projectiles; it was about experiencing the journey of an adventurer delving into dark, damp dungeons. In essence, Catacomb 3-D could be seen as a pioneering blend of first-person fantasy RPG and shooter genres. The game was brimming with innovative concepts, such as its unique wall textures, but another developer nearly beat id Software to the punch with similar ideas.

In November 1991, Catacomb 3-D was just one of several games developed amid a storm of development in that quarter. The id Software team, consisting of John Romero, John Carmack, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack, initially collaborated at Softdisk, a magazine offering software for PC users. Romero created Gamer’s Edge as a game disk, and the id crew frequently produced a game every one to two months. Prior to joining Softdisk, John Carmack had impressed them with his game Tennis, an impressively realistic simulation of tennis on the Apple II. Catacomb, a game Carmack submitted to Softdisk earlier, served as a solid foundation for the id team when they began work on Catacomb 3-D, which started in October 1991. According to John Romero, they had already developed around three or four Catacomb games by that point.

The Catacomb games were initially created out of necessity due to circumstances that required us to develop two games within a month for a disk. As experienced Apple II programmers, John Carmack and I (Romero) decided the quickest way to achieve this was by adapting or rewriting games we had previously developed for the PC, given our situation. So, I chose a game called Dangerous Dave, while he opted for Catacomb. Later on, Carmack added more levels to it and titled it as Catacomb II.

Apart from creating Apple II games for PC, these men had numerous other projects on their plates. When they embarked on Catacomb 3-D, they were already immersed in their second series of Commander Keen platform games for Apogee Software and nearing completion of another innovative 3D game. As Romero explains, “We were simultaneously developing three games: Catacomb 3-D, Keen 6, and Keen 5.” Adrian was focusing on creating tiles for Keen’s levels, while I was designing those levels. Once Tom finished the levels for Catacomb, he also joined in with the work on the Keen levels.

Hall expresses that it was simply thrilling for us all to earn a living by creating games. We often put in long hours, typically 12 to 16 hours each day, seven days a week. It was an exhilarating experience, and we felt like we were just friends enjoying each other’s company, developing games together, and living our dream.

In an interview for our first-person shooter (FPS) documentary, Tom Hall shared this idea: “Since we all enjoy Dungeons & Dragons so much, it seemed like a great opportunity to create a game set in that world. Imagine being a sorcerer, able to conjure spells!

“It was as close to D&D as we could get,” Romero said.

In simpler terms, Romero suggested they chose to create a 3D version of Catacomb because it’s less complicated when working on new ideas to base them on an existing intellectual property (IP) rather than a completely new one. Since they planned to tackle something more challenging in 3D, they opted for an IP that they had already developed. Catacomb seemed like the ideal choice, as it allowed them to easily incorporate the monsters from that game and create 3D versions of them. They were familiar with the game’s layout, so all they needed to do was add textures.

When players started playing Catacomb 3-D, one of the first things they noticed was the textures. This was a significant achievement for John Carmack, who had struggled to create textured surfaces in their earlier game, Hovertank – the team’s very first 3D first-person shooter. Romero commented that if Carmack was awake, he was either coding or eating, as he worked tirelessly building the three-dimensional world for Hovertank.

Adrian Carmack remarked about Hovertank: “That game was the first one I saw where you could freely roam around a room and attack characters, as opposed to the usual slow, methodical steps. That level of freedom was a testament to the technology available back then.

John Carmack was highly skilled at creating games such as Hovertank and Catacomb 3-D, as he had extensive experience with 3D graphics dating back to his teenage years on the Apple II. “I had been doing some early 3D work since I was a teenager,” he explained to me. “Using the AppleSoft BASIC interpreter, I’d create wireframe letters and painstakingly have the computer transform those into three-dimensional shapes. This allowed me to make large letters and rotate them.

Although Hovertank boasted cutting-edge technology, it had a significant drawback: its walls remained solid and flat due to performance considerations and unresolved issues with texture mapping from perspective. John Carmack expressed his desire to address this issue in the next phase of Catacomb 3-D development.

Carmack and his team aimed to make the dungeons in Catacomb 3-D seem authentic: rough-hewn walls, moss growing on obstacles, blood stains on stone. Texture mapping emerged as an essential aspect of the gaming industry, all thanks to a single phone call.

During their conversation, John Romero spoke with Paul Neurath from the development team at Looking Glass Studios, who later became famous for creating games like System Shock and Thief. At that point in time, Looking Glass was developing Ultima Underworld, a 3D, first-person version of Richard “Lord British” Garriott’s fantasy world, while id Software was still focusing on 2D game titles.

Romero and Neurath initially engaged in a friendly chat to reconnect. “Back at Origin Systems, we were colleagues,” Romero reminded him. “I was involved in a project named Space Rogue, an innovative 3D space exploration game where you’re a space pirate, and when you touched down on a planet, it had a similar feel to Ultima, allowing interaction with the locals. I just called to check in and see what’s new. He replied, ‘We’re developing an exciting game, and we’re employing a novel technique called texture mapping.’ I was intrigued and asked, ‘What exactly is that?’

Summarizing the discussion, Romero understood their course of action. “Following his phone call,” Adrian Carmack shared, “he faced John Carmack and outlined it to him. He inquired, ‘Is that something you can handle?’ John Carmack responded affirmatively. Thus, the strategy was to commence with Hovertank development first, as it equated to a month’s work – now amusing to consider creating a game within a month’s time – and then produce a subsequent title featuring texture-mapped walls.

Romero stated, “While we spent an entire year developing Ultima Underworld without texture mapping, they were doing the same. However, we took a lead in this area, as we created Catacomb 3-D with texture mapping six months prior to their release of Ultima Underworld.

John Carmack found exactly what he needed: “Fundamentals of Computer Graphics,” a book written by Andries Van Dam and James Foley. This comprehensive resource detailed nearly every trick and technique related to the principles and applications of computer graphics, proving instrumental for id’s first 3D games developed during that time. Carmack often reflects on how difficult it was in the ’80s and ’90s to find such information compared to today, when everything is readily available online. As he put it, “People nowadays have no idea what it was like gathering information back then. And it’s such an amazing thing.

At approximately 18 years old, he bought the book “Computer Graphics” from a university bookstore. This book was heavily academic and focused on CAD, but it contained essential information about transforms, clipping, line drawing, and more. It was a thick, heavy book that served as my guide for many years. I would read it repeatedly, even though I didn’t fully comprehend everything within its pages. However, it provided me with some valuable directions to explore, which I used to create Hovertank. Although I struggled to meet the deadline, and there were still some technical issues that needed to be resolved, I pushed through and went a bit over budget.

Tom Hall’s notes mapping out a general level flow. (Image courtesy of Tom Hall.)

Once more, Carmack positioned himself aboard Hovertank, swiftly transitioning towards Catacomb 3-D. He was certain that his goals could be achieved on a PC, bolstering his determination. “My reference guide, the Foley and Van Dam graphics book, was brimming with texture-mapped graphics crafted on systems worth millions. So, the idea of creating such graphics on our own platform was always within reach; it was merely a question of figuring out the technical solutions to make it a reality.

Consider a standard brown box similar to one used for sending something to a friend. Now, imagine covering it with vibrant, patterned paper – this is essentially what texture mapping involves. Adrian Carmack, the artist behind Catacomb 3-D, was able to create textures that could be applied to any surface, making flat, single-colored walls obsolete.

Apart from enjoying himself immensely while creating monsters for the game, it’s worth noting that these creations were personally chosen by Tom Hall, drawn from the 2D Catacomb game created by John Carmack. Adrian shared his enthusiasm, stating, “I was a big fan of the first-person viewpoint. In fact, I delved into understanding comic book art techniques used by Marvel, particularly focusing on how they design and draw superheroes with dynamic perspectives.

The monsters’ inspiration stemmed from two plausible origins, according to Hall. He explains that Catacomb 3-D was heavily inspired by the 2D game, and both games were significantly influenced by D&D, particularly Carmack’s D&D universe, which they played when not creating games. The character of Petton Everhail, the high wizard of Thoria, and the evil lich Grelminar, were characters from their campaign. A notable feature of Petton’s design intrigued Hall: coming up with the death meter was enjoyable—the visual of Petton gradually exposing a skull as you sustain damage. Once fully exposed, it’s game over!

If you’ve experienced both Catacomb 3-D and Ultima Underworld, you might ponder why the creators at Looking Glass added texture-mapped floors and ceilings along with walls in their games, but not Catacomb. The reason lies in the hardware capabilities. According to Romero, “There wasn’t enough rendering speed available at that time.” This also explains why Wolfenstein didn’t feature any texture-mapped floors or ceilings. However, by the time they developed Doom, the necessary rendering speed had been achieved, allowing them to include both floors and ceilings in the game.

In Ultima Underworld, the viewing area, where all the action takes place, is relatively smaller compared to games like Catacomb 3-D and Doom. Having a smaller view made it easier for the game to refresh less of the screen, reducing some of the processing load. However, Ultima Underworld’s fully texture-mapped world made it run slower than id’s games. This was acceptable in a first-person RPG, but not in fast-paced shooter games. Later games by id Software, such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake, allowed you to optimize performance by reducing the view screen size. This didn’t affect the gameplay speed, but it was gentler on older computer hardware.

Essentially, Catacomb 3-D represents a labyrinth-style video game, much like Hovertank in its predecessor role and Wolfenstein 3-D in the games that followed. According to Tom Hall, creating engaging mazes was about establishing a structure and then adding exciting elements to keep players curious about what lay around each turn. “I would draft them out and experiment using the TED5 editor,” he explains. The TED editor was a custom level creation tool designed by Romero. As for Romero’s role in id Software’s early days, Hall notes that he primarily focused on developing tools and coding games since they started with minimal resources and required efficient data production as a small team. However, Romero was undeniably a talented and innovative game designer too. The team often brainstormed game designs, tweaked gameplay mechanics, and collaboratively handled tasks in a sensible manner.

Utilizing the initial Catacomb as our foundation significantly sped up the development process for Catacomb 3-D’s levels. As John Romero’s tool was incredibly potent, we could experiment with designs directly within the editor and simply play them, which proved to be very effective. Since 3D was still a novelty at the time, everything was based on a grid system, leading to frequent adjustments of sketches rather than testing them out in the actual game itself.

3D labyrinths created by Catacomb 3-D aren’t merely a collection of right-angled passages adorned with attractive textures. Some walls can be broken down to uncover fresh chambers and concealed riches. Hall explains that incorporating destructible walls into 3D design called for caution and experimentation. The concept of destructible walls was among several methods used to maintain the labyrinths engaging. “The design process always aimed at creating unique shapes and flows, ensuring each level felt distinct,” Hall adds. “When designing levels, I focus heavily on landmarks and a strong sense of space.

As a gamer deeply immersed in our development process, time seemed to blur past us as we worked tirelessly at full steam. I can’t even remember how long it took because we were so focused on creating, playing, and perfecting each game until the play felt just right and engaging. We all played and tested extensively, serving as our own quality assurance testers. Keen 5 and 6 were always on my mind since they’re like my babies, so I didn’t get too easily sidetracked. Additionally, Catacomb 3-D was a bare-bones design in its early stages—we were essentially inventing a new genre game by game, which made the process feel fast and free-flowing.

As a dedicated enthusiast, I can’t help but relish the memories of tackling that groundbreaking challenge. Not only did I helm the creation of levels for Hovertank, but I also collaborated with Romero to carve out the mazes in Wolfenstein 3D. It was nothing short of exhilarating and a true privilege to design the very first levels for a first-person shooter game, whether you consider that to be Hovertank, Catacomb 3-D, or Wolfenstein 3D. This was uncharted territory, requiring us to invent an entirely new problem-solving and design language from scratch. Some ideas worked flawlessly, others needed fine-tuning. But that’s the beauty of game development—it’s a learning journey, especially when you’re pioneering in a fresh, unexplored design space.

2024 marked another groundbreaking moment for me as a gamer – Catacomb 3-D finally got the boxed release it deserved back in 1993. While that initial release is now part of gaming history, this modern version is just as fun to play! It’s not only significant from a historical perspective but also a thrill to experience even today.

According to John Carmack and John Romero, Carmack stated, “I believe I worked an extra week, if not more, on Catacomb 3-D compared to Hovertank.” He added, “Neither of those games reached the level of polish I was ultimately proud of in our later creations. However, we managed to release them under tight deadlines with significant time pressure, and they were enjoyable.

According to Romero, John significantly enhanced the 3D programming within Catacomb 3-D. This enhancement spanned over two months, and it marked the debut of the first texture-mapped First-Person Shooter (FPS) game.

In addition, the use of textured walls during that time served as a significant foundation for what followed. Tom Hall mentioned this when he said, “We experimented with textured walls and that was during EGA.” EGA stands for Enhanced Graphics Adapter, a display standard launched by IBM in 1984. The majority of software had become compatible with EGA by the time Catacomb 3-D was distributed to subscribers in November ’91. It featured a resolution of 320×200 and employed 16 colors as part of its rendering process.

Hall expresses his excitement about seeing the game as a physical product, acknowledging that it’s receiving the tangible recognition it deserves. He explains that everyone involved in creating this amazing game gets to share in the pride of having their work displayed like classic games we cherish and spend time with—like the Wizardry series, the Ultimas, and others. Hall applauds John, Brenda, and Romero Games for preserving the legacy of these iconic games, ensuring they are given proper treatment. Bravo!

Before completing Catacomb and other projects, these developers were already brainstorming ideas for their next creations. A key technological advancement – one of many goals they established – was finding a way to implement texture mapping on the latest, high-resolution VGA (Video Graphics Array) display format.

“We took that step for Wolfenstein 3D,” Hall said.

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2025-03-03 20:29