CATABOOM

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Title                   : CATABOOM

Filename                : CATABOOM.WAD

Author                  : Robert Phipps

Email Address           : [email protected]

Misc. Author Info       : Previously released earlier smaller Doom 1 and Doom 2
                          versions of this level as 1Catabs and Catadoom.
                          Part author with Colin Phipps of Phobos3.
                          Keeps nuclear power stations going in other time.

Description             : The catacombs were built by the Romans for their dead.
                          This is a large, intricate and polished level with
                          ornate architecture with lots of special graphics and
                          sounds. In particular the imps have been replaced by
                          mummies.  It has a very gloomy and haunted atmosphere
                          and you will be glad to get out at the end.
                          It is an expert's level, with some very violent, but
                          never impossible, fights.
                          See below for more description.

Date                    : 12/9/1999

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* Play Information *

Game                    : BOOM with DOOM II v1.9 IWAD
Level #                 : Map 01
Single Player           : Yes
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : Yes
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : Yes
Difficulty Settings     : Yes
New Sounds              : Yes
New Graphics            : Yes
New Music               : From Doom 1 E1M6
Demos Replaced          : 0

* Construction *

Base                    : From scratch

Editors/node buider     : DCK, Yadex (on Linux), BSP (on Linux)

Build time              : On and off, years.

Play tested under       : Boom v2.01 under Caldera DOS v7.01
                          LxDoom v1.3.7 under SuSE Linux v5.2
                          PrBoom v2.01 under NT4

Known Bugs              : None.  There may be a few minor texture mis-matches.


* Copyright / Permissions *

Authors MAY NOT use this level as a base to build additional
levels.

You MAY distribute this WAD, provided you include this file, with
no modifications.  You may distribute this file in any electronic
format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file
intact.

* Where to get this WAD *

FTP sites:   ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/cataboom.zip

BBS :        Compuserve Action Games Forum, Doom II Library

=====================================================================

MORE DESCRIPTION

Cataboom is a very large single Doom level, set in Roman catacombs. You will
be the first man to enter for 2000 years, and you are going to wake the dead!
You must pass through a complex of tombs, chapels, crematoria, halls,
passageways and cellars.  You will enter a vast fiery cauldron, a Temple of
Mithras with a congregation of mummies and a preacher from Hell, and the tomb
of Caesar himself.  You go in at midnight under a full moon : and when you
emerge into the open air of a walled garden, under a dawn sky* and hear the
cock crow, you will have escaped.
(*Dawn sky under LxDoom and MBF only)

Cataboom is meant to be oppressively atmospheric and spooky.  There is no
'gore' decoration, but plenty of urns, coffins, grand mausoleum architecture
and gloomy tunnels. The theme is Death, and the monsters are all of Undead
type, plus a few Barons and Hell Knights.  The basic enemy troops are the
Mummies, which are recast Imps. As well as the Mummies, there are a lot of
other special graphics : for example exploding barrels are replaced by
classical urns, and all switches are levers - the Romans never invented
electric switches.

Cataboom is very sombre, but there are some laughs, such as in the Temple of
Mithras and in the Atrium just before the garden at the end.  Play Catadoom
as it is meant to be played :  Ultra-Violent, after dark, with the lights low.
Use a plastic sheet on your chair.

Cataboom does have Co-op and Deathmatch starts.  I would not class it as ideal
for Co-op because the many narrow passages preclude fighting side-by-side.
For Deathmatch, there are a number of links between areas which open as the
game progresses, turning it into quite a maze.  Some of the deathmatch starts
are not survivable with monsters present - one is on the altar of the Temple,
and you are the human sacrifice.


SOFTWARE & PLATFORMS

Cataboom, in common with many 'Doom' levels now being written, must be played
with Boom or a version of Doom which supports Boom features.  Those which
have been play tested with Cataboom are listed at the top of this text.  Boom
is a free upgrade of Doom which has removed a number of Doom bugs and added
extra features, such as deep water, and it is back-compatible with all properly
written older levels, including ID's original episodes.  You must still however
have a paid-up copy of ID Software's Doom II v1.9 on your hard disk.  Boom
was developed by Team TNT, a very capable group of programmers, following ID
Software's ceasing to develop Doom commercially.  To run under DOS, you should
use Boom v2.02 which is now a standard form of Doom in its own right.
PrBoom v2.02 is a version of this which runs under Windows.  Cataboom should
also play under ZDoom and MBF, although I have not tried them.

Alternatively, ditch DOS and Windows, install Linux, and use LxDoom, which is
a port of Boom to Linux by Colin Phipps.  Boom is no longer being developed by
Team TNT, but LxDoom still is and does therefore have a few extra features
over Boom, such as the ability to show different sky textures in different
sectors, which Catadoom does when run under LxDoom (and MBF) as mentioned
above.  XDoom, by Udo Monk, is another modern version of Doom for Linux
supporting Boom features and should therefore handle Cataboom, although I have
not tried it.

If you find a modern version of Doom which will not run Cataboom, let me know
and I will try to identify the problem.

You cannot play Cataboom with any of ID Software's versions of Doom.  I
originally (3 years ago) released a version called Catadoom for ID's Doom I,
and later expanded it significantly for their Doom II.  Those levels still
available in the Compuserve Action Games Forum (the names are in Misc. Author
Info above) if you must refuse to upgrade to Boom.

You may not know, and may be surprised, that ID Software developed Doom on
Unix (on Next workstations), presumably because DOS is such a lousy development
platform.  They then ported it to DOS for their commercial releases.  After
Final Doom (Doom v1.9), and when it was clear that Doom would never see the
Top 10 Games Chart again, ID released the Doom v1.9 *Unix* source code in
Linux flavour so that enthusiasts like us ;-) could continue to develop it and
write editors and levels for it.  ID kept the copyright of the Doom *Data*
file (DOOM.WAD) however, which is why you need a paid-up copy of Doom II on
your hard disc to run Boom - this is how ID Software get their due.  The
released Unix source code was then ported to DOS and it was on this that
Team TNT built Boom.  Then, the Boom DOS source code was ported *back again*
to Linux by Colin Phipps to make LxDoom,  Independently Udo Monk developed
XDoom for Linux with Boom features supported.  A point to watch here is that
you may find copies of the ID Software Doom v1.9 Linux source code as they
released it, and of the binary, on ftp sites and with Linux distributions;
this will *not* run Cataboom or many other modern levels, and should be
regarded as a historic artifact or of interest to developers only.


GENERAL CATABOOM HINTS

The following is not a spoiler text, but general comments on the run of the
level.  If you do not want even general help then stop reading now.

It takes me, the author, about an hour to play through at UV, and I know
every corner.  I would take 2 hours if I were really cautious not to be killed,
and I know where every monster is.  I would expect a competent newcomer to
take at least 4 hours and to be killed fairly often at UV.

It is optimised for single player at UV.  I have not tested it much at lower
skills.  At UV it is an expert's level, but then most Doom players these days
are hard-bitten experts - the casuals have moved on to Quake III, Half Life,
etc.

It follows normal Doom conventions.  Use of teleports is minimised as far as
the player is concerned (only to escape from a couple of holes into which he
might fall) although teleports are used by monsters "behind the scenes" for
some of the special effects.  I believe that some of these effects are novel,
but they use standard Doom and Boom mechanisms.  There a lot of very nasty
tricks and surprises, although nothing that breaks the Doom playing
conventions.  Nowhere is safe, and attacks are as likely to come from behind
you as ahead.

Almost all non-secret doors are marked by a lion's head.  Switches are spade-
handled levers, and there is one in the start Courtyard to show you what they
look like.  Generally, you need to pull every lever you find, although a few
merely open a door where a lion's head on the door did not suit.

Cataboom is not a maze level but is so large and complex that you could get
lost or baffled (and even the cheat map may not help);  e-mail me if you
really need to be rescued.  It is basically a long virtually linear route that
re-crosses itself several times, particularly at the Entry Courtyard and in
the Great Fire Cauldron.  You should get all your weapons (you do not get the
'futuristic' weapons in Catadoom) from up a couple of dead-ends before you get
very far from the start.

In fact there is very little 'dead' area in Cataboom, and some apparent early
'dead-ends' will become essential through-ways as hidden doors open later.
For the same reason, retracing your steps tends to be unnecessary, inadvisable
or even impossible.  You will also find later in the level that doors open
linking back to areas which you have visited earlier.  These are primarily
Death Match links, but which also give freedom to randomly wandering monsters.
They also enable you to return for ammo if you dare, but those wandering
monsters may make the idea unattractive.

Ammo supply is not generous, so try to kill a proportion of the monsters,
particularly the skulls, with the chain saw.  In case you do not have much
practice at this, get their attention and then wait for them around a corner :
do not give them a clear run at you.