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|Aบ |6Fun and Games|A บ                  ^1 Catacomb |A                  บ |6Fun and Games|A บ
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^Cby
^CJohn Carmack


    Your hand gestures, palm upward, in a delicate, practiced position.
 Suddenly, a small ball of light appears from nothingness, sparkling with
 energy.  You turn your hand forward, extending your fingers rigidly.  A bolt
 of brilliant light leaps out with supernatural fierceness, making the hairs on
 your arm stand on end.  The bolt courses through the air, illuminating the
 room with harsh light, and striking a metal container.  Its contents begin to
 bubble,then boil with incredible heat.  Grimacing, you withdraw your hand and
 the light is gone.

    "I'm the most powerful magician in the world," you think to yourself, "and
 here I am making tea."

    You walk over to the kettle, pour a cup, and sit down at the kitchen table.

    "There must be more to life," you think, sipping your Orange Pekoe.

    There is a rap on the door.

    "Come in," you say listlessly.  The door opens, revealing an impressive
 cloaked figure.

    "Petton Everhail," its voice booms out.

    "Yes?" you say, trying to stop the teacup from shaking against the saucer.

    "You must journey to the ruins of the Kieralon Empire," the raspy voice
 says. "There you must find the Kieralon Palace.  Great powers of evil have
 entered it, seeking to rob its treasures and reap its magic.  You must see
 that the evil ones are vanquished and the Great Palace is open to the powers
 of good.  Only your great magic will triumph.  "And besides," the voice said in
 a confidential tone, "you seem kind of bored."

    You cringe at the last comment, though you know the creature is right.

    "Who are you?  Why are you telling me this?" you demand.

    The creature floats forward, its raspy breath growing louder.  Slowing and
 stopping silently, it lifts its cowl.  It is a man, his weathered face
 betraying wisdom and pain.  He stares at you for a moment.

    "Aw, why can't you just go there, blast stuff, and get my--er--the treasure
 back?  We'll split it fifty-fifty," he says.

    "YOUR treasure?" you ask, uncomprehendingly.  "The Kieralon Empire fell
 apart over two hundred years ago."

    "And I am Terexin, High Wizard of the Kieralon.  I left all my scrolls back
 there, which you are welcome to.  But in the deepest catacombs I stored all of
 my great wealth.  More than you can imagine.  I left when the castle was
 taken, but the gold is still there.  Retrieve it and we will live as kings.
    "Take this Bag of Holding.  Just whip all the chests into it.  It is a
 magic bag and will hold anything you put into it."

    You take the bag and look at Terexin.  You look at all the dusty mementos
 on the wall from adventures long ago.  You look at the teacup.

    You look into Terexin's eyes.  You believe him.  A smile grows on your
 face.

    "Let's do it," you say.  You collect your things and march off for the
 Catacombs under the Kieralon Palace.



 HOW TO PLAY CATACOMB

    There are ten levels to the Catacombs.  To exit the level, you must enter a
 magic teleportation mirror.  There are many things that will prevent you from
 doing this:

 Doors          You must have a key to get through a door.  Just walk into
                the door while holding a key to open it.

 Walls          Most block your path, but some may fall under the strain of
                your magic.

 Goblins         These nasty folks will kill you if you are not careful.
 Skeletons       They inhabit the area, and you are really hoping you don't
 Ogres           meet up with any dragons.
 Gargoyles
 Dragons


 There are also many neat things to collect:


 Keys           Get you through doors

 Potions        Heal all your wounds

 Chests         Give you money (points)

 Scrolls        May contain a bolt (powerful strike in one direction)
                or a nuke (powerful strike in all four directions).
                These are good for very desperate situations.


    You have a certain number of body points.  When that goes to zero, you die.
 When you die, the game is over.  Drink a potion to heal up.

    When you cast a bolt of energy, holding the button down until the Power
 gauge is full will release a superbolt, destroying most everything in its
 wake.


 CONTROLS

 You may use the joystick, keyboard, or mouse.

                 JOYSTICK        KEYBOARD        MOUSE
 Move            Move stick      Arrows (8462)   Move mouse
 Fire            Button 1        Ctrl            Button 1
 Keep facing in  Button 2        Alt             Button 2
 same direction
        (This allows you strafe a whole hallway by just moving back and forth
         and firing.  Try it--you'll like it.)
 Take Potion    SPACE or P      SPACE or P      SPACE or P
 Bolt           B               B               B
 Nuke           Enter or N      Enter or N      Enter or N


 OTHER CONTROLS

    Pressing F1 brings up the Help screen.

    Pressing F2 will turn the sound on and off.

    Pressing F3 allows you to choose what controls you wish to use (joystick,
 keyboard, or mouse).

    F4 will reset the game.

    F9 will pause the game.

    F10 will quit Catacomb.



 PLAYING HINTS


    Keep an eye on your body points.  They disappear quickly.


    There are TEN levels. Really.


    Many things are hidden behind explodable walls.  There may be no other way
 to get into a room besides shooting through a wall.


    Save up nukes for really dangerous situations.  Nuking two goblins may look
 impressive, but it is wasteful.


    These levels were made by a twisted, devious intellect, so watch out for
 dirty tricks!



 CONCLUSION

    Good luck, Petton.  You're going to need it!


^COutside BBD

    To run this program outside ^1Big Blue Disk^0, type: ^1CATACOMB^0.

 DISK FILES THIS PROGRAM USES:
^FCATACOMB.EXE
^FDEMO.CAT
^FSOUNDS.CAT
^FALL LEVEL*.CAT
