Catacombs

Games for Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, Amiga, Apple ][ and the rest of the 8-bit and 16-bit platforms. Pleas for help, puzzles, bug reports etc.

Moderator: Alastair

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Strident
Posts: 1001
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:57 pm

Catacombs

#1 Post by Strident » Mon Sep 20, 2021 7:14 am

Anyone up for a real challenge?

The DOS versions of the long-lost games Catacombs and Cornucopia have been finally been found and archived. These games, in the Classic Quests series, were based on some of the very first UK-authored adventure games, originally produced for Commodore PET.

The archivist is keen to have the files tested thoroughly before he shares them more widely with the community, so is looking for a few people to try and solve them.

These aren't for the faint-hearted. They're very tricky games (billed as such back in the day, so I'd expect lots of locations and deliberately difficult puzzles).

So, if you're up for a challenge then let me know and I'll hook you up with the files (not to be shared elsewhere at this point).

You can read about the history of Catacombs (and the other Classic Quests games) here: http://8bitag.com/info/catacombs.html
Last edited by Strident on Tue Nov 23, 2021 8:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Garry
Posts: 468
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:43 am
Location: Sydney, Australia
Contact:

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#2 Post by Garry » Mon Sep 20, 2021 2:30 pm

That's a fascinating article. I remember Pactronics, but wouldn't have paid any attention to those ads, as I was using an Atari at the time. I had a little chuckle to myself when I read the bit about them branching out into games, not the "here today, gone tomorrow" type, yet here we are trying to find and restore those games because they were "gone tomorrow". :lol:

Ordinarily, I'd offer to play (or try to play) Catacombs and Cornucopia, but I'm still tied up with the SC-3000 text adventure restoration project. Maybe later. They sound hard, though.

User avatar
Strident
Posts: 1001
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#3 Post by Strident » Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:43 am

Catacombs is now archived online at https://www.old-games.ru/game/11587.html

I'm guessing that Cornucopia will go up at some point. See https://www.old-games.ru/catalog/?publisherCompany=7115 for the other "Classic Quests".

User avatar
Alex
Posts: 958
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:45 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#4 Post by Alex » Mon Oct 25, 2021 12:04 pm

100 rooms, 275 verbs and 102 objects (including the ones you can't carry). I don't know if I will be able to finish it :), but I'll try to make a map.

User avatar
Strident
Posts: 1001
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#5 Post by Strident » Mon Oct 25, 2021 12:14 pm

It's from the "deliberately difficult" era, where people wanted to be stuck in games for months on end, so I wonder how many people ever solved it.

The archivist who has uploaded it has been in touch with various people, including Dorothy and Jacob, to try and find someone to give it a thorough test. Dorothy did pass on this note, from her collection about the original game...
"There is a bug, In the Catacombs a Horse Rider should appear and the horse drops a whoopsie. This does not happen in the Pc VERSION. You need the whoopsie to use a manure on the garden and the gardener gives you an object that you need to finish the game."
...but that sounds like it's not a bug that will stop the completion of the PC version.

[Edit: actually I guess it depends how you read that... either the bug does not happen in the PC version... or the "whoopsie" is not dropped in the PC version... which would be an issue. Re-reading it, I guess that, yes the PC version sounds like it may be bugged]
Last edited by Strident on Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Alex
Posts: 958
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:45 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#6 Post by Alex » Mon Oct 25, 2021 4:27 pm

Interesting two almost identical mazes, but they are different. To enter the second maze you have to enter it from another side, but it looks like you are entering the same maze, only this one has an extra exit, but doesn't have 2 objects that you will find in the other maze. The exits are in the same location. Sneaky.

I'm halfway mapping the game, but I'm not very good in playing it :D I don't even manage to open the tomb to get the lamp at the beginning :lol: Did solve some other puzzles though.

User avatar
Alex
Posts: 958
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:45 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#7 Post by Alex » Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:03 pm

Alex wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 4:27 pm
I don't even manage to open the tomb to get the lamp at the beginning :lol:
Looking a bit better I found the keys. I finished a raw version of the map , located 96 of the 102 objects, but still a lot of puzzles to solve,

User avatar
Alex
Posts: 958
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:45 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#8 Post by Alex » Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:18 pm

I do know how to get past the geyser. One of the problems on which the person on the website where you can get the game is stuck.

User avatar
Alex
Posts: 958
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:45 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#9 Post by Alex » Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:29 pm

I also know how to get rid of Dracula (on of the other problems this person could not solve).

User avatar
Alex
Posts: 958
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:45 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#10 Post by Alex » Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:42 pm

Strident wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 12:14 pm
Dorothy did pass on this note, from her collection about the original game...
"There is a bug, In the Catacombs a Horse Rider should appear and the horse drops a whoopsie. This does not happen in the Pc VERSION. You need the whoopsie to use a manure on the garden and the gardener gives you an object that you need to finish the game."
...but that sounds like it's not a bug that will stop the completion of the PC version.

[Edit: actually I guess it depends how you read that... either the bug does not happen in the PC version... or the "whoopsie" is not dropped in the PC version... which would be an issue. Re-reading it, I guess that, yes the PC version sounds like it may be bugged]
Yes I'm afraid it is. I did not find the manure and one other object. So probalby the last one is the object the gardener should give you and which is needed to solve one of the puzzles. Pity because this game isn't bad at all.

User avatar
Strident
Posts: 1001
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#11 Post by Strident » Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:52 pm

I know that these guys have fixed some of the issues with one of the other Classic Quests, so perhaps they'll be able to hack and fix this one when we let them know what exactly seems to be bugged.

User avatar
Alex
Posts: 958
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:45 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#12 Post by Alex » Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:36 pm

Strident wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:52 pm
I know that these guys have fixed some of the issues with one of the other Classic Quests, so perhaps they'll be able to hack and fix this one when we let them know what exactly seems to be bugged.
That would be great. If you look at the code there should be a figure on horseback, but I did not encounter him in the catacombs. However to bypass the bug it seems that if they can put the manure in some location (according to Dorothy in one of the catacomb locations), the bug will be solved.

User avatar
Uka
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2017 6:17 am
Location: Kiev, Ukraine

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#13 Post by Uka » Tue Oct 26, 2021 4:32 am

Hi guys!
I am the person who reviewed "Catacombs" for Old-Games.ru, but was stuck with the spider, Dracula and the geyser :)
I have also half-mapped it, getting only 73 points out of 250. I attach my map, if it could be of any use for Alex to create the full one!

I also have a small fragment of walkthrough from Dorothy, but I am not sure it would be of much use. Still, she was able to get into the catacombs by ringing the bell several times, while I got there via the North Shore.

Alex, it would be great to see you walkthrough :)
And I would try to fix that bug then - there was a bug in "Witch Hunt" by the same author that was fixed by my friend from Total DOS Collection. However, that was a common programmer's error that prevented objects from fitting into the cauldron - it could be more difficult here if it would turn out there is a portion of code missing or something.
Attachments
Catacombs.zip
(13.11 KiB) Downloaded 42 times

User avatar
Alex
Posts: 958
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:45 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#14 Post by Alex » Tue Oct 26, 2021 10:02 am

I now know how to get 223 out of 250 points, but for some reason my Dosbox stopped working properly this morning :( Can't load or save states anymore. No idea what went wrong.

User avatar
Strident
Posts: 1001
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: Catacombs/Cornucopia

#15 Post by Strident » Tue Oct 26, 2021 11:21 am

Alex wrote:
Tue Oct 26, 2021 10:02 am
I now know how to get 223 out of 250 points, but for some reason my Dosbox stopped working properly this morning :( Can't load or save states anymore. No idea what went wrong.
Urgh, how annoying. But 223 out of 250 points... That's really impressive! :)

Post Reply