EDIT: This post is now outdated information and has been for a while. The original Catacomb is now part of Catacombs Pack (Thanks GOG, Flatrock Studios and members who e-mailed them!) and Dangerous Dave in the Deserted Pirate's Hideout is now part of the Dangerous Dave Pack!

Catacomb was released as a freeware title. THE Catacomb is actually Catacombs II. The original Catacombs, before they went 3D, are still pretty fun even today. If you enjoy THE Catacomb I'd recommend downloading the original.

Info on the original game:
http://www.mobygames.com/game/catacomb

You can download the very original Catacomb and Dangerous Dave (Previously not included in the Dangerous Dave Pack but now available after an update) here:
http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Catacomb.html (Edited Broken Link thanks to SKARDAVNELN)

TY to GOG member f4llout for that info in a post on the Dangerous Dave forum.

Broken link.

Use this.
http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Catacomb.html

I sent an email to Richard Mandel regarding this game. I think he'd be open to bringing it assuming there are no legal issues.

Are you positive GOG is missing a Catacomb game? Because in talking to Richard Mandel, he seems to suggest there was only The Catacomb.

http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Catacomb.html looks very similar to what Richard is talking about; I'm not sure a game is actually missing.

EDIT: http://www.gog.com/forum/catacombs_pack/1st_game/post2 makes it seem Catacomb was only available on Apple (which GOG would be unable to bring), while The Catacomb is the DOS port of Catacomb.

I'm absolutely 100% positive that The Catacomb (aka Catacomb II) included in the gog pack is the second entry in the series. I have played the original a few times. The original is 10 levels long and while it was on Apple II it was also a DOS game, which is the version I've played multiple times. The original also didn't have the cascading walls of THE Catacomb and you had to break each chunk of wall one at a time.

http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/catacomb-series

From the moby games website on THE Catacomb: "Catacomb II, which was later renamed to The Catacomb, does not change the game principle of its predecessor, but offers 30 new levels to explore."

You aren't missing much not playing the original as I don't even think it had a story, but Catacomb has 10 completely different levels from THE Catacomb.

The original Catacomb is in fact in the RGB games link you posted. Download the Catacomb Gamer's Edge Sampler to play it. Perhaps I am a bit incorrect as in the link it says that "Catacomb was never sold as a standalone product, but was used to promote Softdisk's Gamer's Edge brand." So perhaps its more of a demo? That said it is 10 completely different levels and THE Catacomb was originally called Catacomb II before the name was changed to The Catacomb.

I got a question. What does power do for your character? Does that affect how much power goes into a bolt of fire? If so then that is really cool. Does that have that in the 3d version or just older original version.

Charging your shot makes it do a lot more damage. In the first two games it will kill just about anything with the exception of dragons and perhaps some heavies in one shot. Not only that but it will pass through enemies as well killing/damaging everything in a line.

It also appears in Catacombs 3D. As for the final trilogy Abyss, Armageddon & Apocalypse I'm pretty sure power shots were removed. I'm assuming for balance reasons as power shots were, well, powerful in the original trilogy.

I just bought this while it was on sale, and I'm not sure if I should make a new topic for this, but since the last post is recent I figured I'd share this here:

Since GreasyDogMeat shared a download link for the original Catacomb, I made a quick and simple patch that adds the missing game and updates the menu to include it.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/x85lcyq5qqbfqcm/Catacomb_Pack.zip
Just unzip it into the "GOG Games\Catacombs Pack" folder and overwrite any files.

Let me know if there are any problems with this.

Yup, the original was given out with a subscription to Gamer's Edge, and it was popular enough to be developed into a full retail game. So they are essentially the same game, with the original "Catacomb" being like a demo and "The Catacomb" being a final, more refined product. Which I'm guessing is why they went with "The Catacomb" instead of "Catacomb II," since it's less of a sequel and more like a remake.

That being said, the 10 levels in "Catacomb" did not reappear in "The Catacomb," so for completion's sake it should be included. Using my little patch above, you can play them side by side and see the difference.

IMO that would be the key reason to include the game. I did send a fresh message to Richard Mandel explaining the situation too; hopefully he'll respond soon.

Hey, some great news from Richard Mandel of Flat Rock Software!

"This has been very confusing, but I think I have it now. You are absolutely correct: Catacomb 1 is different than The Catacomb. I am going to talk to GOG about putting into the pack."

Nice!

You rock tfishell! Ditto to Richard Mandel!

Update from Richard: "The original Catacomb is set to be added to the pack on GOG. When that occurs really depends on their workload, but I expect it to happen “soon”. As for the source code for Hovertank and Catacomb series, that will also be available soon. As well as an ECWOLF version of the games so they can be played on modern hardware."