| Feb 29, 2000 (Tuesday) |
A little known seven revealed on the Pathways Into Darkness page.
Dan Marketti <reconn@captured.com> makes this interesting observation:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/2000/0200issue/0200johnson.html
More specifically this part:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/2000/0200issue/0200johnsonbox2.html
It may be the Halo team has really done their research.
As the moon Io orbits jupiter, the magnetic field of the gas giant interacts
with it, creating a "flux tube" in which gas from the moon is "scooped" up..
well, read the second link. This flux tube carries a five million ampere
electric charge.. the charge would probably be bigger on a gas giant much
larger than Jupiter as shown in the Halo map hologram.. maybe enough to power an
orbiting Halo?
...if you browse through the Scientific American article:
Seth Graham <sether@xzzy.org> writes:
http://www.arstechnica.com/reviews/1q00/macos-x-dp3/macos-x-dp3-4.html
You find the word 'halo' in green, linking to.. halo.bungie.com. ;)
The source URL for the review is:
http://www.arstechnica.com/reviews/1q00/macos-x-dp3/macos-x-dp3-1.html
I was reading a technical review of the up-and-coming OS X, and under this
URL:
| Feb 28, 2000 (Monday) |
On the Pathways Into Darkness page today we explore the level "Please Excuse Our Dust".
James Gurnee <harness@access1.net> writes concerning the
cryptic character strings in Marathon Infinity. See the Trash Terms section for details.
Marathon marine in Halo?
Eric Rosheger <shogoki@home.com> sends in this piece of
Halo artwork.
Don't forget to check Eric's
Bob Pictures page and in
particular this powerful piece of original artwork
"Marine Without Remorse ".
Added Shogoki's Marathon Trilogy Page to the General Pages section of Page 2401.
| Feb 27, 2000 (Sunday) |
Elbert Wall <elbertdw@radiks.net>, Dave McGee <kallikanzaros@home.com>, Joshua Inglima <jinglima@thinkpos.com>, and Bradley Attfield <iku-turso@home.com> all write concerning the cryptic character strings in Marathon Infinity. See the Trash Terms section for details.
The LAW revealed! On the Pathways Into Darkness page
today James Klauder <jklauder@excite.com> provides some details on the M-72 Light Anti-tank Weapon (LAW).
Harry Al-Shakarchi <ha99ab@badger.ac.brocku.ca>
I noticed the Apple Store is selling the Total Codex. I guess we can see Oni
and Halo on sale at the Apple Store in future.
and Harry continues:
Iconfactory announced the pixelpalooza winners, and one of the donators for
this event was Bungie! Cool eh?
| Feb 26, 2000 (Saturday) |
|
Quick update
Oh boy! Did I miss this! Thanks to the DEHc-3 HALO site for the heads up. Back in Oct 28, 1999 I mentioned that Orbit Books (UK) in conjunction with Iain M. Banks were running a competition to name Culture ships for Iain's new Culture novel. Well the Orbit site has now published the winners and the ship names. I've taken the liberty (as always) of reprinting Orbit's announcement below. Halo fans will no doubt recognise the name "Purity of Spirit" amongst the favorites.
A couple of months ago, we ran a competition to name a Culture ship, and Iain has now looked at all the
entries (there were a lot!) and picked his favourites. Iain particularly liked the following:
ASKING FOR A SLAP, BILL ME LATER, CERTAIN SENSE OF WONDER, DRAMA
QUEEN, FEIGNING INNOCENCE, HIGHLY STRUNG, INNOCENT BYSTANDER,
LOOK BOTH WAYS, NERVROVOROUS, OH WELL, RTFM, SUBJECT TO
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS, SWEPT ALONG BY EVENTS, ATROCIOUS
TABLE MANNERS, BUDGET CUTS, CONSOLATION OF DREAMS, FASHIONABLY
LATE, GUESS WHAT, IMAGINARY FRIEND, JUST VISITING, MIND YOUR HEAD,
NOTHING PERSONAL, PURITY OF SPIRIT, REASONABLE DOUBT, SUBTLE
NUANCE and TARNISHED REPUTATION.
Of these, Iain's top five were:
SWEPT ALONG BY EVENTS, CONSOLATION OF DREAMS, IMAGINARY FRIEND,
And of these, Iain's favourite was É REASONABLE DOUBT.
There were also two entries which Iain had already thought of (he keeps a big list!), and one that was
very similar, so we've decided that it's only fair to count these as additional joint winners:
COLLATERAL DAMAGE, SURPLUS TO REQUIREMENTS and SPEAK SOFTLY AND
CARRY BIG GUNS
Congratulations to Ian Hopkins, Dragi Raos, Charlie Kay and Michael Maddux, who sent the winning
entries.
|
Francesca Poppi <electro.pencil@flashnet.it> writes concerning
those cryptic character strings which appear throughout the terminals in Marathon Infinity
many of which remained unsolved.
See the Trash Terms section for a full listing of the strings and
Francesca comments. thdmncobwbsnw
On today's Pathways Into Darkness page we find out
what surprises Jason Jones and Co. left us on "Please Excuse Our Dust" and Chris Harvey speculates
on who would have brought the LAW to the pyramid.
Every once in awhile a Marathon Vidmaster film comes along which re-defines how we view a level.
Today on the Marathon Vidmasters' page
there is such a film. John Sumner <UTJohnS@aol.com> takes on that infamous of levels
"Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap". Yes the one where you have to raise those seven pillars to the correct height.
But did you have actually have to raise them? Find out on the
Vidmasters page.
Matthew Vaughan <matthewv@scruznet.com> writes concerning the recent comments
about an Unreal Tournament mod, called Holy Wars, in which players fight for control of the Halo:
You can get more information or download the mod at
http://www.planetquake.com/holywars/
Just to set the record straight, Holy Wars was a Quake (1) mod from way
back, that was then ported to Quake 2, and also to QuakeWorld. All this of
course happened LONG before UT even existed...
And yes the player did run around with a Halo over their head.
| Feb 25, 2000 (Friday) |
As noted on halo.bungie.org Bungie are advertising for a producer for Halo. In addition they are also looking for a programmer for their Chicago base. Full details are available on Bungie's Job Opportunities page.
Harry Al-Shakarchi <ha99ab@badger.ac.brocku.ca> points out that MacGamer's Ledge have a special report on Mac OS X
entitled "Who's Making Games for Mac OS X?".
Bungie Software are featured at the very end.
No surprises to learn that both Halo and Oni are being developed for Mac OS X but the article went on to reveal:
Doug told us that Myth II: Soulblighter would probably
be updated for Mac OS X support, if necessary. He suggested that going back any
farther than that would probably not happen. However, with Bungie's recent release
of the Marathon 2: Durandal source code, the action-game could definitely be running
natively on Mac OS X.
Seems any hope of Marathon for OS X is up to the fans. At this stage the fate of Pathways Into Darkness is unknown.
Robert Zimmermann <robzim@gmx.net> writes:
Some time ago you mentioned a shot from the Ferazel's Wand demo having
similarities to Mullins artwork. Here are two other shots from the full
game. I have aquired those via a firend and do not have the game, so I was
unable to check if there are more, but those two shots (attached) are from
him and have similarities to Marathon Chapter screens, though I would not
call them copies.
You can see Robert's pics here. i think there is little doubt that these were inspired by the Marathon 2 chapter screens by Craig Mullins.
| Feb 24, 2000 (Thursday) |
|
Quick update
Harry Al-Shakarchi <tomeone@bungie.org>, maintainer of Oni Central, has put up a translation of a recent German Macnews interview with Doug Zartman. While the interview concentrates primarily on Oni there are some tidbits on Bungie and Doug himself. For example:
Doug: No, we have more than one game planned for the time after Halo. But we must
divide our working force. Our development studios are working on a few games at once,
not only Oni and Halo. At this time there are 50 people at Bungie, 12 work in the Oni
team, 9 work in the Halo team. Along with that we have 2 more development studios at
Bungie. Along with that is customer support, sales, accounting and marketing, which I
do.
Check Oni Central for the full translated interview. |
Mark Bassett <markb@iisc.co.uk> writes concerning the recent Lynx Phoenix deodorant ad which
uses the Halo font:
Sorry I can't send you any scenes from the commercial, maybe
someone else will have better luck.
You asked us all to let you know of any more "Phoenix"
sightings - well, last night there was a prime-time commercial
on British TV. I didn't see it myself but my daughter did,
and to quote her "That is *such* a rip-off of Halo!".
Can anyone capture this? Thanks.
Robert Zimmermann <robzim@gmx.net> writes concerning Bungie's
Events Calendar:
If you check out the events calendar and look up the 7/7 you will find out
what it is ment by Bungie day :) I plan to attend. :)
Here's what it says for the 7th July:
Bungie Day
(click for the event's site)
Fri, July 7th 2000
7:07 AM CST
Host: yeroen
Contact: webmonkey@bungie.com
Category: other
Description: Happy Bungie Day!
On the subject of the number seven Luke Bassett <uke@divefreak.com> points us to this page:
http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/ktmanual/kt-theos.htm#ch7
Chris Hebner <chebner@erinet.com> writes:
Just an interesting tidbit for you. One of Jupiter's 3 rings is
named Halo, it is about 100,000 km from the center of the planet
Jupiter. I wonder what other similarites exist between the two....
3D Action Planet have a
Halo preview which contains some rather
odd story info. With regard to Covenant technology the article says:
Their technology does not seem to be too far advanced from ours, but their numbers are.
The Pillar of Autumn is described as having faster-than-light travel capabilities. I quote:
...in a last-ditch attempt, we
send one of our final ships, the Pillar of Autumn, into subspace. Suprisingly, they follow.
When we come out of hyperspace, we are suprised at what we find.
The article gives the impression that the Covenant already know about the Halo's existence which presumably explains why the whole Covenant fleet follows the PoA rather than continue on their destructive path towards Earth. I quote:
A Covenant fleet emerged from behind Threshold. It appears that they already knew of Halo's existence.
Lastly the article provides some detailed numbers and another reference to cyborg characters in the game. I quote:
Some 2600 of us survived, a few hundred being cyborg.
Not sure if this info comes directly from Bungie or is third hand at this stage. The article does get the name of the moon wrong "Basic" rather than "Basis".
| Feb 23, 2000 (Wednesday) |
|
Quick update
Hey you thought I'd forgotten about the Pathways Into Darkness page didn't you? Never! On today's page Chris Harvey uncovers the mysterious LAW. A weapon that can penetrate five inches of tank armor. Pretty handy on the battle field <wink>. But where is it in the game? Shades of the Wave Motion Cannon perhaps? Also on the Pathways Into Darkness Arvid Nordenskjld uncovers a further function for the Red Velvet Bag. |
Matt Soell, the Master of Obscuration at Bungie Software, made an interesting
post on the
halo.bungie.org forums.
I've taken the liberty of reprinting this in full below since it's one of those memorable posts that shouldn't get lost.
In otherwords I'll keep reminding Matt that he wrote this etc. Right Matt? ;-)
In Response To: How's it going Matt???? RSVP (Dave Fin')
I don't blame anyone for being curious. But there's a difference between desiring more info and demanding it. ;-)
No one ever said all the fundamental, difficult stuff has been put to rest. No one from Bungie, anyway. The fact that it's not necessarily all
done right now does not mean it will never be done. Skepticism is admirable in this age of extraordinary gullibility, but doubting the very
existence of Halo is a bit much.
We have this situation with Halo where _everyone_ is watching us, and there are those who are eagerly waiting for us to make some misstep
so they can be the first to criticize it. Because we are conscious of that (and also because the corporate marketing focus is currently on Oni)
we're not to show off some features until we're totally comfortable doing so. If I keep my mouth shut about certain things it's generally for a
good reason, though that reason might not be apparent to someone who doesn't work here.
But hey, in the spirit of greasing the squeaky wheel, here are some tidbits for everyone to squeak about.
- What has two triggers and belches flame? Bonus points if you can guess what the second trigger does. Speculation on public forums is, as
always, encouraged.
- Beware of wall-hugging hippos. No, this is not a joke. Nor does it necessarily mean what you think it means.
- Cortana sure has been quiet lately. I wonder if that means anything.
- What will be in the E3 build, and will it be playable? No one knows yet, but when I do I'll let the forums know. We'll probably have some
impressive downloadable goodies in the same timeframe for those of you who can't attend. (Figured I should toss in a straightforward one to
keep you on your toes.)
- There will be a lot of surprises in Halo, but the old-school Bungie fans will perhaps be the most pleasantly surprised of all. I wish I could
be around to see your faces the first time you see... well, you'll see.
-Matt
Re: How's it going Matt???? RSVP
Posted By: Matt <matt@bungie.com>
Date: 22 Feb 2000, 16:46
Note the last part "...the old-school Bungie fans will perhaps be the most pleasantly surprised of all." You've still got your old-school tie right? ;-)
E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo 2000 is scheduled for May 11-13th in Los Angeles, California. More details can be found here. And if I hear another "Bungie are at booth 2900 (9-2 =7)" I'll scream! ;-)
Tim Young <youngtimmy@mail.utexas.edu> writes concerning Bungie's
Events Calendar:
They're located at
Good to see important dates aren't being overlooked by the community. :)
Well, two new events have been added to the calendar that should be of
interest to you.
http://www.bungie.net/bin/calendar.pl?do=detail&eid=21
and
http://www.bungie.net/bin/calendar.pl?do=detail&eid=23
Yes indeed. Thanks Tim and nice one poenadare. :-)
Greg Ingber <gaingber@sbc.edu> writes concerning yesterday's Cleopatra 2525 pics:
http://www.circling.org/articles/02.00/cleo2525.html
(look for the reference to a "Rampant" computer system)
Looks as if someone else has made the marathon/cleo 2525 connection:
Matt Francis <mgf@n2mail.com> writes:
Is it just me or does that symbol above the armor plating on the back of the alien in the knife fight picture look familiar...
UT Halo? Alan Greene <alan@fontshop.com> writes:
http://www.insidemacgames.com/downloads/shareware/00/utholywars/utholywars.shtml
There's a new mod out for Unreal Tournament, called Holy Wars, in which
players fight for control of the Halo. Incidentally, there is a map that
comes with UT, called Niven-something, perhaps after the Larry Niven we all
know and love (or at least pretend to).
| Feb 22, 2000 (Tuesday) |
Bruce Morrison <hippieman@hotmail.com> notes that on Bungie's Events Calendar page the little calendar graphic says July 7th Sat. The 7th day of the 7th month. But why Saturday? Well I'll let you figure that one out for yourself! ;-)
Aaron Davies <agd12@columbia.edu> writes:
_Cleopatra 2525_ is a new TV series created by the producers
of _Xena_ and _Hercules_ as a replacement for _Hercules_, which ended
last month. It just aired its fourth or fifth episode. The aliens are
robots called, as best as I can tell, "Bailies", who have taken control
of the surface of the earth, driving all humans except their slaves underground.
Anything look familiar in these pics from Cleopatra 2525?
| Feb 21, 2000 (Monday) |
|
Quick update
First off Bungie have an brand-new Events Calendar for publically announcing tournaments, order meetings, and even the odd knife fight. ;-)
Looks like a new owner. He also owns www.metlhaus.com (it's the same page as
doubleaught)
Below is the registration info:
Registrant:
Domain Name: doubleaught.com
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Billing Contact:
Record last updated on 08-Feb-2000.
Domain servers in listed order:
The graphic is supposed to be called "new%20site%20tag.jpg"; the
%20's usually stand for spaces, but there seems to be nothing by this
name.
|
Why staying alive just got tougher on today's Pathways Into Darkness page.
Dylan Barrie <pfhorslayer@mac.com> points out that while Double Aught's website
at www.doubleaught.com
was down some time ago it's now back up with an odd look and a broken graphic. What's up?
Loren Petrich <petrich@netcom.com> writes concerning the comments made in the Marathon 2 source code:
1993:
devices.c
It's clear that early Marathon development had been going on in 1993,
when Bungie released PID.
1992:
monsters.c
This stuff may have been modifications of stuff that had been used in PID.
1990:
shell.c
This file contains the canonical C master routine main() that one calls
all the others, even if indirectly.
...the dates of the source-code comments are rather
interesting. The majority of them are 1994, with several being 1995. There
are, however, some earlier ones. Examining the 150 or so source-code
files, I find these ones with older comments:
game_dialogs.c
interface.c
interface.h
map.c
map.h
marathon2.c
mysound.c
pathfinding.c
player.c
preprocess_map_mac.c
screen.c
shapes.c
textures.c
shell.h
vbl.c
vbl.h
world.c
world.h
The early shell.c comments which contain a reference to an unknown project (OZONE) can be found on What's New section for Jan 20, 2000. Check the bottom of this page for a link.
| Feb 20, 2000 (Sunday) |
A few days ago I drew attention to an advertisement for Lynx Phoenix (a deodorant for men) which used the Halo font in its logo. Below you'll find some pics of the full poster ad for Lynx Phoenix which are springing up in Dublin city (Ireland).
Lynx Phoenix full poster ad
close up of Lynx Phoenix full poster ad
Lynx Phoenix full poster ad at bus shelter (night shot)
close up of the Lynx Phoenix full poster ad at bus shelter (night shot)
Interesting to note the use of an Angel (halo connotation) in the ad. According to Nathan Bitner (former Producer and Creative Developer of Halo) the Halo font was a unique Bungie design. If you happen to see a Lynx Phoenix ad in your area please let me know.
Phil Saulnier (aka Manus Celer Dei) <manus.celer.dei@home.com> writes to say that
Orbital Arm has
just released Infinity Prime, a port of Infinity stuff to the M2 engine. Good news
for PC Marathon fans. The Orbital Arm blurb reads:
Infinity Prime is not a map; it's a resource set. Containing Infinity textures and a
new weapon, Infinity Prime is the resource set for a collection of upcoming maps
and scenarios, and represents the collected work of the past several weeks.
Packaged with the excellent Hell Hole map, Infinity Prime opens many new
horizons. This is well worth the wait.
Harry Al-Shakarchi <tomeone@bungie.org> writes to say that
Oni Central at bungie.org is back
with a new look.
Brendan Giles (full name pending) <giles666@hotmail.com> writes:
We have started a little Marathon gaming group called Electric Death.
Our webpage is at www.electricdeath.8m.com. we are currently only
supporting M2 but will get to the other games soon. we have a few net
movies up on our site with heaps more coming soon. We are also looking
for other Marathon net groups. If you interested have a look at the
site or email me at giles666@hotmail.com
| Feb 19, 2000 (Saturday) |
So you think you're big time? Well try out your luck against the Greater Nightmares and Venomous Skitters on today's Pathways Into Darkness page.
James Klauder <jklauder@excite.com> makes a valid point when he writes:
When Tycho takes us out of cold storage on Rise Robot Rise, he arms us with
a pair of .44 Magnum Mega Class A1s, and then later on, with a Zeus-class
fusion pistol. But those weapons were manufactured by Durandal in the
timeline that ended with Ne Cede Malis. So where did Tycho get those guns?
Realistically, he should have armed you with the old Marathon .45 MMCs and
the Tech 50 Fusion pistol, or maybe some Phfor weapons. I can understand
that Infinity has a limited number of weapon slots, but Double Aught _was_ able to
add the SMG; too bad, it would have been really cool to have different
equipment for each timeline.
I don't know if anyone's noticed this, but there's a continuity error with
Marathon Infinity's weapons:
Thunderbirds are go! Well not exactly... but they sure look like puppets.
Harry Al-Shakarchi <ha99ab@badger.ac.brocku.ca> finds an Apple gaming tribute to the
Gaming Gurus: Alex Seropian and Jason Jones.
Note this page has been around for some time. About time we flagged it here.
| Feb 18, 2000 (Friday) |
Find out how far the rabbit hole goes.... Remember, all I'm offering is the tru7h, nothing more.... Follow me....
Zach Stroum <durandal@u.washington.edu> wonders why in the recent
Incite Halo movie it gives
the impression that Bungie work in some historic building
rather than on the 7th floor of an office block?
Bob Pickel <rpick@ix.netcom.com> writes:
...in Star Trek (Although this is probably after the publishing of Marathon), it is
found that many of the races in the galaxy share a common ancestor. When each race's
genetic code was correctly assembled, it gave a message of goodwill to the discoverers.
It seems that the Jjaro have seeded this galaxy with races, and if the two stories are parallel,
then it would appear that the Jjaro truly are a goodly race and possibly the W'rkncacter
is the opposite.
Jared Cash <jcash@graceland.edu> writes concerning the .fortune command on Bungie.net:
Perhaps this is a throwback to UNIX. In most shells I've encountered
(which, I believe, actually only numbers at about 3), typing fortune
will give you a random quote from a text file. I'm sure other shells
have the same command with a different name. It's often used to give
you a "quote of the day" when you log in.
| Feb 17, 2000 (Thursday) |
Ok so you met Barney and friends on "Warning: Earthquake Zone" and you tried on that cute Ruby Ring now it's time to check out that matching accessory... the Red Velvet Bag. Whoa!... the Pathways Into Darkness page uncovers a shocking tru7h!
Jared Cash <jcash@graceland.edu> writes concerning the Lynx Phoenix ad
mentioned yesterday:
The logo for Phoenix made me wonder, too. I turned it 90 degrees
clockwise. Hmmmm...
You can see Jared's pic here.
Michael Lake <beorn@thegrid.net> writes:
Bungie has just put up live coverage from Bungie West. It has
real-time, live footage using QuickTime 4 technology. You can get it
from oni.bungie.com/movies.
A reader who wishes to remain anonymous writes:
...the command is not listed under .help and I do not know if normal users are
supposed to know it.
I have found a new command for the Bungie.net interface.
".fortune" is one
of the commands which works with normal users (Unlike .blam or .gag) and it
displays various quotes, I thought I'd attach a screenshot, because the soul
sez hi :)
| Feb 16, 2000 (Wednesday) |
Below are three photographs of an advertisement for Lynx Phoenix (a deodorant for men):
Lynx Phoenix ad
close up of the word Phoenix
close up of the 'o' in Phoenix
Lynx is marketed by Fabergé which inturn is owned by Unilever one of the largest consumer-goods companies in the world. Lynx is also marketed under the brand name Axe in some countries. The Lynx Phoenix ad can be seen in many public places in Dublin (Ireland) today. The above photographs were taken yesterday. I've also seen a full poster size version. Halo fans will no doubt instantly recognise the font used for the word Phoenix as being the same as the one used for Halo. No harm in that if the font is commercially available.
However in the Halo News interview with Nathan Bitner the subject of the Halo font came up. I quote directly from the interview:
Nathan Bitner:
Halo News:
And then a small question, about the "Halo" logo itself-- was that
completely rendered from scratch, or was it based on an existing font? As you
can imagine, a lot of sites will be interested in creating some derivative
art-- as some already have-- and would be hungry for a bit of knowledge on how
to stay consistent with Halo's “look”.
It's a unique design, not based on an existing font.
So how is a unique design now appearing in an advertisement for a men's deodorant?
I asked Alan Greene <alan@fontshop.com> font expert at FontShop to take a look at the font in the ad and posed the question "Is this a commercially available font?" He replied as follows:
We run what I like to consider to be the best free font research service in the US. I used to head the department, for what its worth.I'm going to have to brainstorm and figure out where else I can go for information. Until then, here's my two cents: I have a great deal of experience with typography, and it seems likely to me that the Phoenix sample is a rip-off of the Halo logo. This is not blind loyalty to Bungie, but it's based on the nature of the "other" characters: P, E, N, I, X. Whoops, look what that spells.
Anyway, it may be hard for me to describe, but each of the letters in the Halo logo is created uniquely. Not so with the Phoenix logo: the other letters are very much derivatives of the base characters (H, L, O). Note the bullet in the P: its identical to that of the O, but too big for the counter in the P. Note the baseline serifs on I, N, P: they're all identical to the H. Note the variable stem width on the E: its the same as the left stem on the H.
The Halo logo has lots of subtle idiosyncracies that make it very esoteric. As someone who has spent a lot of time researching plagiarized fonts and such, these are things that I pick up on very easily. However, this is just my opinion at first glance, I will do what I can to identify the font.
It didn't end there Alan followed up with two further comments:
One other thing, the extruding effect is more or less irrelevant. This effect can be applied or removed at any time. It's the basic character shapes that matter most, since fonts can only be black and transparent.
and...
I don't mean to pound this into the ground, but look at how the bowl on the P has those little notches on top and bottom: they also match the O. Telltale signs of copy and paste.
So if the Halo logo is a unique Bungie design then somebody is
taking a few liberties in the Lynx Phoenix ad.
But then again perhaps the rumors are true... and Unilever is indeed a subsidiary of Bungie's Corporate Empire. ;-)
| Feb 15, 2000 (Tuesday) |
The Mysterious Gas Mask Myth (try saying that one fast) revealed on today's Pathways Into Darkness page.
Rob Perrin <rep0658@ritvax.isc.rit.edu> writes:
I just wanted to point out that the symbol submitted by Brandon Gupton on the marathon symbols page is the Logo of a fictional OS in the Anime "Serial Experiments Lain". I should also point out that the series creator was a major Apple and NeXT fan, he makes a lot of refrences to both of these companies products, and that it is actually possible that he actually did intentionally design the logo with a vaguely marathonish look.
A large number of artwork submissions appearing at the
Marathon 2 Open Source page. Worth a look.
Bungie are hiring again.
A Lead Engineer is required for Bungie Chicago and a Texture Artist/3D Modeler for Bungie West.
| Feb 14, 2000 (Monday) |
Happy Valentines Day. Given the day that's in it here's a Rose for all you Marathon heads out there! ;-)
Whoa! Meet Barney and Co. on today's Pathways Into Darkness page.
Try on that cute Ruby Ring... err... hang on a minute... what kind of game is this anyway?!!! ;-)
Marathon/Cortana/Halo speculation a plenty on the Core
and HBO. Two articles with similar titles:
Cortana Revisited and
Cortana Letters Revisited and
both posted on the same day? Coincidence or...
| Feb 13, 2000 (Sunday) |
What's your poison? Why posion can be bad for your memory but also keep you alive! Yes... this and more on today's Pathways Into Darkness page.
Bungie-like? Alan Greene <alan@fontshop.com> writes:
Here's a logo that's too close for comfort:
More logo similarities. Sam Morris <sam@netcity.co.uk> and Muhsin Miski <mmiski@mac-addict.com> both find
another Marathon-like symbol on the web. See the
That Marathon Symbol (part 2) page for details.
Andy Evanson <BaronMind@netscape.net> writes:
Passing along some info I recently received, with particular relevance to the SEVEN theme. If there are any Bible scholars out there who can confirm this conclusion, I'd greatly appreciate it:1) 1997 was a year of Jubilee based on Hebrew law, part of a cycle established in Old Testament times. Seven years of seven sabbaths = 49 years. The 50th year -- the year of Jubilee -- all debts were forgiven or prorated to that year.
2) The second Jubilee was marked on the 50th anniversary of Israel being a nation (1948-1998).
3) 2000, the third Jubilee, is the start of the Seventh Millennium.
Scripture references:
Luke 4:19
Deuteronomy 15:1-10
Leviticus 25:1-55
| Feb 12, 2000 (Saturday) |
Stop and chat with Juan on the Pathways Into Darkness page today. Things are about to get hectic... so hang on to your seat... no turning back now you're on an express elevator to... hell!
Damien Jones <email address withheld on request> writes:
Maybe this is mentioned on another page, but while reading up on the Marathon Story (to get some background for Halo) I flipped through the Cortana letters, and was somewhat *aghast* that a tiny smidgen was overlooked. In response to the automated reply to the second letter, the subject line is altered:Subject: Re: Mail consternation request (MR-343)
While it's correctly pointed out that 3 + 4 + 3 = 10, somehow it was totally overlooked that 7*7*7 = 7^3 = 343.
Just my own tiny contribution to the tru7h.
This subject header was sent in by Nathan Bitner during the alleged 2nd letter coverup. Those who remember the Page 2401 puzzle will no doubt be familiar with the number 343. ;-)
On the subject of Bungie Points (see yesterday's news) M.C. Avistetto <nijhazer@bungie.org> writes:
Just got my Oni mouse pad... Man, they ship these things out quick. I just ordered it two days ago, via the slowest, cheapest method.Anyway, enclosed are my ten Bungie Points, accompanied by the following message:
"A Personal Message From Bungie Software to You""Our corporate philosophy has always been simple: Make games that are so much fun to play, so involving, our satisfied customers won't even blink when we seize the reins of global power.
"That said, we'd like to thank you for choosing our online store. Dedicated fans like you have made our sales skyrocket over the last few years, and we're very, very grateful. In return, we try hard to exceed our customers' expectations. After all, while lots of software companies will take your money, no one else promises you a future of unparallelled joy and prosperity where the good and the just are rewarded with cool Bungie swag while the corrupt and vile are fired into the sun by an enormous slingshot. We're not quite there yet, but thanks to your continued support our plans for world domination are right on schedule.
"So, to better express our gratitude to you right here and now, we've decided to give you, our most dedicated customer, a head start on the 'cool Bungie swag' part of the deal by introducing Bungie Points. Bungie Points are a simple way of quantifying your devotion to Bungie. Collect Bungie Points from Bungie game boxes, orders from the Bungie Store (like this), and various other special offers and promotions.
"As you collect more and more Bungie Points, you may notice certain changes in your life. Friends and co-workers may begin to speak to you in subdued, almost reverential tones. Previously unimaginable numbers of attractive people may 'accidentally' bump into you and strike up conversations. Your dog may start fetching the paper in the morning, if your parakeet doesn't eat it first. But the real thrill comes when you visit http://store.bungie.com/special/bungiepoints.html and swap those accumulated Bungie Points for cool Bungie swag!
"Basically, what we're offering here is a ticket to a never-ending rollercoaster of Bungie-style pleasure, and all we ask is that you keep buying Bungie stuff, preferably direct from us and in large quantities. Sound good to you? We thought so."
| Feb 11, 2000 (Friday) |
Thanks to the stalwart efforts of Claude Errera <errera@bungie.org> late last night the Marathon, Myth and PID pages at bungie.org are back up. They are presently being served from Connecticut rather than Oklahoma.
Jim Ruiz <jim@bungie.com> Direct Sales Magnate at Bungie writes:
Just wanted to draw your attention to our latest get-rich-quick scheme - Bungie Points. Sorta like Marlboro Miles, but you don't have to smoke.
52 = 5 + 2 = ? ... but I digress. Bungie points have been out for some time. You might have noticed them on the Mac Action Sack back in July '99. The more you buy at the Bungie Store the more points you get. Collect enough of these points and you can cash them in for special Bungie items, not available for sale anywhere! Page 52 has the full list of items available.
| Feb 10, 2000 (Thursday) |
Another mistake in the Pathways Into Darkness Official Hint Book? Was Thomas really unliked by the rest of the Germans? Learn how to survive the Suffocation Room. And meet the Yuck Monsters. All this and more in today's updated Pathways Into Darkness page.
John Prichard <jpp@usc.edu> writes concerning the futuristic battle field:
Here's the pertinent part of the article I wrote in earlier about. It says some exciting things about what kind of action we might be getting in Halo, as well as some plot points which we've already heard about so far. The url ishttp://www.newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/sr/a1825-1999dec20.htm
no luck with the picture yet, though it was in the US edition January 1st.
"Location" tidbit below suggests tanks as primarily fire-support. This gels with what we've seen of the B.F.T. - really more of an assault gun than a tank. The machine gun is fixed to the turret, which doesn't move all that fast. This tank would get plown up pretty bad in close quarters fighting with antitank capable infantry.
Battle PlanFighting: Waging the next war-instead of the last one
By John Barry
Newsweek, January 1, 2000...[snip]...
War in space: Satellites are so vital for surveillance and for communications that both sides try to blind or destroy the other's satellites. Old-fashioned versions have vanished. Instead, each side relies on micro-satellites in low-Earth orbit.
UAVs: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) loiter over the battlefield. Some drop supplies to troops on the ground. Some are also sensors, surveying the battlefield below; others cruise over the landscape and unleash precision-guided bombs on enemy troops.
Buggy era: Tanks and other easily detected heavy materiel have vanished from the battlefield. The new strike vehicle is an electric-powered buggy.
Death by robot: The battlefield is littered with robot sensors to detect movement, noise, heat. A computer linked to the sensors then calls in fire from UAVs or robot weapons.
Supersoldiers: The army is composed of an elite force of older, smarter soldiers-like today's Special Ops forces.
Parafoils: Some supplies are dropped from the air.
Lethal airspace: Computer-controlled antiaircraft missiles have proliferated. As a result, unmanned aircraft have taken over most missions.
Location: The ground troops' main task is not to destroy the enemy forces themselves. Instead it is to identify the enemy forces' locations, and pin them down long enough (by destroying their electronics) to call in fire from elsewhere.
The swarm: Small squads of 25 soldiers-linked by superb communications equipment-roam the battlefield. When one squad finds an enemy, it summons the others, and the units swarm.
Cyberwar: Both sides try to disrupt the other's homeland-and cut off the enemy's command of its forces-by sabotaging essential computer links.
Submersible landing strips: Old-fashioned aircraft carriers are easy targets. The solution: go underwater. Submarines link at the surface to create giant landing strips. Submarines have also become artillery weapons. They lurk beneath the water, surfacing swiftly to launch salvos on command.
Some interesting concepts here and a possible alternate name for a Halo "clan" or "squad"... a "swarm". Might prove popular!
| Feb 9, 2000 (Wednesday) |
Jonathon Green <jdgreen@lindenwood.edu> writes:
Following on the Newsweek article of yesterday, and linking the recent Steve Jackson news is this tidbit (quoted from http://www.sjgames.com/ogre/index.html):Ogre and its sequel, G.E.V., are tactical ground combat games set in the next century. In 2085 A.D., armored warfare is faster and deadlier than ever. Hovercraft, tanks and infantry slug it out with tactical nukes. But the most feared weapon of all needs no human guidance. It's the giant cybernetic tank called the Ogre.
Concerning yesterday's submission about the similarity between the Halo and Jjaro logo
Chris Hebner <chebner@erinet.com> sent in a pic showing the Jjaro logo overlaid
over the full Jjaro space station. Note how the end of the spur is cut off in logo
thus excluding the round part at the end. This would seem to counter any suggestion
that the 'O' of the Halo logo was designed to look like part of a Jjaro space station. Unless
of course the inspiration came from the Jjaro logo itself rather than the space station.
Chris goes onto to say:
There could still be an interesting correlation between the 2 symbols. The Jjaro uses a map as a backround, the Halo uses a (?wall) texture.
Yes a wall/door texture of a ring motif. The Jjaro space station is also a ring!
On the subject of ring motif's, Halo and the Jjaro... Sarwat Khan <sarwat@interlog.com> writes:
You know that Halo door pattern that everybody loves to talk about? It's also in the Jjaro logo from Infinity, as you can see in the attached pic.
See the Ring Motif in Halo section for details.
Dennis Taylor <dennis@funkplanet.com> writes:
From a recent interview with John Carmack:Question: Are you interested in Halo at all?
John: I've watched the movies of it; it looks pretty good. The one problem right now is that there's no way to really judge anything from screenshots because any halfway competent rendering engine can render any given scene. And it's only in how things tie together that there's any differentiation. Certainly the Bungie people, they've got a lot of talent. And they've been doing this basically as long as we have. They were kind of id's Mac shadow for many years. But now that they've gone ahead and had some mainstream PC success, they're doing pretty well.
http://www.firingsquad.com/features/carmack/page11.asp
Just thought it might be interesting to see what the competition thinks, for once. :-)
OpenGL Marathon? For news on Marathon 2 source code development check
The Source.
Added the Minnesota Macintosh Gamers Group
to the Network Pages section of Page 2401.
Thanks to Joseph Haake <joecoo@spacestar.net> for the link.
| Feb 8, 2000 (Tuesday) |
Voices in the Alien Pipes? Scott Jaeger <pablo@izzy.net> makes an interesting discovery concerning the Alien Pipes. Check the Pathways Into Darkness page.
You can also brush up on your Spanish talking to Pedro. Yes it's all happening on the Pathways Into Darkness page today. ;-)
David Johnston <de.johnston@sympatico.ca> points that part of the Jjaro
logo from Marathon Infinity bears a striking resemblance to the '0' in the
Halo logo. Here's a comparision pic. Note the spur that extends from the 'O'
and then a similar spur extending from the Jjaro space station in the background of the Jjaro logo.
Bryce Wheeler <silverwolf@biosys.net> writes concerning the
"Newsweek" article mentioned yesterday:
The article in question also referred to how the military is supposedly fighting the "last war." The tanks envisioned by the military are the Crusaders, tanks that basically are overgrown Howitzers. The tank is sectioned: the gun cannon and the support vehicle, which is just as massive as the cannon section.In fact, the tank is so big that both halves must be transported separately, as only one half can fit in the military's largest transport plane.
Claude Errera <errera@bungie.org> writes:
noticed the tidbit from Ben Fisher yesterday about ydnar.com...ydnar.com is registered to Randy Case, in Denton, TX. Really unlikely it has anything at all to do with Randy Reddig.
| Feb 7, 2000 (Monday) |
We continue our journey on the Pathways Into Darkness page. Our intrepid hero descends to the trap infested "I'd Rather Be Surfing". And what's behind that seventh pillar?
Back in December there was some discussion about the vehicles and weapons in Halo having a somewhat low-tech
look for a story based 100s years in the future. John Prichard <jpp@usc.edu> now writes:
In a late December or early January issue of "Newsweek", there is an article on the future of warfare. This article, which appeared in the Newsweek issue with the Charles Schultz "Peanuts" cover (the issue which covered his retirement), has an illustration which could easily be Halo concept art. Really interesting. It says that the future of warfare is battlearmor, small buggies, lots of other observations which put the "futuristic world but buggies and guns!?" argument to rest at least partially.
But what about battle tanks?
Liam mac Lynne <liammacl@eden.rutgers.edu> finds out that Bungie's
Soul is a Capricorn.
Yes the Story page leaves no binary-based entity in peace.
| Feb 6, 2000 (Sunday) |
Mark Levin <haveblue@mac.com> writes concerning the Bungie pic on Steve Jackson's Daily Illuminator page:
http://par0837.urh.uiuc.edu/marathon/guesswho.jpgThis is a blown-up version of the monitor behind Doug, aloing with an inset of our mutual friend, darkened and blurred to match the image under scrutiny. That looks very suspicious doesn't it? ;)
Loren Petrich <petrich@netcom.com> provides further tidbits from the Marathon 2 source code:
Most of the terminology in it closely parallels that of the Forge and Anvil menus, but there are still some interesting differences:The Bobs have individual names:
Green Bob -- "Bob"
Blue Bob -- "Fred"
Khaki Bob -- "Steve"
Bad Green Bob -- "Evil Bob"The VacBob artwork occupies a slot that was originally intended for the Marathon 1 MADD's, at least judging from the name _collection_madd; there is also an entity class _class_madd lurking in the code.
The loon sound is listed as _snd_owl in the code.
Projectile types "unused 1" and "unused 2" map onto
_projectile_armageddon_sphere
_projectile_armageddon_electricityin the code; do these refer to the Marathon 1 Armageddon Beast? Or to something else that never made it into M2?
The difficulty names in the code parallel their names in the Preferences menu, with the exception of the easiest: _wuss_level. So imagine a difficulty menu with these items:
Wuss
Easy
Normal
Major Damage
Total Carnage
Ben Fisher <ben@fisher.enterprise-plc.com> writes:
just to let you know, ydnar.co.uk is switched off, but ydnar.com has now been registered...
| Feb 5, 2000 (Saturday) |
Halo/Oni/something GURPS? Jon Chang <chang@signalpost.com> points out that Steve Jackson (of GURPS fame) has posted more info about his trip to Bungie Software on his Daily Illuminator page. The text reads as follows:
February 1, 2000: Home Again . . .Actually, I won't get home until nearly dark today, but I'm already looking forward to it. The Chicago trip was very worthwhile . . . lots of good ideas brewing . . . and now it's time to DO something with them. Here's a shot from our visit with Bungie Software; Doug Zartman is demonstrating a new game, and Alain and I are admiring it. My, they have some nice things cooking there . . .
-- Steve Jackson
There is also a photograph of Doug Zartman demonstrating an unnamed game. Check the computers in the background. Looks like we need some state of the art image enhancing technology here.
Time to keep a regular eye on Steve Jackson's Daily Illuminator page.
More updates at the Pathways Into Darkness page. Another level
completed and some weapon oddities.
| Feb 4, 2000 (Friday) |
Lots of updates at the Pathways Into Darkness page today. Good to see people showing new or renewed interest in this Bungie cult classic.
Thanks to all the people who wrote in pointing out that the Charles Gough in the
Wanted DOA pic is in fact Halo's Physics Programmer
Extraordinare Charles Gough, better know as Chucky. The picture was taken shortly
before he absconded to Mexico with the Halo beta.
| Feb 3, 2000 (Thursday) |
Opps... more duplication on the Story page. Thanks to those who spotted the (deliberate?) error.
More updates at the Pathways Into Darkness page.
Why Bungie's answer to Question 7 leaves you with a minimum of 73 minutes before the Dreaming God awakens.
Hey... do you think I make this stuff up?!!! Go read the PID page!
Terrence Nowicki <kablam@edmail.com> writes:
I dropped by soffish.bungie.com around 12:54 PST and was surprised by a bizarre picture (attached to this email an in temp uploads at hl.bungie.org, in case the pic has changed by the time you read this). Up close to the camera, it showed a plastic goblin-like thing wearing what looked like a hamburgeler outfit, but farther away and more interesting was a "poster" that shows a photo of some guy, with the words "Wanted, DOA: Charles (Gogh?)"Who is Charles Gogh, and why is he wanted dead or alive??
Perhaps he leaked the Halo beta? ;-)
Terrence also sent in the cleanest Soul chat of the week. Not one swear word. Terrence gets the Mr. Clean award of the week! ;-)
Achenar1 (full name pending) <Achenar1@aol.com> writes:
MAPTEK - VULCAN Forge Online: Issue No.1 1999The above site, as far as I know has nothing to do with Bungie. However having Forge, Vulcan and the 3D block M on one page is more than just a coincidence, don't you think?
The Evolution (M2 Source) site at marathon.sourceforge.net
has moved to source.bungie.org and sports some new graphics.
Check the one on the Contacts page. Nice. :-)
| Feb 2, 2000 (Wednesday) |
At last we meet Greg (Kirkpatrick) on "Watch Your Step", discover the location of the five kiloton Nuclear Device and ponder over the missing third Radio Beacon. See today's update on the Pathways Into Darkness page.
Rob Thibadeau <METAFIRE@aol.com> writes concerning the letters P O E and O P E
found hidden in some of the Marathon terminals:
The letters "P.O.E. and O.P.E." also appear spraypainted to the door of a gas station bathroom in the film "Raising Arizona." It's interesting: in this film there is a killing machine-type dude named Leonard Smalls who carries two sawed-off shotguns.
Raising Arizona was released in 1987.
Last month Benjamin Ramey pointed out that a medallion worn by the astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
bore a striking resemblance to the Marathon symbol.
Now Mike Ackerman <mackerm@relaypoint.net> writes:
Here's a better picture of Tycho Brahe showing off his "marathon" medallion:http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/tycho/image20b.htm
While it is clearly the same medallion as the one shown earlier, closer examination shows it to be some sort of pig.
Are the medallions the same? And is it really Tycho?
| Feb 1, 2000 (Tuesday) |
Matt Heath <MHHeath@aol.com> reveals that we were given misleading information by the Jjaro diplomat Ryu'Toth in Pathways Into Darkness. What's new I hear you say. That story was the biggest cover-up since the Tunguska blast in 1908. Check the Pathways Into Darkness page for the tru7h!
Phf'Joueur joins the
BigHouse. Phf'Joueur is
a scenario for Marathon: Infinity set in the Bungie universe. The project is headed by
Candace Sherriff better known as Shebob. Thanks to Claude Errera <errera@bungie.org> for the heads up.
Added the Unified Earth Space Council Network
to the General Pages section of Page 2401.
This site contains an attempt at creating a Marathon GURPS. Thanks to
Max Etchemendy <mxetch@yahoo.com> for the link.
| Jan 31, 2000 (Monday) |
Another Blam reference. Jacob Aberg <Jacob_Aberg@excite.com> writes:
I also found another "Blam" reference in the Minotaur Read Me file, describing a Minotaur multiplayer game:
Alex: "Hey Jason, what number do you have?"Jason: "Number 5."
Alex: "Chucky?"
Chucky: "Number 4."
Alex: "Err...no good dude, I have number 4 too."
Chucky: "Then switch, fool."
Alex: "(CENSORED) me! I'm the host. You switch numbers!"
Chucky: "Oh yeah? Well you can (CENSORED) me too! Number 4 is my favorite!"
Jason: "It doesn't matter which number you have, chump. I'm gonna spank you anyway."
Alex: "Hee hee"
Chucky: "Fine, fine. I'll switch to number 2. Bunch of whining...(incoherent grumbling)"
Alex: "Sweet. Here we go...prepare to diiiiie!!"
Jason: "BLAM!"
Dan Rudolph <ace_of_sevens@mac.com> writes:
The fir'bolg who says "Thank god it's you! The wasps! They're everywhere!" is voiced by Doug Zartman. The thing about Ne'Ric's flavor text was already mentioned in quick update number 2 on November 17.
Oops... more redundancy on the Story page! ;-)
| Jan 30, 2000 (Sunday) |
Both Jonathan Tan <j.tan@access.net.au> and Abhaya Hess <doctordude26@yahoo.com> point out that in the free Myth 2 scenario "Chimera" there is a fir'bolg hero archer called ne'Ric who has line very similar to that in the fourth Cortana letter namely:
"Your fate," whispered ne'ric, "lies on the point of my arrow. Your life will only last until it reaches you."
Compare this with the Covenant line from the fourth Cortana letter:
Our conviction is like an arrow already in flight. Your life will only last until it reaches you.
Note that back in Oct 15, 1999 John Garrard <durendal@mediaone.net> pointed out that this line was in fact a variation of a famous quote by German philosopher/theologist Georg Hermes (1775-1831):
"Death is like an arrow that is already in flight, and your life lasts only until it reaches you"
Abhaya also writes:
Something else I noticed was that in a different Chimera level, some fir'bolg run up to you and say:
"Thank god it's you! The wasps! They're everywhere!"Which of course is a commonly known Marathon phrase. Just a couple interesting tidbits for you.
Jesse Simko <jsimko@hampshire.edu> writes:
I found something that looks suspiciously like a Marathon logo in, of all places... http://quake.sourceforge.net/
More new films at the Marathon Vidmasters' page.
Ben Irwin <Jackelblow@aol.com> completes the Marathon Infinity
level "Acme Station" and John Sumner <UTJohnS@aol.com> has a pack of eleven "quick" films which
show little known shortcuts through a number of Marathon 2 and Infinity levels.
John Zero <jzero@fastlane.net> writes to say the the
Marathon Orphanage has been updated.
As more people renew their interest in Marathon (due to the release of the source code) this could be
the place where you'll find material for your next big Marathon scenario.
| Jan 29, 2000 (Saturday) |
The Pathways Into Darkness page unearths some long forgotten mysteries on "Lasciate Ogne Speranza, Voi Ch'Intrate" and our intrepid hero takes a trip down a vine.
John Sumner <UTJohnS@aol.com> completes the 27th and final level of his
Marathon Vidmaster Challenge. Not one to give up John finally completed
Habe Quiddam Vidmaster Style. This level is
certainly the hardest of the 27 solo levels in Marathon and probably one of the
top three hardest levels in the series. Check the
Marathon Vidmasters' page
for details. More films on the way!
Well I sure hope nobody at Bungie reads the Soul's "questions"
log over the last 24 hours because judging from the letters received by the Story page they'll be
in for a shock. Seems the Soul can give as good as it
gets in terms of verbal retort. As Peter McArdle <pfm01@gnofn.org> points out:
Clearly the Soul was not meant for young childern.
Of course young children don't go round telling the Soul to... err... well... erm... you know. Anyway here are just a few of the many florid responses the Soul is likely to throw back at you:
I'm just a Perl script. What do you expect?
I need a meal, not a snack.
Ok, press it against the monitor.
Pucker up big boy.
Did you just wink at me?
Right now I'm looking at a picture of your mom.
Ok, do you want it like your mom does?
And these are the ones I can PRINT!!! ;-)
| Jan 28, 2000 (Friday) |
Mike Sheley <sheleym@ucs.orst.edu> writes to point out that Max Hoberman <max@bungie.com> of Bungie Software is looking for Java programmers for converting Minotaur to Java. In a letter to Mike Max wrote:
Thanks! I've actually been putting a lot of thought into this. What would be best, I believe, is to port Minotaur to Java, thus circumventing the cross-platfrom compatibility issue (and opening other possibilities). So forget what I said about PC programmers ;-) Let me know if you run into any good Java programmers, especially if they're Minotaur fans. I've got a few leads of my own, so I'll keep you in the loop if anything transpires.
If you can help or know of someone who might like to help then contact Mike Sheley at <sheleym@ucs.orst.edu>.
The Soul sure has a warped sense of humor as Jon Thompson <jthompson@dymle.com> found out. However I won't
print the question Jon asked just the Soul's response.
The soul says: Ok, press it against the monitor.
You'll have to work out what question elicits this response yourself. This is a family page afterall! ;-)
Added a further observation to the Ring Motif in Halo page.
| Jan 27, 2000 (Thursday) |
Mark Bassett <markb@iisc.co.uk> makes an interesting find:
I saw this on today's "Daily Illuminator", the house newsletter of Steve Jackson Games http://www.sjgames.com/ill/ill.html.January 27, 2000: Chicago, ChicagoI'm in the Windy City from today until Monday, meeting with Alain and Micah to scheme about new games in general and In Nomine in particular, visiting FASA and Bungie, discussing plans for a new [NOT AVAILABLE AT YOUR CLEARANCE], and generally hanging out with our Chicagoid MIBs. I'll report further when I get back.
SJ Games & Bungie have already worked together to produce GURPS Myth, a role-playing book set in the world of Myth. So what next - GURPS Halo?
If GURPS Myth is a success I would imagine that GURPS Halo would be a distinct possibility.
Silas Dean <tdean@lightlink.com> writes:
I've looked through the symbol's pages and not noticed this, so I'll report it. Anyway, a couple years ago, as I flipped through the New York Times magazine, I saw an ad for an organization with ties to the Sierra Club (An organization devoted to the protection of the environment) called Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. Their logo (available at www.earthjustice.org) is remarkably similar to the Marathon Logo. They've disguised it enough so that to the lay person it looks like a moon on a pedestal(?), but I wasn't fooled.
Hehehe... looks like a Halo landscape too! ;-)
Robin Welsh <konoko@bungie.zzn.com> writes to say that he has created a Bungie Fan Network (BFN) which you can join
and get free email services. It's at http://bungie.zzn.com/. Remember this
is a third party Bungie network and not to be confused with bungie.net.
| Jan 26, 2000 (Wednesday) |
TCP/IP Minotaur? Mike Sheley (aka Blackbeard) <sheleym@ucs.orst.edu> writes:
Think you could post this on the story page and see if anyone is willing to step forward and work on this? I don't have the skills but I'm hoping someone out there does... TCP/IP Minotaur would be great!~Blackbeard #CP#D
Received: from mail.bungie.com (mail.bungie.com [209.125.9.11]) by ucs.orst.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id JAA25523 for <sheleym@ucs.orst.edu>; Tue, 25 Jan 2000 09:08:29 -0800 (PST) Received: from [209.125.9.111] (e111.bungie.com [209.125.9.111]) by mail.bungie.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id LAA13231 for <sheleym@ucs.orst.edu>; Tue, 25 Jan 2000 11:05:03 -0600 Message-Id: <200001251705.LAA13231@mail.bungie.com> Subject: Re: TCP/IP Minotaur Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 11:04:30 -0600 x-sender: max@mail.bungie.com x-mailer: Claris Emailer 2.0v3, January 22, 1998 From: max <max@bungie.com> To: <sheleym@ucs.orst.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > So I was bored on a Friday afternoon and decided to look through my >old games and fired up minotaur.... Ah, how the memories of LAN games >returned.... But unfortunately, no one was handy for a few games. And >then it hit me. TCP/IP Minotaur. I mean, this game is ancient, but >it's still damn fun. Thing fits on an 800k floppy. Couldn't take more >than a few hours to port to windows.... And hey, if you boys don't have >the time to do it, release the ole source and let the community handle >it... Anyways. Minotaur was one of the best games of the decade. Many >people don't even know it exists. It's in the sack, granted, but we >need that TCP/IP support for people to really enjoy it in this day and >time. anyways... You could even charge a few bucks for a TCP/IP >enabled version. I know I'd throw down some cash for it. Well, I'll >let you big shots get back to work. ::grins:: Thanks for taking the >time to read this! Hmmm, I'd love to have a TCP/IP playable version, but I doubt we'd ever release the source for it. Know any good PC programmers who'd be interested and that have a little free time on their hands? All our guys are pretty tied up right now. -Max
If anyone can help please contact Mike Sheley at <sheleym@ucs.orst.edu>.
halo.bungie.org report that there is an
enhanced version of the Halo movie at Tritin Films.
It contains added sound effects. Nice interpretation of the beginning part of the movie. Worth a look.
First successfully compiled Marathon 2 Source? Bo Lindbergh posted the following to alt.games.marathon:
From: d88-bli@bitbucket.nada.kth.se.invalid (Bo Lindbergh) Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon Subject: Fully functional source Date: 25 Jan 2000 21:14:08 GMT Organization: Marathon Toolsmiths Guild Lines: 11 Message-ID: <86l3n0$r11$1@news.su.se> NNTP-Posting-Host: dront.nada.kth.se X-Trace: news.su.se 948834848 27681 130.237.227.21 (25 Jan 2000 21:14:08 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@su.se NNTP-Posting-Date: 25 Jan 2000 21:14:08 GMT X-From: remove first and last components of hostname before replying Xref: news.tcd.ie alt.games.marathon:58730 Alex Rosenberg hasn't been heard of, so I might as well go ahead and release this. http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~d88-bli/marathon/Marathon2SourceCode.sit.bin No obvious bugs left. One non-obvious bug: a few seconds after switching to a new level, assert(queue->read_index!=queue->write_index) in line 355 of player.c fails. Weird. /Bo Lindbergh (see X-From header field)
I thought this was an amusing alt.games.marathon post so I'm reprinting it here. It's by Alain Roy who worked on Marathon:
Subject: Re: Another desired feature References: <180120000318162891%petrich@netcom.com> <190120002025360406%petrich@netcom.com> <B4AC94BC.27CD%tomeone@spamwindoze.not.mac.com> <388737D7.C67C12C7@gateway.net> Organization: It lurks in the night X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test72 (19 April 1999) From: alain@cs.uchicago.edu (Alain Aslag Roy) Message-ID: <NR8j4.99$E3.1382@uchinews> Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 03:35:09 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.135.11.84 X-Trace: uchinews 948771309 128.135.11.84 (Mon, 24 Jan 2000 21:35:09 CST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 21:35:09 CST Lines: 11 Xref: news.tcd.ie alt.games.marathon:58705 Thomas Simko <tfs@gateway.net> wrote: >That would be a great feature. A related enhancement would be doors that >swing open. This has been done in Damage Incorporated very nicely I thought it was done rather poorly in Damage. The poor sod who coded it deserves a lobotomy. And did you see the goofy hacks used to make horizontally sliding doors work in Damage? (They don't open all the way.) Truly goofy. -alain
| Jan 25, 2000 (Tuesday) |
Thought this deserved a mention. The UK MacUser magazine January 2000 edition is a special Millennium collectors edition with 2000 essential tips, tricks and secrets. Tons of categories are covered including a games section. The games mentioned include (in order of appearance):
Quake
Quake II
Age of Empires
Carmagedon
Tomb Raider Gold
Tomb Raider 2
Tomb Raider 3
Marathon Series
Unreal
Warcraft 2
Good to see the Marathon series still in there among all those newer games. However note that missing from the list is... the Myth series. Oh... and the games section is on page 77. Don't believe me? Then here is the scan (366K).
Bungie Soul baiting is back.
James Gurnee <harness@access1.net> writes:
Here's some fun input for the Soul, just stumbled upon them:Nice ones.;) or ;-)
:) or :-)None are generic, I've checked.
Mauro Braunstein <EllBrau@aol.com> finds another Marathon-like symbol after doing a Densa test.
Don't ask. Check out the That Marathon Symbol (part 2) page
for details.
John Zero <jzero@fastlane.net> writes to say that the
Marathon Orphanage
has been updated with some long lost files.
| Jan 24, 2000 (Monday) |
|
Quick update
Image enhancement seems to be flavor of the month. Halo.bungie.org report that they have identified a player name tag in one of the recent Halo screenshots. It appears on the left arm of a marine. Realistic place to put it if it is a player's name tag.
I was hoping to find some goodies in the "Team formerly known as Myth II" segment of the Bungie East tour [Day1 Bungie TV]. No such luck so far, but there is an interesting illustration on the whiteboard. Could be nothing, could be a character drawing. I have enclosed two pictures ... You can see the pics Alan is referring to here. A sketch of some animal?
|
Concerning yesterday's Halo screenshot with the words "Blam" Miguel Chavez <JMChavez@aol.com> writes:
Thought I'd drop a line and offer what little insight I can. I was fortunate enough to be looking over Joe's shoulder (with his permission of course!) when he was playing with the latest Halo build. The word BLAM seems to be 'fill-in' for the name of the weapon you are using. At one point Joe pressed a key that filled the left side of his screen with several translucent weapon 'slots', all saying BLAM and each highlighting as he switched between several weapons.
Marc Paveglio <mariogp@mail.microserve.net> writes:
I don't know if anyone noticed this already, and if they did, my apologies for sending in old information. When the marine is firing the Assault Rifle in the Halo clip from bTV 4, there is a small white bar at the top left sandwiched between some other gibberish in the HUD. As he sprays metal through the air the bar shrinks down until he takes out the clip. Obviously this is the ammo gauge. You can also spot this when the marine uses the rocket launcher. The bar is full, and after firing a rocket, it is reset to nothing, meaning that the rocket launcher has an ammo capacity of 1, possibly?You can see the screenshot Marc is referring to here. Note the gauge in the top left.The ammo bar also appears in the jeep scene, but not the tank. Perhaps Bungie hasn't implemented that feature yet? I've enclosed a picture from the movie so that you can see where the ammo gauge is.
Oops mistakes happen. The Story page has grown so large that even I can't keep track of it.
Yesterday I posted Amarnath Santhanam's comments about the 802.11 reference in Marathon. However
Sarwat Khan <sarwat@interlog.com> actually submitted a similar finding back in Aug 16, 1999.
Sarwat wrote:
I was playing M1 today, and noticed something in the upper left corner of the terminal windows: 802.11. That's the standard that the iBook uses for wireless networking. According to this page:http://www.wlana.com/intro/standard/committee.html
802.11 was formed in 1990, which means that Bungie probably did this intentionally.
Sorry to Sarwat and sorry to Amarnath. Looks like I'm going to have to revamp the Story page's indexing system. "What indexing system?" I hear you cry! ;-)
Thanks to Taylor Fisher <ghalidrm@uwyo.edu> for pointing out that the 11 in the 802.11 refers to the order in which it was approved by the IEEE.
| Jan 23, 2000 (Sunday) |
Another Blam reference in Halo. Mike Schapiro <mikeschappy@ameritech.net> writes:
Hmmm.... In the shot of the marine with the minigun, the top right corner of the HUD changes slightly. If you look at it double sized, it looks faintly like it could be saying "Blam!" Perhaps the "You Killed Sumpin'!" message in the version bungie has right now?
You can see the screenshot Mike is referring to here. Note the letters at the top left.
The 802.11 reference in Marathon explained? Amarnath Santhanam <ashoks@ix.netcom.com> writes:
In Marathon (I'm not sure about Durandal or Infinity), the computer terminals say they are using 802.11, which is the industry standard protocol used by Apple's Airport technology. 802 is the protocol, and 11 is the speed, meaning 11 Mbps. I don't think it's too plausible, but perhaps communications on the Marathon are wireless?
Amarnath also points out:
I asked the Soul what the former Myth II team was working on, and it replied:
The Myth II team is working on something big. Huge. Monstrous.When I asked about Doug Zartman, it said:
Hey Doug, there's someone asking about you. Whatcha want me to do?
Stefan Stadlberger <stadlberger@yadur.com> writes:
Here is a link (http://www.nada.kth.se/~fred/tycho.html) to some stuff about Tycho Brahe. Especially the image of his world system (http://www.nada.kth.se/~fred/tycho/tychworld.gif) looks familiar.
Very familiar. ;-)
| Jan 22, 2000 (Saturday) |
Nearly missed this one. Craig Mullins was featured game artist at Gamasutra back on the 13th of this month. The article contains a few images with some comments by Craig. Nothing really different from what you can find on his home page at http://www.goodbrush.com. However good to see Craig's game artwork get more exposure and also good to see Marathon featuring heavily.
David Curry <CirclMastr@aol.com> makes an interesting observation about Thoth and whether the Pfhor
were actually responsible for switching him(?) off. See the Thoth section
of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.
Benjamin Ramey <bigben@longlivethemac.com> writes:
A man named Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) was one of the things that showed up in my search results. Interestingly enough, his real name was Tyge, and Tycho is the latinized version of his name. Anyway, Brahe did some studies of a comet that was around during his time. Hmmmm.OK, so lots of people have studied comets before. But....take a look at this! Here's a picture of Tycho Brahe that I found at http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/People/tycho_brahe.html. Take a close look at this guy's lower "pendent" or thingy he's got around his neck that hangs down on his chest, and tell me shivers don't go up your spine! I provided the whole picture and a close up of the pendent thingy.
You can see Benjamin's submitted pictures here
| Jan 21, 2000 (Friday) |
Miguel Chavez (aka Freewill) <JMChavez@aol.com> writes to say that his Macworld Expo San Francisco films are now online. Five Quicktime movies in all:
MartyODonnell_MWSF00.mov (33013 Kb)
ClaudeErrera_MWSF00.mov (39721 Kb)
TourOfBungieBooth_MWSF00.mov (18706 Kb)
AlexIntrosJoe_MWSF00.mov (2581 Kb)
LiveHaloPreview_MWSF00.mov (8334 Kb)
Nice interviews with Marty O'Donnell of Total Audio and Claude Errera of bungie.org. Claude reveals just how big bungie.org really is and how much it serves each day... without advertising revenue.
You can find Freewill's movies on Cunbelin's Macworld Coverage page at the Myth Townhall. Click on the Day 3 button. The movies are also available on the Clan Plaid Hotline server (cphl.dhs.org) at the following location:
Files -> Other_Files -> misc_movies -> Freewill_Halo_Bungie_Video folder
Bungie.org also have a ftp site for the movies at ftp://paradox.bungie.org/pub/freewill/ and their second hotline server site at hl2.bungie.org (24.4.104.213) also offers them.
Miguel also scanned in the Bungie TV Guide from Macworld. Check the Marathon/Halo reference on the
bTV Guide cover (312K).
Somewhere in the heavens Halo is waiting...
Nice one. The inside of the bTV Guide can be found here (294K).
More Bungie development history from the Marathon 2 source code. Benjamin Ramey <bigben@longlivethemac.com> writes:
Found this in "devices.c"Just thought some more history is always interesting, :).
/* DEVICES.C Sunday, December 5, 1993 2:48:44 PM Tuesday, December 7, 1993 11:12:25 PM changed to be Jason compatible, open/close doors, and nixed gratuitous enum. Tuesday, January 4, 1994 10:36:08 AM opening doors can wake monsters. Sunday, September 18, 1994 6:23:04 PM (alain) much of control panel code has been rewritten. no longer use composite sides, but a flag in the side data structure. some control panels work over time (refueling) and there are on/off textures associated with each control panel. and sounds. Friday, June 9, 1995 11:43:37 AM (Jason') destroy-able switches. Wednesday, June 21, 1995 8:31:57 AM (Jason) tag switches. */
Terrence Nowicki <kablam@edmail.com> writes:
Well, looking at the M2 source, it looks like bungie just BARELY missed starting a VERY popular netgame trend...In the code (network_games.c), you may note the parameters for both known uimplemented game types: Capture the flag and Rugby...however, looking around, you will also note a game type called "Offense/Defense" or "game_of_defense." Some of the particular lines of code I'm referring to are:
enum { // for offense/defense _offender_time_in_base= 0, // for player->netgame_parameters _defending_team= 0, // for game_information->paramters _maximum_offender_time_in_base= 1 // for game_information->parameters }; (the above code is at the beginning) And these lines: case _game_of_defense: for(player_index= 0; player_indexplayer_count; ++player_index) { struct player_data *player= get_player_data(player_index); short defending_team= GET_GAME_PARAMETER(_defending_team); if(player->team != defending_team) { struct polygon_data *polygon= get_polygon_data(player->supporting_polygon_index); /* They are in our base! */ if(polygon->type==_polygon_is_base && polygon->permutation==defending_team) { player->netgame_parameters[_offender_time_in_base]++; if(player->netgame_parameters[_offender_time_in_base]>GET_GAME_PARAMETER(_maximum_offender_time_in_base)) { dprintf("Game is over. Offender won."); Apparently, the game was similar to king of the hill, but slightly more complex: one team would be defined as the "defender," the other as the "offender," and the game would end when either the defenders had successfully defended their base for a certain amount of total time, or the offenders had successfully spent a certain amount of time on the defenders' "base polygon." A little bit different from modern Team Fortress gametypes, I think, but it's interesting to think that perhaps if bungie had gone further with this, they would've developed it so that each team had a "hill" they were supposed to defend, and whichever team had spent more time on the opposing team's hill at the end of the game would win...
It's also interesting to note that Every Man for Himself seems to called "game_of_kill_monsters," or something...either that, or it's the default gametype (and if THAT'S the case, then perhaps M2 was also originally going to have a team game where teams got points by destroying monsters...now THAT would have been cool!).
Mark Levin <mglevin@uiuc.edu> writes concerning the "absolute_yaw/pitch/position_mode" reference in the Marathon 2 source code:
My guess is that these are used to seperate mouse control from keyboard control. When one of those flags is set, the game would read the player's pitch, yaw, or location directly from the mouse's location.
| Jan 20, 2000 (Thursday) |
Christian Bauer <cbauer@student.physik.uni-mainz.de> writes:
Now that the M2 sources are released it can finally be determined where the garbled source in Terminal 2 of Sorry Don't Make It So and Terminal 1 of Begging For Mercy Makes Me Angry comes from. I found it in the file render.c, approx. lines 1040-1060. Interestingly, the code is from a function called "decide_where_vertex_leads()". In Sorry Don't Make It So, Durandal is obvioulsy having a hard time deciding what to do after the infiltration of his network by Tycho, while in the Begging For Mercy term he seems to have found his final conclusion. :-)
Mihai Parparita <mihai@mscape.com> writes:
For a rough timeline of when everything (Minotaur to Marathon II) happened, as well as some personal info on Jason Jones, and a mention of an unknown project (OZONE), the header of shell.c is quite interesting (also of note is that Pathways had a Vulcan/Forge-like editor, that is it was in-engine):/* SHELL.C Tuesday, June 19, 1990 7:20:13 PM Tuesday, July 17, 1990 12:26:24 AM Minotaur modifications. Tuesday, November 26, 1991 11:29:11 PM This shit needs to be totally rewritten. Tuesday, December 17, 1991 11:19:09 AM (strongly favoring tuesdays) ... we now work under single finder, hopefully, and this shit is being totally rewritten. Tuesday, November 17, 1992 3:32:11 PM changes for Pathways into Darkness. this shell will compile into editor_shell.c.o and game_shell.c.o based on whether GAME or EDITOR is defined in the preprocessor. Saturday, December 12, 1992 9:41:53 AM we now pass through some command keys, when not handled by the menus. Friday, April 23, 1993 7:44:35 AM added ai timing voodoo for mouse-in-world and closing immediately after an explicit save. Wednesday, June 2, 1993 9:17:08 AM lots of changes for new first-event dialogs. happy birthday, yesterday. talked to mara for half an hour in front of brek. Friday, July 30, 1993 6:49:48 PM the day before the big build; final modifications to copy-protection stuff. Saturday, August 21, 1993 4:31:50 PM hacks for OZONE. Monday, August 30, 1993 3:18:37 PM menu bar?, what menu bar? Wednesday, December 8, 1993 1:02:36 PM this is now MARATHON. Wednesday, June 7, 1995 10:50:05 AM this is now MARATHON II. Thursday, September 28, 1995 7:37:12 PM reintegrated interface.c/shell.c. Tried to keep this clean, but I didn't succeed as well as I would have liked. */
OZONE... now what could that have been? Hazards of coding in the fresh air? ;-)
Harry Al-Shakarchi <ha99ab@badger.ac.brocku.ca> writes:
Hehehe.... found this in render.c: (clippings)
Friday, September 9, 1994 1:36:15 PM (Jason')
on the quads, in the sun.
Sunday, September 11, 1994 7:32:49 PM (Jason')
the clock on the 540 was wrong, yesterday was Saturday (not Friday). on
quads again, but back home now. something will draw before i go to bed
tonight. dinner at the nile?
Tuesday, September 13, 1994 2:54:56 AM (Jason')
no fair!ŅŅ itÕs still monday, really. with the aid of some graphical
debugging the clipping all works now and iÕm trying to have the entire
floor/ceiling thing going tonight (the nile was closed by the time i got
around to taking a shower and heading out).
Friday, September 16, 1994 4:06:17 AM (Jason')
walls, floors and ceilings texture, wobble, etc. contemplating objects
... maybe this willwork after all.
Tuesday, November 8, 1994 5:29:12 PM (Jason')
implemented new transfer modes: _slide, _wander.
_render_effect_earthquake doesnÕt work
yet because the player can shake behind his own shape.
Monday, June 5, 1995 8:37:42 AM (Jason)
blood and fire (baby).
Yes... apparently some of the earliest Marathon coding was done by Jason outdoors on a Powerbook. :-)
Dan Hembry <durandal_777@yahoo.com> writes:
I know what the 0xFFFFFFFF key (which was metioned in a Quick Update on the 19th) is used for. It *is* used when a player disconnects from a Marathon netgame as Mihai sugjested. If the disconnected player is within radar range of somebody else, after a few second he will explode violently. If outside everybody radar range and if nobodys watching the player just disapears.I came to these conclusions by doing several tests at a friends house where we had a ethernet setup to play Marathon Infinity. However, Infinity is basicly the M2 engine with a new weapon, some new monsters and such (no major structual changes) so one would think that the key would have the same effect.
Hamish Sanderson <hhas@somewhere.inthe.uk> writes:
Minor point of interest:Mihai Parparita mentions various movement and self-destruct codes - this may or may not be new news to you but it's already possible to 'enable' these in M2/Mi using Bo Lindbergh's Fux tool (should anyone be curious to try '0xFFFFFFFF', for example;).
This might be of some interest to those attempting to compile the Marathon 2 source code.
Miguel Chavez <JMChavez@aol.com> writes:
Carch, one of Clan Plaid's finest, posted this to Clan Plaid's Hotline Server:-- snip --
From Carch (Tue Jan 18 14:04:35 2000):
I spent the past six-seven hours getting the Marathon 2 source code to compile and link. The result has 60 stub functions, some fairly complex, that need to be written, along with a file full of type definitions, many of which are probably wrong, because the code is silent about RGB pixel formats it wants and other details.
I'd be very surprised if anyone makes anything out of this code any time soon. But I've been surprised before, so don't let that stop you. ;-)
If you're interested in a Code Warrior Pro 5 version of the project, along with the changes I made, I'll be uploading it alongside the original distribution shortly.
_/\ C
-- snip --
Which he then promptly did... it's located in Clan Plaid's Hotline Server, cphl.dhs.org, in the Games -> Marathon folder and named "Marathon2-CWP5.sit"
Have at it, folks...
(I'm also enclosing it in case you want to host it.)
You can get it here (191K).
| Jan 19, 2000 (Wednesday) |
|
Quick update
Some more interesting Marathon 2 source code tidbits. Robin Welsh <myth2@iloveapple.com> finds the obligatory Beavis & Butthead reference:
Since the Marathon 2 source code is now available, I thought I might do some digging to see what's up with the extra action codes that were mentioned a while back on the cheats page. So, here we go:
|
As hoped the pre-recorded Bungie East tour from Day 1 of Bungie TV is now available for download
from Bungie's bTV Archive page.
Mike Young (aka Bravehamster) <buy-memories@buy-memories.com> writes:
I submitted the press release concerning the Marathon code being released under the GPL to slashdot, a geek news site with roots in GPL and linux advocacy. 120+ comments have been posted, most praises and hosanas about bungie and marathon2. One of the more interesting comments came from Jason Pellerin:"I'd like to see a linux port, and I can donate some server space and time to help it happen, please write me at m2linux@bungie.com if you want to get in on the fun."Jason is Bungie's Sysadmin and resident Linux guru. Anyhoo, here's the link to the discussion. Lots of nostalgia, so bring some tissues. ;)
The Slashdot thread is worth a read as Mike says.
Aaron Davies <agd12@columbia.edu> writes concerning reused sounds in Bungie games:
At least one sound goes even further back. The "empty MA75-B" sound got started as the "no ammo" sound from _Operation: Desert Storm_. Now *that's* recycling!
| Jan 18, 2000 (Tuesday) |
|
Quick update #3 14:36pm EST
More Marathon tidbit stuff. Ben Reiter <ben.reiter@voyager.net> writes:
Found this in weapons.c (part of the weapon firing sequence that plays a sound when a weapon is fired):/* Blam */ play_weapon_sound(player_index, trigger_definition->firing_sound, FIXED_ONE);
Regarding Jackie Chan's observations of the weapon nicknames, he mentions he doesn't know where "John R.", the name of the missile launcher, comes from. I bet that the John R. in question is a certain John Rambo from, you guessed it, the Rambo series of films (First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part 2, etc.).
John R....is probably a reference to John Rambo of the First Blood movies.
There could certainly be other possibilities, but could the "John R." missile launcher nickname be a reference to John Romero, co-founder of id Software, and considered the spiritual (game design) father of Wolf3D, Doom and Quake? (whereas John Carmack was the mad genius programmer behind the engines) I'd say Romero was largely responsible for the standardization of the rocket launcher as the "big stick" weapon in such games.
|
|
Quick update #2 11:43am EST
Marathon secrets revealed... or not! Mark Levin <mglevin@uiuc.edu> writes:
Among the many things found in the source are the Marathon 2 cheat codes, which are somewhat different from the M1 Beta codes you already have. This a pretty quick and dirty analysis, we may not know exactly what some of these do until someone enables them and compiles the source...
If you open the source code using BBEdit, you'll find swear words selected :P
|
|
Quick update #1 9:28am EST
For those who bother to look the Marathon 2 source code contains a number of interesting historical tidbits. Here's one from the sound.c file. It reveals that the Marathon 2 rewrite began on January 27, 1995 12:49:25 AM. Some Pathways Into Darkness tidbits too.
/*
SOUND.C
Friday, March 26, 1993 10:16:00 AM
Friday, March 26, 1993 10:16:01 AM
this is the source file that will make minotaur's sound manager look like a truckload of dead
rats in a tampon factory.
Saturday, March 27, 1993 8:13:44 PM
a few things have been changed, i think most of the coding is done.
Tuesday, April 6, 1993 9:26:54 PM
is there any way to use SyncCmd's to better synchronize the left and right channels of
stereo sound? why do all sounds end in a click when the sound manager is doing realtime
sound mixing?
Tuesday, May 18, 1993 9:35:21 PM
ha ha ha. after wwdc93, hacking out jim reekes' new stereo amplitude command, rewriting all
of this crap so it'll actually work like you might expect. fixed a bug where the sample
rate wasn't restored after drinking the potion. we used to have tons of problems in our
amplitude calculations (that was why it didn't initially work under the new sound driver).
Sunday, July 4, 1993 7:56:21 AM
there exists a bug such that for every channel (especially the monster channel) there is
a possibility that the channel will stop playing sounds but report no errors.
Friday, July 16, 1993 6:04:11 PM
the last_played field of a sound definition was not being set by play_sound, so the sound
which was first loaded will be disposed of first. would that manifest in the 'pause bug'?
alex has a version of Suitcase which was marking all the sounds I loaded as purgable.
Friday, July 23, 1993 9:43:39 PM
the pause bug was SCSI Probe's COMMAND-SPACE hotkey. reduced sound space to 250k. i can't
wait to rewrite this and make it real.
Saturday, November 20, 1993 10:32:34 PM
'making this real' means making it a true n-channel sound manager, where n is some function
of the current cpu. this means throwing away all that channel code garbage.
Sunday, January 2, 1994 11:21:41 AM
sound_code was not being set in play_sound; added threshhold to best_channel
Friday, August 19, 1994 8:26:31 PM
added custom depth-fading curves, which respect obstructions, and removed the MoveHHi
before every sound is played. this is bad news, because we might have sounds locked down
in our heap when we tried to load shapes, other sounds, etc. we try to improve this
situation slightly with the addition of the sound_manager_idle_proc (to unlock handles)
and by asking everyone who really needs memory to call stop_all_sounds, which will unlock
the sound handles.
Friday, September 2, 1994 1:29:03 PM
moving to slot-base collection model fixed a gnarly reentrancy bug while releasing sounds.
Tuesday, September 6, 1994 2:53:35 PM
added _depth_fading_flag and _high_quality_flag (resamples 22k to 11k if FALSE).
Sunday, November 6, 1994 9:17:24 PM (Jason)
if the sound manager is never initialized, calling any of it's procedures doesn't crash.
Friday, December 2, 1994 5:26:10 PM (Jason)
old= CurResFile(); UseResFile(_sm_sound_file_handle); Get1Resource('snd', ...); UseResFile(old);
Saturday, December 10, 1994 4:32:46 PM (Jason)
in search of the golden sample rate: changing rate22khz to 0x56220000 on PowerMacs didn't
seem to make any difference.
Friday, January 27, 1995 12:49:25 AM (Jason')
the marathon 2 rewrite begins.
Friday, June 16, 1995 10:18:42 AM (Jason)
background, ambient and scenery sounds.
Friday, July 7, 1995 12:47:22 PM (Jason)
_sound_cannot_be_aborted, sounds which are not always played
Thursday, August 17, 1995 10:41:51 AM (Jason)
fixed sound pitches.
Tuesday, August 29, 1995 8:56:16 AM (Jason)
moved macintosh-specific code to SOUND_MACINTOSH.C.
*/
Find anything interest? Then send it in. Thanks. :-) |
While I was sleeping. Thanks to all those who wrote in about the release of the Marathon 2 Source Code
(more names than I can list here). The mysterious #2 finally revealed. No surprises really.
You can grab it at:
ftp://ftp.bungie.com/pub/mac/misc/Marathon2Source.sit
Seth Graham <sether@tru7h.org> writes concerning the timing of the source code release:
#2, released on the SEVENteenth at SEVEN pm.
Randall Sluhan <rsluhan@earthlink.net> and Magh Tuireadh <AStupidity@aol.com> both point out that
at the bottom of the source code Read Me is the line
Matthew Soell
Director of Customer Support
Bungie Software
January 17, 2000
(1/17/2000 = 1 + 1 + 7 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 11 = 1 + 1 = #2)
Jeff Myers <jeff_myers@gibbscam.com> writes:
I have set up a discusion list for the relase of the M2 source code. I hope it can be a valuable tool for future modifiactions and enchancements to the game. One can subscribe to the list by sending e-mail to listserv@3dgamedev.com with "Subscribe marathon_coding <your name>" in the body. Soon I will be puting up a web archive of the messages, and space for projects/info/hostings if needed.
Jackie Chan <jackiechan@chicks-dig-unix.cx> writes:
Well after pouring over the M2SC for hours upon hours I noticed some interesting weapon nicknames in the"game_window.c" file. Most names appear to be taken from popular action movie stars but where did John R. come from?/* Mac, the knife.. */
/* Harry, the .44 */
/* Ripley, the plasma pistol. *
/ * Arnold, the assault rifle */
/* John R., the missile launcher */
/* ???, the flame thrower */
,/* Predator, the alien shotgun */
/* Shotgun */
| Jan 17, 2000 (Monday) |
Raul Bonilla <lassonde@hotmail.com> writes concerning a sound in Pathways Into Darkness that also appears in Marathon:
Snds 10590 is the firing sound of the Plasma gun in M1. There's been a while since I've played PID for the last time, and maybe some crystal made the plasma gun sound.
Yes a number of sounds in Pathways were latter reused in Marathon. Here's a quick comparision table:
Pathways Into Darkness
|
Marathon
|
For more information on sounds in Pathways and the reuse of Minotaur
sounds in Pathways see today's update at the
Pathways Into Darkness page.
Back in June 10, 1997 Angus McIntyre spotted the similarity between the "Hindmost Creche"
reference in Marathon Infinity and Larry Niven's use of the term "Hindmost" in his Ringworld series
in connection with the Puppeteers. Now Jonathan Tan <j.tan@access.net.au> now writes:
the Pupperteers in Ringworld, decided to reap their harvest of the 'lucky-human breeding program', and they found a girl, by the name of teela brown, who was, conincidentally the product of 7 generations of people who were allowed to breed by lottery.7...
hmmm...
Popular number that seven! ;-)
| Jan 15, 2000 (Saturday) |
Rob Swenson (aka Noctavis) <noctavis@paxnimbus.com>, co-maintainer of the Core, posted a transcript of Joseph Staten's rendition of the Halo back story from Bungie's Gathering of Fans at Macworld Expo San Francisco. This version was given the night before the version on bTV (see Jan 9). It's interesting to compare both versions. I've taken the liberty of reprinting it here for the record:
Transcript of the Halo story described at Club-IPosted By: Noctavis =PN= on Saturday, 01.15.00, at 3:35 a.m.
Well... I downloaded and viewed the video material supplied by SiliconDream and DeusExMachina... a lot of it is difficult to hear. I'll have to see if we can extract more from the audio.
In the mean time, I've transcribed the basic Halo plot from the video. Probably not anything you haven't heard described by Silly or Xzzy, but you might like to read it, just the same. I've tried to be as accurate as possible, but it was a difficult transcription... pipe up if you were there and heard differently. And if you happen to be handy with any good audio programs that can help to bring out the material by Matt Soell and certain other Bungie employees, please let me know.
Have at it.
-Noctavis
The transcript:
Because it's a Bungie game and Jason's making it, it's much more complex.... [garbled]... If you will bear with me, I can tell you about... something that's happening in the far future. We're not quite sure about the date as of yet for obvious reasons.
The Humans have colonized far out into the Milky Way, and they'v created a number of outposts. Unfortunately for us, as we've created these outposts we've run into a big group of aliens know as the Covenant... or at least that's what we think we understand from the transmissions they send immediately before destroying us without saying a word.
It's pretty brutal. They blast into our systems and just raze our planets without warning, sending us very cryptic, slightly religious, very zealous messages. If you can imagine the Milky Way galaxy, and down here on some outer spiral arm is Earth (Sol), we've sort-of colonized inward and the Covenant fleet is coming directly down from a variety of different directions... gradually getting closer and closer to Earth.
We have this final battle, a really big [garbled] battle [garbled] in one of the Human systems and we get our asses totally whupped. The final ship that survives, which is called the Pillar of Autumn... the commander of the ship, she decides that she's going to set a course far out into the galaxy somewhere... to some random destination as far away from Earth as she can possibly find. And she sets these coordinates for the ship's A.I., and the ship's A.I. takes over and they blast off into space.
Now when they get to this location they find a couple of cool things... [garbled] Well, you guys have all seen the trailer, right? So, they find a couple of cool things. They find this big gas-giant planet and they find this little moon. Now the name of the gas giant is "Threshold" [Someone speaks off camera, and he turns the mic to point that direction... but it's garbled] The name of the moon is Basis, and right in the middle between this big-ass gas giant and this little, tiny moon is this foreign object. And upon close inspection they find that this object is, in fact, a ring structure [garbled] close to a thousand miles in diameter, it has some gravity, it has continents, different climate zones, all of that sort of thing. Most importantly, it can support life on the inside of the ring.
Unfortunately for the crew of the Pillar of Autumn, as soon as they arrive in the system they meet a big-ass Covenant battle fleet, which has arrived there before them. They get blown to bits but do a pretty good job of destroying the other ships - the Covenant ships.
So the Ship's A.I. on the Pillar of Autumn is pretty good... Um.. You'll find out more about the A.I. later [laughing by people off-screen]. It's pretty smart, and what happens just before the ship breaks up is a variety of different military officers bail out of the ship, they dump equipment, they dump supplies... it all lands, scattered around the Halo ring. And you, this very elite military officer, get jettisoned out of the craft, and you burn through the atmosphere and you land on the ring, and what happens from them on is a guerrilla war between you and... [he looks off to his right for a second]... and a fukk-ton of aliens [more laughing]... You go around the ring, you try to gather your friends, you try to gather your equipment, gather your vehicles and beat the hell out of the Covenant.
Meanwhile, you're discovering the secrets of the Halo ring, itself, and as the game progresses, you realize that whomever understands and harnesses the technology of the ring is not just going to understand this cool ring-structure but is actually going to win the war, save the universe, go home happy [garbled]... [clapping starts]... Oh yeah... all of that happens before the game starts.
Mike Schapiro <mikeschappy@ameritech.net> writes concerning the map hologram room as seen in the current
Halo movies:
As I was watching the new (day4) Halo footage, I noticed something about the big room we first see the marine standing in. A) The room is quite circular with a hall way leading out the bottom/back/whichever direction you feel like. B) Except for a narrow walkway, there