Contact:
Doug Zartman
(312) 563-6200, x.23





MARATHON TAKES TEXTURE MAPPING INTO SPACE
From Bungie Software, the makers of Pathways Into Darkness

Somewhere in the heavens...they are waiting.

       CHICAGO, IL-September 19, 1994-Bungie Software, makers of the most
advanced computer game on the Macintosh, Pathways into Darkness, will soon ship its
new action-adventure game, Marathon. Marathon features the fastest, most realistic playing
environment on the Macintosh. It sends players into space, where they must contend with
an alien onslaught of unprecedented ferocity.
        The technology in Marathon establishes a new state-of-the-art. Unlike traditional 3-
D game designs that employ polygon graphics, textures are mapped onto all surfaces in the
Marathon world. In combination with dynamic lighting effects and active panning stereo
sound, these create a startlingly life-like physical setting. An original, digital soundtrack
heightens the intensity of play in more than 40 levels, and Marathon's real-time
automapping feature tracks your every move. Up to 8 people can compete or cooperate in
games networked via LocalTalk, Ethernet or ARA.
       Marathon is set in the future on a colony ship in outer space. A science officer on
the mission, you are the last hope for defending the ship as hostile and intelligent aliens
prepare to destroy every living thing. Marathon provides the player with amazing futuristic
weaponry, introduces a multitude of horrifying creatures and traverses hundreds of miles
of terrain over multi-story elevations, all depicted in high resolution graphics. The game's
surreal environment stimulates all the senses, enveloping the player in situations that reek
of evil.  
        Among the unique features of the game are live microphone interaction during
network play, 16-bit color support, compatibility with VR headsets and the ability to look
and fire up and down.  The Marathon engine is sophisticated enough to create non-
orthogonal spaces, resulting in arbitrarily-shaped rooms. In another breakthrough, the
aliens utilize a Dynamic-Sensing Artificial Intelligence that makes them fiendishly clever
adversaries.  A replay option allows players to review networked contests.
       The minimum requirements are an 8-Bit (256 color) Macintosh with system 6.0.5
or better, 3 megabytes of RAM and a hard drive.  Marathon will ship as a "fat-binary,"
providing optimal performance on both 68k-based and RISC-based Macintoshes. Other
features include a functionally-designed interface and a special "performance mode" to
make the game run faster on slower computers. Marathon has a retail price of $69.99 and
will be available this fall at most local retail stores or through mail order catalogs. 

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