***********************************************************
THE MARATHON SPOILER GUIDE (MSG)
(text version)
v1.2
Febuary 19, 1995
compiled by
Michael K. Neylon
mneylon@engin.umich.edu
***********************************************************
Changes since 1.1
-----------------
Added level numbers with each level
Fixed description in 'Habe Quiddam' (said 3x generator is only a 2x)
Fixed problem with description of a secret room in 'Showered With Grenades'
Added secret doors in 'Unpfhorgiven'
Added ammo room in 'Never Burn Money'
Changes since 1.0
-----------------
Added location of infrared goggles in 'Pfhoraphobia'
Added tip for 'Ingue Ferroque'
Changes since 0.9.9
-------------------
Added secret rooms in Neither High.. and Pfhoraphobia, Eupfhoria,
Couch Fishing, and Showered With Grenades
Added 3x gen/pattern buffer on Unpfhorgiven
Added points on Defend This to reach ammo corridor
Added tip for Cool Fusion
Fixed 'Pfhor' spelling (oops!)
Fixed 'Cold Fusion' to 'Cool Fusion'
Fixed level order problem ('Smells Like...' is after 'The Rose')
Spell/Grammar Check, thanks to Jameson Watkins
************
=What is it?
************
The MARATHON SPOILER GUIDE (MSG) is a compilation of the
collected knowledge of the game 'Marathon' produced by
Bungie. Most of the information in this document has been
contributed by other people, and when appropriate, credit
has been given.
Most of the information in this guide is meant to reveal
secrets or hints on completing the game and finding
hidden areas. Thus, if you continue to read this, be
forewarned:
SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!
SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!
You *WILL* be spoiled if you read any further. I take no
responsiblity for the disappointment you will feel if you
inadvertantly read this information.
*******************
=How to use the MSG
*******************
The MSG is divided into sections, one for each level
in the game, as well as some general information sections.
Each section is preceeded by a title line with the section name
following an equals sign ('='). Thus, to find information on
a specific level, just search for the level name following an
equals sign (for example, the search string '=Arrival' will
locate the section devoted to the level 'Arrival').
In case you don't know how to determine the name of the level,
just switch over to map mode (default key: 'm'), and look at
the top of the map. The name of the level will be there.
Level numbers are also given. To go to a specific level, hold
down 'command' and 'option' as you press 'Begin New Game'. You
are then presented with a dialog box, in which you should enter the
level number you wish to go to.
******************
=Table of Contents
******************
What is it?
How to use the MSG
Table of Contents
General tips
Solo Levels
Arrival (0)
Bigger Guns Nearby (1)
Never Burn Money (2)
Defend THIS! (3)
Couch Fishing (4)
The Rose (5)
Smells Like Napalm, Tastes Like Chicken! (6)
Cool Fusion (7)
G4 Sunbathing (8)
Blaspheme Quarantine (9)
Bob-B-Q (10)
Shake Before Using... (11)
Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! (12)
Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap (13)
Habe Quiddam (14)
Neither High Nor Low (15)
Pfhor Your Eyes Only (16)
No Artificial Colors... (17)
Unpfhorgiven (18)
Two Times Two Equals... (19)
Beware of Low-Flying Defense Drones (20)
Eupfhoria (21)
Pfhoraphobia (22)
Ain't Got Time Pfhor This... (23)
Welcome to the Revolution... (24)
Try Again (25)
Ingue Ferroque (26)
Network Levels
Mars Needs Women (27)
Carnage Palace Deeee-Luxe (28)
5-D Space (29)
Arena (30)
E Equals MC WHAT!! (31)
Showered With Grenades (32)
Spiral Insanity (33)
Waldo World Arena (34)
What Goes Up Must Come Down (35)
You Don't Need to See My I.D. (36)
Credits
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION & Other Legal Stuff
*************
=General Tips
*************
Assign the Caps Lock key as your run key. Always keep it down
except when doing some fine manuvering.
Learn to Grenade Hop (also called Jumping). This is very useful when
trying to access a place that is too high off the ground to reach
normally, as well as for crossing lava. The easiest way to do it is to
face where you want to go, give yourself some running room, look down,
then run at the point where you want to go, firing a grenade at your feet
just before you reach a wall (or whatever). You will take some damage,
but you should find yourself at the upper level. Make sure you don't
fire right on top of the wall, because you will most likely die. Instead,
, you want to time it to be just before you reach the wall in order to
take minimal damage. You can practice this on the second level, 'Bigger
Guns Nearby.'
Grenade Walking is also important. In this case, you usually just need
to get up to a high step. Back up to the step, aim
down, and fire.
You can also you SPNKR missiles instead of grenades...they'll take you
much higher and farther than grenades, but are also much more deadly if
mistreated.
Grenade Climbing is a difficult trick, and requires either full shields
or invincibility, and a full load of grenades. You also need a place
that is too high for a single grenade, and a good amount of straight
wall that leads to that place. (A good example is the Deprivation
Chamber on 'Never Burn Money'). Get back as far as possible from
the goal along the wall (the wall needs to be perfectly straight).
Then turn into the wall slightly (just a tap on the turn key).
Aim down, and begin to run forwards. Launch a grenade. It
should hit the wall and you will take some damage, but you'll
be flying. As soon as your descent starts, fire another grenade
down at the wall. Continue until you reach your goal. This is a
very difficult maneuver to accomplish.
Exploding Bobs: cunning. Daring. *Deadly*. They are innocent colonist
that have been converted by the Pfhor into exploding bombs. These
can be tricky the first time you run into them, but there are some
easy steps that you can take to distinguish between a normal Bob
and the exploding Bob. First, normal Bobs will always say 'They're
everywhere!' (well, assuming you haven't played with the sound file),
while the exploding Bob will shout 'Thank God, it's you!' Secondly,
exploding Bobs are always green. Finally, if shot with the pistol,
exploding Bobs will spill yellow blood, while normal Bobs will bleed
red. Thus, if a Bob is in question, fire one shot at it and look at
the color of blood that spurts out.
On the lower skill levels, there is a limit to how much ammo you
can carry (these are for Normal gameplay):
50 .44 Magnum clips
25 Fusion batteries
15 MA-75 clips
8 MA-75 grenade packs
4 SPNKR Missiless
3 Napalm Canisters
Remember that you can also have a full load in any weapon, so
theoretically, you have one more than what's listed above. It would
seem that with higher difficulty levels, the above limits do not
apply.
>From Jason Martin Levitt (jason@cs.utexas.edu) comes a simple methodolog
for approaching any level:
1. Search for switches and room entrances by using
map mode.
2. Flip all switches.
-If a switch stays on after you've flipped it, don't
bother it again.
-If a switch turns itself off soon after you
flip it, that means either the change
was permanent, temporary, or reversable.
a. permanent change -- the switch is permenantly
off -- you can't turn it on again.
b. temporary change -- An event occured that
you need to deal with immediately. Generally,
this means you need to run to some nearby
place to take advantage of the change immediately
after hitting the switch.
c. reversable change -- For example, hitting the
switch causes a pedestal to lower itself and
stop. Hitting the switch again makes the
pedestal go up and stop. Sometimes, you have
full control in these situations i.e. you
can stop the pedestal at any point.
3. Look for switches in unreachable places on the walls.
Use grenades or rocket launchers on those.
[Ed: The Zeus Fusion Pistol will also activate some
buttons, but only on overload (hold down alternate
weapon button (default 'option') and wait a second).
4. Look for entrances in unreachable places on the walls.
Ways to get to unreachable entrances:
a. Jump to them by using the "run" modifier key.
Often, switching to map mode before making a
jump makes it easier to see where you're headed.
b. Use pedestals if they're available by jumping
across them. Usually, you must be running to
accomplish this.
c. Use a grenade or rocket to boost yourself
up by aiming it at the ground and firing.
You do this by backing yourself up to the ledge,
aiming at the ground, and firing.
>From Dan Bradley (dbradley@netaxs.com) comes this on friendlies:
On levels where there are friendly aliens present, such as
the S'pht on 'Welcome to the Revolution,' or the Defense
Drones (particularly in 'Beware of Low Flying Defense
Drones...') a good way to find secret doors is to follow
the aliens around. They know where everything is and will
lead you straight to the goodies.
David E. Coufal (dcoufal@MIT.EDU) notes that you can abort the
level transport at a computer terminal by pressing escape while
still viewing the message. This is useful if you need to get to full
shields or more ammo.
If you are looking for an alien weapon from one of the enforcers
on the later levels, then put away that flame thrower! It'll
toast both the alien AND the weapon. And, according to
Richard Johnson (johnsonr@hoshi.colorado.edu), a SPNKR missle
will also do the same.
************
=Arrival (0)
************
There is a secret room in the bottom rightmost room on the map...
Make sure you approach the room from the right side (you need to open
a door to enter the room). Then, with the door open, take a step
or three back to get a running start, then immediately as you get
into the room, break into a 180 degree turn to the left and land
on the small ledge in the middle of the room. One tap of the
action key later will get you a clip of each type of ammo.
Aaron Bergman (abergman@minerva.cis.yale.edu) suggests that you
also jump across to the small ledge on the other side of the
room, follow it around, and make a small jump back to the right
ledge and then on to the secret room.
***********************
=Bigger Guns Nearby (1)
***********************
There are two corridors that can only be reached by grenade hopping.
The first is near the switch that activated the stairs, as show below:
Elevator
+===-------===|======\
| | V| \
+ Switch | | \
| | | \
+-----------+--+ |
| |
Stairs | |
+---|----+ | |
| |V| | | | |
| |_|_| |__| |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| +---+---+------------+
| | | |
| | | <--High Corridor
| | | |
To reach the corridor, back up as much as possible from it, then
follow the directions given above for grenade hopping. Be careful!
There are two shadowed compilers up there, ready to give you a
beating. There is also a good supply of ammo. (Joshua D.
Koppelman - joshua@mit.edu)
The other corridor is between the two Biovents, and contains
some infrared goggles.
*********************
=Never Burn Money (2)
*********************
Two of the circuit boards that you need are located on the lower
floor in the upper portion of the map. There are several panels
that have a picture of a hand on them: use your action key to
open them, and stand as close as possible to pick up whatever is
inside. There should be 6 of these to check. The third piece
is located in the other section of the level, after you've gone up
the elevator and passed through that long dark hallway. You
need to have the central platform moving, so from there,
try to land on each of the 4 niches. You'll know when you hit
the right one, because an elevator will take you to another floor,
where you need to hit a button and return back to the platform:
one of the niches will now be opened, and all you have to do is
get to the board and teleport out.
From Chris Murphy:
There is a hidden room located in a dark alcove to the west
of the 'upside down cross' feature on the map that has a
terminal on one end of it. The room is in the Northwest corner of
the alcove and contains only two pistol clips and perhaps a machine
gun clip. The room is too thin to fit into but by standing next
to the entrance you can pick up the ammo. Could be the difference
between life and death if you are playing on a high difficulty,
otherwise it isn't worth the time.
There is a secret room located along the dark corridor connecting
the two parts of the level. WARNING: getting out of this room
is not trivial. Be sure to only use a saved game before entering
it. Anyway, the door is located just left of the pylon
on the right wall where the passage begins to narrow. Enter
the passage, but don't go too far - you want to stay on the
ledge you are on. You are now viewing the Deprivation Chamber.
Look down and kill any aliens you see on the platform below and
in front of you. Run and land on this platform, and quickly
turn around and destroy any aliens that are coming towards you
or any on the other two platforms. Charge your shields up to 3x
strength (!). Jump down, and gather the ammo WITHOUT getting
the invicibility yet. Make sure your MA75 is full of grenades
(i.e. waste a few to reload a new pack). Now, the tricky part, so
read all directions before continuing: pick up the invicibility,
and head towards where you came in. Line yourself up facing
the niche with the teleporter, the long wall on your left.
Turn slightly into the wall, and aim all the way down. Run forward,
and immediately launch a grenade (keep your aim down!). As you
start to fall from this hop, launch another grenade. Repeat
a few more times, until you are on the niche with the teleporter.
If you miss, and you weren't slow, you can probably try again
without running out of invincibility, or your full 3x shields
should be sufficient for another try. Anyway, once you've hit
the teleporter, you'll be rewarded with ammo and a VERY strange
story from a computer terminal.
*****************
=Defend This! (3)
*****************
>From Kaz Ota (ko16@cornell.edu):
If you can't get past the large trash-compactor-like room in
the very beginning of the level, be sure to observe Leela's
briefing map VERY carefully. You will see where the hidden
door out of the compactor is.
Still can't find it?
It's a little to the right of the topleft corner of the
compactor area. Tab there to open the hidden door, and wait
a while until the compactor comes up enough so you can step out.
>From Rich Garrett (rgg@telerama.lm.com):
In the passage with the two soldiers on the ledges above you,
[Ed: immediately after the large room mentioned above] there are
two stairways at the end of the hall. The one going straight
leads to a room with a pattern buffer, shield generator and
MA-75s and ammo. Go up the one to the right. When you open
the door at the top you will be in a room which is white with
an orange band running around the middle. You can see another
room like it ahead of you. There is actually a third room which
is directly opposite the radiation door. Inside are two MA-75
rounds and a terminal that gives you a message from poor,
beleaguered Tycho.
>From Robert James (james@mte.ncsu.edu):
There is a stash of ammo in a corridor in the room that
looks like a bridge. To reach the ammo requires some
grenades. I was only able to get up there by using
MarathonCheater and getting invincible:
1) Kill the aliens on the bridge and the three in the
corridor openings in the walls.
2) Grenade hop over the left (as you enter the room)
wall of the bridge.
3) Grenade hop into one of the two corridor openings
high above you in the wall (use the map to
line up if you need to).
4) When you get the ammo, run out one of the openings
and land on the bridge. Continue on.
The room:
----------------------------------
| ammo |
| ------------ ------------ |
| | | | | |
----------------------------------- | |
| | | |
| pit | | |
----------------------------------------| |
| |
in bridge out | |
---------------------XXXXX------YY------| |
| pit | | |
| |--| |
| Z |
| |-----|
------------------------------------
Chris Lam (amcw@aston.ac.uk) offers the following advice:
No cheats needed here. First g-jump BACKWARDS onto the
raised wall of the bridge (marked XXXXX). You lose no strength
but make sure you don't fall into the pit. Now move towards
YY and get in position to g-jump up to the ledge marked Z.
Make sure your grenade hits the ledge you're running along
otherwise you'll get no upward lift. Land safely at Z and
collect ammo (deserves more I reckon).
In the room with the 4 switches and the blue and white striped door,
the best way I found for getting past the door is this: while facing
away from the door, hit the rightmost switch, which temporarily
opens the leftmost panel of the door (if facing the door). Get
yourself 'wedged' in that space, and turn back to the switches,
and without moving, launch a grenade at the second one from the right.
Turn around, and just hit the keys for running forward. After a second,
the panel to the right will drop, and you should make it through the
door. Alternatively, Anthony R. Stevens (STEVENSA@AUSVM1.VNET.IBM.COM)
offers the following solution:
Ignore the leftmost switch (when facing the switches). Flip the
2nd from the left. Go over and flip the rightmost. Now flip the
2nd from the right turnaround quickly and head for the opening
before it closes. You will need to fire a grenade at
this same switch to get back out.
In another part of the level where there are 4 switches and a window
that overlooks lots of platforms, all you need to do is pull the 2nd
switch on the left facing the switches. This will make crossing
the platforms easy. (Also from Anthony R. Stevens
(STEVENSA@AUSVM1.VNET.IBM.COM))
******************
=Couch Fishing (4)
******************
Jeremy P. Condit (afn02635@freenet.ufl.edu) notes that there is an
ammo stash at the end of one of the lengthy vertical corridors (not
the one you start in).
In the large rooms with the ledges that you have to walk around, don't
forget to drop down into the open areas to pick up some ammo.
Elevators back to the walkway level are located near the point
where you entered the room.
*************
=The Rose (5)
*************
The only way to 'successfully' complete the level requires that you
immediately head left from the entry point to where the window overlooks
the recreation area, and to kill the Hulks and the Fighters while
at that vantage point.
>From Kaz Ota (ko16@cornell.edu):
There are 3 secret sections. These are all shown in Leela's
briefing map. Look closely!
Still can't find them?
One is the second spiral staircase that you can access from
the notch next to the shield generator, pretty close to the
transport terminal. On these stairs, there is some ammo and
a second .44 magnum. You can activate the second pistol by
using the second weapon key.
The second is along the left wall of this secret spiral
staircase, and contains a terminal where you see some
computer (actually Durandal) cracking up.
The third is along the stem, right under the left leaf, and
also contains a terminal that displays text that supports
the storyline, along with some ammo.
********************************************
=Smells Like Napalm, Tastes Like Chicken (6)
********************************************
There is a secret room in the level that contains the flame thrower,
however, you need to be VERY quick to get both in to and out of
the room, so using a saved game to attempt this is recommended.
Go into the tunnel system on the right-hand side of the map, and head
for the bottom left-most point on the map. This should be very
close to the initial entry point on the map. Enter this corridor.
You should hear an elevator start up. RUN back to the entry room,
and on the left side, there will be a section of
platform missing. RUN to this, drop down, RUN and collect
the napalm unit, and RUN back to the elevator. Did I mention that
you need to run to get this? :-) It may help to grenade jump
into the elevator passage, instead of weaving your way up
onto the ledge.
The final puzzle on this level is a bit tricky. Both elevators
are initially at their lowest position, and each button activates
one elevator. The easiest way to do this is to start at the button
that is on the east side, hit it, run to the west button, hit it,
then return to the elevators and move into the alcove as fast
as possible. If done correctly, the first elevator will rise and
stop at the same level as the other elevator, which you must
transfer to in order to get to the final room.
****************
=Cool Fusion (7)
****************
To get to the pattern buffer and shield generator that are located
on a platform far away, you need to first activate the first
platform in 'The Wave,' and then run and jump off onto the ledge
before you get squished.
To get into the second level opening in the first room, you first
need to get the large octagonal elevator to work. Once that is
going, the best way to get to the opening is to stand on the
opposite of the room from the upper doorway. As the elevator starts
to come down, move forward and get a step or two on top of it. Then,
when the elevator is moving back up and the floor of the upper
hallway is roughly at eye level, RUN forward. You may need to adjust
your timing - if you wait too long, you'll get squished.
******************
=G4 Sunbathing (8)
******************
The only 'vacuum' level in the game (unfortunately), this one can
pose several problems to the novice. The best way to think of this level
is as having an outer ring, an inner ring, and the airlock system
in the center. Within the inner ring is a shield regen, an oxygen
tank, and a pattern buffer, so one can always return here to
get back to full power.
To complete the level, you need to work clockwise from the entry
point on the level to the antenna. Furthermore, you can divide the
level into 4 sublevels, each centered around the 4 large areas.
As the first task, you should circle around the upper right quadrant
of the level, looking for a red button while dodging the aliens
from the large open area. When you hit the button, look across
the large open area, and you will see waayyy on the other side, in
the alcove opposite you, lights coming on and a door opening. This
can be accessed by returning to the inner ring. Within this
newly accessible alcove, there will be a switch that will fully
open the necessary doors to get to the next section, namely the
lower right quadrant.
Repeat this proceedure, looking for a button and then hitting the switch
in the newly opened area, for the two lower quadrants. When you
complete the 3rd section, the 4th section should be fully open
to you now. The rest of the level is very simple.
If you do happen to fall into the large open areas, you need to
pass through the airlock system to return to the inner ring.
There is some ammo down there, so a trip to this level will
not hurt.
*************************
=Blaspheme Quarantine (9)
*************************
You've cleared out the large square hallway, including the aliens on
that ledge, but now you don't see anywhere to go? Find the
elevator that will take you up a level (activated by the switch
near the light switch on one side of the level). Then, while
running, jump across to the ledge, and head to the left. If
done correctly, a door should have opened leading you into the next
part of the level, with a supply of ammo just inside to the left.
Now you've cleared out the other square area, and are stuck
down in a pit? Then go to the center of the west wall and
look for a door. This will reveal a long corridor that will take
you back to the first part of the level, and the door to the final
room will be open.
As an added bonus, you can get to read the lyrics to the Durandel
song! After you return to the first part of the level, redo the
level (no monsters this time, of course), and when you get to the
room with all the elevating platforms, go to the computer terminal
and read what Durandel has to say. Note: make sure your shields
are charged before reading, because Durandel will jump you from
here to the next level.
>From Roger Carlson (Roger_Carlson@atdmac.sp.trw.com):
If you have worked your way through the level a second time,
you'll find that on the terminal in the elevator room, Durandal
is singing. He also asks what you are still doing on the level,
looking around the storage room for extra ammo? Would anyone
keep ammo in a storage room?
Would Durandal lie?
No way. This is a tricky room to find. It takes running and
timing, and a bit of luck. The elevators have to be working
for you. There is a secret door near where you come in. Walk
forward from where you come in, and it is behind your left
shoulder on the curving wall. To open it, you need to touch
the left hand wall by the transporter booth. You will hear an
activation noise when you do that. You need to run back and
catch the elevator at the right time. The door is only open
for a moment, and soon closes automatically with no way out.
It's a pretty good ammo stash, but more importantly, finding
the room will restore your faith in Durandal. He'd never kid
about ammo.
*************
=Bob-B-Q (10)
*************
The biggest difficulty in this level is the initial moments, when
you are dropped in a mass of Bobs and aliens. The best strategy that
I have found is to head straight out into the hallway, turn right
and back up until you are nearly even with a hallway to your left.
Then, with the help of grenades and sidestepping, you should be
able to defend yourself well. As far as I know, killing a Bob
will not affect anything, so shoot anything that moves.
************************
=Shake Before Using (11)
************************
In the one room with the really loooooong bridge that you need
to cross, there are hallways in the middle of the room at the
ground floor level. Within the hallways (which are connected)
is a terminal and a jump pad which will take you to a secret
area near the front of the level, and will lead to a supply of ammo.
Aaron Bergman (abergman@minerva.cis.yale.edu) notes:
Durandal tells you four positions where a "secret airlock"
is. It's not in any of them. However, you can see the actual
location on the maps where Durandal is "showing you the
location."
***********************************
=Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire! (12)
***********************************
>From Joshua D. Koppelman (joshua@MIT.EDU):
The most straightforward (but not the best) way to solve the
level is to ignore the need to raise the H-shaped platform
over the lava by the pattern buffer. You can simply drop
down into the lava, then grenade hop onto the opposite side.
The disadvantage to this is that you have to start the next
level with less than full shields.
To solve the level without grenade hopping, it is necessary
to run thru the lava in the room with a single column.
This is difficult, because it's tough to aim at the wasps in
the next room from within the lava.
In fact, there is no need to trek through *any* lava to
complete this level. In the room with the single column,
grenade hop from the entry platform into the little alcove
on the wall to the right. The alcove extends all the way
into the next room. It's easy to kill the wasps one by one
from within the passageway.
***********************************
=Colony Ship For Sale...Cheap! (13)
***********************************
A secret computer terminal can be located on this level. After
you have passed through the door that is activated by the
switch wayyy up high, and gotten the 2x shields, you'll
proceed to a T-intersection. At the top of the 'T', hit
your action key, and a terminal should be revealed. Hmm,
that '79 Camaro looks in good shape as well...
The octagonal rooms that can squish you contain only contain
some extra ammo and some aliens to kill, thus, it's not necessary
to 'run the guantlet', and risk your life for that. HOWEVER,
if you happen to have the napalm unit, then with the run key down,
fire that baby up, and quickly pass through the three rooms without
stopping.
The U-shaped room that contains the SPNKR Rocket Launcher, the
Napalm unit, and the M75 are NOT accessible. This room is only
a teaser, and similar rooms appear in the higher levels of the
game.
The most difficult puzzle in the entire game (IMHO), as it requires
good observation skills, is the seven-platform room. Joshua D. Koppelma
(joshua@mit.edu) offers the following:
> I may be lame (and I may have missed the solution to
> this) but can someone give me a clue as to how to set
> the columns in the big chamber?
> ===== exit ======
>
> = 7 =
> = 6 =
> = 5 =
> = 4 =
> = 3 =
> = 2 =
> = 1 =
>
> == enter ===== switch ===========
To solve the annoying riser room, you must make sure they are
set in increasing height. 1, 2, and 3 should increase in
height from the ground, while 7, 6, and 5 should be decreasing
from the raised exit. Run up to the fourth riser, and launch
a grenade at the button on the wall opposite the exit, which
will cause the fourth riser to rise. At its apex, run up
the remaining risers. There is no need to grenade hop and
the timing isn't difficult if the risers are aligned right.
Be prepared to run back and forth between the control rooms
a few times.
As a followup, Jek Kian Jin (kiankin@ncb.gov.sg) replies:
I've found that you can time the switching to achieve this.
There are audible 'thunks' when the elevator starts and
when it reaches the top. For elevators 1, 2 and 3, start the
switch and stop it after 1, 2 and 3 seconds respectively when
you hear the 'thunk.' For elevators 5 to 7, you hit the
switch after the 'thunk' at the top, after 3, 2 and 1 seconds
respectively. Oh yeah, you don't need a stopwatch, just saying
'one thousand and one etc.' works fine.
David E. Coufal (dcoufal@MIT.EDU) also adds:
If you bring risers 7, 6 and 5 to their maximum position,
you can then stand on top of four, hit the switch with a
grenade, and then just run across to the exit. Lots easier
then trying to set up the pillars as "risers" by trial and error.
Once you are past the 7 platform room, the exit terminal is quite high
up. To finish the level, first clear out all the monsters in both the
room with the 4 platforms and the final room. Then return to the room
with the 4 platforms, and go over to the switches. Now, while always
running, hit the right switch, hit the left switch, run to the bottom
platform, 'climb' the stairs, then race into the last room and wait
in front of the column. If done properly, in a couple seconds you will
be lifted to the jump terminal.
******************
=Habe Quiddam (14)
******************
The first pattern buffer on this level may be had by going
into the right-hand hallway in the first large room, and
sticking to the left-hand wall. This also leads to a shield
generator.
You say you've looked *everywhere* on this level and can't find a
way out? Then return to the room with 2 columns and the shield
gen. On the back side of the left column is an elevator that will
take you to the 'upper' portion of the lever. Anthony R. Stevens
(STEVENSA@AUSVM1.VNET.IBM.COM) offers the following advice:
To get to the elevator with full 2X shields without
losing ANY health, first kill all monsters in the
room. Then position yourself in front of the 2X
shield gen. Turn left and face the wall. Switch
to map mode and zoom in. Turn on run mode.
OK here we go:
All you do is run backwards and then hold the
turn right key down as well ONCE you reach the
CENTER of the side of the column along the wall.
THATS IT. You'll swing around right into the elevator
with no damage to you!! Try it, you'll like it.
To get the alien energy converter (that 'thing' in the lava), you
first need to go up to the top level as described above. When
you get to the room that has the one pillar in the lava and a save
terminal, look around on the upper level and you'll find a button.
Pressing the button will cause the pillar to drop and will allow
you to grab the device. However, to get out of the lava you either
need to grenade jump or wait for the pillar to start to rise again.
Watch that you don't get squished by the pillar! Here's some more
advice by Anthony R. Stevens (STEVENSA@AUSVM1.VNET.IBM.COM):
At the top level on the ledge with the switch that
lowers the pillar into the lava, hit the switch then
IMMEDIATELY walk off the ledge to the save terminal and
save your game. What does this do for you? You can
now, at your leisure, time your fishing expedition in the
lava so that you can jump in, get the converter, and jump
out as the pillar is rising. WAY COOL. No stress.
Nicolas Godbout (nicg@godbout.interax.net) also offers the following
advice:
There's a way to save your shield when you fetch the alien
energy converter in the lava pool. Go towards the shield
recharger nearest to your arrival point, continue in the long
corridor. There you can see the alien thingy in the lava.
Shoot at the switch directly in front of you. This opens
another passage through the lava. When you're in the room with
the mobile corner in the lava, shoot the switch way up there
(it can be reached with the fusion gun) or activate the switch
if you're at its level. Instead of jumping through that new
opening, take the corridor to the south that leads to the
first switch you activated. When you jump in the lava from
there, you only have a ONE-way trip to make. This cuts your
simmering time in half. I believe this is the way Bungie
wanted you to complete the level.
Another tip by Frank McIntyre (frankmci@clark.net):
I have a different way to activate the moving pillar in
the lava. Before I had found the elevator in the shield
generator room, I discovered that I could hit the switch
to activate the column by standing in the hall directly
opposite. If you stand back just far enough that you
can't see the switch, you can hit it with a grenade or
high energy pistol bolt. You have to carefully align
your gun with the switch before you lose sight of it.
It takes a few practice shots, but when you have hit
it, you will hear the faint *click* that the switches
make from a distance. The main advantage of doing it
this way is that it is easier to time your run into the
lava, thus reducing the chance of getting fried.
To get past the door in the 3-column room with the biohazard sign,
you need to find a switch. In that same room, there is a passage
that you can jump to from the middle column. This will lead you
to a small battle, but to another area to explore. Within this
area, either look for a secret door, or look for a gap that you
can jump that is very small. Within this other area, you'll find
the right switch.
There is a flame thrower in one of the last rooms, in the room with
the L-shaped platform in the lava. There are two 'rivers' of lava
leaving the room. Run through either side, pick up the napalm unit
on your way through, and grenade jump back onto the platform.
**************************
=Neither High Nor Low (15)
**************************
>From Aaron Bergman (abergman@minerva.cis.yale.edu):
The trick in this level is to use every opportunity to go back,
save your game and use the recharge panel at every opportunity.
Also, after you go through the gauntlet of smashing things,
you don't have to go through it again; you can access just
the second half by hanging a right when you cross by it
transversally.
>From Micah (zeade@leland.stanford.edu):
There is the large room with a chest high ledge going
around the edge of half of it. If the hunters and other
nasties don't get you (there's a spot where the wall drops
down and out pops some aliens to try and nail you from behind),
then to your right from entering this large room there should
be a small stairway leading up to the ledge of that largish
room. Along that stairway is the small hidden chamber (hit
action key to open the door). There is hyper vision(tm) there
and some ammo.
Jeremy P. Condit (afn02635@freenet.ufl.edu) notes that there is a
3x shield generator in the upper right portion of the mini-maze
where there are some Hunter ambushes.
**************************
=Pfhor Your Eyes Only (16)
**************************
No secrets yet
*************************
=No Artifical Colors (17)
*************************
Although it seems like you can't, you can reach that 3x shield generator
that's behind the half-closed door. Just get as close as possible to
activate it.
******************
=Unpfhorgiven (18)
******************
>From Dave Duarte (dcd3529@rit.edu)
After you pass through the rooms with all of the imprisoned Bobs,
you pass a shield regenerator and go into a transporter. When you
rematerialize, there is a Pfhor there. After you kill it, there
is an elevator in front of you, but also, if you want, you can
free the Bobs, because the doors to the rooms that they are
trapped in open up to where you are. If you look on the map you can
see this. This might seem obvious, but I have been playing this
game for weeks, and I just noticed it today. One caveat: there
are exploding Bob's in with normal Bobs, so be careful.
>From Aaron Bergman (abergman@minerva.cis.yale.edu):
There's a 3x shield recharger next to another pattern buffer
here.
In the blue passageway on the upper level, at one point,
there is a square column in the middle of the passageway right
next to a U-turn. Around the bend from this column, there's a
secret door in the outer wall to the U-turn. This takes you
above the windowed room, and up an elevator. Here, you go to a
room with a column moving up and down in the center. First,
kill the hunters on either side with your plasma rifle
(or whatever's your weapon of choice.) They're difficult to see,
but they're there in the side alcoves. If you want to do it
the way Bungie'd probably like you to, you can try to land on
the pillar as it's moving up, but it's a
lot easier to wait until the pillar's all the way down and then
grenade jump across the gap.
*****************************
=Two Times Two Equals... (19)
*****************************
To leave the level, as with all other levels that take place aboard
the Pfhor ship, return to a window that you can see the Marathon
through. In this case, this is in the large room in the bottom right
of the map.
If you can't jump from this room, then you probrably haven't explored
the entire level yet. Return to the one room with 3 paths in green
slime. Jump across to the other path that lines the wall...at the
end of this path you should find a door that leads to the rest of
the level.
********************************************
=Beware of Low-Flying Defense Drones... (20)
********************************************
>From Anthony R. Stevens (STEVENSA@AUSVM1.VNET.IBM.COM):
If you get tired of dying, try making your way directly
to the save terminal. How? Near the beginning of the level
there's a window with a ledge and some meanies coming your
way. Kill the meanies. Now, instead of taking the elevator
down to the 1st ammo room (and more meanies) just jump off
the ledge into the pit. The exit down in the pit increases
your chances of making it to a save terminal tremendously,
believe me.
>From Ben S. Wang (bwang@sparta.sjsu.edu):
There is a secret door in the room with the 3x shield
recharger. As you enter the room, go to the left wall,
stand in the middle of that wall and use your action key
(tab) to open the door. This will take you to the center
part of the three-part room. As an added bonus, there is
an invincibility in an alcove in the secret passage:
turn left as you approach the exit door - you'll see it on
your map!
***************
=Eupfhoria (21)
***************
>From Chris Lam (lamcw@aston.ac.uk):
You've charged up 3x, gone back to the big bright room
with the column in the middle. Move along the right edge and
go through the door at top right. Keep going until you enter the
big open space where a major battle ensues. Just before you go
thru the door, face left and hit TAB. You will find a nice
stash of ammo, heavily defended. I reckon these are stored
by the Phfor for laboratory tests. I mean, what else would MA-75
clips be doing on an alien ship?
Now open the door to the big battleground. That shimmering green
thing on your right can save your life. It's a teleport to the
3x charger you just came from.
******************
=Pfhoraphobia (22)
******************
No, there is no saved game terminal on this level. Bummer. However,
there is no reason not to be at 3x shields from the previous level.
Unless you were foolish enough to jump down into the huge room with
all the enforcers and Pfhor, you probably see no reason why that
ugly thing is sitting in the green slime. Actually, that was the
cyborg that you had to kill, and surprisingly, it only takes
2 or 3 shots from your handgun (!) to do so (on Normal level).
Micah (zeade@leland.stanford.edu) notes a secret passage can be found
in the corridor that goes all the way around the circular room.
It is roughly midway through this passage, and contains an alien
weapon and a shadow power up. You can also get to this passage
via a secret door just behind and to the right of you when you
jump into the level (Aaron Bergman (abergman@minerva.cis.yale.edu)).
>From David H. Klein (davidhk@fr.com):
There is a hyper-vision chip in the pit area near the topmost
transporter on the map. If you look just to the left of the
elevator on the map, it shows that there is an alcove in the
wall. It is halfway up. Go to the top of the elevator, point
towards it, and the just walk slowly off. You should fall
right into the alcove, and the vision should come on immediately.
**********************************
=Ain't Got Time Pfhor This... (23)
**********************************
If you still cannot jump out although you've killed everything on
the level (including all the bugs in the large room), then make
sure that you have hit both switches in the large room. *Both*
switches, you say? Yep, pop a grenade at the one visible one,
and on the opposite wall a new switch should be revealed. Hit
that one as well, and the column in the center of the room should
stop moving, and the lights should dim down. Then, if you cross the
room to the teleporter across from the entrance, it will take
you very near the jump out site.
>From Aaron Bergman (abergman@minerva.cis.yale.edu):
If you use the flame-thrower flying trick on this level, you
can keep returning to the save buffer and the 2X recharger.
*******************************
=Welcome To The Revolution (24)
*******************************
>From Rich Garrett (rgg@telerama.lm.com):
There is a room with a computer terminal that is a little
tricky to get to. Go out the southern door of the room in
which you start, and go through the room with the snaking
path over the lava. Watch out for the Pfhor and Hunters.
When you enter the room just after the lava pit, you will
see up on the right a doorway. To reach this, you must
activate the platform beneath the lava. The platform is
activated by a button high on the wall of the next room.
It is tricky to hit, and standing in the lava to do it
doesn't make things easier. [Ed: It's impossible to hit with
a grenade. Use a rocket or the overloaded fusion pistol.]
As soon as you tag the sucker, run up the stairs on the
right. If you aren't quick about it you won't catch the
platform as it rises. When you get in the room you will
need to grenade hop up to the terminal and hit action. The
message isn't much, just an interplay between the restored
Tycho and Durandal, but it does give some background info.
[Ed. A backward missile jump, with a 180 at the apex, will
also get you to the terminal. [Ed: there are also several
napalm canisters and missiles there as well, so it's not
that much of a wasted trip.]
>From Anthony R. Stevens (STEVENSA@AUSVM1.VNET.IBM.COM), a forwarded
message from zeade@leland.stanford.edu:
The elevators in the room move in a predictable pattern.
Start from the left side (facing the platforms). When the
platform hits the ground, get on top of it and turn to
face back outward. Wait for it to rise to its full
height then WALK forward and swivel around to your left
in midair to land on the next platform. You do that for
all 5. The last jump to the computer screen is easy.
If you have trouble, here's an easy way to get it right:
switch to fusion pistol (it helps you align yourself perfectly)
Now when you're in the 1st elevator, back up as much as
possible and turn slightly to your left. Align yourself so
that the left edge of the fusion pistol is at the edge of
the left side of the doorway. WALK forward when the
elevator rises and pauses and IMMEDIATELY turn left. EASY.
***************
=Try Again (25)
***************
Anthony R. Stevens (STEVENSA@AUSVM1.VNET.IBM.COM) suggests that as
soon as you enter this level, that you turn and move left to save
your game, then turn right (from facing the panel), and open the
secret door (blue and white striped) to get to a good stash of
ammo.
In the area where one of the huge aliens were located and the lava
flows waay off to the left, there is a small passage several feet
back into the lava and to the right. There are two things you
can do with this: The left and right walls of this passage
actually have corridors that you can drop into, one containing
a good refill of SPNKR missiles. Furthermore, if you continue
into lava passage, one of the left walls has a secret door, behind
which an invincibility powerup lies...this can get you to a 2x
shield generator that is in the lava and then to another of the
large monsters (and near the exit as well).
Also, if you are at full 3x shields, and have killed off all the
larger Pfhor, then follow the lava around the bend, and about midway
to the next opening, you'll seen an alcove up to the left with a
Hunter in it. Kill the hunter, then launch yourself up to the
alcove with a rocket. There's a secret door that will lead you
to a invisiblity powerup and Bungie's tip panel. (Suggested by
Deacon (pdwF94@hamp.hampshire.edu))
An alternative way of getting to the tip panel is supplied by
Anthony R. Stevens (STEVENSA@AUSVM1.VNET.IBM.COM):
In the alcove where you transported into the level, turn
around and face the wall. Open the door that was at your back.
In that room there's a 3x recharge and a teleporter on a
raised platform that you have to grenade jump to get on top of.
[Ed: This is that column-like thing in the center of the room]
The teleporter takes you to [the above room].
The exit to the level may be gotten to from the one large room that
contained the mammoth Pfhor, with the walkway separating the room
down the middle (and there's no lava around). *After* the Pfhor is
destroyed and you are back at full power, leave by the exit in the
corner of the room. You will ride two pressure-activated platforms,
then follow the passageway, turning right at the end of this
passageway. You should go past lots of teleporters, but ignore these
and proceed to the terminal at the end of the hallway for the jump-
out point.
********************
=Ingue Ferroque (26)
********************
>From Joshua D. Koppelman (joshua@MIT.EDU):
It's possible to finish the level without ever leaving the
first room.
Make sure the rocket launcher has two missiles, and that you
have full triple health. Position yourself to the left of
the shield regenerator (as you face it). Face away from the
wall, and point the launcher at the floor. Fire two missiles
in succession (I don't believe that one is sufficient). If
you move backward when you reach your apex, you will be in
the niche opposite the final terminal. Just walk across, and
you're done.
>From Brian Jones (bbjones@leland.stanford.edu):
Once you kill the baddies in each ring, you need to press
two buttons to raise the stairs. In the first two rings,
you can do this while actually standing on the stairs.
Use the fusion pistol, and take a couple of aiming shots.
Then fire a megablast, and it will trip the switch. This is
especially helpful on the second ring you get to; otherwise,
you have to grenade hop, and you need all the health you can get.
>From Nobuhiko Yoshida (nobuhiko@can.bekkoame.or.jp):
It's possible to clear first ring without fighting at all.
After picking up the ammo, go down to the lower room, i.e.
first ring room. Turn on both switches by Fusion Pistol.
Don't move about. You can turn on both switches from where
you landed. Until then the Troopers don't know your
existence. Now run to the staircase along with the left
wall. Pass by the Troppers. Go up the staircase and turn left
and go up another staircase. That's it. The S'Pnts fight on
your behalf. One or two Troopers will survive, but they never
come go upstairs. You may leave them alive.
>From David Barabe (mcphisto@mercury.sfsu.edu):
There are three rings to get through on this level. Entry
to the third ring is provided by a set of 3 teleporters.
Instead of teleporting, try opening a teleporter like a door;
the back will open (on any one of the three teleporters) and
you can go through without transporting to the third ring.
There's a little maze behind there, where you can pick up some
ammo by finding another secret door on the east side of the
little maze. Then, you can transport to a room with
lots-o-monsters and a terminal with special notes from the
Bungie staff. Another teleporter takes you back to the
previous set of three transporters.
>From Anthony R. Stevens (STEVENSA@AUSVM1.VNET.IBM.COM):
there is a switch on the wall in the secret maze that
changes the computer terminal in the first room to a
SAVE GAME TERMINAL!
******************************
** Network Levels **
******************************
**********************
=Mars Needs Women (27)
**********************
Tom Sherrill (tbs3085@rit.edu) noticed that there is
a ledge in the lower right corner of the map that can be reached by
dropping down between the two levels. However, you need to run at
the drop obliquely to land on it...
|\ start |
| \ here <---- upper hallway
| \ |
---+---\----------+
| \ / <---- ledge
+-----\--/-----+
-- |
<---- lower hallway
|
------------------+
*******************************
=Carnage Palace Deeee-Luxe (28)
*******************************
Behind several of the inactive transporters are secret areas, containing
switchs to the lighting in the main room, ammo hallways, a rocket launcher,
and an invincibility powerup.
***************
=5-D Space (29)
***************
No secrets yet
***********
=Arena (30)
***********
>From Mike Elness (mike@lmsc.lockheed.com):
There is a secret door in one of the small pentagonal rooms
(specifically, the southwest room in the Map view) that opens
into a narrow winding passage that ends at another secret door,
past which is a small ledge overlooking the arena. (The ledge
is visible in the Map view, just south of the west arena entrance).
[Ed: It is also almost impossible to see into that ledge from
a good distance in the main arena area re: ambush!]
*************************
=E Equals MC WHAT!!! (31)
*************************
No secrets yet
****************************
=Showered With Grenades (32)
****************************
>From Nicolas Godbout (nicg@godbout.interax.net):
There's a secret door at the bottom of the inverted J at the
bottom of the map. Again, an invicibility shield.
In the right-most room on the map, there's a transporter
behind a secret door, in the left-most alcove of the north wall.
The transporter gets you on the ledge behind the door on the
west side. But then, of course, you knew THAT!
Jeremy P. Condit (afn02635@freenet.ufl.edu) points out that
there is a secret room on the right side of first room one reaches
when going downstairs (across from the MA75 alcove). It contains
an invisibility powerup.
*********************
=Spiral Insanity (33)
*********************
No secrets yet
***********************
=Waldo World Arena (34)
***********************
No secrets yet (need there be any??!)
*********************************
=What Goes Up Must Come Down (35)
*********************************
>From Nicolas Godbout (nicg@godbout.interax.net):
You can get on the ledge in the corner of the square room
with the transporter by running up the stairs to the east
and turning left. It's a nice dark space. (Hint: ever heard
the word ambush?)
***********************************
=You Don't Need To See My I.D. (36)
***********************************
>From Nicolas Godbout (nicg@godbout.interax.net):
There's a secret door at the top of the inverted B on the left
side of the map. There's an invicibility shield there.
********
=Credits
********
I'd like to thank the following people for their submissions to the
MSG...
David Barabe mcphisto@mercury.sfsu.edu
Aaron Bergman abergman@minerva.cis.yale.edu
Dan Bradley dbradley@netaxs.com
Roger Carlson Roger_Carlson@atdmac.sp.trw.com
Jeremy P. Condit afn02635@freenet.ufl.edu
David E. Coufal dcoufal@mit.edu
Deacon pdwF94@hamp.hampshire.edu
Mike Elness mike@lmsc.lockheed.com
Matt Evett matt@dryfly.cse.fau.edu
Rich Garrett rgg@telerama.lm.com
Nicolas Godbout nicg@godbout.interax.net
Robert James james@mte.ncsu.edu
Jek Kian Jin kiankin@ncb.gov.sg
Brian Jones bbjones@leland.stanford.edu
Richard Johnson johnsonr@hoshi.colorado.edu
David H. Klein davidhk@fr.com
Julian Yip-Khoon Koh julian@merle.acns.nwu.edu
Joshua D. Koppelman joshua@MIT.EDU
Frank McIntyre frankmci@clark.net
Chris Murphy ---
Micah zeade@leland.stanford.edu
Kaz Ota ko16@cornell.edu
Jeff R. ruin@netcom.com
Justin Sherrill jcs1589@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Tom Sherrill tbs3085@rit.edu
Anthony R. Stevens STEVENSA@AUSVM1.VNET.IBM.COM
Ben S Wang bwang@sparta.sjsu.edu
Nobuhiko Yoshida nobuhiko@can.bekkoame.or.jp
I also want to thank Jameson Watkins (WATKINSJ%ESUVM.BITNET@VM1.NoDak.EDU)
for his proofreading and reformatting of the MSG before release.
And of coure, I must thank Bungie for making one of the best games
for the Macintosh in a long time, as well as their support for
the Macintosh.
******************************************
=COPYRIGHT INFORMATION & Other Legal Stuff
******************************************
The names MARATHON and BUNGIE are property of Bungie Software
Production Corporation, Copyright (C) 1994. All uses of these
names within this document are assumed to be trademarked.
This document is Copyright (C) 1995 Michael K. Neylon. You may
duplicate, transmit, and save this document as long as it remains
intact with this copyright notice. You may include this document
on any software collection.
v