But who were Hastur and Grendel?

Hastur's Workshop holds an important place in Marathon lore for two reasons. But we'll get to that.

First let's go back... to the beginning.

Shortly after Double Aught created their first website (www.doubleaught.com) Greg Kirkpatrick posted the following on comp.sys.mac.games.action and alt.games.marathon.

From: gregk@panix.com (Tool)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games.action,alt.games.marathon
Subject: Marathon Infinity: Read This...
Date: 8 Oct 1996 17:15:25 GMT
Organization: Double Aught
Lines: 25
Message-ID: <gregk-0810961316250001@davidl.dialup.access.net>
NNTP-Posting-Host: davidl.dialup.access.net
Xref: web3.tcd.ie comp.sys.mac.games.action:35248 alt.games.marathon:24355

To all the Marathon Freaks:

(Freaks is a term of endearment.)

With the release of Marathon Infinity impending, we welcome freaks and
fodder alike, vidmasters and vidminors, and anyone else who's reading, to
come and see the new and improved Double Aught Website:
www.doubleaught.com

For those of you who don't know, Double Aught created the Marathon
Infinity scenario, including many of the netmaps. We think that this is
the best Marathon yet.

Coming soon to the page we'll have spoilers, hints, Forge and Anvil help,
and information on our next project...

Come and get some.

Yours,
Toolboi (Greg Kirkpatrick)

00
Double Aught
Makers of Marathon Infinity
www.doubleaught.com

And so we waited...

About a month later on November 4, 1996 a new section was added to the Double Aught website called Hastur's Workshop.

The accompanying blurb read:

A peek inside the mind of Double Aught's most feared
denizen. With illustrations and step by step instructions,
the thick veil of mystery is brushed aside as you learn to
reproduce the devious tricks and nefarious polygons of
Marathon Infinity's mapmakers.

Ask yourself, "Is Hastur a Jjaro?"

Two days later the following post appeared on alt.games.marathon:

From: grendel@doubleaught.com (Grendel)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Forge & Anvil probs? Hastur can help.
Date: 6 Nov 1996 15:31:03 GMT
Organization: Double Aught
Lines: 42
Message-ID:<grendel-0611961033260001@gregk.dialup.access.net>
NNTP-Posting-Host: gregk.dialup.access.net

Marathon punks,

(NOTE: punks is a term of extreme, almost embarrassing endearment at
Double Aught)

To all those who have cursed Forge in the name of the Ancestral Nar and
stared uncomprehending at the Mysteries of Anvil, my master, the esteemed
Hastur, has offered my services in solving Any and All Problems of Map.

Check out http://www.doubleaught.com/hastur

Through many painful hours, Hastur has taught me a thousand thousand slimy
techniques, tips, and outright hacks to make your maps cooler, more
realistic, faster, and fun to play.  The divers and somewhat impenetrable
sections dictated to me by the mighty one include:

Aesthetics, or What make maps cooler and pleasing to the Eye.
Spaces, or Where the Map Is.
Noises, or What scares Grendel and makes him angry.
Puddles, or The Wet Bits.
Things, also known as Objects and Friends.

and

Busted, Your Own Private Forum for Forge and Anvil Grievances, as Serviced
by me, Grendel.

Check out the Aesthetics and Spaces sections for tips on lighting,
platform tricks, texturing tips, coolio drawing techniques in Forge, and a
bunch of other handy examples.

In the Busted section is a submission by the Right Hon. Greg Galcik with a
question about his map, Sporkt, and an explanation on Why It Don't Work,
followed by the sequel, It Works Now.

Any questions, Busted submissions, or eloquent appeals to Hastur to end my
indentured servitude please send to: grendel@doubleaught.com

Humbly,

Grendel
grendel@doubleaught.com

And another two days later the following was posted to both alt.games.marathon and comp.sys.mac.games.action:

From: grendel@doubleaught.com (Grendel)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon,comp.sys.mac.games.action
Subject: Need help with Forge?
Date: 8 Nov 1996 23:34:29 GMT
Organization: Double Aught
Lines: 30
Message-ID: <grendel-0811961836450001@192.163.1.100>
NNTP-Posting-Host: gregk.dialup.access.net
Xref: web3.tcd.ie alt.games.marathon:27088 comp.sys.mac.games.action:37043

Marathoners,

We've already announced it, but now were getting really punchy so we
thought we'd announce it again.

What is it?
What could it be?
Is the universe really closing?
Can there really be something this cool?
What is this guy blabbing about?
Who is this guy?

Ok.  

www.doubleaught.com/hastur

Lots of handy Forge help can be found, not this christmas, not under your
pillow, but right where we said.  So what are you waiting for?  You too
could make thousands of maps in only a few weeks.  This isn't an
advertisement.  Well, it is actually.  Check it out.  Hurry up.  The
universe will only be open for a few more trillion minutes.

Later,
Greg K.

00
double aught, inc.
www.doubleaught.com
Those guys what made the scenario for M: Infinity
gregk@doubleaught.com

Hastur's Workshop was written from an Apprentice (Grendal) and Master (Hastur) point of view.

It was not hard to spot that Hastur and Grendal were also the names of Greg Kirkpatrick's cats.

On the Double Aught credits terminal on Aye Mak Sicur, Greg wrote:

Ok, punks. I hope you'll all have as much fun
playing this as I did making it - or maybe even
more. If there's something that bugs you, and
you need to curse, curse me. I'm empathic and
I'll feel your burning frustration in the back
of my brain. This will prompt me to produce
greater things in the future, and give me a
nagging sensation which I'll like. You should
also feel free to curse either or both of my
cats, who were extremely helpful in the making
of Infinity because they never let me sleep.
They are named Hastur and Grendel.

In life being sapient is also helpful.

-gjk

But who were Hastur and Grendel?

Well this was the confusing part. Hastur created Acme Station. But wasn't Greg Grendel? Was Greg just writing about himself? Or was Hastur Greg and Grendel Randy or Chris or someone else?

As you can see Double Aught were the masters of obfuscation and obscurification (oo).

After its launch in November Hastur's Workshop received three updates in December and then...

When it finally did breathe life again on June 26, 1997 it received a massive injection of content.

In the space of just over one month eight additional sections were added and an exciting list of "Future Things to Come" was promised:

Future Things to Come:
(Not in any particular Order)

The Do's and Dont's on making good Solo Levels.

Water Pooter, Mr.Hydro Cannon.

Multi Switched Single Actions.

Hard Mounted Autoguns.

Bouncies, the things that go BOING in the Night.

Invisibles.

But as fate would have it we were fast approaching... "the crushing center".

On August 15, 1997 Hastur's Workshop anounced:

Future Things to Come:
Unfortunately, Hastur has not the time anymore to update these pages.
We hope that everyone continues to enjoy playing Marathon and making maps for it.
And that the information in these pages help them do so indefinitely.

It's possible that at some future date, Hastur and Grendel might start a new section
of the workshop dedicated to their newest toys Sandbox and Toybox.

And that was it...

In May 1997 Randy Reddig (ydnar) and Double Aught parted company. His departure was never announced nor the reason why.

The first most fans learnt of his departure was on June 25, 1997 on alt.games.marathon:

From: finn@gwi.net (Finn Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Double Aught's web site = 1st HTML art?
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 13:06:16 -0400
Organization: Alligator Enterprises
Message-ID: <finn-2506971306160001@brnpc81.gwi.net>
References: <christo-2406970229190001@sasc5-216.flash.net> <19970624130600.JAA05554@ladder01.news.aol.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: brnpc81.gwi.net
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Newsreader: MT-NewsWatcher 2.3.1
Lines: 17
Path: 195.92.112.70!theplanet.net!knews.uk0.vbc.net!vbcnet-gb!insnet.net!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!europa.clark.net!newsfeed.direct.ca!news.uoregon.edu!news.gwi.net!brnpc81.gwi.net!user

In article <19970624130600.JAA05554@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
obsidiansw@aol.com (ObsidianSW) wrote:

> HTML art? Are you high? I just went to their new and "improved" site, and
> didn't see any HTML art. What you probably mistook for HTML art (which
> would really just look like any ol' ASCII art) are wireframe images. Most
> likely they are starships and such from Duality or just random 3D models
> Ydnar through together. And by the way, Greg Kirkpatrick is the scenario
> designer (writer) and Ydnar is the artist.

Ydnar's not at Double Aught anymore.

Finn

--
Finn Smith                            Check out my 3D Mac Games Page:
finn@gwi.net                      http://www.gwi.net/~finn/games.html




From: kishmu@earthlink.net (David Kishi)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Double Aught's web site = 1st HTML art?
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 14:31:10 -0700
Organization: EarthLink Network, Inc.
Lines: 23
Message-ID: <kishmu-2506971431110001@pool022-max7.pasadena-ca-us.dialup.earthlink.net>
References: <christo-2406970229190001@sasc5-216.flash.net> <19970624130600.JAA05554@ladder01.news.aol.com> <finn-2506971306160001@brnpc81.gwi.net>
NNTP-Posting-Host: pool022-max7.pasadena-ca-us.dialup.earthlink.net
Xref: news.coli.uni-sb.de alt.games.marathon:22166

In article <finn-2506971306160001@brnpc81.gwi.net>, finn@gwi.net (Finn
Smith) wrote:

> In article <19970624130600.JAA05554@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
> obsidiansw@aol.com (ObsidianSW) wrote:
> 
> > HTML art? Are you high? I just went to their new and "improved" site, and
> > didn't see any HTML art. What you probably mistook for HTML art (which
> > would really just look like any ol' ASCII art) are wireframe images. Most
> > likely they are starships and such from Duality or just random 3D models
> > Ydnar through together. And by the way, Greg Kirkpatrick is the scenario
> > designer (writer) and Ydnar is the artist.
> 
> Ydnar's not at Double Aught anymore.


Oh yeah.... What happened?

-- 
k i s h i :-)
k i s h m u @ e a r t h l i n k . n e t

http://www.earthlink.net/~kishmu/index.html




From: c1ndyh@aol.com (C1ndyh)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Double Aught's web site = 1st HTML art?
Date: 25 Jun 1997 20:56:07 GMT
Lines: 7
Message-ID: <19970625205601.QAA04245@ladder01.news.aol.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: ladder01.news.aol.com
X-Admin: news@aol.com
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
References:  <finn-2506971306160001@brnpc81.gwi.net >
Path: 195.92.112.70!theplanet.net!knews.uk0.vbc.net!vbcnet-gb!azure.xara.net!xara.net!iag.net!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news-peer.gsl.net!portc01.blue.aol.com!audrey01.news.aol.com!not-for-mail

>Ydnar's not at Double Aught anymore. <

If this is true, it's very unfortunate. Randy is a gifted game designer
and artist.
We need to have some official comment here.

Cindy




From: pfhorrest@aol.com (Pfhorrest)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Double Aught's web site = 1st HTML art?
Date: 25 Jun 1997 21:01:54 GMT
Lines: 12
Message-ID: <19970625210100.RAA04575@ladder01.news.aol.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: ladder01.news.aol.com
X-Admin: news@aol.com
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
References: <finn-2506971306160001@brnpc81.gwi.net>
Path: 195.92.112.70!theplanet.net!knews.uk0.vbc.net!vbcnet-gb!azure.xara.net!xara.net!uknet!uknet!news.maxwell.syr.edu!chi-news.cic.net!feeder.chicago.cic.net!portc01.blue.aol.com!audrey01.news.aol.com!not-for-mail

<<Ydnar's not at Double Aught anymore.>>

what? why!?!?

BTW, whoever is Randy's replacement, your FTP server is expired. It told
me to tell you.
-p4st
Forrest Cameranesi
pfhorrest@aol.com
http://users.aol.com/pfhorrest/
Project More Coordinator
(c) 1997 The Big Giant Head, Ultd




From: finn@gwi.net (Finn Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Double Aught's web site = 1st HTML art?
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 11:25:00 -0400
Organization: Alligator Enterprises
Lines: 15
Message-ID: <finn-2606971125010001@brnpc17.gwi.net>
References: <finn-2506971306160001@brnpc81.gwi.net> <19970625210100.RAA04575@ladder01.news.aol.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: brnpc17.gwi.net
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Newsreader: MT-NewsWatcher 2.3.1
Path: 195.92.112.70!theplanet.net!su-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news-pull.sprintlink.net!news-in-east.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!204.120.68.2!news.gwi.net!brnpc17.gwi.net!user

In article <19970625210100.RAA04575@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
pfhorrest@aol.com (Pfhorrest) wrote:

> <<Ydnar's not at Double Aught anymore.>>
> 
> what? why!?!?

I do not know. I e-mailed him with a question about Duality a few weeks
back. His reply was simply: "i no longer work at double aught."

Finn

--
Finn Smith                            Check out my 3D Mac Games Page:
finn@gwi.net                      http://www.gwi.net/~finn/games.html

Perhaps it was just coincidence that Hastur's Workshop sprang into life on June 26, 1997. The day after the alt.games.marathon post.

Or perhaps Double Aught were making a statement of... "durability"... that life goes on.

When Double Aught announced the end of Hastur's Workshop they also included an update.

A last farewell of sorts.

This update was the last piece of Marathon content to be released by Double Aught.

The last hurrah... sort of speak.

And so this is the way Marathon ends. Not with a bang... not with a whimper... but with a... swooosh.

Each year on August 15, a small group of Marathon fans meet to do the "dance of forever" and ride the... Water Pooter, Mr. Hydro Cannon.

So that they may never forget.

Why... they were the cats of course!

Page maintained by Hamish Sinclair
Hamish.Sinclair123@gmail.com
Last updated Aug 15, 2021