Bungie Marathon News

Marathon's
Story
Page

since 1995

marathon.bungie.org/story

Marathon's
Story
Page

since 2019

marathon.bungie.org/story

Monday April 7, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #685.

You are number...

Marathon ARG (2nd iteration). Traxus DAC clients count. April 6, 2025.
So after 24+ hours of waiting to upload a DAC to the Traxus website MIDA came up with a solution early on Sunday morning.

A MASTER DAC.

MASTER DAC posted by we_are_mida (@WE_ARE_MIDA)
April 6, 2025. 9:11 AM GMT.
In truth you didn't need it because the good folks overseeing the ARG fixed the Traxus website so that it would accept any image file.

Marathon Discord. April 6, 2025. 1:18 PM GMT.
And so it began.

~~2000+ ball pics were sent to Bungie HQ.~~

Working with 2000+ Marathon fans trying to realign three satellites in the space of two minutes before it resets was nothing short of...

...well, let's just say I now know why it took ninety-two years to send a light-speed transmission from Tau Ceti to Sol.

If Marathon teaches us anything it is perseverance (aka Try again).

Hats off to all those that worked hard on this part of the Marathon ARG (2nd iteration).

In truth I don't think it was actually solved, in that there was no big 'AHA' moment.

The Traxus website just opened up spilling out its contents for all to see even as people continued to realign the satellites.

The DAC Debacle has forever been enshrined in a series of memes.

DAC mining by Akella on the Marathon Discord. April 5, 2025.

Need DAC by Akella on the Marathon Discord. April 5, 2025.
So what about all the unused DAC ?

Boxes Full of DAC by Dobledas (@sirdoubled.bsky.social) on Bluesky. April 5, 2025.

Quick update...

This is EXACTLY the way it was!

Waiting for recalibration... by Dobledas (@sirdoubled.bsky.social) on Bluesky. April 6, 2025.
Hats off to @sirdoubled.bsky.social.

Sunday April 6, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #684.

For those that have asked...

...Ozymandias is an A.I. in the Marathon Trilogy.

Just not the Marathon Trilogy you know.

The Marathon Trilogy by David Alexander Smith predates the Marathon Trilogy by Bungie.

The first book 'Marathon' was published in 1982 and the last book 'Homecoming' in 1990.

Bungie have never admitted to being influenced by David Alexander Smith's work even though both use the same title, both stories are about mankind's first contact with aliens and both feature AIs that begin to malfunction.

The AI Ozymandias features in the final book of the Marathon Trilogy 'Homecoming'.

This was pointed out by Ibrahim Halim back on May 30, 2004 and he quoted from the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1817 (first published 1818).

"My name is OZYMANDIAS, King of Kings."
Look on my works ye Mighty, and despair!
No thing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that Colossal Wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

See the That Marathon Book section on the Story page for more details on the Marathon Trilogy by David Alexander Smith.

We featured David Alexander Smith's Marathon books again on May 24, 2023.

This didn't go unnoticed.

Marathon's Story page by Cortana.SQL (@CortanaV) on x.com. May 24, 2023.
But I digress.

Nice to see Jack Strider (@striderau.bsky.social) back doing Marathon art.

This piece is influenced by the Marathon ARG (2nd iteration) and the LONG wait to upload your DAC.

Marathon DAC by Jack Strider (‪@striderau.bsky.social) on Bluesky. April 5, 2025.
Jack describes his image as follows:

A lone runner stands in the abandoned hallways of New Cascadia, lit by the ambient tones of red and blue. Their synthetic glowing eyes are focused on an object held in their hand - a DAC Keycard, used by Traxus personnel to log into and maintain the orbital satellite network.

Here's a close up of his DAC.

Marathon DAC (closeup) by Jack Strider (‪@striderau.bsky.social) on Bluesky. April 5, 2025.
Jack writes:

I love the DAC access key designs and I felt so compelled to somehow smash out an artwork before the ARG starts back up again tonight/today. See you on Tau Ceti IV.

Inspired by the Marathon concept art recently posted by Joseph Cross (Art Director of Marathon)...

Marathon Runners concept art by Joseph Cross (@josephacross) on x.com. April 4, 2025.
...eva (@iso_didacta) gives us.

Marathon Runner by eva (@iso_didacta) on the Marathon Discord.. April 5, 2025.
Eva writes:

finally, next cosplay has been spotted.

Looking forward to seeing her cosplay.

Saturday April 5, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #683.

would become something of consequence: though it was nothing more than a simp~le tho`~~``f`~~~rticular flower, or more precise~. ~~hen she had it just so the room flickered and tore, bending into somewhere else

Sekiguchi Genetics opening screen. April 3, 2025.
Apart from the Marathon ARG (2nd iteration) today is Happy "Blood Tides of Lh'owon" Day.

It was on this day 29 years ago that Bungie updated their new website (3rd interation) with the actual name of the scenario that would come with Marathon Infinity.

We went back in time to dig it out.

Here's what Bungie's Marathon Infinity page looked like on April 5, 1996.

"Blood Tides of Lh'owon" was the scenario that Double Aught Software were contracted to make for Bungie.

According to the Marathon Scrapbook:

Alex Seropian asked Doug (Zartman) to come up with a title for the scenario: "...something cool, like 'Blood Tides of Lh'owon'." Doug came up with dozens of names, but none of them were quite as evocative as "Blood Tides of Lh'owon," so it stuck.

"Blood Tides of Lh'owon" would even feature on the back of the Marathon Infinity box.

Oddly it was described as a 20-level scenario.

You do the maths.

Whatever the number the scenario name never caught on and "Blood Tides of Lh'owon" became defacto Marathon Infinity.

Happy "Blood Tides of Lh'owon" Day.

Now back to the Marathon ARG (2nd iteration).

Friday April 4, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #682.

It's sketchy Friday!

We've got sketches.

MikeButNotReally (aka My name's not Mike) gives us this thought provoking Marathon Infinity sketch.

Marathon Infinity by MikeButNotReally on DeviantArt. November 25, 2023.
Well it is Marathon Infinity afterall so what else would it be but thought provoking.

The text comes from opening terminal on Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! where Durandal recounts Count Roland's attempts to break his sword 'Durandal' to avoid it being taken by the enemy.

Durandal uses this an analogy for his own past claiming he will never be purged a third time.

The image of the arms stretching out is from the Marathon Infinity prologue screen.

This was created Randy (ydnar) Reddig, a Marathon fan, who was now working for Double Aught Software who were creating the Marathon Infinity scenario "Blood Tides of Lh'owon' for Bungie.

A few years after the release of Marathon Infinity fans noticed a photograph of a sketch on Randy's homepage entitled "poseidon.gif" (see below).

Ever the opportunist Miguel Chavez contacted Randy Reddig about the Poseidon sketch which bore a striking resemblance to the Marathon Infinity Prologue screen.

Here is Randy's reply from February 24, 1999.

ok. there are a few things in that photo, which assumed (correctly) was taken with a quickcam. the keyboard is an old apple adjustable keyboard, which, imo, was the best keyboard for marathon ever made. you might note the original uesc marathon 1 sticker in the bottom right corner and the safety tape i had placed over the spacebar.

the poseidon drawing was pen and ink on a sketchpad. i worked on it mainly in my last year of calculus, a couple months or so. i lent the original to the kids at st. john's who handle the school newspaper/zine for the cover. it was marriot appreciation week (marriot handles the cafeteria there...they had a penchant for evil shrimp). they took it well.

alas, the original disappeared sometime before december 1995. it was the 2nd in a series; the first drawing hangs in my parents' house. that one was drawn in 1993 while backpacking around europe. perhaps i'll scan it sometime.

the inspiration for the drawing was hr giger's necronom iv. i had some interest in putting human arms on something so obviously not human. not unlike the hero in marathon.

You can see H.R. Giger's Necronom IV here.

In MikeButNotReally's sketch Mjolnir Recon 54 is taking no chances as a headless torso descends from the heavens.

I guess it was... waiting for him.

As for Randy (ydnar) Reddig?

Well he transcended our world and became an entrepreneur and investor.

He was part of the founding team at Square.

When not investing in or advising early-stage technology companies, he spends time with his family in the Sierra Nevada and New Zealand.

Considered to be the Double Aught Seven of Marathon world.

Randy Reddig and partner Lian. 2015.
And today's life lesson is...

...get the pfhuck out of games.

Happy sketchy Friday.

Stay sketchy.

Thursday April 3, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #681.

Marathon Classic HUD Tablet.

Marathon Classic HUD Tablet by Ashton J. Tayeb on ArtStation. March 2025.
This custom 3D modeled version of the Marathon Classic HUD Tablet is by Ashton J. Tayeb, a 3D artist specializing in Hard Surface Modeling using Blender.

Ashton hails from Melbourne, Australia and can be found on ArtStation.

To misquote Durandal.

I won't waste my time trying to explain the playing mechanism to you - your primitive mind could never grasp its complex nature.

See if you can work it out.

Here's the back view. Battery not included.

Marathon Classic HUD Tablet (back) by Ashton J. Tayeb on ArtStation. March 2025.
Check out those details.

Marathon Classic HUD Tablet (detail) by Ashton J. Tayeb on ArtStation. March 2025.
And that refection.

Marathon Classic HUD Tablet (detail) by Ashton J. Tayeb on ArtStation. March 2025.
Marathon on a tablet reminds me of that famous quote by Jason Jones back in early 1997 after he removed the serial number protection for the Marathon Trilogy release.

It's always bothered me that Marathon's public lifetime would be over when the last registration card or serial number list got lost. Hopefully this is the version that I'll be playing in fifty years under emulation on some fuckfast portable the thickness of a sheet of paper...

And hopefully it won't be running Windows.
Jason (March 17, 1997 4:39pm)

Nearly thirty years...

Wednesday April 2, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #680.

Continuing our theme of celebrating Marathon art from around the world we give you...

Wang Ruiyang, a concept/visual designer on Artstation, from Pasadena in the United States.

Marathon style exploration by Wang Ruiyang on ArtStation. March 2025.
Wang writes:

Marathon style exploration

an attempt of doing marathon's art style, tried to minimize the surface structures and replace those with flat patterns.

Really liking the gun designs. One looks like a Fusion Pistol.

Apparently they can be intergrated.

Marathon Weapons by Wang Ruiyang on ArtStation. March 2025.
Here is an early concept sketch.

Marathon Weapons by Wang Ruiyang on ArtStation. March 2025.
I don't know how fast these guys can run.

Apparently you have to run fast in Marathon.

Marathon concept art. Marathon ViDoc. May 2023.
Then again Bungie did say...

The solution is a marathon, not a sprint.

...or something.

Perhaps the new Oath of the Vidmaster in Marathon will be like...

I pledge to punch all switches, to never shoot where I can use grenades, to admit the existence of no level except Total Carnage, to never use Caps Lock as my 'run' key, and to never, ever, run where I can walk.

I'm up for that!