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Marathon's Story Page
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Marathon-inspired New Year's Eve art from General-RADIX. Vince and Platina with DNL-1707.
Here is her New Year's Eve art from 2020 and 2019. Yes, it is something of a tradition now.
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The top seven things of 2021 by popular demand.
- The 25th anniversary of Marathon Infinity and why after 25 years we are still searching for the answer to the ultimate question. And who will find it first?
- doubleaught.com award winning web design from 1996. And still looks good today.
- duality.net watch a game's development though a webpage. Warning... the ending can be distressing.
- The Bungie Webmaster Poetry Slam and Hootenanny! The last hurrah of the REAL Bungie Webmaster?
- The Marathon Iceberg by orihaus. How deep do you go?
- 25 years later... more latin in Marathon.
- Where in the world are Mark Bernal's initials?
What will be the top seven things of 2022?
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Q7. When did Bungie say they would make a sequel to GNOP! ? Choose the correct one. (5 marks)
1. When Alexander Seropian finds the source code for GNOP!
2. When the jar containing Ling Ling finally breaks.
3. When Bungie gets a park named after them.
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A number of people have pointed out that you can hear the original Doug Zartman "Jingle Bobs" song from the Marathon 2 CD on YouTube here. It's under the title "I've Got A Bad Feeling About This..." which is based on the opening lyrics of the song. But this is definitely the "Jingle Bobs" song from the Marathon 2 CD.
Now if you take the trouble to read the Marathon Music section you will note that not every Marathon 2 CD came with this track. Nor was it clear what the official title of this Marathon track was called.
The subject of the "Jingle Bobs" song was raised in the 'Letters to the WebMaster' in June 11, 1996.
I was screwing around with Apple Audio CD Player, and noticed Marathon 2 had two tracks. I played the first, it was the theme song to M2. I played the second, it was what seemed to be Jingle Bobs. Why is that in there?
Shamu, hockyguy@execpc.com
Shamu-
Because the Windy City Bob Chorus just loves to get into the holiday spirit.
Some of our newer readers may fail to recognise the Windy City reference (aka Chicago)... the spiritual home of Bungie.
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Christmas art from General-RADIX. And yes... this has become something of a tradition. Here is his past Marathon-inspired Christmas art.
2020 and smoochy... smoochy
2019
2018
2017
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Come out to the Marathon, we'll get together, have a few laughs...
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the ship
not a creature was stirring, not even a S'pht.
'Cause now I have a machine gun
HO - HO - HOMerry Christmas to all Story page readers... everywhere!
And to get you into that festive Marathon spirit here are some cool yule tidings from ghosts of Christmas past:
President People's The Twelve Days of CRISTmas (V2).Have a good one. :)Ben Wigler's Jingle Bells.
Dr. Lex's Jingle Bobs!
According to the good Doctor himself: "Remember Jingle Bobs? If you don't have the Marathon 2 CD, you've missed something. Luckily, this map brings the original Jingle Bobs to your own Mac, performed live by the Bob Boogie Choir."poena.dare's The White Christmas Term.
Battle Cat's Christmas Aboard the Marathon and The 12 Days of Marathon Christmas.
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On the subject of 27 years old...
Ryan Martin, a 27 year old composer from Swansea, Wales (pretty much a stone's throw from here), has released another Marathon track from his Marathon HQ/Wav soundtrack remake project. This one is Landing, the first sound you would have heard when you arrived on the U.E.S.C. Marathon 27 years ago. No guesses as to what the second sound was.
Previous releases in Ryan's remake project are:
New Pacific
Guardians
Flowers in Heaven
LeelaCheck out his other music on YouTube or bandcamp.
See the Marathon Music section for the historical stuff.
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Happy 27th Birthday... Marathon.
Marathon shipped on 21 December 1994, 27 years ago today.
The rest they say is... history.
Check out the Inside Mac Games interview with Alex Seropian and Jason Jones shortly after the game shipped on Blasts from the Past. Now with newly restored original video clips.
Find out the real reason for the game's delay, the beta leaks, lessons learnt from Pathways Into Darkness, engine rewrites, releasing the level editor, stuff that didn't work well, stuff that was left out, and the "second" game.
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"We don't want to do Marathon 4... we don't want to be pigeonholed."
IMG's Company Spotlight: Bungie Software, April 1996.Added Inside Mac Games Company Spotlight on Bungie Software from April 1996 to Blasts from the Past.
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Happy Last Polygon Filled Day... oh YES. But which polygon was it?
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Q6. April 16, 1996 is an important date in Bungie history for what reasons? Choose the incorrect one. (5 marks)
1. First Letters To the WebMaster published
2. First Marathon Infinity screenshots released
3. Marathon 2 to be ported to Windows 95 announced
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Happy
Last Polygon Filled Day... err no... find out the tru7h... here
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Q5. Who was working on getting a park named after Bungie in 1996? Choose the correct one. (5 marks)
1. Pam Klier
2. Eric Klein
3. Alexander Seropian
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Concerning the YouTube video What if Halo had been a Mac exclusive? | Alternate History Explored mentioned a week ago.
I came across an interesting reply on r/marathon from Matt Soell (former Bungie Online Liaison) on July 15, 2016. Matt wrote:
Halo was never intended to be Mac-only, so there is no what-if alternate history where Halo turned the Mac into a gaming powerhouse.Yes, Bungie first showed the game to the public at a Macworld Expo. But there was no Mac build of Halo until maybe two weeks before that show, because Apple's version of OpenGL was way behind everyone else's. Halo's development started on Windows, and was in fact Windows-only for a long time.
The original intent was always to ship Halo as another cross-platform game - Mac and PC, just like the Myth games. Bungie's last year as a Mac-only developer was 1995. Showing the game at the MacWorld Expo was a no-brainer; people paid much more attention to Stevenotes than they ever did to press releases from a tiny indie game studio from Chicago.
There were lots of conspiracy theories at the time of the buyout about Bill Gates snatching up Bungie to kill gaming on the Mac or whatever. Utter nonsense.
Source: I worked at Bungie at the time.
The YouTube video was posted on November 30, 2021.
I'll let that sink in.
"There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as... infinity."Cue... theTwilight ZoneMarathon Infinity theme.
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Over on r/Marathon 'UmbratheCyborg' posted a pic of an odd looking Marathon Infinity box from the September 1996 edition of MacWorld and asks "Pre-release Marathon Infinity box art?"
Matt Soell, former Bungie
Correctional OfficerOnline Liaison replied:
Looks more like something that was slapped together by whatever software outlet ran the ad.We wouldn't have let that out the door. We had standards.
Good to know that Bungie had standards back in the day. But I digress.
The software retailer United CD ROM unable to get a pic of the Marathon Infinity box had to improvise using the Marathon 2 box as a basis for their Infinity mock-up. Eventually they did get an official Infinity box shot.
And of couse United CD ROM also sold the short-lived "Marathon Enhanced".
More levels... more aliens... more gore...
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Lots of folks writing in about yesterday's release of Bungie's 30th Anniversary Pack and the references to Marathon and Pathways Into Darkness in some of the new items.
Easy to spot the Marathon references in this one.
Maybe not so easy in this one. Until you realise that the shotgun in Marathon 2 was called WSTE-M5. WaSTElander M5 perhaps? Of course the shotgun in Marathon 2 was double barreled, had a complex loading mechanism that primitive minds could not grasp, and would not work in hard vacuum. The Imperialist forces just called it the WSTE'M.
A possible reference to Pathways Into Darkness and the level 'Please Excuse Our Dust'. Of course the level name is actually from a well know phrase itself. However the reference to listening to the dead when they speak is a dead giveaway (pun intended).
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On the season finale of Duality.
Double Aught provide a major injection of content.
New screenshots... character details... new story information.
Will Duality be renewed for season 2 ?
Find out on... duality.net
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One reason we're still one of the only self-publishing independent gaming companies is that we started on the Mac—and that's why we're still here today. Mac users are far more community-based and loyal, and if you're making games for them, you get a more attentive customer base.
Apple's Gaming Gurus, July 1999.Added Apple's 'Gaming Gurus' feature on Alex Seropian and Jason Jones to Blasts from the Past.
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Q4. Bungie West (Bungie's West Coast Office) was located in...? Choose the incorrect one. (5 marks)
1. San Jose
2. Palo Alto
3. Cupertino
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Thanks to Tim Branin in a Story forum post for pointing us to a YouTube video with the title:
What if Halo had been a Mac exclusive? | Alternate History ExploredYes... it's kind of like playing Marathon Infinity where Tycho wins.
At the start of the video you will see clips from Marathon, "America's Most Moronic Home Videos" and reference to the Chicago Reader's 'Monsters in a Box' article.
No mention of Bungie West though... funny that.
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We sent a camera to Bungie and asked them to take us on a tour of Bungie and to find out what they're working on. We're heard rumours that they are working on the next "big game" and that is supposedly not Marathon 3.
Inside Mac Games, August 1996.
Most readers would agree Bungie has created the best gaming products for the Macintosh, and your organization turned it into "America's Most Moronic Home Videos."
Inside Mac Games, September 1996.Added Inside Mac Games video interview with Bungie Software (August 1996) to Blasts from the Past.
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Marathon boasts another subtle feature, too: When you miss, you can see and hear your bullets ricochet.
Electronic Entertainment, December 1994, page 61.Added Electronic Entertainment's sneak peek of the Marathon beta to Blasts from the Past.
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And now back to Duality.
Double Aught prepare for the "aughts".
Find out what the fossil fish had to say about all this on... duality.net
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Q3. In Marathon the player was described as a...? Choose the incorrect one. (5 marks)
1. Science Officer
2. Marine
3. Electrical Specialist
4. Security Officer
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...the Marathons combined spectacular action with engaging story lines—something that id has never attempted. In these early titles, Bungie danced the "we've seen it and can do better" two step, taking a genre that had been tried—and found wanting—and polishing it to a fine gloss.
MacWorld, January 2000, page 64.Added MacWorld's "The Top 10 Mac Gaming Thingies of the Past 1,000 Years" to Blasts from the Past.
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Lots of folks writing in about the new Destiny 2 update (11/24/2021) featuring the return of the Gjallarhorn (rocket launcher). See pic below.
Ok so nothing really new here, since the Marathon-themed armor was unveiled back in August as part of the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack and the Gjallarhorn is of course in Destiny 1.However... people have noted how the composition of the Destiny artwork is similar to Marathon artwork by Craig Mullins from 1997.
The name "Gjallarhorn" is from Norse mythology and means "hollering horn".'thoners just call it a SPNKR.
Afterall ...sometimes a cigar is just a cigar... right?
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Q2. The code name for Marathon was? Choose one. (5 marks)
1. Blam
2. Matter
3. Marathon
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And now back to Duality.
It is 2 months after E3.
It is mid-summer and 'The Heat Is On' in Brooklyn.
Double Aught update duality.net with new screenshots.
Check them out on... duality.net
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One of the finest games anywhere. Relentless action, thoughtful puzzles, an engaging storyline, and outstanding network play make Marathon irresistible. Better yet, Marathon 2 continues the tradition.
MacWorld, March 1996, page 102.Added MacWorld's Top Products of 1995 Award to Blasts from the Past.
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Thanks to Barni in a Story forum post for drawing our attention to a very Marathon-like symbol in the Japanese anime series Violet Evergarden.
Part of the Violet Evergarden plot goes:
The story follows Violet Evergarden's journey of reintegrating back into society after the war is over and her search for her life's purpose now that she is no longer a soldier in order to understand the last words her mentor and guardian...I have added this to the That Marathon Symbol section.
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It's really the ambiguity and paranoia the scenario inculcates in you that makes all the running around, solving locked-door puzzles, and blasting things to bloody bits, more than just a Doom clone.
MacADDICT, December 1996, page 84.Added MacADDICT's review of Marathon Infinity to Blasts from the Past.
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Previously on duality.net .
Double Aught arrive in Atlanta city for E3.
They are ready to show Duality to the public.
Little did they know that others had a different plan.
Find out what really happened on... duality.net
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As expected... a lot questions arising from those two official screenshots below.
What is that in the upper left?
What level is this?
Are these taken from the beta, gamma, blamma?
Is one of those screenshots a fake?
Are both screenshots fake?
And it's only 1994.
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Q1. Compare and contrast. (10 marks)
What better way to start the weekend than with a head scratcher.
Note: both these pics are official Marathon screenshots (i.e. they were both released by Bungie in 1994).
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And now back to Duality.
Double Aught arrive in Atlanta for E3 and the first public showing of Duality.
The DA crew bring a new level of edginess to Atlanta nightlife.
"Resurgens" is the new Double Aught motto.
Find out what really happened... on... duality.net
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Regarding the Escapist article mentioned yesterday a number of people have pointed out that Wired published a similar article entitled:
"It's Time to Revisit the Games That Gave Rise to Halo"It focuses on the first game in the Marathon series and discusses how the story unfolds and interweaves as you play. Here's a snippet:
...the use of text—not voiceover—allows the story to grow in elaborate and sometimes strange directions, a sort of epistolary sci-fi novel unfolding parallel to and intersecting with Marathon's gameplay.Here's another snippet:
...as the game weaves these stories together, the levels escalate from Doom-style death mazes to elaborate set pieces, major incursions from the Pfhor that you have to fend off while you work to repair the ship, send a warning to Earth, and keep the Pfhor from destroying the artificial intelligences you rely on for information, orders, and advice. The escalation is impressive and thrilling, foreshadowing things Bungie would try with Halo and even Destiny, and laying groundwork for the way major action video games would eventually come to design story lines and levels.Good to see renewed interest in a 25+ year old game from mainstream media... even if they are waiting for Halo
InfinityInfinite.Halo
InfinityInfinite is scheduled for release in a month's time (December 8, 2021).
Related links:Jason Jones on Marathon
Original Level Notes for Marathon
Arrival
Intellectuals approve of epistolary sci-fi novels
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Earlier this year I added the Escapist article on the Marathon series and its influence on Halo entitled "From '94 to Infinity: Before Halo".
I have now added Greg Kirkpatrick's response to this in a 'letter to the editor' in the Escapist (2005, Volume 1, Issue 8). You can read it here (see the 3rd page).
This issue also has an interesting article on the rising cost of game development budgets, publishers and why it sucked to be a developer in 2005.
Hey it sucked to be a developer in 1998 too. Go ask Greg Kirkpatrick.
"We thought the term "aught" would catch on but it didn't.
We had 8 employees at one point and an office in Brooklyn.
It was a great learning experience for me."
(Greg Kirkpatrick, 2013)
Related links:Blasts from the Past - early Marathon, Bungie and Double Aught history
What happened to www.doubleaught.com ?
Greg Kirkpatrick on Marathon Infinity
ck on infinity
Will the Historians find the 'answer' ?
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And now back to Duality.
Courtney Evans joins the Double Aught team.
A recent Juilliard School graduate he brings music to Duality.
Listen to the original music as it was back in 1998 on... duality.net
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And without further ado...
"I've got a bad feeling about this."
It's a lot worse than you think. It is...
Quake vs Marathon 2: Durandal for Windows 95"Get me outta here. See ya starside."
Quake was released on June 22, 1996. Marathon 2: Durandal for Windows 95 was released on September 6, 1996 but was a port of the Mac version released in November 1995.
In their wisdom CNET Gamecenter decided to do a 1 on 1
grudge matchshoot-out.To be fair Marathon 2 didn't fare too badly winning two rounds and tied in another.
Find out which ones on... CNET Gamecenter's Quake vs Marathon 2.
Related links:Marathon Infinity will blow Quake away?
Marathon 3D
Win 95 Marathon 2: The Undiscovered Secrets
The fate of the Marathon 2 for Windows 95 Source Code
Marathon release dates
Blasts from the Past - early Marathon, Bungie and Double Aught history
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Thanks to all those who wrote in with the names for the creatures in the latest Duality screenshot.
Good to see that there are still people out there who know their Duality lore.
So on the lower left we have the Grrloper (later shortened to just Loper). On the upper right we have the Airpede.
And in the foreground we have... Baby Groot! Yes folks... we have a comedian in our midst. You know who you are. ;)
A number of people have also pointed out that these are not the 'first' Duality creatures to be seen. There is a drawing of a Hybrid on the Contact page.
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And now back to Duality.
Double Aught release "Creatures in a Cubist Landscape".
And you can see it on... duality.net
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Happy Halloween.
To mark the day (as is the tradition) General-RADIX has created a new piece of Marathon art.
Check out the Enforcer and an unfortunate S'pht'Shr.
Related links:Happy Halloween 2020
Happy Halloween 2019
Happy Halloween 2018
Happy Halloween 2017
S'pht clan names
The S'pht'Kr's final message - can you solve the riddle of the red sands?
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A number of people have asked about the two new screenshots on duality.net. Specifically...
"Where's the 2nd one?"Yes, this caused some confusion back in the day.
Apart from the obvious one (aka sandpit) the 2nd one is easily missed.
Compare the previous screenshot page here.... with the new one... over here.
Can you see it now?
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Previously on duality.net.
Jihan Kim creates a new look Duality page.
But makes a fatal mistake.
The Master is not pleased... "I HATE FRAMES!!!", he screams.
Jihan Kim toils under the whip to create a new... old look Duality page.
The Master is still not pleased... "GET THAT OFF THE PAGE!!!", he screams.
The offending item is removed.Find out what... on duality.net
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And now for something completely different...
YouTuber RUFUS of RUFUS!'s Video Game Graveyard has just released an excellent and highly amusing video on Marathon Infinity.
He writes:
Welcome to the final chapter of the Marathon saga, wherein RUFUS! travels through multiple realities, murdering both alien and human alike, in a futile attempt to figure out what the fuck is going on.Apart from being highly amusing it is also informative and definitely worth a watch. Here's a snippet.
See the full video here
RUFUS!'s Video Game Graveyard is dedicated to...
...games developed by small teams for little money, something that gets lost in these days where a game costs $100,000,000 to make and has a production team the size of a fucking movie studio. Games that embody true passion and innovation rarely get the spotlight and the big bucks. So let's bring them back from the dead.Also he swears a lot. But it's all done in the best possible taste!
Related links:RUFUS on Marathon
RUFUS on Marathon 2
Infinity timelines page as featured in the video
Timelines... haven't we been here before?
"what the fuck is going on" = the 'ultimate question'
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Late to the party...
Marathon | Reddit (aka r/Marathon) turned 13 yesterday.
Yes, r/Marathon is 13 years old having been created on Oct 24, 2008. Somewhat deceptive though as it was originally created as a Marathon running subreddit. The annexed Bungie version dates back to 2012.
Still a lot of water under the bridge since then and a lot of Marathon discussion.
Here are seven highlights that come to mind without even doing a search.
Baran's (aka zlatanbaranovic) interview with Greg Kirkpatrick.
It didn't turn out exactly as planned. Baran asked the r/Marathon community to post the questions they wanted him to ask Greg. Then Greg dropped in and began answering them directly himself. Funny how things work out. Here is Baran's actual interview after the event.Baran's interview with Matt Soell.
To mark the 25th anniversary of Marathon, Matt Soell agreed to answer Baran's questions regarding his time at Bungie and his work on the Marathon series. To quote the late Kenny Everett... "It's all done in the best possible taste!"Marathon Iceberg by orihaus.
While not the 'answer' to the 'ultimate question' it does depict the depths you have to go... to fully understand Marathon Infinity.Marathon Tube Poster Recreation by hanz333
Don't have a Marathon poster? Then make one yourself. And then get it professionally framed. An original Marathon poster in its tube can cost $100s assuming you can find one. The Authenticity in Art Foundation have been notified.Here is gorgeous pic of a well loved Marathon keychain.
One of the most coveted pieces of Marathon memorabilia out there.Very good idea by Gopherofdoomies
Now you know how Tfear felt.Am I wrong? by thunderchild120
For Homers everywhere!
Related links:The Marathon Poster
The Marathon Keychain
What is the 'ultimate question' ?
Who are the Homers ?
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In the last update of duality.net or indeed doubleaught.com you may have noticed a reference to Marathon Infinity winning:
CNET Gamecenter's Best Macintosh Game for 1996Why did it win? Who were the nominees? What was CNET Gamecenter?
Now you can find out on the Blasts from the Past section.
Related links:duality.net - Duality development one web page at a time
doubleaught.com - award winning web design
Blasts from the Past - early Marathon, Bungie and Double Aught history
Tuncer Deniz shows Bungie's awards in 1996
Tuncer Deniz today
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Marathon Infinity - 25th Anniversary Edition.
Soli Deo Gloria Productions, LLC have released a 25th Anniversary Edition of Marathon Infinity for iOS (iPhone and iPad) to celebrate 25 years of Infinity.
The 25th Anniversary Edition brings new advanced lighting effects with bloom, static, and projectiles that illuminate dark walls and floors.
Now Immersionists can be better illuminated while they search for the 'answer' to the 'ultimate question'.
Also check out what Soli Deo Gloria has to say about... "What does it mean to be a Vidmaster?"
Rage hard... and Vid It With Style.
Related links:Marathon for iOS
Marathon 2: Durandal for iOS
Marathon release dates
Vidmaster
Vid It With Style ?
Who are the Immersionists ?
What is the 'ultimate question' ?
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Seven days to go...
The Secret History of Mac Gaming: Expanded Edition by Richard Moss is due to be released on October 29, 2021.
The original edition weighed in at 416 pages and covered "the creative little community of game developers and players who made the Macintosh a special, forward-thinking place for games in the 1980s and '90s - even as the rest of the world forgot it."
This newly-expanded edition "adds around 70 pages of extra content"... including
the 'answer' to the 'ultimate question'.Here's a double spread page preview of the chapter called Durandal (click the image to see a larger version).
But that's not all...
In a recent Facebook post on Bungie's Marathon fans Richard Moss writes:
"I'm planning a second volume of my book The Secret History of Mac Gaming, of which one major component will be a community-focused/people's history of the Mac gaming scene (ie how people played, modded, and talked about Mac games in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s)."Probably going to need 700+ pages for that book.
Related links:Blasts from the Past - early Marathon, Bungie and Double Aught history
Page 2401 - Marathon community in the 90s and early 2000s
What was Page 2401 ?
What is the 'ultimate question' ?
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And now back to Duality...
Double Aught have been hard at work and are now heading to E3 to show a Duality Preview.
Duality is scheduled for a Christmas release.
duality.net gets a new web designer and a fresh new look.
What could go wrong?Find out on duality.net
Related links:doubleaught.com - award winning web design
Blasts from the Past - early Marathon, Bungie and Double Aught history
Marathon 2 Preview - on The Disc
Marathon 2 Preview - walkthrough (secrets and stuff... hush hush)
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"The trippy, rave-y 90s project"... and the "ultra-rave energy of Infinity".
Thanks to Chlazza in a Story forum post for pointing out a recent article on Power of Seven the folks that did the theme music for Marathon 2: Durandal and Marathon Infinity. You can see it here.
One comment on the article reads:
I also frequented the http://marathon.bungie.org/... (crazy how that lives on!) archive, with dumps
of all the terminal text, while playing the Marathon 2 theme on loop. Those were the days!And Peter Kirn THANK YOU THANK YOU for this post! I wonder what led you to make it? 25th
anniversary of Marathon Infinity? ;D
"crazy how that lives on!"... indeed.Related links:
Power of Seven and Psykosonik
25th anniversary of Marathon Infinity
Marathon release dates
Marathon Music... and 'background voices' in the Marathon 2 theme
Marathon Music... and 'background voices' in the Marathon Infinity themeand remember this?
That 90's walk !!!
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Always sad to hear of the passing of a well known Marathon fan.
Sometimes we forget how much time has passed since 1994.
According to Curt Lewis on the Facebook page Bungie's Marathon fans Michael Garrison (aka CYBERNATOR) passed away a few months ago.
Curt has a nice write up of the days they played Marathon on Apple's campus wide network. Curt writes:
"Watching him play was funny. He was expressionless. You'd think he was working on a spreadsheet. He knew exactly where to go on the map to make the most use of the radar. "Michael Garrison was a persistent winner when Bungie held their Marathon tournaments at MacWorld.
However a good deal of controversy dogged those tournaments. One day someone will write it all down for posterity.
For now... check out:
The Marathon Macworld Mayhem Tournament
The Marathon Macworld Mayhem 2 TournamentRIP.
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And now on doubleaught.com...
Is this the end of doubleaught.com?
Find out on temporal-assassins .
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Lots of folks writing in about having to spend yet another 25 years searching for the 'answer'.
"Nuts to this, I want the answer NOW."Over the years numerous groups have evolved around the mythos that is Marathon Infinity.
Here is quick breakdown of those that are currently known.Intellectuals
Intellectuals are a highly literate group who believe that like other great literary works of the 20th century the 'answer' is whatever you want it to be. If an 'answer' should ever be forthcoming it is unlikely that Intellectuals would ever agree with it. The genesis of Marathon intellectualism is believed to be this late 1997 usenet post. Saviors
Saviors believe that someone (the Savior) will appear with the 'answer'. Savior faith is based on the simple belief that someone MUST have the 'answer'. A sub-group of Saviors believe that in 20212046 a time vault will open and Greg Kirkpatrick will appear (Hari Seldon-like) to reveal the 'answer' or at least provide guidance for the next quarter century. However it has been repeatedly pointed out that Greg Kirkpatrick is still alive. Intellectuals disparagingly refer to Saviors as the Nar.Historians
Historians believe that the 'answer' lies in the past. Somewhere buried in ancient long forgotten usenet posts and other archaic communication protocols lies the 'answer'. The adage goes that "Marathoners have had all of the necessary data for years, they only lacked the will and intellect to decipher it". A sub-group of Historians believe that Greg Kirkpatrick actually posted the 'answer' to the 'ultimate question'. However this mythical post has yet to be found. Intellectuals disparagingly refer to Historians as the Psychos. Deconstructionists
Deconstructionists believe that the 'answer' can only be found by analysing and deconstructing every word of Infinity's story in search of meaning. However such efforts require a planetary sized network of computers. To date it has not been feasible to sacrifice such a network for this task. Deconstructionists wait for the birth of AI to begin their search for the Holy Grail. Immersionists
Immersionists believe that the 'answer' can only be found by reading the terminals in-game and not on a page. Immersionists seek to identify with, understand, and experience the character's inner motivation and emotions. Only through complete immersion can the story be truly understood. A sub-group of Immersionists believe that there is an undiscovered path backwards in the game that if taken with a certain item will reveal a hidden secret with the 'answer'. Critics
Critics believe that the Infinity story is a "load of tosh" and as such has NO 'answer', "never had and never will". Infinity is simply the "incoherent ramblings" of game makers who "mistake themselves for writers". A sub-group of Critics blame the Marathon's Story page for encouraging Double Aught to write "incomprehensible drivel simply to placate its rabid fans". Homers
Homers are not strictly a group per se. Homers have played Marathon Infinity and then spent 7 seconds thinking (the maximum length of a Homerian thought) about what it means and moved on. Homers have been immortalised in this classic mural. If you are a Homer... remember to scroll to the right... no your OTHER right.
What group are you in?
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Happy 25th Birthday... Marathon Infinity.
Marathon Infinity was released on October 15, 1996. Twenty-five years ago today.
For 25 years Marathon fans have attempted to answer the 'ultimate question'.
Greg K: Hello Hamish.
Hamish: Who are you?
Greg K: I am the Architect. I created Marathon Infinity. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and though the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant.
Hamish: What happens in Marathon Infinity? Over the next 25 years Marathon fans will continue to search for the 'answer'.
Will you be here in... 2046 ?
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And now on doubleaught.com...
"Kill your enemies. Kill your friends' enemies. Kill your...
Double Aught finally add "friends" to their web page.
Find out who they were on... Them
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Previously on doubleaught.com
The end of *GOOD TIMES*.
Is anyone working on Duality?
Do Double Aught have any friends?
Last polygon filled... at Hastur's Workshop.And now on doubleaught.com... somebody set up us the bomb.
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"My Own Private Thermopylae".
Thanks to Chris D in a Story forum post for pointing out that the Marathon level name "My Own Private Thermopylae" was used by a British TV presenter (Chris Packham) to describe his stance against those who would seek to silence his views on conservation and hunting.
"My own private Thermopylae. On Friday morning I was the victim of an arson attack on my home."
As Chris D rightly points out the exact quote "My own private Thermopylae" would appear to be the preserve of Marathon. One man's (or cyborg's) struggle against the many.
One wonders if Chris Packham is/was a Marathon fan.
For more information about this level name see the What's in a Name? and the Level Credits sections.
To quote Greg Kirpatrick (the creator of this level):
Don't we all wish at some point in our lives that we lived right before the
Golden Age of Athens? This level is as close as you'll ever come. It'll bring you
right to that ancient place where the battle was lopsided, where valor and courage
stood for more than the color of a man's blood.
And don't forget to check out the Vid Tips section of My Own Private Thermopylae for more tidbits from Greg Kirkpatrick.
This level was where the tide turned, where all ships floated with the rising tide (except Tfear's - his sank).
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Added the 9th iteration of Double Aught's Duality webpage.
How many more to go?
Hey... we are only getting started.
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And then there were... screenshots.
The 8th iteration of Double Aught's Duality webpage finally added screenshots.
While these were considered to be the 'first' Duality screenshots ever released... they were not.
You have to look carefully to find the first.
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This is the end of *GOOD TIMES*
Check out what happened to *GOOD TIMES* at Double Aught.
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Added the 7th iteration of Double Aught's Duality webpage.
Check out the earlier Duality web page designs here.
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I tried to add *GOOD TIMES* to Double Aught's website archive page.
But it fought me long and hard. In the end I had to give up.
"Help me, Colin Kawakami. You're my only hope."
Check our Double Aught's earlier web page designs here.
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Added the 6th iteration of Double Aught's Duality webpage.
Check out the earlier Duality web page designs here.
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A Marathon-like symbol in Foundation... or something more?
Old-school Marathoner Gabe Rosenkoetter in a Story forum post points out that there is a familiar looking image in Apple TV's new Foundation series. It appears 41 minutes into the second episode. You can see it below.
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The Romans called it damnatio memoriae.
The Jjaro called it trih xeem.
Double Aught called it... reconstruction.
Phhht! Just like that.
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We have movement.
Added the 5th iteration of Double Aught's Duality webpage.
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Added the 4th iteration of Double Aught's Duality webpage.
Check out the earlier Duality web page designs here.
Also check out the Double Aught section on Blasts from the Past for all your Double Aught goodness.
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Added... the page that never was to Double Aught's website archive page.
Check our Double Aught's earlier web page designs here.
Also check out the Double Aught section on Blasts from the Past for all your Double Aught goodness.
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26 years ago... today... let's go...
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Added the 3rd iteration of Double Aught's Duality webpage.
Check out duality.net for older pages.
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So what is a poly?
Find out at duality.net
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Thanks to Tycho in a Story forun post for getting Double Aught's oo5 web page design working as it did back in February 1997.
Check our Double Aught's earlier web page designs here.
Also check out the Double Aught section on Blasts from the Past for all your Double Aught goodness.
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Added the 5th iteration of Double Aught's web page... designated... connekt.
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A new month... a new section.
Over the years I have got a lot of questions about Duality.
Do you have the Duality beta?
What was Duality's story?
Where is the Duality soundtrack?
What really happened at E3?
What was the Duality Anti-Glossary?
Who/what were the "infestation"?
What alien race lived in the ring before the humans?
What was Kwalt?
What was Operation Kwisachz?
etc... etc.But the most frequently asked question by far has been:
Do you have the duality.net web pages?So I have added a duality.net section to Blasts from the Past.
Mark Levin <haveblue@mac.com> writes about old Bungie code:
Bungie just posted this article about their internal coding practices, and while the whole thing is an interesting read, there's one bit at the beginning with a slightly surprising name in it:"The "static" keyword performs a bunch of different jobs in C++, including declaring incredibly dangerous static function-local variables.Is Destiny 2 still using a descendant of Jason Jones' cseries library, which at this point would be at least 30 years old? It’s almost certainly not using any of the actual original code, which would have been written in plain C against the early 90s Mac Toolbox, but it's fun to think about the lineage.You should use the more specific wrapper keywords in cseries_declarations.h, such as static_global, static_local, etc.
This allows us to audit dangerous static function-locals efficiently."
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Remember THIS?
What was the Bungie Webmaster Poetry Slam and Hootenanny?
Why was this a watershed moment in Bungie history?
Who was the Bungie Webmaster?
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Happy August 15
August 15 holds a special place in the Marathon calendar.
But why?
And who were Hastur and Grendal?
And whatever happened to Randy Reddig?
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Added the 4th iteration of Double Aught's web page. Check out oo4
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Read what the Internet Professional Publishers Association (IPPA) had to say about Double Aught's web site.
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Thanks to Mark Levin in a Story forum post for pointing out that Pathways Into Darkness v2.0 for Mac OS X has been released on the Mac App Store.
This updated version takes full advantage of the new M1 processor.
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Happy Bungie Day.
As is the tradition General-RADIX creates a new piece of art to mark the day.
And check out his artwork for 2020, 2019 and perhaps even 2018.Thanks to Jeoku for sending in this Blast from the Past from the year 2000. Those guys were young back then. Where are they now?
Go to What's New for Jan - June 2021
***TRANSPORT WHEN READY***Go Back to Marathon's Story Home Page
***TRANSPORT WHEN READY***Page maintained by Hamish Sinclair Hamish.Sinclair123@gmail.com
Last updated Dec 31, 2021
