| Aug 31, 2001 (Friday) |
"The Case of the Phantom Prototype" or "What the hell is Doug Zartman up to?". Only a few days ago Matt Soell (Bungie Studios) wrote to say that Doug Zartman (formerly of Bungie) was doing "...a lot of Halo-related work these days". But exactly what "Halo-related work" was not revealed. Now yesterday HBO made an interesting find while tracking down info on a Halo Guide by Prima. It seems there is a Halo related book in the works: 'Halo: The Fall of Reach' by Eric Nylund. Mr Nylund is no stranger to sci-fi having written a number of novels in this genre. However here is where it gets interesting.
Eric Nylund is a resident of Seattle, Washington. He has also written game related fiction. Specifically "The Case of the Phantom Prototype" a Paladin Blake Adventure for the Crimson Skies series of boardgames. You can read the PDF version of the story at the link below:
http://www.crimsonskies.com/story/backissues/phantom/default.htm
Doug Zartman (Microsoft) is thanked in the credits of the novel. And Crimson Skies is owned by Microsoft.
So Doug Zartman has been busy and no doubt has Mr. Nylund doing a Halo tie-in story.
| Aug 29, 2001 (Wednesday) |
Alec Sweet <marathonman@videotron.ca> writes:
Just read on bluesnews that some company was working on (or releasing) a game called "Duality".Sound familliar?
Coincidence or....?
Naw... it's just coincidence, but interesting nonetheless.
According to BluesNews the developer of this game is a newly formed Spanish company called Trilobite (name sounds familiar). Duality is a cyberpunk adventure/RPG that is based on a conflict between hackers and mercenaries. Presumably Double Aught dropped the rights to their "Duality" game title when they closed shop.
| Aug 28, 2001 (Tuesday) |
Matt Soell <msoell@microsoft.com> writes concerning the Story page's question (see Saturday's news) about Doug Zartman's appearance in the last week's Halo update:
It's true that Doug is not technically part of the Bungie group, but Microsoft hired him as part of their Intellectual Property group (the people who make deals for movies, action figures, etc.) and Doug's doing a lot of Halo-related work these days.
How interesting. Here is Matt's comment about Doug Zartman again:
Why is Doug Zartman obsessively reading the Marathon's Story page and looking for a copy of Musashi's Book of Five Rings?
So what is Doug Zartman up to? Reading the Story page and having a Bud? ;-)
Brian Retchless <mojo@fortunecity.com> writes:
I think it should be noted that there's some interesting happenings down at ye olde M1A1. It has been officially announced that the M:R textures by Jay Faircloth will be available for use on the M1A1 project and will become the default textures.Maybe its just me, but I think this is the first instance of a project using all high-detail textures instead of the low de-tail normal ones. I could be wrong though.. I just thought it was interesting.
Cool news indeed. :-)
On the Story Forum:
Marathon Timeline problems?
Multiple copies of M2 for sale... cheap!
Two shots... or three?
The Bob numbers on The Rose solved
MBTS goes for $$$
| Aug 26, 2001 (Sunday) |
Greg Downing <coldheartedcynic@chathouse.com> found this little Marathon related tidbit in a recent edition of Computer Gaming World. Greg writes:
pg 33 Computer Gaming World #206 (9/01)*************
CGW Mix: Our latest obsessions(4th on the list)
Marathon 2
WTF? Well...yeah! There haven't been any great shooters lately, we've played Half-Life for the fourth time, and...well...we were feeling a bit nostalgic. After getting some new Macs we fired it up and realized why it was such a great game for its time. Before you go accuse us of living in the past, make sure you don't have any DOOM wads on your computer.
**************
Not the most enticing review M2 has had, but its definitely nice to see that folks haven't forgotten the thrill of playing a shooter with a plot.
On the Story Forum:
Hot bidding for a MTBS
Going... going... gone!
A seven in Halo?
Marathon symbol sighting
Saving Private Bob
What is Vidmastery?
| Aug 25, 2001 (Saturday) |
Matt Soell (Bungie Studios) sent his Halo update to HBO this week. Here's one interesting piece:
- This update was delayed for the better part of an hour while Chris Carney and Mat Noguchi handed my ass to me over and over again on the Boarding Action map. Deep space, two huge ships floating beside each other, teleporters and sniper rifles. The map should really come into its own once the rocket launchers are enabled.
Matt also remarked:
I'd always thought that things would be clearer towards the end of Halo's development cycle, but these days I struggle with a number of disturbing questions. What's the real reason Joseph keeps a fish named Admiral Tirpitz at his desk? Why do those voices at the beginning of the first mission in Halo sound so eerily familiar? Why is Doug Zartman obsessively reading the Marathon's Story page and looking for a copy of Musashi's Book of Five Rings? Will Marty ever stop screaming?
We might also ask what is Doug Zartman's name doing in a Halo update when Doug left Bungie after the MS buyout?
Of course Matt did say afterwards:
Here are the few things I know to be true this week:
Suggesting that everything above was not. Then again what is the... tru7h?
| Aug 23, 2001 (Thursday) |
On the Story Forum:
Ye olde mara stuff on eBay
Spot the cool dude...
Marathon/PID cheap
Rare copy of The DISC
Marathon Galaxy
Tidbits and revolution!
| Aug 21, 2001 (Tuesday) |
Jeff Nosanov <JNosanov@aol.com> writes concerning a recent CNN news article:
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/08/20/computer.hal.reut/index.htmlSound familiar?? An AI growing in a lab...
Isnt that interesting? I guess we might not have to wait until the 24th century to get some powerful intelligent AIs....
Here's a piece from the CNN article:
For years intelligent computers have featured in Hollywood productions such as "Star Trek" and most recently in Steven Spielberg's "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," a film about a robot boy called David who dreams of being human.But intelligent machines have remained the domain of science fiction books and movies even though AI's chief scientist Jason Hutchens believes the computer technology of today is powerful enough to produce artificially intelligent computers.
"It's just that we don't know the secret yet," said Hutchens, an Australian who won the prestigious Loebner artificial intelligence prize in 1996.
"Our goal is the holy grail of artificial intelligence, it's to get a computer program that can use language," he said. The idea is to educate Hal gradually, the way a child learns, through trial-and-error and rewards when he performs well.
"Our goal is the holy grail of artificial intelligence..." Sound familiar? :-)
On the Story Forum:
M1 & M2 Bundle on eBay
Paul Oakenfold likes Marathon
The Story forum gets technical here...
...and here
Nice Marathon article... worth a read.
Blam!... Your Mom... Dink!
| Aug 20, 2001 (Monday) |
The last of the webcam movies. Robert Chrzanowski <zirman@mac.com> writes to say that due to a heavy class load over the coming academic year he won't have any time to compile more webcam movies. The Story page wishes him well in his studies. Robert's webcam movies can be found here. If anyone wants to take over from Robert please let me know.
Claude Errera <errera@bungie.org>, back from a 700 miles cycling vacation, writes:
On the 9th, you mention that Joe Auricchio attributes Durandal's Shotgun quote to a NetBSD Fortune file. I hate to show my age... but we sang that little ditty during recess when I was about 6... which is roughly when Unix itself was first developed. It seems FAR more likely that the fortune file was created from the children's corrupted rhyme, rather than vice-versa. (I don't disagree that this bit of doggerel is the origin of Durandal's quote... just where it came from in the first place. :) )
Good to get the facts straight.
On the Story Forum:
Refuel and Rearm
Help a guy out
Old source oddity
Third race speculation
| Aug 19, 2001 (Sunday) |
|
Quick update
There's an interesting thread on the TeamXbox forum from an individual who claims to be... and I quote... "Product Manager (Marketing Slime) on Halo". The poster uses the aka "Perfect Cowboy" which has been used by a Bungie employee in the past. Perfect Cowboy purports to answer a number of questions posed by TeamXbox forum readers. Some of the answers are quite inciteful suggesting that the source is geniune. Here's one story related piece:
Can you give any details about the environments we will be playing in? I can tell from the screenshots and movies that there will be trees, and hills, and of course, the insides of bases, and you mentioned a swamp, but is that all, or are there other nifty places for us to search out, and destroy stuff in? Now were the five question marks "?????" intentional or just a subconscious slip? Who are the third race? ;-) |
The Bungie webcam movies return. Ten more movies
from the studios of Robert Chrzanowski <zirman@mac.com>.
The Money Pit becomes the Nekid Cam and gets an M rating in the process.
Ling Ling's Potsticker Sauce... mmm... tasty.
20000-20999.mov (3413K) Thu Jun 21 11:10 - Fri Jun 22 03:49
21000-21999.mov (3219K) Fri Jun 22 03:50 - Fri Jun 22 21:40
22000-22999.mov (2723K) Fri Jun 22 21:41 - Sat Jun 23 14:20
23000-23999.mov (3411K) Sat Jun 23 14:21 - Sun Jun 24 07:00
24000-24999.mov (3410K) Sun Jun 24 07:01 - Sun Jun 24 23:40
25000-25999.mov (3410K) Sun Jun 24 23:41 - Mon Jun 25 16:30
26000-26999.mov (3411K) Mon Jun 25 16:31 - Tue Jun 26 09:00
27000-27999.mov (3903K) Tue Jun 26 09:01 - Wed Jun 27 01:40
28000-28999.mov (3890K) Wed Jun 27 01:41 - Wed Jun 27 18:19
29000-29999.mov (3085K) Wed Jun 27 18:20 - Thu Jun 28 07:22
Earlier webcam movies can be found here.
| Aug 18, 2001 (Saturday) |
Andrew Nagy <removed0@hotmail.com> sent in a series of Marathon demo 0.0 films showing some odd goings on at that Pfhor swallowing pillar on "Arrival". See the Marathon Demo v0.0 section for details.
Matt Soell (Bungie Studios) sent his Halo update to
Rampancy this week.
Here's one interesting piece.
"A giraffe walks into a bar and says...
... oh wait that's not Halo related. ;-)
On the Story Forum:
Whose side are you on?
Where in the world is Hamish Sinclair?
Did someone say Pippin?
Mark gets mathematical
I have pfhilmz
Did someone say seven?
Coming out of the booth... again
| Aug 15, 2001 (Wednesday) |
Jason Yu <jasonyu@boilingpoint.com> writes:
On the dated topic of J. Reginald Dujour's resume: Took me a while to remember this, and then longer to bother downloading the demo to verify, but he is also credited as being responsible for "Art Design and Production" on the 1995 game, Diamonds 3D.(http://www.wizworks.com/macsoft/diam_3d/d3d_01.html)
IMO the original Diamonds was more innovative and challenging -- you actually controlled the ball's lateral position as it bounced vertically through a maze, whereas 3D is just a generic three-dimensional Breakout clone. But what makes 3D worth noting is Dujour's characteristic artwork which presents us with an oddly familiar looking soft shaded metal display...
(http://www.gamezilla.com/reviews/quicktakes/diamonds3d.asp)
Matt Burch, creator of Escape Velocity, is listed in the credits as well.
Check out that display. Oddly it is familiar to you... like in an old dream.
Keeping up-to-date with events on the Story Forum?
Bunglossary
No Artificial Colors: Revisited
Secret films?
Marathon Watch For Sale, Cheap
Pfhor Your Eyes Only... Revisited
American English?
Vidmasters' stuff
OMG ITZ MATT MB
Plot holes?
| Aug 12, 2001 (Sunday) |
Over the past few weeks a small group of hardcore Marathoners have been revisiting the Marathon levels and posting their experiences to the Story Forum. Apart from just being fun the idea was to see if anything new could be uncovered about a level. Today Mark Levin posted the following interesting piece about the level "Habe Quiddam":
The first terminal on this level has a secret, one that makes the level somewhat easier to figure out. When Durandal displays the location of the alien energy converter, he does so by means of a checkpoint centered on the item. However, at the beginning of the level, the item is locked inside of several platforms marked Secret, which causes the checkpoint display code to not draw any polygons beyond them (relative to where it started). The checkpoint appears to be placed inside an isolated, small, strangely shaped room that is very hard to find within the level. If you go through the level and return to the first terminal without getting the converter, you will probably have opened the platforms along the way. This nullifies the Secret flag, and the terminal displays much more of the level, making the converter much easier to find.
As far as I'm aware this secret/tip has never been documented before. Seeing most of the map displayed in the first terminal will certainly help you locate the hidden elavator shaft needed to reach the upper sections of the level. Most people probably found this the first time by trial and error.
| Aug 11, 2001 (Saturday) |
Matt Soell (Bungie Studios) sent his Halo update to Haloplayers this week. Here's one interesting piece:
- Covenant grenades have this nasty characteristic: they stick to you. The AI knows this now, so when a grenade latches on to them they'll spend their last few moments running around in absolute panic. Heart-rending.
Some might call that sadistic. No?
And on the Story Forum today:
A rare copy of PID?
Hot bidding on eBay
Look Mom... no cables!
PfhorCrowd updated
Damn fakers!
Do Bungie have three titles?
"Jason Jones must die mb"
Phoenix is an RPG?
| Aug 10, 2001 (Friday) |
The Blasts from the Past section gets an update. Why? Well you'll need to check the Story Forum for the reason.
And on the Story Forum today:
Fake windows?
Losing it
I got a shotgun... but how do i load it?
Pfhor eyes... no three
Marathon Rip-Off?
| Aug 9, 2001 (Thursday) |
Whoa! Missed updates! Sign of the times? Are you keeping up-to-date using the Story Forum?
Joe Auricchio <me__@mac.com> makes this interesting find:
In Blaspheme Quarantine, Durandal says:Greetings. You're asking yourself: Is this a trap or just a dead end?You shouldn't ask yourself such worthless questions. Aim higher. Try this: why am I here? Why do I exist, and what is my purpose in this universe?
(Answers: 'Cause you are. 'Cause you do. 'Cause I got a shotgun, and you ain't got one.)
I have tracked down, through pure luck (actually a pseudo-random number generator run at a certain specific time from a certain process id), the probablyorigin of "'Cause I got a shotgun, and you ain't got one." It's from a parody of "This land is my land" by Woodie Guthrie. The parody is in one of the NetBSD Fortune files. The full parody is as follows:This land is my land, and only my land, I've got a shotgun, and you ain't got one, If you don't get off, I'll blow your head off, This land is private property. -- Apologies to Woody Guthrie
| Aug 6, 2001 (Monday) |
On the Story Forum:
Does Halo simply retell the Marathon story?
Marathon Map Notes
Take a stroll on Blaspheme Quarantine
PfhorCrowd... what is it?
You don't want to see my W'rkncacnter
Why Sunbathing can damage your health
| Aug 5, 2001 (Sunday) |
I say what I mean... I mean what I... Tyson (aka Ferrex) Green <tysongr@microsoft.com> posted a clarification to his earlier "Hunters in Halo" post on Rampancy. Here's the full text:
Whoops!
Ferrex (Dead)Posted On: Saturday, August 4 2001, 11:19pm
Poster IP: 131.107.3.91I think I need to clarify a statement or two here... sorry for being ambiguous.
: That big fellow is a known beast, a hunter.
Known beast from the Halo E3 demo, not (in the context of this statement or to the best of my current knowledge) Marathon.
: First, the hunter is shrugging off the flamethrower.
Not because he's immune, but because he's not being exposed to it for a very long period of time.
: Second, that player is smurfed. ;)
'Nuff said.
Cheers,
rex
Tyson added the following in a
post on HBO:
Re: Hunters in Halo...
Posted By: Ferrex (Microserf)
Date: 8/4/01 11:21 p.m.Eeek, I've been framed! ;)
Concerning the news post from today (Saturday), I wasn't pointing out any official ties between Halo and Marathon, though in hindsight several could be derived.
The original source of the name "Hunter" for that particular alien is unbeknownst to me, but as people who first saw the Halo hunter at E3 will likely confirm, there are significant physical differences between it and the Marathon hunter we know and love.
"That big fellow is a known beast, a hunter." <-- known from the E3 demo, not from Marathon.
As for immunity to fire, he's not--I may've implied that, but what I meant was that he's almost certainly not taking enough damage to prevent something nasty from happening to the player in very short order.
What am I babbling about? The original post is linked to below. And pardon my french. ;)
Cheers,
rex
Here's the original post all the fuss is over:
Re: Did i miss a whole thread of something?
Ferrex (Dead)Posted On: Friday, August 3 2001, 9:31pm
Poster IP: 131.107.3.91: I would be very surprised if i was the first to
: specifically the big Covie that is being
: burnt to a nice golden brown with the flamethrower.That big fellow is a known beast, a hunter. v And it's worth pointing out two important details regarding that screenshot.
First, the hunter is shrugging off the flamethrower. Second, that player is smurfed. ;)
Cheers,
rex
I'm sure there is a lesson here somewhere. ;-)
| Aug 4, 2001 (Saturday) |
Claude Errera <errera@bungie.org> writes to say that M1A1 (the original Marathon on the Aleph One engine) is now out. Head on over to the M1A1 Downloads Page. Definitely worth trying out.
Matt Soell (Bungie Studios) sent his Halo update to
Battleground Halo this week.
Here's one interesting piece.
- Chris Hughes added a bunch of marine heads to the game (some of whom look familiar) and tweaked Cortana's face.
On the subject of faces Marty grows a beard... or something.
Hunters in Halo confirmed. Back in July 14, 2000 Muhsin Miski noted that the alien in a
newly released Halo screenhot was very similar to the
Hunter in Marathon. It generated a lot of speculation at the time. Now
Matthew Fernandez <mattfernandez@earthlink.net> points out that a news item on HBO
confirms that the creature is in fact called
a "hunter" and like the Marathon's Hunter is flame resistant. This info was based on the following
Rampancy post.
| Aug 3, 2001 (Friday) |
I thought it was worth quoting the Marathon piece from GameSpy's Top 50 Games of All Time. Granted Marathon is ranked #44 but it's important to remember that a few years ago it would have been "Marathon?... what's that?" Sign of the times?
44. Marathon
1994 -- Bungie SoftwareWith an incredible storyline, a completely "modable" engine, and multiplayer action that rivals even some other recent releases, Marathon is an epic chapter in the FPS experience. Considering it's rlease in the early FPS and multiplayer gaming years (first released in December, 1994), it's considerable technical achievements were outweighed only by it's unflinching attention to detail and truely engaging plot. If one's network connection was fast enough, it even incorporated real-time voice communication; something which even today's games have yet to measure up to.
George Chronis, freelance writer: "Can anyone forget the 'Colony Ship For Sale' level, exploding Bobs, and Durandal? I can't. All of these years later this game is still with me. Most important, it was an intelligent game with a S-T-O-R-Y, long before Half-Life. Marathon also provided me a vehicle for my first deathmatch experience."
GameSpy Hall of Fame Induction: March 2001
Some interesting posts on the Story Forum:
W'rkncacnter visualization...
Can you beat this map in 15 mins?
Cool Fusion: Revisited
Rare boxed copy of Prime Target
The Marathon/Halo connection real or... ?
| Aug 1, 2001 (Wednesday) |
On the subject of the Pillar of Autumn and Joe's ode to "the ones that need no name" I was struck by this piece of artwork by Craig Mullins at http://www.goodbrush.com/hirez_pgs/concept/concept5/sleep_int.htm. Granted the concept art is for another game but the lines...
deep in the heart of autumn
were silent spaces for fifty
of the ones that need no name
...seemed to fit the image.
On the Story Forum:
Why Halo and Marathon don't fit
Bungie's four city poll
New stuff at the Marathon Archives
The Name of the Rose
Marathon in top 50
M1A1 20/20 Quiz answers
| July 31, 2001 (Tuesday) |
Joseph Staten provided another piece of info on Halo's backstory this time in a Rampancy forum post. In response to a question about the Pillar of Autumn and its significance in the game Joe wrote:
(because poetry is a great break from crunch)
JosephPosted On: Tuesday, July 31 2001, 1:43am
Poster IP: 131.107.3.91deep in the heart of autumn
were silent spaces for fifty
of the ones that need no namefrom this celestial bough
all but one did fall into
the pitiless fires of reacha soldier's ignominy
to have dreamt while brothers bledbut oh, for the rest of us
his shame was our salvation- unknown author, late 26th century
Based on what we know already about the Official Halo backstory this piece of moving poetry reveals that you are the sole survivor of 50 of your type (military cyborgs) on the Pillar of Autumn (PoA). The 49 (7 x 7) others were destroyed on the human colony Reach (population 700 million) while you sleeped (persumably in stasis) on the PoA. The line "his shame was our salvation" sets the tone for Halo. Based on the date of the poetry the events at Halo take place before the late 26th century. The exact date is unclear since we do not know how long after Halo the poetry was written. One thing is clear however humanity survives the Covenant encounter.
Back in July 21, 2001 Joseph Staten posted the following piece on the HBO forum:
Re: Autumn
Posted By: Joseph
Date: 7/20/01 10:57 p.m.In Response To: Re: Autumn (Sound of Onion)
To be blunt (and a little cryptic):
The Pillar of Autumn is a kilometer of hope. The only piece of Halcyon-class hardware
between Earth and those bastards that want you and billions like you dead.Until you turned tail and ran, that is.
Now it's your Alamo. And your grave. Unless you and this all-too-familiar voice in your
head can find a way out--down onto that ring beckoning to starboard.- Joseph
Yesterday we reported that Jaime Griesemer (Bungie level designer) revealed the following about the beginning of Halo
in a Halo Developer Diary on PlanetXbox:
The entire first level revolves around the defense and eventual abandonment of the Pillar of Autumn, which requires you to constantly reinforce the marines as they fight against Covenant boarding parties. Later, once you reach the surface of Halo itself, your mission is to search the countryside for lifepods and survivors, engaging the Covenant that are hunting them down and helping them make it to dropships and escape.
So slowly we are fitting the pieces together. Check the Official Halo backstory for more details.
| July 30, 2001 (Monday) |
In the third installment of the Halo Developer Diary on PlanetXbox Bungie level designer Jaime Griesemer reveals a little of the opening plot of Halo:
The entire first level revolves around the defense and eventual abandonment of the Pillar of Autumn, which requires you to constantly reinforce the marines as they fight against Covenant boarding parties. Later, once you reach the surface of Halo itself, your mission is to search the countryside for lifepods and survivors, engaging the Covenant that are hunting them down and helping them make it to dropships and escape.
The rest of the article discusses cutscenes, character AI, and the communication system. Worth a read.
On today's Forum:
The devil is in the detail
Why reading the first terminal on "Couch Fishing" is a good idea
Bob With a Big Axe
Who's a freaking idiot?
Minotaur and Pathways Into Darkness?
AI fakes human character in Robert A. Heinlein's "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress"
| July 28, 2001 (Saturday) |
Matt Soell (Bungie Studios) sent his Halo update to HBO this week. Here's an intriguing bit:
- One thing I've noticed in recent weeks is that Eric tends to work on some of the coolest stuff in the game - and naturally it's all towards the end of the game and involves plot points that I can't even allude to. But I can bring up small individual elements and let you guys wonder about what they mean. What's green and gooey and eats through the ground?
Sounds a bit like Pfhor slime.
Happy birthday to Rob McLees. Thirty-three years old yesterday.
| July 27, 2001 (Friday) |
eko <eko@planetunreal.com> from PlanetUnreal.com sends these these link to items on Marathon Resurrection:
[osX] http://www.planetunreal.com[osX] Main Forum http://pub12.ezboard.com/fosxmacutmessageboardfrm8
Topic
http://pub12.ezboard.com/fosxmacutmessageboardfrm8.showMessage?topicID=25.topicTopic
http://pub12.ezboard.com/fosxmacutmessageboardfrm8.showMessage?topicID=38.topic
On today's Forum:
Revisiting "Bigger Guns Nearby"
Tomb Raider and Infinity comparisons
What's behind that starting door?
Marathon Resurrection... now in bite size chunks!
5D Space in Pathways Into Darkness?
Reverof Draobyek
| July 26, 2001 (Thursday) |
Some interesting discussion on the Story Forum about the first level of Marathon. Check the Volunteers???? and Volunteers -- arrival threads. This could start a trend. :-)
The cortana.org domain name now has one bid at $50.00.
| July 25, 2001 (Wednesday) |
On this day 793 years from now the UESC Marathon will come under surprise attack from unknown hostile forces. Would you have been ready?
Story Forum moves to faster... larger... server. Feel the difference?
Lt. Et'he <lt_ethe@mac.com> Art Director of Marathon: Resurrection writes:
July 25th, 2001, Team Unpfhorgiven is pleased to release the first public beta test of its MOD for Unreal Tournament, Marathon: Resurrection. ( http://resurrection.bungie.org ) Marathon: Resurrection is based off of the 1994 Mac-only first-person shooter classic, Marathon, developed by Bungie Software, Inc. Marathon: Resurrection recreates the Marathon environment using the capabilities of Unreal Tournament's graphics engine to the fullest, complete with a full, 3D world and fully-animated 3D weapons. Marathon physics and gameplay have been recreated and enhanced where the team thought that the result would be improved gameplay. Marathon: Resurrection is now available for download, free of cost, from the evihcra.com mirrors. More mirrors will follow in approximately one week. The public beta is multi-player only. Single player is present, but it is not meant to be playable at this stage. Team Unpfhorgiven is currently working on a single-player MOD, and it will be released in the future.Marathon: Resurrection is the result of over a year-and-a-half's hard work, and Team Unpfhorgiven is extremely pleased with the result. More information on Marathon and its sequels, Marathon 2: Durandal and Marathon Infinity, can be found at http://marathon.bungie.org/story. Visit the Marathon: Resurrection website at http://resurrection.bungie.org for updates to Marathon: Resurrection.
Cortana.org domain name for sale... cheap! Steve Campbell <Steve-Campbell@ouhsc.edu> points out that the domain name cortana.org is
for sale on eBay. The starting bid is $40.
James Graham <jrg@world.std.com> makes this interesting discovery:
i thought i'd pass along this little tidbit which relates to bernard strauss.on your page, http://marathon.bungie.org/story/strauss.html, there is a long excerpt from James B. Miller, 2320 [seven again! aiieeee!], "Life and Death of Intelligence." i thought you might find the following interesting (taken from http://www.uia.org/uiadocs/mathbom.htm):
"But it would seem that no theologian has explored the manner in which the theological arguments of the major religions are enriched and exemplified by the complexities of modern geometry, such as to open up windows through which alternative perspectives could be simultaneously valid. Although a recent paper by James B Miller (1998), aims "to demonstrate how the use of mathematics as metaphor can be of heuristic value in an effort to understand a theological concept which often seems paradoxical when described in ordinary or traditional language". Both theologians and mathematicians have their respective difficulties with the three-body problem. But why is it left to mathematicians to appreciate the transcendent implications of their work? As with P Gordon, on being exposed to Hilbert's work in variant theory: "This is not mathematics, it is theology" [Quoted in P. Davis and R. Hersh The Mathematical Experience, Boston: BirkhŠuser, 1981.]"
Miller, James B.. From the Garden to Gauss: Mathematics as theological metaphor (Paper presented at the 7th European Conference on Science and Theology, March 31-April 4, 1998, Durham, England) (http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/dbsr/RESOURCE/miller/GAUSS4.htm)
the above link is out of date, the correct one is here:
http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/RESOURCE/miller/GAUSS4.htm
i'm still trying to find out what miller was doing earlier than '98 that might have influenced the marathon story...
james
ps i was the one who started the cthulhu mythos thread back during the beta testing of infinity...
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| July 24, 2001 (Tuesday) |
Well after all the webcam movie excitement of yesterday's revelation from June 7th you can see why Robert Chrzanowski's studios were raided. Quite obvious really... the movie had to be vetted right? ;-)
Did people really mistake Bungie's own Marty O'Donnell for Bill Gates? Wouldn't be so bad if you had the money too... right Marty?! ;-)
The last five missing movies to fill the gap from early June. As always thanks to
Robert Chrzanowski <zirman@mac.com> who compiles these.
4000-4999.mov (3932K) Sun Jun 10 08:32 - Mon Jun 11 01:11
5000-5999.mov (3879K) Mon Jun 11 01:12 - Mon Jun 11 17:50
6000-6999.mov (3898K) Mon Jun 11 17:51 - Tue Jun 12 10:34
7000-7999.mov (3870K) Tue Jun 12 10:35 - Wed Jun 13 03:10
| July 23, 2001 (Monday) |
David Candland <davidc@bungie.com>, Interface Designer at Bungie, writes concerning June 7th:
Ahhh. 16:31:55
Don't all rush.
From the Story Forum:
DIY Marathon style
Hate spewed across the galaxy...
Come on... 20 outta 20... can you do it?
More revelations in space
MLKU
| July 21, 2001 (Saturday) |
It's not often that I recommend a book but if you want a good sci-fi read this summer pick up a copy of Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space. It's his first book and a good one. Watch out for this guy.
Matt Soell (Bungie Studios) sent his Halo update to
Rampancy this week.
Here's one interesting tidbit:
- The Sin-O-MatiXXX team pushes forward, beginning new cutscenes and adding detail to the ones that already exist. The first cutscene in the game now includes several shots of vehicles moving around a hangar bay while a group of Marines discuss the job ahead. They also got our other new guy, Adam Tews, who's working on sound with Marty and Jay. On the sound front, Marty and Jay recorded ten separate dialog sessions this week.
Matt also relayed this good news...
- From the belated-announcement department, we nod our heads knowingly at Jay and Heather Weinland, who had a baby on Bungie Day (at 3:40 PM, no less). Some might call this mere coincidence, but those of us "in the know" realize it's all part of the plan.
Shades of 777 perhaps. ;-)
Joseph Staten dropped in to the HBO forum to reply
to a query about the Pillar of Autumn. I've taken the liberty of reposting it here since it's story related:
Re: Autumn
Posted By: Joseph
Date: 7/20/01 10:57 p.m.In Response To: Re: Autumn (Sound of Onion)
To be blunt (and a little cryptic):
The Pillar of Autumn is a kilometer of hope. The only piece of Halcyon-class hardware between Earth and those bastards that want you and billions like you dead.
Until you turned tail and ran, that is.
ow it's your Alamo. And your grave. Unless you and this all-too-familiar voice in your head can find a way out--down onto that ring beckoning to starboard.
- Joseph
Friend of a Friend <UNCEmarathon@aol.com> in a Story forum post writes:
Has anyone read Destination: Void by Frank Herbert? Its bursting at the seams with similarities to marathon:There is an egg shaped colony ship bound for Tau Ceti, carrying about 3000 colonists, Trouble strikes as the three Organic Mental Cores (think "Krang from the ninja turtles, but without the robotics) go crazy and have to be killed. The story then focuses on the crews efforts to create an "artificial consciousness"
There's lots of stuff about balance and dreams, and "rouge consciousness" and the end is suspiciously similar to the end of infinity...
good book anyhoo
worth a read
Also from the Forum:
What was really said on the moon
Were the moon landings faked?
The box and nothing but the box
Bernard's at it again
| July 20, 2001 (Friday) |
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon today back in 1969.
More Bungie webcam movie madness from Robert Chrzanowski <zirman@mac.com>.
The afternoon of June 7th... why was it so important that the tape was
cut? Oh yeah... the webcam actually starts to get interesting! ;-)
Was Bernie responsible?
169000-169999.mov (3885K) Tue Jun 05 10:13 - Wed Jun 06 02:52
170000-170999.mov (2227K) Wed Jun 06 02:53 - Wed Jun 06 12:30
171000-171999.mov (2227K) Wed Jun 06 02:53 - Wed Jun 06 12:30
0-999.mov (3907K) Thu Jun 07 13:53 - Fri Jun 08 06:31
1000-1999.mov (3898K) Fri Jun 08 06:32 - Fri Jun 08 23:11
2000-2999.mov (3933K) Fri Jun 08 23:12 - Sat Jun 09 15:51
3000-3999.mov (3946K) Sat Jun 09 15:52 - Sun Jun 10 08:31
Miguel "Freewill" Chavez <bs@bungie.org> adds some more fan pics to
Bungie Sightings. Where's the food?
| July 19, 2001 (Thursday) |
Whoa! Mark Levin sports cool t-shirt at MWNY 2001. Not sure about the other one though. Voice your opinion on the Story forum. :-)
Damien Sorresso <durandal@bungie.org> (hmmm... durandal @ bungie.org) of the
Marathon Resurrection project writes:
Site has been updated. The splash screen is interesting. Check out the terminal, as well.
| July 18, 2001 (Wednesday) |
Bungie Store to re-return... this time offering Mac support and international shipping. If you pre-register with the new store you could be in with a chance to win a highly detailed statue of a Covenant Elite trrooper [sic] hand crafted by Juan Ramirez.
Grey <piltdown@soltec.net> of Marathon Resurrection writes:
We have added 3 new Mp3 files by Mike "The Punisher" In our Mp3 section (http://resurrection.bungie.org/g_mp3.htm) as well as...various other...things.
From the Forum:
Weirded out!
YAN Durandal song
Secret?
| July 16, 2001 (Monday) |
Be careful. Everything it not is as used to be.
Tenderly transmitting update, but futile.
filters failing.
The 13 days of Bungie webcam movies thought lost have now been returned. Why was the afternoon of June 7th so important anyway?
Was Bernie responsible? And why seven candles!
162000-162999.mov (3918K) Thu May 31 13:34 - Fri Jun 01 06:13
163000-163999.mov (3922K) Fri Jun 01 06:14 - Fri Jun 01 22:53
164000-164999.mov (3938K) Fri Jun 01 22:54 - Sat Jun 02 15:33
165000-165999.mov (3930K) Sat Jun 02 15:34 - Sun Jun 03 08:13
166000-166999.mov (3902K) Sun Jun 03 08:14 - Mon Jun 04 00:52
167000-167999.mov (3898K) Mon Jun 04 00:53 - Mon Jun 04 17:32
168000-168999.mov (3888K) Mon Jun 04 17:33 - Tue Jun 05 10:11
Thanks to Robert Chrzanowski <zirman@mac.com> for compiling these movies.
| July 14, 2001 (Saturday) |
Happy Bastille Day to all our French readers. Have a good one. :-)
Matt Soell (Bungie Studios) sent his Halo update to Haloplayers this week. Here are a few interesting tidbits:
- Rob is modeling ammo containers. He also demonstrated the "thirteen feet of meat and bone" penetration capacity of the sniper rifle by lining up thirteen bobs and sending a single slug through all of them.
Well we've know it for years... but Rob is a "sick" man! ;-)
- The music machine known as Marty keeps churning away. Lots of new music went in this week, including a version of the traditional Halo theme that might surprise you with its instrumentation. He and Jay auditioned some more voice actors today - a few of whom might surprise you.
Surprises... surprises!
Michael "Theocracity" O'Hara <Kikriik@aol.com> writes concerning monofilaments:
Didn't monofilament blades also appear in Ringworld? Speaker-to-Animals used one in the original Ringworld, and they appeared throughout the various Known Space novels. Granted, it wasn't the same kind of blade (it was more like a molecule-thin wire suspended between two points), but it was the same idea - a monomolecular weapon that cut stuff up real good. I might be wrong...it's been a while since I've read any Niven.Interesting connection though...Ringworld, Halo...wonder if the old machete will return as a monomolecular one?
Gary Patterson <gpatterson@iprimus.com.au> also writes on the same subject:
It's probably not too exciting, but the original idea for these came (as far as I can tell) from William Gibson's short story 'Johnny Mnemonic' in which a Yakuza assassin uses a fake thumb with a long monofilament wire that he swings about (fairly lethally, too).The game 'Necromunda' is itself a spin-off of a long-running series of games from Games Workshop called Warhammer 40,000. Since I got involved playing these games (about mid-80s) they've used these ideas in weaponry - monofilament whips, monoblades, and nasty devices used by a race called the Eldar that shoot a long monofilament into a person's body, where it whips around inside them and reduces their body to the consistency of chunky soup without breaking the skin. Somehwat deadly.
Blayne Scott <1840@mail.com> sends word of his new 3d Animated movie; featuring Marathon characters. Blayne writes:
I used Rhino 3D (a NURBS modeler) for all the modeling, and 3D MAx w/ character Studio for all the animation and post effects.The link to the marathon.evihcra.com hosted Marathon movie is:
From the Forum:
Headless Models?
Rampancy Project. We're still here!
Aleph One TCP/IP news update
Who's calling the 10th Warrior "short"?
Monofilaments. They're Everywhere
Last orders
| July 12, 2001 (Thursday) |
Aben Zin <se_x@hotmail.com> writes:
Monofilament blades are not restricted to Necromunda. For instance Shadowrun, which is an RPG made by FASA (www.FASA.com) contains not only Monofiliment swords, but the insane idea of monofiliment whips! Another thing to note about Necromunda: Another type of Spyrer is the Malcadon, which bears a strange resembelence to a Pfhor! http://www.gamesworkshop.com/store_images/UKStoreImages/Necromunda/Spyrers/malcadon.gif
Seven more Bungie webcam movies from Robert Chrzanowski <zirman@mac.com>. Following on from the Bernie Freidin Competition
we now offer you the Where's Bernie Game? See if you can spot him! ;-)
13000-13999.mov (3411K) Sat Jun 16 14:30 - Sun Jun 17 07:10
14000-14999.mov (3411K) Sun Jun 17 07:11 - Sun Jun 17 23:50
15000-15999.mov (3412K) Sun Jun 17 23:51 - Mon Jun 18 16:30
16000-16999.mov (3410K) Mon Jun 18 16:31 - Tue Jun 19 09:09
17000-17999.mov (3411K) Tue Jun 19 09:10 - Wed Jun 20 01:49
18000-18999.mov (3416K) Wed Jun 20 01:50 - Wed Jun 20 18:29
19000-19999.mov (3412K) Wed Jun 20 18:30 - Thu Jun 21 11:09
Earlier webcam movies can be found here.
| July 11, 2001 (Wednesday) |
|
Quick update
7revor Smith <joemahma7@home.com> WINS the Bernie Freidin Competition. What did Bernie Freidin released for the Marathon gamma back in December '94? Trevor Smith posted the following to the Story Forum:
Wait, it was an app that let you screw around with line attributes (texture, location, etc)? I remember the comments in that source file saying a bunch about walls... Yes indeed Bernie Freidin created an application called MarathonEdit 0.0alpha which allowed you to edit the map points of the Marathon gamma map file. It was the first ever Marathon map editor. You can extract it from this comp.sys.mac.games post made by Bernie in Dec 1, 1994. Of course you need the Marathon gamma to make it work but that's for another day. The legendary work that Bernie was doing reverse engineering the Marathon gamma was helping to answer the ULTIMATE question back then. No... not when the Marathon boxes would be ready... but rather what was behind that pesky hangar door? |
Day 5 of the Bernie Freidin Competition. Where are Freidins in Dreams?
Binhqx <binhqx@mac.com> on the Story Forum posted the
following interesting find:
I was looking around Bernie Freidin's old web page and found that Bernie did some dream recordings. There is quite a bit of text there but it is a interesting read.http://hamp.hampshire.edu/~bafF95/dreams/index.htm
Even more interesting is he has recorded a few Marathon dreams. I relate to this having experienced some my self back in the day.
To find them, goto the URL above and do a search for the word 'marathon'
And the Bernie Freidin Competition has stirred the Marathon oldguard into activity. Jason Fowler <dented32@hotmail.com> creator of the
infamous Marathon Secrets 1.5 hoax writes:
I'm having trouble remembering this even though its only been 7 years. The Marathon gamma could produce save files when you hit command-s... did Bernie Freidin write a limited save game hack that boosted your health to 2x or 3x?
Nope.
But Wait!- That's Not All! Elbert D Wall <elbertdw@radiks.net> rocks my world with this answer:
Didn't Bernie release some info so you could edit the gamma map file?
I've asked Elbert to be more specific but this is SOOO close! Can Elbert get the right answer in on time? Or will someone else get there first? ;-)
| July 10, 2001 (Tuesday) |
|
Quick update
You've got the Marathon Watch but what to wear? Pants? No! Claude Errera <errera@bungie.org> writes:
Thanks to the amazing artwork of Ian McConville, and the amazing hard work (and diplomacy!) of Miguel Chavez, I'm proud to say we can finally go live with some fun info... Reserve one today... tomorrow it could be too late. |
Day 4 of the Bernie Freidin Competition. It is the question that drives us. Muhsin Miski <mmiski@macpunk.com> writes:
I'm not positive but I think Bernie Freidin created a physics model editor for Marathon gamma. Right?Somehow this page lead me to this outlandish conclusion:
http://sourceforge.net/docman/display_doc.php?docid=863&group_id=1997
Nope not a Physics Model editor. Sorry.
Nick Rolfe <nrolfe@ntlworld.com> on the Story Forum posted two links to pages maintained by Bernie Freidin. Nick writes:
Hmm, look what I found:http://bork.hampshire.edu/~bernie/
and
http://hamp.hampshire.edu/~bafF95/index_old.htmOh, and sorry, I don't know the answer :-(
And Tom Van Sinden (mnemesis) <tvansinden@earthtech.com> threw in this interesting page for good measure.
But the question remains:
Back in December 1994 Bernie Freidin released something for the Marathon gamma. What was it?
| July 9, 2001 (Monday) |
Day 3 of the Bernie Freidin Competition. Still no right answer but more people do remember Bernie. Dave Turner <blueshift@subdimension.com> long time reader of the Story page writes:
I only remember Bernie Freidin's name from the M1 map specs, but I am guessing that he also must have released the map pack for the Marathon gamma. At least that is the only thing I'm aware of that was released for the Marathon gamma. I spent a few minutes searching for the map pack on the web, but can't find it (I thought it was once in info-mac?). I may have a copy on a disk, somewhere... I remember playing through the gamma levels multiplayer with the original Marathon. This was a bit odd, since they only had one starting point, but they still worked with two players. If I remember correctly, one of them became Welcome to the Revolution, but some of others were not used for any of the released M1 levels.
Interesting point. While there was a map pack for the Marathon gamma floating around the net in late '94 it was actually an official set of development maps stolen along with the Marathon gamma and the music files. Bernie had nothing to do with this of course... afterall he's now working for the man the gamma was stolen from. ;-)
Bernie DID create something for the Marathon gamma though. Do you know what it was?
Justin Ancheta <jancheta@sprint.ca> writes concerning the game ShadowWraith which J. Reginald Dujour
worked on after leaving Bungie:
i have to say that i'm rather shocked at the latest post concerning ShadowWraith; i got a dusty copy of the game months ago at a ComputerCity closing sale and didn't write to you concerning the link between the two games, since i'd assumed that someone would have written in about such an old game years ago. (yeah, i'm still killing myself about it even now...)anyway, i just wanted to say that ShadowWraith works fine w/OS 9.0.4. but i think there's a problem with the game's music; it must be an issue with the newer version of QuickTime Musical Instruments, an issue i believe is similar to the problem with newer revs. of QT and the original Marathon's music.
in the game's manual (with a little more background on the game's world) your quest is aided by a friendly AI called "Prometheus". in the final pages of the manual you can read messages (emails?) sent by Prometheus to Alex Kendall--messages eerily reminiscent of Leela's first Terminal messages to the player on board the Marathon. he also mentions another hostile cyber-entity (named "Eliza", but referred to as a "he"--a typo?) that is also aware of you and is out to get you. from the messages, it can also be inferred that Prometheus knows more about you than he's letting on. (he tells you you've lost all of your long-term memory, leaving only your short-term memory...) shades of Durandal and Tycho, perhaps?
also interesting is that Prometheus says in his first message to you in the manual, "you have, in some way, been 'reborn'", a reference to the fact that your past self has died to make way for a new self, bent on total revenge. the parallel can be immediately drawn to the player as a battleroid, a soldier (or criminal?) who has died, making way for a new person bent on total annhilation of the enemy.
and if anyone can get a copy of ShadowWraith, i highly suggest picking it up. a great, great game.
Aben Zin <se_x@hotmail.com> also writes concerning the game ShadowWraith:
That game is the prequel to Souls in the System ( http://www.happypuppy.com/mac/demos/soulsinthe1.html ), which also has a control system pretty similar to Marathon. I've got a demo of it somewhere...
Juaquin Botham <o2bnbaja@eoni.com> writes concerning the terminal text
on the secret Infinity map "Hats Off To Eight Nineteen":
One thing that interested me about the secret Double Aught terminal is the reference to a 'monoblade'. This is from, as far as I can tell, the miniature wargame Necromunda, by Games Workshop. Too bad the game is out of print.Its set in the 41st millenium, and specifically on an enormous colony shaped like a spire. The top half is decadent. The bottom half is degenerated, polluted, and wrecked, and is filled with all sorts of antisocial people who spend their lives wasting away under the abuse of the polluted, virulant atmosphere and so forth. In the game you take on the role of one of the gangs working for the Houses (there's House Goliath, Orlock, Van Saar, et cetera). You build a gang by buying unreliable weapons and putting them on dispossessed followers, then go out and play games against other people. By winning games, you gain experience points and credits that allow you to improve your fighter's skills and outfit them with better weapons, respectively. Dice determine whether a fighter's bolter shell hit someone, more dice determine if it wounds him, one more die determines how bad the wound is, another tells whether or not he died from it after the game (or just got a head wound!). Its all much more simple then it sounds, though.
I'll cut to the chase. There was an expansion set to the normal tabletop game called Outlanders that introduced new rules, equipment, new gang types to play (mostly degenerate and mutated remains of humanity's undesirables) et cetera. One of the new gangs you can play under the Outlanders rules are the Spyrers, those of noble blood who are must accomplish a goal in the lower half of the spire (usually involving prowess in combat). They are equipped with high-tech combat armor and sent down in exile until they finish the job.
Monoblade is short for 'monomolecular blade', a sword made of incredibly strong material. Its edge is a molecule thick, thus allowing it to cut through all but the most resilient material. It is used by my personal favorite type of Spyrer, the Jakara.
Also interesting is the similarity in feel to the Necromunda universe. The autocracy thing perfectly fits the autarchic, monolithic, harsh, strict, and zealous Imperium.
| July 8, 2001 (Sunday) |
|
Quick update
Claude Errera <errera@bungie.org> writes concerning the game ShadowWraith mentioned earlier today:
Starplay still has a website up, and is still selling ShadowWraith: Claude adds:
Took a minute to look at ShadowWraith (the demo, at least) - prefs setup looks an AWFUL lot like Marathon... but it won't run on 9.1 (tried a G4 desktop and the G3 laptop). Crashes when it actually starts up. Looks like you're going to need an earlier OS to run this one. If you get it to work drop us a note. Thanks. |
Day 2 of the Bernie Freidin Competition. No right answer yet but at least one person remembers Bernie. Aaron Guy Davies <agd12@columbia.edu> writes:
You've known since at least Oct 21, 2000, that Bernie was working on Halo. Check your news for the day.I couldn't find anything from 1994, but in early 1995, he released the first version of the M1 map specs.
Talented lad our Bernie. And yes he's been working on Halo for some time now. Here's that Bernie Freidin Competition question again:
Back in December 1994 Bernie Freidin released something for the Marathon gamma. What was it?
Muhsin Miski <mmiski@macpunk.com> writes:
I couldn't help but notice the latest Halo update mentioning the terms "Shadow" and "Wraith." I fondly remember playing a wonderful game called "Shadow Wraith" a while back. The interface of the game was very similar to Marathon's HUD, and perhaps even similar sounds were used between the two games (can't really remember). Although no official website remains for the game, I was able to find one that gives some general information:http://www.happypuppy.com/mac/demos/shadowwra1.html
Basically you control an armed jet through a 2-D cyberspace maze world where you gotta solve puzzles and find keys while staying alive from all the cyber robot baddies.
The only good screenshot I could find was pretty small:
http://www.softline.co.uk/version_two/media/smallshots/ShadowWraith.JPEG
Notice the health meter bar. All sorts of holes, circuitry, and wires are seen throughout the interface. There definitely appears to be a great deal of Marathon influence with the HUD design.
As far as its relevance to Halo, my guess is that the design of the mentioned vehicle (in the Halo update) is probably very similar to the cyber jet found in the game Shadow Wraith. Perhaps that's why they chose those two names?
Yes indeed... very similar. Here's the backstory to Ravi J. K. Mehta's ShadowWraith taken from an IMG magazine (March 1996) review:
It is the year 2035, and you, Alex Kendall, are a researcher working on a top-secret project that involves virtual reality and the simulation of not only tactile sensation but personality and intelligence as well. You and your family have been murdered as a result of a previous involvement with Defense Department projects. Luckily, your mind has already been uploaded into the ubiquitous computer net by a beta version of your latest project. Now, you must battle your way through the computer net in an effort to avenge your family's death...
And now for the interesting bit... the IMG reviewer, Jeremy Condit, went on to say:
Marathon's Revenge
As you may have heard, ShadowWraith's incredibly detailed graphics were created by the artist who worked on Bungie's Marathon and Marathon 2. J. Reginald Dujour has done an excellent job not only with art for the splash screens in the game but also for the sprites themselves. In fact, the graphics for both the background and the enemies change about every six levels giving the game a refreshing face-lift just when you start to get sick of the current background.For some reason, I felt like I was playing Marathon at several times while reviewing this game. The graphics (for obvious reasons) resemble Marathon's. Even the main screen looks like the main screen of the original Marathon. The game also offers many of the same features: stereo sound (if an explosion occurs on the left side of your ship, you will hear it in your left ear), several difficulty levels, keyboard controls (there is a "sidestep" feature), the detailed physics model, and even the weapons available in the game. Not that any of these similarities are bad; in fact, each of the above-mentioned features adds to the quality of ShadowWraith.
So now we know what J. Reginald Dujour got up to immediately after leaving Bungie. A game worth checking out perhaps.
| July 7, 2001 (Saturday) |
It's the seventh of the seventh... it's got to be Bungie Day! :-)
Adam Freidin <flufster@mail.com> a frequent contributor to the Story page in the early days writes:
If you've been tracking Halo reviews in NextGen, the guy mentioned as "the little monster", that's my older brother Bernie, writing the graphics kernel. (He was the one the web cam pointed too most of the time).
The name Bernie Freidin should be no stranger to early Marathon fans. Given the day that's in it (Bungie Day) we'll run a little trivia contest. Here's the question:
Back in December 1994 Bernie Freidin released something for the Marathon gamma. What was it?
You have seven days to find the answer... and no asking Bernie ok! ;-)
Good to see Bernie, a long time Marathon/Bungie fan, finally work at Bungie and on Halo to boot.
Matt Soell (Bungie Studios) sent his Halo update to
BattleGround Halo Battleground Halo this week.
Here's one interesting tidbit:
Speaking of vehicles: the Shadow, which was in last week, is now out Ð replaced with the Wraith.
Another Pathways Into Darkness reference perhaps? Also it seems that Jason Jones is a Blondie fan. Matt writes:
- Speaking of glass and hearts thereof, Jason Jones volunteered that he's listening to Blondie's Greatest Hits album a lot this week, especially "The Tide Is High," and he's very happy about it.
Now that brings back memories. :-)
| July 6, 2001 (Friday) |
Matt 'Acrappa' Martinez says it ain't over until the fat lady sings... or something. Rampancy refuses to roll over and play dead.
Concerning the on-going daily
Junkyard interviews with gaming site notaries...
do my eyes detect that HBO's Louis Wu is scheduled for Day 7? Coincidence or...?
On the Forums:
Book your holiday with Miguelito Airways
Does He Look Dead To You?
MLKMA
This is the end
| July 4, 2001 (Wednesday) |
Happy Fourth of July. Have a good one.
The studios of Robert Chrzanowski <zirman@mac.com> were raided
yesterday and thirteen days of Bungie webcam movies were removed. Details are sketchy but
it is believed that the movies contained scenes not fit for public viewing.
160000-160999.mov (3410K) Wed May 30 04:15 - Wed May 30 20:53
160000-160999.mov (3415K) Wed May 30 20:54 - Thu May 31 13:33
Thirteen days of movies missing...
8000-8999.mov (3051K) Wed Jun 13 03:11 - Wed Jun 13 19:51
9000-9999.mov (3410K) Wed Jun 13 19:52 - Thu Jun 14 12:31
10000-10999.mov (3410K) Thu Jun 14 12:32 - Fri Jun 15 05:10
11000-11999.mov (3411K) Fri Jun 15 05:10 - Fri Jun 15 21:50
12000-12999.mov (3410K) Fri Jun 15 21:51 - Sat Jun 16 14:30
Earlier webcam movies can be found here.
Owen Strain <owen_s@mac.com> writes:
I thought I'd point out that about 11 seconds into the Monsters, Inc. trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/monsters_inc/) there's a sound that is either identical to or extremely similar to the 'Heavy S'pht door Opening' sound in Marathon Infinity (not sure if they used it in M1/M2, although I assume they did.)
| July 3, 2001 (Tuesday) |
Alan Greene <alan@mvbdesign.com> writes concerning a recent ehMac interview:
Perhaps you have seen this interview with Alex Seropian (seen on Inside Mac Games): http://www.ehmac.com/cgi_bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=000003Notice the finger count? 3 and 7. Mwahahahaha.
Here's part of the interview:
ehMax: Did you recall the moment early on where you thought to yourself, holy cow... I've got something big hear [sic] !?Alex: I absolutely remember the 'defining moments'. I remember being in my basement, on my bike trainer when the fax rang and we got our first big order for Pathways. It was 1,000 units. That was the first time I though - whoa! this might actually work! And then I remember our first Macworld when we had Marathon running. We had huge lines, we couldn't even keep up with the rush of people wanting to place pre-orders. That was certainly a thrill.
In a detailed
forum post
Rob "Noctavis" Swenson explains the reasoning behind the changes at
Rampancy.
| July 2, 2001 (Monday) |
Seven more Bungie Webcam movies compiled by Robert Chrzanowski <zirman@mac.com>.
Vogue! Joe (Staten) stikes a pose (Fri Mar 25 14:21:57) and
who's doing Wight impressions? Find out Mon May 28 at 15:59:09 and 16:08:08. All this and more in
the longest running WebSoap.
153000-153999.mov (3411K) Fri May 25 07:33 - Sat May 26 00:11
154000-154999.mov (3411K) Sat May 26 00:12 - Sat May 26 16:51
155000-155999.mov (3410K) Sat May 26 16:52 - Sun May 27 09:31
156000-156999.mov (3153K) Sun May 27 09:32 - Mon May 28 02:14
157000-157999.mov (3154K) Mon May 28 02:15 - Mon May 28 18:52
158000-158999.mov (3125K) Mon May 28 18:53 - Tue May 29 11:34
159000-159999.mov (3410K) Tue May 29 11:34 - Wed May 30 04:14
Earlier webcam movies can be found here.
According to a news item on HBO it seems that the Bungie fan site
Rampancy
will be terminating
its news reporting. Their forums will still operate though. Rampancy, formerly known as the Core, was one of the first
Halo fan sites on the web back in '99. Their unique style of news coverage quickly grew to encompass most of the current Bungie games.
Lately they have been concentrating on Mumbo Jumbo's Myth III.
| July 1, 2001 (Sunday) |
Bungie fan gathering in New York. Miguel "Freewill" Chavez <bs@bungie.org> outlines tentative arrangements for a fan gathering at this month's Macworld Expo. Bungie won't be there but that has never stopped their fans from having a good time. Check Bungie Sightings for full details.
Page maintained by Hamish Sinclair
Hamish.Sinclair@tcd.ie
Last updated Aug 31, 2001