Marathon's Story What's New (Mar-Apr 1996)

Apr 30, 1996
Jim Mitchell <Asolo87222@aol.com> writes:

"...do you know anything about the terminal that is on the very upper left corner of the map on Fatum Iustum Stultorum. It seems impossible to get to and is unlisted on your page. I have only seen it using Phorte but can't read any of it."

Huh? what terminal is this I cry?!?!?! Indeed Jim is right there is a secret terminal on "Fatum Iustum Stultorum". And it's a beauty. Read This, Vid Boi!

I've had an amazing response to the What's in a Name? section. Keep those suggestions coming in. There's a few still left.

Apr 29, 1996
Added new section What's in a Name? to help explain the meanings/origins behind the level names in Marathon and Marathon 2: Durandal. Many thanks to Claude Errera <errera@ese.ogi.edu> for providing the initial impetus for this venture. But we need your help. A number of level names as yet defy explanation. Others may be wrong and some could be improved upon. If you have comments, additions, corrections please send them to me.

Apr 27, 1996
Bo Lindbergh <d88-bli@nada.kth.se> writes concerning the unformatted terminal message on "Kill Your Television". See The Unformatted KYT Term. Message section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

The latest version (v1.2) of Bo Lindbergh's "Durandal Text Browser" is now available. You can get it from the Marathon's Story page here or directly from Bo's site here. It's a small and indispensable Marathon 2 utility. Thanks Bo.

Apr 26, 1996
Steve Wood <smwood@ccs.neu.edu> correctly identifies that the Marathon demo page was updated on Apr 25, 1996 and also notes that the new text is the Blaspheme Quarantine's "Unfinished" Message on terminal 3. Steve writes:

"...how do you see that message? Easy, use a grenade to throw the switch in the main rectangular room. Then you get to enter the final room without going anywhere on the level."

And how many of us remember doing just this way back in Nov/Dec '94. I know I did... but could I remember it when I put the Marathon's Story page together in the summer of '95? =)

Marathon Central has a new look and new links. Check it out.

Apr 25, 1996
Well I don't know how many times I'm going to have to keep saying this but Marathon still has secrets to reveal. I thought I had ALL the terminal text. But NO! I've added the text of a further terminal. Ah yes... but which one? See if you can find it. And if you can tell me how you get to it (in the game) I'll add your comments here. Good luck in our little game. Unlike Leela, I give no hints.

Apr 23, 1996
Matt Soell <BUNGIE1@aol.com> replies to some questions.

Q. Why are we referred to as a science officer on Bungie's new web page?

A. "In the future, science and security will be one and the same."

"Actually, the character was originally supposed to be a science officer. It was changed rather capriciously in the Marathon manual. Someday someone will get around to that page of the site and change it so that it complies with future history as we know it. ;) "

Q. Blood Tides of Lh'owon was originally billed as a 30 level scenario.It's now down to 20 levels. What happened?

A. "Yes. The idea originally was to have a 20-level single player scenario and 10 net levels. Now the idea is to have a 20-level single player scenario and as many decent net maps as we can find. The press release, from which the Infinity info page was cobbled together, was written somewhat ambiguously, and a greivous error occured."

Q. Will M2 Win95 have a slightly altered story to reflect the fact that PC users have not played Marathon? Specifically do you forsee a section on the Marathon's Story page along the lines of Marathon 2 Windows 95 text changes?

A. "I think an additional page of background info in the M2 Win95 manual is a far more likely proposition. Otherwise we get into the realm of alternate realities and stuff like that, which would probably be as much of a pain for us as it would be for you."

Many thanks Matt.

Apr 22, 1996
Added a new page to handle the problem of "Undeliverable Mail". See the FAQ for details.

Apr 20, 1996
Rich Williams <rswillia@mailbox.syr.edu> points out that we are not the only ones obsessed with a number. Check out the number 47 in Star Trek.

Call me crazy... call me mad... added another tidbit to The Number Seven section of Facts and puzzling things about... .

Apr 18, 1996
Oooops I missed this one. Blood Tides of Lh'owon is now a 20 level scenario. It was originally 30! What happened to the missing 10 levels?

Loren Petrich <petrich@netcom.com> writes concerning the number seven. Check out The Number Seven section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Apr 17, 1996
MARATHON INFINITY - Blood Tides of Lh'owon - Sneak Peek. (IMG eat your heart out)

Oh and here are some screen shots.

Apr 15, 1996
Many thanks to Adam Freidin <bob@clarity.Princeton.EDU> for sending title graphics for The Pfhor Ship and the Trash Terms section of Facts and puzzling things about...

Apr 13, 1996
Simon Rowland <simon@eagle.ca> writes concerning a possible connection between the W'rkncacnter and the Jjaro. See the The Jjaro section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Apr 12, 1996
Jeff Eaton <eaton@ais.net> writes concerning the first terminal message on "Try again" See the The Try again Term section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Apr 11, 1996
Well well well well well well well! Do seven wells make a spring? A spring in Switzerland perhaps? A spring were a group of semi-immortals meet every seven years? A time when one must be chosen? Confused? So you should be. But it was all there in black and white... but nobody remembered. Check out The Chicken Term section of Facts and puzzling things about... to unravel the mystery of the sevens. Nice one Jason.

Here is some interesting information on the early development of the Marathon plot. It comes from Tuncer Deniz's Sneak Preview of Marathon in the July 1994 edition of Inside Mac Games (IMG).

The game begins on a space ship called the Marathon. Unlike other ships, the Marathon is unique in that it once used to be a small Mars moon called Deimos. Years ago the moon (very small in size) was mined, hollowed out, and turned into a space ship (ah, don't ask me how).

After traveling hundreds of years to a planet believed to be habitable by humans, the colonists on the Marathon land on the planet and begin to terraform it. A few years into the operation, the colonists find a strange, metallic sphere containing some strange hieroglyphics near the colony. After some low-level studies are conducted on the object on the planet, the colonists send the sphere to the Marathon for further testing by the scientists on the ship (using more sophisticated equipment found only on the mother ship).

A few hours after the sphere arrives on the Marathon, the scientists send a message back to the planet saying the sphere is a capacitor holding a huge amount of energy and are in need of an electrician for further studies. This is where you come in. You, the electrical specialist, are instructed to take a shuttle from the planet to the Marathon to do further tests on the object. When you land and disembark from your shuttle onto the Marathon, you realize things have gone terribly wrong. Strange aliens have somehow come on the ship and killed everyone on board and you'll be next if you don't do something.....quick.

Apr 10, 1996
Eylon Caspi <eylon@glue.umd.edu> writes concerning the first terminal message on "Try again" See the The Try again Term section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Both Aaron Sommer <aaron_sommer@mail.herringn.com> and Simon Rowland <simon@eagle.ca> write concerning the rise in prominence of the Pfhor empire. See the The Try again Term section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Apr 8, 1996
Ty Klein <DURANDAL23@aol.com> writes concerning a possible connection between Robert Blake and Durandal. Check out the Robert Blake section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Apr 6, 1996
Bungie are now advertising Marathon Infinity. Part of the blurb reads -

"Blood Tides of Lh'owon", a 30-level scenario with new textures, landscapes, monsters and startling developments in the Marathon story.

Interesting to note that while Bungie have updated their Marathon page we still remain a science officer. Strange stuff indeed.

Apr 4, 1996
Added new section "Marathon's Timeline" to trace the history of Marathon's Story from Pathways into Darkness through to Marathon 2: Durandal and beyond. Many thanks to Matthew Smith <matthew@spark.quest.net> who did the bulk of the work on this. You'll need Netscape 2.0 or other Frames capable browser to see it.

Apr 2, 1996
Thanks to all those people who wrote in spotting my April Fool's Joke. Of course we can still be a cyborg if we are a science officer. I suspect the matter of the science officer will be cleared up shortly. I seem to recall something about a science officer a long long time ago... but I can't exactly remember ;-)

Matthew Smith <matthew@spark.quest.net> writes concerning Bungie's blurb for Pathways into Darkness:

"You'll explore an ancient pyramid on your mission to save the world from a hostile alien demon."

Apr 1, 1996
Check out Bungie's face lift. And while your there visit the Stuff that Rocks page. Many thanks to all the people who have contributed to and supported the Marathon's Story page. You've made it what it is today.

Yes it's true folks. WE ARE NOT A CYBORG. It's official. We are a science officer. Now what date is it again?

Mar 26, 1996
Gabe Rosenkoetter <acrosenk@artsci.wustl.edu> writes concerning a valuable online source of information on the Greek vs. Persian battles at Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea. See the Historical & Mythological References in Marathon section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Mar 23, 1996
It said "DON'T READ THIS!!!" so I didn't. But now I have. Added further information to The Pfhor Ship section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Mar 20, 1996
Adam Freidin <bob@clarity.Princeton.EDU> writes concerning the Pfhor scoutship. See The Pfhor Ship section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Mar 17, 1996
Added further information to The Number Seven section of Facts and puzzling things about... .

Mar 16, 1996
Added frames to the Marathon's Story page. You'll need Netscape 2.0 (or higher) to see these. A handy navigating list has also been added.

Added a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.

Mar 15, 1996
Added further information to the Historical & Mythological References in Marathon section of Facts and puzzling things about... .

Mar 13, 1996
Finding secret terminals can be tough. It's even tougher when the terminal doesn't exist! Yes Marathon still has secrets to reveal. Check out the text of the non-existent terminal in the Marathon 2: Durandal Demo (v1.0). To see it in all its glory you'll need Bo Lindbergh's "Durandal Terminal Browser". You can get it directly from this site. Click here to find out how to download it.

The same text appears in the Marathon 2: Durandal (Preview).

Mar 12, 1996
Simon Rowland <simon@eagle.ca> writes concerning the level name "Waterloo Waterpark". See the Historical & Mythological References in Marathon section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Added further information to the Historical & Mythological References in Marathon section of Facts and puzzling things about... .

Mar 11, 1996
Eylon Caspi <eylon@glue.umd.edu> writes concerning the exit terminal on "Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!". See the Durandal section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Added additional information to the Durandal section in response to Eylon Caspi's comments.

Mar 10, 1996
Brian Blovett <bblovett@sdcc10.ucsd.edu>, Jedi Billy <Pasquill@usa1.com>, and Matthew Smith <matthew@quest.net> all provide a similar explanation for how Durandal could be watching us. See the You section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Eric Jorgensen <jorge@execpc.com> writes concerning a Rush song called 2112 part of which reminds him of something in Marathon's Story:

They left the planet long ago
The elder race still learn and grow
Their power grows with purpose strong
To claim the home where they belong

Interesting to note that Rush also wrote a song called Marathon on an album called Power Windows released in 1985 !!!

Mar 9, 1996
I must admit to a "failure of intuition". <gasp> When did K'lia leave Lh'owon's orbit? Keith Palmer <krjpalme@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca> puts me straight. See The S'pht section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Added additional information to The S'pht section of Facts and puzzling things about... .

Mar 8, 1996
Adam Freidin <bob@clarity.Princeton.EDU> writes concerning our relationship with Durandal. See the You section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Mar 7, 1996
Charles Lechasseur <clechasseur@cmq.qc.ca> provides further evidence from Marathon 1 to support the you=cyborg hypothesis. See the You section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Mar 6, 1996
Greg Kirkpatrick [yes the man himself] writes concerning the spelling of Durandal's name. See the Durandal section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Mar 5, 1996
Keith Palmer <krjpalme@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca> writes concerning the S'pht clan wars. See The S'pht section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Adam Freidin <bob@clarity.Princeton.EDU> writes concerning Durandal's terminals during the time he was being attacked by Tycho. See the Durandal section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Adam Freidin <bob@clarity.Princeton.EDU> also writes concerning the S'pht'Kr's final message. See the The S'pht section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Mar 4, 1996
Eylon Caspi <eylon@glue.umd.edu> writes concerning the mysterious colony text.

Matthew Smith <matthew@quest.net> also writes concerning the same colony text.

Mar 3, 1996
Added additional information to the Tycho section of Facts and puzzling things about... to discuss Tycho's final(?) resting place.

Jeff Kwan <jkwan@po-box.mcgill.ca> writes concerning the Number Three. Oh No!... I hear you cry. Better check out the The Number Seven section of Facts and puzzling things about... <that doesn't make sense does it?>

Matthew Smith <matthew@quest.net> writes concerning the term "wirehead". See the The Try again Term section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Mar 2, 1996
Eylon Caspi <eylon@glue.umd.edu> writes concerning concerning the first terminal on "Try again". Added new section The Try again Term to Facts and puzzling things about... to discuss this.

Added further information to the The Try again Term section in Facts and puzzling things about....

Eylon Caspi <eylon@glue.umd.edu> writes again about the first terminal message on "Try again". See the The Try again Term in Facts and puzzling things about... for details.