Marathon's Story What's New (Nov 1996)

Nov 19, 1996
Ty Klein <mrenigma@earthlink.net> writes concerning time loops and that old feeling of... huh?!... hold on a minute

Greg Kirkpatrick speaks... again:

From: grendel@doubleaught.com (Grendel)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Moo's Twisted Plot...
Date: 18 Nov 1996 20:42:07 GMT
Organization: Double Aught
Lines: 30
Message-ID: <grendel-1811961545040001@192.163.1.100>
References: <look-1711962326060001@cyber138.cyberspc.mb.ca>
<19961118195000.OAA05071@ladder01.news.aol.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: gregk.dialup.access.net

In article <19961118195000.OAA05071@ladder01.news.aol.com>, c1ndyh@aol.com
wrote:

< << self willed the peril of a thousand fates>>
< 
< This could refer to the Champion Eternal of the Elric Saga series by
< Michael Moorcock. There are more similarities of this series to the MI
< story, including a the use of Roland's horn, entities who maintain the
< balance of the universe, and chaos ceatures. There's a good web page on
< Elric ...um...somewhere. Comment, Greg K.?
< 

Well, actually, never read any of the micheal moorcock stuff.  Although I
heard about all 17(?) books second hand when I was 13 from my friend Josh
who read them all...

Here's a question:

Where do an android's dreams come from?
(Inquiring minds want to know...)

I vaguely remember something about a movie, my brother was there..
Unicorns running through the terrible city filled with magic.  Was it all
just a dream?

later
greg k

Most readers of the Story page will know the movie to which Greg refers to and the original story on which the film is based.

Was it all just a dream?

Nov 18, 1996
Duality. What is it? The rumours spread.

Sorry but I'm not giving out any more pictures of Randy Reddig. ;-)

A nice find from Chris Borowiec <borzz@earthlink.net>

Q: "What is the law"?
A: "No spill blood".

Q: "Who makes the law"?
A: "Someone else".

Q: "What happens when we break the law"?
A: "A trip to the House Of Pain".

David Cornwell <goldragonne@earthlink.net> writes concerning the Am I Dreaming? section of Facts and puzzling things about... .

Michael Westphal <cyberjox@premier.net> points out that if you look at the picture of the tank on Bungie's Desert Storm page you'll notice something very interesting. A certain number. No clues now.

Nov 17, 1996
Not more sevens?!?! Yep... David Cornwell <goldragonne@earthlink.net> finds another less obvious one from the original Marathon. See The Number Seven section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Nov 16, 1996
Well Randy's at it AGAIN. Maybe this is where the roots of rampancy lie and not in those faulty Intel chips distributed around the time Marathon was released.

David Cornwell <goldragonne@earthlink.net> writes concerning the Jjaro. See The Jjaro section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Nov 15, 1996
Greg Kirkpatrick speaks... read his lips:

From: grendel@doubleaught.com (Grendel)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Decreasing emphasis on plots at Bungie?
Date: 15 Nov 1996 02:55:08 GMT
Organization: Double Aught
Lines: 57
Message-ID: <grendel-1411962157550001@192.163.1.100>
References:<scr-ya023060041311960004380001@nntp2.mindspring.com>
<mrenigma-1211962215130001@news.earthlink.net>
<IJBall-1311961044500001@mac_rbk_3.chem.ucla.edu>
<look-1411961641290001@cyber061.cyberspc.mb.ca>
NNTP-Posting-Host: gregk.dialup.access.net

In article <look-1411961641290001@cyber061.cyberspc.mb.ca>, look@it.up
(A.S.) wrote:

> In article <IJBall-1311961044500001@mac_rbk_3.chem.ucla.edu>,
> IJBall@aol.com (Ian J. Ball) wrote:
> 
> > I'd rate it this way: the first half or 2/3 of MI had a good plot, much
> > better than M2, as you tried to figure out what was going on. 
> > 
> > But somewhere in the second half of the game, the plot became, I don't
> > know, less interesting. And I'm in the camp that thinks the ending was
> > quite disappointing. We never get an explaination as to what was going on
> > earlier in the game. And no Leela, which was also disappointing.
> > 
> > Frankly, I'd only rate the first half or so of MI's plot as better than
> > M2's. But I liked the ending of M2 a lot more, and I think MI runs out of
> > gas in the last half of the game.
> > 
> > Overall, I guess I'd agree with Steve.
> 
> Um, if they told you exactly what happened in the end, it would suck. The
> great thing about Marathon's plot is that you can spend month trying to
> figure it out. People who expect a plot that reveals all without any
> thought on the part of the player would probably enjoy DOOM type games
> more than those who like to think about it.
> 

Personally, I like the ending in Marathon Infinity the best of them all.

<grin>

I thought I'd throw in my opinion here, as one of the primary creators of
the Marathon story.  I can see why people would think that the Infinity
story gets weaker towards the end.  Knowing this, I know that as a
storyteller I have failed somewhat.  But I can also assure you that the
end of the story does the difficult trick of actually ending the
story(something that we forgot to do in Marathon 1 and 2.), although what
happens exactly is subtle.  

As for Double Aught and our opinions of story (the universally accepted
Double Aught view):

Read my lips:

Computer games tell stories.

That's what they're for.

Later,
Greg K

---------------------
head tool
00
double aught software
www.doubleaught.com
---------------------

Aaron Snyder <wittnietz@datatek.com> writes concerning the level "Eat the Path" and Gheritt White. See the Gheritt White section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Avi Selk <avi@terra.cyberspc.mb.ca> writes concerning the picture of the flower on the first terminal of "Eat the Path". See the Gheritt White section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Rick VanderLeest <bme185@icaen.uiowa.edu> writes:

"On the level "Eat the Path" at the beginning, instead of following the obvious pathway across the lava, there is a stairway under some lava opposite the start of the path. If you follow this route, you can eventually get to a room with a lava pool and a switch on the opposite wall. If you step back and look at the pool, the flickering lights in the room spell the word "HOME" on the lava."

Avi Selk <avi@terra.cyberspc.mb.ca> points out that there appears to be only one date in Marathon Infinity. On "Post Naval Trauma" terminal 3 the signoff is dec, 210ace. Avi writes:

"ACE is another word for AD, often used by religions who do not accept Christ as the messiah, such as Judaism. It stands for After Common Era."

Nov 14, 1996

"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream..."

(William Shakespeare - "A Midsummer Night's Dream", circa 1595)

Nov 13, 1996

"The time has come,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax -
Of cabbages - and kings -
And why the sea is boiling hot -
And whether pigs have wings."

(Lewis Carroll - "Through the Looking Glass", 1872)

Nov 12, 1996
Hats off to Randy Reddig. Double Aught Software's page wins an IPPA's Award for Design Excellence. You can check the details here. Will Randy give up the gaming market and take up professional web page design... that is the question?

Peter de Blanc <giule@aol.com> points out that on Bungie's page for Desert Storm the download size is given as 743K but if you try and download it the size is infact 537k. So? Big deal. Simple mistake. But wait go back and look at that number on the page again. And while you looking see if you can find the missing 206K. Could it be that secret message left by the Ancient Ones. ;-)

Nov 10, 1996
Josh Noel <carinoel@mail.gte.net> points out that Bungie's first game was not "Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete" but "Operation: Desert Storm" released in June of 1991. Minotaur was released in February 1992. Ugh!... an error on the Marathon's Story page... could this be the end as we know it. Josh wonders if there is any seven stuff in Desert Storm? You can get it from Bungie's site here

Loren Petrich <petrich@netcom.com> provides the pict text for the second terminal on "Ne Cede Malis". See the Pict Text section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Nov 9, 1996
Avi Selk <avi@terra.cyberspc.mb.ca> writes concerning Grendel. See the Grendel section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Avi Selk <avi@terra.cyberspc.mb.ca> also writes concerning the Cthulhu Mythos in Marathon. See The Cthulhu Mythos in Marathon section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Scot Jaeger <pepino@indy.net> writes:

"On Poor Yorick, Tycho says, "The Enforcers, as you may remember, are not vacuum enabled..." well, on Post Naval Trauma, as i was dashing to find an oxygen bottle, i go up an elevator and blast an... Enforcer. Right next to the terminal talking about Juggernaut weaponry."

Don't believe everything you read.

Peter de Blanc <giule@aol.com> points out that Bungie's first game was "Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete" In the original story a certain number of men and a certain number of women were sent as a yearly tribute to satisfy the Minotaur. Guess what that certain number was? No clues now.

Nov 7, 1996
Don't forget to visit Hastur's Workshop at Double Aught Software. Very informative. There is an excellent piece on how parts of "Acme Station" were created. We await with great anticipation the Master's film of this level. Ahem... maybe Grendel would be so good as to nudge (gently!) the Master concerning this. [he who never forgets]

Is Hastur a Jjaro? Unlikely as they just arrived two days ago. Then again Ryu'Toth might have lied to us. The Jjaro have a saying: "Whatever you say, say nothing clearly." Come to think of it that does sound like... ;-)

Just in case you missed these Noah Johnson <streak@well.com> points out that there are three terminals on "Eat the Path" which involve you jumping through a window and walking on air to reach. Surreal stuff... but then again this is a dream. Trouble is it's difficult to know when you wake up.

Dennis Murphy <tian@is2.dal.ca> writes about Simulacrums and the Pfhor intention to enslave mankind. See the Simulacrums section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Nov 6, 1996
Kris Norberg <knorberg@pipeline.com> writes concerning our relationship with Durandal. See the You section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Nov 5, 1996
The Jjaro are here!

Today tens of millions of Americans will vote to make William Jefferson Clinton the first Democratic president to win a second term since Franklin D. Rossevelt in 1936.

Exactly two and half years ago Ryu'Toth, a Jjaro representative, appeared via hologram before President Clinton and five of his senior military staff. The events that transpired following that fateful visitation have never been adequately documented until now.

Are you prepared for the... truth?

Nov 4, 1996
They're coming! T-minus 1 day.

Jonathan Boeddiker <Almace@aol.com> writes concerning the Final Screen in Marathon Infinity and our origins. See the You section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Nov 3, 1996
They're coming! T-minus 2 days.

For those of you who have enquired about what was written on the walls of the first version of Marathon I'll come clean and reveal all. Check the Grendel section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Nov 2, 1996
They're coming! T-minus 3 days.

Added a new section Grendel to Facts and puzzling things about... .

Aaron Snyder <wittnietz@datatek.com> writes concerning a possible connection between Matt Wagner's "Grendel" series and Marathon Infinity. See the Grendel section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Dan Rudolph <rudolph.family@mcleod.net> writes concerning the Number Seven. See The Number Seven section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Nov 1, 1996
They're coming! T-minus 4 days.