Marathon's Story What's New (Sept-Oct 1996)

Oct 31, 1996
Michael Boeddiker <AirPfhorce@aol.com> points out that on the Marathon Infinity CD the Bobs sing a version of Johann Strauss' the "Blue Danube". Johann Strauss, Bernhard Strauss, a coincidence?

Interesting to note that the "Blue Danube Waltz" also featured in that sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. The connection between this film and Marathon should be obvious by now.

Oct 30, 1996
Forrest Cameranesi <Pfhorrest@aol.com> writes concerning the mysterious exit terminal on "Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!" See The 10th military Mjolnir Mark IV cyborg section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

David Cornwell <goldragonne@earthlink.net> writes concerning Robert Blake and the Number Seven. See the Robert Blake section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Oct 29, 1996
Are we Rampant? David Cornwell <goldragonne@earthlink.net> finds some interesting evidence in Infinity. See the You section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Noah Johnson <streak@well.com> writes:

"There are several references in Marathon Infinity, mostly made by Tfear, if memory serves, to some kind of command location or structure known as "Grn'dl Prime". It's worth mentioning that in Matt Wagner's comic book mythology _Grendel_, one part of the future has the earth under the dominion of a dictator known as "Grendel-Prime". Coincidence?"

Oct 28, 1996
Morgan Catha <mcatha@slc.shorelin.wednet.edu> writes concerning Battleroids and Cyborgs. See The 10th military Mjolnir Mark IV cyborg section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Oct 27, 1996
David Cornwell <goldragonne@earthlink.net> writes concerning Battleroids and Cyborgs. See The 10th military Mjolnir Mark IV cyborg section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Oct 25, 1996
Added a new section to Facts and puzzling things about... to discuss the many Shakespeare references in the story. See the Shakespeare in Marathon section.

Marathon Infinity or The Comedy of Errors? That is the question... Todd Bangerter <tabanger@husc.harvard.edu> uncovers a very interesting analogy. See the new Shakespeare in Marathon section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Oct 24, 1996
Added the terminal text for the level Ne Cede Malis. Remember you can always read the terminals in all their glory using Bo Lindbergh's "Durandal Terminal Browser". You can get it from the Marathon's Story page here .

Todd Bangerter <tabanger@husc.harvard.edu> writes to point out that the terminal text on the level "Two for the Price of One" is from William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, Act 4, Scene 4. It is Dromio of Ephesus speaking to his master, Antipholus of Ephesus. You'll find the original text here. Note also the signon for this terminal.

But how to get to "Two for the Price of One" that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer...

Christopher McCraken <ASCIIRIDER@firecraker.com> writes concerning Simulacrums and the Pfhor's enslavement of humanity. See the Simulacrums section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Oct 23, 1996
Added the Marathon Infinity Manual Text. You'll find this very enlightening if you take the trouble to read it.

Added a new section to Facts and puzzling things about... to discuss The Cthulhu Mythos in Marathon.

Rob Boggs <rboggsnhl@earthlink.com> writes concerning the Cthulhu Mythos in Marathon. See The Cthulhu Mythos in Marathon section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Oct 22, 1996
Added the secret net level "Hats Off To Eight Nineteen" to the What's in a Name section.

Josh Noel <carinoel@mail.gte.net> points out that you can easily miss the third terminal on the "Whatever You Please". Josh writes:

"At the very end of the level you go up a platform to get to a save term and a console that takes you to the next level. But, if you jump across to a thin room that is above the catwalk you just took to get to the above console. Then jump across a couple of platforms you can go up to a place that appears like just a couple of walls. But up there there is a save term and a secret console that takes you to Carroll Street Station."

Oct 21, 1996
Hang Brain?!?! Will the Marathon's Story page lose its R rating? You be the judge.

Tom Klancer <tklancer@wam.umd.edu> writes concerning Simulacrums and the Pfhor's enslavement of humanity. See the Simulacrums section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Oct 20, 1996
A very interesting find by Noah Schabacker <nms@henge.com>. Noah writes:

In the book _The_Legacy_of_Heorot_, by Larry Niven, a colony ship is sent from Earth to (of all places!) Tau Ceti! There happens to be a rather nasty type of creature on the island that serves as the base colony. This creature is know as a _grendel_. The only security officer in the colony is, at first, the only one who knows about this creature until it devastates the colony. Eventually all of them are killed, resulting in the creation of about a thousand more because of a disrupted eco-system. So you've got your veteran security officer, your hordes of destructive alien life forms. Intriguing, eh?

Grendel eh?!... hands up how many people remember what was written on the walls of Bungie's first version of Marathon when it went public at MacWorld San Francisco January 1994?

Incidently "The Legacy of Heorot" is by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Steven Barnes. The title comes from Beowulf. Remember Heorot Hall? There is a sequel called "Beowulf's Children". These books are the nearest thing to Aliens you can get. And if you think Grendels were bad wait to you see~~fxx~~xx~~

If you haven't already heard by now the mysterious Bungie webmaster (nay webperson!) has finally admitted the truth. Of course we already knew the answer here months ago. ;-)

This was found on alt.games.marathon and makes for interesting reading.

From: nrevenge@aol.com (N Revenge)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: [infinity] Hats off...
Date: 18 Oct 1996 21:05:35 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Lines: 9
Sender: root@newsbf02.news.aol.com
Message-ID: <5499gv$pss@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
Reply-To: nrevenge@aol.com (N Revenge)
NNTP-Posting-Host: newsbf02.mail.aol.com

didja know... ... if you open the infinity map with hex and
copy the hexadecimal code from the secret terms in the first and last solo
levels and append them in simpletext and convert the result to ascii with
resedit and save the ascii in simpletext and drop the resulting file onto
the newest version of stuffit expander twice... you get a small net map
that you may have seen before with someone's attempt at creative writing
in a terminal?

no kidding.

yes.

yes. yes.

yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!

someone found it! ::big smile::

that just made my day.


peace: ydnar :) oo

randy reddig                            ydnar@doubleaught.com
delinquent at large             oo      [so phat it hurts]-ck
double aught software, inc.             www.doubleaught.com
creators of marathon infinity           [the game]

Madness. ;-)

Chris Farmer <ChrisFOM@aol.com> writes concerning the "you are not human" evidence. See the You section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Interesting to read on the famous silver box that "Blood Tides of Lh'owon" is a 20-level scenario. Talk about under-selling your product.

Oct 18, 1996
More What's in a Name stuff has been added. Carroll Street Station has been found. ;-)

Oct 17, 1996
It is with great sadness that I must report the closure of David Coufal's Macintosh 3D Games Resources page. Those of you who were around in the early days will remember that Dave had one of the first pages on Marathon Central (AMUG). It grew from its humble beginnings as a Marathon hotlist into a page devoted to all Macintosh 3D first-person action games. Dave was also a great fan of Pathways into Darkness and had the only web pages devoted to this marvelous but sadly forgotten game. The Marathon's Story page wishes him well in his future career. He was one of the Marathon greats.

Many thanks to all the people who have written in with suggestions for the What's in a Name section. I'm adding these as fast as I can. However I don't think it's a good idea to keep ringing the Italian embassy concerning converted churchs in Venice. Also I don't think MapQuest was ever intended for the purpose of searching for Carroll Street Station. Whatever!

Oct 16, 1996
11.47 am Marathon Infinity reaches Ireland courtesy of Cyberian Outpost and DHL Worldwide Express. The DHL box is pretty cool. It's a light shade of brown with a pink strip down the middle slightly offset. The way the box is put together is also pretty cool. Intricately folded into the shape of a square. I'll definitely keep this one on my shelf for all to see.

The What's in a Name section has been updated. Stake your claim to a name quick because they're going fast. If your web browser cannot handle frames you can find a link here.

Claude Errera <errera@ese.ogi.edu> points out that in the Main Index of the Marathon 2: Durandal Strategy Guide the level "Nuke and Pave" is referred to as "Beg To Die" although its correct title is used on the description page. Strange stuff. But hey what's new! ;-)

Interesting to note that in the Introduction to the Forge tutorial it is claimed that the Marathon Marine (our character) stands 6 feet tall and not 5'7". Just thought you should know... eat your greens. ;-)

Oct 14, 1996
Marathon Infinity is out. Have you got your copy yet?

Jonathan Boeddiker <boeddiker@earthlink.net> writes concerning the fate of Roland's sword "Durendal". See the Historical & Mythological References in Marathon section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Oct 12, 1996
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Marathon Infinity will be available in selected shops throughout the United States from Saturday 12th October. Three days before the official release date. However, remember Tip #1.

Oct 10, 1996
Great news from Matt Soell for all you Marathon Infinity/Abuse for Mac bundle people you'll get it on October 25, 1996. Ten days after the 15th. Those magic numbers again three, seven, and ten. Way to go. ;-)

Bungie corrected the shipping date for Marathon Infinity. It's now October 15th. For all those who missed the joke. They added a 7 to the 1. ;-)

Poetry and Marathon? You've got to be kidding... right? Wrong! Ben Wigler <GameWireAE@aol.com> has written a collection of Marathon parodies based on popular poetry and songs. You'll find them at the Ode's to Bob page. Thanks to Forrest Cameranesi <Pfhorrest@aol.com> for this information.

Oct 9, 1996
The following is a post on a.g.m. from Greg Kirkpatrick, Head Tool at Double Aught Software, the makers of Marathon Infinity. I recommend that people keep a very close eye on this site.

To all the Marathon Freaks:

(Freaks is a term of endearment.)

With the release of Marathon Infinity impending, we welcome freaks and fodder alike, vidmasters and vidminors, and anyone else who's reading, to come and see the new and improved Double Aught Website: www.doubleaught.com

For those of you who don't know, Double Aught created the Marathon Infinity scenario, including many of the netmaps. We think that this is the best Marathon yet.

Coming soon to the page we'll have spoilers, hints, Forge and Anvil help, and information on our next project...

Come and get some.

Yours,
Toolboi (Greg Kirkpatrick)

00
Double Aught
Makers of Marathon Infinity
www.doubleaught.com

• Marathon Infinity
  Shipping October 85, 1996 - Demo available now.
  

Of course we won't go into how this could have happened. It's as plain as the seven fingers on my right hand. ;-)

Oct 8, 1996
The Double Aught Software page has had a face lift already. Rampancy is endemic! ;-)

Oct 7, 1996
The site they tried to ban, but it coudn't be censored.

The site they tried to buy, but it couldn't be bought.

The site they tried to ignore, but it couldn't be forgotten.

Solo levels will never be the same again.

Brian Jaeger <pepino@indy.net> writes concerning the Pict Text. See the Pict Text section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Brian Jaeger <pepino@indy.net> also notes that the magazine MacAddict contains some Marathon Infinity info that's slightly different from what we already know.

Michael Boeddiker <boeddiker@earthlink.net> writes concerning the "Mjolnir Recon number 54" and its function on the Marathon. See The 10th military Mjolnir Mark IV cyborg section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Oct 6, 1996
Noah Daniels <ndaniel1@swarthmore.edu> writes:

"Not only is the Marathon 1 creator code 26.2, but the Marathon 2 creator code is 52.4. Can you guess what the Marathon Infinity creator code is? :-)

Oct 4, 1996
Double Aught Software, the creators of Marathon Infinity, now have a web site at

Oct 3, 1996
Dan Rudolph <rudolph.family@mcleod.net> writes:

"A marathon is a race that is 26.2 miles long. The creator type for Marathon 1 is 26.2. Strange huh?"

Oct 2, 1996
Marathon Infinity is set for an October 15th release.

David Coufal <dcoufal@athena.mit.edu> of the Macintosh 3D Games Resources page notes something odd about this date. Yes it's true... he's completely crazy too. ;-)

Sept 30, 1996
I came across an interesting quote on the net and thought I'd share it with you:

"Yeah, sure- you COULD go for that SMG in your coat... but AFTER you shot me; I'd still rip your head off..."

Sept 29, 1996
Nick Nethery <MagicElbow@aol.com> writes concerning Count Roland, Charlemagne, and the number seven. See the Historical & Mythological References in Marathon section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Mark Levin <meglev@webspan.net> writes concerning the mysterious colony text. See The Colony section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Sept 24, 1996
I'm back.

Apologies to those of you who hit the Marathon's Story page at the grayphics.com site over the last two weeks to find no reason as to why the page was not being updated. A technical problem prevented me from updating the grayphics site prior to my vacation.

Marathon Central has now moved to http://www.marathon.org/ and so to has the Marathon's Story page. The new URL for the page is http://www.marathon.org/story. Please update your bookmarks to reflect this. The Marathon's Story page is still at AMUG however and both sites will be updated.

Thanks to all the people who have sent in screenshots of the Mainpage indicating that they were visitor number 777,777. Sorry there are no prizes for this. I though about giving a free copy of Marathon Infinity but then again I'm Scottish. ;-)

Michael Boeddiker <boeddiker@earthlink.net> writes concerning the term Recon in the name "Mjolnir Recon number 54". See The 10th military Mjolnir Mark IV cyborg section of Facts and puzzling things about... for details.

Sept 6, 1996
Marathon 2 for Windows 95 has been released.

If you are interested in a free 30-day trial evaluation copy of Marathon 4.0 for Windows 95 and Windows NT you should go here.

Things have been quiet around here for the last week and they are about to get quieter. I'm away for two weeks from Sat 7th Sept. If you send me stuff my computer will accept it, assimilate it, and if it feels like it may reply. But don't rely on it. It's feeling rather melancholic.

The one year anniversary of the Marathon's Story page is coming up on Sept 19th. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the hundreds of people who have written to me over this period. The continued success of this page is largely your doing. I thank you all.

May all the sevens be with you.