Oct 10, 2011 (Monday)   437:4:56:3

***Knock knock***
"Who's there?
Thank God it's...
Who?

For those of you who have asked about mystery "knock" sound in Marathon (snd 1230), namely
"What does it sound like, I can't play it in OSX". Well here it is: snd 1230

Now all we have to do is place it in the game?

When we were knee high to a Chockisen we all went around with our decoder rings... decoding stuff. Then
the world got sophisticated with computers and stuff. So now we decode stuff with decoder apps. ;)

Oct 8, 2011 (Saturday)   439:5:41:24

Marathon 101.

A couple of days ago I asked the question: "On what Marathon 1 level do you first encounter lava?"

Now most people will recall that Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! is the first lava level in Marathon.
But is it the first level where you encounter lava?

Well, President People <PresidentPeople@verizon.net> in a Story forum post rightly points out
that you first find lava on Shake Before Using...   He writes:

After the first two dark bridge rooms on Shake Before Using, lava is found in single room with a
Y-shaped floor. Between the Y's spokes are deep pits with lava at the bottom.

This room also marks your first chance to dump an alien into one of the deadly media types, as
there are a couple Troopers located on opposite spokes at the far end of the room. Firing a
grenade at the Troopers' feet will send them plummeting to their fiery deaths.

There's also some ammo, so be careful not to fall in yourself grabbing it. ;)

Yes, indeed. Without the lava at the bottom of these deep pits they would be suicide traps and
Marathon has enough of these already. How many? More than seven? Well that's a question for another day.

Of course, this being Marathon the original question just raises a whole bunch of new questions. ;)

The lava was carefully added to all three pits, even the one which is very difficult to fall down
into. Why? Well without the lava this would have been the second suicide trap on this level (What is the first?).

Shake Before Using... is by Alex Seropian. Alex's 5th level so it would appear (What are the other four?).

This level is notable for its traps, an insanely long narrow walkway, first mention of cyborg simulacrums,
a secret within a secret (but not the first), the first use of an automatic exit teleporter (Is it the last?)
and who rules?

And what really happens if you don't flip those two switches at the end?

If you know the answers then post them to the Story forum.

Oct 6, 2011 (Thursday)   441:9:1:40

Steven Paul Jobs, 1955 - 2011

No Steve, No Mac, No Marathon.

Adaption of Jonathan Mak Long's tribute logo.

Sept 29, 2011 (Thursday)   448:6:48:38

On the Story forum, President People points out that the alien closed door sound or 'obstructed'
sound features in the game more frequently than previously thought. He writes:

I'm pretty sure you can hear it when you stand on an open split door, and wait for it to close on you.
The door will make the error sound and reopen, starting the cycle over again. There are split doors
on all the Pfhor levels.

treellama goes on to say:

Fun fact: platforms (at least in Marathon 2) can actually have different sounds for obstructed and
uncontrollable, but the Pfhor door uses the same sound for both.

Came across another compiled list of Marathon sounds and there names. This one dates from January 1995
and is by Justin C. Sherrill. Again snd 1230 proves a problem.

What does Google know? Hangbrain on the Story forum writes:

If you search for the Marathon Official Strategy Guide in Google Products or Google Books, the list
of "related items" includes Do androids dream of electric sheep? by Philip K. Dick, The rime of the
ancient mariner by Coleridge, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, and the comic series Grendel by
Matt Wagne...

While the connection to Marathon of many of these 'related items' is self evident, Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad is not. Could there be a connection we are not aware of?

If you know of any then post it to the Story forum.

Sept 28, 2011 (Wednesday)   449:6:5:29

If a platform is triggered on the Marathon and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Answers to the Story forum in seven words or less.

A comparison of the sounds in the Marathon Demo v0.0 and the final version reveal some interesting
differences. The mystery sound (snd 1230) doesn't appear in the demo but was added to the final game, but
whereabouts? The Marathon intro sound (snd 1240) is 136746 bytes in length in the demo but only 68390 bytes
in the final version. Sounds like we got short changed. What did the demo intro sound like and why was
it shortened? For more details see the Sounds in Marathon section.

Rare Marathon Sounds. A few days ago I poised the question... "Where do you hear a locked alien door in M1?"
This is actually quite a rare sound. Nevertheless, Dr. John Sumner <jsumner@ut.edu> came up with
the following answer:

On the M1 level Ain't Got Time Pfhor This.., you can hear the locked alien door sound when you tab
the two doors blocking entrance to the Pfhor Egg room prior to opening them with the nearby switches.

But wait... that's not all. You can also find it at the very start of Two Times Two Equals...
just look behind you. A rare sound... but not as rare as snd 1230.

Know where to find snd 1230 or know of any other rare Marathon sound... then post it to Story forum.

Sept 27, 2011 (Tuesday)   450:6:1:49

Marathon Sounds: The Definitive List.

Well according to the Sounds in Marathon section it would appear that Bungie did release a list of the
names for the sounds used in Marathon. Just not in the manner you might expect. This list comes courtesy
of The Man Who Leaked The Marathon Beta.

It appears the Sounds file that came with the leaked Marathon beta had the official names for the sounds.
So for example, the sound of Bob getting toasted by the flamethrower was called "bob-r-que". The snd ID
and the byte size would suggest that the sound was the same as the one used in the final game.

There are also sounds that never made it into the final game, such as "assault rifle shell casings"
and the famous Hound sounds. See the Sounds in Marathon section for more details.

On the Story forum, MrM12LRV <m12fernau@gmail.com> picked up a very rare shrinkwrapped copy
of Marathon 1 on eBay for the knock down price of $34.99. See... it pays to read the Story forum
but it can cost you money! ;)

Also on the Story forum, was a full version of Marathon HardCore Sounds ever released?
If so, where could it be? Hint... Google it. ;)

Sept 26, 2011 (Monday)   451:4:9:24

Over the years a number of attempts have been made to compile a full list of the sounds used in Marathon 1.
One of the first attempts was by Mike Gaines (aka Starman) which, while incomplete, did highlight one odd sound,
namely snd 1230 *unknown dull wood kock sound*. The Scarlet Pumpernickel compiled a more complete list but
again raised the issue of snd 1230 (could it be a switch?) and also snd 2150, claiming that it was unused.

Is there a complete list of Marathon sounds out there? Indeed, is there a definitive list released by
Bungie? What are the mystery sounds that can't be identified? Do they exist in the game? Has anyone
ever heard them?

If you know any of the answers then post them to the Story forum. It's time to create the definitive Marathon
sounds list.

Sept 21, 2011 (Wednesday)   456:4:36:43

Death by suicide or restart the game.

Congratulations to President People on the Story forum for getting yesterday's questions right.

1. On what M1 level do you first encounter a suicide trap?
2. On what M1A1 level do you first encounter a suicide trap?

1. Never Burn Money (Deprivation Chamber)
2. Arrival (small room on the far side of Hangar 7A (Port).

If by "suicide trap" you mean it's completely inescapable once you're in it, my answer is the secret
flamethrower room on "Smells Like Napalm, Tastes Like Chicken!" accessible by stepping on a platform
trigger down "Tunnel System #A894C", then dashing back to the starting room and riding the platform
down. After a short time, the platform will rise, trapping you inside if you're not fast enough.

There's also the "Deprivation Chamber" on the earlier level "Never Burn Money", leading to the
Gheritt White terminal, but you can escape that if you know how.

Either way, escape involves grenades. ;)

In M1A1, the first suicide trap is on "Arrival". The trap room is the ammo room outlooking "Hangar 7A (Port)",
reachable from the second half of the ventilation shaft maze. After entering the room, you can activate
the platform that brought you down and step off quickly, trapping you. This was so in the demo version
I believe, remember the secret Bob room from the demo is also present.

Aye. The suicide trap on Arrival was only ever present in the demo version of Marathon. See the
The Marathon Demo v0.0 section for discussion on this. Why the suicide trap is in the M1A1 version
of Arrival is unclear. If the demo version of Arrival was ported to M1A1 then someone fixed the maze area
as M1A1 uses the final version of Arrival's maze area. You can see the main differences between
the demo and full version below.

Marathon Demo

Marathon (full version)

Either that or someone put back the Bob in the impossible room and also changed the platform settings. =)

Sept 20, 2011 (Tuesday)   457:3:39:34

According to iTunes the HD mode for Marathon 1 for the iPad is currently half price ($0.99).
Of course I must have been asleep because when it was first launched the HD mode was $3.99.
Anyway it is now $0.99, which is pretty good.

According to the developer (Danial Blezak) in this HBO forum post, the HD mode is achieved
by using Tim Vogel's Total Texture Enhancement Package for Marathon.

As most people who read this site are aware, Marathon 1 for the iPad is actually M1A1. Now M1A1 and
M1 have some noticeable differences and some less noticeable differences. But here is one to test your
M1/M1A1 knowledge. On what M1 level do you first encounter a suicide trap? On what M1A1 level do
you first encounter a suicide trap? And no... it's not a trick question.

Know the answer then send it in or post it to the Story forum.

Sept 19, 2011 (Monday)   458:4:14:3

Happy Sweet Sixteen.

Many thanks to all those who have sent in Birthday best wishes or posted them to the Story forum. :-)

Yes, the Marathon's Story page is 16 today. Hard to believe but here's the proof.
Amazing to see how much the site has grown... and continues to grow. Few are probably aware but the
site is constantly being tweaked. For example, yesterday I fixed the underlining in the Marathon terminals
and Tycho's secret terminal on Defend THIS! got an overhaul. It now looks exactly like the original.

Hmmm... why would anyone care? Well actually a good number of people still do and forces are at work
to ensure that Marathon and its story survive for at least another 16 years. But more of that in the months
to come.

To paraphrase Leela...

"There are obviously many things which we still do not understand, but we're going to try."

Sept 1, 2011 (Thursday)   476:5:26:16

On the Story forum over the last couple of days:

A Marathon Tattoo. Have you got one?
Crimson: Steam Pirates brought to you by Bungie Aerospace Corporation. A free game for the iPad.
Marathon Trilogy Box Set for $350.
Marathon CD for $75.
Those pesky box acronyms... are we there yet?
Pathway Into Porting. Just how many ports/remakes are there?
Another ten Bungie Mac Action Sacks.

Missed the last couple of months? We'll here are some highlights in reverse chronological order.

Marathon 1 for iPad, or more correctly M1A1 for iPad, released on Bungie Day (July 7).

Bob-B-Q opens his shrinkwrapped copy of the Marathon Trilogy Box Set .

Marathon Music tracks digitally recorded under QuickTime 2.0 by Jeremiah Morris.

The fourth beta build of Aleph One providing full Marathon Infinity film playback support.

Craig Hardgrove completes his Marathon Music remakes.

The full story behind the Battle of Brooklyn.

Old Breach (Phoenix) pics lost and found.

A Craig Mullins spot quiz.

Gnop for iOS. Ok it's not the original... but...

Gnop Gnop for Mac OS X. Obviously a popular game. ;)

Lots of Marathon Music remakes rediscovered and added to Craig Hardgrove's Marathon Music repository.

O Brave New World. A celebration of Bungie's two decade legacy... and the future.

Bungie's bedtime story... or what really went wrong at the office.

Bungie's Magical Mystery Tour of Chicago: Stops 1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   and   7.