[GENERAL_SMILEY]

Hello gamers, I really like Marathon, (I know this probably makes me subnormal in hard-core terms), I want to play it networked with 3 people in my studio. Last time I played it it kept on dropping connections, so LAN play was pretty much impossible.

I have a few computers available, a G4, a G4 DP, a G3 B&W, a 17 PB, a Pismo, and an Ibook.

As we have so much spare capacity I'm guessing we may as well run a server on one of the desktops, and I think we'd like to play on the Laptops - is this a viable solution? Finally is it insane to try this over Airport?

[OwlBoy]

Do you use OS X?

Have you tryed Aleph One? I hear the networking is overhauled.

http://source.bungie.org/

-Owl

[CharlesS]

Indeed, the networking on Aleph One is awesome. I've played three-way games over the Internet, just as smoothly as if we were all at a local LAN.

To use Aleph One, all you have to do is the following:

1. Install either Marathon 2 or Marathon Infinity on your hard drive.

2. Download the Aleph One binary from http://source.bungie.org .

3. Drop the Aleph One app in the Marathon 2 or Marathon Infinity folder.

4. Presto, you have a Mac OS X native version of Marathon 2 or Marathon Infinity. With Internet play over TCP/IP to boot.

5. If you want the opening music to play, you have to change the type code of the "Music" file to 'AIFF'. This isn't necessary, as the game will work fine without the music, but it might be nice if you want the opening music.

BTW, Aleph One has been ported to Linux and Windows, so you can frag your PC friends too now.

[ReggieX]

Or, if you have Unreal Tournament, download Marathon|Rampancy or Marathon: Resurrection!

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by ReggieX:
Or, if you have Unreal Tournament, download Marathon|Rampancy or Marathon: Resurrection!

Do they recreate the single-player game with all the terminals, messages from Durandal, etc.? Or is it just the multiplayer game?

From looking at those web sites, it appears that they are net-only... this is a pity, since the complex plotline in the single-player game was a major reason why Marathon was so damn good.

[Johnny_B]

Is Marathon free, since it is so old ? If so, where can I get it from.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by Johnny_B:
Is Marathon free, since it is so old ? If so, where can I get it from.

The engine is now open source, and therefore free. It has been renamed to "Aleph One", and can be downloaded from here:

http://source.bungie.org/

The data files that contain the map and the sprites are not free - you have to have the original game. However, you can buy the Action Sack, which contains the entire Marathon trilogy plus three other games for a whopping $10 at http://www.bungie.com/ . Unfortunately the original game needs to be run in the Classic environment, but for Marathon 2 and Infinity you can just plug the data files into Aleph One and play it in all its Carbonized goodness, with Internet play to boot.

There's also M1A1, which is someone's remake of the original Marathon which allows it to run in Aleph. However, the author unfortunately decided to make a large number of "improvements" to the game which would make it very confusing for people that don't understand the references (for example, why the hell did he add a scene from Pathways into Darkness in the beginning, and then suddenly, you go through a door and you're on the Marathon?! Talk about messing up the suspension of disbelief). It's not the same game, so I would recommend starting with the genuine article if you can get ahold of it. It is free, however, and of course the graphics are better since it's using the Aleph One engine.

[Twilly Spree]

Mac action pack is not available.

http://shop.ecompanystore.com/bungie...CATALOG=BUNGIE

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by Twilly Spree:
Mac action pack is not available.

http://shop.ecompanystore.com/bungie...CATALOG=BUNGIE

Yes it is available, but just the CD alone and not the fancy packaging (and who cares about the packaging anyway?).

http://shop.ecompanystore.com/bungie...CT=BNG20000500

[tie]

Is there some way of saving a game away from a terminal? Or, if not, of cheating? I'm going through M1A1 and can't get past level 22. (No save terminals and no health terminals.) I past it once and died at the start of the next level (no immediate save terminal). After playing through the same level three or four times, I'm pretty tired of this. Who at Bungie had the idea of only letting you save at terminals -- and then didn't even put save terminals on all the levels?! Not fun.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by tie:
Is there some way of saving a game away from a terminal? Or, if not, of cheating? I'm going through M1A1 and can't get past level 22. (No save terminals and no health terminals.) I past it once and died at the start of the next level (no immediate save terminal). After playing through the same level three or four times, I'm pretty tired of this. Who at Bungie had the idea of only letting you save at terminals -- and then didn't even put save terminals on all the levels?! Not fun.

Pfhoraphobia, right? Heh, that's what makes the whole challenge of that level! It helps to come in with 3x health, which you can get in the previous level.

Heh, wait until you see what the second-to-last level is called...

[Thor]

There's also M1A1, which is someone's remake of the original Marathon which allows it to run in Aleph.

AFAICT, M1A1 was developed by Bungie.:

"All media used on this project is property of Bungie Studios and any modification and/or commercial distribution of it is strictly prohibited without the proper permission of Bungie Studios."

(for example, why the hell did he add a scene from Pathways into Darkness in the beginning, and then suddenly, you go through a door and you're on the Marathon?! Talk about messing up the suspension of disbelief)

From the Read Me:

"The game starts at the last level of Pathways Into Darkness because Marathon is intended to be a continuation of that game. The red guy floating over the blue rune is a PID character; he's supposed to be death, but that happened on another dream. Don't listen what he says about the revenge of the W'rkncacnter. Head south and you'll enter the Marathon."

See also:
http://marathon.bungie.org/story/pathways.html

[Brad Oliver]

Originally posted by Thor:
See also:
http://marathon.bungie.org/story/pathways.html

Well, one time I was at KFC, and I saw Oliver Miller, then of the Phoenix Suns. Now get this: his first name is Oliver, my last name is Oliver. We both lived in Phoenix. I loved watching Suns games and he was a Suns player. I moved away from Phoenix, he was traded. And apparently we both eat at KFC on occasion.

Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

[a2daj]

Now did, Mr. Miller eat the KFC or eat at the KFC? The last time I saw him on TV it looked like he at a few KFCs, and I'm pretty sure that isn't the TV Ten I saw on him.

[Brad Oliver]

Originally posted by a2daj:
Now did, Mr. Miller eat the KFC or eat at the KFC? The last time I saw him on TV it looked like he at a few KFCs, and I'm pretty sure that isn't the TV Ten I saw on him.

That's actually the funniest part of that story. The time I saw him there, he had several bags of KFC that he was carrying out. I dunno if it was for a party or just himself, but he was well stocked. He did nothing to dispel me of the rumors of his appetite that day.

[ZildjianKX]

For Marathon w/ Aleph One, has anyone been able to configure your mouse properly? I can change the keyboard, but the mouse is always grayed out...

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by Thor:
AFAICT, M1A1 was developed by Bungie.:

"All media used on this project is property of Bungie Studios and any modification and/or commercial distribution of it is strictly prohibited without the proper permission of Bungie Studios."

M1A1 was mostly made by Raul E. Bonilla. My guess as to the copyright disclaimer is that all of the images as well as the design of the maps were ripped straight from the original Marathon game. REB probably had to make a deal with Bungie in order to distribute it legally, and part of the deal was probably that he had to include that disclaimer. Either that or perhaps he just felt obliged to give credit where it was due.

From the Read Me:

"The game starts at the last level of Pathways Into Darkness because Marathon is intended to be a continuation of that game. The red guy floating over the blue rune is a PID character; he's supposed to be death, but that happened on another dream. Don't listen what he says about the revenge of the W'rkncacnter. Head south and you'll enter the Marathon."

See also:
http://marathon.bungie.org/story/pathways.html

That is only REB's interpretation of the Marathon story. There is little to no evidence that Marathon was supposed to be a continuation of Pathways. There were little hints here and there that created some common threads between the games, implying that Marathon might have been a new story set in the same universe as PID, but many centuries later. The games were not, however, linked strongly in any way until Marathon Infinity introduced the Wrk'ncac'nter (sp?) which appears to be from the same race as the alien god in PID.

REB's idea that the door at the end of PID led to the Marathon is just silly, though. The underground pyramid and the Marathon are separated by an immense amount of both time and space. Some may speculate that the Marine cyborg was created from the reanimated corpse of the hero from PID, but I think he would have decomposed a bit by the time the Mjolnir cyborgs were created, don't you? The Marine cyborg was probably created from the body of a casualty from Thermopylae.

All IMHO, of course.

For Marathon w/ Aleph One, has anyone been able to configure your mouse properly? I can change the keyboard, but the mouse is always grayed out...

Mouse control works fine on my machine.