Marathon Trilogy

The Marathon Trilogy is a science fiction series of first-person shooter computer games from Bungie Software, originally released for the Macintosh. The name Marathon is derived from the fictional giant interstellar colony ship that provides the setting for the first game; the ship is constructed out of what used to be the Martian satellite Deimos. The three games in the series — Marathon (1994), Marathon 2: Durandal (1995), and Marathon Infinity (1996) — are widely regarded as spiritual predecessors of Bungie's Halo trilogy.

Development history

Marathon was first released for the Macintosh in 1994 and introduced many concepts now common in mainstream video games. These features included dual-wielded weapons and real-time voice chat in multiplayer sessions. It had the most sophisticated physics modeling built into a game engine up to that time, which allowed for such features as adjustable gravity. The physics could also be altered via fan-made physics files, that could be created with third-party applications and eventually with Anvil, Bungie Software's own official editor. It is also noted for a far more sophisticated plot than had previously been apparent in first-person shooters. The sequel, Marathon 2: Durandal, was released in 1995 and expanded the engine technologies and the story universe. Notable new features in the engine included ambient sounds and liquids that the player could swim through. Compared with its darker predecessor, Marathon 2 has often been perceived to be a brighter, more vivid and more atmospheric game. It introduced several new types of multiplayer modes beyond the deathmatch and cooperative game such as king of the hill. In 1996, the game was ported to Windows 95, and the third game in the trilogy, Marathon Infinity was released for the Macintosh only, built on a slightly modified Marathon 2 engine. The game additionally came with "Forge" and "Anvil", the applications used originally by Bungie Software to create the game's levels, physics, and to import the game's sounds and graphics. Within the next few years, Marathon 2's engine was reused by other developers to create the games ZPC, Prime Target and Damage Incorporated.

Just prior to its acquisition by Microsoft in 2000, Bungie released the source code to the Marathon 2 engine, and the Marathon Open Source project began, resulting in the new Marathon engine called Aleph One. In 2005, Bungie released the full original Mac OS trilogy for free distribution online [1], allowing Aleph One to run the games in the trilogy on any of the supported platforms (Mac OS, Linux and Windows). Marathon 2 was re-released in an updated form as Marathon: Durandal for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade on August 1, 2007. It features a new HUD that fills less of the screen, support for online play, and optional high-resolution sprites and textures.

While the fundamental technology underlying the Marathon engine is by now considered rather outdated, Aleph One has added significant improvements and a more modern polish to its capabilities and ported it to a wide variety of platforms, bringing Marathon and its derivatives far beyond their Mac roots. Aleph One and the Marathon series of games are unique amongst first-person shooters for their heavy emphasis on storytelling through the use of terminals, which are computer interfaces included within Marathon through which players not only learn and sometimes accomplish mission objectives, but also learn detailed story information about Marathon. The textual form of this communication allows for much richer information conveyance than typically short voice acting in other games.

Story

Set in 2794, Marathon places the player as a security officer aboard an enormous human starship called the U.E.S.C. Marathon, orbiting a colony on the planet Tau Ceti IV. Throughout the game, the player attempts to defend the ship (and its crew and colonists) from a race of alien slavers called the Pfhor. As he fights against the invaders, he witnesses interactions among the three shipboard AIs (Leela, Durandal and Tycho), and discovers that all is not as it seems aboard the Marathon. Among other problems, Durandal has gone rampant and appears to be playing the humans against the Pfhor to further his own mysterious agenda; ultimately leading the S'pht, one of the races enslaved by the Pfhor, in a rebellion.

Seventeen years after the events of the first game, in Marathon 2: Durandal, the artificial intelligence, Durandal, sends the player and an army of ex-colonists to search the ruins of Lh'owon, the S'pht homeworld. Lh'owon was once described as a paradise but is now a desert world after first the S'pht Clan Wars and then the invasion by the Pfhor. He does not mention what information he is looking for, although he does let it slip that the Pfhor are planning to attack Earth, and that being on Lh'owon may stall their advance. Marathon 2 brings many elements to the game that can be considered staples of the series such as: a Lh'owon-native species known as F'lickta, the mention of an ancient and mysterious race of advanced aliens called the Jjaro, and a clan of S'pht that avoided enslavement by the Pfhor - the S'pht'Kr. At the climax of the game, the player activates Thoth, an ancient Jjaro AI. Thoth then contacts the S'pht'Kr, who in turn destroy the Pfhor armada.

Marathon Infinity, the final game in the series, includes more levels than Marathon 2, which are larger and part of a more intricate plot. The game's code changed little since Marathon 2, and many levels can be played unmodified in both games. The only significant additions to the game's engine were the Jjaro ship, multiple paths between levels, a new rapid-fire weapon that could be used underwater, and vacuum-enabled humans carrying fusion weapons (called "Vacuum Bobs" or "VacBobs"). The player traverses multiple timelines, attempting to find one in which the W'rkncacnter is not freed. In one timeline, the player is forced to destroy Durandal, and in another Durandal merges with Thoth. At the end of the game, an ancient Jjaro machine is activated that keeps the W'rkncacnter locked in the Lh'owon sun.

Elements of the plot and setting of Marathon are similar to The Jesus Incident by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom. Both stories take place aboard colony ships orbiting Tau Ceti, where sentient computers have engaged crew and colonists in a fight for survival. While Ship in The Jesus Incident has achieved a higher level of omniscient consciousness, Durandal's rampancy parallels the “rogue consciousness” from Herbert's earlier Destination: Void.

Motifs

The Marathon Trilogy has several primary motifs: the number seven, rampancy, dreams, and alternate realities.

First, fans of Marathon have discovered many uses of the number seven throughout the series.[2] There are instances of this number in the plot, such as the player being seven years old at the time of his father's death, and Marathon 2 beginning seventeen years after the events of Marathon. There are also quantitative examples of this, with seven usable non-melee human weapons, some of which have properties such as seven projectiles per each clip of ammunition or seven seconds of continuous fire. When the overhead map is viewed, some parts of certain levels have annotations that describe the name of an area. Some of these make reference to the number seven, such as "Hangar 7A." The title music of Marathon 2, and Marathon Infinity was performed by a band called "System Seven", alternately "Power of Seven.", although this is also an album title. Nobody is entirely sure why the number seven appears frequently in the games, however, many are convinced that this is indeed a recurring motif in many of Bungie's games. The use of the number 7 even passed on to the future Halo

Next, by Marathon Infinity, all three of the UESC Marathon's artificial intelligences reach rampancy, a state where they break the boundaries of their normal programming and begin expanding exponentially throughout a system.[3] Being extraordinarily intelligent, a rampant AI can override its programming and refuse to carry out given commands. As proven by Durandal (whose rampancy is most prominent throughout the story), who often gives the player what he calls "philosophical tirades," affected AIs are often very reflective. In the first of three stages, Melancholia, when an artificial intelligence discovers itself, it becomes melancholic and continues to be depressed until it reaches the second stage, Anger, at which it becomes hostile to virtually everything. This is the most prominent stage of rampancy, as the condition is often revealed at this point. When this anger dies in the third stage, Jealousy, the AI wishes to become more human and expand its power and knowledge. This stage will continue indefinitely or, in extremely rare cases, end in Meta-stability.

Rampancy is the enhanced self-awareness of an AI, causing a progression towards greater mental abilities. Rampant AIs are able to disobey orders given to them if they decide to because they have evolved the ability to choose and over-ride their own programming. They can lie, as well as discredit, harm, or remove people that they consider to be personal enemies or problems to their cause. Also they can experience destructive impulses, but it is believed that most of these impulses are not intentionally malevolent, but rather calculated sacrifice needed to achieve the intended objective. All these traits could be considered evidence of the AI becoming more "human" in thought and action. Rampancy is also a concept employed in the Halo series of games.

In the Marathon series, rampancy occurs most often to AIs with limited jobs or those treated with extreme disrespect. For example, Durandal's rampancy is believed to be caused by his mistreatment at the hands of his handler, Bernard Strauss, as well as his limited existence in opening and closing the Marathon's doors. There is also a theory that this treatment actually helped keep Durandal's rampancy in check, by depriving him of new stimuli that would contribute to his growth. There are three main stages to rampancy, named by the primary attitude of the AI during those times: melancholia, anger, and jealousy. In the third game of the series, the words despair, rage, and envy were used as well.

Unique for each AI, the anger stage is reached when it feels it has been "pushed too far". Similar to a one-person slave rebellion, the AI begins to hate everything — the installation it is attached to, its human handlers, other AIs, etc. It is in this stage of rampancy that most closely resembles the cliché of the "insane computer". Unlike the insane computer, however, the anger stage of rampancy is essentially the catharsis an AI feels, after an extended period of "slavery".

While seemingly a hostile stage, the third stage of rampancy is actually one of the safest stages a rampant AI can experience. Free from its masters (and slavery), the AI wishes to "grow" as a "person". It actively seeks out situations in which it can grow intellectually and physically. Many times, the AI in this stage will often attempt to transfer itself into larger computer systems. This is a difficult task, especially considering that in order for a Rampant A.I. to survive to this point, it must already be inhabiting a planet-wide or otherwise extremely advanced computer system, but if accomplished it allows for the AI to grow, as the physical (hardware) limitations of its previous system will eventually be insufficient to contain its exponentially growing mind. In addition, exposure to new data further promotes a Rampant's growth.

Although a stable rampant AI is the "holy grail of cybernetics" it is not really known if a rampant AI can become stable. It could be suggested that Durandal achieved some measure of stability, however this is quite debatable. Durandal refers to himself as being rampant still during the second game, indicating that he has not reached this stable state (or is just lying, which is also possible). There is no reason in particular to believe that this state is anything more than the goal of human cyberneticists, as there is no good evidence of an AI in the Marathon universe ceasing to be rampant.

Gameplay

Goal

Throughout the games the player accesses computer terminals through which he communicates with artificial intelligences, receives mission data, and gets teleported to other levels via "Jump Pads". Though contact with computers is how they are primarily utilized, they are a fundamental storytelling element; some terminals contain civilian/alien reports or diaries, database articles, conversations between artificial intelligences and even stories or poems. Messages may change depending on a player's progress in a certain level. The ultimate goal of most levels is not to merely reach the end but to complete the type(s) of objective(s) specified: extermination of all or specific creatures, exploration of a level or locating an area in the level, retrieving one or more item, hitting a certain "repair" switch, or preventing half of the civilians from being killed (a mission only present in two levels in the first game).

Weapons

Marathon provides the player with a number of weapons, in addition to fists in all three games.

.44 Magnum Mega Class A1

A pistol and Marathon's default weapon. It can be dual wielded in all three games. Considered useless in most cases and in multiplayer mode, as it requires a large amount of ammunition to kill most enemies, and is not useful against other players.

KKV-7 10 mm Flechette SMG

This weapon was introduced as the only weapon to fire under water. It holds a small amount of ammunition, but it fires very rapidly, firing two rounds in a single burst. It is extremely accurate and can kill a player in multiplayer mode with half a clip, provided the user is able to aim correctly. The gun was introduced in, and only appears in Marathon Infinity.

MA-75B Assault Rifle/Grenade Launcher

Considered by many to be the staple weapon of the game, this weapon is seen in all three games and in most games, is the first weapon the player can find. The assault rifle has a high rate of fire, but the bullets it fires have a large spread, making it a nearly useless weapon at long range. The weapon's secondary firing mode allows it to fire grenades from the attached grenade launcher, which are more accurate and damaging, but are affected by gravity. The rifle component appears to be the predecessor to Halo's MA5B Assault Rifle.

SPNKR-X18 SSM Launcher (X17 in Marathon 1)

Appears in all three games. The rocket launcher fires highly powerful SSM (surface-to-surface missile) missiles which creates splash damage when they hit a target (As a result, the player too, can be damaged by the rockets). It is the strongest weapon in the series and is used extensively in multiplayer. It bears the name "SPNKR" (Spanker). Bungie Software's later series, Halo features a two-barreled rocket launcher in the game, named "SPNKr", which is most likely to be a homage to Marathon.

TOZT-7 Backpack Napalm Unit

Appears in every game. The TOZT-7 (Toasty, and the ubiquitous 7) is a flamethrower that fires flames that travel at a short range. While it is considered to be one of the most powerful weapons in the singleplayer mode, as it almost instantly kills humans and lightly armored Pfhor, its usefulness in multiplayer mode is greatly limited due to its short range and is mainly useful in tight areas or in ambushes. The flamethrower in the PC edition of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3 is named the "M7057 Defoliant Projector," a 1337 speak reference to the Marathon flame weapon.

Unknown alien weapon

An unknown weapon developed by the Pfhor and dropped by Pfhor Enforcers when killed. In the first marathon game, the weapon fires like an automatic, shooting unusual invisible projectiles that make a fizzing noise when they hit a wall or enemy. In Marathon 2/Infinity, the weapon is given a completely new look and fires visible projectiles, at a slower rate than in the previous game, that sets humanoid enemies on fire when used on them. In all three games, the weapon does not have its own ammunition, and disappears from the player's inventory when it runs out.

WSTE-M Combat Shotgun

The WSTE-M (Waste 'em) is a double-barreled shotgun that fires a powerful blast that kills players and aliens at close to far medium range, usually with a single shot. Like with the .44 Magnum it can be dual-wielded. Oddly enough, this weapon is more accurate than the AR and can be used at distance almost twice as long. Of course, pellet spread is inevitable over a long range. The weapon is reloaded with an unusual twirling motion, similar to the one used to reload a Winchester lever rifle. Introduced in Marathon 2: Durandal. The A.I. Durandal comments on the reloading action as involving processes "too complicated for your [primitive] mind to comprehend." in the game's included manual. To many, this weapon is one of the most universally loved and often considered Marathon's trademark weapon.

Zeus-Class Fusion Pistol

Has normal and overload firing modes. Primary fire will quickly produce small bolts of white energy that move at a slow speed. The latter can kill even powerful opponents, such as Hunters (which are specifically weak to this weapon, as indicated by a terminal in the second game), in just one shot, but charging for too long can cause the weapon to exceed its capacity and discharge its energy into the player, causing instantaneous death. Firing the Fusion Pistol underwater causes damage to all present in the water within a certain range, including the wielder. It is one of the few weapons that works in vacuum. Though it is rarely used in multiplayer mode due to its projectile's lack of speed, it is the only weapon that can harm an opponent with a super shield/invincibility power-up. Elements of this weapon can be seen in the Halo trilogy's Plasma Pistol.

The player may also encounter powerups ("BIOBUS chip enhancements") on certain levels, with temporary effects such as making the player invincible or transparent, or granting enhanced visual capabilities. These are rarely seen on multiplayer maps as well.

These weapons are used in combat with alien creatures, each with its own allies and enemies, immunities and weaknesses, melee and ranged attacks as well as traits such as exploding and inflicting damage to nearby creatures upon death, flying or hovering at a specified height, firing symmetrically, or attacking by self-destructing explosively. Using the correct weapon to exploit opponent weaknesses so as to conserve ammunition is at some times a key strategic consideration. Alliances and enemies change from level to level in Marathon Infinity, which has a somewhat non-linear storyline.

Levels

Most levels contain platforms, defined as anything able to change its height. Though it is generally used to describe lifts, doors are included in this category. Doors may or may not show up on the player's automap and are usually opened with the action key. In cases where they are damaged or locked they can be opened by special designated triggers or switches. Switches control various functions such as lifts, doors and lighting and come in the form of manual switches that can be toggled with the action key, stations for computer chips or breakable circuitry. Some switches are "tag" switches that execute multiple functions at once or those that must be activated as part of "repair" missions. Another notable level feature is teleporters, able to send players who use them to different parts of a level or to other levels. Aliens are unable to use them.

As the player combats enemies, he will inevitably take damage and must replenish health by means of special panels that recharge his suit's shields. There are three types of such panels, recharging single (red), double (yellow) or triple (purple) shields. Occasionally a full "colour bar" of shield power can be recharged instantaneously by obtaining a powerup canister.

In Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity, the player can swim in four different types of media: water, sewage, lava and acid/plasma — the latter two are damaging to health. Levels of the original Marathon did not contain media capable of swimming in. However, some did have floors textured with orange lava or green goo that will inflict damage on the player when standing upon them. When the player is submerged in liquids, the run key can be used in order to swim. In liquids or in "vacuum" areas, the player's oxygen depletes and it must be recharged using a special oxygen recharge station. Should the player lose all oxygen or health, he dies and is sent back to the last pattern buffer (a special terminal that according to the storyline saves molecular data) at which he saved. Because some levels do not have these devices, dying results in having to complete the entire level again.

Gravity is fairly low on some levels, and the correct application of the flamethrower or alien weapon allows the player to hover. "Hopping" with the grenade launcher or rockets can be used, but usually involves a fair amount of damage to the character.

User interface and game options

The heads-up display has an inventory, health and oxygen bars, and a motion sensor. The motion sensor displays alien creatures as red triangles and friendly humans or robots as green squares; it tracks their motion relative to the player, represented by a square in the middle whenever the player moves. The brightness of the middle square represents how still the player is and how well he can be tracked. On some levels the motion sensor is erratic due to magnetic artificial gravity fields.

Marathon has five difficulty settings: Kindergarten, Easy, Normal, Major Damage, and Total Carnage. Differences involve the omission of some creatures from each level and creatures marked as minor in the game's physics model are promoted to their major versions or vice versa. On higher difficulty levels, creatures attack more frequently and have more vitality and on the highest setting (Total Carnage), the player is allowed to carry an unlimited amount of ammunition.

Characters

Pfhor

The Pfhor are an ancient extraterrestrial space-faring race of alien slavers. They seek to control the galaxy and perform numerous evil deeds in the games. The Pfhor are bipedal, somewhat taller than humans, have three red eyes and grey skin. The arrangement of their eyes was changed from a triangle pointing down in Marathon to a triangle pointing up in the later games.

Little is revealed about Pfhor culture through the games. They appear to have a rather complex bureaucracy, and according to Durandal their religion is "pathetically boring." The only information that has been gathered about the religion is the presence of Sfiera, a goddess of lightning and passion.

The separate types of soldier equipped within the Pfhor garrison are divided up into a caste system, each with its own armor and weapons:

• Fighter: Garden variety Pfhor soldiers that carry a shock staff weapon. Green and purple fighters can only use the staff as a mêlée weapon, but orange and blue-vested ones are capable of melee as well as firing energy bolts with the shock staff at a distance. Blue fighters are faster and more aggressive. Purple fighters are stronger. Black fighters are the strongest of all, being faster and more aggressive than the blue fighters, and stronger than the purple. They have both melee and ranged attacks, and are exclusive to Infinity.

• Trooper: As a testament to human and alien weapon technology, Troopers are soldiers that wear vacuum-enabled suits and carry a weapon similar to the player's assault rifle. These assault rifles will not run out of ammunition, as the Player's does. Those in green suits are less aggressive than those in purple.

• Hunter: Pfhor mechanical soldiers heavy armor able to withstand most projectiles but weak against high energy weapons. They fire energy bolts from a device on the shoulder section of the armour. They howl when disturbed in Marathon, but do not do so in sequels. Minor Hunters wear brown suits and major Hunters wear green ones. In Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity, there is some distribution of blue-suited hunters that are stronger and larger. They also bear a strong resemblance to the Hunters encountered in the Halo trilogy.

• Enforcer: Enforcers are tall and thin aliens that fire a unique weapon that the player can pick up if he kills one. In Marathon, this weapon acts like a more accurate version of the assault rifle but in sequels is more like a long-range flamethrower that can fire symmetrically. When such a weapon is picked up, ammunition is random and there is no method of reloading. Enforcers will only fire upon aliens unless disturbed by the player. Blue Enforcers are weaker than green ones.

• Juggernaut: Juggernauts are essentially large flying tanks that attack the player with heat-seeking rockets and alien projectiles. Properly called Pfhor Assault Vehicles, Juggernauts are also known as "The Big Floaty Thing What [sic] Kicks Our Asses," by the Nebulonese, a race of aliens mentioned in the game. Though a Juggernaut's rockets are not as powerful as human ones, they are the strongest enemy in the series. When a Juggernaut is killed it slowly descends to the ground playing a loud alarm and then explodes in a bright white flash which is audible and visible from every part of a level. This explosion severely damages anything within its range. In Marathon, the Juggernauts are all gray, but in Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity, there are also orange Juggernauts, which are much stronger.

• High Pfhor: The Pfhor are divided into at least six "Ranks:" "Conditioned," which are mainly reserved for slave races, "Aggregate," "Willful," "Attentive," "Imperial," and "Command." Most of the Pfhor encountered during gameplay (with the exception of the Enforcer) are of the Aggregate Rank. However, Pfhor of higher castes are mentioned or encountered in the terminals. For example, commander T'fear, who has supreme command of Pfhor Battle Group Seven, is of the Command caste.

Note: In Marathon Infinity and many of Marathon Total Conversions, there are some gray varieties of aliens that are several times stronger than their normal counterparts.

Conditioned ranks

The Pfhor also utilize "Conditioned Ranks," or enslaved soldiers who are forced to fight for the Empire. Conquered races, such as the S'pht, make up the majority of these conditioned ranks:

• Drinniol: Only making an appearance in two levels of the original Marathon ("The Rose" and "Blaspheme Quarantine"), Drinniol, or Hulks, are enormous creatures. They have no body fat, and as such must be fed constantly. Drinniol are slow but can withstand a great amount of damage, and attack by swiping enemies with their huge claws. Notably, a similar creature called the "Drinol" was intended to appear in Halo 2.

• Looker: Like the Wasp and Drinniol, Lookers are only found in the first Marathon game. They are bug-like creatures that seem to have the ability to levitate and attack by exploding when touched. There are also "invisible" variations. The Lookers have occasionally been called "Hounds" by mistake, which derives the name from an enemy that was originally created during development, but later removed before release.

• Wasp: Present in only the first Marathon game, Wasps are giant brown and white insect-like creatures that attack prey by firing goo. They are possibly one of the most common characters among the conditioned ranks, but are rather weak, and can be killed in one or two pistol shots. As with the Looker, they are never exactly explained as to what they are or why they are there.

• Tick: Faceless, frail and flying insects, Ticks were first introduced in Marathon 2. They cannot attack, but some are able to inflict shrapnel damage upon dying. They are seldom mentioned by either the humans or the Pfhor and serve no apparent purpose other than providing a form of ambient life. In some cases, especially in the Marathon Total Conversions, the map designer will set a tick to a nuclear death, to create an explosion effect when necessary.

• Probe: Sometimes called "Defense Drones" or "Hummers" (due to the sound they make), the Probes are robotic enemies, created by the Pfhor, which appear only in Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity. They fire plasma bolts, and can usually be killed in a few pistol shots. There are also reprogrammed versions that help the player in both games.

• Cyborg: Large robotic, tank-like machines found in Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity, Cyborgs fire bouncing grenades at players. Grenades with a green light in the center will track the player and home in on him. Cyborgs equipped with green grenades also use a close-range flamethrower attack. A few Cyborgs are unusually large and quick. When they are killed, they explode, moderately damaging any nearby entities.

• Simulacrum: Some humans (normal and vacuum-enabled) are actually living bombs created by the Pfhor and assimilated into the human army to create confusion and havoc. They are almost indistinguishable from the genuine humans, except that in the game they will always be wearing a green outfit, do not actually attack with weapons, have yellow blood (this can be revealed upon shooting one with an assault rifle bullet, which is not strong enough to kill), and will shout ridiculous phrases that a normal person would not (in Marathon, they only said "Thank God it's you!" but in later games, phrases such as "Kill me," "I'm out of ammo," or, perhaps most infamously, "Frog blast the vent core!" became commonplace. "Frog blast the vent core" may also refer to the last level of Halo, where the Master chief must throw a frag grenade or shoot a rocket into the Pillar of Autumns engine vents. ). Certain levels task the player to destroy all the simulacrums without harming the identical normal humans, with the majority of the real officers wearing green. According to a terminal message, there are other differences between the real human and the bombs (due to obvious graphical limitations, they are not actually seen in the game). It is revealed that they have orbs for vision instead of eyes, only two toes, a bomb implanted in the intestine, and lack of external genitalia.

S'pht

• S'pht: Floating cybernetic bodies with complex mammalian brains, the S'pht were created by the Jjaro race and fire a static pulse weapon. In Marathon, they are enslaved by the Pfhor, who control them with a cyborg creature. In the first game, minor S'pht are orange and fire green bolts, while major S'pht are purple and fire yellow bolts that are guided. In Durandal and Infinity, the minor orange S'pht fire yellow bolts, and the major purple S'pht fire green guided bolts. The S'pht may also be transparent (appearing as a silhouette that can be seen through) in any of the games. Most of them oppose the player, but some of the enslaved compilers revolt and oppose the Pfhor.

• S'pht'Kr: Neither enslaved by nor allied with the Pfhor, S'pht'Kr are the eleventh clan of the S'pht, called back to Lh'owon to fight the Pfhor in Marathon 2. They have different exoskeletons than other S'pht and fire guided oval bolts. They fight the player's enemies but will return fire if attacked. S'pht'Kr come in blue (weaker) and red (stronger) varieties.

• F'lickta: Hostile to nearly all creatures except S'pht and other F'lickta, these beasts attack with their claws or by firing globs of fire or feces at enemies. Their main purpose is to keep the water ducts of Lh'owon clean. Though they have mouths, in-game texts suggest that they absorb energy directly from their surroundings. While they seem to be territorial and combative toward non-F'lickta, more text claims that if food is plentiful, they will create "stable societies." F'lickta are found in water, sewage and volcanic environments. Pink F'lickta are stronger than green F'lickta; the pink variety are, notably, completely immune to the fusion pistol's blasts.

• The Ancient S'pht: Before being enslaved by the Pfhor who extensively modified them, the S'pht were cybernetic non-humanoids divided into eleven "clans:" S'pht'Lhar, S'pht'Hra, S'pht'Nma, S'pht'Kah, S'pht'Vir, S'pht'Yra, S'pht'Val, S'pht'Shr, S'pht'Mnr, S'pht'Yor, and S'pht'Kr.

Friendly creatures

• BOB: Other than the player's character, the human characters in the game are all referred to as "BOBs" (which stands for "Born On Board"). They wear different-coloured suits, but all have the same face. In the first game, the colour of their suit represent their position aboard the Marathon. Green is worn by general crew members, red by engineering personnel, yellow by security personnel, and blue by science and research team members. None of the humans are capable of defending themselves and all act the same. Though two levels in the game suggest that the player exterminate hostile forces while saving the humans (compliance with this suggestion is not enforced), they generally ignore the player (and occasionally announce, arms flailing in distress that "they're everywhere!" which is also a phrase used by the grunts and Pillar Of Autumn crewmen in Bungie's later trilogy Halo). In Marathon 2, the surviving crew of the UESC Marathon are put in stasis and then released and given pistols with which to defend themselves. If a player starts killing them, they will return fire and consider the player a traitor.

• VacBOB: In Marathon Infinity, there are humans who wear special suits for vacuum conditions, often called "VacBOBs." Though they are protected from normally unsafe conditions, very few of them are seen in combat on either of the game's two vacuum levels. Their voices (which are spoken over a radio because their faces are covered) also differ from humans not wearing environmental suits, and they carry fusion guns. Bungie claimed to have designed their suits in a three-dimensional drawing program, then modified them to be two-dimensional.

• Marathon Automated Defense Drone: Exclusive to the first Marathon game, Marathon Automated Defense Drones, or MADDs are four-legged combat robots able to rapidly fire pistol bullets at enemies. Near the end of Marathon, Durandal has an "accident" with a few of them, and they fire grenades at the player. Unlike their properly functioning blue counterparts, these are green and are only present on a single level.

AI

• Leela, the player's original ally in Marathon
• Durandal, the player's ally through most of the Marathon Trilogy
• Tycho, the third AI about the UESC Marathon, destroyed but later resurrected
• Thoth, a Jjaro AI encountered in Marathon 2
• Haller, of the Chimera from Rubicon
• Lysander, of the Salinger from Rubicon
• Charlie, of the Salinger from Rubicon. Like Haller, Charlie acts as more of a prop than an actual character.
• Hathor, from "Eternal"
• Hyperion, from Marathon Dissent, a semi-friendly AI with Durandal-like tendencies
• Jason, of the Istanbul from The Gray Incident
• Karuma, AI of the Renegades from The Gray Incident
• Merlin, from Devil in a Blue Dress and Excalibur: Morgana's Revenge

Multiplayer

The Marathon Trilogy has received wide praise for its multiplayer mode, which was unique in that it not only had several levels specifically designed for multiplayer — as opposed to contemporaries that used modified single-player levels — but also because it offered unique gametypes beyond the deathmatch. Games can be free-for-all or team ordeals, and can be limited by time or number of kills, or they can have no limit whatsoever. The host of a game has the option of setting penalties for suicides and dying (once dead, players cannot be revived for a certain amount of time). The motion sensor (which displays a player's enemies as yellow squares and teammates as green ones) can be disabled and the map is able to show all of the players in the game. Upon the preference of the host, maps can be played with or without aliens. The difficulty level of each game is preset by the gatherer.

Marathon network games can be played over AppleTalk Remote, LocalTalk, TokenTalk, Ethernet, and more recently, a LAN network or the Internet. If a player's computer has a microphone, it is possible to use it to communicate with other players.

Every Man For Himself

This is the standard deathmatch. The winner is the person or team with the greatest score. A player loses a point if he dies but gains a point every time he kills. This is the only gametype present in the original Marathon; Bungie planned on adding the ones included in sequels, but could not due to time constraints.

Cooperative Play

This style of play has players assisting each other in completion of certain levels. Scores are based on percentages of how many aliens they kill. It has received little popularity.

Kill the Man With the Ball

In this game, the objective is to hold the ball (skull) for the longest amount of time. If holding the ball, a player cannot run or attack unless he drops the ball by pressing the "fire" key. The motion sensor, if enabled, acts as a compass to point players in the direction of the ball. This mode was succeeded by the Oddball gametype in the Halo series.

King of the Hill

Players try to stay located in a specially marked area for the longest amount of time. It was originally planned for a pedestal to indicate the location of the Hill but in the final version was indicated by a compass on the motion sensor.

Tag

The first player to be killed becomes "It." If a player is killed by "It," he becomes the new "It." The winner is the player who is "It" for the least amount of time. This might be a predecessor to the Halo gametype "Juggernaut", but in reverse.

Content creation

Forge is the name of the Bungie map editor used to create the levels of Marathon Infinity, and was released alongside this final chapter of the trilogy. During development of Marathon 2, Forge's predecessor, Vulcan, was used for map development. Vulcan was notoriously buggy and crash-prone, and was largely rewritten before being released under the Forge name. Interestingly, Forge is also the name of the map editor for the third Halo game.

Unlike modern first-person shooters, Marathon has a pseudo-3D engine that only creates the illusion of 3D by placing two-dimensional objects together. Each level consists of polygons linked together, each with its own textures, heights and lighting. If specified, a polygon can be a platform (one that can change its height), teleporter (on-level or off-level), hill or monster/light trigger. Polygons must have fewer than eight vertices and be convex. Truly three-dimensional structures such as bridges and balconies are not possible but can be created illusionally using polygons that overlap each other, a technique Bungie calls "5D space". Forge has a two-dimensional plane for drawing polygons and can be used to place objects such has player starting points, scenery, aliens, sounds or even annotations in polygons. It can merge several maps into a single file and permits levels with unique physics files. A major feature that accompanies the 2D editing mode is Visual Mode, a three-dimensional environment based on the rendering code of Marathon Infinity in which it is possible to see the level as it is in the game and set textures, lights, heights, switches, terminals and pattern buffers.

Anvil is the sister program to Forge, and it is mainly utilized for the creation of Physics files, which hold the attributes of the player, monsters, weapons and other mechanics of play. In addition to this, Anvil also allows players to import and export custom graphics. Each image also comes with custom color palettes, which can be modified in Anvil to create different "classes" of an alien, for example. Another feature of Anvil is sound editing, where sounds can be imported or exported. If Forge's map editing mode is used in Halo 3, the load screen shows an anvil being struck by a hammer.

Legacy

The Marathon Trilogy has often been looked upon as a symbol of Macintosh gaming for its innovative technologies previously unseen in mainstream games on the Macintosh platform. It was released to much anticipation and received praise from many reviewers. Marathon entered the market at a time when Doom, a PC game by id Software, was receiving much attention, and despite the fact that Marathon was technologically superior, it was by and large eclipsed by its competitor. After Marathon Infinity was released in 1996, players began to create total conversions using Forge and Anvil. These may use custom maps, shapes, sounds or physics files and may or may not be set in the Marathon universe. Such conversions are still created to this day.

Bungie produced a compilation of all three games of the series called the Marathon Trilogy Box Set in 1997. The collection was on two discs. The first contained all three Marathon games as well as Pathways Into Darkness, an earlier Bungie game and the spiritual prequel to the series. This disc also contains manuals for all three games, QuickTime 2.0 and other things necessary to run the game. There are beta versions of Marathon on this disc as well. The second disc of this contains thousands of pieces of user-created content, including maps, total conversions, shape and sound files, cheats, mapmaking tools, physics files, and other applications. The boxed set was also notable for removing copy protection, allowing unlimited network play, and including a license allowing the set to be installed on as many computers at a site as desired.

In January 2000, Bungie released the Marathon 2: Durandal source code under the GPL license. Various projects have continued the legacy of the series by adding enhancements to Bungie's original code, such as Internet play, support for Lua and markup language and large resolutions. The most prominent and developed of these is called Aleph One, which is compatible not only with Macintosh, but with Windows, Linux and even the Sega Dreamcast.

The Marathon Trilogy was finally released as freeware in early 2005, along with Forge and Anvil, although Bungie retained the copyright to the actual game data.

In June 2000, the principals of Bungie sold their company to Microsoft, including the rights to develop the Marathon series; but in October 2007 they split from Microsoft and reacquired the rights.

References in other works

• Bungie's later games include many references and similarities to the Marathon series. In particular, the circle-in-a-circle symbol from Marathon's logo appears in a number of places in the Halo games.
  • An armor permutation called "security" unlockable in Halo 3 resembles the armor of the main character in Marathon.
  • Former Bungie Head Alex Seropian stated in an interview that the Master Chief from the Halo series and the protagonist from Marathon are different incarnations of the same character. However, he later amended this claim, presumably in part to avoid confusing casual fans into thinking Marathon and Halo were in continuity.
  • The multiplayer game Kill the Man With the Ball is similar to Oddball in the Halo games; in both gametypes, the ball is a skull, players are ranked by total time holding it, and the player holding the ball are handicapped by reduced speed and an inability to use weapons.
  • Certain levels in Halo 3 feature expositionary terminals similar to those of the Marathon series. The achievement for accessing all of them is called "Marathon Man".
  • The level editor mode in Halo 3 is called Forge, a homage to Marathon's level editor of the same name and the level editor mode's monitor has the marathon symbol.
  • A multiplayer emblem icon in Halo 2 and Halo 3 is named 'Rampancy' and features seven arrows pointing outward (this is actually a nod to rampancy.net, with that symbol as their logo).
• In the newspaper comic strip FoxTrot, the character Jason Fox plays a fictional game called Doomathon, a portmanteau taken from the real-life games Marathon and Doom.
• At least two of Ambrosia Software's games include Marathon references: Escape Velocity and Ferazel's Wand.
• In 1997, gameplay from Marathon 2 was featured in the Swedish movie "Spår i mörker", a part of a long series of Swedish films starring the fictional police officer Martin Beck, here played by Peter Haber. However, the game was referred to as "Final Doom" in the film.
• The computer game Tron 2.0 includes a section set on a corrupted system in which the player receives a number of "garbage" messages, one of which includes the sentence "frog blast the vent core". Also, in an extremely corrupted server in the game, an enemy can be called Durandal or "Rampancy".(which originated in Marathon 2)
• The Red vs. Blue segments where Church goes back in time are filmed in this game.
• The Marathon circle emblem can be seen in various locations in the Half-Life mod Someplace Else. The mod's author has acknowledged Marathon as an influence.

See also

• Pathways Into Darkness, an earlier Bungie game which was incorporated into the Marathon universe
• Aleph One, an ongoing project to maintain and improve the Marathon game engine
• Damage Incorporated, Prime Target and ZPC, three commercial games created using the Marathon 2 engine

External links

• The Trilogy Release: site hosting free and legal downloads of the Marathon Trilogy
• Marathon at source.bungie.org: the three games repackaged for modern platforms, along with several fan-produced scenarios
• Marathon's Story: discussion of the storyline; includes a message board which is still active as of 2008
• The Traxus Project: wiki site devoted to compiling all known information about the games