Anyone play bungie's marathon games?

2005-09-25 06:36:33 pm

I recently found that bungie's classic Marathon games are now free:

http://trilogyrelease.bungie.org/

Anyone else play them? I spent hours and hours playing these back in the day. I found a speedrun of marathon infinity on archive.org, but don't know of any other efforts. I don't think it's very likely I'll make any speedruns, but I know of a few little tricks by now...

Anyway, just wanted to wallow in the nostalgia, basically.

(And, crap, the end of All Roads Lead To Sol... is hard!).

Thread title:

StrangenessDSS

2005-09-25 08:10:05 pm

Sleeping Terror

I'm currently a good ways into Marathon 2. They're great games. ^_^

I've thought about speedrunning them, but I figure I'd have to set up a Mac emulator to run the original games, and I don't know how to do that. I also don't know how useful the game's demo recording would be in a full-game run... I can't find any useful info about it. It would be nice if the games could be done QdQ style.

soteos

Edit history:

soteos: 2005-09-25 10:07:50 pm

2005-09-25 09:05:01 pm

Oh man I just remembered what Marathon was. Oh I loved this game. But now I have a Windows. So do they only have Mac compatible so far?

Edit: hold on, I'm looking into the Stuffit Expander thingy.
Another edit: nope, you need Aleph.

mwh

2005-09-25 09:43:00 pm

Quote:

I'm currently a good ways into Marathon 2. They're great games. ^_^

No kidding!

Quote:

I've thought about speedrunning them, but I figure I'd have to set up a Mac emulator to run the original games, and I don't know how to do that. I also don't know how useful the game's demo recording would be in a full-game run... I can't find any useful info about it. It would be nice if the games could be done QdQ style.

Hmm, I don't know. The source for at least one engine (aleph one, I presume the one you're playing) is available so I guess the file formats must be understood. So if you really wanted you could create save games with the right stats and string multi-level "videos" together.

I don't think I'll be doing it any time soon, though Smiley

soteos

2005-09-25 10:29:17 pm

Ok I got the only 2 ones for Windows working, M2 and Infinity. Thank you so much for these ;D.
Now I have more things I don't have time to play. :-/

zabb65

Edit history:

zabb65: 2005-09-26 12:37:55 am

2005-09-26 12:33:47 am

I wonder how speedrunners have real lives...

I have been considering mentioning these games, but because they require a mac to play and Radix's no emulator or unofficial emulators I decided not to post for a request.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/marathon is the PC port of the games, its open source so I guess you can question its legitamacy in speedrunning, also, the original marathon is a community port over. All save files and videos recorded with this engine cant be played with anything but the same version of the aleph one engine.

If anyone wants some tips or insparation check out marathon vidmaster challenge recordings done by Jason C. I think the url is http://marathon.bungie.org/vidmasters/ but google for it. The vids are incompatible with alephone so dont bother to try, they still work for anyone that has a mac version of the game.

Hope I just didnt kill off all hope for this run with my comments.

StrangenessDSS

2005-09-26 12:34:26 am

Sleeping Terror

Well, I got Marathon running in an emulator. I haven't tested the demo recording, because I can't find the button to get back to the main menu after starting a game. You'd think Esc would work, but no....

Also, there doesn't seem to be any way to invert the Y-axis, which means I'm going to be really really bad at aiming.

soteos

2005-09-26 12:38:35 am

Quote:

Well, I got Marathon running in an emulator. I haven't tested the demo recording, because I can't find the button to get back to the main menu after starting a game. You'd think Esc would work, but no....

Also, there doesn't seem to be any way to invert the Y-axis, which means I'm going to be really really bad at aiming.

To go back to the main menu, press Alt + Q. And inverting the axis should be under controls (maybe it's different for the first game).

StrangenessDSS

Edit history:

StrangenessDSS: 2005-09-26 01:15:58 am

2005-09-26 12:56:10 am

Sleeping Terror

There is no "controls". Just the main settings and keyboard mappings, neither of which have any mouse settings.

I recorded two demos. The first one desynced near the end, and the second ended prematurely (despite being shorter than the first). -_-

Edit: I found a utility that lets you invert the Y-axis in Marathon. I also found one that lets you change the starting stats, and discovered that you could start from any level by holding command+option when starting a new game. If the demos start working, then this might actually be possible.

StrangenessDSS

Edit history:

StrangenessDSS: 2005-09-26 02:28:48 am

2005-09-26 02:28:07 am

Sleeping Terror

Goddamnit! Is it so hard to find a Mac version of Stuffit that doesn't require Stuffit to open? I've been searching for an hour and haven't gotten anywhere.... I swear, Mac people are insane.

I give up. For now, at least.

InvaderBlue

2005-09-26 02:28:54 am

lsw

I remember these games! I played them to death for a while, it's a shame that I suck at them. It's mighty hard to speedrun, though.

mwh

2005-09-26 08:22:19 am

Quote:

If anyone wants some tips or insparation check out marathon vidmaster challenge recordings done by Jason C. I think the url is http://marathon.bungie.org/vidmasters/ but google for it. The vids are incompatible with alephone so dont bother to try, they still work for anyone that has a mac version of the game.

I think the infinity runs might work in aleph one? Anyway, I found that site yesterday, started classic for the first time in god knows how long and watched a few. Running around in total carnage just using your fists and not taking any kills... well, it's not a speedrun, but it certainly takes some fine skill.

Quote:

Hope I just didnt kill off all hope for this run with my comments.

Somehow I think that if speedruns of these games were going to happen, they'd have happened about 7 years ago... I'm still busy just playing the suckers Smiley

zabb65

2005-09-26 11:08:02 am

I wonder how speedrunners have real lives...

None of them work in Aleph because aleph is a huge code mod, even in one of the FAQ files it says vids from 1 2 and infinity dont work in it. Also its considered an emulator, because its not official code, its a user modification of official code, even the mac version isnt official code at this point I beleive. The marathon 1 for pc is a user port of the old files to the new aleph one engine, there are slight changes in geometry also.

The vidmasters vids still work if you use the mac versions on that page, but I dont know how many people here actually have a mac running os7 or os8 to play such file.

Again, aleph one IS an emulator, so I dont think runs for it can be submitted to this site.

mwh

2005-09-26 12:03:32 pm

Quote:

The vidmasters vids still work if you use the mac versions on that page, but I dont know how many people here actually have a mac running os7 or os8 to play such file.

Runs fine using Classic on OS X.

Quote:

Again, aleph one IS an emulator, so I dont think runs for it can be submitted to this site.

Calling it an emulator is silly. It's a different implementation than the original, so yeah runs on it might not be acceptable here, but nothing is being emulated Smiley

soteos

2005-09-26 04:55:46 pm

Quote:

None of them work in Aleph because aleph is a huge code mod, even in one of the FAQ files it says vids from 1 2 and infinity dont work in it.

How do you explain me getting M2 and Infinity to work using Aleph? Sounds like you have a Mac, and I think you need Stuffit, not Aleph for these games then.

zabb65

Edit history:

zabb65: 2005-09-26 08:05:18 pm

2005-09-26 08:02:19 pm

I wonder how speedrunners have real lives...

Aleph One is an emulator of the original engine based on the original engine, file formats, gameplay settings, almost everything has been changed in it, gameplay is not consistant with the original games in the least, I think that there should be runs allowed for it, but in a seperate category.

This likely falls under modified quake engines, I dont know what discussion took place then, but we are going to have to come up with some tight rules about what can and cant be used, maybe an official SDA version could be compiled that is allowed for speedruns clearing up the issue, and those with macs can play the original version under a different category.

I am all for speedruns of this game but somebody must lay down the law with what goes, if I get some free time I will maybe set something up so people can speedrun this game.

And the code released was the Marathon 2 code, so both 1 and infinity are emulated, and in the documentation it says they have made so many changes to the code that not even marathon 2 performs the same as it originally did straight from bungie.

P.S. those with the mac version, I would appreciate it if somebody made some avi or some form of movie recordings of the Jason C vidmaster vids. Aleph One desyncs them and are useless.

AIM: frickfrank5
MSN: zabb64@hotmail.com
EMAIL: nospam!!!zabb65@!!!!gm!!!ail.comnospam (remove nospam and exclimation points)

Would love to hear from some people if they are interested in this.

Aleph One is an emulator of the original engine based on the original engine, file formats, gameplay settings, almost everything has been changed in it, gameplay is not consistant with the original games in the least, I think that there should be runs allowed for it, but in a seperate category.

This likely falls under modified quake engines, I dont know what discussion took place then, but we are going to have to come up with some tight rules about what can and cant be used, maybe an official SDA version could be compiled that is allowed for speedruns clearing up the issue, and those with macs can play the original version under a different category.

I am all for speedruns of this game but somebody must lay down the law with what goes, if I get some free time I will maybe set something up so people can speedrun this game.

And the code released was the Marathon 2 code, so both 1 and infinity are emulated, and in the documentation it says they have made so many changes to the code that not even marathon 2 performs the same as it originally did straight from bungie.

P.S. those with the mac version, I would appreciate it if somebody made some avi or some form of movie recordings of the Jason C vidmaster vids. Aleph One desyncs them and are useless.

AIM: frickfrank5
MSN: zabb64@hotmail.com
EMAIL: nospam!!!zabb65@!!!!gm!!!ail.comnospam (remove nospam and exclimation points)

Would love to hear from some people if they are interested in this.

StrangenessDSS

Edit history:

StrangenessDSS: 2005-09-26 08:26:55 pm

2005-09-26 08:18:06 pm

Sleeping Terror

Aleph One uses the *Windows* Marathon 2 code, which I've heard was slightly different from the Mac Marathon 2 in the first place. Also, the original Marathon had a number of differences from the later games that won't be found in the Aleph One version.

I found a Mac disk image with stuffit already installed, so that takes care of that problem. I watched a couple vidmaster demos, and they work fine.

Unfortunately, I can't get Marathon's music working. It said I needed to install Quicktime, so I did, but the music option is still grayed out. And it won't run in anything except 640x480x8. These are just cosmetic problems, but they're still annoying.

Worse, the utility to change starting stats is basically all-or-nothing - it's not detailed enough to set up specific configurations for speedrunning. And the utility to invert the Y-axis isn't doing anything. So, I'm closer, but not there yet.

As for what should be allowed - I think anything that is compatible with original Marathon demos (That is, has the same physics and behavior) should be fine. If we can get demo recording that's suitable for speedrunning working, then we can have someone with an actual Mac and the original Marathon record the final videos.

Aleph One uses the *Windows* Marathon 2 code, which I've heard was slightly different from the Mac Marathon 2 in the first place. Also, the original Marathon had a number of differences from the later games that won't be found in the Aleph One version.

I found a Mac disk image with stuffit already installed, so that takes care of that problem. I watched a couple vidmaster demos, and they work fine.

Unfortunately, I can't get Marathon's music working. It said I needed to install Quicktime, so I did, but the music option is still grayed out. And it won't run in anything except 640x480x8. These are just cosmetic problems, but they're still annoying.

Worse, the utility to change starting stats is basically all-or-nothing - it's not detailed enough to set up specific configurations for speedrunning. And the utility to invert the Y-axis isn't doing anything. So, I'm closer, but not there yet.

As for what should be allowed - I think anything that is compatible with original Marathon demos (That is, has the same physics and behavior) should be fine. If we can get demo recording that's suitable for speedrunning working, then we can have someone with an actual Mac and the original Marathon record the final videos.