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	Message: : A shmickle, a schmackle, this level drives my wackle. : Schmackle is now officially the final level in a major scenario to fall to me : in the realm of playing on TC. All-in-all, I'm not sure why I found this : level to be so difficult in my earlier attempts - I completed it this time : without breaking a sweat. I think that I have built a lot of confidence in : my abilities recently and this is one of those levels where panic is your : worst enemy. You can always get out of a bad situation here, but without : access to a pattern buffer and in some cases no access to a shield : recharger, it is all to easy to panic and to fight stupidly, which is how : you get killed. Keep cool and you'll beat this level and have fun doing : so. : Can anyone say Blasphemy Quarantine? BQ is IMHO one of the best levels ever : done in a Marathon scenario. It is the quintessential Marathon level, : offering a variety of types of fighting and some interesting puzzles along : the way. This was one of the original demo levels. It is also the level : where we are introduced to Durandal, so it is a particularly important : level in Marathon lore and it set the tone for all of the encounters with : Durandal to come. One of the most important aspects of BQ is that it : builds slowly. The player starts out in a relatively benign area with a : few monsters to take out in an orderly fashion. As the player moves on, : they encounter progressively more monsters to tackle in more difficult : situations until they are faced with a huge rectangular hall filled with : monsters of nearly every type, and this still in the first part of the : map. The player must solve a minor puzzle to access the next area, which : is an even more difficult circular area with particularly nasty monsters : before moving on to an area of respite with a minor battle and a : moderately difficult puzzle that becomes trivial once you start to think : in 3D. Finally, there is a major battle to rival just about anything else : in the entire scenario. BQ is thus a very difficult level, but one that : builds to this gradually and that provides something for everyone. : Now, although there is a definite resemblance between Schmackle and BQ, the : overall feel of the level is quite different and the feeling of building : toward a climax is completely gone. Making up for this, however, is one of : the coolest 5D tricks ever seen. This is a lava texture map, but the : addition of water textures gives this level an unique feel not seen in any : other Marathon scenario. : When we left off, we were transported out, into the central Mystic complex : with a bunch of sewage. I'm not sure what happened to the sewage, but we : land in a lava pit and must make our way quickly inside. There are a : couple of drones to greet us, but otherwise the entrance is relatively : quiet. When we get to the start of the BQ portion of the map, however, we : encounter a much more problematic set of characters than in BQ, with : cyborgs, Mystics and drones in abundance. There is an informational : terminal here to replace the one from Durandal in Marathon, in which we : learn of the original ancient Marathon and of our task here. Curiously, a : set of destructible wires next to it serves no other purpose than to : disable the terminal - why I don't know - but this is one set of wires : best left alone. Their inclusion is classic FM and a point of contention : with this map for me. I can see no purpose for this trick other than to : alienate the player, which is not what a mapmaker ought to do. : Once we get up stairs and after we deal with an ambush (actually, it's best : to step on and off the elevator to trigger them first), we will come to : the room where the pattern buffer is supposed to be. The room layout is a : little different than in BQ but, sure enough, there is a pattern buffer : here. But what's this? It doesn't work? Classic FM again, and very, very : cruel. Shame on you, FM. The upper level is nothing like the original BQ. : In the room near the elevator with the mystic, there is a partially open : door through which the player can see an enticing potion of the : overlapping map in 5D space. The other door leads to a nightmare - a room : full of mystics, drones and major cyborgs. I used to think that it was : critical to take these out now, as the player otherwise has to come : through here later. It's actually easier to escape than it looks, however, : and later the player has the distinct advantage of having a saved game to : revert to if need be. It's probably better not to trigger these monsters : just yet. Moving back out into the area that would be the outer ring in BQ : we find instead a curvy area with lava walls. There are some windows here : that overlook a vast open area and for the first time we get an idea of : the extent of this complex. We will be going here next, but first there is : a small square room with a mystic inside and a bunch of ammo here. We will : be entering this very same room in the next level, Life's End - too bad : the doors that way are locked. : Getting to the next part of the level involves lowering the very same : platform that is used for this purpose in BQ. Unlike BQ, however, the : switch to activate it is down a set of stairs and the platform is : activated only once per switch activation. It's therefore a one-shot deal : - you have to flip the switch again if you want to repeat your journey, : which you should do if you want to collect all the available ammo. After : riding the platform up, run like hell!. Yes, it's possible to take the : next part in a slow, deliberate fashion, taking out the mystics, cyborgs : and drones in a systematic fashion. A good player should have little : difficulty doing this, but there is little room for error and there are no : pattern buffers or shield rechargers in this area. If you think you can do : it, go for it, but if you'd really rather back up your game, definitely : make a run for it. Oh - the choice of weapon is critical at this point - : you will need to take out a mystic that's blocking your path quickly or : you'll be trapped between it and a slew of drones and cyborgs coming at : your from behind. I like the shotgun for this, which will also work well : with the couple of drones that spring up on your way to that pattern : buffer. Once you have a saved game, play becomes much, much easier. Just : past the pattern buffer is a room with a switch that will open the passage : to the 5D part of the map. The way back is less than obvious, however. A : passage off this room is nothing more than a trap. The right path is : hidden behind a secret door - you can see the passage in map view, but to : me this is just plain bad map design. Now there is no pattern buffer : between here and your return to the BQ part of the map, so you'll need to : be careful as you make another run for it. When you get to the room with : the two pillars, with you standing on one of them, it's time to make your : run. Jump down quickly to the left, down again to the right and run : swiftly through the room with all the mystics, drones and major cyborgs. : Aren't you glad you didn't activate them before? : Once you've returned to the BQ section and recharged, you can then go back : and collect the missed ammo and once again save your game. First of all, : you'll probably want to eliminate the monsters in the room you just came : through - otherwise they'll start to come after you. Opening the door and : lobbing in some nuke grenades will do the trick. In the large open area : that you jump into from the raising BQ platform, there is a lot of ammo in : the corners, so go exploring and take out the enemies at your leisure. : Back in the room with the switch, there is a circular platform where some : ammo and a mystic will teleport in. In the room with the two pillars : (watch out for the cyborgs in the shadows), you can rocket launch yourself : to the other pillar, where you'll find a passage to a switch that opens a : huge ammo cache (and monster cache) at the end of the room. Once you have : all of the ammo, it's time to head to the other area in 5D space. : As previously noted, the 5D trick on Schmackle is one of the coolest in any : Marathon scenario. In the room where Lela's term would be in BQ, there is : a drone-guarded portal of fire through which the player must pass. It's : not at all clear that this is the path, but where else would you go? : Leaping through the lava, players find themselves to be in an overlapping : 5D space with a water rather than a laval theme. Looking behind them is a : wall of water rather than fire. So cool! This area is also a BQ : look-alike, except that the entrance to the elevator is reversed. Be : careful, as nearly the same quotient of monsters are here to greet the : player, but there is a 2X charger in place of the 1X recharger seen : earlier. Up the elevator is another large curved, water-textured area to : explore and, hooray, a patter buffer. Watch out for the monster ambush : from using it, though. Finally the player comes to a large room with a : couple of mystics and a central column that can be lowered to reveal a : transporter. A similar room - the initial room for Life's End - is visible : through the windows. A terminal tells the player that they have : disappeared from all sensors and that they cannot tell if you are alive or : dead. I guess that there is something about a space-time discontinuity : that'll do that. Anyway, you are told to get the hell out of there - but : how?!! Your only escape is to step on that transport platform and hope . . : .
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