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Evil Volunteers: Schmackle
Posted By: Steve LevinsonDate: 2/9/04 11:17 a.m.

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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Replies:

Evil Volunteers: SchmackleSteve Levinson 2/9/04 11:17 a.m.
     Re: Evil Volunteers: SchmackleDr. John Sumner 2/9/04 12:26 p.m.
           Re: Evil Volunteers: SchmackleSteve Levinson 2/9/04 2:13 p.m.
                 Re: Evil Volunteers: SchmackleDr. John Sumner 2/9/04 3:31 p.m.
                       Re: Vidding SchmackleSteve Levinson 2/9/04 6:19 p.m.
     Re: Evil Volunteers: SchmackleMark Levin 2/9/04 4:44 p.m.
     Re: Evil Volunteers: SchmackleKeith Palmer 2/12/04 4:34 p.m.

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