: I understand that saved games are, or used to be, basically the same thing
: as a recording that just "fast-forwards" to the last moment and
: then hands over player control - is that correct?
I think it's just Myth that works that way. All my Marathon saves have been pretty much the same size. Also, if saves were filmz, someone would have come up with a way by now to watch them in real time.
I hope someday someone programs it so it does work that way, though. It would become easier to film much harder stunts, like the time I beat Thermopylae with no casualties, or when I used a Trooper grenade jump to avoid firing any grenades in No Artificial Colors.