Has anybody ever thought about the concept of using Marathon (or, more specifically, Aleph One) to create Machinima?
The advantages are actually pretty major:
1) You can create maps, shapes, sounds, and physics for Aleph One. This would allow you to create custom sets, different textures, etc. Pretty useful for Machinima.
2) The HUD can actually be removed from the screen, allowing for a larger picture taken. This was a problem for, say, the first two seasons of Red vs. Blue, but wouldn't be a problem for any Machinima made with Aleph One.
3) Special effects would be easy to create. All you would need is either a quick modification to the game (such as, for instance, adding the oxygen tanks from Rubicon X to a level) or a quick Photoshop. The latter option would be made even better by the fact that the whole game runs on sprites, so Photoshopping wouldn't look too awkward in the video.
4) The options for a story are quite diverse. You're not very limited at all by the nature of the game. You could make a Horror film, or a Comedy (these seem to be pretty common, I've noticed), or even a Drama. Think outside the box; you can afford to!
5) Recording would be easy to do, and you can network a bunch of people pretty easily. If you have the people doing the recording in the same place, you can just use LAN, no need to risk people confusing your recording session for a real game of Marathon.
There are of course a few simple disadvantages:
1) The graphics, without using plugins like Tim Vogel's various TTEPs, can look kind of bad, and without the proper use of lighting on a map, watching an Aleph One Machinima might, after a while, become a bit of an eye-sore.
2) Most Machinima uses very pretty 3D graphics and what-not, and so an Aleph One Machinima might seem kind of archaic to most people.
So, my question is, does it sound like a good idea to you? And if you were to make a Machinima, what would it be about?
Vale,
Perseus
