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Re: This may be totally bonkers...
Posted By: GodotDate: 8/7/13 5:14 a.m.

In Response To: Re: This may be totally bonkers... (Roland)

: My own personal bonkers theory is that GK was unhappy with the way Marathon
: 2's story turned out. Maybe it was too straightforward, too clean,
: whatever the reason it seems he wanted to re-do it. When the game box and
: manual and such reference the story it's all in the same kind of tone:
: "this ain't Marathon 2."

: Infinity really does seem like Marathon 2 redux, a lot of the same story
: elements crop up, but in a much more abstract way.

I don't think "GK was unhappy" with the Marathon 2 story. In all my discussions with him he never once said that it didn't turn out the way he wanted or that Jason overruled him on the ending.

Greg left Bungie shortly after Marathon 2 to set up his own gaming company (Double Aught). His start up contract was a 20 level add-on for Marathon 2. According to Tuncer Deniz:

It was supposed to be a slam dunk. In other words, it was supposed to take just a few months.

Without any major new assets for the add-on levels what do you do? It's a tough one. You can't make a completely new game, you can't really continue the current story given the ending, and doing a sort of 'missing levels' type scenario would be weak given that you already know the outcome.

Greg did the only thing he could do (in my opinion), he created a "What If" scenario. "What If" scenarios are common in comic books. They allow a writer to create an alternative story independent of the main story.

What if a W'rkncacnter had been released at the end of Marathon 2?

But the real genius is the fact that by using multiple timelines in the "What If" scenario he could reuse the same Marathon 2 assets over and over again, and they would fit the story.

As Greg says:

...the player is jumping from a number of possible futures trying to find the path (eat the path) that will allow him to survive the cataclysm on Lh'owon, and unite him with 11th clan in a way that Durandal never could.

Of course, the two month project turned into six months, a great deal of new assets were eventually created and Marathon Infinity become more than just an add-on. I sometimes wonder what Infinity would have looked like with the original Marathon 2 textures and a new Jjaro set just for the Yrro station. Visually it may not have been as exciting but it might have helped to make the story a little clearer.

Cheers
Hamish

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

Temporal Starting PointShaunKL 7/31/13 5:13 p.m.
     Re: Temporal Starting PointMartin 7/31/13 5:59 p.m.
           Re: Temporal Starting PointShaunKL 7/31/13 7:10 p.m.
           Re: Temporal Starting PointRoland 7/31/13 8:52 p.m.
                 Re: Temporal Starting PointGodot 8/1/13 12:11 a.m.
                       Re: Temporal Starting PointRoland 8/1/13 2:29 p.m.
                             Re: Temporal Starting PointGodot 8/1/13 10:28 p.m.
                                   Re: Temporal Starting PointRoland 8/2/13 2:35 p.m.
                                         Re: Temporal Starting PointGodot 8/3/13 4:50 a.m.
                                               Re: Temporal Starting PointRoland 8/3/13 10:29 a.m.
                                                     Re: Temporal Starting PointGodot 8/3/13 11:05 a.m.
                                                           Re: Temporal Starting PointRoland 8/3/13 1:43 p.m.
                                   Re: Temporal Starting PointForrest of B.org 8/3/13 11:15 a.m.
                                         Re: Temporal Starting PointRoland 8/3/13 1:36 p.m.
                                               Re: Temporal Starting PointHopper 8/3/13 2:48 p.m.
                                                     Re: Temporal Starting PointForrest of B.org 8/3/13 3:16 p.m.
                                                           Re: Temporal Starting PointHopper 8/3/13 3:28 p.m.
                                                           Re: Temporal Starting PointRoland 8/3/13 3:46 p.m.
                                                           Re: Temporal Starting PointHopper 8/3/13 4:17 p.m.
                                                           This may be totally bonkers...Bob-B-Q 8/4/13 5:40 a.m.
                                                                 Re: This may be totally bonkers...Roland 8/5/13 2:21 p.m.
                                                                       Re: This may be totally bonkers...Bob-B-Q 8/6/13 9:01 a.m.
                                                                             Re: This may be totally bonkers...Martin 8/6/13 10:41 a.m.
                                                                                   Re: This may be totally bonkers...Roland 8/6/13 2:22 p.m.
                                                                                         Re: This may be totally bonkers...Martin 8/6/13 6:22 p.m.
                                                                             Re: This may be totally bonkers...Roland 8/6/13 2:15 p.m.
                                                                                   Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/7/13 5:14 a.m.
                                                                                         Re: This may be totally bonkers...Roland 8/7/13 6:39 p.m.
                                                                                               Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/7/13 11:52 p.m.
                                                                                         Re: This may be totally bonkers...PerseusSpartacus 8/7/13 11:05 p.m.
                                                                                               Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/7/13 11:38 p.m.
                                                                                                     Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/8/13 3:25 a.m.
                                                                                                           Re: This may be totally bonkers...PerseusSpartacus 8/8/13 8:40 a.m.
                                                                                                                 Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/8/13 9:13 a.m.
                                                                                                                       Re: This may be totally bonkers...Bob-B-Q 8/8/13 10:40 a.m.
                                                                                                                             Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/8/13 10:46 a.m.
                                                                                                                                   Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/8/13 11:00 a.m.
                                                                                                                                         Re: This may be totally bonkers...Roland 8/8/13 3:16 p.m.
                                                                                                                                         Re: This may be totally bonkers...Bob-B-Q 8/8/13 4:15 p.m.
                                                                                                                                               Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/8/13 8:19 p.m.
                                                                                                                                                     Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/9/13 12:18 a.m.
                                                                                                                                   Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/8/13 11:17 a.m.
                                                                                                                             Re: This may be totally bonkers...PerseusSpartacus 8/8/13 2:46 p.m.
                                                                                                                                   Re: This may be totally bonkers...Godot 8/8/13 8:21 p.m.
                                                                                               M2 textures in InfinityDocument 8/10/13 3:20 a.m.
                                         Re: Temporal Starting PointGodot 8/5/13 12:12 a.m.
                             Re: Temporal Starting PointHokuto 8/2/13 1:07 a.m.
           Re: Temporal Starting PointGodot 7/31/13 11:51 p.m.
     Re: Temporal Starting PointGodot 7/31/13 10:16 p.m.
           Re: Temporal Starting PointShaunKL 8/3/13 4:00 p.m.
                 Re: Temporal Starting PointRoland 8/3/13 4:53 p.m.
                       Re: Temporal Starting PointShaunKL 8/3/13 5:18 p.m.
                             Re: Temporal Starting PointRoland 8/3/13 8:57 p.m.

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