/-/S'pht-Translator-Active/-/


Scrapbook Pages 9-10
Posted By: REBDate: 2/27/02 5:49 a.m.

In Response To: Actually... (Hippieman [B.Org])

Page 9

Alex composed several original songs for use as background music during the game. The somber, ethereal music lent an eerie air to the dark corridors of the Marathon. Sadly, Alex's rap version of Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick" did not appear on the soundtrack.

Marathon had started as a code-name, and Jason had every intent of changing it before the game shipped. "What the hell are we going to name the new game?" was the focus of an extended brainstorming session in a chinese restaurant at Macworld SF earlier that year. "Pathways Into Uranus" was the favorite to win, but it was eventually rejected as too oblique. As time went on, the name Marathon seemed like a more appropriate choice for a game that was a grueling test of endurance and eventually the code-name became official.

Bungie formally announced Marathon to the world on July 25, 1994, in a press release titled "Marathon Takes Texture-Mapping Into Space." This press release, coupled with an eye-catching preview in Tuncer Deniz's Inside Mac Games Magazine, served notice to the the Macintosh gaming community that something big was in the works. A follow-up report from Tuncer on the comp.sys.mac.games newsgroup only served to stir up more interest. "I think people who go to Macworld are going to be amazed when they see it for the first time," he wrote. "It's NOTHING like the one they were showing at the last Macworld."

Bungie unveiled the reworked Marathon at the Boston Macworld Expo in August '95. The reaction was ecstatic. Dedicated gamers and curious passers-by clustered around Bungie's tiny booth, vying for a chance to play. Macworld attendees were invited to pre-order the game at the show. "The game will ship in two weeks," more than one attendee heard from the earnest Bungie staffers. "We're just waiting for the boxes." Famous last words. Marathon didn't ship in two weeks, nor in two months; indeed it was some four months before the game finally ship.

So what happened? Ales Seropian explained: "There was never any intention to deceive anyone. The boxes were in production and there was every intention to ship in two weeks. But some changed were necessary to make the solo game enjoyable." Put bluntly, the solo levels Bungie has designed to that point weren't much fin to play. The cleanup process was a Pandora's box: as fix for one problem inevitably caused three more. In the end, all the solo levels had to be redone.

Like Pathways Into Darkness, the story for Marathon was considered an integral part of the final product and was reworked several times during development. A very early plot involved getting rid if monstrous aliens on a hollowed-out asteroid (Deimos) and eventually became the colony ship U.E.S.C. Marathon. The ship's destination: Tau Ceti - a popular interstellar pit stop judging from its frequent appearances in countless science-fiction stories.

In an early version of the Tau-Ceti plot, the colonists found an alien artifact near the colony and ferried it back to the orbiting Marathon for further study, whereupon all hell broke loose. The player, a science officer sent to help research the artifact, would arrive to find the place swarming with aliens. The mysterious artifact was in fact a teleportation beacon belonging to the undiscovered amphibious natives of a nearby planet. Unable to penetrate the colony's defense shield, the xenophobic aliens used the beacon as a trojan horse to gain access to the colony ship. Their plan worked perfectly except for the fact that the first wave of shock troops found themselves buried in the Marathon's science lab.

the id e of defending the Marathon from a horde of malicious natives was eventually rejected, primarily because the aliens were only defending their planet (an honorable motive) and the realization that an alien race with such high level of technology would probably not be completely unknown to the colonist. In their place came the Pfhor, a race of alien slavers intent on capturing the colony ship and its inhabitants. Wiping out hordes of alien slavers on the decks

Page 10 (Pictures)

Picture 1: photo of 4 Bungie members before the Macworld show. Jason Jones, first from left to right, stares at the empty space; the man besides him looks stoned too. Doug Zartman gives his back to the camera, talking to another Bungie member standing on a chair, who's the only one that's actually working.
Text: The Bungie boyz up the Bungie booth at Macworld Boston '94.

Picture 2: photo from the finished booth from a distance. Reginald Dujour can be seen on the left.

Picture 3: a geeky-looking Doug Zartman talks over the phone in what seems to be his apartment.
Text: Doug, the voice of Bob, looking a little harried as he gets ready for the big Macworld show.

Picture 4: Jason Jones, with a piece of cloth stuffed around his head, gives a demonstration of the game at the crowd.
Text: Bandana Jason, still trying to impress the ladies with a few good Marathon Moves.

[ | Message Index | Read Prev Msg | Read Next Msg ]
Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

Is the Marathon scrapbook online somewhere?zudo 2/23/02 3:54 p.m.
     Sorry, don't think so. I'd like to see it too. *NM*Callie21V 2/23/02 8:06 p.m.
           Look What The Cat Drug In... (not typo)REB 2/25/02 1:38 a.m.
                 Re: Look What The Cat Drug In... (not typo)Fernando. 2/25/02 1:42 a.m.
                       Re: Look What The Cat Drug In... (not typo)REB 2/25/02 3:04 a.m.
                             Re: Look What The Cat Drug In... (not typo)zudo 2/25/02 3:09 a.m.
                             Re: Look What The Cat Drug In... (not typo)Fernando. 2/25/02 3:46 a.m.
                                   Abandonware?REB 2/25/02 5:24 a.m.
                                         Re: Abandonware?Mark Levin 2/25/02 6:48 a.m.
                                         Re: Abandonware?/hamish please readFernando. 2/25/02 6:49 a.m.
                                               ReadingHamish Sinclair 2/25/02 9:30 a.m.
                                                     Re: ReadingM-Class 2/25/02 3:15 p.m.
                                                           Re: ReadingDjof 2/25/02 5:00 p.m.
                                         Re: Abandonware?Callie21V 2/25/02 9:38 a.m.
                                         Re: Abandonware?M-Class 2/25/02 3:09 p.m.
                                               Re: Abandonware?Vid Boi 2/26/02 2:58 a.m.
                                                     Re: Abandonware?Hamish Sinclair 2/26/02 5:12 a.m.
                                                           Re: Abandonware?Dan Aris 2/26/02 6:06 a.m.
                                                                 Is that soon or Soon™ ?zudo 2/26/02 8:16 a.m.
                                                                 Is that soon or Soon™ ? *NM*zudo 2/26/02 8:16 a.m.
                                                           Oh yea, the action sack...I forgot that one. *NT*Vid Boi 2/26/02 8:29 a.m.
                                         Re: Abandonware?Malcolm 11/6/02 6:37 a.m.
                 Thanks REB! Great work! *NM*Callie21V 2/25/02 9:37 a.m.
                 Scrapbook Pages 3 - 4REB 2/25/02 11:37 p.m.
                       Re: Scrapbook Pages 3 - 4Hamish Sinclair 2/26/02 12:14 a.m.
                             Re: Scrapbook Pages 3 - 4REB 2/26/02 4:20 a.m.
                             Re: Scrapbook Pages 3 - 4Matt 2/26/02 11:09 p.m.
                                   Re: Scrapbook Pages 3 - 4Hamish Sinclair 2/27/02 12:25 a.m.
                                         Bungie Live Up To It's Promise...REB 3/1/02 2:34 a.m.
                                               Re: Bungie Live Up To It's Promise...Hamish Sinclair 3/1/02 12:21 p.m.
                                                     Re: Bungie Live Up To It's Promise...REB 3/3/02 4:30 a.m.
                                                           Re: Bungie Live Up To It's Promise...Matt 3/5/02 5:31 p.m.
                                                                 Re: Bungie Live Up To It's Promise...Hamish Sinclair 3/6/02 12:07 a.m.
                                                                       Re: Bungie Live Up To It's Promise...Matt 3/6/02 12:05 p.m.
                                                                             Re: Bungie Live Up To It's Promise...Hamish Sinclair 3/6/02 1:03 p.m.
                                                                             Re: Bungie Live Up To It's Promise...Speaker-To-Animals 7/3/03 10:09 p.m.
     I would if I had a scanner *NM*Vid Boi 2/24/02 3:38 a.m.
           I'd scan it all but i dont have the scrapbook!Ernie TMBM 2/25/02 6:54 p.m.
                 Re: I'd scan it all but i dont have the scrapbook!Callie21V 2/26/02 2:26 p.m.
     Actually...Hippieman [B.Org] 2/26/02 1:23 p.m.
           Re: Actually...Pedrof 2/26/02 3:37 p.m.
                 Re: Actually... (+Hamish)Djof 2/26/02 5:00 p.m.
                 Re: Actually...Matt 2/26/02 11:07 p.m.
                       Re: Actually...Hippieman [B.Org] 3/1/02 12:09 a.m.
           Re: Actually...archon 2/27/02 12:28 a.m.
                 Re: Actually...Hamish Sinclair 2/27/02 12:40 a.m.
                       Re: Actually...archon 2/27/02 9:18 a.m.
           Scrapbook Pages 9-10REB 2/27/02 5:49 a.m.
                 Typo!REB 2/27/02 5:55 a.m.
                       Scrapbook Pages 11-12REB 2/28/02 2:30 a.m.
                             Scrapbook Pages 13-14REB 3/1/02 4:47 a.m.
                                   Scrapbook Pages 15-16REB 3/2/02 2:41 p.m.
                                         Scrapbook Pages 17-18REB 3/3/02 4:21 p.m.
                                               Scrapbook Pages 19-22REB 3/4/02 9:01 a.m.
                                                     Scrapbook Pages 23-26REB 3/5/02 1:22 p.m.
                                                           I Want My Zombie Pfhor!REB 3/5/02 1:28 p.m.
                                                           Re: I Want My Zombie Pfhor!Callie21V 3/5/02 3:59 p.m.
                                                                 Re: I Want My Zombie Pfhor!Vid Boi 3/5/02 4:49 p.m.
                                                                 Re: I Want My Zombie Pfhor!Djof 3/5/02 5:10 p.m.
                                                                 Re: I Want My Zombie Pfhor!Boomer 3/6/02 4:18 a.m.
                                                           Scrapbook Pages 27-31REB 3/6/02 9:56 a.m.
                                                                 Thanks Raul! :-) *NM*Hamish Sinclair 3/6/02 10:09 a.m.
                                                                       Re: Thanks Raul! :-)D-M.A. 3/8/02 1:46 a.m.
                                                                             Re: Thanks Raul! :-)REB 3/8/02 9:48 a.m.
                                                                                   Re: Thanks Raul! :-)Hamish Sinclair 3/8/02 1:14 p.m.
                                                                                         Speaking of typos and errors...poena.dare #CP# 3/8/02 2:03 p.m.
                                                                                               Re: Speaking of typos and errors...Hamish Sinclair 3/9/02 4:52 a.m.
                                                                                               Then There Were Eightpoena.dare #CP# 3/9/02 9:19 a.m.
                                                                                         Scrapbook Pages 5-8REB 3/9/02 1:09 p.m.
                                                                                               Whoa! the man is back! Nice post. :-) *NM*Hamish Sinclair 3/9/02 4:11 p.m.
                                                                 Re: One last word...mnemesis 3/6/02 11:26 a.m.
                                                                 Re: Scrapbook Pages 27-31Vid Boi 3/11/02 4:18 p.m.
                                                                       Isn't F**k Microsoft 2 words?REB 3/11/02 6:41 p.m.
                                                                             Re: Isn't F**k Microsoft 2 words?Vid Boi 3/12/02 4:28 a.m.
                                                     Re: Scrapbook Pages 19-22Andrew Nagy 3/7/02 6:51 a.m.



Problems? Suggestions? Comments? Email maintainer@bungie.org

Marathon's Story Forum is maintained with WebBBS 5.12.