: Bungie used the Pathways stuff to test the Marathon Engine (rumor has it).
: But when you had Marathon v1.2 for the Mac (when it came bundled with the
: StarPlay 9BigOnes-Games of Fame CD-ROM) didn't start in there. It's not
: entirely obvoius why M1A1 Starts in the Pathways Into Darkness test map.
: If the creators of M1A1 are so worried about copyright laws, just remember
: that Marathon has been released to the public.
Uhm... what?
The Pathways start was added by the M1A1 team, on purpose, as both a nod to long-time Bungie fans, and as a way to hint a bit at the tie-ins between the two games.
More simply, the reason why it starts there, the one and only reason, is that it's a fun little extra, as are the secret levels added to M1A1. That's it.
Seriously. It's meant to be there. Enjoy it. ^_^