Halo Player's Guide to Marathon

Some of us senior citizens are having a blast now that Marathon: Durandal is out for Xbox Live Arcade. I'll post later in greater length about how this adaptation is simultaneously absolutely faithful to the original while still timely and fun, and how its design teaches lessons still relevant a decade after its release.

However, many Halo fans have never played Marathon. Many may not have heard of it until now. Some, as ridiculous as this sounds, were not even born when it was released. Is Marathon still for them?

It sure is. But before playing, it's best just to do some fair warnings about some quirks in Marathon's design that might frustrate a player whose only exposure to Bungie so far is the Halo series.

Cyborgs Don't Need Health Packs

...but they do need recharge stations. You don't have shields in Marathon, and your health doesn't recharge itself. Instead, you have to locate recharge stations. Some of them can even give you an overshield-like effect, providing two or three times as much health as normal.

Bag Of Holding

Marathon doesn't have Halo's two-weapon restriction; don't forget what weapons you're carrying. Scroll through the list using the bumpers (in the default control scheme) to check on what weapons you're holding and how much ammo they have. Also, in the portion of the screen where ammunition is displayed is a sort of inventory; if you're holding anything important (like an uplink chip) a small icon will be shown there.

Save Early And Often

Perhaps the most practical difference is that Marathon lacks the checkpoint-style save system of Halo. Instead, there are special terminals called "pattern buffers" which you can use with the action button to save your game. Marathon: Durandal limits you to seven save slots, so use them wisely.

Marathon's design does allow you to paint yourself into a corner; it's possible, after several levels, to find yourself out of ammunition, out of health, out of oxygen, and trapped by an overwhelming number of enemies. Your only way out may be to restore a previous save and replay portions of the game. It makes sense, then, to make sure that when you save, your player is in the best possible condition. If you know where a recharge station is and can reach it, charge your health fully before saving. Find a sweet cache of ammunition? Go ahead and save the game before you run into a bunch of enemies that provoke you into wasting it. And instead of just using all seven save slots sequentially, reuse old slots on the same level, "upgrading" the save as you progress through the level and improve your health and weapons.

Another thing to remember is how Marathon treats you when you die. When you die, you respawn at the last pattern buffer you used, or at the beginning of the current level if you last used a pattern buffer in a previous level. However, if you have just started a new level and haven't used a pattern buffer, and you quit the game, when you restart you'll have to load your last save-- in other words, you'll lose your progress in a new level until you find a pattern buffer.

If you're having trouble locating saved terminals or recharge stations...

Don't Forget To Use The Map

Like Doom and other shooters of its day, Marathon has an auto-mapping feature. As you proceed through the levels, it records the structures you pass through and displays them to you. Switches, pattern buffers, recharge stations, and computer terminals are all visible on the map as indentations in the wall. Elevators are visible as red-filled polygons (although some red-filled polygons are lava... so watch out).

In the default control scheme, pressing left or right on the D-pad toggles the map; while in the map view, pressing up or down zooms the map in or out. In fact, once you've cleared an area of enemies, you can actually navigate while in map mode.

Summer Reading

Marathon's mission objectives are often more varied and complex than those of Halo. Sure, there's plenty of killing stuff, but you're never asked to rescue a captain once (let alone twice) or go to the Library.

That doesn't mean you don't have to do some reading. Marathon doesn't have any cutscenes; instead, it has computer terminals where the AI Durandal gives you story background as well as instructions. Pay attention to these-- often the information about the mission is critical, including accurate maps with specific locations labeled!

Terminals are also used to teleport you from place to place within a level, or to the next level. A terminal that's going to teleport you will warn you "teleport when ready". If you're not ready, don't press A to acknowledge, press B to cancel. That will close the terminal, but not teleport you.

Adult Swim

Another feature Marathon has that Halo lacks is underwater exploration and combat. Many of Marathon's levels were designed specifically as underwater puzzles, with various levels of fluid and flooring, to require you to hop from ledge to ledge. However, you can avoid all of those by depressing the left thumbstick (again in the default control scheme) which will cause the player to swim upwards towards the surface of the fluid. Some levels can't be solved without using this feature!

With A Little Help From Your Friends

Marathon: Durandal has now the feature that was cut from Halo 2 and just announced for Halo 3: online cooperative play. In fact, with Marathon, you can have double the players in a coop game, up to eight. Get a preview of the kind of cooperative fun we'll be having this September and do some cooperative play in Marathon. There's even a special leaderboard specifically for cooperative play.

Bunny Hoppers Need Not Apply

Here's another area where Marathon's old-school design is a breath of fresh air: there's no jumping.

That's right. No jumping. You can 'coast' in the air across gaps in many places, but there's no jump button. That means no bunny hopping. If you want to dodge incoming fire, you have to run away or find cover.

Marathon - Myth Connections (by Kesh)

Marathon Lessons

Intro
In 1994, Bungie released a game for the Macintosh called Marathon, which many consider to be the first true three-dimensional first-person-shooter. Featuring a deep and inventive storyline, addicting and immersive gameplay, and eye-popping graphics, in many ways, it was an early iteration of what Halo would later become.

The final page of the game manual for Marathon contained the interesting account of the Greek general Multiades, who overcame staggering odds to soundly defeat a supposedly superior Persian army. Bungie provided the story as a textbook example of efficient and merciless warfare, and isolated seven key lessons to be learned from the battle at the Plain of Marathon.

That story has been reproduced here in its entirety:

The First Marathon
In 490 BC the Persian king Darius landed 20,000 cavalry, infantry and archers on the plain of Marathon and established a defensive beachhead where he intended to destroy the Greek forces before conquering Athens. The Greek general Multiades, leading 10,000 infantry, learned that the Persians were resting and watering their horses while awaiting the Greek attack. Multiades decided to forgo the standard, slow, phalanx formation and charged his troops at a dead run across the plain. Before the Persians could react, the Greeks were inside their archers' range. The Athenian infantry had superior armor and melee weapons, and the lightly-armed Persians, without archery or cavalry support, were butchered. A Greek soldier, Phidippides, ran the 26.2 miles from the Plain of Marathon to Athens, where he announced the Greek victory before dying.

Darius retreated to his ships, and sailed directly for Athens. Multiades, guessing the Persian intent, led the Athenians on an overnight forced march to the city. The next morning, the Persian fleet arrived at Athens to find the Greek army waiting for them. The Persians turned and fled. In all, the Persians lost 6,400 men; the Greeks, 192. Contrary to custom, the Greeks buried their dead on the Plain of Marathon to commemorate the victory.

<br />
	Carnage Ratio				1 : 33.33<br />
	Kills per Minute			13.73<br />

Lessons applicable to the game: move fast, seize the initiative, wield superior firepower, dive into the melee, anticipate enemy movements, slaughter the defenseless, endure.

Foreword
Ten years after the release of Marathon -- and indeed, some 2500 years after the slaughter at Marathon -- the keys to a successful battle have not changed. My goal here is to resurrect these ideas and apply them to the modern (but not altogether distant) game environment of Halo.

The ideas that follow are not mutually exclusive. Some of the material overlaps; you will see recurrent themes. Some of the material may seem to be contradictory. Combat is art, not science; there are no hard and fast rules. Make use of your own judgement.

Move Fast
It is vitally, critically, exceedingly important to be fast. Battles are won with speed. You can be a great shot, you can be tactically brilliant, you can carry better weapons, and on and on. But if you don't move with a good degree of haste, you're going to be in trouble. It is important to always be pushing.

This is really a pretty simple idea: the longer you leave your enemy to his devices, the greater risk you run of falling behind (in terms of both weapon pick-up and territorial position). If you can get things rolling faster than your opponent, it can be very difficult for him to change the momentum of the game.

The blitz can be a very practical, very efficient tactic if used with discretion. Many game types tend to promote a typical pattern of behavior: grab a sniper... grab the rocket... one guy watch the gate side... okay, here comes the enemy Warthog... and so on. If you can catch your opponent falling into this routine, you can have him by the balls at a very early point in the game. And as we all know, it is extremely difficult to play catch-up when you're caught off your guard at an early stage.

Seize the Initiative
This idea runs in the same vein as 'move fast,' but it's a slightly different concept. What we're talking about here, is taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves to you.

Don't be afraid to step up to the plate. It's kind of like asking that girl you know out on a date. You can't think about it, you have to just do it. Just stand up and take action. Otherwise, you're going to sit there waiting... and waiting... and waiting... until it's too late. And then you'll be left kicking yourself, and thinking, "What if I had just gotten up and said something?" You'll never know unless you go for it.

This combat lesson differs from the others in that it is largely psychological. You have to think fast; get those synapses firing. By all means, don't hesitate. Make a decision, commit to it, and follow through.

Wield Superior Firepower
Let's not beat around the bush about this one: bigger is better. I almost hate to admit it, but Halo 2 is largely a game of weapon control. Get the big guns and hold onto them.

"But I'm not really a big fan of such-and-such a weapon, so I usually just - "

Pick it up anyways. Hand it off to a teammate. At the very least, keep it out of the hands of the bad guys. You don't want to be out-gunned; it's going to seem like a loooong wait until your enemy runs out of ammo and the weapon respawns.

I like the SMG as much as the next guy; it's a cool weapon. But you have to switch that baby out (or at least supplement it) as soon as possible if you want to win battles. This may seem like common sense. And for the most part, it is. They key here is knowing which weapons constitute "superior" under different circumstances. Look at what you opponent is carrying and adjust accordingly. Don't just run in there with whatever you happen to have on hand; you probably won't fair too well.

I don't think I really need to go into too much detail about which weapons are better in which situations. Most of the competent players already know these things. Just keep in mind that each weapon has its weakness. Grab the appropriate ordinance and get in there with guns blazing.

(Which leads us to our next lesson...)

Dive Into the Melee
Never, ever hesitate to jump into an battle that's currently underway. Confuse the enemy; pick off the partially-weakened. Just get in there and mix it up. Particularly in team games, a little extra support mid-way through a battle can make all the difference in the world.

For some people, jumping in aimlessly is an acquired taste; many players prefer to stay out on the periphery and either throw grenades or pick people off with mid- and long-range weapons. It takes a certain type of person to say, "Screw it" and jump in among the throngs of bodies trying to destroy each other. But for those that learn to love it (and who learn to keep their cool amidst the bedlam), it can be extremely rewarding.

You're not gonna get kills unless you're in there duking it out.

Anticipate Enemy Movements
This is probably the most valuable lesson to be learned from the battle at Marathon. If I had to single out a particular lesson as being the most critical one of all, this would be it.

Try to learn your opponent's movement patterns. The really good players will try to randomize their movements, but inevitably, they'll fall back into some sort of pattern sub-consciously. There are prescribed ways of getting things done, and a lot of people will follow these methods time and again. Most players are surprisingly predictable.

The idea is to always, always be one step ahead. Get in your enemy's head. Figure out what he's going to do before he even figures it out. Be preemptive. Don't be reactionary. If you find yourself waiting to see what your enemy is going to do, you've already lost.

Slaughter the Defenseless
Alright. So there you are. You're cruising along, rocket launcher in hand, well on your way to a running riot, when you see your next victim. You're just out of motion sensor range, and he doesn't see you yet. So you follow. You've only got two rockets left; no sense wasting one of them on a guy who has no clue that you're even there. It'd be better to sneak up on him and bip* him from behind. Definitely.

The guy disappears around the corner. You crouch down and get ready to move in. You move slowly. You don't see him on your motion sensor, yet. Poor sap, he has no clue what's coming. Just as you turn the corner, you hear a sickening noise echo in the hallway.

*ch-chick... BOOM*

Shotgun. Right to the face. And now you're dead. Why are you dead? Because you didn't kill the guy when you had the chance.

You must be ruthless. You must be harsh and unforgiving. Take the cheap kills. Destroy the guy that isn't paying attention. Beat up on the weak link. There's no such thing as overkill. Don't be afraid to bust out that rocket launcher, even if your enemy has but a sliver of health remaining. Don't try to conserve ammo by getting in close for the melee attack; just put the poor bastard out of his misery. Don't toy with people who respawn in poor position and with poor weapons; just kill them. Jump right in and put them back on the respawn.

Trust me. There's nothing worse than sitting there for those 10 seconds thinking about how you should have had him...

Endure
As much as we might hate to admit it, we've all been on the losing end of a good 15- or 20-kill whooping. Whether you're having a bad game, or you're forced to cope with lag, or you fell behind early... It happens. And it's discouraging. At times like those, it's very easy to say, "We'll never come back: they have the good guns/they have the good position/they're better than us/whatever." But you can not give up.

Rally your team and get it done; it's all in your head. It just takes one person to say, "Guys, let's do this." Make the push. It doesn't happen too often than you can overcome a big deficit to win a game, but it does happen. You must want it. Never, ever, under any circumstances, give up.

*The term "bip" was coined by a friend of mine back in the days of the original Halo. It just means to melee attack someone. Try to use it in various parts of speech. It's fun.

Marathon Takes Texture Mapping Into Space

Contact:
Doug Zartman
(312) 563-6200, x.23

MARATHON TAKES TEXTURE MAPPING INTO SPACE
From Bungie Software, the makers of Pathways Into Darkness

Somewhere in the heavens...they are waiting.

CHICAGO, IL, July 25, 1994 -- Bungie Software, makers of the most advanced computer game on the Macintosh, Pathways into Darkness, will soon ship its new action-adventure game, Marathon. Marathon features the fastest, most realistic playing environment on the Macintosh. It sends players into space, where they must contend with an alien onslaught of unprecedented ferocity.

The technology in Marathon is state-of-the-art. Textures cover all surfaces in the Marathon world: walls, floors, ceilings and objects. Unlike traditional 3-D game designs that employ polygon graphics, Marathon's real-time texture mapping, dynamic lighting effects and active panning stereo sound create a startlingly life-like physical setting. An original, digital soundtrack heightens the intensity of play in more than 45 levels, and Marathon's automapping feature tracks your every move. Up to 8 people can play together over a LocalTalk, Ethernet or ARA network.

Marathon is set far in the future on a colony ship in outer space. A science officer on the mission, you are the last hope for defending the ship as hostile and intelligent aliens prepare to destroy every living thing. Marathon provides the player with amazing futuristic weaponry, introduces a multitude of horrifying creatures and traverses hundreds of miles of terrain over multiple elevations, all depicted in high resolution graphics. The Marathon engine is sophisticated enough to create non-orthogonal spaces, resulting in arbitrarily-shaped rooms. In another breakthrough, the aliens utilize a dynamic-sensing artificial intelligence that makes them fiendishly clever adversaries. The games surreal environment stimulates all the senses, enveloping the player in situations that reek of evil.

The game is designed to run on an 8-Bit (256 color) Macintosh with system 6.0.5 or better, 3 megabytes of RAM and a hard drive. Marathon will ship as a fat-binary, providing optimal performance on 68k-based and RISC-based Macintoshes. Other features include a functionally-designed interface and a special performance mode to make the game run faster on slower computers. Marathon has a retail price of $69.99 and will be available this summer at most local retail stores or through mail order catalogs.

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