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The entire Marathon series has been available for quite some time via the Aleph One open-source engine. Additionally, Bungie released the entire trilogy as freeware.

https://alephone.lhowon.org/

http://trilogyrelease.bungie.o...

The Marathon story (scroll down the menu on the left) made the game much more enjoyable.

Bungie has open-sourced the Marathon series, with builds available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, so that may be a better experience than the iPad version.

You're right -- Macs of the day did have better graphics capabilities than equivalent PCs, so that may account for the higher resolutions and texture bit-depths. But I think most of the innovation just comes from smart people making cool stuff.

Yes, Marathon did have angled floors. Destructible stuff, I'm not sure -- the last time I played through the series was in the 90's. Guess I should download those games as well!

Bungie has open-sourced the Marathon series, with builds available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, so that may be a better experience than the iPad version.

You're right -- Macs of the day did have better graphics capabilities than equivalent PCs, so that may account for the higher resolutions and texture bit-depths. But I think most of the innovation just comes from smart people making cool stuff.

Yes, Marathon did have angled floors. Destructible stuff, I'm not sure -- the last time I played through the series was in the 90's. Guess I should download those games as well!

The Marathon series has also been open-sourced by Bungie, and builds are available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Probably a better experience than the iPad version (haven't played it), but YMMV. They're actually pretty good single-player games.

With regards to your questions, Macs of the day did have an edge on graphics as compared to PCs, so that could account for the higher resolutions and higher bit-depth textures. But most of it is just smart people making cool stuff. As for destructible stuff, you know, I don't really remember. I haven't really played through the Marathon games since the 90's -- I should probably download them myself! But yes, Marathon has angled floors, and also features liquids, with different physics for each type.

What would be great is if GoG would distribute some classic Mac games like Marathon or Escape Velocity. Or the 640x480 Mac version of Dark Forces. These games need to be more easily available.

Marathon is available - Bungie released the engine as open source and it became Aleph One. (I don't think bungie.org is the same as bungie.com, just a very popular fansite for all things Bungie, most popular of which is HBO).

It's also available for iOS, done with Bungie's blessing back in the day (the base game is free, in-app purcahses buy cheats and all that stuff). I think Marathon 2 might be out for it as well.

Oh, man, that takes me back. Remember The VidMaster's Challenge?

As someone already noted, the Marathon series was made by Bungie.

By the time Bungie was bought by Microsoft, much of Halo's building blocks were done, a game originally designed for both Macs and PCs.

There's plenty of Marathon homages in the original Halo (haven't yet played 2 or 3 myself). First, look on Captain Keyes's uniform for the Marathon symbol at the game's starting adventure on the bridge. Just as you leave the captain, look on the bulletin board at the entrance: An ad there says "Colony Ship for Sale" (a reference to a Marathon game level). Cortana, the AI, is another name that parallels the name of another mystical sword, Durandal (Marathon's sassy AI). See http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Marathon_references_in_Halo for more.

Marathon was among the first (if not the first) FPS with multiplayer support (thanks to the Mac OS local networking) as well as establishing the convention of using the mouse for head-target movement. The concept of the Vidmaster (See http://marathon.bungie.org/vidmaster/ ) (using the weakest weapon at the game's highest difficulty to completion) was a Marathon first.

I say this as an Epic fanboi (Except for cliffyB.. he's a smacktard because he says dumb things)..
Myth (by Bungie before they turned evil^H^H^H^Hinto a M$/console tool) came out with their map/tag tools, I know it shipped with Myth 2 (1998), but I was pretty sure it was available for Myth 1 as well at some point, and there ended up being some pretty sweet mods for Myth 1 & 2.
Actually, going back and poking some more, Marathon even had an official toolset released and map contest.. (circa 96)...

I really did love Bungie before they put out Halo... sigh... anyway

You are correct though, there a ton of people modding even Wolf3d before Doom or Quake was on the scene.. .

Does 'Adventure Construction Set' count as an officially-supported-mod-platform? And heck that's just my personal game-modding experience.. I know for a fact some of hte older/more-crusty types did a ton of stuff before me..

was added to Unreal Tournament.
http://resurrection.bungie.org/images.html
Aleph One does exist to make sure the game can run on todays Mac, Windows and Linux (and other OS) - but a pro remake beyond MS xbox limits would be nice :)

Yup. You can download everything from Bungie's site.

Myth and Marathon, Bungie's two big series before they ever dreamed up Halo, are still around, and continually updated by their respective fan communities (in terms of engine, content, and server). Old-school Bungie ruled like that.

I blame Microsoft.

I've always hoped in my heart of hearts that they would resume work on the cancelled "Phoenix" project. That thing looked awesome.

Most? You mean Seropian? Like, one guy? Two of the three founders are still there.

Three founders? Who is this third person you speak of? Bungie was founded entirely by Jason and Alex.

The only person still there from even the Marathon days, besides Jason, is Rob McLees. Everybody else is from the Myth days at the earliest, and while they may call themselves "Grizzled Ancients" now, I still consider them newbs.

Signed, a formerly proud Bungie fan since 1992,

Most? You mean Seropian? Like, one guy? Two of the three founders are still there.

Three founders? Who is this third person you speak of? Bungie was founded entirely by Jason and Alex.

The only person still there from even the Marathon days, besides Jason, is Rob McLees. Everybody else is from the Myth days at the earliest, and while they may call themselves "Grizzled Ancients" now, I still consider them newbs.

Signed, a formerly proud Bungie fan since 1992,

Bungie was looking at the Cybermaxx Virtual Reality Helmet for its early Marathon work
http://marathon.bungie.org/story/blastfromthepast.html#31
More info at http://home.gwi.net/~pstewart/lcdneeds.html

Marathon had a few other things that really set it apart as well:

1.) No targeting reticle, and I think it may have been the first FPS in which you had to aim vertically at enemies above or below you (Doom auto-aimed). Combined with an unfortunate lack of ability to use the mouse, and this made shooting quite a challenge.

2.) First FPS with Grenade/Rocket hopping (which inspired the phrase "Frog blast the vent core!")

3.) I think Marathon 2 was the first FPS with liquids and swimming.

For those of you who haven't played it, or wish to re-play the Marathon Trilogy, it is available as an open source free download: Aleph One

I used to play this game along with Shadow Keep back in the day. We even had Marathon 2 and Infinity on the School network and would have LAN matches. Good times! I remember one time I was playing Marathon on my Powerbook 1400cs at night with headphones in and no lights on. Because of the ambient sounds etc and the intense story i caught myself being tense, slightly scared and waiting what was gonna happen around the corner like a horror movie. My heart rate was fast and I was on edge cause my life was low and It was like I thought I was going to die in real life haha! Marathon = 3D style shooter with intense story line, awesome multiplayer and map making tools. All back in 1992-96 :D For those interested in the game it was opensourced by the makers (Bungie Software!) and has been actively developed since then. check out http://source.bungie.org/index.php/Main_Page

I forgot to post this highly convenient page: The three games along with the three OS binaries.

Pirate Bay is the best source for books? I don't think so. Project Gutenberg is the best source for books, unless you want technical manuals--then it depends upon what you need. There seems to be plenty of public domain and creative commons sources for those. (linux documentation prj., freebsd, lightandmatter.com, etc...)

Or were you looking for modern teeny bopper crap? Just look for "fan fiction" sites (Halo is "wonderful"), or just about any site which allows teenage girls to publish a "book." But then, those aren't any better than the penny rags of yesteryear which are already in the public domain.

Plenty of free places to legally get books. Makes me wonder why you would mention The Pirate Bay. Did some publisher pay you to do that so they could create "proof" they need DRM?

Take a look at Marathon. It's what Bungie did on the Mac while id released Doom for the IBM. Essentially Doom with fewer weapons, alt-fire and funny monologues. Durandal still ranks high in my list of the best insane AIs. The story is more complex than that of Doom but fairly simple to follow. Well, until you get to the third - pardon - infinitieth part, which is a time travel bonanza full of alternate pasts you never get to see.

The engine used for Marathon 2 and Infinity is available as Aleph One; the first part has been ported as an addon called M1A1. Everything is available straight from Bungie for OS X, Linux and Windows.

Maybe Xeons are what end up being used on the UESG Marathon. I mean, half of the terminal messages on that ship are subject to the same bug. Just look at this typical example:

http://marathon.bungie.org/story/nawmanhesclose.html#M3.13.1.1

Great solo scenarios are still coming out for AlephOne after all these years. For me this is the best reason to return to the Marathon. RubiconX (released 2006) has a great branching story-line, immersive art design (in an old engine), and some excellent maps. EternalX (2008) has an exceptionally well structured plot with an epic feel.

These scenarios (and others) are true labours of love for small groups who spent years developing them and the care shows.

Great solo scenarios are still coming out for AlephOne after all these years. For me this is the best reason to return to the Marathon. RubiconX (released 2006) has a great branching story-line, immersive art design (in an old engine), and some excellent maps. EternalX (2008) has an exceptionally well structured plot with an epic feel.

These scenarios (and others) are true labours of love for small groups who spent years developing them and the care shows.

Great solo scenarios are still coming out for AlephOne after all these years. For me this is the best reason to return to the Marathon. RubiconX (released 2006) has a great branching story-line, immersive art design (in an old engine), and some excellent maps. EternalX (2008) has an exceptionally well structured plot with an epic feel.

These scenarios (and others) are true labours of love for small groups who spent years developing them and the care shows.

This video was really popular around 6 years ago! Warthog jump

Someone went to the next logical step and made a flash game out of it.

They made a Windows version of Marathon 2 back in '96, and the full trilogy is now playable via the open-source continuation of the Marathon engine, called Aleph One..

I wouldn't mind a refresh of the original Marathon. Upgrade the engine and graphics but keep the game play and sounds, other than converting to true surround sound. Was totally creepy playing that at 3am, even with just a stereo setup.

Then vsit Marathon Open Source to download an updated version of the Marathon engine, all three original games in formats compatible with the updated engine (free and legal), and a variety of graphical enhancements (high-res walls, weapons, basically everything but the monsters) created by the fans over the years.

Also, while you're at it download my own 52-level unofficial sequel to the Marathon Trilogy, complete with all-new hi-res goodness just like the originals now have: Eternal. Also highly recommended: Marathon: Rubicon, another unofficial sequel.

I wouldn't mind a refresh of the original Marathon. Upgrade the engine and graphics but keep the game play and sounds, other than converting to true surround sound. Was totally creepy playing that at 3am, even with just a stereo setup.

Then vsit Marathon Open Source to download an updated version of the Marathon engine, all three original games in formats compatible with the updated engine (free and legal), and a variety of graphical enhancements (high-res walls, weapons, basically everything but the monsters) created by the fans over the years.

Also, while you're at it download my own 52-level unofficial sequel to the Marathon Trilogy, complete with all-new hi-res goodness just like the originals now have: Eternal. Also highly recommended: Marathon: Rubicon, another unofficial sequel.

That'd be amazing. I've seldom felt as immersed in a game – I loved the story and the atmosphere. The story of Marathon: Infinity was so mind-bogglingly complex that fans were still discussing and trying to figure it out ten years later. I don't believe there'll be another Marathon game though. However, the fans have done an amazing work keeping the story and universe alive through scenarios (mods/conversions, whatever you call them) such as Rubicon and Eternal.

Oh, and it's a shame Double Aught never managed to release it's game Duality.

Looks like doom, but with a better story than half life?

Somewhere in the heavens, they are waiting...

So what you're saying is, somewhere in the heavens, they are waiting? o8-)

Reminds me of the UESC Marathon emblem. Or a little bit like the mark of Tzeentch.

marathon infinity had possibly the most convoluted easter egg in the history of gaming: two terminals, the text of which you had to extract, concatenate, apply a proper header to, de-binhex, and unarchive. it then became a secret level and a preview of the next game by the guys who did the level design (which unfortunately never shipped).

also, pathways has some easter egg rooms--check out http://pid.bungie.org/ for details

Marathon 2 had a couple of terminals you could only read if you cheated: the second message of the second terminal in What About Bob? and the fourth terminal in Eat It, Vid Boi.

Marathon 2 had a couple of terminals you could only read if you cheated: the second message of the second terminal in What About Bob? and the fourth terminal in Eat It, Vid Boi.

Chapter screens in Bungie Marathon releases can be seen
http://marathon.bungie.org/temp/cmullins.html

Yup, it took us just over 7 years to "finish" Marathon:Resurrection. I say finish in quotes because these sorts of things are never really finished, but after 7 years we actually managed to finish up all the levels, monsters and story, so it was done. We still want to polish it some more, but life happens...

Ooops, typo'd the link code: Marathon Eternal.

Thankfully something like this "game-amentary" has been done for open source.
With open source you never have to worry about "not to sell it".
Info on the game and making of http://www.bloodofbinladen.com/
The data can be found at
http://fileball.bungie.org/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=53&func=fileinfo&id=3186
The Aleph One open source application for Linux, Mac and Windows
http://source.bungie.org/get/
Click on the OS of your choice.
Copy AlephOne.app or AlephOne.exe into the data folder.

Thankfully something like this "game-amentary" has been done for open source.
With open source you never have to worry about "not to sell it".
Info on the game and making of http://www.bloodofbinladen.com/
The data can be found at
http://fileball.bungie.org/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=53&func=fileinfo&id=3186
The Aleph One open source application for Linux, Mac and Windows
http://source.bungie.org/get/
Click on the OS of your choice.
Copy AlephOne.app or AlephOne.exe into the data folder.

Then why don't they just remake old good games with modern engines?
Marathon on the Halo engine!

Well, there is Marathon: Ressurection -- a conversion of Marathon for Unreal Tournament.

They just sold their souls.

You can get some kind of Marathon package that'll run under 10.5.

Here's a couple of counter-examples: Deus Ex & Marathon. Both of these games has extremely deep story lines which helped to draw the player in. IMHO, story is what differentiates a good game from a great game.

This isn't flamebait you idiot mod.

I've played Marathon. It's an FPS where your home gets invaded by a consortium of alien races; you play as a green cyborg who can dual-weild and you take guidance from a female AI. Sound familiar?

It's a pretty good game too, you should get it.

I know Marathon is out there with the Aleph One project, but I would LOVE to see a complete 3D remake of the Marathon Trilogy, maybe using the Halo Engine or something that would equally capture the amazing environments and atmosphere of those games.

Keep the original game play style (i.e. interacting with the AIs via terminals... give them voices if necessary, but don't let them talk to you while you are battling through until you reach a terminal) and keep the story, since it was one of the best, most intricate stories ever in a game. But revamp the graphics and make the environments completely 3D.

I know Marathon is out there with the Aleph One project, but I would LOVE to see a complete 3D remake of the Marathon Trilogy, maybe using the Halo Engine or something that would equally capture the amazing environments and atmosphere of those games.

Keep the original game play style (i.e. interacting with the AIs via terminals... give them voices if necessary, but don't let them talk to you while you are battling through until you reach a terminal) and keep the story, since it was one of the best, most intricate stories ever in a game. But revamp the graphics and make the environments completely 3D.

Yea, you should see how good Marathon 2 looks!

Especially running the open-sourced engine (Mac OS X/Windows/Linux) with hi-res textures and landscapes...

if you include Aleph One.

Well, if you're supposed to 'participate actively in creating the storyline', as you inside, then there's absolutely no problem with today's FPS's. If it's all in your head, why spend the time creating a story for the game?

Personally, I prefer a well-wrought story, that allows the ability to affect the story, around the edges. Branching level progression, for example, that depends on player decisions during the game.

http://marathon.bungie.org/story/ , for example, Bungie's previous FPS trilogy before Halo, is still regarded by many as one of the pinnacles of story design in an FPS, and this came out in the mid-90's.