Marathon
Developer	Bungie Software
Publisher	Bungie Software
Designer	Alex Seropian, Jason Jones
Released	December 21, 1994
Genre	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player Multiplayer
Ratings	ESRB: M[1]
Platform(s)	Mac OS, Apple Pippin (later ported to others by a fan project)
Media	3½" floppy disk, CD (1)

Marathon is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game published and developed by Bungie Software for the Apple Macintosh in late 1994. It is the first of three games in the Marathon Trilogy of the same name. It spawned two sequels, Marathon 2: Durandal and Marathon Infinity. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... Bungie Studios is a video game developer founded in 1991 under the name Bungie Software Products Corporation (or in the non-legal definition Bungie Software) by two undergraduate students at the University of Chicago, Alex Seropian and Jason Jones. ... Bungie Studios is a video game developer founded in 1991 under the name Bungie Software Products Corporation (or in the non-legal definition Bungie Software) by two undergraduate students at the University of Chicago, Alex Seropian and Jason Jones. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... Alex Seropian was the creator of Bungie, (legal definition of the company was known as the Bungie Software Products Corporation, after it was aquired by Microsoft, it then became Bungie Studios), developer of Marathon. ... Jason Jones is the name of: Jason Jones (actor), Daily Show correspondent. ... is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 1994 in games 1993 in video gaming 1995 in video gaming Notable events of 1994 in computer and video games. ... Video games are categorized into genres based on their gameplay. ... This article is about video games. ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ... A multiplayer game is a video game in which more than one person can play the same game at the same time. ... The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for computer and video games in the United States. ... In computing, a platform describes some sort of framework, either in hardware or software, which allows software to run. ... This article relates to both the original Classic Mac OS as well as Mac OS X, Apples more recent operating system. ... The Apple Pippin was a technology for a multimedia player platform marketed by Apple Inc. ... Aleph One (formerly known as the Marathon Open Source Project) is an open-source first-person shooter engine based on the source code of Bungie Studios Marathon 2: Durandal. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible (floppy) magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. ... CD redirects here. ... This article is about video games. ... Namcos Pac-Man is one of the most popular video games ever made. ... Bungie Studios is a video game developer founded in 1991 under the name Bungie Software Products Corporation (or in the non-legal definition Bungie Software) by two undergraduate students at the University of Chicago, Alex Seropian and Jason Jones. ... The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to a 512K Fat Mac. The Macintosh or Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ... The Marathon Trilogy is a science fiction series of first-person shooter computer games from Bungie Software, originally released for the Macintosh. ... Marathon Infinity is the third and final game in the Marathon Trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter computer games from Bungie Software. ...

Marathon was released to much anticipation during the period of time in which the first-person shooter genre was still in its infancy and the computer gaming industry as a whole was still fixated on the game Doom. The game represents to many who have played it, a landmark in Macintosh gaming for its advanced 3D graphics engine, intricate storyline and multiplayer mode. Doom (or DOOM)[1] is a 1993 computer game by id Software that is a landmark title in the first-person shooter genre. ... While marketed as family-friendly products, Apple computers have not attracted the same level of computer game development as Windows PCs. ... The rewrite of this article is being devised at Talk:3D computer graphics/Temp. ...

Storyline

The first chapter screen, Arrival.

Marathon takes place in the year 2794 aboard a large, colony spacecraft called the UESC (United Earth Space Council) Marathon. The ship was converted from Deimos, one of Mars' two moons. The plot of the story sets the player as a superhuman cyborg and focuses around an invasion of the ship by hostile extraterrestrial slavers called the Pfhor. The plot is primarily revealed through various computer interfaces called terminals, which relay crew logs, maintenance documents and stories. It is through these terminals as well that the player receives mission information from Leela, the ship's Artificial intelligence, as well as Durandal and Tycho, the two lesser AIs aboard the Marathon. The relationship between and history of these artificial intelligences serves as a significant plot device in the story. Image File history File links Marathon-Arrival. ... Image File history File links Marathon-Arrival. ... (Redirected from 2794) (27th century - 28th century - 29th century - more centuries) The twenty-eighth century (Gregorian Calendar) comprises the years 2701 to 2800. ... Deimos (IPA or ; Greek Δείμος: Dread), is the smaller and outermost of Mars’ two moons, named after Deimos from Greek Mythology. ... Marathon is a series of science fiction first-person shooter computer games from Bungie Software released for the Apple Macintosh. ... AI redirects here. ...

The first half of the game involves the player acquiring basic weapons and initiating a counterattack, which involves activating the automated defense network (spider-like flying drones that fire bullets on enemy forces) and sending a distress call to the planet Earth to warn them of the invasion. In this process, the player is kidnapped by Durandal, an Artificial Intelligence responsible for opening doors, kitchen maintenance and other monotonous functions aboard the ship. Durandal goes offline during the initial alien attack. He achieves rampancy at the beginning of the game, a state that is described by a few terminals in the game and Durandal himself as the self-awareness of a computer system that permits a progression towards greater mental abilities. His achievement of this state was a result of his extremely limited work and abuse by a human handler. Durandal and his rampancy play an influential role in the later parts of the story. In the Marathon video game series by Bungie Studios, rampancy is a fictional three-stage process that is a result of the uncontrolled expansion of an AI. The term was adapted by Greg Kirkpatrick, Marathons story writer, as a replacement for the word insane, as the term could be...

Leela eventually succumbs to the attacks of S'pht compilers, cybernetic alien creatures enslaved by the Pfhor that fight on their side until the conclusion of the game. Durandal takes her place and ends up as the Artificial Intelligence that assists the player. He proves to be a sarcastic and more philosophical entity than the rather impersonal Leela, often speaking of the "freedom" that his achievement of rampancy brings him. He eventually sends the player to explore the Pfhor ship to collect information about it. It is eventually discovered that the S'pht are under the control of a cyborg on the ship. When the cyborg is destroyed by the player, the S'pht are free and a rebellion against the Pfhor begins. Leela gradually becomes stable and assists the player in the extermination of the last few hostile forces on the Marathon. Durandal leaves the Marathon and gains control of the Pfhor ship at this point.

Gameplay

The larger monster (hulk) is immune to the flamethrower.

A multiplayer game of Marathon.

Marathon is a first-person shooter and is always seen through the eyes of the player character. It takes place over six chapters and twenty-seven levels. The majority of the levels take place aboard the UESC Marathon, some are located on the alien mothership. Unlike many first-person shooters at the time which merely required the player to locate an exit to complete each level, most Marathon levels involve the player executing objective-based missions in order to advance. These missions may involve exterminating all of the hostile forces in the area, hitting a repair switch, locating an item, exploring the area and others. A level may have one, more than one or no mission. Most of them are tied into the game's plot. The story of the game is told primarily through 'terminals' which contain messages and information. All but six levels end with these. Image File history File links Marathon_1_Screenshot. ... Image File history File links Marathon_1_Screenshot. ... Image File history File links Bungie_Marathon_Netplay_Screenshot. ... Image File history File links Bungie_Marathon_Netplay_Screenshot. ... In computer and video games, a level (sometimes called a stage, course, episode, round, world, map, wave, board, phase, or landscape) is a separate area in a games virtual world, in modern games typically representing a specific location such as a building or a city. ...

Obstacles along the player's path include "crushers" (ceilings that fatally crush the player), pits of harmful molten material, locked doors or platforms that must be activated by remote switches and puzzles that generally involve precise timing and speed to successfully complete. (One level in the game lacks oxygen, forcing the player to find a recharging station to replenish his suit's supply before asphyxiating.) Others may have low-gravity and/or magnetic fields that interfere with the player's motion sensor. Physics In physics, melting is the process of heating a solid substance to a point (called melting point) where it turns liquid. ... A puzzle is a problem or enigma presented as entertainment; that is written down, acted out, etc. ... General Name, symbol, number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series nonmetals, chalcogens Group, period, block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) pale blue (liquid) Standard atomic weight 15. ... Suffocation redirects here, for the band, see Suffocation (band). ... Motion detection includes methods by which motion has be identified. ...

There are seven weapons available for the player to use in the game: a fist, pistol, assault rifle, fusion gun, rocket launcher, flamethrower and an unidentified alien weapon that can be picked up by killing a special type of Pfhor. Ammunition for these weapons is collected in clips as opposed to shots. Each clip contains a certain number of projectiles, and when a clip is depleted another is loaded. Some weapons have secondary triggers or other dynamics. With these weapons the player fights a variety of monsters throughout the game (generally Pfhor or their enslaved races). The selected difficulty setting (there are five) determines the placement, strength and vitality of each monster. Monsters may have melee or ranged attacks and have many other complex dynamics such as friend and enemy monsters or immunity against or weakness to certain attacks. Fist can refer to the following: A hand that has the fingers curled into the palm and the thumb retracted. ... A Browning 9 millimeter Hi-Power Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century, using a Percussion cap mechanism Derringers were small and easily hidden. ... The AK-47 is the worlds most common assault rifle. ... Directed-energy weapon refers to a type of weapon that emits energy in a particular direction by a means other than a projectile. ... Rocket launcher or missile launcher can mean: Multiple rocket launcher Shoulder-launched missile weapon Transporter erector launcher (TEL) for large missiles Rocket propelled grenade launcher This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Riverboat of the U.S. Brownwater Navy shooting ignited napalm from its mounted flamethrower during the Vietnam war. ... Marathon is a series of science fiction first-person shooter computer games from Bungie Software released for the Apple Macintosh. ... A clip is a device that is used to store multiple rounds of ammunition together as a unit, ready for insertion into the magazine of a repeating firearm. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

In addition to the single-player game, there is a multiplayer deathmatch mode that can accommodate as many as eight players on the same computer network connected to a single host machine. The basic premise of the game is to have the best kill-to-death ratio of all competing players and/or teams. While third-party maps supported cooperative play, this feature was left out of the original game. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Online gaming redirects here. ... Deathmatch (abbreviated DM) is a widely-used gameplay mode very well integrated into first-person shooter computer games. ... A computer network is an interconnection of a group of computers. ...

Legacy

Marathon is still played by a number of veteran Macintosh gamers and has a small but strong community of enthusiasts still making custom content for the game. Despite its technical endeavors and praise from many reviewers, Marathon is not frequently cited or well-known among the PC gaming community due to its predominantly Macintosh roots. Its first sequel, Marathon 2 was commercially-available for Windows 95, but it did not have a sizable impact on PC gamers either. Marathon remains a classic among many Macintosh gaming veterans to this day. It was included as part of the Marathon Trilogy Box Set, which was released in 1997, and the Mac Action Sack, which contains several of Bungie's pre-Microsoft games. Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. ...

Bungie released the source code of Marathon 2 in 1999 shortly before being acquired by Microsoft, which led to the advent of the Marathon Open Source Project, more commonly known as Aleph One by fans. The project, which is still active as of 2007, is committed to adding enhancements to the Marathon 2 engine. In 2002, a project to port Marathon to the Marathon 2 engine, called M1A1, was completed. Several of the game's music tracks have been remixed and enhanced multiple times by different people. In early 2004, Bungie released the entire Marathon Trilogy as freeware, allowing it to be downloaded free of charge. Some Marathon-themed mods, such as Marathon Resurrection for the Unreal engine, have been created in attempt to "revive" the game by making it available for more modern game engines. This article is about the year. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... Aleph One (formerly known as the Marathon Open Source Project) is an open-source first-person shooter engine based on the source code of Bungie Studios Marathon 2: Durandal. ... 2007 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The term Freeware refers to gratis proprietary software with closed source. ... Look up mod in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Unreal (disambiguation). ...

Super Marathon Port

In 1996, Bungie completed a port of Marathon to the Apple Computer's short-lived Apple Pippin video game console. The port was released as part of Super Marathon^[2], a compilation of Marathon and Marathon 2: Durandal^[3] which bears the distinction of being the first console game ever released by Bungie, pre-dating Oni and Halo. Apple Inc. ... The Apple Pippin was a technology for a multimedia player platform marketed by Apple Inc. ... This article is about the computer game. ... It has been suggested that Covenant Vehicles in Halo be merged into this article or section. ...

References

External links

• Marathon on Bungie.net- Bungie's official Marathon series website, containing screenshots and information.
• Marathon@Bungie.org- Contains level guides, background information, and many other resources and articles.
• Marathon Trilogy Release- Free and legal downloads of the entire Marathon Trilogy.
• Marathon Story Page- Long-running and comprehensive website with information about the storyline of the entire Trilogy. (Compiled by Hamish Sinclair)
• Marathon at Traxus Project, a Marathon series wiki
• Marathon: Resurrection, a fan-produced Marathon remake using the Unreal Tournament engine
• Marathon at MobyGames