Ambrosia Software Web Board: Marathon reborn? - Ambrosia Software Web Board

There are some Marathon pfhans who will never be able to let go of the game that revolutionized Mac gaming (myself included). And slowly we have seen the game fade away into the ever expanding catagory of forgotten sprite-based games. The MMMG has been reduced to little more than a rarely used DiscBoard, the Marathon.org server is rarely up, even the EVIL page (run by the man who claimed he would never let Marathon die out let alone abonden his creation) has slipped away.

But it seems that some people are trying to revitalize it. It turns out that there are three competitions going on to re-release marathon on a different engine (although I'm not sure who the groups are). The folks responsible for the Aleph One project are trying to get it out on the Unreal Tournament engine. There is another group trying to release it on the Quake 3 engine, and another one that proposed using the HALO engine. (Personally, my vote goes for UT. Just look at Deus Ex!)

What's odd about this is that Bungie has thus far been reluctant to give out a liscence to either group, and aren't about to in the near future. They have given no reason for the refusal. Is it possible that the takeover by MicroSoft could have caused Bungie to forsake the game that put them on the map? (If so, Jason Jones better start praying).

Anyway, I just thought I'd fill you all in. If anyone has feedback, or better yet: more info, please share it.

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Throughout their history these "unenlightened" beings have continually opposed and fought abuses of power wrought by their own bretheren. We, as the prophets would do well to learn from these Humans.
-Final statement of the Salrilian reformist Sirthis shortly before his execution.

I say: "Bungie's afraid they'd screw up the plot/atmosphere."
Since we're off topic anyway, what's with the jump in Oni? I can't get over that ledge to continue the tutorial...

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William Darkk, head of the Darkklight Entrepenurial Federation
"Strategic warfare" is code for "killing civilians", and it's my calling. Yeah, it's barbaric. War's supposed to be.

you gotta hold down jump to get really high. Unless I'm thinking about the wrong jump.

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NEW NAME FOR THE DREADNOUGHT
The Hard-Boiled Egg
Why?
Because she cant be beaten!

Changing the engine is cool. There's probably more than enough strength in the UT or Q3 engines to support Marathon (obcviously). The terminal driven plot could be stuck into it quite easily. Look at Half-life (which would make a very nifty engine to use), the plot in that is very well developed.

I hope that Marathon is remade into the new engines. There's no reason to change the plot. I can't see any reason for it at all. It'd be like the Star Wars re-releases that had been digitally remastered. Maybe there would be added scenes such as scenery and better backgrounds (think of the starscapes!) but that's no reason to change the plot. I think they could very easily make the story follow along word for word. There's no reason they can't.

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Ne Cede Malis Sed Contra Audientor Ito

Well from what I've heard, none of the groups are planning on altering the plot. However, with the newfound flexability, they are all planning on expanding it. I know the Q3 people were just going for instant carnage, and while UT folks were going to keep the instant carnage, they were going to add a lot more RPG attributes (though I doubt there would be skills and skill levels). This means more ways to solve puzzles than punching a switch or finding a uplink chip. Both groups will be adding many new enemies (hopefully not altering the feel of the game too seriously) and new weapons.

I should note that the Q3 and UT groups are the only ones with promise. It's starting to look like the Halo people are having delusions of grandure.

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Throughout their history these "unenlightened" beings have continually opposed and fought abuses of power wrought by their own bretheren. We, as the prophets would do well to learn from these Humans.
-Final statement of the Salrilian reformist Sirthis shortly before his execution.

Where is the UT group currently? I'm assuming it's Marathon: Ressurection, who's PlanetUT site I haven't been able to access in awhile...

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William Darkk, head of the Darkklight Entrepenurial Federation
"Strategic warfare" is code for "killing civilians", and it's my calling. Yeah, it's barbaric. War's supposed to be.