Inside Mac Games Volume 2 December/IMG Dec 94.toast/More Goodies/Walkthrough's & FAQ's/Marathon FAQ 1.8

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From: [e-mail] (Aapo Puskala)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games,alt.mac.games.marathon,alt.games.marathon
Subject: Marathon FAQ 1.8
Date: 5 Dec 1994 11:56:24 +0200
Organization: University of Helsinki, Department of Psychology
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I tried sending this on Friday, but my news server wouldn't co-operate.
Anyway, thank you all the contributors! Keep those tidbits coming! This
would never have gotten this far without you!

---------------------


Marathon FAQ
Version 1.8, 4th December 1994



(c)1994 Aapo Puskala ([e-mail] or [e-mail])

Please send any additional info to me and I will update this FAQ.
Feel free to distribute this anywhere you wish.

NOTE: There are probably many mistakes and inaccuracies in this FAQ. Please
inform me when you notice them - otherwise they might never get corrected.




What's new since last version (1.6)?

- A way to record films on other levels than 1 has been found (See VI:
Miscellaneous 6)
- A table of contents
- Yet another extension conflict
- Many improvements in the outlook of MS Word document ( of course these
changes won't appear in the plain ASCII version)
- A turbo shot on the Fusion Pistol.
- Fusion pistol & flame thrower can be found on the network level.
- Inconsistencies & How to's sections added.
- Alien weapon doesn't have unlimited ammo
- Super Shield
- Patch to allow more than 5 minute of net play
- Again SEVERAL minor corrections



Table of Contents


I What is Marathon?
1. The story so far...
2. Where can I get it?
3. Bungie's address

II Playing the game
1. Status display
2. Saving the game
3. Controls
   A) Example Controls
   B) Function keys
   C) Other commands
4. Alien characters
   A) Soldiers
   B) Compilers
5. Human characters
   A) Bobs
   B) Other players
6. Weapons
   A) Fists
   B) Magnum Mega Class (Pistol)
   C) Zeus-Class Fusion Pistol
   D) MA-75 Assault Rifle/ Grenade Launcher
   E) SPNKR-X17 SSM Launcher
   F) TOZT-7 Backpack Napalm Unit (flame-thrower)
   G) UNKNOWN WEAPON CLASS system error 0xFFBD
7. Inconsistencies
   A) Gravity & physics
   B) Explosions
   C) Climbing
   D) Lack of furniture
8. How to's
   A) Jumping
   B) Grenade hopping
   C) Activating switches
   D) Punching
9. Performance notes

III Secrets (spoiler alert!)
1. Level 1: Arrival!
   A) The Bob in the maze
   B) The secret ammo room
2. Level 2: Bigger Guns Nearby
   A) The TOZT-7 Backpack Napalm Unit (the flame-thrower)
   B) The Infrared Scanner (ISEEYOU)
3. Level 3: Blaspheme Quarantine
   A) I'm stuck in the very beginning
   B) How to get to/open the door in the large square room?
   C) How do I solve the puzzle?
   D) There is a button in a corridor in the middle of the square room
4. Network play level: Mars Needs Women
   A) How do I get to the hidden corridor and what do the switches do?
   B) Where are the weapons?
   C) Super Shield
   D) Carnage Central
   E) Are there any terminals on the network level?
   F) Is there a window in the roof of the room prior to the maze with the
      spiral staircase?

IV Technical problems
1. The background music won't work
2. Bugs & conflicts
   A) Mouse & Keyboard/Keyboard control
   B) Screen savers
   C) Looking down
   D) Multiple monitors
   E) 'A' key stops working
   F) Quadra 630 acceleration
   G) Save game dialog box
   H) Cursor on screen
   I) Net play
   J) Microphone
   K) AppleTalk Remote Access
   L) Speedy Mouse

V Cheating
1. Starting at any level
2. Editing the save game file
3. Keyboard codes
4. Network play

VI Miscellaneous
1. When will the release version be available?
2. Network play
3. Can I play the network level on my own?
4. I died and can't continue!
5. The self-playing demo
6. How can I make film other than level 1?
7. Why can't I run in high-resolution, 256 colors or with textures OFF with
   my Quadra/LC/Performa 630?
8. Marathon on a 12" screen
9. Is there any way to change the difficulty of saved games?
10. Hints
11. Thanks & contributor list




===================
I What is Marathon?
===================


Marathon is a 3-D first person shoot-them-up type game by Bungie Software
Products Corporation. Its features include (from the DON'T READ ME file):

- Texture Mapped 3-D, Continuous-Motion Graphics
- Active Panning Stereo Sound
- In-Your-Face Network Carnage
- Digital Soundtrack
- Dynamic Sensing Artificial Intelligence
- Interactive Lighting Effects
- Full screen graphics with 5 Degrees of Freedom
- "Live" Automapping Feature
- High Resolution graphics in 8 or 16 bit color

It requires the following:

- Macintosh 68020 or higher [68040 or faster recommended]
- 8-Bit (256) Color display
- System 6.0.5 or higher
- 3 Meg of free RAM [6 Meg or more recommended]
- Hard Drive
- Networking requires System 7
- 13" or bigger color or gray scale screen



1. The story so far...

From the DON'T READ ME file:

You are a security officer aboard the interstellar colony ship Marathon.
You are returning from the colony when the aliens simultaneously attack
your shuttle and the Marathon. You manage to get into an escape pod, and
arrive at the Marathon about a half hour after the Alien attack has begun.

Armed only with a pistol, and guided by Leela, one of the shipboard
Artificial Intelligences, you are the last chance to save the Marathon and
the colony from the attacking aliens.


2. Where can I get it?

The demo is available on sumex-aim.stanford.edu, umich.edu and all their
mirrors. And there are plenty of other sites that have it, such as WWW page
http://198.114.176.148/101.html. It should really be no problem to find it
anymore. Sound Manager 3.0 can be found in ftp.support.apple.com at
ftp://ftp.support.apple.com//pub/Apple SW Updates/Macintosh/Supplemental
System Software


3. Bungie's address

Bungie Software Products Corporation
P.O. Box 7877
Chicago, Il 60680-7877
[phone]
Fax: [phone]
America Online: Bungie1
eWorld: BungieCorp
AppleLink: BUNGIE
Internet: [e-mail]


===================
II Playing the game
===================


1. Status display

In the bottom of the status display you can see what weapons and ammo
you're carrying. On the left of the 3-D window there are status bars for
your shields and oxygen levels, below these is your name, which you can set
only in the net game. On the lower left-hand cornet there is the motion
sensor (NOT radar), and to the right from here is the microphone status
light. As of now it is unclear what the function of the round thing on the
upper left-hand cornet of the control display is. Is says something like
'135 MHz' under it.

Note that you can only see the control display while playing 100%, 75% or
50% size, not Full Screen.


2. Saving the game

Games can be saved only at pattern buffers, terminals that have a picture
of a man. Read the DON'T READ ME file and the text in the terminals :-).


3. Controls

You can select the controls you wish from the preferences window (please
see the Bugs section below on selecting keyboard & mouse/ keyboard). Here
are a couple control sets as examples.


A) Example Controls

Forward            8           W
Turn Left          4           A
Turn Right         6           D
Backward           2           S
Sidestep Left      7           Q
Sidestep Right     9           E
Look Down          1           2
Look Up            3           5
Look Ahead         0           8
Trigger            Space       Space
2nd trigger        Command     Option
Run                Caps Lock   Control
Previous Weapon    A           1
Next Weapon        S           2
Action             D           Tab


B) Function keys

You can use the function keys on your extended keyboard to access the game
settings during the game:

F1 Full Screen size
F2 100% size
F3 75% size
F4 50% size
F5 High/low resolution
F6 Draw every other line (low res only)
F7 Floor textures on/off (low res only)
F8 Ceiling textures on/off (low res only)
F9 ?
F10 ?
F11 Darken the environment
F12 Lighten the environment


C) Other commands

The game can be paused with command-P, closed with command-W and quit with
command-Q.



4. Alien characters

A) Soldiers

These creatures are sometimes called bugs, hunters or fighters, but in the
game resources they are referred to as soldiers and soldiers shall they be
here too, They were fighters in the beta version, but apparently these
beta-fighters developed into demo-soldiers.

There are two types of aliens in the demo; Soldiers and Compilers. Soldiers
come in four varieties, distinguishable by color. In order of increasing
toughness: Green, Purple, Orange, Blue. The greens and purples will just
run up and smack you, while the Orange and Blue ones will fire at you.

The Orange Soldiers fire single shots, and do not aim too well, while the
Blues can fire up to two shots at a time, very accurately. Greens can be
taken out with one run-punch (see below), while all others take
considerably more. Beware of getting into close combat with these, as they
can hit you between punches.

There are supposed to be 15 different alien species in the final version of
the game and it is not yet known whether these four colors of bugs count as
one or four aliens.


B) Compilers

These are the cloaked things. There are red and purple compilers, the
purple ones being decidedly more nasty. Both fire little star-looking
things, Reds fire annoying green stars that hurt a lot, and Purples fire
really annoying yellow stars that are guided (like Greater Nightmares out
of PiD). If you are facing only one compiler, or are in a hallway such that
you only have to fight one at a time, use your fists. The compilers will
not be able to fire back. The flame-thrower will not hurt any kind of
compilers.



5. Human characters


A) Bobs

The "civilians" are the crew of colony ship Marathon that was attacked by
aliens half an hour before you got there. They are of no use in the demo.
In the release version you are supposed to rescue these, I believe, but you
might as well kill them in the demo -if you don't the aliens will. Often
they're just in your way.


B) Other players

These look like the red guy in the second start-up screen (except that
these can be in other colors). They can be friendly on not; I believe that
on the demo you're always supposed to fight against each other. Of course,
these can only be seen in the network game.



6. Weapons


A) Fists

You start with these, and have them all the time. They are mainly useful to
run-punch with. This involves running at your target and punching them at
maximum range. This does greatly increased damage. Fists can also be used
to activate switches (the right way to use the delicate equipment...). See
also Punching.


B) Magnum Mega Class (Pistol)

You have one of these at the beginning. These are relatively accurate, and
do a fair amount of damage. They fire clips of 8 rounds. You can have one
on the left and one on the right hand. However, there is no second pistol
to be found in the demo, but by cheating you can get two of these, one for
both hands.

Please note that you use the first trigger key for the gun in your right
hand and the second trigger (option by default) for then gun on your left
hand - not a single trigger for both guns.


C) Zeus-Class Fusion Pistol

This item cannot be obtained in the demo in single player mode except by
cheating. It is on the network level, though. This weapon can fire more
rapidly and do more damage than the .44 Magnum Mega Bass. Only one can be
in use at a time, however. Uses fusion batteries that can supply power for
20 shots.

If you fire this weapon using the 2nd trigger (option by default), the gun
will load for couple seconds and fire a "turbo shot", which seems to be 5
times more powerful than standard (at least it takes 5 times more energy
than a normal shot so in one battery there is enough energy for only 4
shots), These turbo shots can also activate the switches.

The Fusion Pistol is the only way to kill an enemy when he has the "turbo
shield", see Turbo Shield.


D) MA-75 Assault Rifle/ Grenade Launcher

This is a combined assault rifle and grenade launcher. The assault rifle is
wildly inaccurate, and fires clips of 52. The grenades are affected by
gravity, and do much damage at short range. The grenades come in clips of
7. The switches on the walls can also be activated with the grenades. You
fire bullets with the first trigger and grenades with the second (option by
default).

The grenade will hurt you if it explodes too close. This may happen if you
shoot a nearby wall or an alien who is standing next to you.

By firing a grenade at your feet you will fly a few feet upwards which is
sometimes the only way to get up to a ledge (see grenade hopping)


E) SPNKR-X17 SSM Launcher

This is a rocket launcher, only available on the network level of the demo
(see below). Very powerful, but must be reloaded every two shots. The
explosion is a huge blast, which will kill a bunch of aliens if they're
close to each other. Like the grenade launcher, you will die yourself if
you shoot an alien with a rocket if he is standing close to you. Switches
can also be activated with the rocket launcher.


F) TOZT-7 Backpack Napalm Unit (flame-thrower)

The flame-thrower is on the second level of the demo and on the network
level. It is quite difficult to get, but it is possible (see below); on the
network level it is rather easy to find. Very powerful, all the aliens die
instantly when they're fired with this. However, this has no effect
whatsoever on the compilers and the range of the flame-thrower is quite
limited. But nothing beats the flame-thrower if you come across a large
group of bugs. One napalm canister can supply fuel to about 7 seconds of
continuous flame.


G) UNKNOWN WEAPON CLASS system error 0xFFBD

This is the same as "Alien Weapon" was in the beta. It is purple with no
discernible shape. This weapon can only be obtained by cheating. As
ammunition this uses Pirated Copland Betas. You can't find Pirated Copland
Betas in the game, but you can give them to yourself by cheating. Powerful,
fast, accurate. And nonexistent, at least to the honest player. This does
NOT have unlimited ammo as I believed earlier, but it reloads extremely
quickly. But if you let your Pirated Copland Betas go down to zero, it is
possible to keep firing with the weapon; but if you then switch to another
weapon the alien weapon vanishes from your inventory.



7. Inconsistencies


A) Gravity & physics

In Marathon the gravity that affects you seems to be very light (this might
be understandable since we're on a spaceship here). But I do not understand
how I can turn around while in air after a jump. It is fun, though.


B) Explosions

Gunfire lights up a dark room, which is a very nice touch to the game.
However, explosions (such as grenades and missiles) do not light up the
room, although one would assume their lighting capacity would be much
greater than that of a pistol.


C) Climbing

You can't climb in Marathon, not even chest-height. You have to fire a
grenade at your feet to get even a foot off ground.


D) Lack of furniture

There is no furniture in any of the rooms in Marathon. Where does the crew
normally sit, eat, sleep, work...?



8. How to's


A) Jumping

You can't actually jump in Marathon - what is usually called jumping is
actually running off a ledge. Sometimes this involves firing a grenade (see
Grenade hopping).


B) Grenade hopping

To get on a ledge at chest-height, you need to fire a grenade at your feet
and the explosion will throw you upwards. This procedure is called grenade
hopping.


C) Activating switches

The "normal" way to activate a switch is to stand beside it facing the
switch and pressing the activate key (tab by default)., However, you can
also activate the switches by punching it with your fist, firing a grenade
or a rocket at it or firing a "Turbo shot" with a Fusion Pistol (see
Weapons: Fusion Pistol)


D) Punching

You can simply punch by standing still and pressing the first trigger when
you have fists selected as your weapon. A much more powerful method is to
run-punch, that is, run towards an alien and when you are close enough for
your hand to reach (but as far away as possible), punch. The alien might
die after the first punch. Apparently, a punch does more damage to a
"sleeping" alien also. Switches can also be activated by punching.


9. Performance notes

From the DON'T READ ME file:

There are a few things you can do if you need to speed up the animation in
Marathon.

- Run Marathon in 100%, 75%, or 50% to make the animation smoother. The
smaller the window, the faster the animation.

- Low Resolution setting will increase game speed. The every other line
setting will further speed the Low Resolution setting (especially on
machines with slow VRAM, such as Powerbooks). Turning off floor and/or
ceiling textures will also increase speed. Note that you can only do this
with 256 colors, not thousands.

- Make sure nothing is running in the background (i.e. open applications,
print monitor, control panels, etc...)

- To increase performance, use fewer sound channels. The number of sound
channels is the number of sounds that can be played simultaneously. The
stereo sound option effectively doubles the number of sounds that can be
played at once. Since the sound manager is not native on the Power Mac,
using 3 or more sound channels will greatly impede performance. (Don't
blame us. Native sound manager should be available before too long.)




============================
III Secrets (spoiler alert!)
============================


1. Level 1: Arrival!


A) The Bob in the maze

There is a single human in prison in the maze. You can go free him, but it
is of no use. If you kill him, a new one will appear in 10 or so minutes.
Here's how to get to him:

Activate the switch in the stairs near the first save-game terminal. Walk
on the ledge; now you will be able to reach the other corner of the ledge.
Open the door (tab) with the Marathon symbol on it and enter the maze. Walk
until you come to an intersection, turn right and right again; walk up a
couple of steps. There is a secret door to the right of you (you will see a
flashing square in the map (M-key) showing the location of this poor
fellow). The Bob is behind this door, but that's all there is. No weapons,
no ammo, no secret doors. And you get no points for freeing him, at least
not in the demo.

Here's how to kill the poor fellow through the door:

Make sure the bob is as close as possible to the door. Lure it there by
opening the door, if necessary. Close the door and punch repeatedly. You'll
soon hear a scream and a sliding body. Open the door to see the body on the
floor. That bob is free at last.



B) The secret ammo room

There is a secret ammo room on level 1. You can see it on the map at the
first terminal that you find when you start the game. Here's how to get
there:

Go first by the secret door to the bob in the maze (see the previous
entry). Run over the hallway you just came along, but turn diagonally to
the right. You will land on the other side of the hallway on an another
ledge. Turn right (run straight over yet another hallway) and walk along
the corridor. Kill the Compiler (the alien in the gown) at the end, and
view the terminal if you wish. Turn back to where you came from and turn
left - you will arrive at a door; open it. There is a big room which as
aliens in the bottom. You might want to jump down or kill them from the
ledge, but they should all be dead before you continue.

When the room is empty of aliens, open the door again (if you jumped down,
you have to walk a long way to get back up), take a few steps back and run
and turn left in the air until you land on the ledge left from the door
(you might also try jumping first on the other side of the room on the
opposite ledge, it is possible to jump from that ledge to this one, too).
The secret door is about halfway of the ledge you're standing on.

Alternatively, and much more simply, just run out of the door and turn
around instantly; you will end up in front of the secret door. If you wait
in the upper passage, and move in and out of the doorway, you can probably
get the aliens to fight each other. This is always a good idea.



2. Level 2: Bigger Guns Nearby


A) The TOZT-7 Backpack Napalm Unit (the flame-thrower)

I assume you have gotten to the room with the switch that lifts the stairs
up. Get onto the elevator that lifted you up there. On the opposite side of
the room from the elevator there is a corridor near the ceiling of the
room; the flame-thrower is located there. There are also two invisible
compilers up in the corridor, fire a few grenades to kill them first.

Next turn around, so that your back faces the corridor (you might want to
align yourself with the corridor using the map, M-key by default). Look as
much down as you can. Start running backwards and fire a grenade or two in
the air (do this a moment later you start running); you should be able to
land on the ledge. This will most likely take several tries before you make
it, but it is certainly possible. By the way, the flame-thrower won't hurt
the compilers (the aliens in the gowns).

You can also come from the other side (running along the ledge) and shoot a
grenade into the ground while moving forward, then turn in midair. It is
easier to see where I'm going, but it does mean you lose 60% or so shields.


B) The Infrared Scanner (ISEEYOU)

There is an infrared scanner that lets you see the dark corners of the
rooms for a few minutes located on a passageway between two large rooms on
the second level. This object looks like a square that has a ball in the
center and is blue in color (if I remember correctly). The ledge is about
chest-height, but you cannot climb there. Instead, you need to look down
and fire a grenade at your feet, the blast should throw you up there. You
need good shields so that you won't die in the attempt. Usually the
infrared scanner is not worth the trouble, IMHO, at least not in the demo -
the real game might be different.



3. Level 3: Blaspheme Quarantine


A) I'm stuck in the very beginning; can't find an exit!

There are stairs leading down in the end of the pillar that has the two
terminals (one for recharging the shield and one for activating the
elevator at the bottom of these stairs).


B) How to get to/open the door in the large square room?

Go activate the switch that starts the elevator up to the tunnel that leads
to the ledge. This switch is located on the outer wall of the "building" in
the center - walk around the center and at a certain point there is an
indention in the wall with a light switch and the switch to turn on this
elevator. This lift is located in the middle of the "building".

Get on the elevator and run over the hallway below, you'll land on the
ledge. But be sure to kill the bunch of aliens on the ledge before your
jump (actually, you cannot jump, just run over the corridor). The door on
the left should be open now, but there is ammo at the other end of the
ledge. Run there and back, you should be able to get the ammo and go
through the door.

If the door at the left end of the ledge closes before you get there, just
run back across to the passage in the central block, turn around, and run
out to the ledge again. The door will be open once more.


C) How do I solve the puzzle?

Very simple. All you have to do is activate the switch that lifts the last
of the elevators: turn right, walk to the end of the ledge, and activate
the leftmost switch. Then run towards toe furthest of the four elevators
(you'll fall down from the ledge first, but it won't hurt).

If you want to do it the "right" and less stressful way, try this:

Wait for the only moving elevator to start up, then flick all three of the
other elevator switches. Walk leisurely out along the path they make for
you, run across the gap to the last one, and stroll into the teleporter.


D) There is a button in a corridor in the middle of the square room

This is correct. It opens to door to the last room, which contains the
terminal that ends the game. This door is located near the first place on
this level where you can recharge you shields in the very beginning of
level 3. You can activate this switch and go to final room, but you won't
be able to finish the demo without exploring the whole level.



4. Network play level: Mars Needs Women


A) How do I get to the hidden corridor and what do the switches do?

Enter the circular room with the staircase on the wall going nowhere. Go
out of there towards the greenish area with the elevators. Turn right into
the second short corridor and press tab (or whatever you have set as the
action key) in the end - a secret door should open. There are 4 different
switches at the end of 4 separate corridors. These switches are used to
turn on/off the white lights on the walls in some places, such as the
stairs going to the second floor. Not much use IMHO, except maybe when you
have the infrared goggles.


B) Where are the weapons?

There are many weapons such as the assault rifle and fusion pistol lying
around in many locations, but there is only one of the flame thrower and
the missile launcher.

The missile launcher is in hte hidden corridor (see the previous entry).
However, you have to pick up a rocket before hte launcher appears in the
corridodor. If another player has grabbed it, it won't reappear
there until this person has died - the same goes for other items as well.

The flame thrower unit is located just past the room with the stairs to
nowhere. Take the first elevator to the right (you have to turn 90
clockwise while in the elevator, this will put you in the correct
orientation to leave at the top) , the TOZT unit should (if it's there, it
goes by the same whimsical rules as the SSM launcher being in the secret
corridor) be immediately in front of you.


C) Super Shield

Occasionally a shimmering disk can be found at the levels reached via the
green-walled elevators. This is a "super shield", that makes you shimmer
like the Compilers when you hit them. This blocks pretty much any attack
EXCEPT fusion pistol. The fusion pistol cuts right through it.


D) Carnage Central

This is the central hall of the level. Note that you can jump from the
upper ledge to the lower ones (see Jumping).


E) Are there any terminals on the network level?

None have been found. This means that you can't save the game or reload
your shields on the network level, single or group game.


F) Is there a window in the roof of the room prior to the maze with the
spiral staircase?

The guess is that this is true or else there is a force field to keep in
the atmosphere.




=====================
IV Technical problems
=====================


1. The background music won't work

There are several things that could cause this. Check the following first:

- You must have QuickTime 2.0 or newer and QuickTime Musical Instruments in
your Extensions folder.

- Music requires memory. Try allocating Marathon Demo 6000K or more memory,
especially if you use 16-bit (thousands of colors) graphics. Also, if
you're not able to use 16 bit graphics although you should have enough
VRAM, try allocating more memory if you can spare it. Marathon seems to run
fine with RAM Doubler installed. Marathon might require up to 8000K.

- To use stereo sound, you need Sound Manger 3.0 or newer.

Sound Manager is available via anonymous ftp at several locations on the
net (see Where can I get it), but QT 2.0 is not. You can obtain the needed
files from the CD version of System 7.5 or purchase QT 2.0 separately.
QuickTime 1.6.2 is the newest QT that can be found on the net. That version
will not help with Marathon music, though.

If your music still doesn't work, you might try allocating Marathon a
little less memory, so that after launching it there will still be about
500K - 1Mb free for the system. The logic behind this is that the system
needs some memory for creating the sound channels, etc. So on a 8 Mb
machine the system takes about 1,5 Mb, allocate Marathon about 6 Mb and
leave 500K - 1Mb for other purposes. If it still doesn't work, try
consulting your physician for hearing problems ;-)


2. Bugs & conflicts


A) Mouse & Keyboard/Keyboard control

If you select Mouse&Keyboard control from the preferences dialog box, you
can't change it back anymore. You need to trash the Marathon Preferences
file from the Preferences folder in your System folder and launch Marathon
again to fix this. You can switch from Keyboard to Mouse&Keyboard only, but
not back.


B) Screen savers

Marathon and After Dark (or many other screen savers) don't like each
other. You might be able to launch Marathon Demo and play it, but upon
quitting you might get a message saying "Application 'unknown' has
unexpectedly quit." and your system might became very unstable and crash
soon. It appears to exist with old and new versions of After Dark as well
as several other screen savers, such as Darkside. To be technical, all
screen savers that install a 'SAVC' Gestalt selector might exhibit the same
problem. This will be fixed in the release version (or so Bungie says).


C) Looking down

Quite often when playing you can't seem to look down except for maybe 15
or so. It is quite annoying, especially in the staircases. I know of no
other fix for this except to look all the way up and back down again. This
happens only when playing with the mouse and does not appear while playing
with the keyboard. I do not know exactly what has to be done to replicate
this, but it is really common whatsoever.


D) Multiple monitors

Currently you can't set the monitor you want to run Marathon on. Setting
the monitor to 1-bit depth doesn't help. If you have a newer monitors
control panel, you can change the monitor with that. If you don't have it,
you have to disconnect your main monitor or make the play monitor your main
monitor and reboot.


E) 'A' key stops working

If you use the 'a' key for something like glance left, turn left, or
sidestep left, you'll often be left with no way to perform that motion. It
stops working for some reason on some machines. The only way to fix it is
to trash the Marathon Preferences file, but the problem will recur. The
best way to avoid this bug is not to use the 'a' key for anything.


F) Quadra 630 acceleration

Your monitor must be in 640x480 mode to use the Q630 acceleration -if it
isn't the screen won't center properly.


G) Save game dialog box

If you use software to change the size or location of the standard Save
dialog box, such as DialogView or OpenWide, the screen will not be
correctly updated after saving or opening a saved game. Press F1-F4
(depending on your screen setting) to fix the situation. This bug will be
fixed in the release version,


H) Cursor on screen

Sometimes after accessing a terminal, the cursor stays on the screen, near
the upper left-hand corner of the 3-D -view. It disappears after accessing
a Patter Buffer (a save-game terminal), but appears again after accessing
any other terminal. Currently I don't know what causes this behavior.


I) Net play

Sometimes the game will present the carnage report before the 5 minutes are
up. Usually, the other player can just keep on playing. This only happens
during net play.


J) Microphone

I have heard reports that the microphone won't work on PowerMacs (I don't
have one so I can't verify). It might help if you set both preferred and
minimum memory requirements to something big (such as 8 Mb), but this
hasn't helped everybody.

On 68K Macs the microphone works OK, though.


K) AppleTalk Remote Access

Network play over ARA doesn't work on the demo nor will it work on the
first release version. But they're working on this, Bungie said they don't
fix this yet because the release of the game would be delayed if they did.


L) Speedy Mouse

An extension called Speedy Mouse that doubles the speed of the cursor will
cause the 3-D view to wiggle in Marathon. Boot without it or press down the
Caps Lock key to prevent this. Of course, the screen won't wiggle if you're
playing with the keyboard.


==========
V Cheating
==========



1. Starting at any level

By holding down the command and option keys while pressing the Begin New
Game -button, you can start your game at any level. Enter a number from 0
to 3 in the box, 0 means level 1, 1 means 2, etc. Level 3 is the network
level.


2. Editing the save game file

Eggert Thorlacius ([e-mail]) has written Marathon Cheat 1.0, which
lets you give yourself 32000 of any weapon/ammo item in Marathon. It is
unknown whether this will work on the final version, but on the demo it
works fine. This program is available on the standard ftp sites such as
sumex. You can also do this with MaraCheat0.1b, which sets all these
attributes to the maximum automatically, but this program works on
PowerMacs ONLY. MaraCheat 0.2b is fat binary, though and will run on 68K
Macs, too. But I recommend using Marathon Cheat instead.


3. Keyboard codes

THESE WORK ON THE BETA (perhaps gamma) ONLY!!! The do NOT work on the demo.

By typing these codes slowly (about 1 key/second) while holding down the
control key, you get a get the effects described in the following table:

pzbxay     gives one an "alien weapon"
fisheye    gives one a fisheye pov
aslag      gives one the rocket launcher
ammo       replenishes one's ammunition
havesome   makes one invincible for a short time
level      shows one the NEXT two levels


4. Network game

You can ResEdit the Marathon Demo application to let yourselves play more
than 5 minutes of network game (info supplied by Kevin Unck):

Okay, I have figured out how to replace the five minute time limit in
the Demo.  I can also select the unlimited game instead of the timed
game.  Here is how you accomplish both.  They are both done at the same
location in the code resource, you just enter different values.

Find the following offset in CODE 16:  000DC0

The value in the demo is 0000 2328.  This represents 5 minutes.

If you want unlimited time change 0000 2328 to 7FFF FFFF at both locations.

If you want to change the time limit of the game, you need to calculate
the hex value for the time you want to play.  Take the minutes you want to
play and multiple that by 1800.  You then need to convert this number to
hex.  10 minutes is 4650.  If I get time I will post some more converted
times.  The hex value that you come up with will replace 2328 in both
location.  If the value is longer than two bytes, it will start replacing
the preceding 0000.  i.e..  If you want to play a ten minute game, replace
0000 2328 with 0000 4650 in both locations.

Have fun and be careful.  Please make a copy of the demo before you go
messing with it.  I am not responsible if anything goes wrong with your
demo or your machine.  It works fine on my machine.

***NOTE:  You only need to do this to the copy that will gather the net
game.  The other machine can run a virgin demo.

You can express your appreciation for all my hard work by supporting
Bungie and buying the full version.  I think it is a great game.

NOTE: To patch the PPC code of the program, here's how to do that:

Open Marathon in Norton Utilities disk edit, or anyting else that
will modify the data fork. Search for this hex value: 38C02328

Change the 2328 to 7FFF for unlimited time or modify it
according to the previous patch for calculating time.



================
VI Miscellaneous
================



1. When will the release version be available?

The demo was released in the end of November 1994. Bungie says the release
version will be in stores in the beginning of December, 1994. On the other
hand, they were three  months late with their demo...

2. Network play

Network play is possible over LocalTalk, TokenTalk or Ethernet connection.
It won't work over Appletalk Remote Access (see IV 2:Bugs). I have heard
someone managed to play over IPRemote, but since I don't even know what
that is, I will not say anything about it.

You can try the network level on your own if you wish (See Cheating:
Starting at any level.)

The network game in the demo is also limited to 5 minutes and 2 players.
To patch this see Cheating: Network game. Note that the network single game
(See Cheating: Starting at any level) is not restricted to 5 minutes of
play.


3. Can I play the network level on my own?

Yes. See "Cheating: Starting at any level" above.


4. I died and can't continue!

Yes, you can: press the tab key (or whatever you have set as your action
key).


5. The self-playing demo

If you don't do anything at the startup screen for a couple of minutes, the
game will start on its own to demonstrate you the capabilities of the game.
In the network demo, the name of the player can be seen on the left blow
the oxygen and shield indicators. By pressing the "delete" key you can view
the same situation from the perspective of the other player(s).


6. How can I make film other than level 1?

You have to start your game on the level you want to make the film of. This
is done by holding the command and option keys down while pressing the
Begin Game -button (see Cheating).


7. Why can't I run in high-resolution, 256 colors or with textures OFF with
my Quadra/LC/Performa 630?

Turning on Quadra 630 acceleration locks in low-res/thousands mode. The
other options are grayed out. Turn off 630 acceleration to change them.

Thousands of colors mode automatically uses textures. You can only turn
textures on and off in 256 color mode.


8. Marathon on a 12" screen

This info supplied by Christopher Lishka ([e-mail])

After trying a number of things (including searching through disassembled
Marathon Demo CODE resources), I have found a fairly simple solution to get
the Marathon Demo to work on computers with small screens. It might cost
you some money in the long run, but at least it makes it possible.

Disclaimer: I do not endorse, condone, or even acknowledge ;-) this method.
If your monitor or computer or little brother blows up because of this
method, remember that you took the risks yourselves. I will not be held
responsible for any damage caused by this method, nor do I recommend using
this method.

OK, that being said, on to the description. I played the Marathon Demo for
a few hours last night on the 640x400 LCD screen last night, and tried
every level out. The Marathon Demo played quite well, although the lower 80
rows of pixels were missing (i.e. part of the radar and part of the
ammo/weapons list were off-screen).

Here's how I did it:

1. Go to your local info-mac mirror archive. In the "cfg" directory you
will find a handy configuration utility named "mini-screen-171-demo.hqx".
Download and expand this utility.

2. Mini-Screen is a little (and pricey!) utility that seems to cause your
Mac to report a different monitor size than it really has. Supposedly this
is to allow you to use smaller virtual screens on a big monitor. The demo
that is distributed has a built-in expiration date -- the real utility
costs $39.95 (ouch!), and the demo contains instructions on how to order
it. Note that as distributed, Mini-Screen seems to have an expiration date
well before 30-Nov-1994. I had to set the date back on my Mac to even try
the demo out.

 After you have unpacked mini-screen, install it according to instructions.
Basically, put the mini-screen control panel in your Control Panels folder
and reboot. (If mini-screen has already expired, then you will have to set
your date back and reboot again to try it out.) When your machine is up
again, run the mini-screen control panel and manually type in "480" for the
vertical size of the monitor. (Note that the pop-up menu won't work for
this purpose.) Reboot again to get mini-screen to take effect.

3. The Marathon Demo should now run. HOWEVER, there is one more thing you
will need to do if you want to be able to edit the keystrokes. Run ResEdit
(standard ResEdit disclaimers apply here!) and find the dialog resource
that defines the layout for the keystroke edit screen. Open it. "Select
All" and move all buttons up to the top of the screen. Close this when you
are finished.

 The reason you need this step is because the "OK" button which lets you
get out of the keystroke edit screen in Marathon tends to go way off a
640x400 monitor, leaving now way to get out of the dialog. Fiddling with
the resource as described above moves the button onto the screen (well, it
does on my screen).

This is all I had to do to get Marathon up and running. Folks with monitors
smaller than 640x400 may need to do additional fiddling to get everything
to work. Note that I know of no way to actually reposition the screen
elements in the normal game mode (i.e. the weapons/ammo list and the
radar). If somebody knows of a way to do this, then please speak up.

Also, if you plan to use mini-screen, then it is politic to pay for it.
Alternately, if somebody knows how to cook up a small init or control panel
to cause a Mac to report a standard 640x480 screen, please let me know or
write a quick init to do this and distribute it. I would do this myself,
but I am not a Mac guru and do not know what to fiddle.


9. Is there any way to change the difficulty of saved games?

No. Maybe this feature will be included in the cheating applications or
level editors, but at the moment it is not know how to do this.


10. Hints

- Switches can be activated with your fist, fusion pistol (turbo shot only,
see Weapons: Fusion Pistol), or grenades.
- The terminal often contain maps of the levels
- For many technical problems, allocating more memory (up to 8000K) will
help. If you can't get background music to play, if you can't get enough
colors on screen, if your microphone ceases to work, allocate more memory
(see Technical problems section)
- Make your run key Caps Lock, and run everywhere.
- Optimize your keyboard layout (see Controls)


11. Thanks & contributor list

Bungie
comp.sys.mac.games
Jamal Hannah ([e-mail])
Petteri Sulonen
Jake McGuire ([e-mail])
Simon K. Boocock ([e-mail])
Richard Johnson ([e-mail])
Eric Garneau ([e-mail])
[e-mail] (jere7my tho?rpe)
cpt kangarooski ([e-mail] )
Ishir Bhan ([e-mail])
Christopher Lishka ([e-mail])
Alan D. Earhart ([e-mail])
Gregory Jackson ([e-mail] )
Steven K. Sharp ([e-mail])
Chris Feist ([e-mail])
Chris Jones ([e-mail])
[e-mail] (Evil Trump [tm])
Steve Moy ([e-mail])
Jason Townsend ([e-mail])
Krishna Kant ([e-mail])
Kevin Unck ([e-mail])
James M Wheeldon ([e-mail])
Joseph Zell ([e-mail])

--
Aapo Puskala, [e-mail] *** University of Helsinki, Finland
Kirjatyontekijankatu 6 B 36, 00170 Helsinki, Finland, tel. [phone]
  A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking.