Inside Mac Games Volume 3 #1 & #2

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Inside Mac Games Volume 3 #1 & #2 / IMG 24 JanFeb 1995.iso / More Goodies / Walkthrough's & FAQ's / □Marathon FAQ 2.0 next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-12-12 | 48.8 KB | 1,275 lines | [TEXT/CIM ]

============ Marathon FAQ ============ Version 2.0, 11th December 1994 Aapo Puskala (Aapo.Puskala@Helsinki.fi or puskala@kruuna.helsinki.fi) 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 the last version (1.8)? - Added where to find QT 2.0 on the net. - Several modifications & corrections to the Controls section. - Another way of getting the flame thrower added. - It was found out why the Rocket Launcher didn't always appear on the network level. - Recorded games can be speeded up & slowed down while watching them (using the bracket keys) - A fix in the network time patch for PowerMacs - Added a hint for PowerBook 500 series users - Numerous minor corrections ================= Table of Contents ================= I What is Marathon? 1. The story so far... 2. Where can I get it? A) Marathon Demo B) Sound Manager 3.0 C) QuickTime 2.0 & QuickTime Musical Instruments 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 D) The self-playing demo controls E) Reversing mouse control 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. Features & imperfections 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) C) Faster termination of the level 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) FISHEYE E) Carnage Central F) Are there any terminals on the network level? G) 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 game patch A) 680x0-based Macs B) PowerMacs 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. Hint for PowerBook 500 series users 10. Is there any way to change the difficulty of saved games? 11. Hints 12. 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 THIS 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 THIS 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? ----------------------- A) Marathon Demo 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. B) Sound Manager 3.0 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 C) QuickTime 2.0 & QuickTime Musical Instruments These files can be acquired from ftp.radius.com: 1. hook up to ftp.radius.com 2. go to pub/radius/software/mac/Videovision 3. download VVision2.0Images.sea.hqx (this file is almost 3 megs) 4. download DiskDup+.sea.hqx 5. log off and expand both of the files 6. double click on DiskDup+. 7. When it says "looking for master," click on "hard drive" and select "System Extensions v.2.0" from the new "VideoVision 2.0 Images" folder. When it says "looking for copy," insert an HD disk that you don't need into the machine. 8. When it's done (I got an error message for the verify process; it worked fine when I ignored it), quit and double click on your HD floppy disk. Among other files, QuickTime 2.0 should now be on the disk. Copy it to your Extensions folder and delete or move your existing QuickTime extension. 9. Repeat steps 6-8 with the "VidVision Installer v.2.0" file instead of the "System Extensions v.2.0" file used last time. And this time, instead of getting QuickTime 2.0 on your disk, you should have a copy of QuickTime Musical Instruments. An alternative route: 4. decode the hqx sea file if necessary. 5. use some disk image mounter; I recommen ShrinkWrap* by Chad Magendanz, but mountImage, Drop%Disk, etc.... should be fine. 6. On one of the disks is QT2.0 & the PowerPlug for PPCs. On another in the Musical instruments file. ------------------- 3. Bungie's address ------------------- Bungie Software Products Corporation P.O. Box 7877 Chicago, Il 60680-7877 (312) 563-6200 Fax: (312) 563-0545 America Online: Bungie1 eWorld: BungieCorp AppleLink: BUNGIE Internet: BUNGIE1@aol.com =================== 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 corner 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 THIS file and the text in the terminals :-). ----------- 3. Controls ----------- If you use either the AppleDesign keyboard or the Apple Adjustable keyboard, the computer only recognizes two keys held down simultaneously, plus the modifier keys (shift, option, control, command). This means that you should use as much modifier keys as your controls as possible. A useful tip for all keyboards is to use the Caps Lock key as your run key - you can run all the time without holding down an extra key If you use the command key as one of your controls, be sure not to use the period, P, Q or W as any control, since these keys have a special function in the game (if pressed while holding down the command key). Also, if you do have the Adjustable keyboard and you are using keys on the island and the main keyboard, you will cause problems because they are treated as separate devices, and hitting a key on one will cause the other to stop sending data. 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 an example. A) Example Controls Forward 8 W Turn Left 4 A (see Bugs!) 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: Key Function 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. D) The self-playing demo controls 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). You can slow down or speed up the demo by pressing the left and right bracket keys ({ or }) E) Reversing mouse control Some people have proposed, that there should be a way to reverse x-axis controls on the mouse, i.e. when you move the mouse up (away from you), your gun would point down - this is how the controls are in almost all flight simulators. I have not seen a satisfactory solution for this yet. ------------------- 4. Alien characters ------------------- A) Soldiers These creatures are sometimes called bugs, hunters or fighters, but in this text they are referred to as 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. Each different color alien is of a different race among the same species. That is, we should see 13 more species aliens, each probably with multiple races (colors). 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 -Eif 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 frienly or 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 n the left and one on the right hand. However, there is no second pistol to be foun 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 Class. Only one can be in use at a time, however. The fusion pistol uses fusion batteries that can supply power for 20 shots. If you fire this weapon using the 2nd trigger (option by default), the gun willload 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. Note that you can move about when the turbo-shot is loaded. 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 (or other players) 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, 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. This weapon is 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. Features & imperfections --------------------------- 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 the 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, but this probably due to the fact that it is much easier to run-punch them when they are stationary. Switches can also be activated by punching. -------------------- 9. Performance notes -------------------- From the DON'T READ THIS 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 you're going, but you lose 60% or so shields. There's yet another way of getting the Napalm Unit: approach the ledge beside the elevator - your back will face the button that makes the stairs go up. Go as close to the corridor with the flame-thrower as possible, at an angle that you can still see the corridor entrance. Turn around so that your back faces the corridor and point your grenade launcher at the ground. Walk backwards and fire a grenade as soon as you're in the air. 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; the square is gray and the ball is tan. 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. C) Faster termination of the level If you do not need the flame thrower, you don't have to walk all the way to the button that lifts the stairs. Since there is no window between the button and the stairs that rise (there is just an opening in the wall), a well-placed grenade will lift the stairs for you. -------------------------------- 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 the 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. These switches can come in handy, if your team is planning on launching an assault -Eone member would turn off the lights and the other (with the infrared goggles) would destroy the enemy team. 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 the hidden corridor (see the previous entry). However, you need to pick up a rocket before it appears there. 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. Having the Super Shield is sometimes referred to as being invincible or static man. Bungie has not informed us what they want us to call it. D) FISHEYE Occasionally on the second floor of the network level there is a square object with a spherical middle that gives you 180! vision (like the FISHEYE cheat gave you in the beta). This is correct, it is a function of the game, Enjoy! E) 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). F) Are there any terminals on the network level? Yes, but they do not function. This means that you can't save the game or reload your shields on the network level, single or group game. G) Is there a window in the roof of the room prior to the maze with the spiral staircase? Yes. If you shoot up there, your bullets will hit the window. I believe it is impossible to break the window, though ===================== 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 -Eif 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 Pattern 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 (eggth@ismennt.is) 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 patch --------------------- You can ResEdit the Marathon Demo application to let yourselves play more than 5 minutes of network game (info supplied by Kevin Unck). Note that the "5 minutes" in the dialog box will not change; it will always say 5 minutes. Also, there is a tiny application "Marathon Demo Network Hack" to do this patch. A) 680x0-based Macs Find the following offset if 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. 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. 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. 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. B) PowerMacs You will need a program that can edit the DATA FORK of the Marathon Demo. Open the DATA FORK. Search for the following hex code: 38C0232890DE000463630000. For unlimited time change the hex code to read: 38C0FFFF90DE000463637FFF. To set a time limit: 38C0232890DE000463630000, where 2328 is (TIME IN MINUTES * 1800) = 9000 then convert to HEX So to set a time use the above and remember to convert to hex, then replace the 2328 with the new time limit. ================ 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, which is a program that wraps up AppleTalk packets in TCP packets so you can do things like use AppleShare over the Internet. 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. I have not heard of a patch around this. 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). ------------------------------------------ 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 (lishka@dxcern.cern.ch). 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 as 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. Hint for PowerBook 500 series users -------------------------------------- Since Marathon doesn't support 640x400, you can't run at Thousands on the 540c built-in display. You can use this limitation to your advantage to force Marathon onto your external display (looks better than the built-in LCD). Go into the Monitors control panel, select options, then 640x400 mode, close the control panel, then open up Marathon and it will use the external display. ------------------------------------------------------------- 10. 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. --------- 11. 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) - Optimize your keyboard layout (see Controls) ----------------------------- 12. Thanks & contributor list ----------------------------- Bungie comp.sys.mac.games Jamal Hannah (jamal@bronze.lcs.mit.edu) Petteri Sulonen Jake McGuire (jmeu@andrew.cmu.edu) Simon K. Boocock (sb83+@andrew.cmu.edu) Richard Johnson (Richard.Johnson@Colorado.EDU) Eric Garneau (garneau@IRO.UMontreal.CA) jthorpe1@cc.swarthmore.edu (jere7my tho?rpe) cpt kangarooski (st942593@pip.cc.brandeis.edu ) Ishir Bhan (ibhan@fas.harvard.edu) Christopher Lishka (lishka@dxcern.cern.ch) Alan D. Earhart (aearhart@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) Gregory Jackson (zu02203@uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu ) Steven K. Sharp (sksharp@cts.com) Chris Feist (cfeist@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca) Chris Jones (jonesc@cshl.org) zeade@leland.Stanford.EDU (Evil Trump [tm]) Steve Moy (steven_moy@brown.edu) Jason Townsend (JasonTownsend@mail.utexas.edu) Krishna Kant (kkant@ugcs.caltech.edu) James M Wheeldon (jmwheeld@midway.uchicago.edu) Joseph Zell (Maverick@uiuc.edu) Kevin Unck (kevin@pomona.edu) Ilkka Larma (Ilkka_Larma@fimug.fi) Jonathan Rynd (jrr7@cornell.edu ) Drew Dowling (dowling@netcom.com) Petteri Sulonen (psulonen@kruuna.helsinki.fi) D. Earl (dearl@picosof.com) Chip Moody (AFCChip@aol.com) Jeffrey D Sessler (SnoopJeff@aol.com) Kevin Altis (altis@city.net) Carl Liebold (carl@interramp.com) -- Aapo Puskala, Aapo.Puskala@Helsinki.FI *** University of Helsinki, Finland Kirjatyontekijankatu 6 B 36, 00170 Helsinki, Finland, tel. +358-0-278 1345 A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking.