Pfhorte. The first, and the greatest Marathon map maker. Pfhorte debuded back in the dark ages of editing. We were all still learning and developing our new skills. Then, Steve Israelson came out with Pfhorte. The early versions came and went unnoticed. But soon, when Pfhorte had reached its 8th version, a deluge of map makers started using it, amazed by it's flexibility and ease of use. Maps flooded AOL and the internet, and more new editors appeared to add their ideas to the field.

							  As Pfhorte progressed, it matured. New versions came out, fixing bugs and adding new features, such as the inspector. Pfhorte was very unlike other editors. It's main rival, MIA! used polygons as the base, a fact which would soon hamper it, rather than hinder it. Pfhorte used the point and the line, which gave it's users the ability to do whatever they wanted. Also, Pfhorte has more a more graphical interface. editors could see which textures they were using, something that MIA! lacked. That feature alone sold Pfhorte for many people.

        The entire time Pfhorte was out, it was free. Mr. Israelson never once charged for his product, and slaved away so that we could make maps without any reward and little thanks. By doing so, he opened map making to hundreds of people, and made the entire bussiness more enjoyable.

         Pfhorte continues on, becoming an increasingly fine tuned machine. Scripting was added, which made ediiting into a breeze by making many common objects such as doors and recharges at the click of a button. The program reached into the twenties.

 


         After a long and sucessful carrer, Pfhorte moved on into Marathon Two soon after the demo came out.  Players were delighted at the ease of which they could create the liquids from M2, called 'medias.' The early versions went well, and were mainly bug free.

         Then, as Pfhorte2.0 moved on into double digits, disaster struck. Many people began reporting bugs and inexplicable crashes. Some became dishertened and gave up, while others resorted to making M1 maps and converting them to M2, a lengthy and dull process.

         And yet, some remained loyal, working hard to create new maps with the struggling Pfhorte. 

         Soon after the trouble began, Bungie announced it's newest product, Marathon Infinity. This would add new levels to Marathon, would include a strategy guide for M2 by Tuncer Denez, and most importantly, would include Bungie's map editor. The Marathon populace gave out a cry of joy. 'Now we can really make maps!' they said. 

        Version 2.a14 arrived, despite the fact that Infinity would soon be here. As of this date, it is the only editor available for M2. If Marathon Infinity goes the way of the 20/10 pack (a M1 supplement that was never released), we will be in trouble. We can only hope that Bungie will pull through and release their editor, and soon, because I for one am starved for new maps.

         But let us not forget Steve Israelson, who pioneered his way into the editing biz and gave us a wonderful tool to get us going, and with which we could excel in making maps. On behalf of the DMMC and map makers all over the country, I would like to extend my warmest thanks for all the hard work Mr. Israelson has done for us. We all wish you good luck in any further programming ventures that you undertake, and thank you again.