I've used a previous version- what do I need to know?
If the last version you used was 1.0d1, you must throw away the old preferences file- I've changed how it's written so things can get screwed up if you don't. You must also rename all your modules and transfer them to their proper folders. The easiest way to do this is to run v1.0d1 one last time, and hit the Quit button. This clears out all your files.
What is it?
Marathon Runner (MR) is an application that makes it easier to manage all the different Marathon modules (accessory files) you might have accumulated. The usual way to do this involves a lot of copying, moving, renaming, and forgetting. I wrote MR to make this somewhat simpler- it moves files to their proper place and keeps track of their names so you don't have to.
It does this by looking for folders that contain the relevant modules and presenting a dialog with popup windows that allow you to more easily select the different modules you want to use. It then moves them to the same folder as Marathon, renames them, and launches Marathon.
OK, how do I use it?
The first time you run MR, you need to do a little setting up. Put MR in the same folder as Marathon. Marathon must be named "Marathon", so if you have "Marathon v1.2" or something else, either rename it or use ResEdit to alter the STR# resource in MR.
In that folder, create folders for all the different module types you want to control. MR tracks 6 different modules: Preferences, Map, Music, Physics, Shapes, and Sounds. The folders have to be named and placed as outlined below:
Marathon ƒ
Map folder
Marathon
Marathon Runner
Music folder
Physics folder
Prefs folder
Shapes folder
Sounds folder
Again, you can use ResEdit to change these if you don't like these names.
Now give all your modules descriptive names and put them in their respective folders. Don't forget your "Marathon Preferences" file! The first time MR runs, it checks to see if any modules with Bungie's blessed name lying loose. If it finds any, it'll warn you to rename it and move it to the proper folder.
Now run MR. You'll be presented with a dialog with popup menus for all the modules. Make your selection and hit 'Launch Marathon' to play with those modules.
What then?
MR doesn't clean up after you're done playing. This is so that if you want to play with the same set of modules, you can just launch Marathon normally. If you want to make some changes, however, just run MR again. It'll then clean up, renaming the modules to their original name and moving them back to their proper folders before presenting you with a dialog again.
If you hit the Quit button, MR will leave the Marathon folder clear of modules.
I only have one prefs file- do I really need to create a prefs folder?
Well, no. If a module is in-place, has the correct name, and no module folder exists, then MR will ignore that module. The popup-menu will show "<use current>" and be disabled.
Don't you have some disclaimers to tell me about?
First off, I'm not much of a programmer. The idea for this project came from my friend Scott, who pretty much mirrors amug's Marathon directory on his hard disk (ie lots and lots of modules). I'd originally planned on doing this in AppleScript, since that's a language I'm more familiar with, but Scott wanted popups and I didn't know if this could be done without something like FaceSpan (which I don't have) and I certainly didn't want to use HyperCard, because, well, it's HyperCard 8-). So I dove into a crash course in C and Macintosh programming.
Why am I telling you this? Well, like I said, I'm not much of a programmer so I can't make any guarantees that MR will work (I'm actually surprised that it does). Maybe it'll trash all your files. Maybe not. I've tried to throw every imaginable curveball at MR to see how it behaves, but I'm bound to have missed something. Try not to rename and move folders and modules in and out behind MR's back- MR will get confused then.
If you want to play it safe, back up your files first. Or, if you're really paranoid, check out Marathon File Manager or Marathon Mystifier- they do similar things and I'm sure they're written by better programmers than me.
That means this is a development version. I'm releasing this now because it basically does what it's supposed to with only one minor bugs that I know of: Marathon must be on the startup volume. This one's fixable but I have some more reading to do :(.
Error checking is not very robust- basically if MR gets confused, it'll throw up an alert and quit. It should just do nothing, or maybe leave some modules where they shouldn't be. In the worst case, it might rename a file incorrectly. You'll have to manually move & rename them then. If things really get screwy, try putting all the modules in their proper folders and throwing away the MR prefs.
Some things I'm hoping to have for the release version:
A cool "About..." box (high priority)
Error checking, error checking, error checking
Creation of "sets"
Modeless dialog
"Clean up" function
Nested searching
Setting for copying v. moving (safer? I certainly wouldn't want to wait for the Shapes file to copy, though)
Quit other open applications on demand
Switch monitor resolution on demand
Turn off file sharing on demand
????
So lemme know what you think.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Mike Leetmaa for technical assistance ("Mike, could you explain pointers to me again?"), Scott Johnson for creative input ("I got yer popups right here!"), and Guillaume Fortin, author of Marathon Mystifier, for technical discussion ("I got my Zip drive, nyah nyah nyah!"). And a big hello to all the kids in the AHABS and Chemistry zones here at the University of Wisconsin for providing target practice for me ("Did your corpse get a ceiling view or a floor view?" ).
Version History
1.0d5
- Released 18 April 1995
- Fixed problem where if module of wrong file type was found, menu building stopped prematurely
- Fixed chaos that resulted when a module had Bungie's blessed name within the module folder
- Added some checks for file renaming and moving calls
1.0d4
- Released 13 April 1995 (wee! 3rd one in less than 24 hours! What a f**king fiasco.)
- Hopefully fixed character restriction for file names in a manner suitable for PowerMacs
1.0d3
- Released 13 April 1995
- Fixed problem causing failure on PowerMacs
- Re-introduced module name character restriction bug as a result
1.0d2
- Released 13 April 1995
- Fixed STR# for Physics Model to "Physics Model" (not "Physics". Duh.)
- Revamped ALRTs (they're a little less cryptic)
- Changed format of preferences file- this will probably change every revision :-(
- Now filters folders for correct file types
- Put in "<none>" selection for Physics and Music
- Popups display last used modules upon open (i.e. defaults)
- Fixed menu building so files that have a "/" in them don't screw up the popups
- Ignores control of module types when no folder is present
