In the course of most human endeavors, there are milestones that forever
change the landscape, and mold the direction in which that endeavor goes
from that point on. Marathon is just such a milestone, in the field of
Macintosh action games.
With this creation, Bungie has given us a new way of looking at first person
action, and raised our expectations far beyond anything that came before.
Many third-party creations have been released to work with the Marathon
engine, and within the Marathon framework. There have been sound patches,
to alter (or augment) the sounds Bungie released with the game, music
patches, to add different background music, shape patches, to alter the
way some characters look, new maps, and entire reworkings of the Marathon
environment, with some combination of the above. They all fit into two
categories, though: enhancements made to fit into the Marathon storyline,
or enhancements made to alter the stock Bungie characters such that they
would fit into a new worldview. We asked:
Is there not a third alternative?
What if you left the Bungie characters alone, but changed their roles?
What law says that what Bungie calls Pfhor need to be Pfhor? Why are S'pht
the only possible role that Bungie's compilers can play?
What if you came up with an entirely new storyline, using Bungie's
environment, but not related whatsoever to the U.E.S.C. Marathon? Would
people play it?
...enter an adventure where what you are used to calling Pfhor are
bloodthirsty pirates, roaming the stars for whatever they can steal. Those
you have known as S'pht, or compilers, are Galaxans here, mysterious
aliens from another place who hold no malice for humans, but don't like to
be crossed. You are still a U.E.S.C. Marine, but the Marathon is not a
part of your past. The scenery may look familiar, but make no mistake,
you've never been here before...
** BRIEFING **
You finished your stint at the academy
the way you came in - so far ahead of
your class that some cadets suspected
you of being a plant, to spur them on.
Before your first assignment, you have
been given a week to unwind and
recover from the intensive training
program. You've decided to use this
time to get away from civilization,
in your single seater your dad built
for you when you were fifteen.
You're out near the edge of patrolled space when you receive a distress
call from a nearby travel resort. There are no details, just a desperate
plea for help. Included in the message are transfer coordinates. You make
a quick decision - and set your personal transporter to the coordinates
you've been given. Whatever it is, it couldn't take more than a week to
resolve, right?
Prepare to take on the Pirates of Diablo as they are raiding outposts and
boarding starships all over the quadrant. With the help of some AI's, your
job is to save the outposts, rescue the prisoners, regain control of a captured
starship, and destroy the pirates. You will be met with great resistance, and
you will encounter many twists and challenges as the story unfolds.
** Quick Blurb on Contributors **
Devil in a Blue Dress is a group project created by the Marathon Map Makers Guild (MMMG). Besides contributions of maps, we've also had lots of testers and graphics artists participating in helping us put this together. Enjoy the game, and when you get time, please drop the creators a note letting them know what you think (see below for list of contributors and their E-mail addresses).
** Playing Devil in a Blue Dress **
Devil in a Blue Dress comes with its own installer and map. The installer will update the appropriate Marathon files to incorporate custom terminals and graphics for playing Devil. The map file contains the Devil levels. You will need to backup the original Marathon map file and use the map file in this bundle to play Devil in a Blue Dress.
For details about the installer, see the Tech Read Me file in the For Techie Dweebs folder.
Because the Devil in a Blue Dress scenario pushes Marathon to the limit, many of the levels are much larger than Bungie levels; hence, it requires more memory to save the level (e.g., Skinner Box level and Aye Matey level). It is highly recommended that you increase the memory to the Marathon application to avoid crashes on the save buffers (8 meg is a safe bet, but if you cannot afford that much, give it as much as you can).
This version of Devil in a Blue Dress fixes all known bugs but one. That one affects a very small number of players, but a lot of time has been spent trying to fix it, with no luck. However, there is now a workaround...
Included here is a copy of the program, Ignore Zero Divides. It's a tiny (<2K) program
that simply tells a 68K processor to ignore zero divides (hence, the name). This is
the cause of a very large percentage of Marathon map crashes, and it only affects non-PowerMacs. So, if you are running Marathon on a 68K machine (a Centris, Quadra,
anything older, or a non-PowerPC Performa), you might want to launch the IZD program
before playing Level 8 (Bavarians at the Gate).
Again, PowerPC Macs should never see this problem.
** DevilAbout Program **
Included with this bundle is the DevilAbout application. This is a FAT application (runs 68K and PowerPC native) which provides scrolling credits of this project. It also displays the custom splash screens which have been incorporated into the shapes file. To view the splash screens, make sure that a copy of the Shapes file which has the Devil in a Blue Dress installed into it is in the same folder as the DevilAbout application (it also works in the same folder as the Devil Installer). If it's not in the same folder as the Shapes file (or Installer file), or if the Shapes file does not have the Devil PICTs loaded into it, you will only see a single screen.
NOTE: There is a stand-alone application for DevilAbout as well which has all the PICTs loaded in its resource (of course, this app takes up more space).
Instructions: Use the left and right arrows for immediate paging through screens, use the up and down arrows for scroll speed control, type L to loop the soundtrack (i.e., continuous play) and press the mouse button to quit.
** CREDITS **
Brought to you by: The Marathon Map Makers Guild
Directed by: Bill Catambay
Story by: Claude Errera
Map Designs
Level: Hostage
Jeremy Condit
Gainesville, FL, USA
Other Maps: Portals, The Magic Roundabout, The Man-Trap
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -Albert Einstein
Email: afn02635@afn.org
Levels: Who put the Crack in Liberty Bell?
You, That's Who!
Garth Colasurdo
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Email: Colanut@triton.unm.edu
Level: Click
Ed
Email: sg937m7f@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu
Level: Skinner Box
Zach Eyler-Walker
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Quote: "If at first you don't succeed, die, die again.." - or -
"That which does not kill me knocks my shields down to zero.."
Email: ewalkerz@carleton.edu
Level: Let the Lava Lead You
Craig Durkin
Doraville, Georgia, USA
Email: durkin@mindspring.com
Web page: http://www.mindspring.com/~durkin/
Level: With A Little Help
Simon Brownlee (Squeaky on IRC #Marathon)
Monvalle, Varese, Italy
Email: Simon.Brownlee@jrc.it
Level: Bavarians at the Gate
Sriranga Veeraraghavan
San Jose, California, USA
Other maps: NETMAP13
Email: ranga@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov
Level: Let's Get Out Of Here!
Neil Justusson
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Email: neilj@bnr.ca
Level: The Pit
Russel Fleming
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Quote: "There can be only ONE" - NetMarathon
Email: rfleming@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca
Level: FreeFalling
Brad Miller
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
"Meteor rain stars across the night."
Email: Chicanary@aol.com
Level: Medlab
Kyle Ellrott
Caiscas, Portugal
"When in doubt, Kill" - Marathon (was First Blood)
Email: pke@telepac.pt
Level: Engineering
Br'fin (aka Jeremy Parsons)
Southborough, Massachusetts, USA
Creator of Pfhred 1.0, and soon to be released Pfhred 2.0
Level: Jaunt
Jason Thompson
Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Other Maps: Nelson & Shockadelica.
I'd like to thank Steve Israelson for creating the coolest Marathon Map editor, "Phorte!". And also everyone who posts to the Marathon Map Makers Mailing List. Bill and Claude for being cool guys. And Scott, Zach, Rex, Sean, Robert, Gregg & Pat (For beta testing "Jaunt"). And Ilira for her patience and Mom & Dad for, well, gee.... for everything I guess! And 'Per' for filling my days with great tunes. And my mailbox. And everyone I've ever known, or met or even just talked to or read about or seen on TV or listened to on the radio or stood behind in line at the bank or talked to at concerts or the Coffee Exchange or the post office or wherever for all the cumulative life experiences and influence that have made me who I am that I'm not even aware about. I'm sure it all adds up. And Billy for writing something as cool as "Drown". And Robert for making work easier, even if I *do* pay you...... And thanks as well to the guy I've named some maps after. And I guess that's it.
Email: Jason1044@aol.com
Level: Sensori Overlord
Tim Thomas
Urbana, IL. USA
Note: Steve, thanks for the Pfhorte macro language, without which there
is absolutely no *way* Sensori Overlord could have been created.
Email: thomas@urbana.mcd.mot.com
Level: Galactica II
Steve Israelson
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Plug: Creator of Pfhorte! and now Pfhorte 2.0 available everywhere....
Email: steve_israelson@mindlink.net
Level: The Tower of Babel
RiffRaff
Morgantown, WV, USA
"Evening's a great time, isn't it Alex?"
Email: CONNERN@WVNVM.WVNET.EDU
Levels: Aye Matey!,
SpaceWalk
Bill Catambay
Santa Clara, California, USA
Email: catambay@aol.com
Level: Bats in the Belfry
Andy Kaufmann
Graduate student @ University of Michigan (Dept. of Biology)
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
"uh....Safety First."
Email: afsb@umich.edu
Level: Ambush!
Michael K. Neylon
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Other maps: Rising Sun, WWW, I Could've Had A V8!
Email: mneylon@engin.umich.edu
Web page: http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~mneylon/maramaps.
Beta Testers
Thomas Ytterberg
Ed Zavada
Simon Brownlee
Claude Errera
Mike Neylon
Bill Catambay
Sriranga R. Veeraraghavan
Gabe Rosenkoetter
Mike Ackerman
Gary Krichau
RiffRaff
Evan Vetere
Special Thanks
Claude Errera for map and term editing, FTP group map site, and enthusiasm for project
Portland, Oregon, USA
Keeper of the Marathon HyperArchive NorthWest
RULE: "(sqrt(-1)) before (2.71828), except after (3E8 m/sec)."
(The dangers of mixing grammar and science.)
Email: errera@ese.ogi.edu
Mike Neylon for monster and ammo placement
Simon Brownlee for taking over editing while Claude was in Peru
Steve Israelson for Pfhorte
Craig Mullens, Mark Conahan & Claude Errera for graphic artwork
Kirill Levchenko (Bach) for Devil in a Blue Dress installer
Bungie for Marathon
Jason Jones of Bungie for encouraging level editors for Marathon
Ben Matasar for the group map web page
Bill Catambay for AboutDevil application and Gabe Rosenkoetter for AboutDevil icon
David Twist for producing the Devil in a Blue Dress T-shirts
- and -
Marathon Map Makers everywhere for support and inspiration!
** Legal Stuff **
Marathon is copyrighted by Bungie, Inc, and there is no affiliation whatsoever between Bungie and the Marathon Map Makers Guild. This scenario requires that you have already purchased Marathon, and Marathon should NOT be distributed with this package.
The artwork in this package is copyrighted by the artists themselves and cannot be used in any product without written consent of the corresponding artist.
The story and map designs of this package are copyrighted by the Marathon Map Makers Guild. This package is free to the public, and cannot be sold in any way or form without written permission from Bill Catambay and Claude Errera.
** FEEDBACK FROM PREVIOUS PLAYERS **
Nowhere in "Devil"'s docs did I see where to send a shareware
fee. There is no doubt in my mind that this is a game I will keep and
play many times, just like the "real" Marathon, so I'd like to know where
to send my fee.
BTW, if you're actually crazy enough to offer this stuff for
FREE, then just rest assured that you have turned at least one of your
players into a mapmaker, and someday within the reasonably near future
you will be able to have your favors to the Marathon community returned.
Possibly not in full (TWENTY levels?) but at least in spirit.
I don't know if it's Bungie's program or your own skill, but the
Marathon homemade levels make Doom's WADs look plain silly. It's
interesting, though--after playing what I could of Deliverance, and now
Devil, I'm beginning to see that everybody has a different idea of what a
challenging level is. To some it seems to mean tons of monsters coming at
you all at once, to others it seems to mean only a few monsters but
they're well-placed and you have limited access to healing and pattern
buffers. Me? I think I'm going to become a very strategy-oriented
mapmaker. My favorite levels from the original Marathon were ones like
"Neither High nor Low", where you had to base all your planning on where
the pattern buffer was, and Sunbathing, where just finding your way
Just wanted to thank everyone who helped make Devil in A Blue Dress a reality.
What impressed me most was......(well, *besides* how great it is).....where everyone involved in DIABD physically lives: Italy, Australia, Canada, California, Arizona, Portugal.
Let me say that you guys are amazing these maps are the most unreal ive have ever seen! My friend and I have both agreed that these maps surpase bungies maps! I am only up to "a little help" and i am amazed by what you have done. Good work! The scenario is awsome ans so are the splash screen. I am definitly going to spread word about how awsome this scenario is!
Do you love Marathon? Have you played Devil in a Blue Dress?
If you answered yes to these questions, then you will want to
buy an MMMG T-shirt! This awesome article of clothing features
original artwork from the people who brought you Devil in a Blue Dress.
You'll be one of the coolest people in town when you're wearing this shirt.
The space pirates of the Diablo interrupted your vacation, and you went out and
obliterated them. You saved the outposts, rescued the crew of the Santa Fe,
and conquered the pirate home world. Now, for the first time, you can get a
T-shirt which says it all! Thanks to popular demand for this T-shirt at
the MacWorld convention, we were able to drop the price from $20 down to $18.
As of February 1, 1996, you'll be able to view what the graphics on this shirt look
like (including a picture of the shirt itself), and to place an order, by pointing
your web browser to:
http://www.ese.ogi.edu/mmmg/
If you do not have access to the web, here is a brief description:
On the back of the shirt is a Devil in a Blue Dress splash screen. In embossed blue
lettering, over the picture reads "Devil in a Blue Dress", and below reads "Marathon Map Makers Guild". On the front left is the MMMG Logo. The shirt comes in ash gray, and in sizes large and extra large.
