Scratchbuilt Marathon 3D Game

[Nitocris]

In 1994, an upstarter computer game company called Bungie released a pioneering first person shooter that would have a profound effect on the genre for the Macintosh. It’s cerebral plot line and simple yet immersive story captivated a whole generation of gamers with its mix of existential philosophy, poetic narration and ultra violence. Today, all but forgotten save for by a shrinking group of loyal fans and ageing Mac users, reminiscing with teary eyes about the old days of MARATHON.

Once I had first stumbled down the winding hallways of Hangar 7A, I knew I was forever caught in its gloomy death stalked corridors; the horror, savagery and despair of my battles with the Pfhor forever tattooed on my retinas.
I never thought of escape.

To this legacy, I want to pay my homage. To give thanks for the experiences which no doubt altered my outlook on life irreversibly and moved me deeply.
To this end, I have toiled for months to bring Marathon to life in a whole new setting.
But I cannot do it alone.

What I am trying to do is to make a cross platform team based Marathon online experience, where players act out the parts of one of the three major species of the series; the humans, the Pfhor and the S’pht.
I am getting closer all the time. However, I am impeded by the fact that I must do everything myself and I have little or no training in doing so. Only my loyal love of Marathon drives me to overcome the problems.
What I need help with the most is 3D modelling. Particularly levels. There are a number of high definition Marathon textures available to model with.
Any help gladly appreciated.

See you starside.

[OneSadCookie]

The number of people we get through here with grandiose plans and stars in their eyes and nothing to show for it is large. If you want people to take you seriously, I suggest showing off whatever you *have* accomplished. Do you have a prototype to demonstrate? A design document? Or is this all just talk?

[JustinFic]

You'll probably have much better luck creating a Total Conversion for Marathon (read: Mod) that runs in Aleph One. You'd be able to reuse the maps and assets too, which will save you a lot of time and manpower. Also, I'm sure it would get attention among the Aleph One community, which would be the most likely audience for your game.

Idea wise, I'd love to see a scenario that kind of does what the Starcraft single player campaign does, which is switch perspective between the different races as the story progresses. So you could start off as the Pfhor during the initial invasion of the Marathon, starting from Durandal's initial beacon. Then it could switch to the humans, where you play as the armed BOBs from Durandal and Infinity, and assist the Mjolnir cyborg in all his missions. Finally, the S'pht campaign could start off with you doing missions for the Pfhor, destroying Tycho and Leela, and then going through the entire rebellion. There's a lot of cool things you could do with this.

EDIT: Oops, here's the Aleph One link if you haven't been there already: http://source.bungie.org/

[AnotherJake]

I'm a HUGE fan of Marathon, and I think Aleph One is really fantastic, but what you guys did with Durandal on XBLA owns all of it with prejudice. :ninja:

I think a Marathon-esque game in something like 2.9D (making up the term) is doable. Full 3D is not really feasible for amateurs. Maybe fully animated 3D characters would be fine, but for the level geometry you'd have to stick to 2D textured quads (like the original game(s)). They could be bump(normal)-mapped though, which might (probably) look really cool. Still, it's a tall project... A good one, but tall...

[FreakSoftware]

I "played" (for all of 2 minutes since the controls drove me insane) Marathon earlier today after reading this, and was surprised to see that the resolution is still super tiny. I remember playing the demo a little bit when I was a kid. I also remember that first video of what Halo was supposed to be (back before the Xbox was even a dream).

Anyway, I have no point for this post, so.... I'll just stop....

[AnotherJake]

I "played" (for all of 2 minutes since the controls drove me insane) Marathon earlier today after reading this, and was surprised to see that the resolution is still super tiny...

You're presumably not talking about the XBLA version... Durandal on XBLA is totally re-implemented on modern arse-kicking hardware, not at all what you might see from ye olden days on the ancient Mac.

I also remember that video of Halo. painful memory. do not wish to recall. changing subject matter to better memory slot. Myth! I played through it again last year and man, what a great game! Bungie did/does great stuff, but ... it's hard not to miss the good old days.

[Nitocris]

Right, foolishly, I forgot to post screenshots. I full well understand your skepticism. I am going to see if I can get some kind of playable tech demo done some time soon. Something more akin to the gameplay of the original game.
Rest assured though, what I have working now includes a full 3D engine that sports dismemberment features and semi functional netplay. Mainly, like I said, what impedes me is a lack of models. I am usuing simple software for modelling and animation, and I don't want to see my love slandered by my meager talents.
The MA-75 Assaul Rifle
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/3997/arteaserrh8.jpg
An early prototype pf the dismemberment mechanics
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6247/carnagefortherestofusuy8.jpg