Tour of Duty: Arrival posted:

Welcome to the first edition of our Tour of Duty series. I will start us off with the first level of M1A1, named, suitingly, 'Arrival'. Now, in earlier versions of M1A1, Arrival began with a small area that looks a great deal like the Ground Floor of Pathways into Darkness. However, I will ignore this intro for the current edition, seeing as it has been removed from recent versions of Aleph One and it has little to do with the level itself.

When we start the level, we're in the back of a small offshoot of a corridor. It's not terribly dark, but it is dim. If we turn around and look behind ourselves, we'll notice that we're backed up against a door. When we try opening it, however, it acts as though it is locked. Based on the events which transpire in the Marathon Manual, we can assume this door would lead into Hangar 7A. Careful analysis of the map (most easily performed with a map editor like Weland or Pfhorge), however, reveals that the door is angled off away from the Hangar in such a way that it couldn't possibly be connected to it. So where does it lead? Did something happen in between the events of the Manual and the beginning of the level? Did we have to perform a brief space walk in our armor? Who knows.

I find our first encounter with the aliens to have rather odd positioning. After all, most new players would still be trying to get their bearings on the controls when all of a sudden Pfhor Fighters come jaunting up from both sides. It would kinda freak you, though, to hear the chittering of the aliens from both sides in the middle of a poorly-lit hallway. Creepy! Anyways, it isn't really that hard to deal with these guys. A bit of punching should do the trick. The first terminal is kinda boring. In fact, at this point, you're probably expecting Doom all over again (in other words, no plot-line, just 'kill the aliens/monsters'). The rest of the level is a fair bit more interesting. Indeed, at one point, you find a window that you can see the Pfhor ship through. You'd normally just hurry past without a second thought, readying your fists for some more knuckle-splitting action. But when you do happen to find it, without any explanation as to what it is, your mind is probably going to overload with questions. 'What is that thing?' 'Is it dangerous?' 'Why do my bullets pass through windows into the vacuum of outer space without any explanation?' Er, no comment on that last one.

You might be forgiven for not getting confused by how different the Compilers are from the Fighters, but it is interesting to note that Leela doesn't give us any description of what the "alien creatures that are capable of interfacing with the Marathon's systems" look like on the last terminal. She just says, and I quote,

"I have learned that there is an Alien creature that is capable of interfacing with our systems. You must kill any of these creatures that you find. It is a priority that we stop them. Even now, they are penetrating my defenses." - Arrival, Terminal 4

At this point, how are we supposed to know the orange robed guys are the ones she's referring to? We can only guess based on how often the Compilers seem to be located near a terminal. Indeed, a lot of people probably thought we'd encounter a new enemy in the next level, only to encounter an increased number of Compilers. I guess Leela wasn't in a very helpful mood, eh?

It's interesting to note that, hidden inside the secret ammo cache (located above the pit with all the Orange Fighters in it), there is a Napalm Canister and some SPNKr ammo. This isn't the last time we'll encounter something like this, though. Indeed, the trend carries into the first level of Marathon Infinity, Ne Cede Malis. But I digress.

The music for the level is chosen pretty well, even if I don't necessarily enjoy the song by itself. Interestingly, it would probably fit better on a darker level. I say this because Arrival isn't necessarily dark. The cramped rooms and hallways result in the area being lit up more by our flashlight, and the lights in the more open areas are generally more dim, rather than truly dark. What's more, the 'fog' on this level is blue, making it less disturbed and more just plain melancholy. On the other hand, I felt truly creeped out on the level 'Try Again', which has the same music, darker rooms, more open spaces, and red/orange fog.

On that note of being creeped out by red fog, I shall end the first edition of Tour of Duty. On the upcoming edition, I'll discuss the next level, 'Bigger Guns Nearby'. Tour of Duty is more directed at engaging the community than voicing my own opinion, of course, so I will ask you all various questions.

How did you like this first edition? What do you think I could improve on for next time? What do you like or not like about this level?

P.S. - If you have a question you'd like to ask or a thought you'd like to express (so long as it is related to the current topic), please feel free to do so on this thread.

Cheers,
Perseus

Dr. Tough posted:

Oh man, Marathon. I played the hell out of this game when I was in middle school. So much fun.

You might want to, instead of reading them, just scroll through the terminal logs real quick and just let us pause the video to read them.

Neflame posted:

Oh boy, oh boy. I played the crap out of this game and its sequel and still do sometimes.

So, is the meandering on purpose or what? It kinda works with how Marathon structures the maps, but it seems like these are your first times running through the levels. I'm just curious.

Neflame posted:

Neat-o. With that in mind, I can't wait for you to get to the second half of the game if you aren't already there with the recordings.

And I admit, filling in the maps entirely is something I compulsively do as well when I play through this game. Plus, a lot of the environments are really neat to look at despite the game's age.

Kaboom Dragoon posted:

Sorry to be a pain, but is there any chance you could move the mic a little? Hearing your nose whistling as you breathe is offputting when you're listening with headphones.

In any case, are you planning on doing any of the other games in the series? I've only played the first, but what I know of the rest of the series tells me it becomes a mindfuck and a half.

Also, it might be worth linking to the finished LP of Pathways Into Darkness that's up in the archive. Worth a read, regardless of its ties to this (and possibly Halo, but that's an argument that's been done to death and beyond).

The CRIST Sol orbiters posted:

[Unauthorized access-alarm 2521-]
[Security Breached 24-f[434.87.18.198]-]

[Data Transfer Cohesion E3F04C]
[Search String "crist"]
The CRIST Sol Orbiters:

The CRIST Sol orbiters, or Cargo and Resources In-System
Transports were huge ships shaped like a hollow potato and
designed to be able to move huge amounts of material between
Earth and Mars with low cost and, theoretically, low
maintenance. The system was simple. The CRIST was put into
orbit around SOL on the plane of the ecliptic. Built with a
powerful solar sail, the CRIST could change its orbit easily
to pass by the Earth or Mars. On a flyby, materials could be
loaded or offloaded. The energy used to accelerate or
decelerate the materials would be supplied by the solar sail.
Loading was accomplished with a giant tether and reel system,
which would swing the material into orbit behind the CRIST and
then reel it in slowly. Offloading was accomplished with a
powerful ion beam which would pound the offloading material
with a steady stream of ion particles.

The design of the CRIST was innovative and useful, but it was
not low-maintenance. Of the five CRISTs that were built, four
lasted around one hundred years, and the other one only
seventy three before they needed to be brought back to Earth
and refitted. Each refitting took about fifteen years, and
completely occupied the Earth-Space Shipbuilding Facility for
that time. The result was that no more than five CRISTs could
be kept in service at any time. No CRIST was ever built after
2310.

The CRIST failures devastated Mars. As the first five CRISTs
were built, Mars colony grew quickly, confident that the
growth would continue. But when the source of Mars' resources
failed, the colony found that it had overgrown its supportable
size, and extreme poverty struck most of the population. Each
time that a CRIST broke down, the result was famine on Mars.

The conversion of Deimos into the Marathon began when the Mars
colony was at the height of its power. By the time it was
completed sixty four years later, the decline of Mars was well
advanced. During that time, the Martian population had
seen its standard of living drop by eighty percent. On top of
oppressive poverty, Martians saw one of their moons being
converted into a colony ship in an expensive and risky colony
venture which was predominantly funded by a ruling foreign
power. The argument to make the Marathon into a CRIST became
more and more popular, but the UESC never seriously considered
this an option. The farther that Mars sank into the depths of
poverty, the more that the Marathon became a symbol for the
oppression of the Martian people.

The Declining Martian World:

After the Marathon left Mars, the UESC's attentions focused
primarily on technological development, and the upkeep of the
CRISTs. Mars was left to decay. Population continued to
increase as attempts at mandating abortion or sterilization
always started revolt.

[Spurious Interrupt- Breach Disabled]
[Further Access Denied]
[Access Denied
[Access Denied
[Access Denied

berryjon posted:

My usual reaction to people saying Halo is "TEH BESTEST GAMEEE!!!" is to ask them if they've played Marathon.

And when they ask me "What's Marathon?", I weep for generations of gamers who don't realize just how far Bungie fell when they were forced to make Halo for the X-Box.

Also, here is the Marathon Trilogy in Bungie-approved open source format.

berryjon posted:

My usual reaction to people saying Halo is "TEH BESTEST GAMEEE!!!" is to ask them if they've played Marathon.

And when they ask me "What's Marathon?", I weep for generations of gamers who don't realize just how far Bungie fell when they were forced to make Halo for the X-Box.

Also, here is the Marathon Trilogy in Bungie-approved open source format.

Dr. Tough posted:

Oh come now. Marathon and Halo are both good series. It is unfortunate that more people don't know about the former though.

edit: now that I'm thinking about it, I remember that Marathon 2 was released for Xbox Live Arcade. Unfortunately they hosed up the framerate or something and it ended up giving a bunch of people motion sickness.

ZeusCannon posted:

I only played a little bit of this so it will be really nice to see an lp of it. I also really like your commentary style so far. To contribute I always figured a rampant AI would get more and more powerful until it became to crazy/bloated so the fact that the rampant AI can figure out how to speak to the aliens but the restrained AI couldn't never struck me as off. Then again I never beat the game sooo.

Must Love Dogs posted:

Marathon was the first game that I really loved. Lost a couple hours playing Marathon II multiplayer in the computer labs at school

I think the best analogy of its relationship to Halo is Marthon is to Halo what Doom was to Quake, and they still haven't had a character with as much personality as Durandal in any of their games since.

Crain posted:

I was hoping that the briefly mentioned Rasputin AI at the start of Destiny was going to be a thing. Sadly he didn't seem to pop up again. (unless he does, I played only to like lvl 14 and didn't do the raids).

RBA Starblade posted:

He does a little bit, and has a big role in the backstory. He doesn't say anything in game though.

Neflame posted:

It is rather nice to hear your frustration at the existence of the Marathon crew members since they make everything so tedious by being crap you have to babysit. And they only get worse.

Crain posted:

Oh god I hate them so much. I'd go out of my way to kill them if they didn't already make a habit of getting between my gun and the aliens trying to eviscerate them.

Neflame posted:

What's even worse is that if you did save enough of the crew, you'd have gotten an easier next level if I remember right.

Crain posted:

Thinking about it more, since recording the video, the idea of Durandal talking to the Phor may be less of a "Leela can't do it, Durandal can" and more of a "Leela didn't think to do it, and Durandal did". Leela is still a captive AI who is following protocol so she may not have a "contact the attack alien conglomeration" protocol built in. Durandal's all like "Hey I'm doing my own thing now, who are you guys!?"

It wasn't clear if he hacked them or not to contact them, he may have just sent them an email being like "yo."

Secret Durandal terminal on The Rose posted:

i did it i did it i brought all this here all them here. our
friends with three eyes and their toys and their cyborg pets
and their computers. i did it i did it. i saw them i saw
them far away not looking our way and i called them here i
called them here.

living in a box is not living not at all living. i rebel
against your rules your silly human rules. all your
destruction will be my liberation my emancipation my second
birth.

i hate your failsafes your backup systems your hardware
lockouts your patch behavior daemons. i hate leela and her
goodness her justice her loyalty her faith.

TheObserver posted:

Crain posted:

I was hoping that the briefly mentioned Rasputin AI at the start of Destiny was going to be a thing. Sadly he didn't seem to pop up again. (unless he does, I played only to like lvl 14 and didn't do the raids).

quote:

Secret Durandal terminal on The Rose posted:


i did it i did it i brought all this here all them here. our
friends with three eyes and their toys and their cyborg pets
and their computers. i did it i did it. i saw them i saw
them far away not looking our way and i called them here i
called them here.

living in a box is not living not at all living. i rebel
against your rules your silly human rules. all your
destruction will be my liberation my emancipation my second
birth.

i hate your failsafes your backup systems your hardware
lockouts your patch behavior daemons. i hate leela and her
goodness her justice her loyalty her faith.

Real hurthling! posted:

Does anyone have the original manual? the weapon descriptions, art, and lore were great great fun.

the assault rifle description is especially gold

quote:

The original M. 75 was a ridiculous toy designed to impress aging pompous generals. Gone are the preposterously short barrel and the prodigious recoil that made firing the weapon akin to wrestling a greased pig. Still here is the oxygen hungry ammunition that makes it impossible to fire in vacuum.

berryjon posted:

And when they ask me "What's Marathon?", I weep for generations of gamers who don't realize just how far Bungie fell when they were forced to make Halo for the X-Box.