Somewhere in the heavens, they are waiting. (Let's play Marathon.)

[Artanis]

It makes me wonder whether all the beating things to death is an RP thing or what you're actually doing

[chiasaur11]

It makes me wonder whether all the beating things to death is an RP thing or what you're actually doing

Both.

I was trying to beat Marathon 2 on Total Carnage, and being able to carry as much ammo as I liked, it turned out, just made me more paranoid about it.

Besides.

Beating a roomful of enemies to death with your bare hands is awesome.

Edit:

YES!

Someone played through Marathon on youtube. My problems are solved!

[Poison_Fish]

It makes me wonder whether all the beating things to death is an RP thing or what you're actually doing

"Run... punch... step back.. Run... punch... keep repeating, it'll go down eventually"

[chiasaur11]

Landing zone for the teleport was a good deal warmer than usual. Seems Leela was still a tad unhappy about the pile of human corpses.

Well, dealing with guilt and dishonor through death in combat is an ancient tradition. Just changing whose death it is.



It seems the bugs were swarming in here. Seal the doors, and they'll be sucking vacuum. Not a bad plan.


Shame plans never survive contact with the enemy. Dozens of those acid spitting wasps swarmed out at once. I barely managed to shut the door.



Well, sealed up tight. Now I just needed a way out. Five minutes of suit oxygen means that I can survive somewhat in space, but not for any real length of time.



Of course, some disagreed with my plan. A new type of compiler, complete with heat seeking energy pulses.


It also rendered a perfectly viable place to call for an escape a garbled bit of inaccurate history.


The O2 levels were already leaking when I got to the only other working term in the area.



Fortunately, Leela isn't the type to hold a grudge. Miles to go, though. And it seems more and more likely the destination is the grave.

Not a place I want to revisit.

[chiasaur11]

Right.

Minimal enemy forces mean a chance to catch my breath. Or would if we didn't need to warn Earth.



Leela mentioned a Zeus class fusion pistol. To call the presence of one of those non standard was a bit of an understatement. Things barely made it into production before we left. They were reserved for the most elite spacebourne forces. And a simply colony ship gets one? Who ordered that?



Well, I was glad to have it. Would fry most armor in seconds, and given that some defenses are needed to just survive without an atmosphere, it'd be a good way to deal with problems.



And better still, there was a double strength recharger. Meant the minimal forces defending this corner of the ship didn't have a chance to even dent the armor. If they were pulling back this much, we might have a chance.



If the new toys our alien buddies had got stay away. At least one of them doesn't go after humans.



As I arrived, the hum of the suit's automated oxygen supplies whirred to life.

I'd want to work fast. Sure there are stations to deal with it, but given the unreliability of most of the ship, I wouldn't bet my life on them.



So that was a hunter. Ducked out of sight. Looked less powerful than the hulks, but much better armored. And that meant a pistol probably wouldn't do much good. So, some security around the com dish. To be expected.


Less expected was a second pistol. Ah, Hong Kong cop flicks. You teach us all so much.



Like how to dispatch intruders preventing you from messing with the signal dish. Managed to keep both of them right on target. Kickback's less than I'd think, and aiming was as easy as ever. Looks like I'd been wrong about how realistic hard boiled was.



And with that done, the com station opened for business. Simple jump, a few pushes of a button, and I can get back to the sweet sounds of...

Well, anything but steadily depleting Oxygen tanks.



Or not. A hunter was guarding the dish. Seems the Zeus was able to fry its systems, fortunately. Was going to take a look at the plasma cannon, when the thing exploded. I hit the buttons and ran as fast as I could to a teleporter.


Of course, it wouldn't help much. 93 years would be more than enough time to rip Earth's location from the databanks. Well, I might be able to help the security crew, and, as bad as things were, at least I wouldn't have to deal with...



Durandal.

[LesterLester]

*imagines Durandal's avatar to be the small puppet from Saw*

[chiasaur11]

Bad news folks.

Going to need to take another break due to a temporary inability to cut the pic size down.

Still'll try to get further. At Bob-B-Q, and that level?

Hoo boy.

[Fri]

[IMG]

Less expected was a second pistol. Ah, Hong Kong cop flicks. You teach us all so much.

[Artanis]

Bad news folks.

Going to need to take another break due to a temporary inability to cut the pic size down.

Seriously? That's pretty Not Good, since you should be able to do that with MS Paint. It'd take a thoroughly ****ed-up computer(s) not to be able to use even Paint

[chiasaur11]

Seriously? That's pretty Not Good, since you should be able to do that with MS Paint. It'd take a thoroughly ****ed-up computer(s) not to be able to use even Paint

Or a severely limited library computer while your standard rampant-but-workable computer is in Texas.

[AgentPaper]

Or a severely limited library computer while your standard rampant-but-workable computer is in Texas.

Even without re-sizing things yourself, I know imageshack at least can re-size an image for you when you upload it. Probably easier than doing it all yourself anyways.

[chiasaur11]

Even without re-sizing things yourself, I know imageshack at least can re-size an image for you when you upload it. Probably easier than doing it all yourself anyways.

Does that include editing out a black border the game adds automatically?

[Coidzor]

Hmm, probably not unless it allows cropping. Photobucket I think will crop and resize, but that would probably be too time intensive to be a viable option.

I think I can deal with a border, what size we talking here?

[chiasaur11]

Hmm, probably not unless it allows cropping. Photobucket I think will crop and resize, but that would probably be too time intensive to be a viable option.

I think I can deal with a border, what size we talking here?

It isn't so much the border as the file size.

It's measured in megabytes. Do some basic editing, and it's a couple of kilobytes. With limited storage, that's something to avoid.

The first page update in spoilers shows the image size.

[Coidzor]

Ew. ew. ew.

...If only there was some kind of image conversion thing you could do with 'em or sommat....

[chiasaur11]

Ew. ew. ew.

...If only there was some kind of image conversion thing you could do with 'em or sommat....

I'll see if the bucket has a solution.

Got two updates worth of pics and plans, too. Well...

Going to take a look. Tomorrow.

[chiasaur11]

And...

Looked. It turns out they have a solution, so yay that.

So, I'll be updating soon.

Maybe even today if you all are lucky and/or beg pathetically.

Or I feel like it.

[chiasaur11]

Just when it looked like things were going to get better...

Wait. It didn't look like it would get better. And yet, somehow, it was worse. The Pfhor were in engineering, slaughtering the security team. And now I had to play games for a mad AI to even have a hope of helping anybody.

And I was in the quarantine bay. Suit was sealed, but some of the stuff that winds up here eats through armor.



An attempt to reach a monitor to contact Leela met with heavy Pfhor resistance. Odd. There's nothing useful around here for seizing control of the ship. If Durandal's helping them, he's doing a halfhearted job of it.

And if he's helping the ship, it'd be nice if he wasn't diverting me from a desperately needed rescue effort.



Finding the monitor provided no aid and spread no light on the current situation. All I got was a trip deeper into the quarantine area.



I barely managed to get out. Three compilers tailed me all the way to the teleporter. Barely made a getaway.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Seems the bulk of the troopers were getting diverted to minor chokepoints, the compilers were being put away for later use, and the heavy forces were being sent right at me. Somebody was planning something.

And a local terminal was the only thing that made me anything less than 100% sure said somebody was Durandal. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. And all of them leave a trail of bodies.

When the area was cleaned, Durandal piped up again. Congratulating me.

He kidnaps me, tosses me into the midst of the worst fighting yet, all but ensuring that I'd be in no shape for a rescue operation, then gives me a hearty congratulations and not the slightest explanation of the situation?

I wasn't exactly taking that. Leveled my magnums at the monitor. Futile gesture, but...

And then the text changed.




What the...

[chiasaur11]

As I tried to figure out why a mad AI would start making his own lyrics to an obscure song from 2060, I got teleported. I know. It was stupid of me. You don't stand still and let a mad AI get a lock on you if you can help it.

I payed for it with a visit to the center of the maelstrom. Massacre. Security team getting cut down like chaff, hunters everywhere. I barely managed to get to relative safety and hold off the swarm. Nobody else on the deck stood a chance.




Having sorted through the mess in the main corridors, I checked the vent system for more hostiles. I got lucky. Four crewmen were still alive. I dealt with their captors and left before they could notice. Hooray for me. That's four on the credit side versus dozens of failures.



Leela agreed with me on failure. And she was taking a worse pummeling than I was. Falling forever, it feels like.

Reminds me of a bit of old poem I read once.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

And if I remember right, it gets worse from there. I headed to the main engineering section. Onward and downward.

[chiasaur11]

Leela was glitching worse than before. Which was just swell. The one thing that had been preventing a total takeover of the ship was steadily inching toward death. With Durandal's rampancy, and Tycho's...

Well, I don't know what was going on with Tycho.


Well, for now I had a job to do. Might as well do it. I checked on the power station for the engines. Main battery seemed okay.


I found a log from McYultry. It looked bad. McYultry wasn't my best friend or anything, but I knew him reasonably well. He was a good officer, took his job seriously. I thought if anything happened he'd make it through if anyone would.

Looks like no-one's making it through.


A large group of elite troopers guarded a lift. I managed to set up an ambush that distracted them long enough for me to make it up to the central access tunnels.


Not long enough for me to get across to the engines, though. The drones were supposed to do this work, which meant safety rails were considered a non-issue. I had another reason to hate the guy who designed the ship. And the engineering team. And anyone else involved with the design of this ship.

A quick swipe from one of the troopers knocked me into a pit not listed on the map. Looked for a way out.







All I found was Durandal. With some oh-so-helpful commentary on the venting system. Innacurate, as it turned out.

I found the real passage in a location he'd left unmentioned. Had some ammo and a shield recharger. Probably was lying about the new Pfhor weapons too. I hoped. Still, the compilers informing on the troopers? Then why's the viral assault continuing?

No time for that. Engines to secure. Managed it with a minimum of fuss. Called Leela.



Durandal?
DURANDAL?
And we descend deeper into the pit.

(Anyone still reading? Feels a bit odd to be quadruple posting. Be nice if I could get a tiny bit of feedback, if possible.)

[Celesyne]

Sorry, more of a lurker than a poster, but you managed to make me download and try this game too. I'll be damned if it isn't hard as heck, and the no reload thing is killing me. Either way, the writings excellent, and the SS's are great if a little dark, but i think thats my end as noone else has complained.

[Comet]

Feedback!
I've wanted to know what the deal with Marathon is for a long time. But the gameplay was so off-putting for me that I could never get into the story.

That's the kind of game that a LP is perfect for. Thank you, now I can experience the story of Marathon in all of it's glory without having to suffer the painfully old-skool gameplay.

Edit: Forgot to mention this, but damn, Durandal is one awesome AI. Why haven't I heard of this guy more often?

[AgentPaper]

Still reading here. The bigger screenshots are better because you can actually read the text and such. If you're worried about screen stretching and the length of the post, just put it all into one big spoiler box.

[Terraoblivion]

Sorry about the lack of feedback, it really is the polite thing to do. I just have a hard time thinking of something meaningful to say when reading things like this. It seems like a fairly interesting game for its age and genre though and you do a good job adding to the story of it, however.

[Poison_Fish]

Well, don't have much to say, other then I'm glad to read your updates. Having played the series extensively before and realizing it's hard for most people to get into it at this point in time, I'm grateful for you sharing your playing through it.

[Coidzor]

I'm enjoying it.

Gonna try booting it up for myself soon in a bit, now, actually.

[chiasaur11]

Durandal did not do his best to ensure the transition of power would be comfortable.

On the upside, it meant he didn't like our new bug buddies. On the considerably more substantial negative side, it seems he still resents something (that "shame on Mars" Tycho mentioned?) humanity did, and more immediately, he gave me no advice on the current mission.

Which apparently involved a lot of lava. And a lot of the Pfhor wasps.

Some fiddling with the controls got me across, and the twin magnums took down the fliers. No idea what that was all about. Other than the fact Durandal is a psychopath.

Leela is definitely too trusting.


His message at the end did not help. Abstract musings on freedom have their places. Said place is not as a substitute for mission instructions.

Of course, there were Pfhor to kill. There always are Pfhor to kill. It's the one constant.

Most of them, however, don't die if you succeed or fail. Suicide bomber bugs. Radius of explosion...

about three meters. Huh.


So this was why I was here. Biggest armory on the ship, and if the Pfhor seized it...

Wait. That was a SPNKR Rocket Launcher. Those things are considered overkill against tank, let alone what the mars rebels were fielding. Only thing that can take one of those to the face is a combat cyborg with a shield system, and that sort of thing was banned years ago.

So why does a colony vessel have one?

A check to a terminal should produce an answer.


Or another view of Durandal's.... unique sense of humor. Moving, though? Not likely, at this juncture.


A tricky bit of work with some structural supports jerry rigged a way around a broken lift, and I managed to find an exit terminal.



Ambitious.

But my last breath seems to be getting a lot closer than I'd like.

And if I die here, I'll do my level best to show him a rather closer limit to his freedom.

[chiasaur11]

Durandal continued to lecture on morality, freedom, and other concerns that would be irritating in normal circumstances. With lives on the line, it gets even more frustrating. At least he gave directions this time.

And he's right about one thing. Killing Pfhor is pretty much the closest thing to a pleasure left to me. And being able to make more of those things pay...


After I finished off a small patrol of troopers, I heard...

Civilian? But something sounded off. I fired a round between the eyes, and what had moments ago looked like a crewman was now a pile of alien manufactured goop and explosives. Something I wouldn't have seen coming if not for a warning from Durandal earlier. Much as I hated to admit it.


Hitting a switch to lower the safety railings, I headed for the area Durandal had mentioned. Which was full of what looked like lava. In a spaceship.

Probably was engine fluid or something, but it burned all the same. I managed, thanks to the shields, but it managed to erase that tiny bit of goodwill Durandal had earned with the sentry warning.


Good. Had the converter Durandal mentioned. Should do some good against the endless hordes. Somehow. I hoped.


Thing is, the patrols were still coming. A couple of BoBs were in the hall. Blocking my way.

"Sorry, but we can't let you in here, sir. There's a rampant AI in charge of..."

I didn't care. When he wouldn't let me through, I broke his arm and walked past while he was whimpering from the pain.

Maybe Durandal was right. I've always told myself I fought when necessary, for self defense, for defense of others. But...
I just broke an innocent man's arm for no reason.

I really didn't want to think on that for much longer. The sooner this mess is over, the better. For everyone.


Better teleporters? Good enough to, say, reach the alien ship?

I could excuse myself for a little pleasure in that work.

[chiasaur11]

Words fail me.



Hopefully Napalm won't. I found a flamethrower and fuel in a vent. Any time before now in the long history of the ship, I'd assume the TOZT-7 was for organic waste disposal. I mean, an alien environment could have some unpleasant fungi or such. However, given current events, I feel it safe to assume this thing was chosen for anti-personnel purposes. Someone was either planning a rebellion, or expecting one.



Of course, I wasn't left with much time to ponder. The whole place was swarming with fighters, troopers, hunters, and wasps. Motion sensor meant I could dodge some of the bigger patrols, but it's hard to avoid a foe when they're everywhere.


A trip up the elevator got me to a nicely furnished office, complete with wood paneling, cushy furniture and Pfhor elite units. The usual.

It also, however, had a human built rocket Launcher, and a charger that could power the main guns of a battleship for a shot or two. It looked like Strauss's office, but why would a science tech be stockpiling an arsenal?


Durandal had a total lack of relevant answers. As usual. But he did have a teleporter rigged up and ready to take the fight back to the enemy.

A move I'm entirely in favor of.

[Terraoblivion]

Words fail me too. I am starting to understand why the main character is so paranoid, i think it would happen to me as well if i kept finding heavy weapons just lying around like that, while a crazy AI was playing with me. Though i guess the weapons are still useful in the middle of an alien invasion.