Downloads

Note: I didn’t create this; Dr Mike Trinder did. All I did was to convert it to a format compatible with modern Aleph One.

Gemini Station (first complete release: July 9, 1997) is a partial conversion for Marathon Infinity with 12 total levels, though players may not see them all every time they play it. Two are secrets and three are brief exposition levels, so it has seven proper levels, of which six are very long. Seriously, they’re huge.

I haven’t played through the whole thing in a while, but it was extremely impressive when it came out; as far as I know, it was the first scenario to incorporate several mapmaking tricks like airlocks and programmable teleporters. I last replayed it two or three years ago and felt it still held up.

As far as I’m aware, the only versions previously available were incomplete conversions that came with a shapes patcher that only ran on MacOS (and I’m not even sure they ran with modern releases). This version includes the patched shapes file, so you don’t have to bother patching the shapes. All you need to do is select the map and the shapes in Marathon Infinity and you’re good. (Make sure to select the shapes!)

Apart from patching the shapes and converting the map to MacBinary format, I haven’t modified any of these files at all; the readmes are even still in Mac OS Roman. Hopefully Dr Trinder won’t mind me making his scenario accessible to modern players; several people have asked for it on Discord over the years, so I figured I’d save people the trouble in the future.

In any case, I strongly recommend this, especially if you haven’t played it. It’s probably in my top 10 Marathon scenarios of all time, and the only things keeping it out of the top 5 are its short length and its relative lack of original assets (there are no new sounds and not many new graphics). However, it still looks phenomenal, and its map design would probably still seem inventive today. The writing is also fantastic.

Note: Screenshots incorporate Goran Svensson’s HD walls & landscapes, Freeverse’s HD weapons, and in some cases W’rkncacnter’s BRUTAL MARATHON plugin. I only spent about twenty minutes on these – they’re probably nowhere near the best sights Gemini Station has to offer. (Also, you probably shouldn’t actually use these plugins with it – certain game functionality is highly likely to break or not look as intended.)

Marathon: Pathways into Darkness Version 0.5 now available!

I am sorry it took so long to get this beta out to the public. The reason was that the MPiD Images file was giving a lot of trouble and so I have decided to replace it with a regular Infinity Images file.

If you download the beta I would love to hear your opinions and/or suggestions. I will not appreciate ugly rants but any sort of constructive criticism is VERY welcome. Please post your thoughts here or email me at: nhoad at sunbeach.net

Now, there are several problems in this beta that I am already aware of. If you have a suggestion for how to best fix them I would be happy to hear it:

Most blue in the game is transparent: This is a problem caused because of the blues used in PiD. DeepThought is indirectly helping me fix this problem. Monsters get stuck in walls or don't attack immediately: This is a mapping problem which I intend to fix as I polish the levels. Any mapping tips are welcome! There is no resting: Bobwithkeycard is helping me implement resting, for the moment there are only a set number of health potions per level. Some items are undersize or oversized Levels seem really short. This is simply a fact of PiD levels, if you move at any sort of decent speed the levels become much shorter PLAY ON NORMAL DIFFICULTY! PiD was not designed for multiple difficulty levels and neither is MPiD! Monsters on Total Carnage WILL eat you alive! You cannot go back between levels: A1 doesn't like this feature and it would be incredibly hard to implement (and not really worth it in the end). So there will be no backtracking.

Those are the big problems and I hope to fix them all. I REALLY want to hear your recommendations, opinions or even encouragement! If there are any problems in the beta (such you cannot travel between level 3 and 4) let me know and I will upload a corrected map file for the beta.

What to expect in future versions:

A completely new Images file. New high-res textures, weapons and sprites by DeepThought New LUA by bobwithkeycard (LUA which will allow resting, talking to the dead PiD style, nuclear bombs and more) Chapter screens by Phobos-Romulus All of the original PiD levels

Thank you all very much for your support and I hope you enjoy this beta until the full version of MPiD is released! Note: There is no release date so don't bother asking.

Many of the MPiD team members have come and gone over the years and I believe that myself and Patrick White are the only remaining active members of the team listed below.

Beta Credits:

Raul Bonilla Nicholas Hoad Loren Petrich J�³hannes Gunnar Alexander Strange Tim Vogel Patrick White - Images Hugo Forss - Icons

Special Thanks: Bungie Forrest Cameranesi The Marathon Mape Making Guild Hamish Sinclair (for maintaining PiD at Bungie.org) The Aleph One Team James J Cousar Goran Svensson Claude Errera Gregory Smith (Treellama)

PS: The MPiD Team is in no way responsible for any damage caused to your computer by this beta.

PPS: I have a serious issue with crediting people, I MUST do it. If you notice anything in this beta you believe you were not credited for let me know immediately please!