This is one of the most ambitious total conversions ever attempted in the Marathon engine, and there is really nothing else like it!
It transforms a sci-fi futuristic shooter into a medieval “Braveheart” simulator!
The download came with an application entitled “Blauwe Vingers” which seemed to be a launch application, but as of 2022 it doesn’t actually work with Aleph One. Instead you should play this scenario by dragging a copy of Aleph One into the BlauweVingers_MacOsX folder and using that to launch the game.
The scenario was created in Dutch, but I played with an English translation by replacing the Dutch scenario file (Kaart.sceA) with an English language scenario, which can be separately downloaded from this same website:
http://simplici7y.com/items/blauwe-vingers-english
This allowed me to understand the gist of the story, although cutscenes, chapter art, and spoken dialogue were still in Dutch. But that’s cool, if anything it adds authenticity to this scenario. It’s apparently based upon real historical events that happened in Holland in the 1500s and I really liked how the player is given a pivotal role to play in the story as it unfolds.
The first thing you should do upon launching the game is to go into the Options menu (“Spel Opties” in Dutch) to enable weapon crosshairs and to set the graphics settings to “highest.” The crosshairs are useful because some of the missile weapons you’ll get are difficult to use without them. And pushing the graphics up really does make a difference.
When you launch the game you’ll be treated to a cutscene, the first of many. When transitioning between levels make sure that you don’t accidentally hit any keys or move your mouse, because that could cause you to skip a cutscene! After the cutscene you’ll end up in medieval Holland! You’ll see things you never thought you’d see in the Marathon engine, like slopes and many cool-looking 3D objects (not 2D sprites). You will also eventually see some really impressive rainstorms with lightning!
It did take me a moment to get accustomed to the new controls. Walking up to someone with a book or star over their head will trigger a dialogue when you press the spacebar. The map is enabled with Tab. And there are no save terminals, you can save whenever you want by pressing Control-S.
At first I was just walking around town, talking to people. It was basically a walking simulator with optional history lessons thrown in. But then abruptly the game turns into a “Braveheart” simulator! Dudes will be trying to stab you left and right, and you’ll be stabbing back! There’s a large arsenal of cool-looking medieval weapons for you to find and use.
I played on Normal difficulty and found the combat to be fun and fair; since you can save whenever you want no one should have trouble beating this scenario.
Fairly early in the campaign there is a branching path, which is clearly described to you in both dialogue and on the auto-map. You can choose to either go out into the rainstorm or keep exploring some underground tunnels. The rainstorm has no combat but it does have a x2 health power-up. The underground route has a lot of combat, but it will give you a rapier with a lantern several levels earlier than you would otherwise get it. The lantern is cool because it will light up the dark passageways for you! Since this is the only part of the campaign where that ability is useful, I STRONGLY urge you to choose the underground path. Or just control-S to experience both paths.
Later on I briefly got stuck on a mission in which you’re supposed to rescue someone from a burning building. I took too long and ended up suffocating from the smoke!
MINOR SPOILER AHEAD In order to get past that part you have to break some wooden barrels to move on. I didn’t realize those barrels were breakable at first. END SPOILER
After beating the story missions I noticed there were a bunch of multiplayer maps. I think Marathon multiplayer is mostly dead at this point, but if you’re curious you can use the standard level skip keys (Control+Shift+New Game on Mac) to see the multiplayer level design. Each of those levels has its own soundtrack, and the main menu also has a catchy tune!
This really is a stellar effort and deserves the maximum score of 5 out of 5 stars.
Hey all,
It's been a while. Back in 2007-2008 I created a game based on the Aleph One engine as part of a graduation project. It's quite outdated but I've had several request from people asking me to upload it here, so here it goes :)
"Blauwe Vingers' Is a Dutch translation of "Blue Fingers". It's a game about the medieval history of a city in the Netherlands called "Zwolle" in 1524.
The project has about a full year of work into it and was completely done by 5 people. Areas in the game are build after city blueprints and the story is based on real historical events. While it offers quite a campaign and large amount of content, please be aware that the game is completely in Dutch language. This unfortunately makes it almost impossible to complete it when you do not understand the language. I simply couldn't find the time to translate everything into English, as there are countless of in-game conversation, history texts, videos and whatnot.
Still, it's definitely worth to check it out (also if you're a scenario creator yourself). Many features in the game were things never done before back in 2008 with Aleph One. Later in 2010 the game received an updated to support normal maps, a floating HUD and other improvement that were later introduced to the Aleph One engine.
Note: I cannot guarantee that the game is still fully functional with the latest Aleph One features. I've quickly tested it with the latest Aleph One build on my Mac and it seems to be working great, but as I haven't updated it since 2010, there might be new or altered features in the engine that are not supported.
Enjoy! Tim
Features: - Story driven level progression with about 19 maps based on historical areas and events. - Unique use of Aleph One features such as normal maps, post-processing effects, in-game videos, 3D scenery objects etc. - Total conversion, with countless of new characters, medieval weapons and environments. - Full multiplayer support with 10 unique multiplayer maps. - Graphics that push the engine to it's limits. - Think you've mastered Marathon's melee fists? Try the flail, dual wielding axes or daggers :)
Story: As the Dutch are known for their trade; 3 cities (Kampen, Zwolle and Deventer) in the North-east of the Netherlands form an important and strategic trade area in 16th century. However, there was also a lot of rivalry between the cities which almost escalated into a war, but mostly resulted in bullying, sabotage and name calling. After the duke of Zwolle "Karel van Gelre" was banned from the city in 1524 for treating the people badly, he later came back with an army to lay siege on the city for 30 days. Food and supplies were running out but just when everything seemed to be lost, Zwolle got help from unexpected Allies. The neighbour cities "Kampen" and "Deventer" assisted resulting in a major battle right outside the city and the people were set free.
The player plays as a poor student who has to find a study and place to stay in the city and ends up becoming a war hero with a duel between you and the duke as the final battle!
Recommended requirements: - Mac Os X 10.5 or later - 2GB free disk space - Intel Mac with 2ghz processor or better - 1GB of system memory