Disclaimer and Credits

Please note that this is a hybrid scenario. I take no credit for any of its custom content beyond level design, the opening text, and the title screen logo and subtext. All other credit goes to the creators of Project Conflict (for the enemies), Mararthon: Yuge (for textures), Female Bob Shapes, Marathon: Pathways Into Darkness (for scenery), Tempus Irae (for scenery), Rubicon (for scenery), Damage, Inc. (for scenery), Weland (for the menu screen), the logo in the title screen, Hardcore Sounds, Hardestcore Sounds, common use movie sounds, and some sounds I took off YouTube.

Also, this scenario is (arguably) best viewed in GL Shader graphics, mainly for the platforms.

Introduction

With a new cast of enemies based on edits of RadBurn’s Project Conflict mod, Marathon: Shadervoid is a brutalist, structuralist, and continuously-mapped-for take on Marathon gameplay that takes place in a strange other dimension and deals thematically with humans’ war with themselves. Released here with two levels (one an introduction) and meant to have many more individual levels made for it over time, it is intended as an ongoing exploration of the possibilities of a certain efficiency-based level design formula, and infused with a kind of uncanny Lynchian horror never before seen in Marathon.

Plot

“Humanity is currently living in deep strain under the horrid reign of the Tribecom regime and their Erosion Task Force enforcers. Somewhere and in spite of this, a secret grassroots research and development organization has formed called Inteflow Enterprises, specializing in dimensional travel technology. They eventually find and access a dimension for the first time — a strange one consisting entirely of oddly arranged colorless block units, which are distinguished by varying light shades and appear to be carved out of a great void that mixes with liftable “door-like” blocks, earning it the nickname The Shadervoid. Its exact nature, and the source of its constructions, remain unknown; yet it is technically habitable with no sign of other life, and IE hope at least to learn from it and use it as some kind of refuge spot. As such, a team of members begin setting up and testing machinery near teleportation spots in several different parts of The Shadervoid, all while keeping communication signals with other crewmembers in their original world. However, at one point, signals mysteriously start to become intercepted, and the environment within The Shadervoid reportedly begins to falter in some respects, making teleportation problematic. Eventually, all signals are abruptly cut off. You, a guerilla fighter in the precinct that IE is based out of, decide with some fellow fighters to grab some arms and teleport into The Shadervoid to check on the crewmembers “just in case”. Yet there’s some sort of malfunction, and you black out.

When you finally wake up, alone…”