Wow. Mark wanted a way to set up a level such that coop players would be forced to bypass the level, but solo players would have to complete it. He asked for advice on the discussion forums at Marathon Central, but didn't get any answers... When he came up with a solution, it was complicated enough to warrant a writeup, so here it is. It's actually a demo map, showing (and telling, with detailed terminals) exactly how he accomplished the feat. (It's way more complicated than you might think...) The technique's biggest drawback is its resource utilization... 26 platforms used to divert play...

Wow. I wrote up a small tutorial to help people create terminals with more than one message in them. The day after I released it, Bo Lindberg sent me mail explaining that I'd taken the hard road, and that there was an easier one. (He also sent along a quick demo map.) I planned to add his info to the tutorial, but backburnered it... Two days later, I got mail from Jason Harper, who explained that your options in this field are nearly unlimited, and sent along a demo map, with a promise of a full tutorial to come. Here it is... and if this technique interests you, you need this file. The ex...

A tutorial (with nifty pictures and an example map) showing how to allow multiple messages on a term without tying them to full level goals. That is, if you want to change the message on a term after a particular task is completed, but before all the level tasks are completed, this little guy will show you how. My wife says I wrote it because I was feeling like a cool technique we used a few years ago was unappreciated. I'd rather think it's useful info for the Marathon community.

One question that has come up more than most is "How do I get the Marathon CLUT in a form I can use it?" Hamish Sanderson has answered that question, with two files: a Photoshop CLUT file (directly importable), and a PICT containing all the colors in a nice grid, that you can eye-dropper anywhere you need in any painting program. There are also some very useful hints on making Marathon artwork in the readme... if you're doing serious work in Anvil, and having troubles making things look right, get this file. 'Nuff said.

Another one from the master. A tutorial/base for building Marathon sprites... includes three poser models, a detailed readme, and sample output picts. If you're thinking about creating new humanlike sprites, this is a wonderful place to start.

A nice document detailing some dos and don'ts about mapmaking. These are well thought-out... everyone making maps should read them-there's probably something you haven't considered here.

Hamish Sanderson might know more about the down-and-dirty details of color editingfor Marathon than anyone outside Bungie. (He has, after all, done 2+ total conversions...) In an effort to find some external value in the enormous amount of work he put into this stuff, he decided to write out some helpful hints for those folks interested in shape editing for Marathon. Beginner or expert, you should read this... you'll almost certainly find something useful here. (Heck, it's only 35K. Download it twice!)

All the simple example maps enclosed in this archive, are guides and information on how to make odd and strange new things with the Marathon egine.

Force Fields

Multiple Stop Elevators

Bouncy Wall Fixing

Cast Shadows

Multi Split wall techniques

These are great to help "open your mind" to the ways things can be construed and manipulated to get interesting desired results!

The Nardo: Tempus Irae Spoiler Guide, compiled by Michael Neylon and members of the Nardo team. Having problems? Your answer's probably here... Also available online.