I wanted to add some of my own comments to Et'he's:
>: 03. Will the consoles be like they were in the original
>: (time freezes), like they were in Durandal/* (time
>: continues), or will they just be high res pics that
>: slideshow on the consoles without leaving the FPS
>: engine?
>
>Dependent on what causes less headaches in the coding
>implementation.
But don't think that you're going to be able to stand there at a terminal surfing the web for hours without some three-legged critter sticking one of those wonderful glowing staffs right up your serial port.
>: 05. Will you make it possible for characters in the game
>: to be more than randomly ambient life? Such as
>: actually finding Robert Blake, the Pfhor scientest
>: Re'eer (both Marathon 2), or perhaps even Bernhard
>: Strauss himself?
>
>Doubtfull... Actual interaction with many of these prominent
>characters introduces scenarios where the revered story can be
>thrown astray.
Blake, of course, was actually Jason. It's up to him if he wants to be found. Even so, you're never going to find Blake in Marathon 1.
>: 06. Can I safely assume that at least half the BOBs will
>: be female this time around?
>
>No... BOB will be 100% male...
We're even considering adding pork rinds, tractor pulls, and a BOB-adjusts-genitals animation.
>: 07. Will the incorrect Naval terminology ("the Pfhor
>: have invaded the Marathon!" instead of "the
>: Pfhor have invaded Marathon!" [correct v
>: original]) remain in the console text?
>
>Uh... Wow... You're hardcore ain't ya? It will be the way the
>original story was told... Mistakes and all.
I presume you meant to type "the Pfhor have boarded the Marathon!". It is debatable whether that would be the correct terminology since the Marathon was both a ship and a moon. You board a ship but you invade a moon. Shrug.
>: 08. Will you allow the Bernhard/ Bernard text conflict to
>: remain?
>
>Yes... Story is untouched.
Well, I will entertain requests to correct it. Then again, it's an attractive thought to leave (or even introduce) some typos just so that anyone anal enough to spellcheck the terminal text can be driven nuts.
>: 09. Will you support a prologue like what was written in
>: the manual text ingame or otherwise (prefight movie,
>: etc.)?
>
>We hope... We'd like to... But we'd also like to get the fans
>something to play with as well... Dependent on how much
>midnight oil we're interested in burning.
What, you're not going to ask about the cut scenes as well? As far as I'm concerned, one equals the other. The intro text would just be an extra cut scene before the one for Arrival. Whether cut scenes will make it in at all is an open question. I have typed in all the text from the intro in the Marathon 1 manual. Also I have exported all the cut scene PICTs. I have looked into implementing the cut scenes but not far enough to render a verdict yet.
>: 10. Will you be adding the angular verticies when
>: necessary, but impossible in the originals?
>
>Yes.
Um... I'm glad Et'he knows WTF you're talking about. I guess I'll just sit back and see what he comes up with.
>: 12. How close to the original will the 'protagonist' we
>: play as (the cyborg/human debate rages still) be
>: portrayed? Will you take any liberties to offset the
>: balance of the argument, or does that even matter?
>
>Story is preserved entirely... Thus your debate can go on,
>cause we're not casting our own shadow on this debate.
As far as I'm concerned there is no argument. Everything necessary to settle this debate was present in Marathon 1. (Hint: How did the level Blaspheme Quarantine serve the plot?)
>: 13. Since the original look of Marathon is not integral
>: to the story, will you give her an update?
>
>Slightly.
I don't grant your premise that "the original look of Marathon is not integral to the story". It has not been proven to me that you can have the "feel" of Marathon without having the "look" of Marathon. Without having the "feel" of Marathon the story would suffer from not being as immersive as the original was (and still is).
>: 14. Will ALL the details from the original be transposed?
>: even the secret writing on the hull of level one that
>: is rumored to exist?
>
>Damn... We will not be pursuing rumors... You are 1337
>man, I bow to your hardcore pursuit of Marathon.
Secret writing? Have you been into the mushrooms? The secret room will be there, as will all secrets from the original. Will we be adding our own secrets? That would be telling. :-)
woof
