Portals is an innovative new concept in Marathon levels, using a bit of 5D space in an unusual manner. Portals is designed as a two player game; any more players will cause Marathon to crash. Two identical rooms overlap precisely, and each has a unique texture scheme, allowing the players to differentiate between the two rooms. Several walls, scattered throughout the rooms, contain windows which allow players to see (and shoot) into their opponent's room instead of their own room, using a cool little trick of 5D space. The two players will start in opposite rooms; players must fire through the windows to kill each other. All weapons but the alien weapon, the missile launcher, and the flamethrower are made available immediately. Although you can get the missile launcher and the flamethrower, only one can exist at a time, giving one player a distinct advantage.
Each room is hooked up to a light switch in that room. The light switch darkens the entire room, giving that player an advantage. However, you can easily hit the light switch with a grenade to turn the lights back on. Better yet, go join your opponent in his/her room (see below).
The central wall is different from the others; it has a door instead of a window. In fact, it has two doors, one in each room. To travel between the rooms, you must open the door on your side by hitting the switch behind the door and then open the other door by hitting the switch in the other room. Opponents beware.
Portals is relatively low on polygons; the entire level is composed of about 70 polygons. However, more than half of the polygons can be visible at any one time. If your computer crawls while playing Portals, that's why. LC III users, take heart. You must know someone with two '040s. In fact, I'm a lowly LC III user, and I can't even use my own computer to play on a net.
Anyway, I must issue a final warning: Marathon was not designed with levels like this in mind. Although Portals is very stable on my LC III (solo, of course), there is a likelihood (greater than usual) that Portals will cause Marathon to crash. Most likely, this will not have any serious consequences, if it happens at all. My computer has been crashed by my levels (while in development) several times and I'm still up and running. However, as the disclaimer below says, I will not assume any responsbility for damage to the user or the user's computer. If your PowerMac 9500/132 crashes and then runs like an SE, it's your problem. Play at your own risk.
To use this map, simply rename your original map file something other than "Map" (i.e. "Bungie" or "Original") and then put the new map file in your Marathon folder (named "Map", of course). Start Marathon as usual, and you're ready to play! You can play on a network with a friend, or you can click on "Begin New Game" to practice solo.
I've attempted to make this map as polished and bug-free as possible. However, I have not had an opportunity to test it thoroughly on a network or on a variety of computers. If there are any problems that you have found, feel free to let me know at afn02635@afn.org (preferred) or JeremyC743@aol.com. Also, I'd love some feedback or suggestions for this level or for future creations. Is it too big? Too small? Too stupid? Too cool? Send me a note! Got a cool movie? I'd love to see...
Don't forget to check out my previous Marathon levels, which can be found at ftp://ftp.amug.org/incoming or Claude Errera's Marathon Maps page at http://www.ese.ogi.edu/pub/entertainment/marathon/maps. They can also be found on AOL in the MGM New Scenarios Files folder.
+ The Man-Trap
+ Stop the Press!
+ The Magic Roundabout
A few helpful hints:
+ If you want to cross over to your opponent's area (say, if you have the flamethrower), you have to open both doors. One can be opened from your area, the other can be tagged with a grenade through a window. Hurry before your opponent closes them up.
+ Turning off the lights in your area can give you a bit of an advantage.
+ If your opponent turns off his/her lights, turn them back on!
+ After a kill, your opponent may regenerate in either area. Watch out! If this annoys people, I could fix this so that each person always comes back in the same area. A teleporter system à la Grinder (a cool level, if you haven't seen it) could do this easily.
+ If you would like to play with more than two players, feel free to open Portals and add another starting point. This eliminates some of the fun of shooting through the windows, though. Also, distribute only the original unaltered copy. If you really feel strongly about the need for more starting points, let me know. Portals 1.1 anyone? (By the way, all the polygons overlap exactly, so if you want to add another starting point you may have to use Mia to select (command-click) and place objects in the lower set of polygons.)
This map was created using Pfhorte 1.0d19 (for texturing and duplicating polygons) and Mia1.0b18 (for modifying sides and polygons once overlapped and for aligning textures). Thanks to Steve Israelson and Dan Walkowski for their wonderful map editors, and, of course, to Bungie for creating this spectacular game. Because of the unorthodox theme, Portals straddles a fine line between that which rules and that which crashes Marathon. Thus, I make no guarantees as to the performance of this map on any particular computer. I assume no responsibility for any damage to the user or the user's computer as a result of the use of this map. In other words, use this map at your own risk. This map may be distributed freely as long as the map is unaltered and this Read Me (also unaltered) is included.
