fileball.whpress.com
February 1999

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Timeline

Elevation Preset Templates

A pretty intriguing idea-all elevations, from -8 WU to 8 WU in 1/8 WU increments have been already specified in the 128 polys already existing in these maps. (There are 5 maps-1 for each texture set.) If you can live with the limitation of 896 polys per level instead of 1024, you can use these as starting points for your own levels, and you'll find you don't need to define elevation levels for each altered poly. Pretty cool... The readme describes a few potential problems (nothing major), and workarounds for these. If you're building levels that don't need really bizarre elevations, these...

Marapose

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.

M2/Mi Photoshop CLUT

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.

Map Exporter Documentation

Documentation for the Marathon Map Exporter. Contains info on exporting to various 3D games (including a few upcoming ones), and some discussion of the evolution of 3D games. Worthwhile reading for anyone looking beyond the Marathon universe for first-person-shooter games.

Guide to Using Unused Sounds Slots

Detailed information on reactivating (or activating, depending on your view) the unused slots available in the M2/Mi Sounds file. This is a great way to add new sounds, without losing what's already there. The doc mentions that you can see the technique being used in "M1->Mi Hunter conversion patch that this doc is bundled with"-while the patch does have these docs bundled, this version is just the docs. If you want the patch, you need to get it from the Alterations section.

Task-Sensitive Term Tutorial

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.