AlephModular, a project based on Marathon 2 source code released by Bungie Studios, seeks to bring Marathon into the present by making it clean, stable, and modular.

Frequently Asked Questions

Project Questions
  1. Why not just work on Aleph One?
  2. Why not just branch off the current Aleph One code instead of the original Marathon 2?
  3. What if we want Aleph One compatibility and advanced features like OpenGL?
  4. What language/platform is used to develop AlephModular?
  5. Is AlephModular cross-platform? Will you support my OS?
  6. What license covers AM, if any?
  7. How can I get involved and help?
  8. Where can I download Marathon data files to play the game?
Gameplay Questions
  1. AM crashed when I went underwater, what do I do?
  2. AM won't start, or crashes when I try to start it.
  3. AM won't work with my files from other Marathon games.
  4. The mouse doesn't work, or acts funny when I try to use it.
  5. AM runs slowly, how do I increase performance?

Project Questions

Why not just work on Aleph One?

As AM lead developer Jeremy Parsons explains:

I do work on and contribute to Aleph One. However, certain aspects of Aleph One are problematic at best. For instance, the way crossplatform support was added.

Also, I wish to break pieces of Aleph One up into smaller pieces. Wouldn't it be nice if it was much easier to break out the rendering code? Forge used to have an in-engine way of looking at the level currently being edited. Why can't we get this into our other editors?

I'm not giving up on Aleph One and I see room for cross-pollination between the two projects. For example, I'm comparing M2 code to A1 code to see how some things, like serialization, were implemented, and trying to improve on the concept. I also see some of the changes as too drastic to fit into AlephOne proper without a proper consensus.

That's reasonable, but why not just branch off the current Aleph One code instead of the original Marathon 2 source?

Let's ask Jeremy, shall we?

Three reasons.

One is that I have problems when I compile the current Aleph One code. I don't know if this has to do with my tools or if this has to do with the way the code is linked or if it deals with the way things were added over time. The current CVS code for Aleph One doesn't fully compile for me after some recent changes. And in addition, since upgrading to Jaguar, I can't use the Project Builder debugger with Aleph One. (It seems to work fine with other projects, I don't know why it doesn't work with Aleph One)

Second is that as Aleph One evolved, files were sorted into new directories. However, because CVS doesn't keep track of directories and because of the way files were deleted then added again in a new directory, many files have lost their changelogs that preceded them being moved to a new directory. We've lost histories of the files that may have been important or might give a better idea for future work.

The third reason is simplicity. I feel it will be easier to shift this earlier incarnation of things around. There's no OpenGL in the way. There's none of the platform overlap involved. There's no scripting to currently worry about.

What if we want all those features? Scripting, OpenGL and large screen support? What if we want Aleph One compatibility?

Once the AlephModular framework is in place, it should be possible (and it is planned) to add some, if not all, of these features back. While Aleph One compatibility is not necessarily guaranteed at this time, the plan is to at least have full Marathon 2 and Infinity compatibility in place.

What language/platform is used to develop AlephModular?

Marathon 2 was written in C, and is being moved to C++ for AlephModular. Development is taking place primarily on using Xcode/Project Builder and gcc 3.x, and targets the Carbon API.

Is AlephModular cross-platform? Will you support my OS?

AM currently only runs on Mac OS X. However, cross-platform support is intended for a later release (when more of the Mac-only parts have been modularized and thus can be swapped out as necessary).

What license covers AM, if any?

AlephModular is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 2, as published by the Free Software Foundation. There is absolutely no warranty of any kind; see the GPL for more details.

How do I get involved and help?

As a user, you can play the game with your favorite Marathon 2 maps and verify compatibility. Try viewing your Marathon 2 films in AlephModular and make sure that they playback correctly; that is, that players get items, visit places, and make kills/get killed in the same places they do in both versions. If you don't have any films, you can visit the Vidmaster Challenge and download them there.

As a developer, you can checkout AM at any time via anonymous CVS. Feel free to tinker around, offer suggestions or patches. AM is a pretty small project with a lot of things to do, so more eyes looking over the code are always welcome.

All interested parties are encouraged to join the alephmodular-devel mailing list, where most project- and development-related discussion occurs.

Where can I download Marathon data files to play the game?

The Marathon Trilogy data files are available for free from bungie.org. Currently, AlephModular is compatible with Marathon 2: Durandal.

Gameplay Questions

AM crashed when I went underwater, what do I do?

This is due to a bug in the ambient sound code. Either turn off ambient sounds, or upgrade to a newer version of AM (this was fixed for 0.3).

AM won't start, or crashes when I try to start it.

Currently, AM requires the Marathon 2 data files (Shapes, Sounds, Map, etc.) to be in the same directory as the application when it is opened. If you tried to open it before doing so, try deleting the Preferences file.

AM won't work with my [Infinity | Aleph One | Marathon 1] files.

These files are not supported at this time. However, it is the intent of the AM crew to support, at the very least, all Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity files in the near future.

The mouse doesn't work, or acts funny when I try to use it.

Mouse control is currently not functional. Try switching to Keyboard only in the Preferences.

AM runs slowly, how do I increase performance?

Try switching to Low Resolution (pixel doubling). This will likely be alleviated later on when the graphics can be hardware accelerated.