Key points
- The game was made free to download in 2005. Note that it is NOT open source.
- Aleph One supports modern systems and allows modding
- Small but dedicated community
- Frame rate is capped at 30 FPS (Fixed in April 8, 2021 update for Aleph One).
- Cannot change settings while in a game.
- Cannot manually reload weapons.
- Cannot switch directly to a weapon (keys 1-9 serve no purpose by default) or rebind zoom key (F7). (Also fixed in the April 8th 2021 update for Aleph One).
General information
- Bungie.net - The developer's site
- Pfhorpedia - A wiki for everything Marathon related
- Traxus Project - Another Marathon wiki
- Marathon.Bungie.org - One of the biggest Marathon fan sites around
- Simplici7y - A fan site for downloading mods and maps for the Marathon Trilogy
Availability
Version differences
Marathon (Original)
The original Mac only version of the game and its manual are available to download for free at https://trilogyrelease.bungie.org/. Individual files can also be downloaded as opposed to the full game. The game has also been modified to no longer require serial keys to install.
Note that they are provided as is and will only run on a classic Macintosh. The game is also using an older version of the Marathon engine, so features provided in the sequels such as mod support are unavailable.
It is recommended to use the Aleph One version as it adds modern PC support and a port to the newer engine.
Aleph One
Aleph One is an open source continuation of the Marathon 2 engine. Along with bringing all the benefits of the newer engine to the original Marathon, it makes the game more modern and accessible with many different improvements such as cross-platform support, widescreen resolutions, and improved multiplayer networking.
For Windows and OS X, everything is provided as a single app/folder. For Linux, the engine need to be downloaded separately from the game files, compiled, and merged in.
Both the engine and the game files can be downloaded at https://alephone.lhowon.org/.
As a bonus, the game files provided by Aleph One include a revamped HUD, and a new UI.
- Aleph One 1.1 and later can run Marathon 1; prior to this there was a fan made remake of Marathon 1 for Aleph One called M1A1. Despite using the original Marathon 1 assets, M1A1 has a different resource structure so mods created for it are not compatible with the official Marathon 1. M1A1 was officially deemed obsolete after support for the official Marathon 1 data files were added to Aleph One.
Essential improvements
Marathon Serial Key Generator
A legal serial key generator for the retail versions of all Marathon games. Refresh the page to get a new batch of keys. Marathon keys are stated with "M1" before the codes.
It can be found at http://marathon.bungie.org/maraserialgen/.
Aleph One Mods
- StarScape DDS requieres manual modification in order to work with Aleph One.
Install StarScape DDS
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- Unzip `starscape.zip`.
- Make 3 copies of
starscape.dds , renaming each 04.dds , 24.dds , and 21.dds .
- Unzip
TTEP_v7_1024x1024.zip and browse to Collections
- Open the TTEP folder and replace image
04.dds inside folder 02 ; image 24.dds inside folder 17 , and finally, image 21.dds inside folder 18 .
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- 3D scenery for M1 - Replaces the 2D scenery sprites with 3D objects. Note that some players do not like 3D objects in Marathon due to it's 2.5D nature.
- Marathon over Tau Ceti E-I Landscape - Gives more realistic landscape however has bugs on some systems. Quallity can generally be reduced in settings if it causes lag, however a smaller version is available here.
- Marathon 1 Remastered Sounds - Replaces game sounds with enhanced, higher quality versions.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System |
Location |
Windows |
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Aleph One\Marathon Preferences |
Mac OS (Classic) |
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Linux |
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Save game data location
Video
In-game general video settings.
In-game advanced OpenGL settings.
In-game advanced software renderer settings.
Input
In-game general control settings.
In-game movement key map settings.
In-game actions key map settings.
In-game hotkeys key map settings.
In-game interface key map settings.
In-game other key map settings.
In-game joystick settings.
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
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Surround sound |
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Subtitles |
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Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
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Royalty free audio |
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Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
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Network
- System 7 or higher is required for network play.
Multiplayer types
Connection types
Ports
- No port information; you can edit this page to add it.
- This game supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for automatic port configuration.
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
OpenGL |
2.0, 1.0 |
Use Aleph One. OpenGL "Classic" is 1.0, "Shader" is 2.0 |
Software renderer |
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Executable | PPC | 16-bit |
32-bit |
64-bit | ARM |
Notes |
Windows | | |
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For 64-bit use Aleph One. |
macOS (OS X) | | |
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Aleph One only.[3] |
Linux | | |
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The last known update to ARM redistributions of Aleph One were in 2019.[4] |
Mac OS (Classic) | | | |
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Middleware
Classic HUD Plugins (Aleph One)
Aleph One plugins that change the in-game HUD to match the original release. There are two variants available:
System requirements
Windows | Mac OS (Classic) | macOS (OS X) | Linux |
Mac OS |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
6.0.5 |
7 |
Processor (CPU) |
Motorola 68020 or better processor | |
System memory (RAM) |
3 MB |
6 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
150 MB | |
Video card (GPU) |
256 colour capable | |
References