Secret Terminals and Lore

Learn advanced mapmaking techniques for Marathon Infinity, including creating tricky doors, realistic bridges, and more, to build your own custom levels.

Hey there! So you're looking to dive into making your own maps for Marathon Infinity, huh? Awesome! The game comes with a tool called Forge, and while there are some tutorial films, this guide is gonna take you way beyond those basics. Think of it as getting the inside scoop from someone who's already figured out the cool tricks.

We'll cover all sorts of neat stuff to make your maps feel alive and challenging. From making doors do more than just open and close, to building bridges that look like they belong in the game, and even messing with how things scroll and appear. Let's get started on making some seriously cool levels!

Doors (Applesauce)

Doors in Marathon Infinity are way more than just passages. You can actually use them as traps! Imagine setting a door to open and close super fast. If it's set up to damage anything in its path without reversing, anything caught will instantly regret moving slowly. You can even make an entire corridor act as a door!

The trick is to play with the Speed and Pause settings. Set the Speed to 55 and the Pause to 300 seconds. Players might walk under it a few times without issue, but when that 300 seconds is up, BAM! They get crushed. Or, they might come back to find the corridor suddenly blocked, forcing them to find a new route.

You can even use multiple corridors as doors. Give them the same Speed but different Pause lengths. Some can even start open while others are closed. If a closed door looks just like the wall, a player won't suspect a thing until they see another door move. Then, if they're under an open door when it slams shut, they're trapped!

If you're using a long corridor as a door trap, you have a couple of options to let players survive. You can fine-tune the Pause so they can just barely sprint through before it closes. Or, add small 'safe havens' along the sides of the corridor where players can duck into. And remember, even big Juggernauts can be crushed by these traps!

For a really nasty multiplayer trick, hide a teleporter behind a wall-like door. When a player steps on it, whisk them away to a tiny room with no escape. Then, set the ceiling and/or floor as doors that crush everything at regular intervals. Talk about a deathtrap!

Bridges

Creating a 'true' bridge where you can see through it from below isn't really possible in Marathon Infinity. However, you can make it look like a multi-level area where a player below can see the sides and base of a bridge above. It takes some careful planning.

First, you'll need two overlapping levels. Think of a corridor for the upper level, with its base and sides hanging down into a tall room below. Before you build the upper level, make sure the lower room is created with extra space in the ceiling where the bridge will be. This helps prevent the game engine from getting confused. For example, if the bridge floor is at 2.000 World Units, the lower room's ceiling in that area should be around 1.500 World Units.

Once that's set, you can add the bridge polygon itself, like a corridor. Make sure it doesn't extend beyond the lower floor's boundaries for realism. Then, you can add textures! You could even use different textures on the sides and underside of the bridge compared to the rest of the room. Using scrolling textures or a different lighting index can make the bridge stand out or blend in, depending on what you want.

Want a bridge that bends? Just use more polygons and, at the bend points, you can use a 'blank' polygon in Forge to create the illusion of a support structure.