Editing Marathon Trilogy (section)

===Initial releases===
The original ''[[Marathon (video game)|Marathon]]'' was released for the [[Macintosh]] in 1994 and introduced many concepts now common in video games, such as reloading weapons, dual-wielded weapons, networked voice chat, visible held weapons in multiplayer, and a sophisticated plot in an action game via text messages peppered throughout its levels. ''Marathon'' was one of the first games to include [[Free look|mouselook]], using the computer mouse to angle the player's view up and down as well as left and right, which would become the standard in FPS games.<ref name="wired 2020"/> This was in addition to 90° "glance left/right" controls, part of a canceled [[virtual reality]] feature.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://marathon.bungie.org/story/blastfromthepast.html#31 | title=Marathon Blasts from the Past - The CyberMaxx VR Headset.}}</ref> Each game offers players a series of single-player levels and various multiplayer maps. The geometry of the games' levels – walls, doors, and platforms – are 3D but with the restriction that they can only use completely horizontal or vertical surfaces. This was a shortcut later known informally as "2.5D" and was used for performance reasons in an era before hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. Notably for the time, the ''Marathon'' engine's use of [[portal-based rendering]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Portal | title=Portal - The Doom Wiki at DoomWiki.org| date=June 6, 2023}}</ref> rather than [[Binary space partitioning|BSP]]-based rendering allowed for room-over-room architecture, with the unusual side effect of allowing spaces which would overlap in real life; this arrangement was referred to as "5D space" by the developers. As was common for games of that era, 2D [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]] are used to portray enemies and NPCs in the level as well as weapons and objects such as ammunition pickups.

The sequel, ''[[Marathon 2: Durandal]]'', was released in 1995 and expanded the engine's capabilities and the fictional universe. Notable new features in the engine included liquids in which the player could swim, ambient sounds, and scripted teleportation of NPCs and items. Compared with its predecessor, ''Marathon 2'' was perceived as a brighter and more energetic game. It introduced several new types of competitive [[Multiplayer video game|multiplayer]] modes beyond [[Deathmatch (video games)|deathmatch]], such as [[King of the Hill (game)|King of the Hill]], as well as [[Cooperative video game|co-op]] play of the main campaign.

In 1996, ''Marathon 2'' was ported to [[Windows 95]]. Also, both ''Marathon'' and ''Marathon 2'' were ported to the [[Apple Pippin]] console as a single game with the title of ''Super Marathon''.<ref>[http://marathon.bungie.org/story/_images/superm_front.jpg Scan] of the front of Super Marathon's box</ref><ref>[http://marathon.bungie.org/story/_images/superm_back.jpg Scan] of the back of Super Marathon's box</ref>

The final game in the trilogy, ''[[Marathon Infinity]]'', was developed by [[Double Aught]] rather than Bungie. It was released in 1996 for the Macintosh only, running on a slightly modified ''Marathon 2'' engine which added support for branching campaigns and fully separate physics models in each level. ''Infinity'' additionally came with "Forge" and "Anvil", polished versions of the internal developer tools used by Bungie and Double Aught to create the series' levels and physics, and to import the game's sounds and graphics. These tools provided some additional features, most notably real-time 3D map preview, over the unofficial [[video game modding|modding]] tools that had been made by the player community. Since ''Marathon 2'' and ''Infinity'' had a settings screen allowing a user-friendly selection of mods (in the form of alternate maps, sprites, sounds, and physics models), this greatly spurred the creation of new fan-made content.

Within the next few years, ''Marathon 2''{{'}}s engine was officially licensed by other developers to create the games ''[[ZPC]]'', ''[[Prime Target]]'' and ''[[Damage Incorporated]]''. All but ''Prime Target'' received a Windows release.

Bungie produced a two-disc compilation of the series called the Marathon Trilogy Box Set in 1997. The first CD-ROM contained all three ''Marathon'' games as well as ''[[Pathways into Darkness]]'', an earlier Bungie game. This disc also contains manuals for all three games, [[QuickTime]] 2.5, and other things necessary to run the game. There are beta versions of ''Marathon'' on this disc as well. The second CD-ROM contains thousands of pieces of user-created content, including maps, total conversions, shape and sound files, cheats, mapmaking tools, physics files, and other applications. The boxed set was also notable for removing [[copy protection]] from the games and including a license allowing them to be installed on as many computers at a site as desired.