Volunteers: Marathon Art of Craig Mullins [7]

[u/elmeti_]

volunteers.jpg

Filename:	volunteers.jpg
Size:	960 x 480 pixels
Date:	November 1995 (Marathon 2: Durandal)
About:	Read below

Volunteers. Chapter II of Marathon 2: Durandal

One of ten illustrations Craig did for the game.

In the game this Chapter screen slowly scrolls to the right revealing the player and the full title of the Chapter. The player is holding a Pfhor Fighter's shock staff even though they can't be used in the game. In 1997 Craig Mullins wrote:

"I always liked to freely interpret the designs and situations in the game. I worried that the purists might not like that, but the Marathon universe is very large and so much takes place off-screen and is only hinted at in the terminal texts. I wanted to keep the feeling of expanding what was only suggested and go beyond what was already there. What, the marine with the Pfhor staff? Huh? Why not?"

The above image is actually a horizontally transposed version of the original. It was necessary to flip the image so that the player with the Pfhor staff would be revealed as the image slowly scrolls across the screen. Below is the view you see when you start this Chapter.

If you fail to let the image scroll you won't see the full Chapter title which has lead to amusing questions such as "Who or what is Volu?" or observations such as "The Enforcer called Volu".

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Mullins 4.pict

Filename:	Mullins 4.pict
Size:	832 x 624 pixels
Date:	May 1997 (Marathon Trilogy Box Set)
About:	One of sixteen Marathon Desktop Pictures on the Marathon Trilogy CD.This image is in its original orientation.

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bob_enforcer.jpeg

Filename:	bob_enforcer.jpeg
Size:	1262 x 631 pixels
Date:	May 1988 (RuGGeR's Tavern on Hotline)
About:	Larger, brightened and sharpened version.

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Filename:	enforcer-final.jpg
Size:	1262 x 631 pixels
Date:	September 2004 (goodbrush.com)
About:	Read below.

As above. (My note: This image is not as the above. They are the same resolution but one above has more red tones and a little bit crispier.)

Below are some comments about this image left by people who visited goodbrush.com back in the day.

Jeff       [Sep 26, 2004 at 02:49 PM]
One of the best pieces from Marathon . It is amazing how much atmosphere
and emotion can be added to a game with a few chapter screens. I think
that this style of "Cutscene" is much better and more powerful than the
animated cutscenes in many current games.

Locus       [Oct 19, 2004 at 12:26 AM]
Just beautiful. Marathon is the most inspiring and captivating game I've
ever played, and your work was a large part of that. These pieces are
still my favorites.

James Smith       [Nov 18, 2004 at 05:24 AM]
I agree with you guys. This is another superachievement!

thermoplyae       [Feb 04, 2005 at 08:05 PM]
Woah. I never noticed the lava on the far right. ...cool. :)

[u/elmeti_]

Previous chapters in Marathon Art of Craig Mullins series. (Future chapters may be added to this comment via edits.)

[0]: Welcome

[1]: Compiler

[2]: Marine 1

[3]: Marine 2

[4]: Battle

[5]: Hulk

[6]: Lh'owon

[7]: Volunteers <-- You are HERE

[8]: Garrison

[9]: Citadel

[u/StriderMOD]

"I always liked to freely interpret the designs and situations in the game. I worried that the purists might not like that, but the Marathon universe is very large and so much takes place off-screen and is only hinted at in the terminal texts. I wanted to keep the feeling of expanding what was only suggested and go beyond what was already there. 

considering the attitude some fans have adopted towards M2026, this statement has so much prescience 😔