A talented, albeit amateur, developer, Daniel Blezek, has recently completed the process of getting the first-person shooter game, Marathon, ready for the iPad. The Marathon series from Bungie is almost twenty years old. For those of us that grew up playing this game and others like it, that realization alone is rather awful! However, if you want a chance to enjoy the recapture some of the fun you had playing this game years ago, the game is coming to the iPad. Best of all, it’s free!
Blezek received approval from Bungie about a year ago to work on the app for the iPad. He said it’s thanks to “his loving family” that he was able to complete the project, but Bungie said it’s also due to his solid technical skills. The game is currently awaiting approval from Apple in order to be available in their App Store. Because Bungie has released Marathon Infinity as an open source game, it also sounds like that version will be in the iPad app, as well.
Blezek said that he had to replace many Mac OS 9-styled menus with those that would look better on iOS. He also warned iPad developers not to assume that a smooth development process will translate into a smooth game in the actual tablet. He also said that there were issues in converting the keyboard and mouse controls into the button free tablet. The lack of feedback on the iPad make it even more difficult. Beta testers gave lots of input, though, and that led to a control system that works well in the end.
Bungie said in a recent interview with Blezek, “Oh, perhaps we should have told Daniel about our fees. We get an 80 percent slice of all sales. Anyone know what 0 multiplied by 80 is?”
