Marathon: Durandal's bonus feature: motion sickness
by Jared Rea 
{ Aug 2nd 2007 at 8:01AM }
The first person shooter genre has always been synonymous with motion sickness, but when the ol' iron guts here at Joystiq started feeling queasy after playing Marathon: Durandal for Xbox Live Arcade, we knew something was wrong. Sure enough, threads began to pop up all over the place and even IGN noted in their official review that four of their editors felt ill while playing. To find out what's to blame for this poké-esque epidemic, we talked to Freeverse's Bruce Morrison, project lead on Marathon: Durandal.
"Marathon's obvious popularity, the sudden forum 'meme' of it making you sick, and the wealth of really excellent hurl jokes ... I think that explains a lot of it." teases Bruce. In all seriousness, he explains, "No one at Freeverse, Microsoft, Bungie, VMC or our testing and localization partners reported any motion sickness issues and many of us have logged hundreds of hours of playtime. So we really don't believe the problem is universal. However, a good number of people will experience motion sickness with any FPS."
While Freeverse is planning on investigating this matter, Bruce does have some suggestions. First, try playing with the "camera bob" option set to on as the lack of default motion tends to make things appear smoother than they already are. Also, if your mother never told you better, try adjusting your seating position. You may be sitting far too close to your set for this odd, stomach churning experience.
Having taken his advice, we can now enjoy this remastered classic with only a mild headache as the side effect. Thanks, camera bob!
"Marathon's obvious popularity, the sudden forum 'meme' of it making you sick, and the wealth of really excellent hurl jokes ... I think that explains a lot of it." teases Bruce. In all seriousness, he explains, "No one at Freeverse, Microsoft, Bungie, VMC or our testing and localization partners reported any motion sickness issues and many of us have logged hundreds of hours of playtime. So we really don't believe the problem is universal. However, a good number of people will experience motion sickness with any FPS."
While Freeverse is planning on investigating this matter, Bruce does have some suggestions. First, try playing with the "camera bob" option set to on as the lack of default motion tends to make things appear smoother than they already are. Also, if your mother never told you better, try adjusting your seating position. You may be sitting far too close to your set for this odd, stomach churning experience.
Having taken his advice, we can now enjoy this remastered classic with only a mild headache as the side effect. Thanks, camera bob!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Martin @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:10AM
Mmm - what's making people sick - perhaps the realization they've paid 800 points for a game with NES-tastic graphics ?
felixlighter @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:20AM
I think the graphics are closer to N64 in HD. 10 bucks for this game doesn't seem unreasonable, unless of course, you spend most of your play time vomiting.
Truepatriot @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:21AM
NES graphics rule!
the game sucks,the only reason mac users praised it was because they had nothing else to play.
Anam @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:44AM
@Truepatriot
As a mac user, I would be insulted by that had it not been for the fact that it's true... so yeah, carry on.
*dreams of Half-Life 2*
AoE @ Aug 2nd 2007 3:50PM
@Truepatriot,
I beg to differ. I had a pc at home that I used to play Wolfenstiend/Doom on in those days... and I used to stay late at school to play Marathon on the macs there. Marathon was a fantastic game, and at the time it had my favorite deathmatch by far (until Duke Nukem 3D)
J.Goodwin @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:26AM
I never get sick playing FPS games.
This one made me queasy. The viewport angle seems to be bad, and it's causing foreshortening or something.
Maybe it's better in widescreen HD?
Definitely, before you plunk down your cash sight unseen, try the demo for a while. There's no point in spending money on a game that will make you sick.
Martin @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:28AM
Yah exactly - I played the demo for about 30 mins before deciding it wasn't for me. It seems to be in essence a beta version of the original Doom......
mkennedy @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:29AM
I was a big fan of the original and was actually excited to pick this up again, but I just had to try it before I spent the money. The demo made my eyes hurt and my stomach double over in its first five minutes. It's a good thing all the original games are available online, because it seems like the latest batch of "features" (read: glaring defects) do nothing to help my memory of the game.
TheSecretWeapon @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:48AM
I've got to say I love it. After a while you adapt and get used to the motion sickness.
Turn on motion sickness and sit a bit further back if you are too close. That might help.
Finally, the multiplayer is a blast. I think it's better than Doom. Also, that Survival mode is really fun.
The trial version really sucks. The first level is boring and has limited number of enemies and weapons. They should have included a 3 min trial of Survival mode because it is SO MUCH GODDAMN FUN!
rdj75 @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:15AM
@TheSecretWeapon:
I think that might be my problem, I love FPS's and I love sitting about 6 feet from my 56"hdtv when playing any game. I am 32 years old and I have never gotten sick ever playing any game at anytime in my life but when I fired this game up yesterday, it just made me feel weird(not sick just weird). At first I thought it was the chinese food I ate right before I started playing but when I started seing similar complaints, I was like ok glad I am not the only one.
Shadow Hog @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:01AM
Turn on motion-sickness...?
TheSecretWeapon @ Aug 2nd 2007 2:21PM
ROFL, I didn't spot that. I meant turn out the bob effect.
I think plenty of people already have motion sickness turned on ;) .
rDr4g0n @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:00AM
ive yet to meet a game that makes me motion sick. im tempted to try this one out just for the challenge.
rask @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:05AM
I've never had motion sickness playing an FPS ever.
This one on my SDTV had me quesy enough that I had to stop playing it.
DaiMac79 @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:20AM
Haven't experienced this issue, the switch from 30 to 60fps was a bit jarring but not enough to make me sick. I didn't even turn on camera bob, though now I might because IIRC it was on by default in the original version.
@Mac hating dumbasses: Ok, lets dispell the "Mac had no games" idea right here. Every single major Id game (Wolfenstein, Doom 1-3, every single version of Quake) has always come out on the mac, sometimes several months late but they always come. Blizzard has always done simultaneous releases of all its major products on both platforms. Unreal, UT, etc always come to Mac, I honestly wouldn't be that surprised if Gears of War shows up at some point around or just after UT3 gets here. We don't have as many games as Windows, but if the game is actually good and popular it almost always gets ported. I've played PC games since the mid 80s, I've had almost every game console released in the last 20 years, so trust me, I have a suitable frame of reference to judge this game on its own merits. Marathon is great because it features an incredibly engrossing story interleaved perfectly with a constantly escalating and increasingly desperate single player campaign. While the graphics and controls certainly aren't up to modern standards, every other aspect of this game equals or surpasses newer games, even its mongrel descendant Halo (which was supposed to be Myth in space on a larger scale intially, of course). Alot of that has to do with where effort is being applied; companies like Epic have to spend so much time developing their 3D engines that things like story and character interaction are mostly an afterthought.
Think Marathon is the only game Mac users can claim was both revolutionary and first on our platform? How about Myst, or the legions of other Hypercard games before it which are still influencing the way adventure games are produced?
I was the "tech assistant" at my school lab when Marathon 2 came out. We had 6 macs, none of which was brand new, and a dozen PCs with arguably higher specs. The line during lunch period to play Marathon on the macs was often 10-15 people deep (totally population of private school around 200), while nobody ever tried to play Doom or anything on the PCs, at least not multiplayer. The vast majority of people lined up to play Marathon were PC users themselves at home, so they had no reason to play the macs specifically.
Avatar @ Aug 5th 2007 6:16AM
The general belief, and most game devs will agree, is that there are far more games and game companies making games for PC than Mac. That's always beent he case. Blizzard and id, although they are marvelous copmanies, do not make every single good game out there, so can't exactly say that Mac has an equal amount of games merely because two big companies bothered to put games on Mac too. The fact of the matter is, PCs have always had more games, mainly because the Mac videogame market isn't nearly as large.
DaiMac79 @ Aug 5th 2007 10:06AM
@Avatar: No, you're right, but my point was that the AAA studios do port games to mac, most of the games we don't get are AA or below. There are exceptions of course, great games that don't make it. I just get pissed at the "Mac has no games" when I've killed plenty of fools in cross platform online games on my Mac.
That was all.
Leo-Jay @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:23AM
As a general rule, I don't get sick playing FPSes unless I'm already unwell or it's a wider range of motion (Descent tends to mess with my balance, for instance).
Durandal HD didn't have me running for the toilet to deposit my lunch in the First National Bank Of Yuke, but after about a half-hour I had enough of a headache that I had to stop playing. There's something unnatural and awkward about the world motion that I think sets people off, like it's too smooth and moves just a bit too fast.
It's worth noting that the original Marathons were known for tripping off motion sickness in people otherwise not prone as well, so it might just be Bungie's engine, blown up to huge proportions, that are giving everyone a case of the technicolour rainbows.
waynski1457 @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:24AM
i was feeling a little weird too but i found out one big thing. if ur running it on a SDTV then turn off HD graphics. yes it will look like crap by comparison but it will look much much smoother on the eyes.
samfish @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:42AM
That picture must be in Beijing. Blargh!
Malleus @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:45AM
I used to get quesy on the old school FPS like this and DOOM. The new ones don't bother me. I am playing this and it does cause a bit of uneasiness for me but nothing substantial. I think that if you sit back farther from your TV and make sure that there is a light on if it is dark so you can see the rest of your room then it tends to lessen the effect. Since motion sickness is caused by your brain processing the motion from the eyes but not getting any motion signals from the inner ear) So if you can see other things around sitting still like you are it helps. I played for about an hour and a half last night and I was OK using these tips.
Justin U @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:51AM
I think because you move whicked fast constantly, and the turning sensitivity is jacked.
Otherwise... you guys are all pansies if you get sick playing video games. Go play some Viva Pinata :P
horngreen @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:57AM
Man some poor bastards had to log "hundreds of hours" of playtime on this game? I think I would rather dig ditches for 100 hours than play this tired turd.
HineyWipe @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:02AM
After playing, I couldn't get an erection. But with the help of Cialis, my weekend will be "game free".
MookieFL @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:09AM
I played this for about an hour last night, and while it didn't make me physically sick, I bored me nearly to death. I played the XBLA version of Doom a ton, but the weapons in Marathon were wimpy and I derived little satisfaction from using them. I wonder if a lot of the hype surrounding this game is because Mac users had nothing else to play in the mid-90's. I'm sure it was fun when it was fresh, but better than Doom? No way.
GRANTED @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:29AM
the picture is golden. where do you find this stuff. i hope you made it.
Riot9 @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:41AM
I've never had motion sickness while playing a FPS. Until last night at least. I thought I was just getting sick and had to stop playing Marathon. I felt fine after 10 minutes of not playing and wrote it off as something completely random until reading this.
Dark-Pen @ Aug 7th 2007 6:59AM
Actually, I personally get even more sick w/ camera bob on.
The first true experience I had w/ motion sickness in an FPS was playing Golden Eye into the wee hours of the morning and not having eaten anything. I don't think I was too close to the screen, but I think its mostly caused by prolonged play.
TiaMaster @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:32AM
This is so funny. Just like back in the day, the PC fanboys come out and actually say that Marathon sucks compared to Doom - oh, and that its a COPY of doom (even though that would be impossible...).
Um...get serious.
DaiMac79 @ Aug 2nd 2007 1:00PM
Heh, thats exactly what I thought when I first saw this post, haven't I already had all these arguments over Doom vs. Marathon 10-12 years ago? Its just too bad they didn't make a way to create and load user content (shapes, maps, physics) from a computer to this game on XBLA, where Marathon really owned the other games out at the time was how mod-able it was and how easy it was to make those mods. Nobody ever complained about the weapons in the original versions because it was a 5 minute process to create a physics model that would correct/improve any issues you had with them, and since the files are tiny its not like logging into a server in say Q3a and waiting 20 minutes to download necessary files.
Also, the reason you have the weapons you do and not the ridiculously overpowered ones featured in most FPS games is because the story is all about how limited your resources are, which is why you don't even get real heavy weapons like the SPNKR until fairly late in the game. Personally I enjoy a game where I actually have to strategize how I use my ammo and different weapons, its one of the reasons I liked RE4 so much.
I think its safe to say though that the XBLA version of this game may need some minor tweaks, obviously many different people are having technical issues with it.
TristO @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:34AM
YUP! I got sick too....first i was playing about 4 feet away for about 30 mins and i got sick from that....stopped for about 10-15 mins then continued cause i felt fine....then i sat back about 8 feet from my 37inch HDTV and then felt sick not to long after i started again. i had to sleep it off after only about 1 hour of gameplay :S
this is the only FPS game that i have felt motion sickness while playing :( How can the devs not feel or note any sickness during the testing?
I think they are lieing!
Mad @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:35AM
I didn't feel any motion sickness while I was trying the demo, which by the way will probably turn into a purchase. The game is pretty cool and the slight graphical upgrade does the job nicely while retaining the classic feel.
Sesur @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:40AM
I got to confess, playing the demo made me slightly sick, and gave me a headache. I think it's the overwhelming sharpness of HD.
PancakesHouse @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:43AM
I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one who felt sick from this game. I have never once felt sick playing an FPS or any other video game until I tried the demo of this Wednesday morning.
I honestly stopped playing the game and walk straight to the bathroom, thinking I was going to throw up.
FYI: I was playing 10 feet from an 46" DLP HDTV, so I was defiantly not to close to the screen. It was also full daylight. They obviously say there has been no issues during the testing so people will still buy the game. I defiantly will not buy it. Especially since it's free online, sans motion-sickness.
Anthony33 @ Aug 2nd 2007 12:13PM
I played the trial as well and feel that the look sensitivity is way to high. Even with it all the way down it is crazy fast. I played it a bit and got a headache as well (and I play FPSs all the time without any motion sickness).
Ivan @ Aug 2nd 2007 12:13PM
Just throwing it out there, WilL Stamper of Newgrounds.com drew that rainbow puking rainbow for I-Mockery.com
Yeah.
konajinx @ Aug 2nd 2007 12:13PM
This is a terrible turd of a game. I don't see why some gamers are so zealously defending it. It's just not fun. Indeed, DOOM received more play from me on XBLA. It's funny, though, over on the official forums for this game on the Xbox site, some of the people who are really into this are saying it's not just a "Run and gun" game. Riiiiight. It is just that, but with crappy weapons like a cap gun and rubber band shooter at your disposal.
rikimaru @ Aug 2nd 2007 12:41PM
What? People are getting sick from this game? Maybe years of all these new full 3D FPS's trained your eyes and brains. Marathon, compared to todays games does have a sort of odd perspective and panning. But If you remember Chex Quest, Duke Nukem 3D, and Starwars: Dark Forces, they all had the same pseudo 3Dness to the panning, especially when you looked up and down.
I played the first couple levels with no problem of getting sick, I was messing with the options for fun (I recommend turning on the large terminal fonts) and I found that turning camera bob on actually hurt my head a little because now the camera was shaking around when I moved. I Tried out survival mode, which is a blast. HD graphics on and off is interesting although you cant change the option in game, only in the main menu.
Jared Rea @ Aug 2nd 2007 12:47PM
A lot of the comments in this thread make me weep for the future of classic gaming.
"NES-tastic graphics?" I said wow.
Joe Smith @ Aug 2nd 2007 1:02PM
I am pretty touchy with motion sickness (SPyro the dragon could knock me flat in 5 minutes) and this game does cause me some problems. That said, I like enough to put up with it. A couple of things I have learned over the years of loving games while being a nauseated wreck is to get back from the TV some and have the lights on while you play. Believe it or not, another thing that helps me out is to have my own music playing while in the game. I have no idea why that helps, but it does for me. Go figure.
Uchendu Nwachukwu @ Aug 2nd 2007 1:07PM
Add me to the crowd of people who felt queasy playing this game. Downloaded the trial, played the first level, and within about two minutes or so, I began to feel like I was about to throw up. Stopped playing and the feeling disappeared.
DWells55 @ Aug 2nd 2007 2:32PM
The only game to ever make me feel at all uncomfortable was the first 15 minutes of Prey when I was adjusting to the whole walking on walls and ceilings and shifting gravity and crap. After that it didn't bother me anymore.
Final Light @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:57PM
Glad to know it wasnt only me. ive been playing FPSs for years! Yesterday i downloaded this game and as i played i felt a little dizzy so i stopped and deleted the game(not because i felt sick but because i thought it sucked). felt sick the rest of the day...law suit? no. :D
Twist @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:58PM
I found the camera bob to be extremely annoying in this game. Like many older FPS's they really over did it IMHO. Perhaps they could tweak that and instead of just having on and off give us a slider to set the level of camera bob. Having a little bit would be nice but the default amount is way too much.
Also it is pretty odd that they did the second game in the series instead of the first one.
atomicstrawberry @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:48PM
People get motion sickness playing Marathon? I've never had any problems with it, either back on the Mac or now. The only game to have ever made me feel sick is Doom, and to be fair at the time I wasn't well to begin with.
I did find it hard to adjust at first, though. The speed at which you aim seemed very sensitive at first, and everything feels like it's been sped up slightly.
I ended up playing for over six hours solid. The first time I've ever sat down and completed the whole campaign end to end. It plays really well, and I'd suggest that people claiming that it's somehow vastly inferior to Doom need to take off their rose-coloured glasses.
How many of the complaints about motion sickness are coming from people playing on SDTVs?