Contact Info
The fastest way to contact me is Discord (@aaron6608 or @Aaron#6608). We’ll need a server in common; I recommend the servers for hellpak or The Fourth Curtain (Alex Seropian’s ⟨podfollow.com/thefourthcurtain⟩), both of which I check regularly. I’m technically still a member of the Marathon server, but please don’t ping me there; I’ll never see it, much less respond. (Please don’t ask why; it’s irrelevant and linked to a lot of unpleasant baggage.) I will respond to DMs eventually, but I recommend DMing me if and only if:
- you’re writing about a work to which I’ve directly contributed in some way
- your question pertains directly to text I’ve written on my site
- you notice errors/omissions on my site
- you have suggestions for additions
If you need help, people would probably provide it on the Marathon server before I’d respond to any DM you sent me, so I recommend asking in its #classic-marathon, #forge, or #tech-support channels. (#development is intended only for engine and editor development, so VAF and Aleph Bet are the only projects I work on that would be relevant there – but again, don’t ping me there: I’ll neither read it nor respond.)
I’m also on GitHub as aaronfreed, naturally. If you notice any errors, omissions, or unclear passages, and you aren’t on Discord, you’re welcome to create an issue, submit a pull request, or start a discussion. I do ask users to be respectful (of both me and others) and note that I maintain this page on my own time, for free, while also juggling multiple active development projects that I also work on, also for free. The rules I outline for my discussion section apply equally well to issues and pull requests.
I’m also on the Pfhorums (as The Man) and Reddit (as u/aaronnotarobot), but I can’t promise to respond to messages on either quickly. Lastly, I do, of course, have an email address, but:
- Email is very nearly the worst way to contact me.
- The days when it was a good idea to post an email address on a public webpage are long over.
Biographical Info
What qualifies you to write a Marathon mapmaking guide?
I’m Aaron; I’ve got a long history modding for the Marathon trilogy. I’ve worked in some capacity (not always mapping-related) on current and forthcoming mods like:
- ⟨eternal.bungie.org⟩ (codirector, mapping, music, sound, writing, Lua, graphics, manual; 2018–present)
- ⟨simplici7y.com/items/apotheosis-x-5⟩ (sound, Lua; 2020–2022)
- ⟨simplici7y.com/items/dungeons-hellpak-vol-1-not-recommended-by-doctors⟩ (mapping, Lua, music; 2020–2024)
- ⟨nardo.bungie.org/tir⟩ (mapping, sound, Lua, music, manual; 2020–2025)
- Where Monsters Are in Dreams (codirector, Lua, mapping, sound, story; 2019–2025)
- Marathon Chronicles (creator, every aspect of the game to some degree; 1997–present)
- and several others (although I’m likely best known for Eternal).
Basically, I’ve been busy mapping for this engine off and on since about 1997, during which I’ve acquired all kinds of stupid arcane knowledge about it. Have you ever heard of ambient light delta? Neither had Aleph One’s developers until I pointed it out. I’m not saying that because I think it’s worth being proud of having acquired so much useless and pointless knowledge, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me… no, hang on. Sorry, that’s Taken.
Anyway, I want Marathon mapping to be more accessible, so I wrote beginning and advanced guides that document some of its frustrating problems and solutions to them. Other pages you may be interested in:
- My Marathon soundtracks page.
- My discography, which contains a lot of Marathon-related music, not all of it in the preceding link.
- My portfolio, which includes most (possibly not all) of the important Marathon mods I’ve worked on.
What qualifies you to write about music?
I have well over a decade of classical training in performing, composing, and arranging music on both piano and computer sequencers. I’ve also spent thousands of hours working on sounds and music for various creative projects over the decades. I’ve released over ten hours of music. My recent major releases are:
- Anthologies
- 2024-12-21: Selected Works, 2023-2024
- 2025-04-16: Iānuāriō Aprīlem MMXXV
- Albums
- 2023-02-04: See You Starside: The Marathon Soundtrack Reimagined
- 2025-01-06: Compositions 2023-2024
- 2025-01-30: Mūsica ex tempore malōrum
- 2025-04-25: Κᾰτηγορῐκή ᾰ̓πολογῐ́ᾱ
I’ve worked on several games’ soundtracks:
- Official
- Mastered/remastered Eternal X (since 1.2), Phoenix (since 1.4), Trojan SE, & hellpak’s soundtracks in their entirety, plus about half of Tempus Irae Redux’s
- Expanded Eternal X 1.3’s soundtrack from seventy-five minutes to over seven hours; wrote over two hours of new arrangements of Marathon music, both solo and in collaboration with others
- Wrote original music for Tempus Irae Redux (see above) & hellpak vol. 2 (forthcoming)
- Potentially official (in progress)
- Writing for Endless Sky, an open-source spiritual successor to Ambrosia Software’s beloved space exploration series Escape Velocity. The soundtrack is currently in its early planning stages, but I have an extraordinarily detailed (>6,000-word) plan for it. (Beware spoilers!)
- Unofficial (in progress)
- Fan soundtrack for Marathon 2
- Fan soundtrack for Marathon Rubicon X (with Hench4life, Talashar, & BlueGreenSnake; will create page for soundtrack when more of it is complete)
And sound effects:
- Official
- Eternal X (since 1.2.1): remastered/remixed all sfx in the game
- Tempus Irae Redux: remastered/remixed all sfx in the game
- Apotheosis X: remastered/remixed about half the sfx in version 1.1 (slightly fewer in 1.0)
- Where Monsters Are in Dreams (forthcoming): remastered/remixed all Marathon trilogy sfx
- Unofficial (arranged by degree of improvement, most dramatic first)
- Aleph One: Pathways Into Darkness (unofficial): remastered/remixed all sfx in the game
- Marathon 1 (unofficial): remastered/remixed all sfx in the game (preview these here)
- Marathon 2 & ∞ (unofficial): remastered/remixed all sfx in both games (preview these here)
I’ve also written notes (sorry!) on:
- rhythmic and melodic aspects of music theory, which may help non-musicians who want to learn music;
- musical modes, the circle of fifths, and ancient Greek harmony, which may help other musicians;
- my remastering process, which may help those working on sound or music production.
Q&A
Q: Who are your biggest musical influences?
A: Johann Sebastian Bach is almost singlehandedly responsible for my understanding of harmony; Brian Eno is almost singlehandedly responsible for my understanding of creativity. The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Nobuo Uematsu, Vangelis, & King Crimson round out the big seven, in that order.
Other conscious influences: Steve Albini, Beastie Boys, Black Sabbath, Chris Christodoulou, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Deathspell Omega, Tim & Geoff Follin, Marvin Gaye, Genesis, Philip Glass, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Joy Division, Kōenji Hyakkei, Magma, Metallica, Yasunori Mitsuda, Janelle Monáe, Joanna Newsom, Nightwish, Nine Inch Nails, Steve Reich, Ren, Rush, Ringo Shīna, Talk Talk, Talking Heads, Tears for Fears, Tool, Nobuo Uematsu, Windir, Yes, & Frank Zappa.
I elaborated further on many of my biggest influences here.
Q: What do listeners think your music sounds like?
A: They clearly agreed on Eno, Follin, Magma, Mitsuda, Tears for Fears, Uematsu, & Vangelis being influences, as those are among the comparisons it’s received. It’s also been compared to the works of Minako Hamano (Super Metroid), Quincy Jones, Kouichi Kyuma (Metroid Prime), Marty O’Donnell (Halo, Destiny), Krzysztof Penderecki, Ben Prunty (FTL: Faster Than Light), Michael Salvatori (Halo, Destiny), Scott Lloyd Shelly (Terraria), Tangerine Dream, David Wise (Donkey Kong Country), & Kenji Yamamoto (Metroid series).
In a few cases, this was semi-coincidental; although I admire Prunty & Shelly’s work, I hadn’t heard much of it at the time people made the comparisons, but our shared influences (especially Eno and Vangelis) likely made the stylistic similarities inevitable. Likewise, Tangerine Dream was likely more “we’re both influenced by Bach, the Beatles, Beethoven, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Reich, & Yes, and we both use a ton of Mellotron” than direct influence. And while I found the Penderecki comparison especially flattering, I can’t claim it was entirely intentional; I think I pulled off electronic repliche of some of his string textures and dissonances partly by luck.
However, I’ve deeply admired the others’ work for a long time – in Jones’ case, since I was literally two years old, as Michael Jackson’s Thriller was literally the first album that made me take an interest in music. Meanwhile, Super Metroid and Halo: Combat Evolved probably rank in my top ten soundtracks of all time (and if I allowed series to make multiple appearances in such lists, Metroid Prime would be at least top twenty).
I’ve seen tracks I’ve worked on classified as progressive rock, progressive metal, post-rock, industrial metal, jazz, blues, drum & bass, ambient, techno, dark ambient, black metal, and drone. This list probably isn’t complete.
Q: What’s your workflow for composing and arranging music?
A: I compose primarily in Apple’s Logic Pro, using East West’s Composer Cloud+ and Cherry Audio’s GX-80 to supplement its instrument library, and master my compositions in iZotope RX Standard. While I’m a competent pianist, I consider my playing too rhythmically inexact to work for game music, which often must loop precisely; any variance in tempo will therefore stick out.
Q: Why don’t you ever write lyrics in English?
A: Writing in languages I speak competently but not fluently, such as Latin or Greek, forces me to choose words and imagery more economically. Conciseness is not a trait my English writing has ever been accused of.
Q: What happened to [insert project name here]?
A: I had way too many active projects and inevitably burnt out over several of them. I eventually plan to resume working on some of them, but I make no promises as to which ones I will resume, nor when I will do so – people should have learned a long time ago to stop trusting my estimates of these things anyway.
Q: Is [insert project name here] ever going to get finished?
A: Art is never finished. Artists just stop working on it. However, I don’t think I’ve stopped working on Eternal or hellpak vol. 2 for good; I just need some time off from them. Marathon Chronicles will probably take longer, until a few collaborators have more time to work on it (assuming they ever do).
As for software projects: I may resume work on VAF at some point, but unless someone with vastly more knowledge of (and enthusiasm for working in) C++ is ready to help revive Aleph Bet, it’s probably dead.
Q: Will you map/write music/make sound effects/write terminals/script for my Marathon scenario?
A: Sorry, I already have way too many unfinished projects, not to mention severe anxiety and trust issues. Unless I know you really well, the answer is no. (And if you have to ask if I know you that well… I don’t.)
Q: Can I buy your music or donate to you in any way?
A: Unfortunately, my circumstances prohibit that right now, probably indefinitely. I listed several charities that need money more than I do in my commentary for Mūsica ex tempore malōrum. Send it to one of them instead.