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“If time travel is possible, where are the tourists from the future?”

Well, perhaps they look like one of us.

Welcome, dear time traveling ladies and gentlemen to The Journeyman Project 3 community playthrough. Legacy of Time is (so far) the last installment in TJP sci-fi series, and originally released in 1998. If you’ve never played TJP game, most reviews should agree that it shouldn’t be much of a trouble to jump straight into the third game (though, naturally, you’ll miss some of the references and background story, like the story of How I Met My Arthur ), along with the neat fact that at the beginning of the game our hero has no memory of the previous events.

JP games are usually considered Myst-clones (though JP1 came out before Myst, while JP authors worked on Myst 3). While that can be true to an extent for JP1/JP2 (which were sort of a Thief/Myst, as you needed to avoid people from the past who would find you rather bizarre-looking in a jumpsuit, unless you wanted to end like this), in JP3 you’re equipped with the so-called “chameleon” suit, the technology that lets you disguise into any character you meet along the way. Not only that it makes for a more character-driven experience, it’s also an integral part of the puzzles. That, and the fact that sidekick Arthur is once again with us make for a little different “Myst-clone”. It’s a really a nice little twist to the usual sci-fi formula, and I call everyone regardless of their preferences to try and look for something in it.

Story

Not to spoil much (beware as the first few “Introduction” paragraphs of the manual may contain some spoilers to previous games), all you need to know is that you’re Gage Blackwood, Agent 5 of the Temporal Security Agency which safeguards history, as the science has accomplished secretive “to past only” time travel (who saved the world on couple of occasions and had to clear his name previously). Any misuse of the technology could dangerously alter the history and send potentially disastrous time-wave (if you need more info on the backstory, check pages 21-25 of the manual, or visit TJP-Wikia and the official site).

JP3 continues some months after JP2 - In the year 2329, Symbiotry - Galactic Republic/Alliance-of sort, has decided to pull off all time travels due to recent accidents and serious threats to time distortion. However, soon after it’s revealed there’s a severe temporal rip in Mediterranean Sea in 1262 BC. Who could it be? Once again, it’s up to Gage to put on yet untested chameleon suit and go back in time.

Where to get the game? (technical help)

There’s a steal at GOG for $5.99. Also, I urge you to consider getting both JP2/3 in a package for $9.98 - no matter if you happen to like/not like JP3, JP2 is a game that deserves to be played on its own right.

If you crave for the boxed versions, there’re probably some to be found at Amazon and Ebay. If you already own the 4-disc/DVD version, it should be working fine on Windows/Mac. If you do have troubles, try setting the “compatibility mode” to Win98, and as for the sound problems, try the following.

As for the Mac, I’m sure Lady Kestrel will gladly assist with the Mac-related info. There’s also a DVD version for Mac, along with the fact that you can play GOG version on Mac via Boot Camp or Parallels.

For the minimum requirements refer to this page

Arthur

There’re three modes under options as for how often he’ll speak: Normal, Chatty and Quiet. I certainly don’t recommend Quiet (unless you’re a die-hard Myst lover), and in Normal mode you may lose some of the background info, jokes etc., though you can activate further comments by clicking the balloon. In Chatty mode, Arthur will speak freely if he has something to say. Even though this installment deals with some of the most famous mythical places, there’s still plenty of historical-edutaintment value, and Arthur just loves history.

In-game hints

TJP3 was certainly ahead of its time in certain aspects, more precisely - in-game hints (whether that’s good or bad!) - Arthur can give you general and more specific hints when you click the lightbulb next to him. There’s also the “where can I go next” or “find the hotspot” hint, which is activated by Spacebar and shows possible routes, but needless to say, I recommend exploring the current area by yourself first.

Anything else I should know?

There’re two nuisances - the first one is that a panning is done with clicking or holding a left mouse button (don’t forget to look up as well!), but the click will sometimes move you forward even though you didn’t mean to, if you don’t position it correctly.

Secondly, the game has no subtitles. It can definitely be a major downside, but I didn’t find it too annoying - Arthur speaks articulately, and often you can repeat what he said by clicking on him. You can also view again all cinematics/video messages.

Oh, yes - it’s a FMV game, so be prepared for some live action-fest, though I don’t remember anything of a significantly low-quality in that regard!

Playthrough

This is my first leading-playthrough , so please bear with me. Also, I’ve played JP3 10+ years ago, but I’ll do my best as for the tempo and other things, and in that regard I’ll replay the game along with you. The game is naturally divided into 3 time eras which we’ll use as playthrough chapters.

The playthrough will officially start on Monday, January 20. The very first part - the destruction of Atlantis, El Dorado and Shangri-La can be played in a non-linear order, but they’re all introductory missions and shouldn’t take more than a day-two to complete, and after we’ll take on a slower tempo but more on that later. That’s it, nothing more to add apart from: “Gage, help, we’re trapped inside your screensaver!”

OK, this is stickied and added to the Recommendations & important/popular threads thread.

Have a great playthrough, guys and gals!

Sefir - 18 January 2014 11:30 AM

Downloading the game right now. Since I never played any JP games, I am very enthusiastic about this one. Since however I had some bad
cases with GOG in the past (like TM: Overseer), I’ll tell you diego if there are any installation problems.

Great! Like I mentioned, I believe you should do fine without playing previous games and still enjoy them later.

Mine is still installed on my computer since the last time I played it.  The Mac DVD version is compatible with OS 10.3.9 or later.  It played without a hitch in 10.6.8.

Although I’ve played JP 3 several times over the years, starting with the 4 CD version for OS 9 I got from Dreamcatcher in 2000, I’m still looking forward to playing this one with the group.  There are so many fun things to share, and there’s a good mix of puzzles and story.

Great! I played JP3 only once many years ago, so I’m going to enjoy this. 

This game is huge, 3.27G for a 90’s release! .. current status :downloading{GoG}

wilco - 18 January 2014 12:36 PM

Installled the gog version, intro and everything went smooth - no problems. Looks like an intro to an epic sfici movie

Yeah, I’ve completely forgot about that intro - it’s quite long. One would suspect the game is a typical sci-fi opera, although it’s slightly different (I’d “tag” it history/mistery as much).

BTW, if you’re anxious to get started, feel free to watch the intro, and solve the very first “puzzle” until you find yourself in Atlantis. It’s really just about activating the time jump display menu.

crabapple - 18 January 2014 06:24 PM

I’m having a little trouble with the panning being too fast.
Is there a good way to slow it down?

You can try this - position your mouse right at the center of the viewing area but JUST missing that arrow which won’t get you moving forward. Now, while holding the left mouse button, slowly drag your mouse left, right or down/up, with very little moving to it. That’s how I do it, but I’m playing on XP, perhaps on Win 7 it’s faster?

Also, you can pan over the vertical axis as well… it’s neat when you look up and get blinded by the sun.

diego - 18 January 2014 11:17 AM

This is my first leading-playthrough

Er…
I had a great time then, that’s why I supported this playthrough in the first place.

I never played a Journeyman series game before.
When I carefully read this (already HUGE) thread I’ll probably have more comments (and questions).

P.S.

diego - 18 January 2014 11:17 AM

the game has no subtitles

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! May day! May day!

That game was great* ,3 BIG Locations (played by order),tribal fun! .
got the whole soundtracks with the game. .. uh and its not that gog its another