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Playing Legend Entertainment library

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Vacation time usually means starting to play old classics and this year I’m trying to tackle the library from one of the most famous classic adventure developers - Legend.
So the plan is to play all games starting from oldest IF games to the new adventures Order will be:.

Spellcasting 101
Timequest
Spellcasting 201
Gateway
Spellcasting 301
Eric: The Unready
Gateway 2 - Homeworld
Companions of Xanth
Death Gate
Superhero League of Hoboken
Mission Critical
Shannara
Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon
John Saul’s Blackstone Chronicles

Undecided if I’ll play them because they are not adventures:
Star Control 3
Wheel of Time
Unreal 2

Am I missing something important?
My history with the developer is that I’ve played before Death Gate and Shannara (don’t remember much about them) and recently Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon in the community playthrough, but the game was so fun that’ll probably go through it again. I tested Dosbox with some of them and it seems to work well enough except for some sound bugs I’ve been getting in Spellcasting 101.

Anyway, anyone that wants to join in on some games or comment, please do. Any tips (gameplay or technical) are also very welcome since I’ll probably struggle a lot, specially in the first games.

I’ve already started with Spellcasting 101 and so far things have going smoothly. Will comment on it later.

     
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A Legend thread! Thumbs Up Good for you, Wilco. I will visit it often and comment on some games. Like my beloved TimeQuest, which I’m currently replaying.

Just one question. Feel free to ignore it. Aren’t you just a tiny bit worried that so many Legend games in a row is too much, even if they’re all great games? Variation, etcetera.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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I am extremely jealous of you wilco. And since the only Legend game I’ve ever played is Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon (and is still one of my favs), I am seriously thinking to copy your idea.  Naughty

     
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Karlok - 18 August 2015 03:39 PM

A Legend thread! Thumbs Up Good for you, Wilco. I will visit it often and comment on some games. Like my beloved TimeQuest, which I’m currently replaying.

Just one question. Feel free to ignore it. Aren’t you just a tiny bit worried that so many Legend games in a row is too much, even if they’re all great games? Variation, etcetera.

Might be, not sure but I’m counting on them being great games and with from what I know the subject of the games is varied enough to feel fresh.
I’ll also play other stuff in the meantime of course and I’ve also not put a timeframe to finish (but I’m hoping to finish them all in a couple of months). Meh

I’m currently starting Chapter 6 of Spellcasting 101.
Some thoughts on the usual Legend interface for the text adventures:
- I was shocked to know (by finally reading the manual!) that you could interact with picture by clicking there directly, and that double-click does the action that makes more sense. Smile
- The columns with the verb list and objects are intimidating and I remember the last time I played this game I tried using them (I only finished chapter 1…)
- Trying lots and lots of stuff is usually hilarious
- The best way for me to play the game is without a doubt not using the mouse and just typing stuff. It’s feeling more comfortable, at least in this game. Is it like this usually?

     
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Sefir - 18 August 2015 05:07 PM

I am extremely jealous of you wilco. And since the only Legend game I’ve ever played is Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon (and is still one of my favs), I am seriously thinking to copy your idea.  Naughty

Do it!  Thumbs Up

     
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I’ve only played 3 Legend games: Death Gate, Shannara and Companions of Xanth. Death Gate was brilliant (I’m slowly working my way through the books!), the other two were mediocre. There are more I want to try, but I’m not sure when I’ll have the time for them (and I’m wary of the older ones; if they have dead-ends and stuff like that, I’m not interested).

Definitely looking forward to reading your thoughts on the games (and deciding which one I should play).

     
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I loved Callahan and enjoyed both Spellcasting 101 and Eric the Unready but I really didn’t like Timequest.

I got in a dead end with Timequest because I tried to take the lighter before Churchill left and he took it with him. I didn’t have a save game before that so I’d have to replay the game up until that moment if I wanted to finish it which means I never did finish it…

     

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I love their games. Never got into the spell casting series but I think death gate and companions of xanth are excellent, superhero league of Hoboken is one of my “guilty pleasure” games I still occasionally replay, and I also enjoyed Eric the unready and both gateway games. I also played shanarra but it left no strong impression, so I guess it was okay.

Oh, timequest is them too? That one sucked.

     
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wilco - 18 August 2015 05:09 PM

- The best way for me to play the game is without a doubt not using the mouse and just typing stuff. It’s feeling more comfortable, at least in this game. Is it like this usually?

Yeah, I think so. I hardly use the mouse. But the object list often comes in handy when I’m stuck.

Do it!  Thumbs Up

Yes, why don’t you, Sefir. Reminds me of the good old days when nobody was afraid of spontaneous unofficial community playthroughs.  Cool You can play some of the Legend games, not just TimeQuest, online at mod-approved archive.org.

giom - 18 August 2015 05:57 PM

I loved Callahan and enjoyed both Spellcasting 101 and Eric the Unready but I really didn’t like Timequest.

I got in a dead end with Timequest because I tried to take the lighter before Churchill left and he took it with him. I didn’t have a save game before that so I’d have to replay the game up until that moment if I wanted to finish it which means I never did finish it…

I hope your dislike of TQ is not related to Churchill’s lighter , that would be unfair to the game. All you had to do is save before starting on one of the ten major events. And why steal from someone when he’s looking?

Two posters hating TQ… doesn’t spell any good, wilco. But since you will have finished Spellcasting 101 soon**, here are my tips for the next Legend game, which happens to be TimeQuest. It’s an open world from the moment you step into the time machine: fifty locations + their sublocations to visit and not a clue what to do. In that sense it’s a bit like Myst. So taking notes is absolutely essential. My second tip is to let each major event unfold to the end before trying to correct it. (And then restore of course.) The command “z” will be very useful here. Smile More fun, and it’s easier to see what you have to do. 

**I hated chapter 3!

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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I only recognise Eric The Unready out of those games.

     
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giom - 18 August 2015 05:57 PM

I loved Callahan and enjoyed both Spellcasting 101 and Eric the Unready but I really didn’t like Timequest.

I got in a dead end with Timequest because I tried to take the lighter before Churchill left and he took it with him. I didn’t have a save game before that so I’d have to replay the game up until that moment if I wanted to finish it which means I never did finish it…

I hope your dislike of TQ is not related to Churchill’s lighter , that would be unfair to the game. All you had to do is save before starting on one of the ten major events. And why steal from someone when he’s looking?

 

I already didn’t enjoy the game so much (even though I love historical fiction so I thought I would have loved it) and that dead end was the nail in the coffin…

I don’t remember exactly since it’s a while ago but I think I realized that the lighter was important too late and by that time I no longer had a save game. I do blame the game for dead ends though so I think it’s fair that part of my dislike of TQ comes from this…

     

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Yep, same here. The game is like a backtracking and dead ends retail catalogue. Feels it’s “myst-like” because they couldn’t be arsed to properly design it.

     
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Finished Spellcasting 101

Pretty straightforward and mostly simple except for the beginning and chapter 3. Favorite chapters were 2 and 4.
- The beginning is a bit confusing mostly because you can a lot so it wasn’t helpful to get used to the game and the interface.

- Chapter 2 was a lot better because it opens up a lot a gives the player more freedom. You mostly explore the sorcerer school how you like it. I played it twice, first going to all classes and sports events - took a lot of notes from classes and later found out they were worthless (I have one that says “to kill a hellhamster use a helltweezer”… well, could be useful someday Smile ) All these events were optional but some good stuff to read. Second time exploring the rest of the school going to the events I took notice at first. I did look at a walkthrough before leaving this chapter to see if I missed anything that resulted in a dead end. (i was missing a spell…)

- Chapter 4,5,6,7 were small and worked through them with no problem. Each one has it’s own twist but my favorite was 4 that was a island were time was reversed that made for an interesting puzzle were you had to exactly do the steps in reverse in the exact order - I don’t remember seeing something like that in any adventure. it also was pretty funny. Chapter 5 fell a bit flat. 6 was really small but worked has a small joke about restaurants. Chapter 7 was about messing with the gods and that is always fun.
Last chapter was also very small but had some obscure stuff that I resorted to the walkthrough a couple of times. I thought the climax was pretty hilarious.

- I’ve heard the comparisons with Harry Potter, it does have a lot of similarities, if this was made after Potter I would say it was parody. This way I think JKRowling was a Legend fan Tongue

- I thought Ernie was like Larry and reached near but not having luck, but no, sorcerers DO get all the girls. Plenty of sex to go around, you can even die from too much at some point.

In the end I thought it was a bit uneven, the difficulty curve all over the place and the spell system not used nearly enough but some funny writing, imaginative places - like a more raunchy version of Discworld with all the mythology of Peloria that was possible to learn in the classes. A couple of puzzles were also interesting and original.

Karlok - 19 August 2015 06:47 AM

 

**I hated chapter 3!

Yeah that was absurd. First thing was trying to figure out what was happening. At first it was interesting but then I had to actually do that for all 80 souls/soles…
I think I only got to about 30 when started using the walkthrough, I had problems with the Callahans crossword puzzle so this was like a 80 words puzzle and a lot of them even with a walkthrough the connection was tenuous -  so it was downright impossible for me… (but it did have some funny descriptions of the residents).

Thanks for the tips, going to start on Timequest today. I have high hopes for it! At least it seems divisive Smile

     
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wilco - 19 August 2015 10:02 AM

Thanks for the tips, going to start on Timequest today. I have high hopes for it! At least it seems divisive Smile

I would suggest you better wait for this one and try some other titles. It was highly voted in the last AGCP voting and there is still high chance that a TimeQuest Community playthrough may exist in the not-so-distant future.

     
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Antrax - 19 August 2015 09:53 AM

The game is like a backtracking and dead ends retail catalogue. Feels it’s “myst-like” because they couldn’t be arsed to properly design it.

I’m going to defend Legend and Bob Bates and not just because I love TimeQuest and Myst.

Yes, there’s backtracking. Comes with the non-linearity. It simply is NOT true that there dead ends in the game! Yes, snatching the lighter in the presence of its owner is a dead end. Very frustrating. There, I’ve said in the open, so wilco won’t do it. But it’s the only one, and it’s part of a major event. You can and will die. Of course you can screw up puzzles or the ten major events and then you will have to restore. But there are no other dead ends. I can only conclude that you haven’t played the game.

Compare that to the text adventures by Infocom and Magnetic Scrolls. They were truly riddled with dead ends, because in those days people still thought that was great fun. Legend Entertainment broke with this tradition, just like LucasArts was the first to produce graphical adventures without dying.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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Sefir - 19 August 2015 10:17 AM
wilco - 19 August 2015 10:02 AM

Thanks for the tips, going to start on Timequest today. I have high hopes for it! At least it seems divisive Smile

I would suggest you better wait for this one and try some other titles. It was highly voted in the last AGCP voting and there is still high chance that a TimeQuest Community playthrough may exist in the not-so-distant future.

Oh, please! You know what happened to Plundered Hearts! Not a chance that TimeQuest will ever win. But if it does, Wilco can lead the CP.  Thumbs Up

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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