Written by Reiko
Before I get to the rating, I should point out that there are a lot of optional activities in the game. Ilmari mentioned some of them early on, most of which I forgot to try. I found a few of them as I went along, like trying to get the sludge in Rome, or giving the loose board to the innkeeper, or triggering the failed futures. If you want to know more of these, you can always read the hintbook online (http://www.mocagh.org/legend/tq-hintbook.pdf).
To be quite honest, I found Timequest to be a mixed bag overall. I had a lot of nostalgia for the game since I'd played it a long time ago, but I hadn't gotten very far then and certainly hadn't gotten to the ending. I did have a lot of fun playing it, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to go through it carefully with you all and finish it (as I am usually terrible about actually finishing games I start). At the same time, the graphics were sometimes beautiful and sometimes cringe-worthy, and the parser responsiveness was quite uneven. The story went from a tense chase through time to a leisurely stroll through time, culminating in an implausibly convoluted reason for it happening in the first place. Let's unpack these concerns in their individual categories.
Showing posts with label Timequest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Timequest. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 August 2015
Monday, 17 August 2015
Timequest - Won!
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #13: This has been the weirdest day of my life. In chasing Vettenmyer, I get flung back and forth through several hours of time, encountering my past and future selves in close proximity, all to disarm a deadly trap Vettenmyer constructed. When he tries one last desperate thing and fails, I finally learn why I was the one chosen to carry out this mission.
Time to face Vettenmyer! I say 'east' to enter the Tower of Babel, which nets me twenty more points right away. On the wall in here, there are ten portraits, each of which correspond to one of the missions, and all the frames are glowing. I restore back just to check that it is possible to enter the tower at any time, assuming you know the password, but the far door won't be open unless all of the portraits are glowing, indicating that all of the missions are complete.
Temporal Corps Private Journal #13: This has been the weirdest day of my life. In chasing Vettenmyer, I get flung back and forth through several hours of time, encountering my past and future selves in close proximity, all to disarm a deadly trap Vettenmyer constructed. When he tries one last desperate thing and fails, I finally learn why I was the one chosen to carry out this mission.
Time to face Vettenmyer! I say 'east' to enter the Tower of Babel, which nets me twenty more points right away. On the wall in here, there are ten portraits, each of which correspond to one of the missions, and all the frames are glowing. I restore back just to check that it is possible to enter the tower at any time, assuming you know the password, but the far door won't be open unless all of the portraits are glowing, indicating that all of the missions are complete.
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| All missions complete! |
Thursday, 13 August 2015
Timequest - Crowns and Time Loops
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #12: “I steal a crown and send it on a journey through thousands of years of history before returning it to its fated owner. Now that I’ve finished all the missions, I just have to track down Vettenmyer by breaking the code hidden in his creepy messages. The guy’s a nutjob. Without his messages, I never would have found him.”
Last time I thought maybe I had to drug one of the sultan's wives in Baghdad with the ether from the Molotov cocktail, which was a good idea, but not the right scenario. Instead, we're going to use that trick to steal a crown! In Rome in 800 AD, Charlemagne is refusing the crown unless there's a sign from God. The firework mask trick won't work here, but maybe I can do something to the crown. I've got to get it, first. There's a priest sort of vaguely guarding it, but he isn't paying much attention to me. Which makes it easy to slip a damp handkerchief over his face…
Temporal Corps Private Journal #12: “I steal a crown and send it on a journey through thousands of years of history before returning it to its fated owner. Now that I’ve finished all the missions, I just have to track down Vettenmyer by breaking the code hidden in his creepy messages. The guy’s a nutjob. Without his messages, I never would have found him.”
Last time I thought maybe I had to drug one of the sultan's wives in Baghdad with the ether from the Molotov cocktail, which was a good idea, but not the right scenario. Instead, we're going to use that trick to steal a crown! In Rome in 800 AD, Charlemagne is refusing the crown unless there's a sign from God. The firework mask trick won't work here, but maybe I can do something to the crown. I've got to get it, first. There's a priest sort of vaguely guarding it, but he isn't paying much attention to me. Which makes it easy to slip a damp handkerchief over his face…
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| Assaulting a priest in the name of saving the world... |
Sunday, 9 August 2015
Timequest - Completing Missions
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #11: Finally I am making a lot of progress. One thing leads to another and I am able to wrap up several of the missions. Vettenmyer, I’m on your trail!
I poke at some of the earlier times a bit, but I suspect I am missing at least one thing from the 1940 time periods, plus I think I remember a bit of how the 1940 mission goes, so I will tackle that next and then work my way back again. In 1940, Rome and Dover are linked in a plot to speed up the Nazi attack on Dunkirk. I must make Hitler think that Churchill is willing to surrender so that the Nazis wait long enough for Dunkirk to be evacuated.
In Dover, I arrive at 5:45 pm, just before a 6:00 broadcast is scheduled from Churchill. I look around a little and find nobody in the bedrooms upstairs, but soon Churchill himself arrives. (Why he would be doing this broadcast from Dover and not from London I'm not sure.) I have a few minutes to chat with him, mostly getting iconic statements in response.
Temporal Corps Private Journal #11: Finally I am making a lot of progress. One thing leads to another and I am able to wrap up several of the missions. Vettenmyer, I’m on your trail!
I poke at some of the earlier times a bit, but I suspect I am missing at least one thing from the 1940 time periods, plus I think I remember a bit of how the 1940 mission goes, so I will tackle that next and then work my way back again. In 1940, Rome and Dover are linked in a plot to speed up the Nazi attack on Dunkirk. I must make Hitler think that Churchill is willing to surrender so that the Nazis wait long enough for Dunkirk to be evacuated.
In Dover, I arrive at 5:45 pm, just before a 6:00 broadcast is scheduled from Churchill. I look around a little and find nobody in the bedrooms upstairs, but soon Churchill himself arrives. (Why he would be doing this broadcast from Dover and not from London I'm not sure.) I have a few minutes to chat with him, mostly getting iconic statements in response.
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| Churchill is very adamant in his refusal to surrender. |
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
Timequest - 1588 and 1798 (Dover)
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #10: I encounter yet another prostitute, as well as the Queen of England, who happen to be staying in the same hotel. I am both polite to the queen and insulting within a few minutes, but in the process I save Sir Francis Drake from the consequences of his carnal failings, which also happens to save England and further my own mission. I later break a window and don’t get into any trouble for that either.
Before I tackle the dual Rome/Dover missions, I'm going to fill in the last non-mission gaps, starting with Rome in 1588. As always, I check the circus, to see who the current pope is. The sign says Pope Sixtus V. That caught my eye: is Sixtus a real papal name? Yes, yes it is. Sixtus V was only pope for five years, but according to one site I found, he was a really interesting pope. Take a look at this page, I'll wait: http://roma.andreapollett.com/S2/roma-c18.htm
To summarize, he rearranged the city, built new roads and an aqueduct, but is best known for his iron fist of justice. He single-handedly wiped out a group of bandits that had taken over the Colosseum, among other things. There are a number of interesting stories about this guy. Hey, I learned something from playing this game after all, but again mostly from my own research external to the game.
Temporal Corps Private Journal #10: I encounter yet another prostitute, as well as the Queen of England, who happen to be staying in the same hotel. I am both polite to the queen and insulting within a few minutes, but in the process I save Sir Francis Drake from the consequences of his carnal failings, which also happens to save England and further my own mission. I later break a window and don’t get into any trouble for that either.
Before I tackle the dual Rome/Dover missions, I'm going to fill in the last non-mission gaps, starting with Rome in 1588. As always, I check the circus, to see who the current pope is. The sign says Pope Sixtus V. That caught my eye: is Sixtus a real papal name? Yes, yes it is. Sixtus V was only pope for five years, but according to one site I found, he was a really interesting pope. Take a look at this page, I'll wait: http://roma.andreapollett.com/S2/roma-c18.htm
To summarize, he rearranged the city, built new roads and an aqueduct, but is best known for his iron fist of justice. He single-handedly wiped out a group of bandits that had taken over the Colosseum, among other things. There are a number of interesting stories about this guy. Hey, I learned something from playing this game after all, but again mostly from my own research external to the game.
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| The Vatican looks very paved and modern here. |
Saturday, 1 August 2015
Timequest - Dates and Messages (Baghdad and Peking)
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #9: Chapter Nine: In which I become a mule whisperer, save the life of a Young Girl, nearly become arrested in Two countries, discover many creepy Sayings, and acquire quite a Number of Loose Ends. I should Try to Write my Autobiography when this is all Finished.
In the Baghdad marketplace in 1519, a vendor is selling dates for one drachma. How convenient, since I have one. Five points for buying the dates. However, they're in a heavy urn, and for some reason I can't just grab a few dates. If I try, I apparently dump the whole urn out onto the ground and the dates are eaten up by animals. That seems like a really dumb thing to do. You'd think I could put a few dates in my empty jar or something. On the other hand, now there's this nice empty urn which is described as reminding me of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. The thieves hid themselves in oil barrels or something, so now I'm wondering if I need to hide myself or someone in the urn. It seems to be too big for me, though.
Temporal Corps Private Journal #9: Chapter Nine: In which I become a mule whisperer, save the life of a Young Girl, nearly become arrested in Two countries, discover many creepy Sayings, and acquire quite a Number of Loose Ends. I should Try to Write my Autobiography when this is all Finished.
In the Baghdad marketplace in 1519, a vendor is selling dates for one drachma. How convenient, since I have one. Five points for buying the dates. However, they're in a heavy urn, and for some reason I can't just grab a few dates. If I try, I apparently dump the whole urn out onto the ground and the dates are eaten up by animals. That seems like a really dumb thing to do. You'd think I could put a few dates in my empty jar or something. On the other hand, now there's this nice empty urn which is described as reminding me of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. The thieves hid themselves in oil barrels or something, so now I'm wondering if I need to hide myself or someone in the urn. It seems to be too big for me, though.
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| No time to learn how to tell stories. |
Friday, 24 July 2015
Timequest - Popes and Pleasures (1215/1519 AD)
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #8: “I earn and spend 1000 yuan, both on pleasure-related commodities, and later earn and spend a Catholic indulgence, although the two transactions are entirely unrelated. The first transaction leads to the invasion of a city, but fortunately one that was supposed to happen anyway. I also encounter two Popes, a warlord, and an emperor. This job certainly has some perks.”
I'm going to continue with surveying non-mission locations now to look for useful items or additional messages from Vettenmyer. There are three more locations in 1215 AD, so I'll start with Rome. Everything looks very similar to earlier times. The circus is still closed, by order of Pope Innocent III. I head toward the Vatican and find the Pope himself repeating an announcement about a new crusade in several different languages. One of them is apparently another message from Vettenmyer in modern English: "If this fifth crusade succeeds, I'll eat my hat." So first Vettenmyer trained a deaf guy to write in English, and now he trained the Pope to speak in English? That's some talent. Also implausible.
I can also go into the Basilica again, which looks quite a bit different compared to Charlemagne's time. The chapel isn't available here, though, and there's nothing I see to do, so I move on.
Temporal Corps Private Journal #8: “I earn and spend 1000 yuan, both on pleasure-related commodities, and later earn and spend a Catholic indulgence, although the two transactions are entirely unrelated. The first transaction leads to the invasion of a city, but fortunately one that was supposed to happen anyway. I also encounter two Popes, a warlord, and an emperor. This job certainly has some perks.”
I'm going to continue with surveying non-mission locations now to look for useful items or additional messages from Vettenmyer. There are three more locations in 1215 AD, so I'll start with Rome. Everything looks very similar to earlier times. The circus is still closed, by order of Pope Innocent III. I head toward the Vatican and find the Pope himself repeating an announcement about a new crusade in several different languages. One of them is apparently another message from Vettenmyer in modern English: "If this fifth crusade succeeds, I'll eat my hat." So first Vettenmyer trained a deaf guy to write in English, and now he trained the Pope to speak in English? That's some talent. Also implausible.
I can also go into the Basilica again, which looks quite a bit different compared to Charlemagne's time. The chapel isn't available here, though, and there's nothing I see to do, so I move on.
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| History of Egypt in 1215 AD |
Sunday, 19 July 2015
Timequest - Missions in 800 and 1215 AD
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #7: I have traveled so many places, but really haven’t accomplished very much yet. This time I’m finally able to complete a second mission, in which I ride a horse, get shot at, but not with lethal intent at least, and help forge official communication to get the Magna Carta signed like it should be.
On to Rome in 800 AD! It's the Dark Ages, and Rome seems more subdued. The circus is still closed, by order of Pope Leo III this time. I head to the Vatican to find Charlemagne awaiting his coronation. I've appeared at 10:00 in the morning, and the coronation is scheduled for noon. Adjacent to the main sanctuary is a chapel, where the crown is being kept, sort of guarded by one priest absorbed in his prayers.
Temporal Corps Private Journal #7: I have traveled so many places, but really haven’t accomplished very much yet. This time I’m finally able to complete a second mission, in which I ride a horse, get shot at, but not with lethal intent at least, and help forge official communication to get the Magna Carta signed like it should be.
On to Rome in 800 AD! It's the Dark Ages, and Rome seems more subdued. The circus is still closed, by order of Pope Leo III this time. I head to the Vatican to find Charlemagne awaiting his coronation. I've appeared at 10:00 in the morning, and the coronation is scheduled for noon. Adjacent to the main sanctuary is a chapel, where the crown is being kept, sort of guarded by one priest absorbed in his prayers.
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| We’ve got a full dozen priests to witness the coronation. |
Saturday, 11 July 2015
Timequest - Quetzlcoatl (Mexico)
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #6: “More creepy and useless messages. I have to wonder if there’s going to be a secret code hidden in them or something. I make my second foray into religion as I get to disguise myself as a god but still nearly get killed (again!). At least I get something useful out of the experience that lets me save someone else’s life. Someone who wouldn’t have died anyway without Vettenmyer’s meddling, I hope."
I've already been to Peking in 800 AD, so I'll start working my way through the other locations. There are two more missions in this time period, one in Rome, and one in Baghdad, but I'm going to continue with Dover first.
Temporal Corps Private Journal #6: “More creepy and useless messages. I have to wonder if there’s going to be a secret code hidden in them or something. I make my second foray into religion as I get to disguise myself as a god but still nearly get killed (again!). At least I get something useful out of the experience that lets me save someone else’s life. Someone who wouldn’t have died anyway without Vettenmyer’s meddling, I hope."
I've already been to Peking in 800 AD, so I'll start working my way through the other locations. There are two more missions in this time period, one in Rome, and one in Baghdad, but I'm going to continue with Dover first.
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| History of Dover in 800 AD - Vikings! |
Sunday, 5 July 2015
Timequest - Tombs and Temples (Peking)
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #5: “I spend some time learning to meditate in the presence of the dead, which apparently qualifies me to become the patron of an entire Chinese monastic order. That entitles me to...a firework. After that, I nearly get killed (again), find more creepy messages in places they shouldn’t be, and watch the sad failure of faith."
Ilmari informed me last time about material that I hadn’t seen in the manual. Apparently the copy on the “goodolddays” site was incomplete, lacking the last several pages with the author’s notes. So I found a complete version on the Museum of Adventure Game History instead: http://www.mocagh.org/legend/tq-manual.pdf.
Temporal Corps Private Journal #5: “I spend some time learning to meditate in the presence of the dead, which apparently qualifies me to become the patron of an entire Chinese monastic order. That entitles me to...a firework. After that, I nearly get killed (again), find more creepy messages in places they shouldn’t be, and watch the sad failure of faith."
Ilmari informed me last time about material that I hadn’t seen in the manual. Apparently the copy on the “goodolddays” site was incomplete, lacking the last several pages with the author’s notes. So I found a complete version on the Museum of Adventure Game History instead: http://www.mocagh.org/legend/tq-manual.pdf.
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| History of China in 1361 BC. |
Wednesday, 1 July 2015
Timequest - 1361 BC Survey
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #4: "I dodge another attempt on my life, view the sunrise on the summer solstice, talk to two different kinds of philosophers, and meet King Tut. Another exciting day in the life of a time agent! I’m acquiring quite a lot of loose ends at this point."
I jump to Mexico in 1361 BC and immediately find a Olmec Indian trying to kill me for taking or getting rid of Quetzlcoatl. "What have you done with the feathered god?" he cries. That implies that Vettenmyer actually stole an idol itself and put it somewhere else. No wonder the guy in 44 BC was waiting for it to return. So I guess I have to find a Quetzlcoatl from another time and bring it back to this time, or find the one that Vettenmyer took.
Temporal Corps Private Journal #4: "I dodge another attempt on my life, view the sunrise on the summer solstice, talk to two different kinds of philosophers, and meet King Tut. Another exciting day in the life of a time agent! I’m acquiring quite a lot of loose ends at this point."
I jump to Mexico in 1361 BC and immediately find a Olmec Indian trying to kill me for taking or getting rid of Quetzlcoatl. "What have you done with the feathered god?" he cries. That implies that Vettenmyer actually stole an idol itself and put it somewhere else. No wonder the guy in 44 BC was waiting for it to return. So I guess I have to find a Quetzlcoatl from another time and bring it back to this time, or find the one that Vettenmyer took.
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| There’s a hint here that I should know something the Olmec doesn’t. |
Saturday, 27 June 2015
Timequest - 44 BC Survey
Temporal Corps Private Journal #3: "I’ve uncovered some hints of what else Vettenmyer has been up to and obtained a couple of items of dubious usefulness, but the highlight of the day has to be my visit with Cleopatra. Except then she implies I can’t keep up with her and puts me off until later. If it weren’t already quite the interference in the timestream even to get involved with her, I’d have to suggest just what she can do with that aphrodisiac she gave me. Hmph."
So I originally didn't solve the mission in 44 BC Rome all at once; I went on to several other time periods before going back and figuring it out. I thought maybe there was a chance that there was a cotter pin in another place. I reasoned that if Roman chariots use cotter pins in the year 44 BC, then perhaps chariots or wagons or other wheeled vehicles in another city in the same year might use similar cotter pins. It wasn't a great hypothesis, since various civilizations might have very different technology levels (I've played way too much Civilization, clearly, but these cities mostly represent standard civilizations - British, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Aztecs) and practices like pottery can vary quite a bit between towns even just miles apart, but it's all I could think of at the time. So here's what happens in the other cities in 44 BC.
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| History of Dover in 44 BC. |
Monday, 22 June 2015
Timequest - 44 BC (Rome)
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #2: "Rome in 44 BC is both stranger and more normal than I anticipated. I easily find the source of the disturbance in the circus, although thwarting the assassination attempt on Caesar is more difficult. I have an exciting time fixing a broken chariot, winning several chariot races, gaining Caesar’s favor, and defeating a rogue lion. All in a day’s work for this time agent! (I never want to see a lion that close up again…) Somehow nobody notices I don’t belong in this time. Cleopatra seems to be the only one to take any particular notice of me, which is intriguing."
From the briefing for this mission: “Julius Caesar was stabbed and killed on the Ides of March. After his death, the conspirators in the assassination plot engaged in a bitter power struggle that
split the Roman Empire and eventually led to its downfall. .. Without the power struggle among Caesar's killers, the Roman Empire may remain united and resist all future barbarian incursions. It may, in fact, never fall.”
Temporal Corps Private Journal #2: "Rome in 44 BC is both stranger and more normal than I anticipated. I easily find the source of the disturbance in the circus, although thwarting the assassination attempt on Caesar is more difficult. I have an exciting time fixing a broken chariot, winning several chariot races, gaining Caesar’s favor, and defeating a rogue lion. All in a day’s work for this time agent! (I never want to see a lion that close up again…) Somehow nobody notices I don’t belong in this time. Cleopatra seems to be the only one to take any particular notice of me, which is intriguing."
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| Rome in 44 BC |
From the briefing for this mission: “Julius Caesar was stabbed and killed on the Ides of March. After his death, the conspirators in the assassination plot engaged in a bitter power struggle that
split the Roman Empire and eventually led to its downfall. .. Without the power struggle among Caesar's killers, the Roman Empire may remain united and resist all future barbarian incursions. It may, in fact, never fall.”
Wednesday, 17 June 2015
Timequest - A Rogue Agent (Headquarters)
Written by Reiko
Temporal Corps Private Journal #1: "My first big mission: save the world ten times over, catch a raving lunatic, and be back in time for dinner! No pressure, right? Is this a normal day on the job? Fortunately, the madman left his time machine programmed for all the places he went. It's like he wants someone to unravel his crazy scheme..."
Note: I jumped into the game and wrote the first several gameplay posts blind, without reading any reviews or any information on the game, so I "reason out" some things that I obviously knew when I wrote the intro post.
The opening to the story is very simple. General Drexler has handed me briefing papers and ordered me to follow another time agent through time to intervene before history can be changed. With a name like "Timequest" how could it not be a time travel story? The rogue agent's note said, "Beware the Ides of March." I assume this means I'll have to go visit Roman times at some point. Somehow his machine is still available, so I'm supposed to use it to return to each of the places the rogue agent has gone. All of this is conveyed in one screen of text before I'm dropped into the main game layout.
Temporal Corps Private Journal #1: "My first big mission: save the world ten times over, catch a raving lunatic, and be back in time for dinner! No pressure, right? Is this a normal day on the job? Fortunately, the madman left his time machine programmed for all the places he went. It's like he wants someone to unravel his crazy scheme..."
Note: I jumped into the game and wrote the first several gameplay posts blind, without reading any reviews or any information on the game, so I "reason out" some things that I obviously knew when I wrote the intro post.
The opening to the story is very simple. General Drexler has handed me briefing papers and ordered me to follow another time agent through time to intervene before history can be changed. With a name like "Timequest" how could it not be a time travel story? The rogue agent's note said, "Beware the Ides of March." I assume this means I'll have to go visit Roman times at some point. Somehow his machine is still available, so I'm supposed to use it to return to each of the places the rogue agent has gone. All of this is conveyed in one screen of text before I'm dropped into the main game layout.
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| Yeah, why are you sending a lowly private on this critical mission? |
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
Game 56: Timequest (1991) - Introduction
Written by Reiko
I have good memories of the Gateway games, produced later on by the same Legend Entertainment company that started out with Spellcasting 101, which we've already seen back in January, courtesy of Aperama. Timequest is Legend's second game, which I may have poked at briefly some years ago, but certainly never finished, so I'm looking forward to it. The layout and gameplay are very similar to those other games, so I should be able to jump right in. They're very much a hybrid between pure-text interactive fiction and graphical adventure games, a big step up from pure text, and they're basically the successor to what Infocom was doing with interactive fiction. I grew up with interactive fiction, although I didn't play very many Infocom games at the time, but I still follow the modern IF scene now and have been trying to go back and play some of the classics I missed as well. So I quickly volunteered for Timequest when it came up on the list.
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| Evocative, meaningful, but a little campy. Much like the game, actually. |
I have good memories of the Gateway games, produced later on by the same Legend Entertainment company that started out with Spellcasting 101, which we've already seen back in January, courtesy of Aperama. Timequest is Legend's second game, which I may have poked at briefly some years ago, but certainly never finished, so I'm looking forward to it. The layout and gameplay are very similar to those other games, so I should be able to jump right in. They're very much a hybrid between pure-text interactive fiction and graphical adventure games, a big step up from pure text, and they're basically the successor to what Infocom was doing with interactive fiction. I grew up with interactive fiction, although I didn't play very many Infocom games at the time, but I still follow the modern IF scene now and have been trying to go back and play some of the classics I missed as well. So I quickly volunteered for Timequest when it came up on the list.
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