Timelapse

Decent enough game but clunky and outdated graphics. Not compatible with Windows 10, hence unplayable in parts. Not able to finish it.

Timelapse is a first person, point and click, puzzle game. You start on Easter Island looking for your friend and colleague, Professor Nichols. You soon find yourself traveling through time and space, visiting and solving puzzles in three well known ancient civilizations. Egypt, Maya, and the Anasazi. However, it seems that something is following you, a life form? An android? An insane AI? Pros: Graphics are okay (for the day) Many puzzles to solve Puzzles range from easy to very hard Non-linear Simple controls Acting is okay* Multiple endings Many hours of gameplay Cons: The camera function doesn't work on windows 8 or 10 A few of the items are intentional hidden from view Screen shots are disabled Two or three of the puzzles are insanely hard I don't play point and click games very often because of the limited views, but for a game released in 1996, Timelapse was very enjoyable. It took me about 15 hours to reach the end of the game, and when I finally did, there are three endings that you can trigger depending on what you do. All of the puzzles are logical and well thought out, however, don't be surprised if you see some puzzles that were recycled from other games in that era. I didn't have any technical issues with this game, but sadly, the camera function, vital for many of the puzzles that you'll encounter, is disabled for Windows 8 and 10. This isn't by choice, it's simply a compatibility issue. If you're thinking about taking a screenshot to aid your quest by pressing F12, guess again. That feature is also disabled. So grab a notebook and pencil, because you'll be taking a great deal of notes, just like when the original MYST came out in 1995. At the time of this review, Timelapse was selling for $5.99. As I mentioned before, it was released in 1996 so don't expect the graphics and game play to be spectacular, but I feel it's worth $6. It kept me busy for awhile and I had fun playing it. * I have acting listed as a pro and for the most part, it's okay. Nothing to write home about but passable. However, there was one instance that had me laughing and shaking my head. [spoiler]At the very end of the game, don't release Professor Nichols right away. Start the countdown and go back to the teleporter and watch. When the computer tells you that there is only one minute left before blastoff, you'll see Professor Nichols yelling because his time bubble is collapsing.[/spoiler] I think they should have done another take. That was God awful.

I am a huge fan of Myst clones and Timelapse was one of the few older titles I was missing in this genre. It was highly recommended from several websites, hence I was very excited to play this game. I wasn't disappointed, Timelapse is an amazing puzzle adventure and a must-have for the lovers of this genre. Timelapse's setting/atmosphere is very similar to Atlantis series from Cyro and Journeyman series from Presto. You time-travel to various ancient civilizations to discover their ties to Atlantis, while solving a truck load of puzzles. Positive: - The three main chapters (Egypt, Maya and Anasazi) all have unique puzzle designs that reflect their corresponding cultures. Egypt is mainly about playing around with mechanical contraptions and figuring out which Egyptian deity matches to which symbol. Mayan setting focuses on numbers/calendar and figuring out their sacrifical rituals. Anasazi scenario has a lot of nature and animal based puzzles. Each chapter really felt disctinct in bpth gameplay and overall vibe, which was very enjoyable. - Puzzle difficulty is very well adjusted. Nothing felt too difficult or too easy. - Music is well done. - Plot is nothing special, it is the same old 'Aliens helped us building civilizations' gimmick. However, it is detailed with a lot of journal entries and videos, which helped a lot giving context and motivation to the story. I wish more puzzle adventures did this. - The journal also works as a great hintbook. It has mandatory information for solving some of the puzzles, but mostly it gives you a little nudge in the right direction. I liked reading and using it. Negative: - You can hold and drag some of the inventory items for additional interaction. However the game does not always register it right, which leads to a lot of frustration. Almost every time I got stuck, it was because I failed to understand how a particular inventory item works. - There are several audio based puzzles and especially one of them is very challenging. There is a melody you need to copy, but the audio clue has a different pitch and speed compared to the instruments you need to play. - The final chapter could have been a bit longer, it was very exciting to explore it. Conclusion: Timelapse is a great Myst clone, I highly recommend it. It is sad that ending of the game hints at a sequel but it never got made... Score: 9/10

In [i]Timelapse[/i] you play as a close associate of Professor Alexander Nichols, an archeologist, who has been trying to prove a connection between the ancient civilizations of the Egyptians, the Mayans, and the Anasazi and how they might be related to the lost city of Atlantis. He has summoned you to Easter Island but has since disappeared. It is there that you discover what he left behind and eventually you access a mysterious teleportation device left by beings unknown. It is up to you to retrace Professor Nichols' steps and figure out the mysteries of these civilizations. This game is an adventure/puzzle game somewhat in the same vein as the [i]Myst[/i] or [i]The Journeyman Project[/i] series of games. You must go around various locations and solve puzzles. There are a variety of puzzles in the game some of which require you to gather clues while others are more logical or mathematical based. As this game was originally released in 1996, some of the aspects may seem dated by today's standards. Despite that, it is an enjoyable experience. The graphics obviously do not stand up to today's games, but they look good by the standards of when it was made. The music and sound effects were more basic. I did find the music tracks to become rather repetitive as I played. The story is interesting enough, though not anything particularly special or anything that has not been done before, unfortunately. I did appreciate some of the details put into the ancient civilization environments as it appears that the developers actually did some homework regarding these peoples. The main aspect of this game is the puzzles. Providing you have never played this game before, the puzzles will certainly be challenging enough to keep you going for a while. I would estimate that it probably took me around twenty hours to complete this game (for whatever reason, Steam failed to record three or four hours of my playtime). As mentioned above, the puzzles in the game range greatly in difficulty and type. Some only took me a few minutes to figure out while others kept me scratching my head for an hour or more. I definitely appreciated this variety. Some of the puzzles are annoyingly challenging, though. There is the infamously difficult arrow puzzle in the Anasazi environment. I also had serious difficulty with the drums puzzle in the Anasazi world as it requires audio cues that were hard (for me anyway) to discern. I think my only disappointment with some of the puzzles would be that a couple rely more on luck than skills related to puzzle solving. Fortunately, these types of puzzles were few and far between. My only major criticism of this game would be the acting. It is just plain terrible with special mention going to the actor who played Professor Nichols who was very wooden in his acting. At least the parts with an actor on camera are short and do not distract too much from the game. This Steam release does have a couple of compatibility issues on a modern computer. I currently run Windows 10, but I had the best results using Windows 2000 compatibility. Even then, there were a couple of graphics issues such as black boxes during certain video events. Also, the built-in camera function does not work at all. You will definitely need a pen and paper to write down notes. These issues did not make the game unplayable, though. Overall, this was an enjoyable puzzle game that is sure to be enjoyed by those that like those types of games as long as you have enough patience.

一款有年代的点击解谜游戏 但问题是：我迷路了

Technical notes first... this claims to be compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10, and it is NOT. This requires 256-color mode to run. There is a compatibility option for that in 7/8/10 but it does not work. The game is black and white and glitched colors and unplayable. Instead of refunding, I got this running inside an XP virtual machine. XP still supports actual 256-color mode so it renders fine that way. Ran it inside VirtualBox, scaling mode on, and even got it working through the Steam Link and the Steam controller. On the surface this looks to be a puzzle game very much like Myst. Pre-rendered scenes, point and click to move, look at fixed angles, etc. Graphics are good for 1996. Solve puzzles to progress through the world and through the story. Problem is, this whole game is a lesson in how NOT to make a Myst clone. There are puzzles that require taking notes of things you encounter and learn through the world and then combining that knowledge to put together an idea. And then it takes a left turn and gives you a puzzle that's 10/10 hard but entirely self contained, with no warning. It leaves you wondering if you missed info and need to go explore. Some puzzles are not puzzles .. the answer is literally written in the journal. You know, the journal that is 99% boring garbage. Other puzzles are actually random and just a game of chance. There's even one that randomizes when you view it and only half the initial states are solvable. You can spend a bunch of time on it only to find out you never had a chance. The live action cutscenes are just so bad... but I could completely forgive that, being it was '96, if the game were good. It just isn't. TLDR: Avoid the technical problems of having to run it in a virtual machine, avoid the sad excuse for puzzles, and just play something else.

I'm claiming both Gene Pod ladies as my waifus... For real, this is a great game who's developers clearly did a lot of research into ancient civilizations. Puzzles were hard when I played on Win 3.1 as a kid, but as an adult on Win 10 they are easier. The only bang-your head-against-a-wall puzzle is the stupid Anasazi arrow puzzle, which is so randomized. I barely beat it and I have the strategy guide. I'm aware the in-game camera feature doesn't work, but just use your cellphone camera or simply screenshot for puzzle clues. I owe my own interest in the Ancient Egyptians/Mayans to this game. Note: I originally played the re-release to completion on GoG, but I've tested both, and they work well on my PC.

This game is old. But don’t allow that to be a reason not to play this. If you are a puzzle lover and like adventures then chances are high you will like playing this game. I will start by comparing this game to Myst. It is a logical thing to do because it is quite clear that this game was inspired by Myst. To keep it short, Myst had the better puzzles but Timelapse is a much bigger game, about twice as large as Myst. It also means Timelapse has much more puzzles. Some of the puzzles were very good while others were not so good. Both games have different worlds to explore. Both games are great in storytelling and exploration. I had a great time playing Timelapse. This was the first time I played Timelapse, I never played it in the past, it is remarkable that a game that old is still much fun to play. It is also remarkable that a game from 1996 runs so smoothly on a modern operating system. There were no issues running Timelapse. There were two things I did not like about this game. First is that there are four mini-games in Timelapse that have no puzzle element. Two of these games could be won only by luck. Good thing is that there was a 50% chance of winning these so it did not take long to beat them. But these mini-games felt misplaced. They did not belong in a puzzle game. Second thing I did not like is that there is lots of text to read in the game. Altogether hundreds of pages of text. I was not amused by this because I don’t like lots of reading. All other things about this game were good. If you like Myst then this is a game to recommend to you. It is also cheap today.

An extremely well done point and click adventure/puzzle game. The soundtrack and visuals were excellent for its time, and they make playing the game feel very relaxing... However, there were several points in the game that legitimately spooked me, made me breathe very heavily, and feel fear as if my life was in danger... This is a good thing though, and part of the appeal of the game! It's not a horror game, but the emotions this game will make you feel is worth the experience! The puzzles in this game are definitely a challenge and can be difficult to figure out, but its extremely rewarding when you do solve them. The type of person who will enjoy this game is someone who likes thinking and who is also very patient. (Tip: If you get stuck, try reading the journal for clues) This game is a hidden gem that shouldn't be overlooked!

To play this game requires, I believe, an appreciation of how difficult game development was back in the early 90's and how much genuine artwork and hard work went into it. I had purchased Timelapse way back then but I had never finished the game. When I saw it on STEAM, of course I had to buy it. Now, it looks like I am going to finally finish the game. I like that.