The Longest Journey - Group Play

Setting this up a day early because... I can!  

We're starting a group play of The Longest Journey <--(game thread) tomorrow, Feb. 7, 2014.

Anyone is welcome to join in at any time

Here's how it works:

The people who are participating come to this thread to discuss the game.  Anything about the game:  The graphics, sounds, story, impressions, and cries for help.  The only thing you need to remember is that we don't want to ruin any surprises or storyline specifics for those who haven't played yet, so please hide this kind of information!

There are two ways to do this:

Use spoiler tags, which look like this [ spoiler]Type your spoiler here.[ /spoiler] (without the spaces inside the brackets.  When you do it right, it will look like this once you submit your post:

Spoiler:

You can click on the Preview button (to the left of the Send button) if you want to be sure you've done it right before submitting.

Change the color of your text.  To do so, highlight the text whose color you want to change, click on the button at the top of the reply box that looks like nine little colored squares, and choose the color you want.  Once you post, the background will be a light blue color, so keep that in mind ;)

The goal is to have fun playing this together, whilst still having the information in the thread be helpful for anyone who comes along later -- even if it's a year from now!
_________________________________________________

See the next post for the basics!

Now, some basics for playing The Longest Journey:

First of all, I recommend reading the manual.  It has some great information, as well as some extra story to enjoy.

Manual in PDF format

The cursor:

• Blue - The standard cursor.
  
• Red - Indicates an exit.
  
• Broken - "Non-active".  Means that you cannot currently interact with the scene.
  
• Active - Indicates a hot spot.  Left-click to bring up a floating menu:
  

• Eye - Inspect
  
• Mouth - Talk to or use mouth to interact with an item.
  
• Hand - Interact physically.  Use this to pick up items and add them to your inventory.
  

Double-click to make April run

Right-click to open your inventory.

Press the letter X to show all possible exits.  Press again to take down the exit signs.

Items will flash when they can be used on the scene, or when there's a possibility to combine items.

Keyboard Shortcuts: (all not listed)

• F1 - Diary Menu
  
• F2 - Quick-save; F3 - Quick-load.  There are 99 save-game slots available.  You MUST SAVE before exiting to the main menu!
  
• F4 - Conversation Log
  
• F5 - April's Diary (have to learn how to use it) - Can save and load from here, too.
  
• F6 - Video Replays
  
• F7 - Game Settings
  
• F8 - Save Screenshot to your local game directory
  
• F9 - Toggle Subtitles
  
• F10 - Quit game and return to Main Menu
  
• P - Pause
  
• Esc - Skip video sequence or dialogue
  

Universal Hint System
GameBoomers Walkthrough by MaGtRo

Have fun!

Whoa, all the times I've played this game I never knew about the keyboard shortcuts! I learn something new every day.

Fair warning - the graphics will appear quite dated and there's LOTS of dialogue. I promise you if you stick with it you'll be rewarded with a really interesting and engaging story, but there's no getting around it... the game is lengthy, after all it's the longest journey.  

I'm up for it!  I bought the game almost four years ago, so it's about time I played it!

... besides, I LOVE a good story in my games, so I don't mind a lot of dialogue!

Speaking as a woman, I found the dialogue really interesting and crucial to the backstory and ongoing adventure. I think it was mostly guys who found all the chatting annoying, no surprise there.  

I am downloading from GOG as I type. And I'm REALLY HAPPY to be playing my beloved favorite again.   

Oh, and a general comment to all: please don't jump to walkthroughs, at least not right away. Some of the puzzles are a bit over the top when it comes to logic, I'll admit, but most do make sense and it's so satisfying to take one's time and solve things by oneself. The first time I played it, there was no walkthrough available and I spent many weeks playing it. But they were some of the best weeks of my life, gaming-wise. So take your time and enjoy the journey!

I shall certainly do so!  I got mine from GOG, too, and just unzipped the Guide that came with the Extras, and it's a walkthrough!   I had no idea! lol~  Closing it up now

Oh I never download the extras with their games...I probably should, but I just forget to. A throwback to the early days of gaming when there were no extras, and certainly no walkthroughs! I remember playing Myst when it first came out, and running periodically to Barnes & Noble to peek at their Myst walkthrough book (did they call it a hint guidebook? It certainly was more cryptic than a walkthrough) to help with some puzzles. It was too $$ for to buy though, I think it cost close to $20 even back then!  

Heh, Myst is another in my GOG catalog that I've yet to play!

I was surprised to find myself enjoying the manual for TLJ -- so glad GOG includes so many extras!

Okay you sold me I'm going to read the manual too! I just hope it doesn't give too much away. A big part of the magic was not knowing where the journey would take us.

I've only gotten through the prologue so far, but I did it without looking at a walkthrough    This one is really going to take me a while, since there is no hotspot indicator -- I have to actually REALLY pay attention!

I think the graphics are beautifully rendered!  The characters themselves leave a little something to be desired, but they're not so bad~

Hi, I would love to play The Longest Journey with you all.  I d/l game this morning and played a bit. This is my first time playing.  I got this game in a big lot of adventure games that a seller was selling on ebay 3 years ago.
   

I did the prologue too and also had a very long conversation with Fiona(?) and saved right after.  I find it is a good idea to save after long conversations just in case you lose progress and then you don't have to repeat it all over again.

I'm saving often, too.  ALWAYS a good idea with adventure games!

Hello sunshinej and welcome!   

I'm smack in the middle of chapter 1, and of course it's easier for me because I know the game pretty well, but you'd be surprised how much I still forget, lol.

Please don't be disheartened by all the dialogue, and frankly a lot can be skipped. It fleshes out the story but if you get tired of the yakking   hit "escape". Often if need be.    Also don't forget to double-click to get April running, otherwise the journey will be even longer. There's a lot of to'ing and fro'ing, no way around that. I know the story takes a while to get going but then it really does take off.

A hint - inventory items can and should be examined, and also can and should be combined. You've probably figured out by now that flashing means you've hit the jackpot.

Chapter 1 does contain a fair bit of ridiculousness when it comes to problem-solving, but the puzzles become more logical, I promise.  

I am in chapter 2 after solving the aforementioned ridiculous puzzle.   
Oh and if/when you do get stuck, as always I recommend UHS rather than a straight walkthrough. It does let you get one hint at a time which is more satisfying.

I really do remember the game well; happy to help anyone if needed.

I didn't see anything ridiculous in chapter 1, task-wise.  I was able to figure out everything perfectly well -- without setting of my "What the hell, why do they (the devs) expect me to do something that is obviously going to get me killed?!" or "Yeah right, that's literally physically impossible" buttons.

I just finished Chapter 1 and stopped by to check in.  I hate that I can't alt-tab out of the program, but I'm really liking the F8 (saving a screen to my folder) and P (pause) shortcuts!

No? The

Spoiler:

wasn't kinda nutty to you?  

Oh crap!  I forgot to get that!  Whoops!

Yeah, you're right... That was a little "out of the box", wasn't it!

I've just met Freddie Melon, and oh my gosh!   He sounds exactly like

Spoiler:

Dl/d  game and started playing.   Already am stuck.   I swear

Journey:

The only problem I seem to be having with the game is the voices.   They "stutter",
repeating a word over and over.

I must be confusing this game with the other Journey one.   I remember playing a demo
and it started differently,  so at first I thought I downloaded the wrong game.

Anyway,  off to figure out what they expect me to do with so little   

Luv, did you get stuck in the prologue? Move around the cliff, click on anything that shows up as a bright blue pointer and interact with it: speak to, or try to take, everything. That first section shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Post your questions here, or I highly recommend the UHS site to work problems out a bit at a time: http://www.uhs-hints.com/uhsweb/tlj.php

The stuttering isn't right of course; how annoying. You might have to re-install..?

OH!!   I thought I had posted here again?

Yes,  r-mom- I did get past it.   I am on Chapter 2  (what did I do with that post that
mentioned it?  If  I was on the phone,  then I obviously did not hit send)     

I totally agree with Mickey when she told Fiona

spoiler:

   

So far  I have made it to

Spoiler:

I am getting ready to play again.   Not sure what to do next,   but am wondering
about

spoiler:

I had to stop in here for a minute.    That scene with

spoiler:

.

These old graphics sure make for some laughs.     Also, it turns out that April

spoiler:

I really am enjoying this game.

I'm really enjoying it, too!  It's starting to "feel" like The Legend of Crystal Valley now.

luvtoread wrote:The only problem I seem to be having with the game is the voices.   They "stutter",
repeating a word over and over.

You can try deselecting High Quality April Model, or turn off Special Effects or Shadows.

Ooh, don't forget to pick up everything and interact with everything! This game will let you proceed and then, many hours from now, you'll realize you need that 'something' from a while back.    

I am playing with DH -- his first time, and he's really enjoying it! There's quite a lot that makes us literally laugh out loud.   

Not rushing, but has anyone made it to

Spoiler:

yet?