Timelapse

Copyright © 1996-1997 Balmoral Software (http://www.balmoralsoftware.com). Portions copyright © 1996 GTE Vantage Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, redistribution or conversion is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Balmoral Software. Contents subject to change! For the latest information, see http://www.balmoralsoftware.com.

Table of Contents

• Review
• Walkthrough Abbreviations
• Easter Island
• Egyptian World
• Mayan World
  • Skull Temple
  • Monkey Temple
  • Jaguar Temple
  • Lower Temple and Jungle
  • Lizard Temple
  • Sun Temple
• Anasazi World
  • East
  • South
  • West
  • North
  • Storyteller Cave
  • Gene Pod
  • Cliff City
• Atlantis
• Nits

Review

Puzzles are well-integrated into the overall storyline, which is fully fleshed out with background material available in the Professor's journals and in other areas of the game (notably Atlantis). The puzzles tend to be more abstract than the standard inventory-manipulation types often seen in adventure games. Their level of complexity seems just about ideal - not so easy as to lack a challenge or sense of accomplishment, but neither unreasonably difficult. In most cases, the game challenges "play fair" - solutions are logical and usually involve objects close at hand. This latter characteristic is particularly enjoyable since a lot of repetitive wandering and pixel-searching can be avoided. Only a couple of the puzzles involve arcade-style dexterity or a time limit for solution.

Gameplay is fairly nonlinear - typically several goals must be completed in each age and often there is some flexibility as to their order. Like Myst, the ages themselves can be completed in any order, but the writings in the Professor's journals do suggest a "natural" sequence. Once an age has been completed, it cannot be revisited, so in a sense Timelapse consists of several independent sub-games. Four ages must be completed before the final game sequence can begin.

Graphics are pretty good, but many scenes seem a bit on the blocky side. The sheer number of views that needed to be rendered for this large game may have limited the number of polygons used. However, many of these views seem somewhat redundant and gameplay often requires passing through a lot of intermediate nodes in order to reach the next decision point. In a few areas of the game, a "hyperlink" feature is available to bypass these intermediate nodes, but an optional "zoom" feature such as that available in Myst would have been more universally useful. Additional shading and/or shadowing would have given better depth to a number of scenes that appeared rather flat, in some cases making it difficult to sense directions for movement. Overall, however, it is easy to become immersed in the various ages due to their layout and particularly to the sound effects, which are excellent. In addition, there are frequent spots throughout the game, particularly in the Anasazi world, where small animations of animals can be seen, adding a really nice touch of realism to the game.

The game has two serious flaws. The first, and more annoying, is the requirement to re-insert CD #1 whenever the game is restarted. An introductory playback that is optional and user-selectable might have kept the initial sequence small enough to be repeated on each CD. The second is a failure to parity-check a randomized sliding-piece puzzle in the Mayan world, causing half of all configurations to be unsolvable (which often cannot be detected until the puzzle is nearly finished).

Live-action acting is very good overall, with the exception of a rather amateurish performance by the actor protraying Professor Nichols.

The background music is adequate, not particularly noteworthy except for a really outstanding music-and-vocals piece that is played in the Storyteller Cave.

The user interface is just about as close to perfection as possible, using keyboard arrow keys (or mouse) for movement, combined with a Myst-like mouse cursor for exploration and object manipulation. A rosette of available movement directions is displayed when the arrow keys are being used, but disappears once the mouse is used for movement. This arrangement is reminiscent of that used in Sanctuary Woods' The Journeyman Project Turbo and Buried in Time, but avoids cluttering up the screen with extraneous items and graphics. A single item may be carried around as inventory. A control menu is turned on or off with a simple press of the spacebar. Saved games are file-based and unlimited in number, and thankfully include an overwrite warning. There are a few places in the game where you can be "killed", but at these points the screen is merely blanked and you are returned to the game, definitely a plus for those of us that have been burned in the past by not saving our games often enough.

Overall, Timelapse is a very enjoyable adventure game experience.

Walkthrough Abbreviations

Easter Island

Move B R F2 L F5 R F. Pick up the Professor's journal at the base of the statue. Be sure to read it for clues and background information while playing the game.

Move B L F4 L F7 R F4 L F5 R F2 R down to the triplet of stone statues (moai) on the beach (note the crabs animation, a nice touch). While facing each of the three statues, note the carved symbol on its base, zoom in on the statue and touch its chest to disclose another symbol:

Beach Moai Symbols

Turn right from the leftmost statue and move F15 to the table in the Professor's camp. Drag a piece of paper from the right over the rongo-rongo board, then use the white pencil to make a tracing of the three pairs of symbols on the board:

Rongo-rongo Board Symbols

Move B2 R F to the other camp table (note the game designers' names on the candy wrappers). Pick up and read the directions for lighting the lantern:

1. Pump the tank 10 times using the TANK PUMP
2. Turn the (L-shaped) PRIMER VALVE to the UP position
3. Open the (circular) GAS KNOB to the UP position
4. CAREFULLY light the MANTLE with a lighted MATCH
5. Once the lantern starts up, turn the PRIMER VALVE to the DOWN position

Click on the lantern and follow the above instructions to light it (if you make a mistake, you'll have to return to the camp table to get more matches). Move B F13 L F3 L F to the stone head in the cave. Click on its face to cause its lower jaw to melt into molten lava (one of many excellent morphing sequences in the game). Cool the molten head on the lava "tongue" by clicking on the bowl-shaped gray rock at upper center. Pick up the cooled head before it heats up again, and make a note of the symbol shown in the large head's eye sockets. Move B R2 F to the three statues. By referring to the paired symbols seen previously, determine the statue symbol associated with the eye-socket symbol and place the stone head you're carrying onto the corresponding statue hand. If you choose incorrectly, the stone head will disintegrate and you will have to obtain it again from the lava flow. Repeat the procedure for five more eye-socket symbols in the lava-flow head. The symbol sequence can be moved up or down by clicking in the left or right eye socket. When completed, the head arrangement will be:

Stone Head Arrangement

Move B L F and click on the now-glowing eyes of the face in the cave wall to open an entrance to the time portal. Move F7 and listen to the Professor's message. After he finishes, wait a few moments for a second message to start. At this point it's possible to visit any of three worlds: Egyptian, Mayan or Anasazi. To follow the Professor's path, press the brown scarab beetle button at far left, then click on the animation in the crystal ball to be transported to the Egyptian world.

Egyptian World

Your first task will be to release the barge and traverse the Nile. Examination of the dock area shows that the release mechanism is controlled by a system of water weights, ropes and pulleys. The sequence required to release the barge is suggested by a diagram in Entry 4 of the Professor's journal:

Barge Release Sequence

From your initial arrival in the Egyptian world, move F7 R F L and click on the hanging basket exactly four times to fill the stone cistern. Move L F R F R F2 and observe that the cistern is completely filled. Move B2 L F R F and touch the pulley lever overhead to align the well bucket with the cistern outflow pipe. Click on the gray lever to empty the cistern water into the bucket hanging in the well and notice how the tension increases on the rope. Move B R F2 L F L and click on the hanging basket exactly two times. Move L F R F2 R F and again click on the gray lever to add water to the well bucket. Moving F, you'll see that the bucket is now completely filled and slightly tilted. Back out and return the pulley lever to its vertical position. Move B L F R F3 L F to the dock release lever. Drag this lever to the left to open the dock and release the barge.

Move L F R F R F3 to cross the river in the barge (the Esc key can be used to skip the animation, if desired). Move L F L2 and pick up the spear from the dock. Move R2 F to face the crocodile guarding the dock temple. Wait until the crocodile moves his head to your left, then use the spear to jab at its pale neck area. After several stabs to this area, you will vanquish the crocodile.

Move F5 R F3 into the temple embalming room. Open the chest and read each of the nine scrolls, noting the references to Egyptian gods and particularly to the Mirror of Hathor:

God	Animal
Knumm	Goat
Sebek	Crocodile
Bastet	Cat
Horus	Hawk
Anubis	Dog
Osiris	Pharoah
Thoth	Ibis
Set	Horned One

Move B2 R F L F to the standing statue. Open the compartment and read the tenth scroll:

Standing Statue Scroll

Take a picture of the scroll with your camera as the information on it will be needed later. Move B2 L F L F4 L F into the temple storeroom. Click on the dog statue to hear the intonation

Seeeeek the Tablet

The tablet in the chest defines values for each element of the Egyptian number system by referring to specific objects in the temple storerooms:

Egyptian Tablet

The numbers are translated by counting the quantity of objects in the temple storeroom and embalming room:

• 9 knives in a chest in the embalming room
• 4 arrows lying on a mat in the storeroom
• 2 tables in the embalming room
• 7 blue ewers in the embalming room
• 3 chests in both rooms (tablet, scrolls, knives)
• 10 scrolls in the embalming room (9 in the chest and one in the base of the standing statue)
• 6 spears in the storeroom
• 8 jars in the storeroom (6 in the back and one on each side)
• 5 baskets in the storeroom
• 1 sarcophagus in the embalming room

Egyptian Number System

Next, refer to Entry 30 in the Professor's journal (25 mouse clicks), where he refers to Deren's Egyptian religious saying:

"Precede the gods, and things will
be subtracted from you. Follow the
gods, and things will be surely added
onto you."

God	Animal	Numeric Adjustment
Knumm	Goat	Add 4
Sebek	Crocodile	Subtract 1
Bastet	Cat	Subtract 8
Horus	Hawk	Add 4
Anubis	Dog	Subtract 2
Osiris	Pharoah	Subtract 1
Thoth	Ibis	Add 1
Set	Horned One	Add 2

In the center area of the dock temple, find the sparking electrical display on one of the columns. Press the lowest of the three buttons on the panel to send power to the crystal statue at the back of the temple. Move F L F2 to the statue. Drag the crystal ball around the perimeter of the statue to disclose a sign for each of the Egyptian gods:

Egyptian God Signs

Next, move B L F L F L back to the power panel. Press the middle button to provide power to a staircase that will be encountered later. Exit the temple to the marble walkway behind it by moving R F3 R F R F2 R F2 L F2 R. On the black obelisk, note the glowing numeric symbol associated with the crocodile god Sebek. Examine the other seven obelisks along the walkway to derive initial numeric values for the other Egyptian gods, and apply the numeric adjustments from the table above:

	Bastet		W	Anubis
			A
	Osiris		L	Horus
			K
	Set		W	Knumm
			A
	Thoth		Y	Sebek

		   Dock Temple

God	Animal	Initial Value	Numeric Adjustment	Adjusted Value
Knumm	Goat	a	+4	a+4
Sebek	Crocodile	b	-1	b-1
Bastet	Cat	c	-8	c-8
Horus	Hawk	d	+4	d+4
Anubis	Dog	e	-2	e-2
Osiris	Pharoah	f	-1	f-1
Thoth	Ibis	g	+1	g+1
Set	Horned One	h	+2	h+2

The initial values in the obelisk puzzle randomize for each Timelapse gameplay (thanks to Wayne Pendley and others at comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure for pointing this out). Since no fixed solution is possible, arbitrary values have been specified in the table above using the letters a-h. In one particular gameplay, the results from the obelisk numbers were:

God	Animal	Initial Value	Numeric Adjustment	Adjusted Value
Knumm	Goat	5	+4	9
Sebek	Crocodile	4	-1	3
Bastet	Cat	9	-8	1
Horus	Hawk	3	+4	7
Anubis	Dog	10	-2	8
Osiris	Pharoah	7	-1	6
Thoth	Ibis	1	+1	2
Set	Horned One	8	+2	10

Continue into the crystal room at the end of the walkway. Here you will find eight crystals corresponding in relative position to the eight obelisks along the marble walkway. Zoom in on each crystal and set the animal symbol (top), adjusted numeric value (middle) and sign (bottom) for each of the Egyptian gods using the Animal Table, the particular Adjusted Value Table for your gameplay, the Egyptian number system and the Egyptian god signs given above. When each crystal has been correctly configured, the corresponding miniature in the raised pool at the back of the crystal room will glow.

After all eight crystals have been configured, pick up the red crystal from the pool at the back of the crystal room. Move B F5 to the cobra blocking the passageway. Show the red crystal to the snake and it'll disappear. Move F9 and drop the red crystal into the blue-green pool. After you've finished watching the Yul Brynner impression, back out twice from the pool and press the small square staircase symbol on the column. Since you've already routed electrical power to this section of the temple complex, a spiral staircase opens. Move F R F6 R F10 R (past the Guardian apparition) and click on the chutes-and-ladders game rules on the wall.

To play the game, move B F and roll the tetrahedron-shaped die. Your ankh is the red one; to win the game you must reach the final golden square (by exact count) before your blue opponent does. It's usually a better strategy to give up gems rather than accepting a position penalty from a snake, but to do so you must quickly drag the red gems on the wall to the right side where your opponent's blue gems are stored. The number of gems that must be transferred from the left side of the wall to the right is indicated by the number of marks on the snake's platform. Be sure to accurately position your gem into one of your opponent's open holes, or else the snake will knock you back. There is no click-ahead buffer for this game, as there is, for example, when reading the Professor's journal. Also note that the game is completely reset if you back out from it.

On completion of the game, you'll hear a short musical tone. Pick up the light-blue eye symbol from the wall. Move B L2 F and put the eye symbol next to its mate on the cabinet door. Open the cabinet and move F2 to bring up the pyramid lock combination diagram:

Pyramid Lock Diagram

Note that the diagram also includes a triangular representation of a pyramid (not shown above), matching one seen on the power panel buttons. Counting the symbols in the columns on the diagram, you'll find

	   3		  10		   9		   4
	symbols		symbols		symbols		symbols

Move F R F6 L F to return to the dock area. Move B2 R F R F2 L F10 R F8 L F4 to reach the pyramid combination lock. Using the Egyptian number system diagram, drag the tumblers to enter the combination (3,10,9,4) that you found by counting symbols on the diagram in the cabinet. When correctly configured, the combination lock will show

Pyramid Combination Lock

Click on the triangle at left to open the lock. Move F11 to enter the time portal. Watch the movie of Professor Nichols, then wait a few moments and watch a second one. At this point it's possible to visit either the Mayan or the Anasazi world; we'll go to the Mayan world next. Press the green lizard button second from the right, then click on the animation in the crystal ball to be transported to the Mayan world.

Mayan World

Move R F to face an arithmetic puzzle on the temple wall. If a dot represents one and a horizontal bar represents five, then the matrix of twelve buttons can be thought of as

13	14	12	20
2	8	9	1
21	13	22	23

The trick to solving this puzzle is to see it as four vertical addition problems, out of alignment. Click on the buttons in this order to solve the puzzle:

1	4	7	10
11	2	5	8
3	9	12	6

When the puzzle is solved, a lever is exposed in the column to the left; click on it and move L F to the now-activated stela control mechanism. Drag the crystal ball one position to the right to morph the alien head into a skull. Move B L F L F4 and hyperlink to the spider stela (see map) down near the water. Move R to the skull stela and click on the lighted blue skull. This in turn lights up three Mayan calendar symbols:

Skull Stela Symbols

Move R, hyperlink to the monkey stela, move L, hyperlink to the snake stela, move R, hyperlink to the Castillo temple, and move F5 R F R to the Mayan calendar. The calendar consists of three rings: the left inner ring nested inside the left outer ring, and a right ring. Each ring can be turned either clockwise or counterclockwise by dragging the mouse cursor over it. In each case, the position of other rings may be affected when one ring is turned:

• Turning the left inner ring turns the left outer ring in the same direction.

• Turning the left outer ring turns the left inner ring in the same direction and turns the right ring in the opposite direction.

• Turning the right ring turns the left inner ring in the same direction.

1. Turn the left inner ring in either direction to bring the target left inner ring symbol into position.

2. Use move pairs

   Turn left inner ring clockwise, then
   turn right ring counterclockwise

   to bring the target left outer ring symbol into alignment with the left inner ring symbol.

3. Use move pairs

   Turn left inner ring clockwise, then
   turn left outer ring counterclockwise

   to bring the target right ring symbol into alignment with the other two target symbols.

Starting with the stela control mechanism, repeat the above procedure for the monkey temple:

Monkey Stela Symbols

for the jaguar temple:

Jaguar Stela Symbols

and for the lizard temple:

Lizard Stela Symbols

Mayan World Map

From the Mayan calendar, move R F R F2 R F2 R and note that all four temple access symbols are now lit up on the frieze in the crystal skull alcove. Move R F2 R F13 R F8 R into the skull temple.

Skull Temple

The challenge here is to reassemble the skeleton. However, clicking on any joint to reposition a previously-placed bone causes all bones to drop and the puzzle to restart, as does placing certain bones from the wrong skeleton (there are more loose bones than needed for one skeleton). One aid to solving the problem is knowing how the skeleton should look when it's finished:

Skull Temple Skeleton

Obviously, a humerus must be placed before its radius and ulna, a femur before its fibula and tibia, etc. Also note that the skeleton's left femur is broken and must be reassembled using two pieces, as is its right humerus. In these cases, be sure the edges of the broken bones match up. The skeleton's right fibula, tibia and foot can be placed as a single unit, as can its left radius, ulna and hand. However, the skeleton's right radius and ulna must be placed individually, creating sort of an "X" arrangement. The hand with a single arm bone attached to it is not used. Generally, bones on the skeleton's left side have a slightly more brownish color than the ones on its right. When the skeleton is complete, the extra unused bones will disappear.

Remove the green crystal ball from the skeleton's mouth, move L2 and place it in the center of the circular wall design. After the movie is done playing, note the two Mayan figures now visible in the wall design.

Monkey Temple

Move L F15 L F3 and click on the monkey skull to activate the PacMan-like game in the monkey temple. Move L F to start the game.

The object is to move your green spider to the blue crystal at the bottom of the maze, while avoiding the red spiders in the narrower passages (relatively easy to do since their movements are predictable). Several areas in the game are isolated from one another, so most of the time you're just trying to move from an entrance hole to an exit hole. As in most of the puzzles in Timelapse, you can save your game after part of the puzzle has been solved, which avoids having to start over completely if something goes wrong. With this feature, even the most difficult puzzles can be solved incrementally.

Once you've got the blue crystal, move B L F4 to the monkey wall design. Put the blue crystal in its center. After the movie is done playing, again note two Mayan figures now visible in the wall design.

Jaguar Temple

Move R2 F L F7 L F2 R F L F9 R F up the stairs into the jaguar temple. Note the arrangement of colors in the circular design on the wall:

		White
	Red		Yellow
		Black

Move B2 L F L F and melt the jaguar head over the fire. Cool the mold with blood from the small gray container. Move F and wait about 70 seconds for the gold heart to cool enough to pick up (or you can use this time to further explore the temple). Move B2 R2. Put the heart into the the pot of blood on the green statue; pick up the red crystal. Move R F R and place the red crystal into the center of the circular wall design. After the movie is done playing, note the two Mayan figures now visible in the wall design.

Lower Temple and Jungle

Move L F8 R F R F13 R F into the lower temple. The scissors-paper-stone game must be won before the chasm bridge can be crossed:

• Frog beats spider
• Spider beats scorpion
• Scorpion beats frog
• Like choices tie

Back out from the game and watch the chasm bridge raise up. Move F30 L and pick up the orange gem from the pink plant on the tree branch. Move L F and put the gem into the right-hand eye socket of the statue. Move R and wait a few seconds for the spider to drop down; pick up the green gem in the center of the web. Move L and put the gem into the left-hand eye socket. Push on the right socket and take the machete from the mouth of the statue. Click on the machete four times to chop down all the brown vines immediately to the right of the statue.

Lizard Temple

Move F26 R F3 and click on the gray bowl to pick up a cracked red heart. Move B F R and pick up the codex page on the floor next to the potted plant. By referring to the faces shown in Entry 39 of the Professor's journal (34 mouse clicks):

Mayan Number Symbols

and the previously-discovered number notation, the codex page can be translated into negative (black) and positive (red) numbers:

	-5  +4  -5
	----------
	-5  +4  -6
	-6  +5  +5
	----------
	-8  -8  +5
	+8  +8  +5
	----------
	+5  -8  -6
	+8  +4  +8
	----------
	    -5

Move F. The object of the puzzle is to light up each of 22 positions on the double pyramid, while using the moves indicated by the skulls. This problem would be extremely difficult to solve without the aid of a computer (and several hours of CPU time); fortunately, a solution was seen on the codex page. Click on the left (positive) and right (negative) skulls in the left-to-right order shown on the codex translation above, and pick up a golden salamander. Move B L F. Open the floor hatch and place the golden salamander into its receptacle. Move B F12 L F9 L into the lower temple region. Pick up the Mayan gene pod. After the movie sequence completes, pick up the axe. Unfortunately, the green storage unit acts like a counterbalance and since the gene pod and axe have been removed from it, stalactites have lowered from the ceiling blocking your exit. You will need to find the correct combination of bones and debris from the floor to place on top of the green storage unit to cause it to be depressed the correct amount, releasing the stalactites and allowing you to leave. Of the 256 possibilities, the correct combination of objects is: all four skulls, plus the flat brown piece.

Move L F9 L F2 to another passageway blocked by stalactites. Click on the axe-shaped depression in the wall and listen to the tones. If the notes range from 1 (low) at left, to 5 (high) at right, the tunelet played is

	5 3 4 2 2 5 5 1

Move F4 to the tomb. You need to get the yellow crystal ball from the hand of the skeleton, but he just doesn't want to let go! While holding down the mouse key, rapidly move the cursor up and down over the skeleton's hand until you've tugged the ball free (amidst a particularly juicy sound effect).

Move B R2 F24 to the circular wall design. Place the yellow crystal into the center of it. After the movie finishes playing, note the two Mayan figures now visible in the wall design.

Move R2 F4 L F26 R2 and press the green eye of the jungle statue to avoid being killed by a poison dart as you move to the left. From a position facing the statue, move L F12 and then turn around by moving L. Pick up the purple gem hidden in the base of the tree fern. Move R F10 to the sun temple entrance.

Sun Temple

Place the purple gem into the center of the design that holds each of the four crystals you've previously found.

Move F5 to the sun temple sliding-piece puzzle. This puzzle randomizes each time you move to it, so no closed-form solution is possible. The puzzle pieces are from the four temple designs discovered previously; each design occupies a 2 x 2 subsection of the puzzle and must be completed in the following arrangement:

Sliding-Piece Puzzle Solution

By examining the puzzle, you should be able to figure out which of the four temple designs is missing a piece, corresponding to the open square in the puzzle. Obviously, that temple design must be completed last.

Once a 2 x 2 temple subsection is completed, its design "freezes", making the occupied squares inaccessible during further work on the puzzle. As a result, a good strategy is to concentrate on configuring the first 4-element row and first 4-element column of the puzzle before completing any 2 x 2 subsection (as long as this is not where the missing piece is).

Many configurations are impossible to solve, for example,

Impossible Sun Temple Puzzle

The frequency of these outcomes indicates that the Timelapse game software is not checking the puzzle randomizations for basic parity; consequently, half of all starting positions will be unsolvable. In these cases, it will be necessary to restart the puzzle from the beginning.

Once the sliding-piece puzzle has been solved, move F9 into the time portal. Watch the movie of the Professor, then wait a few moments and watch a second one. Press the blue insect button second from the left, then click on the animation in the crystal ball to be transported to the Anasazi world.

Anasazi World

			Off

		East		North

	West				South

East

Drag the lever to the East position; if desired, you can confirm the sun shadow by moving F2. From a position facing the calendar lever, move B R F9 R F R F10 L and pick up the stick at the end of the road. Make your way toward the East sun spiral shown on the map in the Professor's journal:

Anasazi World Map

As you progress up the canyon, you'll follow a friendly gray squirrel, the animal associated with the East challenge. About halfway up, you'll see a nest of bees in a dead tree trunk; use your stick to get a bit of honey on its end. Continue on up to the end of the path, where you'll discover a golden acorn trapped in a rock crevice. You'll have no trouble recovering the acorn using the stick tipped with sticky honey.

Take the acorn back to the end of the road, where you found the stick, and place it into the depression in the rock. Move F3 into the cave and pick up a safety match from the box in the basket (seems a bit out of place or time, doesn't it?). Move B2 R and ignite the match by quickly passing it over the flat rock with the vertical slit in it. Then immediately use it to light the pile of twigs next to the rock. If you turn around, you'll see an important Anasazi symbol projected onto the cave wall.

South

Using the Anasazi map, return to the calendar control lever and set it for South. From your position facing the calendar lever, move B R F9 R F R F4 R F5 and pick up some arrowheads on the ground to the right of the path. Continue F6 L and watch the animation of a hawk flying through a hole in a canyon rock spire. Move F to the mounted bow and touch the bowstring to load a blunt arrow. Find the arrowheads you're carrying at the lower right of the game window. Load only the first (smallest) of these arrowheads (two remain, but won't be needed). Save your game at this point.

Your goal is to shoot the arrow through the same rock spire hole that the hawk flew through. A sweet spot obviously exists for a successful shoot, but there is some evidence that its location may be randomized between different games. However, if you need to restore your just-saved game, the sweet spot should be consistent, so the problem is to find the aiming point for your particular game.

We found best results were obtained by using only the first (smallest) of the arrowheads. The other ones vary in size, and so require different aiming positions for the point of the arrowhead. The other two arrowheads also seem to vary in weight, affecting their flight characteristics. We found the best bow position was set up by dragging the mouse to pull the string all the way back, then up one position.

All that remains is to drag the mouse laterally, without releasing the mouse button, to correctly position the arrowhead point. In several games, the sweet spot was somewhat to the left of the short horizontal black line on the target rock spire. In some games, this spot was immediately to the left of the line, in others it was as far as halfway to the edge of the rock spire. Your mileage may vary.

If you miss, restore your game and try again until you get the aim just right. Carefully watch the arrow strike point for clues on how to adjust the aim. When you get the arrow to fly through the hole, you'll hear a voice say

"Success! You are a skilled warrior"

Alternative Cave Access. As Roy Pascarella pointed out in the comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure newsgroup, it's possible to back into the south cave without shooting the arrow. From your position at the mounted bow, move B R2 F3 L B. Even though the compass rosette now indicates you can only move forward, instead move L F2 into the south cave.

West

Using the Anasazi map, return to the calendar control lever and set it for West. From your position facing the calendar lever, move B R F9 R F L F12 L F2 R F6 R F and pick up the flashlight in the geode cave. Move B L F to the first cave shadow.

The professor's journal mentions corroded batteries in the flashlight, so you'll have to shake it to get some light out of it. You can see only a portion of the symbols hidden in shadow at any one time since the flashlight beam is limited. Make a note of all symbols you see, you'll need them later. Be sure to also check the second cave shadow to the left.

Exit the geode cave and move R F9 L F to a rock wall carving, following the coyote who seems to be leading the way. Highlight the nine symbols you saw in the geode cave, each of which has been augmented by a hand symbol and some of which vary in size from what was seen in the cave:

West Puzzle Solution

When you get it right, a really cool shadow of a coyote will cross the rock and you'll hear him howl. Move L and click on the West sun spiral carved into the rock. Move R F2 R into the emerald cave and note the Anasazi sun symbol rising out of the water. Move F to get a closeup of it, and note the sound of dripping water.

North

Using the Anasazi map, return to the calendar control lever and set it for North. The animal associated with this challenge is a crow. You'll need to find up to 7 bird feathers to solve the challenge:

1. White bottom, tan-and-brown tip
2. Black
3. Tan-and-brown striped, white tip
4. White, black tip
5. Tan-and-black striped
6. Small white, tan tip
7. Blue

Move B L. On the rock face are depictions of the five birds whose feathers you must find (we'll show you where all seven are, even though you'll need only five). Move L F4, pick up the black feather, and return it to the gray stand. Move B R2 F4 R F, pick up the third feather, and return it to the others. Move B R2 F4 R F4, pick up the fourth feather, and return it to the others. Move B R2 F4 R F6 R, pick up the fifth feather, and return it to the others. Move B R2 F4 R F6 L F2 L F4 L, pick up the sixth feather, and return it to the others. Move B R2 F4 R F6 L F2 R F2 R F3, pick up the last feather, and return it to the others. Arrange the feathers to match the diagram of birds on the wall:

North Puzzle Solution

then click on the feather on the wall to turn the gray stand into a full headdress. Move B L F R F and note the bird sculpture and the sound of wind. Move R2 F L F R F4 R F6 L F2 back to the crossroads.

Storyteller Cave

This section of the game is optional - you don't need it to finish the Anasazi world, but it's worth visiting for the music alone.

From the crossroads, face west and move F2 R F19. You can use trial-and-error to solve the 35-element rattlesnake puzzle, or just try this sequence (assuming animal prints are numbered from 1 to 8, left to right):

	3 3 4 4 7 6 7
	7 4 2 4 2 3 8
	5 1 5 8 3 2 4
	4 7 4 2 3 8 3
	2 4 4 6 1 6 7

Gene Pod

Using the Anasazi map, return to the calendar control lever and set it back to vertical. From your position facing the calendar lever, move B R F9 R F R F4 R F4 R F4 R to the four tablets identified with the cardinal directions. On each tablet, select the animal sound associated with that direction, and one natural sound experienced during the solution of each puzzle:

Four Tablets Solution

Then press the spiral symbol above the tablets to open a passageway. If you've correctly selected the eight tablet symbols and the passageway does not appear, revisit the caves at the four compass points to make sure you've actually heard the natural sound associated with each one. From your position at the tablets, move F5, pick up the Anasazi gene pod and watch the movie. After it completes, note the leaf outline exposed under the pod. Exit the purple cave and use the Anasazi map to return to the crossroads.

Cliff City

From the crossroads, face north and move F10. Pick up the spear and move B L. Use the spear to chop holes at the bases of the three cacti (some of the prickly pear may have to be chopped away before you can get at the left one). When you've released water from a cactus, it flows to the green corn plant at center. The plant requires five waterings in order to grow tall enough to climb into the cliff city, so you'll have to chop a second hole in the barrel-shaped cactus and one at the base of the left arm of the right cactus.

Move F3 R and pick up the blue-handled rattle inside the basket. Move R2 and click on the rattlesnake to hear its rattle. Emulate the sound with the rattle you're carrying by sweeping it down, up, down, down. The snake then morphs into a ladder; move F6 R into the loom room.

Drag the large medium-red yarnball from the bowl to the empty white basket at right. Drag the shuttle in your inventory at lower right to the white basket. Click on the yarnball to unroll some yarn. Click on the shuttle to thread it with the yarn. With your mouse cursor, click on the white-threads area of the loom. Click on the sliding horizontal bar to complete a portion of the blanket.

Repeat the above procedure using the small dark-red yarnball and the red-and-yellow striped yarnball. The blanket will then be complete and you'll see a glowing representation of a corn plant, an important Anasazi symbol.

Move L B6 R F2 R F4 L into the music room. Pick up the drumstick and move R2 to the wind chime. Click on the wind chime with your mouse cursor and listen carefully - you'll need to emulate the sound on the drums. Turn left to the drums and strike them with the drumstick in this order:

		1		5


	4		3		2

Move R F3 R B4 R F3 R F R to the sandpit puzzle. The outline of a leaf at the back of the pit is colored green to indicate that the puzzle has been activated by your retrieval of the Anasazi gene pod. Move F to begin the puzzle. Variously-colored leaves are blown onto the sand spiral, and you must determine which ones go into the next three positions. Moving from the center of the spiral outward, you'll see that the leaves progress in sequence to the dark green leaf, then reverse the sequence. Assuming this is the pattern, the leaves you should choose are the first three leaves in the center of the spiral, placed in reverse order:

Sandpit Leaf Puzzle

Back out and pick up the outlined leaf at the back of the sandpit, now turned brown. Move R F L F3 R F4 L2 and place the brown leaf into the depression by the music room door, opening an entrance to the kiva straight ahead. Move F5 into the kiva.

The object of the kiva puzzle is to correctly identify exactly seven Anasazi images you've encountered in the game. The design on the west wall is circled by 7 blue arrowheads, each of which brightens when one of the correct wall images is lighted in blue.

To solve the puzzle, turn right from the circular design and select the buffalo symbol from the South challenge and the image of a bee from the East challenge and the shaman's room:

North Kiva Wall

Turn right and select the sun-headed man symbol from the East challenge, the sun symbol from the West challenge, and the reindeer image from the shaman's room:

East Kiva Wall

Finally, turn right and select the bird symbol from the blowing-leaves cave in the North challenge and the corn plant image from the loom room:

South Kiva Wall

Turn right and note that all seven blue arrowheads are now glowing. Click on the center of the circular design to open a door in the wall; move F B4 R2 F10 into the Anasazi time portal. Watch the movie of the Professor, then wait a few moments and watch a second one. Press the central paired-dolphins button, then click on the animation in the crystal ball to be transported to Atlantis.

Atlantis

Move B L F5 L F R F9 R F10 into an aquarium-like building housing a glowing DNA helix. Move L2 and note the bent-square symbol on the floor of this building. Move F R F and view a movie sequence on the video player. Move R2 F2 for another movie sequence.

Move B R F8 R F4 R F L F8 L into a schoolhouse-like building. Above the side door, note the steering-wheel-like symbol associated with this building. Move R2 F and view a movie sequence on the video player. Move R for another movie sequence, R2 for another, and L F R F for five more (with Greek subtitles), including some from the Guardian robot.

Move B L F8 L F R F4 R F6 into a truncated pyramid building and note the curved "+"-like symbol associated with it. Move R F and view a movie sequence on the video player. Move R2 F2 for another movie sequence.

Move B L F7 L F7 R F3 R F to the elevator control panel. Select the symbol associated with each building by clicking on the blank squares underneath each building representation:

	16 clicks	5 clicks	27 clicks	10 clicks

Elevator Control Panel

Click on the far-right button with the small circle to activate the elevator. Move B L F2 L2 and click on the rightmost of the three paired-J symbols at the bottom of the window frame to descend to the lower level. Move F R F and take the sparking red crystal from the robot. Move B R F R2 and put the crystal into the receptacle under the window to reactivate the elevator. Click on the leftmost of the three paired-J symbols at the bottom of the window frame to ascend to the upper level. Remove the crystal and move into the stasis chamber rooom. You are now under a time limit to deal with the robot Guardian before he finds you and sends you to eternity, ending the game with a few newspaper articles. To accomplish this, you will lay a trap for the Guardian using one of the stasis tubes.

While passsing by the individual stasis tubes, make a note of the pattern of blue lights on the panels in them. Find the empty stasis tube and enter it. Set the same pattern of blue lights:

	X	X		X
X				X
X	X	X		X
			X
	X		X		X
X		X	X		X

Move B2 and bait your trap by putting the crystal on the stasis tube floor (this has to be done by dragging the crystal so its lower triangle is just below the lower edge of the game window). Move L2 F2 to the hexagon puzzle controlling the stasis tube gun.

Each click on a yellow triangle rotates the tri-colored circles; the object is to orient them so that they all have a red sector facing inwards, matching the central red button on the hexagon. Here's one solution (the order of clicks is unimportant):

• Click once on the upper-left yellow triangle
• Click twice on the upper-right yellow triangle
• Click once on the left yellow triangle
• Click once on the right yellow triangle

Move R L F L F5 R F and open the gene pod receptacle. Press Ctrl-G to bring up your gene pod inventory, and click on any of the pods to transfer all three to the receptacle. Pick up the receptacle and move B L F7 to the transmission panel. Click on the central bent-square symbol and put the gene pods you're carrying into the depression formed in the panel.

You now have two minutes to leave Atlantis through its time portal, or you can wait it out for the same endgame sequence. To reach the time portal, move B L2 F6 R F7 and watch the Professor's Steve Martin impression (boy, he's really scared, isn't he?). If you try to transfer back to Easter Island, the time portal melts and you get the same endgame sequence.

The submerged Atlantis outpost blasts off from Earth and transports to the Atlantean homeworld. At the conclusion of the endgame sequence, a reference is made to a game sequel:

The Adventure Continues...

...Timelapse 2: The Homeworld

Nits

• Some of the writing in the journal flows off the page onto the black screen background.

• All video sequences have very bad lip sync (local bus video card used, per game recommendation).

• Would have preferred the movement direction rosette not disappearing every time the mouse is used.

• The save-game query on exiting the game is sometimes irrelevant.

• The CD-ROM automatically ejects without warning.

• An annoying white Timelapse rectangle gets stuck at the lower left of the screen whenever the program is minimized, then reactivated.

• A really chintzy CD-ROM "case".

• Four CD's, and none of them with an audio track by the Mesa Music Consortium.

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Copyright © 1996-1997 Balmoral Software (http://www.balmoralsoftware.com). Portions copyright © 1996 GTE Vantage Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, redistribution or conversion is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Balmoral Software. Contents subject to change! For the latest information, see http://www.balmoralsoftware.com.