Journeyman Project franchise
Encyclopedia
The Journeyman Project is a series of award-winning first-person
science fiction
adventure game
s, created by Presto Studios
and released by various publishers, including Bandai
, Sanctuary Woods
, and Red Orb Entertainment
.
In the twenty-fourth century, time travel
is realized by the Journeyman Project, the secret program to construct Pegasus, the world's first time machine. After a brief test period proves time travel is possible, the Journeyman Project is deactivated and the Pegasus device is put under the secret watch of the Temporal Security Agency
or TSA for short (also the acronym of its base of operations, the Temporal Security Annex). The TSA exists to prevent temporal rips in the space/time continuum, by which changes in the past can alter the present. The player controls a character named Gage Blackwood, Agent 5 of the Temporal Security Agency
. The games revolve around Agent 5's exploits throughout time to save Earth
in the present.
in 1994.
The story begins with an alien ambassador arriving to finalize Earth's admission into the Symbiotry of Peaceful Beings. However, when Agent 5 is on duty a temporal rip is detected, and Earth's history
is changed. The result of the new timestream is that humanity is passed over for admission into the alien organization.
in 1997 with some of the actors from The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time. Originally announced as a "Director's Cut
", Pegasus Prime featured enhanced graphics, sounds, movies, and puzzles. It was released solely for the Power Macintosh
by Bandai Digital Entertainment in North America, although it was also developed for the Apple Pippin
and PlayStation
in Japan. 3DO
and Sega Saturn
versions were also mentioned in the original product announcement, but are presumed to have been canceled.
, Buried in Time was a complete shift in direction for the series, moving away from futuristic environments and instead preferring to go to real-life historical locations. The game also featured a completely redesigned interface and contained many more live-action scenes than the first game.
In 1999, Red Orb Entertainment collected the Windows versions of The Journeyman Project Turbo!, Buried in Time, and Legacy of Time into a 8-disc trilogy
box set.
First person (video games)
In video games, first person refers to a graphical perspective rendered from the viewpoint of the player character. In many cases, this may be the viewpoint from the cockpit of a vehicle. Many different genres have made use of first-person perspectives, ranging from adventure games to flight...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s, created by Presto Studios
Presto Studios
Presto Studios was a computer game development company of the 1990s, especially famous for its award-winning The Journeyman Project series and the 2001 sequel to Cyan's hit Myst series, Myst III: Exile....
and released by various publishers, including Bandai
Bandai
is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third-largest producer of toys . Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs...
, Sanctuary Woods
Sanctuary Woods
Sanctuary Woods Multimedia, Inc. was a multimedia developer and third-party game publisher. It was one of the early multimedia companies developing products for CD-ROM distribution. The founders, Brian Beninger and Toni Beninger, were both experienced technologists who saw the potential for...
, and Red Orb Entertainment
Red Orb Entertainment
Red Orb Entertainment was a division of the Brøderbund software company created to market its gaming titles, distinguishing them from its considerable library of edutainment titles, which it marketed to schools...
.
Plot
The central story is set centuries in the future, where after horrific nuclear wars humanity united to create a peaceful global society. Due to the establishment of a utopian society, humanity has been invited to join an alien organization known as the Symbiotry of Peaceful Beings.In the twenty-fourth century, time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
is realized by the Journeyman Project, the secret program to construct Pegasus, the world's first time machine. After a brief test period proves time travel is possible, the Journeyman Project is deactivated and the Pegasus device is put under the secret watch of the Temporal Security Agency
Temporal Security Agency
The Temporal Security Agency is a fictional organization from Presto Studios's Journeyman Project series.The fictional Temporal Security Annex was created in the early 24th century, shortly after the invention of the first time machine, in order to preserve the space-time continuum from the...
or TSA for short (also the acronym of its base of operations, the Temporal Security Annex). The TSA exists to prevent temporal rips in the space/time continuum, by which changes in the past can alter the present. The player controls a character named Gage Blackwood, Agent 5 of the Temporal Security Agency
Temporal Security Agency
The Temporal Security Agency is a fictional organization from Presto Studios's Journeyman Project series.The fictional Temporal Security Annex was created in the early 24th century, shortly after the invention of the first time machine, in order to preserve the space-time continuum from the...
. The games revolve around Agent 5's exploits throughout time to save Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
in the present.
Release history
The Journeyman Project
In 1992, The Journeyman Project was one of the first PC games to use high quality rendered graphics. However, it suffered from performance problems and slow animations due to its early reliance on Macromedia Director. These problems were mostly overcome with the version 2.0 release that was retitled The Journeyman Project Turbo! and published by Sanctuary WoodsSanctuary Woods
Sanctuary Woods Multimedia, Inc. was a multimedia developer and third-party game publisher. It was one of the early multimedia companies developing products for CD-ROM distribution. The founders, Brian Beninger and Toni Beninger, were both experienced technologists who saw the potential for...
in 1994.
The story begins with an alien ambassador arriving to finalize Earth's admission into the Symbiotry of Peaceful Beings. However, when Agent 5 is on duty a temporal rip is detected, and Earth's history
History of the world
The history of the world or human history is the history of humanity from the earliest times to the present, in all places on Earth, beginning with the Paleolithic Era. It excludes non-human natural history and geological history, except insofar as the natural world substantially affects human lives...
is changed. The result of the new timestream is that humanity is passed over for admission into the alien organization.
The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime
This complete remake of the original Journeyman Project was published by BandaiBandai
is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third-largest producer of toys . Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs...
in 1997 with some of the actors from The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time. Originally announced as a "Director's Cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
", Pegasus Prime featured enhanced graphics, sounds, movies, and puzzles. It was released solely for the Power Macintosh
Power Macintosh
Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, was a line of Apple Macintosh workstation-class personal computers based on various models of PowerPC microprocessors that were developed, marketed, and supported by Apple Inc. from March 1994 until August 2006. The first models were the Power Macintosh 6100,...
by Bandai Digital Entertainment in North America, although it was also developed for the Apple Pippin
Apple Pippin
The Pippin, known in Japan as , and marketed as Pipp!n, is a multimedia platform designed by Apple Computer and produced by Bandai in 1995...
and PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
in Japan. 3DO
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...
and Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
versions were also mentioned in the original product announcement, but are presumed to have been canceled.
The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time
Published in 1995 by Sanctuary WoodsSanctuary Woods
Sanctuary Woods Multimedia, Inc. was a multimedia developer and third-party game publisher. It was one of the early multimedia companies developing products for CD-ROM distribution. The founders, Brian Beninger and Toni Beninger, were both experienced technologists who saw the potential for...
, Buried in Time was a complete shift in direction for the series, moving away from futuristic environments and instead preferring to go to real-life historical locations. The game also featured a completely redesigned interface and contained many more live-action scenes than the first game.
The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time
Published in 1998 by Red Orb Entertainment, the final installment uses a unique 360 degree interaction system without resorting to 3D effects. It featured impressive production values with the actors and costumes. One of the first games to be developed for the DVD-ROM medium, the enhanced DVD edition featured twice the resolution of the CD-ROM version.In 1999, Red Orb Entertainment collected the Windows versions of The Journeyman Project Turbo!, Buried in Time, and Legacy of Time into a 8-disc trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
box set.
Main Characters
- Gage Blackwood - Blackwood is Agent 5 of the Temporal Security Annex (later Temporal Security AgencyTemporal Security AgencyThe Temporal Security Agency is a fictional organization from Presto Studios's Journeyman Project series.The fictional Temporal Security Annex was created in the early 24th century, shortly after the invention of the first time machine, in order to preserve the space-time continuum from the...
) who is charged with using time machines only to guard history from people who would use time machines to damage history. On June 22, 2311 he graduated from the University of MelbourneUniversity of MelbourneThe University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
with a master's degree in world history with honors. On June 25, 2313 he graduated at the top of his class from the Special Forces Training Academy. Five days later he became the director of Tactical Teams for the Crime Intervention Commission. On March 12 of 2315 he transferred to the Temporal Security Annex of the CIC. Gage received the Paragon Medal for his performance in the line of duty on November 8, 2318, and on December 17 of that same year he was promoted to the rank of Captain of the Temporal Protectorate. He was later chosen to form and head the Deep Time Unit on July 1, 2325. In the first Journeyman Project game, the character was only addressed as "Agent 5" and was not represented by an actor. Todd McCormick played Gage in the remake of the first game, The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime, and in The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time. In The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time, Blackwood was played by Jerry Rector. - Michelle Visard - She is Agent 3 of the Temporal Security AgencyTemporal Security AgencyThe Temporal Security Agency is a fictional organization from Presto Studios's Journeyman Project series.The fictional Temporal Security Annex was created in the early 24th century, shortly after the invention of the first time machine, in order to preserve the space-time continuum from the...
, charged with protecting time from time travelers who want to change the events of history. She is also a member of the Deep Time Unit, a branch of the Temporal Security Agency which documents history. On February 11, 2310 she earned a black beltBlack belt (martial arts)In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
in KarateKarateis a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
. Three years later on April 4 she earned another in AikidoAikidois a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...
. January 19 of that same year she won first place in the NIT intercollegiate gravball competition. On March 1, 2315 she was hired by the Temporal Protectorate, and on June 9, Visard graduated magna cum laude from Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
with a Ph.D. in pre-unification theory and a B.A. in social psychologySocial psychologySocial psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
. Ten years later on July 15 she transferred to the Deep Time Unit. In her free time, she enjoyed Symbiotry cultural exchanges, and existentialist literature. Actress Michele ScarabelliMichele ScarabelliMichele Scarabelli is a Canadian actress. She is probably best known for her role as Tenctonese Newcomer Susan Francisco on the Fox Network science fiction series Alien Nation and the 5 television movies that followed....
portrayed Visard in The Journeyman Project 2, The Journeyman Project 3, and Pegasus Prime, the 1997 remake of the first game. - Dr. William Daughton - TSA Chief Engineer, played by Victor Navone in The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time and David Fenner in The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time
- Jack Baldwin - TSA Commissioner, played by Daniel Mann
- Arthur - Arthur is an Artificial IntelligenceArtificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
created by Dr. Kenneth Farnstein on a derelict asteroid miner parked in the outer reaches of the solar system. Arthur was first introduced in Journeyman Project 2: Buried In Time. From the beginning, he was combination comic relief and interactive strategyStrategy guideStrategy guides are instruction books that contain hints or complete solutions to specific video games. The line between strategy guides and walkthroughs is somewhat blurred, with the former often containing or being written around the latter. Strategy guides are often published in print, both in...
or hint guide. In Buried in Time, he was present for a great deal of the game, and he returned in The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time for essentially the entire game. Players would click upon icons in his interface, which would present themselves at certain times. One icon would dispense a quip or general observation, and another would dispense a hint, and often as not a quip as well. His skills and knowledge include his talent an accomplished artist, knowledge about 20th century pop culture, and mastery of computers. For both The Journeyman Project 2 and The Journeyman Project 3, Arthur's voice was supplied by Matt Weinhold who also wrote additional dialog for his character. - Dr. Elliot Sinclair - Dr. Sinclair is popularly known in the world of The Journeyman Project as "the father of time travelTime travelTime travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
" because he invented the first time machine, a large device known as Pegasus. His pioneering work became the basis of, and raison d'etre for, the Temporal Security Annex, which became the Temporal Security AgencyTemporal Security AgencyThe Temporal Security Agency is a fictional organization from Presto Studios's Journeyman Project series.The fictional Temporal Security Annex was created in the early 24th century, shortly after the invention of the first time machine, in order to preserve the space-time continuum from the...
. Dr. William Daughton later improved upon his initial work to create the JumpSuit time machines for the Temporal Security Agency. During most of the first part of the first game, The Journeyman Project, the player knows of Dr. Elliot Sinclair, if at all, only as the person who invented time travel. Only once the player is able to defeat one of the robots damaging history do they learn that Dr. Sinclair is the antagonist of the game. Dr. Elliot Sinclair spends the second game, The Journeyman Project 2, incarcerated in Vega Thalon, a prison colony on one of Saturn's moons. He, his robotic henchmen, and the Pegasus device are occasionally referred to but are not relevant to the story. He returns to the storyline for The Journeyman Project 3. Here the player comes to further understand his motives and actions by watching him in his home city in the distant past; which turns out to be the legendary city of AtlantisAtlantisAtlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
in the year 1262 B.C. In all three games (although his entire appearance in the second game was portions of what he'd done in the first game) Dr. Elliot Sinclair was portrayed by Graham JarvisGraham JarvisGraham Jarvis was a Canadian character actor in US films and TV from the 1960s.Born in Toronto, Jarvis attended Williams College before moving to New York to pursue a career in theater...
.
Other Characters
- Gail Yakamura - Agent 1, Security
- Neil Geddy - Agent 2, Security
- Allan Carver - Agent 4, Security
- Roger O'Rourke - Agent 6, Research
- Silene Flores - Agent 7, Security
- Marcus Warner - Agent 8, Security
- Vladich Yasignova - Agent 9, Security
- Tamara Walsh - Agent 10, Research
- Jhessela - Cyrollan Ambassador to Earth
See also
- Presto StudiosPresto StudiosPresto Studios was a computer game development company of the 1990s, especially famous for its award-winning The Journeyman Project series and the 2001 sequel to Cyan's hit Myst series, Myst III: Exile....
- Sanctuary WoodsSanctuary WoodsSanctuary Woods Multimedia, Inc. was a multimedia developer and third-party game publisher. It was one of the early multimedia companies developing products for CD-ROM distribution. The founders, Brian Beninger and Toni Beninger, were both experienced technologists who saw the potential for...
- Red Orb EntertainmentRed Orb EntertainmentRed Orb Entertainment was a division of the Brøderbund software company created to market its gaming titles, distinguishing them from its considerable library of edutainment titles, which it marketed to schools...
- List of games containing time travel
External links
- Legacy of The Journeyman Project, Adventure Classic Gaming (1999).
- The Presto Studios Archives