This is a new topic i am starting for us to feature lovely older adventure games that not everyone may have played but which can be plaed on modern systems so as to not torture people too much. My first entry is Atlantis The Lost Tales, a wonderful older game by Cryo from the famed Atlantis series, it has a full story, NPCs that talk and adventures that you undertake, it is a zone movement game but it is not at all bad because of that, because you get to see some wonderful places, to start with you land in the royal Palace on the actual islands of Atlantis, how long I have wondered about that place during the previous games....and it is lovely to see, and very well modeled. The NPCs are a bit dated but they work, with a bit of a wiggle

Flying down to the Royal Palace of Atlantis ...set in the azure sea...

Entrance to the Royal Throne Room in the upper terrace of the Palace..

Overview of the Palace and the Flying Ship landing platform...

Beautiful light ..and settings, you have to explore the palace to get around...

In game vids give extra fun and are very well done...

The Royal Consort, not a nice person I am starting to think..the in game characters talk and move, using a unique form of 3D modeling.

This is played on a double core AMD, XP SP 3, and an Nvida 9600 Vid Card, and it plays very happily. (with the patch )

I believe that Good Old Games has it, which version should work on modern operating systems without a patch. ^_^

That is great to hear, it is a wonderful game and a real classic, i am glad i waited so long to play it and I am GOG has updated it, for it was hard to get to run in its primal vanilla state. Thanks for that info.

If you want to try this wonderful game, here is a patch pack, if you have the original CD set, of four disks like i did, you will need to adjsut some things, and patch the graphics..there is a patch for that in the pack, also a save game for the elevator if you have trouble switching from CD 1 to CD2, that can also throw an error.

Atlantis The Lost Tales Patch Set 3.1 (XP Graphics)

http://www.gamefront.com/files/21073295/Atlantis_Lost_Tales_Fix_Pack_3_1_rar

Atlantis The Lost Tales Save Game Set 1-27

These saves will get you started and past the elevator. One scene in particular is pretty hard, the Red Cockerl Tavern, so these may help you get used to the game and advance along the way.

http://www.gamefront.com/files/21073386/Atlantis+The+Lost+Tales+Save+Game+Set+1-27.zip

There is a description of details of the ways to adjust to get it to run on more modern computers. Also GOG has a great versoin that is fuly updated. The only thing missing are some custom exxtras from the CD set including a number of custom ICOs for your shortcut, special cursors, and some very nice BMPs so you can change the load screen backgrounds if you wish. I have included all of them in the patch pack, they all remian copyright of Cyro. Enjoy, this is a wonderful game with spectatular interiors and truly lovely music.

The Royal Library in the Palace on Atlantis

Beautiful Stained glass in a hallway in the Royal Palace...

Atlantis: The Lost Tales had great graphics design and a great soundtrack. For a game from 1997, the resolution and clarity of the graphics was better than average. Unfortunately the game was full of timed sequences, usually followed by pictures of your character either dead or imprisoned. The three I had the most problems with were one that involved running upstairs and swinging from a chandelier, the one where you had to shoot a boar with an arrow, and something to do with a boat. I think the boar is the most infamous of these.

The autosave was also a nuisance. Although it saved regularly, the game only displayed your most recent saves, which made it difficult to revisit locations early in the game.

I still liked the game because of the soundtrack and the imaginative locations, but I'd have liked it better without the timed sequences and with a normal save system.

Hi Jenny,

I can solve one of your problems, the saves are all there, you just have to esc from the game and then choose load, and it will show all the loads, or save points. They are all saved in the main game directory and I also have a pack of saves in my archive that i am adding to as i go along, including that nasty tavern swing from the chandelier ....it was not easy i agree, took me about 20 tries. But the game wil not show the saves or loads when you start up, you have to be IN the game already and then esc and look for the Load optoin which is on the screen with the Quit choice, and Options.  There is a vertical bar on the right of the screen and you have to move it up and down to see all the saves as not all of them show up on the screen at once.

I havent seen the boar or the boat yet. I agree tho, i hate timed stuff.  It is a tough game in that regard i agree, and I will have to do it in bits, as i get fed up with that too, and put it away for a while.

97 already? That was such a lovely game.  I remember how elated I was flying that winged boat for the first time!

Royal Atlantean Palace from Flying Ship Tower

Agatha's Brother Hector Takes Us Aloft!

Atlantis Lost Tales Save Set 1-34

Up to the White Boar Hunt

http://www.gamefront.com/files/21078572/Atlantis+Lost+Tales+Save+Set+1+-+34.zip

I started this game ages ago.  I stopped at the spider's web.  Looking at these pictures is prompting me to put the disk in again.  I must find the w/t for that puzzle. 

I thought the spider's web was a different Atlantis? I seem to remember getting stuck at that puzzle too whereas I definitely finished the game shown on those on those screenshots.

Yes that is Atlantis 2, also called Beyond Atlantis, that is a tough puzzle Caroline, it is part of the Mayan Level,  but it too is a beautiful game, the next level after the web is spectaular for reasons I won't reveal, you are in China. The music for that game is also very beautiful and they use the same ships and Atlantean culture as a background, tho you dont see as much of Atlantis. Indeed, this game that is in this thread has more of Atlantis itself than just about any mythological or mystical game i have seen yet, and it is a lot of fun because of it.

Here is a good Walkthrough for Beyond Atlantis:

http://www.gameboomers.com/wtcheats/pcAa/atlantis.htm

I popped it into my computer to compare and have a look at just a few days ago and it runs fine on XP.

But the puzzles in this series are NOT for the faint of heart, they test the Adventure gamer as few puzzles in games do, but most of them are innovative and quite unusual. I ascribe it to the French style, which is always differnt and often very beautiful..

This game in this thread, Atlantis Lost Tales continues to be challenging and quite beautiful, here is the densly wooded environment of one of the Atlantean outer islands where the story takes us...

An Atlantean Temple, with a rather familiar form...

These Woods are Lovely, Dark, and Deep......

Spider's web?Are you sure it was this game and not its sequel, Atlantis 2 aka Beyond Atlantis, Caroline?

The first game, Atlantis: The Lost Tales was quite successful in Europe, but next to unknown in the USA. I may be wrong, but I don't think it was even published in North America, not when it was new.

Then The Adventure Company was formed and made deals to publish lots of adventure games in NA, including Atlantis 2. But with the first game in the series not being known in that part of the world, it was decided that the title had to change, so as not to suggest it was a sequel to a game that market didn't know. And the title Beyond Atlantis was chosen.

The confusion continued with the next game, Atlantis 3 in europe, Beyond Atlantis 2 in NA.

I don't know which name was used for the Australian release, but probably the NA one.

And Jenny, resolution and clarity of graphics "better than average"? Hard as it is to believe now, when it was released, it was the best-looking game on the PC, leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

[Caroline gets all her Atlantis games out]

I have Beyond Atlantis, and Atlantis, the Lost Tales, also, Atlantis Evolution (where I'm a deviant and keep getting shot) and The Secrets of Atlantis.

I finished the game where I'm a deviant, haven't started the Secrets yet but I recognise the consort from CrisGer's initial group of photos.  Maybe I stopped playing that game because I don't recognise the scenery in later photos.  I do however, remember the people twitched annoyingly when they spoke.  lol 

So what is the Atlantis that I'm a girl and I have to kill the guard at the very end?  Is there another Atlantis game?

- Chronically Confused Down Under

I've just found it: Atlantis III, The New World.    I think I have a full house. 

Fwiw: The Adventure Co/Dreamcatcher first released Beyond Atlantis in 2000 for Win98/95 in a big box format. Then released Atlantis The Lost Tales in 2001 for Win95/98/ME in a big box format and then re-released Beyond Atlantis in 2002 for Win95/98/XP in the smaller box format. I don't think it ever released The Lost Tales specifically for WinXP so it's nice to have CrisGer's patches and the GOG version.

My interest is piqued once more - another series I barely scratched the surface before moving on to other things. Next trip to the storage unit...

Yes Mr Innocent as we have shared .... the spider web is from another game in the series, Beyond Atlantis, we should probably include it here for it too is a wondeful game but it has some awesomely difficult puzzles esp the Jaguar Jungle that includes the Spider Condo where so many come to grief....  but as also posted above, there are some wonderful rewards for perservering, for the next level is fantabulous!!!

Here is the entire Cryo Series of Atlantis Games:

The Secrets of Atlantis: the Sacred Legacy 2006
Atlantis Evolution                                        2004
Beyond Atlantis II                                        2001
Beyond Atlantis                                           1999
Atlantis: The Lost Tales                                1997

Overall, the entire Atlantis series is wonderful and one of the classics of Adventure gaming, it has a flair and a style quite differnt from many other series .... as did many of Cryo's games, and they did some very interesting ones. If you own the original CD set of Atlantis Lost Tales, we can get it running for you I am pretty sure, the animations are jerky because the game is designed for slower computers, you can adjust it with Mo Slow and other programs that adjust the speed but all of the game funcitons work and the GOG version seems to be a bit less speed challenged that the original, as i own and am comparing both as I proceed. 

My least favorite of the series is Atlantis Evolution, for it is a sort of big scale Myst III Clone, with lots of big scale puzzles and not much story, the first three really have the special Atlantis Flair, and the last one is the Au Revoir wrap up

Originally Posted By SirDave

Fwiw: The Adventure Co/Dreamcatcher first released Beyond Atlantis in 2000 for Win98/95 in a big box format. Then released Atlantis The Lost Tales in 2001 for Win95/98/ME in a big box format and then re-released Beyond Atlantis in 2002 for Win95/98/XP in the smaller box format. I don't think it ever released The Lost Tales specifically for WinXP so it's nice to have CrisGer's patches and the GOG version.

I screwed up! There was no re-release of Beyond Atlantis in 2002- that was Beyond Atlantis II for Win98/ME/XP in small box format in 2002.

Originally Posted By CrisGer

Overall, the entire Atlantis series is wonderful and one of the classics of Adventure gaming, it has a flair and a style quite differnt from many other series .... as did many of Cryo's games, and they did some very interesting ones... My least favorite of the series is Atlantis Evolution, for it is a sort of big scale Myst III Clone, with lots of big scale puzzles and not much story, the first three really have the special Atlantis Flair, and the last one is the Au Revoir wrap up

I never got the feeling that the Atlantis series was generally looked on as a great series. The only one that seemed to be consistently reasonably well-reviewed and accepted was Beyond Atlantis. People seemed to either hate or really like The Lost Tales, were so-so about Beyond Atlantis II and generally really disliked Evolution. IMO, the graphics are astounding for the time, the puzzles were over-all fairly good, but like a lot of Cryo games, there was something rather quirky and weird about the games. However, I am going to try to go back to Lost Tales and Beyond Atlantis and see if I still feel the same.

Oh, I agree Sir Dave about the reviews..but my own experience has been that these are remarkable games and the reviewers can at times get it wrong

Here are the saves so for for Atlantis Lost Tales in case anyone gets stumped at the puzzles.

Atlantis Lost Tales Save Game Set

1-59

Arriving at the Island of the White Bear

http://www.gamefront.com/files/21081564/Atlantis_Lost_Tales_Save_Pack_1_59_zip

Atlantis Lost Tales

Complete Save Game Set

1-85

http://www.gamefront.com/files/21086914/Atlantis+Lost+Tales+Save+Set+Complete+1+-+85.zip

I finished this game a couple of days ago, it is fun, a bit rocky in places and I would say that the sequel is better, but this one remains a classic and has some beautiful sequences and lovely music. The story gets a bit forced towards the end but it has a satisfying ending and lots of great puzzles, some quite hard. I have added a complete save game set to this thread see above, and if you play with the original disks and my patch pack, you can advance past the problematic disk changes with the save games, as XP and modern systems just dont like the coding they used for changing disks, even with a full install on your hard drive. Or you can use the GOG set and it plays very well except for a bit of interlacing on the Choose the Save Game screen that can be fixed again with the fixes in my Patch pack. Once you finish this you have four more Atlantis titles to look forward to. I am sorry that Cryo did not survive the shifts in the Game universe, they made some lovely games.

Man I hate Atlantis The Lost Tales.  Glad I got rid of it at Good Will.  I consider it the worst game I've played allong with the worst ending I've seen.  The puzzles were good but the voice acting is real bad and the character designs looked awful.  Now I better get a head start before you all will be after me as a mob with pitchforks and torches.  By the way, wasn't the topic of this thread is Oldies but Goodies not Atlantis the Lost Tales?  I recommend Sanitarium.

the thread is open for anyone to do a game..go ahead and do it here...

Atlantis may not be the best game ever but it is pretty and lots of fun....

Originally Posted By chronotigger65

By the way, wasn't the topic of this thread is Oldies but Goodies not Atlantis the Lost Tales? 

Thanks Sir Dave, i had thought it would be fun to just have any of us post about older games in some detail as i did, keeping to adventure glassics, I think the next one I may do is one of the lovely old Kyrandia games by Westwood, not sure which one yet.