Temporal (action-puzzle game, 2008)

[Simon]

What? Are we late for something?
On the contrary! We are too EARLY!

Temporal (2008) is a freeware action-puzzle game by renboy.

Watch trailer on Youtube

Download Temporal 1.11
Download Temporal's original soundtrack

On Windows: You can double-click temporal.exe, but then Temporal will force a hardware fullscreen resolution of 1024x768. If you have a wide monitor, run Temporal windowed instead:
temporal.exe -win

On Linux: Temporal runs well in Wine, but the forced fullscreen is even nastier here. To run Temporal windowed:
wine explorer /desktop=1024x768 temporal.exe

Controls:
Left/right arrows to move.
Up arrow to fly.
Down arrow to use the device in which you're standing.
F1 shows overview of all other hotkeys.

About: You'll solve real-time physics puzzles that first look impossible, but are solvable by going back in time. You can accomplish more things while your earlier instances of yourself are busy elsewhere on the level.

Temporal has 30 main story levels that you must play in order, plus 5 unlockable challenge levels. Even as a dedicated puzzle solver, you'll spend several evenings on the main story. And I haven't solved all challenge levels either.

Most tasks require experimentation and solid route planning. Several tasks require precise execution; if stuff goes wrong near the end, you'll have to repeat 1 to 3 minutes of work. You have infinite lives and there are automatic in-level checkpoints, but you can't quicksave.

I've known Temporal because, back in 2008/2009, I lurked the Allegro 5 forums and saw renboy's release thread. I have versions 1.00, 1.03, and 1.11 lying around; the 1.11 is in the download above and it's the latest that I know.

Temporal doesn't feature level editing or user content, and I don't know any active dedicated websites or communities. renboy eventually lost ownership of his domain potato-factory.com around 2010.

Music bug workaround: In level 18, named "Synchronized", if you move away too quickly while the long dialog is still on screen, music won't play for the remainder of the level. If you reach the checkpoint in level 18 and you hear no music, you've run into this bug. The workaround is to restart the level and:

• Either cancel the long dialog explicitly (press return),
  
• or stay around until the last line ("Now, begone!") has disappeared.
  

-- Simon