Key points
- Performance is fairly poor on modern operating systems, with multiple issues with the way that the game window is rendered and movie compatibility.
- Fixes listed on this article make the game playable, but the experience is relatively unfriendly.
General information
- Official forums
- Official forums support section
- The Longest Journey Wiki
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
GOG.com and Steam
- Both digital releases of the game have major compatibility issues and require tweaking to get around them
Retail
- 4 CD-ROMs, a 2 CD as well as a DVD re-release has been made.[3]
Essential improvements
Patches
- Patch 1.61 adds an external configuration tool along with some bug fixes. This patch is for retail releases only.
- Steam version already includes this patch.
- Patch can be forced on other versions by using an archive utility to extract the files. Just to have audio, you must convert iss files to ogg (audio only) format using vorbis codec and rename format to ovs. That's working!
The only problem is the lack of character encoding other than the English version.
Game-specific utilities
ResidualVM Game Interpreter
- You can run The Longest Journey with the ResidualVM daily builds with most bugs fixed including antialiasing problems, however be wary of any remaining issues. As of 2019, this so far remains the only way to run the game on OS X, Linux, and other operating systems. Link here.
The Longest Journey HD mod
- The Longest Journey HD mod is an AI upscale mod for TLJ. The mod includes neural network upscaled backgrounds and sprites, redrawn user interface and it works on all modern systems without any issues of the original game.
The download link can be found here.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
- Save game data location can be changed, see change save game data location.
Video
- No native option to run in windowed.
- Game only runs at resolution at 640x480 (whether fullscreen or windowed)
- Game window cannot be moved or manipulated, and there are no fixes for this issue.
Fix: Edit Preferences.ini[citation needed]
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- Open
%APPDATA%\The Longest Journey\Preferences.ini (or Preferences.ini in your game install folder).
- Under the
[DirectX] heading, type bool_StartFullscreen=0 , and save your changes.[4]
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Fix: Secondary Monitor[citation needed]
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- Will not work on every graphics card.
- Sometimes connecting an external monitor will force the game into "windowed mode".
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Set compatibility mode for 640 × 480[citation needed]
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- This is the simplest and most stable solution.
- 640x480 is not supported by many modern displays.
- Right click the game shortcut.
- Choose Properties.
- Go to the Compatibility tab.
- Choose "Run in 640 × 480 screen resolution".
- Click OK.
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Input
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
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Surround sound |
|
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Subtitles |
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Some subtitles mismatch audio. |
Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
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Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
|
|
|
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French |
|
|
|
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Polish |
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GOG & local retail version only. |
Spanish |
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Retail only. Download: Text, videos and voices. |
Issues fixed
Blank Game Exit Box
- When exiting the game, the confirmation dialogue is blank. This appears to only affect Windows 10.
Use compatibility bits[citation needed]
|
- You can add some compatibility bits to the game. An unofficial patch has been made for this which you can download from here.
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Fonts
- Default fonts can be very difficult to read.
Customize Fonts[citation needed]
|
- Be sure to backup the
gui.ini file!
- Customize fonts and sizes.
- Some text may not align properly in dialog boxes.
- Open
%APPDATA%\The Longest Journey\gui.ini (or gui.ini in your game install folder).
- Subtitles/Dialog Choices: change the font name and/or font size:
bigfont=Slurry
bigheight=19
- Tooltips: change the font name and/or font size:
smallfont=Garamond
smallheight=11
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Movie and graphics problems
- Issue with not being able to view the Bink-encoded movies.
- Issue with not being able to display a game window (black screen).
- The fixes work for most people, but others have persistent problems and cannot get the game to work properly
- Versions prior to 1.61 do not have a separate
Configure.exe
utility.
- (These versions have options presented when the game is launched instead.)
Run in Software Mode[citation needed]
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- This fix turns off the game's hardware graphics acceleration.[5]
- Only affects the 3D models on screen, as backgrounds are rendered in 2D.
- Slightly worse visual quality.
- Go to the installation folder.
- Run
Configure.exe that you'll find in the above folder. Change one of the options (doesn't matter which) and click ok - this will create the config file. You can open Configure.exe again and switch the option back if you want.
- Open
%APPDATA%\The Longest Journey\Preferences.ini (Or Preferences.ini in the game install folder.)
- Under the section that starts with
[DirectX] add or change the following settings:
bool_IsDoubleBuffer=0
bool_UseHardware=0
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Multiple displays[citation needed]
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- If it doesn't work, try to create multiple display (VGA, extend), as shown in this video. Also u can put those two monitors you have just created in cross position, so your mouse will not run "out of screen".
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Fix: High Performance Power Plan[6]
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- This fix only applies to laptops.
Change the power settings to 'High Performance' in the Control Panel.
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Crash to desktop
- Game exits to desktop with an error message as soon as a cutscene (FMV) stops playing
Fix: Skip cutscenes[citation needed]
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Press Escape before the cutscene finishes. Also, save at every new location. That way you can watch the cutscene, then reload your game after the crash and skip ahead.
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Fix: Use low quality video[citation needed]
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- Open
%APPDATA%\The Longest Journey\preferences.ini (Or Preferences.ini in the game install folder.)
- Under the
[Preferences] heading, change bool_HighResVideo=1 to bool_HighResVideo=0 and save.
For digital releases, go to in-game options and uncheck "High Quality Video".
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Crash at Police Station
- On some graphics cards, the game will crash upon entering the Police Station.
Fix: GOG.com Patch[citation needed]
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Fixed with a special patch: <path-to-game>\station_fix\TLJ_PoliceStationFix.exe .
Notes
- If necessary contact GOG.com support for a copy of the patch file.
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- If you find the patch is unable to be installed (for example, with the GOG.com version of the game), you may be able to fix the crash by changing some options on the game's launcher:
- Turn off 3D acceleration
- Turn off high quality models
- Set the game to 16 bit color.
- (You can then re-enable these after you get past that section of the game.)
- If all else fails you can try right-clicking the game icon, select Properties, select the Compatibility tab and check the box for "Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution".
Fix: Patch[citation needed]
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- Fixed with the 1.61 patch.
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Graphic glitches/flickering with forced AA
- Graphic anomalies can be seen when forcing Anti-aliasing through driver's Control Panel
Fix: Force single buffering[citation needed]
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- Run
Configure.exe found in the main game directory. In the launcher, go to Advanced Options.
- Check "Force Single Buffer".
An alternative solution can be found here
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Alternative Anti-Aliasing/High Resolution Support
- This solution isn't perfect, you may still see mouse trails (they clear each time a mouse button is pressed.)
- Enables running the game at higher resolutions and with anti-aliasing on cards that aren't supported by the game directly.
- Uses an emulated GPU.
- Any GPU driver profile for Longest Journey should have anti aliasing disabled.
- The game's "High Resolution April Model" option must be enabled.
- Allows use of ReShade for additional post-processing.
Fix: Anti Aliasing/High Resolution[citation needed]
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- Download and install dgVoodoo (Official Web Site)
- Copy the three DLLs from dgVoodoo\MS folder to your Longest Journey game folder.
- Run the dgVoodoo setup/configuration tool
- dgVoodoo: General Setup Page
- Add your Longest Journey game folder for "config folder/ running instance"
- Output API: "Best available one"
- Adapter to use/enable: select your GPU.
- Appearance: Full Screen, scaling mode "Stretched, keep aspect ratio"
- Full Screen Output: Default
- Miscellaneous: Both checked.
- Color adjustments: Defaults or change to taste.
- dgVoodoo: DirectX Page
- Videocard: Select "ATI Radeon 8500" with 256MB VRAM (emulated display)
- Texturing: Force bilinear filtering, all others unchecked
- Behavior: All unchecked
- Miscellaneous: All unchecked except "force vSync"
- Antialiasing (MSAA): Off (4x or 8x work but will leave mouse trails)
- Resolution: Must be a multiple of the game's native resolution (640x480).
- dgVoodoo: Click Apply
- Run the game with hardware acceleration on.
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Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
DirectDraw |
|
|
Executable | PPC |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows | |
|
|
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macOS (OS X) | | |
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Use ResidualVM. |
Linux | | |
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Use ResidualVM. |
Change save game data location
Change Save Sub-Folder[citation needed]
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- You can use any number, just remember to create the numbered folder under the Save folder first.
- Open
%APPDATA%\The Longest Journey\Preferences.ini (or Preferences.ini in your game install folder).
- Add the line
SaveDir=02 .
- Save the updated
Preferences.ini
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Change Save Folder[citation needed]
|
- Can be used to use Dropbox or OneDrive for cloud saving if the service can be mapped to a drive letter.
- If using a cloud service mapped drive ensure allow off-line use is enabled.
- Open
%APPDATA%\The Longest Journey\Preferences.ini (or Preferences.ini in your game install folder).
- Edit line
SaveDir with the full path you wish to use for saves.
- Example:
SaveDir=D:\TLJ\Saves
- Save the updated
Preferences.ini
|
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
95 |
98, ME, 2000, XP |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 166 MHz
| Intel Pentium II 266 MHz |
System memory (RAM) |
32 MB |
64 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
300 MB |
2 GB |
Video card (GPU) |
640x480 SVGA high colour (16bit) video card 2 MB of VRAM
| 3D accelarator card (Direct 3D compatible) 4 MB of VRAM |
Notes
References