JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain

JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain
Developer: Knowledge Adventure Publishers: Knowledge Adventure (US), Levande Böcker (SE) Platforms: Windows, Mac OS Classic Released internationally: 1996 (US), 1998 (SE) This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prerelease article

JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain is a rather interesting entry in the series: Bratty half-pint Polly Spark flunks a quiz after trying to get her teacher to laugh instead of doing it properly, and when she is appalled that she gets the exact grade she deserves as a result, she decides to take advantage of the secret mountain she lives in with her father, Professor Spark, and sends his numerous robots back in time to change the course of history and make her quiz answers correct. The robot who was programmed to watch after her, Botley, is none too pleased and asks the player to help out.

Often a contender for the best JumpStart game for its bizarre plot, memorable characters, and being a rare instance of an edutainment game that manages to be fun enough to keep you playing. There's a very good reason Knowledge Adventure went to great lengths to keep this game alive for so long.

To do: Figure out how to open the files and see if any unused content remains of them. This page has mentioned since its creation in 2015 that this is "currently the oldest game in the JumpStart franchise that is still being sold", and while it is offered on Knowledge Adventure's website the system requirements stop at Windows 7 and the copyright notice for the website is "©2007-2014". Selectsoft offers the game for sale with support up to Windows 10, but it's not clear if that's official.

Sub-Pages

Prerelease Info

Unused Dialogue

Unused Graphics

Mystery Mountain

An unused background of the exterior of Mystery Mountain, showing a different design for the mountain from what is seen in-game.

Front Door

An unused version of the mountain's entrance door. The spot for the doorbell is on the left side of the doorway instead of the right. The toolbar is also visible in this graphic, whereas it isn't in the final version.

Painting Gallery

Present in PM001.RSC, which contains assets for the painting gallery activity. It resembles the in-game background for the most part, but the wall behind the frame is white instead of blue.

Music Hall Door

An unused version of the background for the Music Hall Door. The most notable difference is the colors for the floor, the wall, and the sheet music book on the top of the door frame. There's also what seems to be a button panel on the right side of the door, which is absent in the finished game.

Basement Landing

Present in BL001.RSC. While its intended purpose isn't clear, the similarly-named BL001.BAL contains voice clips for the biosphere mini-game, possibly indicating a correlation.

Time Machine Interior

An odd corrupted-looking version of the Time Machine interior background.

You Should Not See This

Present in CU001.RSC, which contains several backgrounds for some of the areas inside the mountain. This only appears in the original release; in later releases it was replaced with an entirely black graphic.

Unused Music

General

This file, GE.mid, is never heard in-game despite being installed with the rest of the music. It was meant to be heard in the generator room, but in the finished game no music plays there at all. This was corrected in v1.4.

Music Hall

The MODULE.INI file details all the possible puzzles that can be found in each of the games. In the music hall section, three entries are skipped over - #6, #13, and #16. The first two still have their staves left over in the game, but no associated music files to actually hear them. Even though the last one has the timing data written in the INI file, it is missing its staves, so attempting to add it back into the game crashes it.

Song #6

#6 is the Bridal Chorus. Note that the music heard in this video is only a recreation and not actually in the game.

Song #13

#13 is Mendelssohn's Wedding March. Again, the music in the video is only an interpretation.

Song #16

#16 is Toccata and Fugue.

There's also audio for the song being played on each of the six instruments.

	Piano	Bassoon	Flute	French Horn	Guitar	Cello
Whole Song
Staff 1
Staff 2
Staff 3
Staff 4

There's even the song's introduction, provided by Maestro Trombot.

File	Subtitles
	This piece of music is by Bach, a great composer who lived over 200 years ago. The dark and spooky harmonies of this music give me the chills when I play it on my organ.

Regional Differences

The Arabic release includes a region select screen that is completely absent from other releases.

US	Saudi Arabia

When Botley is explaining how Polly has changed the world, the Arabic release changed the statue of liberty and an orangutan being elected president of the United States to more culturally relevant imagery for its intended demographic.

US	Saudi Arabia

In the Arabic release, Polly's legs are colored green to give her the appearance of wearing pants instead of just socks.

Revisional Differences

To do: Add more removed dialogue. Check for more differences.

Six known versions exist: v1.0, v1.1, v1.2, v1.4, and v1.5. Additionally, the later updated "Advanced" package oddly labels the game version as "1.1c", even though it came after v1.5.

v1.1

This version was released around 1998 and made a fair amount of changes, mostly affecting the length of the game.

Dialogue

The most noteworthy difference is the alteration of the opening. The opening in v1.0 was insanely long and had a fair amount of information needlessly repeated and almost-nonexistent user interaction. Naturally, Knowledge Adventure got a lot of complaints about this and edited it down in all subsequent versions. Below is a list of all the removed dialogue.

Classroom

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
Now where could it be?	Botley		Spoken just as Botley starts to look around after initially getting up from under the desk.
But wait!... Nah... Well, it's worth a try...			Some random pondering that obviously didn't add too much.
The professor created me as a prototype companion device. You see, he was having such trouble finding sitters for Polly, 'cause she scares them all away, so he invented me. I'm also programmed to be her friend, and believe me, it's tougher than it sounds.			Some extra backstory info that the developers must have seen unworthy enough to keep. Funnily enough, despite the fact that the next line ("I'm not getting to the point, am I?") pokes fun at this tangent, they still kept it in later releases!

Front Door

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
Phew! Sorry about the landing. I wasn't programmed to fly.	Botley		Spoken after Botley crash lands by the front door. Probably cut for being redundant (he says nearly the exact same thing as his first line of dialogue in the game).
Umm... As I was saying... This is the professor's mountain. Polly should be inside, and I just bet she's watching us now.			Spoken after Botley's rocket detaches. Later releases cut straight to Polly watching from inside the mountain. Funnily enough, even though all the dialogue was cut, his gestures connected with them were still left intact, so he briefly raises his arm to introduce the mountain quite awkwardly.
Oh, that was the easy part, since daddy just invented that handy-dandy time machine upstairs. Everyone should have one! I just marched those robots into the machine, pushed a few buttons, and voila! Unfortunately, there's still one more question, the extra credit question, and it's super hard. That's why I've been looking for you, Knotley.	Polly		A fair amount of arguing that was cut. They went a little overboard here, though, because the mentioning of the extra credit question sets up the ending of the game. This leads to a big plothole at the end where she demands that Botley still has to do the extra credit question, and it comes out of thin air as a result.
That's Botley! And I want nothing to do with your plan, Polly. Just bring those robots back! Don't you see? You could destroy us all!	Botley
(mimicking) 'You could destroy us all!'	Polly
But I'm warning you, if I don't get them all back soon, I'm sending you off to do the extra credit question.	Polly		Apparently setting things up is overrated. Pulling plot points out of thin air is the much better way to go, clearly.
On second thought, maybe it's safer with you.	Botley		Spoken while Botley's about to grab the utility belt.

Mountain Entry

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
I s'pose I should give you a two-cent tour of the place.	Botley		A line removed for not being very important. Thank goodness, those kids probably would have hated waiting another whole two seconds.
See? Everyone's impressed by the professor.			Another unnecessary line.
Polly, you know I've been programmed to clean up your messes, and that includes bringing back my robot pals. I know you won't tell me where they are, but how about a little hint?			Yet another unnecessary line.
You and your friend will have to find and collect them all. And even if you can find them all, which I highly doubt you can, you will still have to go to daddy's time machine and figure out where I sent the robot, if you expect to beat me. Oh, by the way, you know how daddy feels about amateurs going into the time machine room. It's a very sensitive piece of equipment, you know, so before a hunk of rusty bolts like you can get inside, you'll have to earn a bunch of invention points. A thousand of them should just about do it for starters.	Polly		A chunk of needless exposition that doesn't really tell you anything you need to know. If you don't know what the invention points are for anyway, you'll be told if you attempt to enter the time machine room without enough.
Finding the clues should be a little less hopeless with my powerful sensoring device. Professor Spark cooked me up this way so I could better keep an eye on Polly. I can monitor every nook and cranny of the mountain.	Botley		An introduction to how Botley scans the area for mission clues. Obviously removed since the player can already figure it out for themselves.

Kitchen Door

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
I'm not sure what Polly has planned for us inside, but we need to get beyond this door!	Botley		Spoken during Botley's introduction to the kitchen door.
I'll say you do. Polly's left me in charge of something very important! There's a clue in here, but you have to feed me first! I'm so hungry.	Mort
You certainly do, because Polly has left me in charge of some invention points you'll need, and I'll hand them over if you feed me well.
I'll even try to help you out. Anything to speed up my lunch. I know a lot about math, and I'm famished!
It looks like you have to solve an addition problem to open this lock. That's no problem for you!	Botley		Spoken whenever a math equation appears on the door, depending on whichever type of equation.
This time, you'll have to solve a subtraction problem. Good luck!
You'll need to know how to multiply to solve this problem. Ready?

Kitchen

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
But, Polly, there are so many hiding places! At least give us a hint!	Botley		Spoken during Botley's introduction to the kitchen.
Boy, can you be dense! What do you think, Mort's hanging around here for the fun of it?	Polly
OK, I get it!	Botley
If you feed him what he wants, Shortly, he's got a mission clue for you. But if you feed him anything that disagrees with him, I'd head for the hills if I were you.	Polly		Spoken when the player returns to the kitchen.
You know the deal here, Snortly: You feed poor Mort, and he tips you with a mission clue. Considering what a lousy cook you are, I'd say that's more than generous.
Okay, Portly, feed poor Mort and you'll get your clue. Don't expect it to be easy, though.
Too bad there's no mission clue in here, Knotley. But give Mort what he wants to eat and he'll tip you genorously, with invention points.
Ha ha, there's no mission clue in here, Potley. But Mort looks hungry, and you look stupid. I bet if you feed Mort, he'll give you some invention points you'll need.
Listen, there's no mission clue in here, Buttley. But why don't you make yourself useful and feed Mort? He's got some invention points and we all know you need some of those.

Robot Feeder

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
Don't you worry, Mort, I've got help today!	Botley		Spoken during Botley's introduction to the feeding machine.
I'm not worried, because I know I have something you need desperately!	Mort
To measure any of the toppings, you first have to click on one of the instruments on the back wall to pick it up. Then, use the instrument to click on the topping you wanna add to the bowl. Finally, click on the bowl as it moves down the conveyor belt to top Mort's snack with the ingredient.	Botley
Don't forget, Botley, that I'm a very picky robot, so if too much or too little of any topping winds up in my bowl, I could get an upset stomach. Luckily, you can turn the machine off to remove that topping. Turn the machine back on to continue.	Mort
All ready!			Spoken whenever the player returns to the feeding machine, right after Botley's "chow time" line.
Most of the world uses the metric system to weigh and measure things. With the metric system, liquid is measured in liters, and weight is measured in grams. In Professor Spark's kitchen, we often measure liquid in milliliters. Did you know that a thousand milliliters is the same as one liter?			Spoken when the player clicks on one of the tool shelves on the back wall before starting up the machine.
Everything, I mean, everything is made up of molecules. Molecules are so incredibly small you can't even see them with a normal microscope. Molecules are made of two or more atoms joined together, so you can imagine how small atoms must be. The odd instruments here measure those tiny, tiny amounts, but for those of us with a keen sense of taste, that can make all the difference.
In the United States, most people still use cups to measure liquids and other ingredients, while weight is measured in pounds and ounces. In this kitchen, we still measure some things with cups.

Virtual Collection

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
This is a device that Professor Spark invented to display all the great works of art he knows and loves... without actually having to fork over the big bucks to buy them himself. It's all done with computers. Huh, what else?	Botley		Spoken during Botley's introduction to the virtual collection. Honestly, if they had kept the first line in later releases, it probably would've encouraged kids to commit art theft.
Luckily, that makes it easier to find the mission clue that Polly hid here.
Luckily, that makes it easier to find the invention points that Polly hid here.
First, you need to select the work of art that matches Polly's hint.
After Mrs. Beasley is finished, you can click on it again to see the work on the professor's digital display. Fortunately, Mrs. Beasley has also neatly arranged all the works of art into categories. She's really kind of a neat freak.
So you should begin by selecting the correct category, but be careful which work you send to the digital display, because each time you do, it will use up some of the energy that's vital to running things around here -- of course, if we get low, we can always run down to the electric generator to juice up.
That's not fair, Polly! If that's the right work of art, you can't just change the rules like that!			Another fragment of bickering that certainly wasn't needed.
(mimicking) You can't change the rules like that! (normal voice) Well, guess what, Blotley, it's my house, and my missions, and you play how I say! Now I say "solve this!"	Polly

Painting Gallery

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
When you go back to the gallery, you'll see your work already hanging on the wall, then we'll find out if Polly likes it, but don't let her opinion matter to you. I don't know much about the artistic process, but my inner transistors tell me that selecting the background first is the best way to illustrate Polly's story.	Botley		Spoken when you start the painting activity for the first time.
This canvas here is just crying out for paint. Go for it.			Spoken when you return to the painting activity. The first three lines are for when the canvas is blank. The other three are for when the canvas is full.
This canvas is blank! Make Polly happy and paint what she wants on it.
This blank canvas is a great place to start.
You've already painted something on this canvas, but you can change it now or erase it completely by clicking the new button on the right.
This looks pretty cool to me, but you can change it if you have to.
You've already got something going here, so if you wanna illustrate Polly's story now, you'll have to erase or revise this painting.

Maestro's Door

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
You have to figure out the password by unscrambling the four words on the left side of the door. I'm not so good with spelling, but luckily we've got some help.	Botley		Spoken during Botley's introduction to the music hall door.
Huh? Speak up! Don't mumble.	Bothoven
CAN - YOU - HELP - US?!	Botley
You can do that by clicking on any letter, then clicking on the space where you want it to go. Each time you unscramble a word, you'll be rewarded with at least one letter in the password, which appears on the right side of the door. When you unscramble those letters, you've figured out the password and the door should open. Easy!

Biosphere Launch Pad

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
Lucky guess, Rotley, there is a clue hidden in the biosphere, but, of course, I'm not gonna tell you where exactly. You'll have to figure that out.	Polly		Spoken when the player returns to the biosphere launch pad.
But the deal's still that you'll give us hints once we're in the biosphere?	Botley
Relax. Would I let you down?	Polly
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so there's a mission clue in there. Just don't expect me to draw you a map.
You promise you'll give us a few hints when we get inside?	Botley
Oh, Botley, stop sniveling. Of course I will.	Polly
Oh, Snotley, you think you're so smart, and you're just really a lucky guesser. Sure, there's a mission clue in there, but I'd like to see you try and find it.
Don't forget: you said you'd give us some hints once we get inside the biosphere.	Botley
Didn't I say I would? Now get outta here before I change my mind.	Polly
No, Botley, you'll take all the fun away from your friend! There's no mission clue, but there are some invention points I've hidden. You just have to figure out where.
Hey, Rustley, not so fast! There's no mission clue here, but we all know you could use more invention points, so I've hidden them where... well... that's for you to find out.
Poor little Gutley, no mission clue inside. Boo-hoo-hoo. If it makes you feel any better, I have hidden some invention points here, so why don't you look for them.
Sure, Crotley. Just figure out where I hid the invention points, and they're all yours.			Spoken when the player returns to the biosphere launch pad after rescuing all 25 robots.

Shrink-O-Matic

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
Greetings, human. Do you know what a molecule is? Well, it's one of the tiniest things around. Everything's made of them, one way or another, and it's impossible to see them with the naked eye.	Egbert		Spoken during Botley's introduction to the shrink-o-matic.
As you can see, Egbert is full of facts. He manages all the specimens in this place, and he's deeply attached to them. Anything you need to know about any of them, he can tell you.	Botley

Third Floor

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
Let me refresh your memory about this floor.	Botley		Spoken when the player clicks the help button while on the third floor.

Observatory

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
The scary thing is: if Polly used this room, she could send one of the mission clues anywhere in the universe!	Botley		Spoken during Botley's introduction to the observatory
Well, no one's ever accused me of making things easy, Snorley, so I'm not about to start now.	Polly
So, Polly, where'd you send it?	Botley		Spoken when the player returns to the observatory.
I guess it's time for another space odyssey, Cotley, and here's your clue.	Polly
Come on, Polly, give us an idea where to look!	Botley
Just for you, a little hint. Let's see if you're fast enough to save it.	Polly
Give us a fighting chance, Polly! Where did you send it?	Botley
Here's a hint. Just don't waste time sitting there looking stupid or you'll never be able to retrieve it.	Polly
Okay, you have four spaceships ready to help you. Each one has a limited amount of laser energy, so shoot only when you really think it'll help. Now, go to it!	Botley		A line that was used to close out Botley's introduction to the Black Hole Blaster mini-game.
Huh, I can't tell a pronoun from a protozoan, but I do know that every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with some kind of punctuation mark: a period, a question mark or an exclamation point. Unscramble all the sentences and we can go to the professor's star chart and figure out where Polly sent that spaceship. Good luck!			Spoken during Botley's introduction to the signal decoder.

Robot Maze

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
No way are we going down there ourselves, though! If you make one false move in this room, you could... well... you don't wanna know what could happen.	Botley		Spoken during Botley's introduction to the robot maze.
We'll see, Polly. Two heads are better than one.
Not if one of them is yours, Snotley.	Polly
Oooooh, someday! Don't listen to her! I know you can do it. Remember, we have to program the robot to reach the box.	Botley		Spoken when the player returns to the robot maze, right after being taunted by Polly.
Good thing I'm programmed to put up with her, otherwise I just might explode! But we have to ignore her. Just program the robot so he makes it safely to the box.
And the only thing for you are a few invention points down there. Think you can handle that? Okay, just count to ten, then concentrate on programming that robot.	Polly		Spoken when the player returns to the robot maze after winning the game.

Time Machine

Line	Character	Audio	Comments
Looks pretty complicated, huh? But let's see if we can figure out how this baby works.	Botley		Spoken during Botley's introduction to the time machine.

Removed Song ("If I Were an Artist")

Clicking on Mrs. Beasley in the art gallery would cause her to perform a musical number about her desires to be an artist. Perhaps it was removed for not appealing to the game's target audience, or maybe because it didn't fit the tone.

Sound Effects

V1.0	V1.1	Notes
		Heard when rotating a puzzle piece in the virtual collection mini-game.
		Heard when destroying a ball in the shrink-o-matic activity.
	Removed	A short fanfare heard when completing the robot maze activity.
		Heard when a question disappears in the wheel of invention mini-game.

Other Changes

• The number of invention points required used to gradually increase as more robots were rescued, starting at 1,000 and going up by 500 with every five robots (so the second batch would be 1,500, the third 2,000, and so on). This version locks the required amount at 1,000 through the whole game, greatly reducing the length.
• In v1.0, when completing the painting gallery, Botley would congratulate you and instruct you to pick up the clue before it appeared. In this version, the clue appears first, then Botley starts to talk.
• In v1.0, when moving onto the second ring of the generator, it would make the pumping noise even before you placed any batteries. This version alters it so it's silent until you place a battery.

v1.4

To do: Pictures, videos, sound files, oh my!

In addition to the above changes, v1.4 has a few more:

• The opening logo was updated to the then-current one of the company slogan sliding in from the right, and the figure climbing the stairs to reach the star.
• FD.mid, ironically enough, no longer plays at the front door. This seems to be the result of a programming error, though: you can briefly hear it start up before it stops, leading to a completely music-less opening. It is still played in the other areas of the game it originally played in, though, including the classroom and the time machine.
• GE.mid now correctly plays in the generator room, and one more digitized piece was added there on top of that.