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[Amir0x]

Well if that is true, how come the top 10 high-scores aren't all the same ?

Seems to me that a lot of people would be able to get trough a level killing everything whilst not getting hit, getting a perfect score. But that's not the case, every score is unique so something else is at play.

well I'm not sure what else, at least when I play, my scores seem to be entirely based on how long I had the gauge filled with the bonus I get from killing enemies, and then scouring the level for diamonds.

Not sure what else would be in play really. Time doesn't effect score...

 

[quadrax1s]

Wow this is so cool... I never even heard of this until recently. I've played all the Tomb Raider games up to Legend and just kinda stopped. I guess I only missed a couple of games? Time to get back into this series!

 

[Larson Conway]

Wow this is so cool... I never even heard of this until recently. I've played all the Tomb Raider games up to Legend and just kinda stopped. I guess I only missed a couple of games? Time to get back into this series!

If you stopped at Legend, you missed out on the gem that is Anniversary. Underworld is ok. But Anniversary is a must-play.

On another note, surely Amir0x can "contender" the "condender," yes? ;P

 

[Hank The Tank]

If you stopped at Legend, you missed out on the gem that is Anniversary. Underworld is ok. But Anniversary is a must-play.

On another note, surely Amir0x can "contender" the "condender," yes? ;P

Great, you made me spit coffe all over my screen.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

I'll be waiting till 28 sept until I decide which version to get. Probably the one with free online play.

 

[Keir_Eidos]

Yeah, I'd like to ask them two questions.

OK, Jeff Wajcs, the Lead Designer on LCGoL answered these for you:

One - what person or group of people specifically came up with the ideas for the cooperative nature of the grapple hook and the spear ladder? I know someone had to be the "golden go to" during the brain storming sessions, and they need to be duly acknowledged for their talent.

"The grapple rope was actually one of the first features we had prototyped, the climbing and swinging, at least. It was something we inherited from the previous Tomb Raider games, and it seemed natural enough to want to connect the two players with it. We fell in love with the “leap of faith” right away, especially the part where you can just let your buddy go and watch them die (We grief each other a lot). The grapple tightrope, my favorite grapple feature, also came in very early. There was some talk about the line having some elasticity, turning the tightrope into a trampoline, but that would have been a mess (and our programmers would have enough to do as it was).

The spear was harder. Lara had her grapple line from previous games, but what did Totec have? We hit upon a shield early enough. It was originally supposed to function as a glider in addition to reflecting bullets. I remember we had a spear before we had the shield jump. Jump-jump came later, after Neub (Daniel Neuburger - Creative Director) convinced everybody that it was a) fun, and b) not going to break every level. Once we had one spear, we soon figured out that three spears was the right number. We discussed having the spear only stick into certain objects in the world (if only to make our lives easier), but again Neub insisted on a spear that stuck into everything because it was fun, and even though it did break everything to start off."

And two - What was the development philosophy behind Lara Croft? Specifically, how did you decide how much of the mainline Tomb Raider games you would take with you, and how much you would leave behind? Was there guidelines to how much of the spirit of the Tomb Raider games there should be, or did you have pretty much open season on every aspect?

"Our credo was “fast paced adventure.” GoL would still include the balance of puzzles, platforming, and combat that Tomb Raider has always had, but everything would be filtered through the lens of fast and fun. We went with the isometric perspective early in large part due to how engaging the combat became. The traditional lock-on style combat of previous games was ditched in favor of the more arcade-flavored combat we shipped with. Lara is still mowing down ancient horrors, but now she needs a bit more skill to do so.

Puzzles, usually the highlight of the Tomb Raider experience, were trickier. Again, fast and fun was the focus. Gone were the puzzles that spanned multiple rooms on opposite sides of the level. The goal of a puzzle must always be clear; the player should always know what they should do, just not how to do it. There was an added emphasis on physics and experimentation. Figuring out a puzzle meant playing with the pieces, as opposed to static thinking. Turns out that these kind of puzzles embodied the Tomb Raider spirit better than the “epic” exploration puzzles of games past.

Another big part of the Tomb Raider formula is the story. We prioritized gameplay first, and that meant keeping the story simple. This allowed us to do whatever we thought would be fun. A chase sequence featuring a giant fish monster usually wouldn’t have a place in a more complicated narrative, but we were able to get away with it and the result was one of the team’s favorite levels. Fun gameplay was the most important part. We definitely took a lot of risks with the formula, and it was amazing how much the final game still feels like a Tomb Raider game."

@ Keir_Eidos

I'd interested to find out if the next Tomb Raider game has been changed at all based on the critical success of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

Well, expect big things but that's all I can say because we're currently not talking about the next TR (frustratingly enough for me).

If there are any more questions anyone has let me know and I'll try and get them answered for you.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

I wish I could play the game right now so I would have questions for you, but it's still not out on PSN! ):

Unless I can ask questions about a Soul Reaver revival or GoL PSN demo

 

[Larson Conway]

The goal of a puzzle must always be clear; the player should always know what they should do, just not how to do it. There was an added emphasis on physics and experimentation. Figuring out a puzzle meant playing with the pieces, as opposed to static thinking. Turns out that these kind of puzzles embodied the Tomb Raider spirit better than the “epic” exploration puzzles of games past.

I find this very interesting. I wonder how this will translate to future Tomb Raider iterations.

I wish I could play the game right now so I would have questions for you, but it's still not out on PSN! ):

Unless I can ask questions about a Soul Reaver revival or GoL PSN demo

I seriously have a feeling we'll see something Kain and Raziel soon, I don't know. Either it be through the character DLC for this game or a new installment altogether, or both. One can hope.

 

[Firebrand]

Still no word on how much the Steam version of this is going to be?

 

[Stallion Free]

Still no word on how much the Steam version of this is going to be?

Incredibly likely that it will be 15$.

 

[Daigoro]

wow. great answers from the dev guys. they obviously "get it", which is pretty obvious from playing the game that they created.

one of the best arcade games. i hope it gets the recognition it deserves, and tons of sales.

 

[Keir_Eidos]

Still no word on how much the Steam version of this is going to be?

Expect to pay $15/£9.99/€12.99

 

[PSGames]

Ugh this game has only a 3 1/2 star rating on xbl and the sales aren't where they should be. What gives? I just don't get it. It's one of the best games I've played this year.

 

[Gribbix]

Gamespot is giving away early access codes for the PSN and PC demos. The codes will be sent out on the 21st.
http://www.gamespot.com/event/codes/lara-croft-ps3-us/

 

[Sevket-Erhat]

I wish I can finish this beauty once more. There are so many games to play though. Not to be missed

 

[Amir0x]

OK, Jeff Wajcs, the Lead Designer on LCGoL answered these for you:

"The grapple rope was actually one of the first features we had prototyped, the climbing and swinging, at least. It was something we inherited from the previous Tomb Raider games, and it seemed natural enough to want to connect the two players with it. We fell in love with the “leap of faith” right away, especially the part where you can just let your buddy go and watch them die (We grief each other a lot). The grapple tightrope, my favorite grapple feature, also came in very early. There was some talk about the line having some elasticity, turning the tightrope into a trampoline, but that would have been a mess (and our programmers would have enough to do as it was).

The spear was harder. Lara had her grapple line from previous games, but what did Totec have? We hit upon a shield early enough. It was originally supposed to function as a glider in addition to reflecting bullets. I remember we had a spear before we had the shield jump. Jump-jump came later, after Neub (Daniel Neuburger - Creative Director) convinced everybody that it was a) fun, and b) not going to break every level. Once we had one spear, we soon figured out that three spears was the right number. We discussed having the spear only stick into certain objects in the world (if only to make our lives easier), but again Neub insisted on a spear that stuck into everything because it was fun, and even though it did break everything to start off."





"Our credo was “fast paced adventure.” GoL would still include the balance of puzzles, platforming, and combat that Tomb Raider has always had, but everything would be filtered through the lens of fast and fun. We went with the isometric perspective early in large part due to how engaging the combat became. The traditional lock-on style combat of previous games was ditched in favor of the more arcade-flavored combat we shipped with. Lara is still mowing down ancient horrors, but now she needs a bit more skill to do so.

Puzzles, usually the highlight of the Tomb Raider experience, were trickier. Again, fast and fun was the focus. Gone were the puzzles that spanned multiple rooms on opposite sides of the level. The goal of a puzzle must always be clear; the player should always know what they should do, just not how to do it. There was an added emphasis on physics and experimentation. Figuring out a puzzle meant playing with the pieces, as opposed to static thinking. Turns out that these kind of puzzles embodied the Tomb Raider spirit better than the “epic” exploration puzzles of games past.

Another big part of the Tomb Raider formula is the story. We prioritized gameplay first, and that meant keeping the story simple. This allowed us to do whatever we thought would be fun. A chase sequence featuring a giant fish monster usually wouldn’t have a place in a more complicated narrative, but we were able to get away with it and the result was one of the team’s favorite levels. Fun gameplay was the most important part. We definitely took a lot of risks with the formula, and it was amazing how much the final game still feels like a Tomb Raider game."

Thanks so much for asking the questions and thank them for answering them.

This just confirms what I thought. The team on this game had the right ideas, the perfect storm to create this masterpiece. So often I really genuinely do believe that despite a developer's intention, "fun" gets left behind** due to having to stay slavishly to the franchise legacy or requiring to check off "bullet points" on some sheet (EPIC STORY: CHECK, ONLINE MODE: CHECK).

It's obvious from playing the game this is true, of course, but after reading this everything I had felt during the experience about was confirmed. Best of all, he directly responded to my suspicions about them putting the storyline on the backburner. Reviewers who docked points for the throwaway story completely missed the point of LARA CROFT, and that's a true shame.

I hope that even with the mainline Tomb Raider games, that the team brings over a lot of what they learned with LARA CROFT to the experience. The spear and grapple co-op mechanics were just flipping brilliant. Kinda hard to imagine how that'd work in the traditional Tomb Raider type, but at the very least, some of the basic design philosophy can follow through to create a substantially more fulfilling experience.

The entire team working on this is to be commended, but specifically Daniel Neuburger and Jeff Wajcs, job well fucking done. The reason I play games right here is for surprises like this.

**obviously fun is a very broad term, but in practical terms here it just means a focus on the fundamentals of what makes people play games in the first place

 

[Elixist]

After playing the demo I hope to god their next game is a diablo competitor. Make it fucking gory with gorgeous graphics, platforming, magic, puzzles and loots oh my! Seriously though BenStiller.jpg "Do it.... Do it"

 

[Q8D3vil]

must wait for pc

 

[acm2000]

well ive all but whored this game of achievements, my thoughts

the story/cutscenes etc, are junk, very poor
unlimited lives? makes the game waaaaay too easy
puzzles also way too easy, didnt get stuck on a single one
graphics are a bit messy, but does the job
however, the gameplay is really nice, had alot of fun blasting through it, while it lasted, with lots of tasks to complete in each level

i look forward to going through it in co-op on XBL

 

[Vic]

OK, Jeff Wajcs, the Lead Designer on LCGoL answered these for you:




"The grapple rope was actually one of the first features we had prototyped, the climbing and swinging, at least. It was something we inherited from the previous Tomb Raider games, and it seemed natural enough to want to connect the two players with it. We fell in love with the “leap of faith” right away, especially the part where you can just let your buddy go and watch them die (We grief each other a lot). The grapple tightrope, my favorite grapple feature, also came in very early. There was some talk about the line having some elasticity, turning the tightrope into a trampoline, but that would have been a mess (and our programmers would have enough to do as it was).

The spear was harder. Lara had her grapple line from previous games, but what did Totec have? We hit upon a shield early enough. It was originally supposed to function as a glider in addition to reflecting bullets. I remember we had a spear before we had the shield jump. Jump-jump came later, after Neub (Daniel Neuburger - Creative Director) convinced everybody that it was a) fun, and b) not going to break every level. Once we had one spear, we soon figured out that three spears was the right number. We discussed having the spear only stick into certain objects in the world (if only to make our lives easier), but again Neub insisted on a spear that stuck into everything because it was fun, and even though it did break everything to start off."





"Our credo was “fast paced adventure.” GoL would still include the balance of puzzles, platforming, and combat that Tomb Raider has always had, but everything would be filtered through the lens of fast and fun. We went with the isometric perspective early in large part due to how engaging the combat became. The traditional lock-on style combat of previous games was ditched in favor of the more arcade-flavored combat we shipped with. Lara is still mowing down ancient horrors, but now she needs a bit more skill to do so.

Puzzles, usually the highlight of the Tomb Raider experience, were trickier. Again, fast and fun was the focus. Gone were the puzzles that spanned multiple rooms on opposite sides of the level. The goal of a puzzle must always be clear; the player should always know what they should do, just not how to do it. There was an added emphasis on physics and experimentation. Figuring out a puzzle meant playing with the pieces, as opposed to static thinking. Turns out that these kind of puzzles embodied the Tomb Raider spirit better than the “epic” exploration puzzles of games past.

Another big part of the Tomb Raider formula is the story. We prioritized gameplay first, and that meant keeping the story simple. This allowed us to do whatever we thought would be fun. A chase sequence featuring a giant fish monster usually wouldn’t have a place in a more complicated narrative, but we were able to get away with it and the result was one of the team’s favorite levels. Fun gameplay was the most important part. We definitely took a lot of risks with the formula, and it was amazing how much the final game still feels like a Tomb Raider game."




Well, expect big things but that's all I can say because we're currently not talking about the next TR (frustratingly enough for me).

If there are any more questions anyone has let me know and I'll try and get them answered for you.

Okay, now I need to play this.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

The goal of a puzzle must always be clear; the player should always know what they should do, just not how to do it.

I smiled when reading this, it's such a simple concept but so many games (including parts of Underworld) try to make a puzzle more complex by illogical design rather than creative use of the environment.

@ acm2000

"graphics are a bit messy, but does the job"

?

 

[acm2000]

@ acm2000

"graphics are a bit messy, but does the job"

?

close ups show how relatively basic it is, and they STILL havent updated their engine on xbox, so its subhd

 

[RiccochetJ]

Hrm,
My speed run seems more legit than this:
Edit: No... google can do the job for you
Are these things going to be addressed or are they legit ways to get around stuff?

 

[Fantastical]

Bought this a couple days ago, and a friend and I have been slowly playing through it.

Let's just say this is a game we plan to complete 100%. We fucking love. Time flys when you play this. :lol

 

[RustyO]

Awesome OT. Great work.

Thanks to Amir0x for giving me the heads up on this game.

I'll be honest, this never even got a look in thanks to having "Lara Croft" in the title, but I've just finished the demo and have to say I'm pretty sold.

Just debating whether to wait for the PS3 version or not.

 

[Vorg]

I really like this game but I have to say some of the later levels are a chore. Fire = instakill? Really? I've died a bunch of times just trying to push a ball into a fire pit. And having to push stuff to do puzzles while surrounded by fireball throwing enemies is bullshit. Also, fireballs falling from the sky and exploding when they hit the ground. Fun! Especially when you're confined to tight corridors.

Don't get me wrong. Like I said, I really like the game. I just feel the later levels aren't nearly as good as the first half of the game. It's still worth the money, though.

 

[FrankT]

With Lara Croft: Guardian of the Light releasing on PSN and Steam next week, Crystal Dynamics sent word that the online coop feature on those two platforms have been delayed "until a later date". In a short e-mail, the developer said that they need to spend more time fixing the online code in order to make the game playable without any hiccups.

Xbox 360 users are still scheduled to get the update next week.

http://www.gamefocus.ca/?nav=new&nid=11076

Not sure how reliable this site is, but regardless looking forward to the co-op update next week on Live.

 

[Dead Prince]

http://www.gamefocus.ca/?nav=new&nid=11076

Not sure how reliable this site is, but regardless looking forward to the co-op update next week on Live.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/21/lara-croft-and-the-guardian-of-light-ps3-and-pc-wont-launch-wit/

PR.

LARA CROFT AND THE GUARDIAN OF LIGHT

Out on September 28 on PSN and PC

On September 28 - Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will be released on PlayStation Network and PC (via the Steam network).

"We can't wait for PlayStation and PC gamers to get their hands on Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light," said Darrell Gallagher, General Manager of Crystal Dynamics. "We're committed to delivering the very best gameplay experience possible and the fact that this is the highest rated Lara Croft game since the original Tomb Raider was released back in 1996 is a testament to this. I would encourage everyone to try the free trial."

From October to December the Downloadable Lara Croft campaign continues with 5 packs available across all formats. The first three are expansion packs featuring a combination of all new puzzle, exploration and combat experiences in the game and new areas to explore. The further two packs are playable character packs, offering gamers the chance to experience the entire adventure without Lara Croft and Totec and instead with some other well-known videogame characters...

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will be available on PlayStation Network and Steam on September 28, 2010 for $14.99. The game will feature single player and full offline co-op campaign gameplay, with online co-op available at a later date. The game is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

 

[Nabs]

oh great. =\

and fuck dlc.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

Eh, fantastic. not getting this until it's complete then.

 

[FrankT]

The first three are expansion packs featuring a combination of all new puzzle, exploration and combat experiences in the game and new areas to explore.

Well glad the first one of these is free on XBL. Rather than a character pack.

 

[Firebrand]

Eh, fantastic. not getting this until it's complete then.

Yep. Want to play this in co-op for my first playthrough.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

"5 packs" cool more content than I expected too

 

[Stallion Free]

oh great. =\

and fuck dlc.

Hold up. HOLD UP. You gave up your rights to feel angry about DLC when you got yourself friends who will buy it for you. Has this week taught you nothing? :lol

 

[Nabs]

Sorry Stall, but I will not be bought that easily. I will always take a stand against DLC.

The no online part makes me sad though. I was looking forward to some coop. =\

 

[V_Ben]

No online on the other versions either? That's ridiculous, given that they had an extra month to work on it :/ Hopefully its not too long a wait before the online comes out

 

[Stallion Free]

The no online part makes me sad though. I was looking forward to some coop. =\

Yeah, that sucks. Hopefully they still do a 2-pack.

 

[Vorg]

But is the 360 online co-op patch still on schedule for the 28th or is it also delayed?

 

[blackMamba1187]

Quite the bait and switch that got me to pick this up during the summer of arcade promo. Oh well. Online co-op will be there "eventually" i'm sure.

edit: Oh i see. just not launching for pc/ps3 with online coop. 360 still on target.

 

[Stallion Free]

Looks good.

 

[Captain_Spanky]

Signed up for the ps3 demo, will try tomorrow. I'm incredibly excited, I LOVE the Tomb Raider franchise and co-op with my girlfriend so this should be fantastic.

 

[FrankT]

But is the 360 online co-op patch still on schedule for the 28th or is it also delayed?

Should be up next week;

A Crystal Dynamics representative explained the 360 online co-op update will go live "in the very near future." We've followed up to find out if it will arrive alongside the new versions, as was announced last month.

 

[Cels]

Really, Crystal Dynamics? The game comes out on XBLA first on August 18, which is understandable b/c of the promotion on the Summer of Arcade. But wait, no online co-op (which IMO is where the true lasting value of the game is) until over a month later, Sept 28. All right, 360 players still got to play the incomplete game way before everyone else, so definite value there.

Sept 28 comes around, PS3 and PC version finally release, but wait, no online co-op for those versions either, they also get the incomplete game much like 360 users had on Aug 18, but this time there is an undetermined date for when PS3/PC users get the feature.

Good going, guys, way to use those six weeks between Aug 18 and Sept 28 to deliver a fully-functioning game to all three platforms...oh wait only one out of three platforms, sorry.

Spoiler

I'm still buying this, but online co-op drives my purchase, so waiting until the patch

 

[Truespeed]

What a train wreck. They're purposely delaying the online co-op for the PC and PS3. Fucking tools.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

I don't think this has been posted, first details of the next Tomb Raider game (apparently a reboot):

Set on a Japanese island, the idea is to have one, cohesive level with multiple ways around the puzzles. We'll also be exploring Lara's origins, so she'll be younger and inexperienced in the ways of raiding tombs.

 

[Spotless Mind]

The online co-op situation sucks, but it didn't stop me from buying it on Steam just now.

I've been wanting to play Tomb Raider: Legend for a while as well, so that is an awesome bonus.

 

[Vinci]

Just the trailer for this thing sold me on its gameplay, so yes, I'm destined to get it. Just not yet. Sorry, Amirox. I promise to get around to it though; I just don't have time at the moment for something this obviously addicting.

 

[kevm3]

Will wait until they put the online into the PS3 version before purchasing, especially since they made PS3 and PC users wait a month extra to play it.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

PC question

I've looked though the setup options and checked to see if there is an ini to edit for a way to let it run in a windowed mode. I can't find anything, is there a way to do it? I would like to run it in a window like I do with all of my games (need to look at the rest of the desktop for important things)

thanks

Also. anyone else have an issue with using a 360 controller and every once an a while the mouse aim reticule shows up and effects your aim? I've even unplugged the mouse and it still happens.

 

[ArjanN]

PC question

I've looked though the setup options and checked to see if there is an ini to edit for a way to let it run in a windowed mode. I can't find anything, is there a way to do it? I would like to run it in a window like I do with all of my games (need to look at the rest of the desktop for important things)

Not as far as I can tell. You can alt-tab in and out of the game just fine though.