A little while back I was replaying my Lara at the Movies contribution, Jurassic Park, and was again a little embarrassed at some of the awful gameplay elements, so much so that I finally decided to do a Next Gen remake.
The first level is finished and I’ll be starting work on the second level this weekend. For those who never managed to finish the original game owing to the highly challenging gameplay, rest assured this NG version is being built to be playable by everyone.
Quite a few of my friends and acquaintances have been downloading my custom Tomb Raider games only to find they can’t play them because they don’t know the controls. As trial and error doesn’t really cut it in a gaming environment, we had a problem!
The solution? A Tomb Raider level made specifically for new players to run around in. Enter Croft Manor!
If you are a new player to the custom Tomb Raider scene or have only played the latest official games and would like to try custom levels made with the TR4 game engine, then this Croft Manor tutorial level could be the introduction you’re looking for. If you can complete the assault course comfortably, you are ready to begin your adventures!
Screenshots
My latest custom Tomb Raider game, The Museum, was released earlier this week. A perfect game for a night in, it can be finished in one sitting, has plenty of next generation effects to keep you happy, entertaining gameplay, good music and flybys and trademark GMac atmosphere and ambience.
The game is playable directly from the download and no installation is necessary – simply download, unzip, click and play. Here are a few screenshots from the game.
More Information and Free Download
Story
Lara is exploring the jungle in search of temple ruins where she believes an old sun worship artefact may be found. When she finds the temple and the artefact she realises that there is far more going on than meets the eye. Instead of just keeping it and returning home, she decides to investigate further and heads off deeper into the jungle in search of a lost lake.
Jungle Ruins NG
The Tomb Raider custom event of the year, enjoy the original Jungle Ruins enriched with next generation features such as higher resolution textures, enhanced gameplay and unsurpassed atmosphere and ambience.
Available now. No installation required, simply download the file, unzip it, use setup to select your screen resolution and sound card and off you go. The controls are exactly the same as for The Last Revelation so if you’ve played TR4, you can play this.
It’s taken a year but it’s finally ready. A year to work on a finished game? Yes, I’ve learned a lot since Raider X and I released the original Jungle Ruins in August 2004. Geez has it been that long?
All being well it should be released by next weekend. Here are a few screenshots followed by a video of the opening flyby.
If you haven’t played the latest Tomb Raider from Crystal Dynamics then I highly recommend you wander down to your games store or order it online and add this game to your collection. Whether you’re an old Raider like me or one of the new generation, Underworld totally rocks. It’s perhaps the most immersive adventure ever made.
Here are a few more screenshots from Underworld. For the full collection visit the Underworld section at skribblerz.com.
If you want to see a brilliant fan made trailer for Tomb Raider Underworld you won’t do much better than this. What a fantastic game and what a great trailer for it!
Thought you might enjoy watching this year’s Skribblerz Stonez project promotional trailer. Put together by Wasp it highlights this year’s levels and the level builders. Good job Wasp!
When Lara was missing presumed dead after trying to escape from the Great Pyramid in Egypt at the end of The Last Revelation, it did indeed look as if Tomb Raider was over. Core lost the plot completely and Angel of Darkness was about some tart called Betty Buttons who was looking to get laid by a dork called Kurtis Trout while chatting to prostitutes in Paris along the way. Raiders worldwide held their memorial services and raised their glasses in tribute. Miss Croft was indeed presumed dead.
Then Crystal Dynamics came along. We raised our eyebrows and watched with interest. Don’t get me wrong, Crystal Dynamics were good! It’s just that Tomb Raider wasn’t about special effects, brilliant storylines, fancy objects and ’cutting edge’ technology, it was about Tomb Raider.
Legend and Anniversary had a sort of Tomb Raiderish feel about them and although enjoyable, they didn’t really qualify as Tomb Raider to me, they still lacked the true essence or Raiding. Tomb Raider never was about spending hours fighting ridiculously hard Bosses, for example. But we were happy, at least we were Raiding of sorts.
Then, just two days ago, Tomb Raider Underworld was released in the UK. Crystal Dynamics have done it. Lara Croft has returned. This is Tomb Raider. It’s all back. Lara did get out of that Pyramid in Egypt. She’s back!
My Tomb Raider level for the Skribblerz Stonez 3 project this year is nearing completion. The construction work is all but done, lighting and texturing is complete and most of the gameplay is in. I’ve just the final area to set the gameplay. Hopefully it’ll be ready for beta testing within a fortnight!
