Tomb Raider: Underworld

[ShootMyMonkey]

Hey SMM,
Does this game have any chrome in it? LOL!

One of Lara's outfits is an all chrome suit of armor (which is very conveniently formed as a miniskirt with stiletto heel boots) that glows blue so that you can tell how functional it is. Because it is so functional and it has shields, she'll walk around on the surface of the sun and find that the previously presumed dead T-Rex from TR1/TRA was revived and is now the personal mount of Hitler. But Hitler didn't realize that all of Lara's guns all fire from the same point, and the bullets return into her gun due to Newton's Third Law of motion, which is ultimately the key to that particular boss battle... that and the 5-sided octagon symbols. I can't tell you much more without spoiling it.

 

[Betanumerical]

One of Lara's outfits is an all chrome suit of armor (which is very conveniently formed as a miniskirt with stiletto heel boots) that glows blue so that you can tell how functional it is. Because it is so functional and it has shields, she'll walk around on the surface of the sun and find that the previously presumed dead T-Rex from TR1/TRA was revived and is now the personal mount of Hitler. But Hitler didn't realize that all of Lara's guns all fire from the same point, and the bullets return into her gun due to Newton's Third Law of motion, which is ultimately the key to that particular boss battle... that and the 5-sided octagon symbols. I can't tell you much more without spoiling it.

Quiet down, I don't want to be paying you a teacher salary after all!. Remember its not your money, its mine!, ALL MINE! your just loaning it off me.

 

[scificube]

One of Lara's outfits is an all chrome suit of armor (which is very conveniently formed as a miniskirt with stiletto heel boots) that glows blue so that you can tell how functional it is. Because it is so functional and it has shields, she'll walk around on the surface of the sun and find that the previously presumed dead T-Rex from TR1/TRA was revived and is now the personal mount of Hitler. But Hitler didn't realize that all of Lara's guns all fire from the same point, and the bullets return into her gun due to Newton's Third Law of motion, which is ultimately the key to that particular boss battle... that and the 5-sided octagon symbols. I can't tell you much more without spoiling it.

I lol'ed.

 

[Blade47167]

One of Lara's outfits is an all chrome suit of armor (which is very conveniently formed as a miniskirt with stiletto heel boots) that glows blue so that you can tell how functional it is. Because it is so functional and it has shields, she'll walk around on the surface of the sun and find that the previously presumed dead T-Rex from TR1/TRA was revived and is now the personal mount of Hitler. But Hitler didn't realize that all of Lara's guns all fire from the same point, and the bullets return into her gun due to Newton's Third Law of motion, which is ultimately the key to that particular boss battle... that and the 5-sided octagon symbols. I can't tell you much more without spoiling it.

Day 1 if your serious about this. Sounds like an amazing off the wall plot.

 

[Npl]

SMM: ..and if you had learned about hentai earlier you could have simply placed 3 space/time bending "vaginal blasters" on each side of a space-fighter and have them fire from a single point. Wait, is that the secret you dont want to spoil ?

 

[ShootMyMonkey]

/me aims to keep this joke going as long as possible

SMM: ..and if you had learned about hentai earlier you could have simply placed 3 space/time bending "vaginal blasters" on each side of a space-fighter and have them fire from a single point. Wait, is that the secret you dont want to spoil ?

You're very close... The space-time warping properties become a key factor in how she transports herself across vast distances and jumps from level to level. This is why the Kraken had to be in the very first level. Story-wise, the secret is exposed by way of the Kraken's "attacks" focused on Lara.

I strongly suggest that anyone who owns a high-end surround setup exploit it to its fullest in this particular phase of the game. It will make for quite an experience.
2nd BAFTA, here we come!

 

[RenegadeRocks]

The screens are turning out to be above my expectations for this game. I don't want to be rude, but my expectations were very low after seeing the initial screens of lara on those black rocks of a tomb or something. These are looking much much better than those ! Just one gripe, in some rocks, the texture scale seems too big, making the object look smaller than it is .

 

[obonicus]

/me aims to keep this joke going as long as possible


You're very close... The space-time warping properties become a key factor in how she transports herself across vast distances and jumps from level to level. This is why the Kraken had to be in the very first level. Story-wise, the secret is exposed by way of the Kraken's "attacks" focused on Lara.

I strongly suggest that anyone who owns a high-end surround setup exploit it to its fullest in this particular phase of the game. It will make for quite an experience.
2nd BAFTA, here we come!

My question is, how does your engine handle jiggle physics? Or should I ask this in the technology forum? I hear there may be a bunch of jiggle engineers out of work, in case you folks need folks with the proper know-how.

 

[Dominik D]

Yes. Boob physics are the buy/no-buy indicator for me. Do you have them and are they exaggerated enough?

 

[ShootMyMonkey]

In fact, we've done a step better than just having crazy-ass boob physics. We've set up user-configurable jubblies. You can basically make it as rigid or as wildly insane as you like just by moving a slider bar. She can have anything from an A-cup made of cement to a ZZZ-cup with superfluid helium implants... We even have an easter egg setting for very near resonance between jiggling and jumping, so that if you just jump up and down over and over as quickly as possible, the magnitude of the jiggling will increase massively.

The screens are turning out to be above my expectations for this game. I don't want to be rude, but my expectations were very low after seeing the initial screens of lara on those black rocks of a tomb or something. These are looking much much better than those ! Just one gripe, in some rocks, the texture scale seems too big, making the object look smaller than it is.

Among the biggest eyebrow-raisers I had about putting out screens of the Mexico level as the first screens is that it's set in rainfall with a gloomy overcast sky, which naturally means that the lighting is largely ambient and dull in hue. It was obviously impressive to the press folks who saw it, but they didn't see screenshots first -- they saw a live demo in action so they get to see the weather turned on and off, they see the flashes of lightning, they see the gameplay additions, they see a 33k poly character running around, and that was the real point of showing that level. For people who end up seeing nothing but still screenshots, they get no further context.

Even when you look at the comparison that showed up on the TR blog earlier... Sure, you see the improvement, but you also see that the setting has the same flaws in terms of "impressing" people as it always did --

 

[Dominik D]

In fact, we've done a step better than just having crazy-ass boob physics. We've set up user-configurable jubblies. You can basically make it as rigid or as wildly insane as you like just by moving a slider bar. She can have anything from an A-cup made of cement to a ZZZ-cup with superfluid helium implants...

You copy well designed portions of Age of Conan I see...


On a serious side though: it seems that enemies stand out from the backgrounds. The light/shade you cast on the ground doesn't affect that wild cat/savage guy on the second pic. Is that a design decision to make it easier to spot an enemy, or is it a bug/lack of feature? And when are we going to see some videos? In one of the podcasts something like "pretty soon I assume" is being used.

 

[ShootMyMonkey]

You copy well designed portions of Age of Conan I see...

Yes, we do learn from our successes. I remember some of the PR demos (which were done here at RWC) regarding Age of Conan, and many of us thought, "we need those jubblies." The rest is history.

On a serious side though: it seems that enemies stand out from the backgrounds. The light/shade you cast on the ground doesn't affect that wild cat/savage guy on the second pic. Is that a design decision to make it easier to spot an enemy, or is it a bug/lack of feature?

It has more to do with the fact that in the second pic, both the panther and the poacher are mostly within shadow. With the panther, only the left hind leg and part of the tail appear to be lit. The poacher in the distance is a little more lit, most likely, but he's so far away and obscured by haze and godrays that it kind of gets muddled. The corpse in the distance whose legs you can just barely see over Lara's shoulder, I'm unsure about.

Of course, both of them being dark colored in fur and/or attire means that they aren't going to be that bright to begin with.

And when are we going to see some videos? In one of the podcasts something like "pretty soon I assume" is being used.

The assumption is correct. That's the most I can really say. I know, I wish it was sooner than yesterday myself, but given the circumstances, it was unavoidable.

 

[Dominik D]

I've found "video this Saturday" (as in: today) on TR forums - is it accurate?

New artwork on TR site:

http://www.tombraider.com/server.php?show=conMediaFile.104
http://www.tombraider.com/server.php?show=conMediaFile.105
http://www.tombraider.com/server.php?show=conMediaFile.106
http://www.tombraider.com/server.php?show=conMediaFile.107
http://www.tombraider.com/server.php?show=conMediaFile.108

 

[RobertR1]

SMM,

Will there be a demo? And what sort of action/puzzle split are we taking about?

 

[Dominik D]

I said it before, but... I hope there will be no demo before game's release. Demo is a waste of resources and degrades the quality of full game if guys-with-ties think that winter holiday is the only timeframe to release a game.

 

[wco81]

I don't know, I think demos are becoming more and more mandatory.

 

[ShootMyMonkey]

I've found "video this Saturday" (as in: today) on TR forums - is it accurate?

Actually, all those threads are pretty much about "hoping" for a video, which they've been hoping would happen every week since the game was announced. Without fail, at some point, someone will misinterpret the hope for a declaration (often times responding in jubilation on the assumption that there actually will be a trailer on the ascribed day), and further assume they were lied to when the hope isn't answered. It is, however, accurate to say that they're hoping for one this week or next.

Whatever else, though, I doubt it would be released on a Saturday, let alone on the Saturday of a holiday long weekend.

Will there be a demo? And what sort of action/puzzle split are we taking about?

I'm fairly sure there will be a demo. I've at least heard the idea mentioned, but hearsay is only so substantial. It's not really my department, other than the fact that I know I need to make sure everything I work on is in a ready state well before any such demo.

Action/puzzle ratio... My impression, as best I can tell, is fairly low on the action and mainly puzzles. The raw *number* of puzzles is probably far less than the number of action moments, but since each moment of action is relatively quick and the puzzles last an era each by comparison. Obviously, we do try to set up the action such that you can make use of a few additions new to this game, but they'd be wasted otherwise.

 

[Dominik D]

I doubt it would be released on a Saturday, let alone on the Saturday of a holiday long weekend.

...one week before E3. Understood.

 

[RobertR1]

Thanks SMM. Looking forward to the demo.

 

[Tap In]

looking promising


I look forward to the demo