Crystal Dynamics, the developers who have been working hard on the Tomb Raider reboot decided to answer a few questions asked by the community over at the Eidos forums.
– What’s a reboot?
KS: “Tomb Raider is an entirely new game featuring a new Lara Croft. To us ‘reboot’ means that the past Tomb Raider titles (including the settings, story, and characters native to them) exist as isolated experiences and are not related to this new game.”
– Is Tomb Raider a prequel?
KS: “While Tomb Raider stars a 21-year-old Lara Croft, it isn’t a prequel to her other adventures. Rather, it’s an origin story with completely new canon (see question above).”
– Why does Lara have a modern phone in the Turning Point trailer?
KS: “The reason Lara has a modern phone in our debut trailer is because Tomb Raider takes place with Lara at age 21 come launch day.”
– Will Tomb Raider release simultaneously worldwide?
KS: “Yes, you can expect a global, simultaneous release!”
– Why is the lead up till Tomb Raider’s release so long?
KS: “The reason we’re taking our time with the game is first and foremost to ensure we deliver the quality game fans deserve. Additionally, the longer campaign gives fans and newcomers time to properly digest and acclimate to who this new Lara Croft is. The reimagined game and character are a departure from the legacy franchise, and as such time is needed to properly set the stage from both a narrative and character development standpoint. It will be worth the wait, I promise!”
– Will there be more Tomb Raider games after this newest release?
KS: [Laughing] “Let us at least get this one out so you can play and tell us what you think! Of course though, we’re reimagining the entire franchise and this is step one. Enjoy it, play it, and we’ll tell you later what our plan for the future is.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– What platforms is Tomb Raider in development for?
KS: “Tomb Raider will ship for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.”
– Will we see Tomb Raider on the Wii U or any other Nintendo Platform?
KS: “At this time no. When we started developing the game we made a conscious decision that it was all about building the game for a platform and making sure the game was specific to that platform. Given that we’ve been working on the game quite a while before Wii U was announced I think it would not be right to try and port it across. If we started building a game for the Wii U we would build it very differently and we would build it with unique functionality.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Will there be a Mac version of Tomb Raider?
KS: “Yes! We’re in the middle of discussions with a company looking to do just that. I’d love to be able to see it day and date with the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC release, but there is a technological aspect to it as well that we need to achieve. But yes, I want a Mac version because I love my Mac.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Are the controls nearly done? Will PC users be forced to use a controller, or will there be a proper keyboard and mouse setup?
KS: “I used to be a big PC fan and I appreciate that individuals want to play with a mouse and keyboard. We’ve already started talking about the PC and keyboard layout, so yes, our goal working on the PC version is to allow for play with the controller or keyboard and mouse. We’ll keep you updated.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Will there be a Tomb Raider Collector’s Edition?
KS: “Of course! I love collector’s editions and personally designed sets for Batman: Arkham Asylum and Age of Conan. I’ve done loads and loads and I’m a big fan of them. So yes it’s on my list and I’ve already been doing a lot of exploration so I can say with certainty that there will be a collector’s edition. The editions may be unique to specific territories however, because some areas have restrictions and so on.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Why did Crystal Dynamics decide on a Mature rating for Tomb Raider?
KS: “In the very early stages of concepting the reimagining of Tomb Raider it became evident that we were toning down the experiences that Lara would go through in order to fit in a T-rated game. It belittled the themes we felt so pivotal to delivering a new experience. We took some time and did some soul searching and decided that we had to move into the M-rated space. If we didn’t, the player would feel like the game was soft and light and that it wasn’t believable. It was a tough decision to make because there are many things to take into consideration including the age of our fans and the partners we can work with and even the times we can advertise our game. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but we believe we’ve made the right decision.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– How many hours of gameplay will Tomb Raider feature?
MM: “ It’s a bit too early to put a number on hours. That being said, I know the team is working very hard to deliver a fulfilling experience that is competitive within the genre. I know my answer is vague, but we’ll clarify when we have a better idea down the road.”
– Can we request Portuguese subtitles for Tomb Raider?
MM: “We’ve had an outpouring of support from the Brazilian community and the desire for Portuguese subtitles has most definitely been heard. We’re looking into the prospect very seriously and are in the process of meeting with various export market representatives. It’s a bit too early to confirm Portuguese subtitles, but keep an eye on this space for news as development continues.”
– Will Tomb Raider feature Croft Manor or Lara’s butler Winston?
KS: [Laughing] “There won’t be a mansion on the island unless her parents had the foresight to send an architect there and build it without her knowing. And no, there aren’t any butlers in the game to lock into freezers.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Will the Doppelganger or Kurtis Trent make an appearance in Tomb Raider?
KS: [Laughing again] “No and no. I could sit here and try and elaborate, but neither of those characters play a part in this vision of Tomb Raider.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Did Lara still study archaeology, and is she an aristocrat?
KS: “This is a very grounded Lara. She is still smart, she is still in college, and yes, she is still studying an element of archaeology. Is she an aristocrat? In this game we need to veer away from placing her in a social structure. She’s got a little bit of a back-story, but we don’t go into detail. Lara primarily wants to be accepted by her friends and by people in general. Her getting a job is more about wanting to socially convene with friends and be a team player rather than an issue of her not having any money. I don’t think we’d ever say ‘by the way, now she’s poor and from a broken home!’ That’s not Lara. Again, it’s not so much about financial status as it is the fact that she wants to gain experiences. That’s what Lara Croft is all about – gaining new experiences.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Is Tomb Raider a survival horror game?
KS: “It’s funny that the term ‘survival horror’ has been used by the press, because it’s something we’re not trying to be. Obviously we’ve only shown off so much of the game till now and there is a sense of horror to it. It will be horrifying because you’re coming across people and instances and a world that is completely unfamiliar to you. The situations Lara will find herself in will require her to fight to survive. It’s more survival-adventure in our eyes. Lara is still a treasure hunter and adventurer looking for something new.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Will weather be scripted in Tomb Raider, or will there be a day and night cycle?
KS: “You will not stand in one place and over time watch the sun set and the moon rise. That being said, you will feel like there’s a persistent weather system. If you play in night hub and it’s raining and you fast travel back to another area, it will be rainy there too. It won’t feel like a dynamic weather system where you can stand on a cliff for hours and watch the sun moving across the sky. We have smart systems in place to help present it so that as you move around it will be the same time of day and weather as contextual to the narrative.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Will the camera be unique from past Tomb Raider titles in the upcoming game?
KS: “Yes, the camera will be unique from past Tomb Raider games. We realize that in some ways it always felt a little hard to control. We were very happy with the games we shipped, but we realized we needed to create a whole new camera to add a whole new experience. We needed to immerse the player in the experience and help them feel each different tone. When you Lara going through the tunnel in the scavenger den, obviously you can’t do that with a ten-foot camera off the back of her shoulder. You need to be up close and personal and hear her in your speakers and have the intimacy to see what she is seeing.
“When you get into situation such as combat you need to be able to pull the camera back and allow the player to see more around them and evaluate the situation Lara is in. The same is true when she is climbing through the dynamic traversal. You need to be in that space with her. So we class it as a ‘dynamic camera’ and we’ve brought on a whole team just to ensure that experience is unique and different. As the campaign unfolds you’ll start to see some very bold and innovative ways of showing how we’ve tailored the camera for each experience. It really is phenomenal.”
[Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Why did Crystal Dynamics partner up with Beats by Dre, Speck, and showcase Lara with an iPhone in the Turning Point trailer? Will product partnerships continue throughout the game?
KS: “What I’d say about those products is that from the very early days when we started concepting out the trailer I really wanted to make sure that we positioned the trailer in modern day. I’m not big into pulling in product just for the sake of it. I don’t like doing deals just for the money. Everything we do has to make sense with the character and the world.
“For me it was about trying to find items that would help ground Lara in the world and tell you a little about her. If you pick up someone’s iPhone or iPod you start to understand more about that person. So for us the earphones stood for something. They are the earphones of today. We didn’t pay them and they didn’t pay us. It just fit the character we were creating.
“As far as longer-term partnerships Tomb Raider has been around for fifteen years and has many partnerships with many companies. We’ve pulled many of them back and decided not to continue with them because they don’t live beside the brand that we envision over the next five to ten years. But then there are partnerships that make perfect sense. Over the course of the campaign you’ll see some, but every partnership we have will fit within the world of the game.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Will Lara need food, water, or shelter in the new Tomb Raider?
KS: “Yes, because she’s not a robot. We’re actually deep in that now and fine-tuning it in terms of how much water and how much food; how long she can go before consciously you’re like ‘I’d be starving by now.’ We’re also exploring what it means to collect. I’m not going to detail it too much and spoil it. What I will say is that this is not a simulation game. You’re not going to be picking berries and drinking your own wee in order to survive, but there will be a sense of realism in that she will have to scavenge food to keep herself going. [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Is the model we’ve seen of Lara in the 2011 demos finished?
KS: “What you see right now is very early for Lara. We have artists working around the clock to get things like fabric and hair moving properly. This is one of the problems with showing content as early as we have been. There are certain things that will take the back burner until the game is finished internally and we get into a phase of polish. Lara’s hair is probably 40 or 50 percent of the way. The face of Lara and clothing of Lara is locked and won’t change, but details are still in flux. She’ll get much better.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Will cutscenes be in-game or pre-rendered?
KS: “The pre-rendered work we did with VisualWorks was purely a one-off. Everything in game will use the Crystal Engine. We haven’t pre-rendered anything and we intend to keep it that way. Not to say we’re sitting here in the studio making every single cinematic. We gave our engine to a partner company in LA and they aid with mo-capping and capturing VO and all that stuff, and then help build out our cinematic sequences. They have worked on Avatar and are also working on Hitman. The world’s best people are working on it.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
In regards to the E3 demo, will Lara continue to talk to herself and exclaim audibly throughout the duration of the game? How do you balance this self-narration with a sense of isolation?
KS: “When you try to reposition a brand and showcase a new vision, you have to go through a strong character arch. As we’ve stated, Lara is 21 years of age and straight out of college when she ends up in this situation. Just like anyone she is afraid and alone and most people would talk to themselves for hours on end just to keep their sanity.
“The goal as we move through the game is to see this huge character arc for Lara. Every day and every experience will make her stronger and make her closer to the Lara Croft we want her to be. So in the early stages you’ve seen her talking to herself or wincing or moaning, but won’t continue to the same degree. It’s a very serious thing for us, hitting that growth correctly. At the end of the game we want people to sit back and say ‘that’s Lara Croft.’” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Is there any chance of seeing cut footage from the Turing Point trailer?
KS: “If I had my way from the very start the trailer would have been much longer. In one of our first brainstorming sessions I pitched an eight minute version to Visualworks. I had Lara walking up to the ship and saying hello to Roth and putting her bag in the room and going for dinner. VisualWorks looked at me and said ‘you’re off your trolley.’ So the final trailer is about four minutes and ten seconds. There is probably about a minute on the cutting room floor.
“I’d love to think we’d put it all together some day, but the way in which it was built isn’t that we left scenes on the floor. It’s more that we were looking to get a specific level of emotion. For example in order to capture the scene where Lara nearly drowns in the escape hatch, we had to shoot it from many different angles. We captured an entire scene from inside the escape hatch and an entire scene from outside the escape hatch looking down. Then you start editing it together. So a lot of the stuff left on the floor isn’t necessarily something we can bolt onto the end and call it the ‘extended version.’” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Will there be unlockable outfits in the game, or just Lara’s default clothing?
KS: “Of course Tomb Raider has been known throughout the years to have unlockables and ways to interact beyond just the core game. We take that to heart. All I can say is ‘watch this space.’ We love unlockables and we love items as much as you do. That isn’t a yes or a no, but it’s a “worth thinking about.’ We’re still so far out it isn’t a decision we need to make next week.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Will there be DLC (console-exclusive or otherwise) for Tomb Raider?
KS: “Obviously it’s not something I can get into detail about right now. We will look into DLC and we’ve done DLC in the past, but it all boils down to experience. We need to make sure it fits. We also need to make sure we have time to build it, and we’re focused on the core experience right now. As far as exclusives, again, there is no real comment on that because you never know what’s around the corner. We try and keep as agnostic as possible, but I can’t even say if there will be a repeat of the Xbox exclusive for Underworld. If we do DLC, what’s the story? How does it fit within the game? That comes first.
“We will build our game from start to finish and we want people to experience that 100 percent. When you pick up a copy of our game we want you to feel like you started and finished something. The story ended. If there is a piece of DLC, it may continue on a different trail from something that was hinted at in the game, or it might take something out of left field. DLC will give you a different experience, however, it’s certainly not something that has been removed from the game in order to make more money. That is completely against what we’re all about. Especially in regards to Tomb Raider it’s more important than ever that we do DLC right. The end of the game has to feel definitive. You don’t see a movie in a theater only for the big finale to be reserved for the DVD. That doesn’t happen.” [Transcribed from Crystal Habit Podcast]
– Will we ever see some behind the scenes content, such as motion-capture and voice-recording sessions?
KS: Yes, we intend to show lots of behind the scenes content, but are working to ensure that it isn’t delivered in the same old vein as developer diaries. We’re going to do something very special in not-so-distant future, although I don’t want to give it away right now. [From forum Q&A session #1]
– The game will have any stealth system or it will be more action style?
KS: We’re working very hard to ensure our combat system has a variety of different play paths and play styles. Melee, ranged, and stealth interactions all play a huge part in this world. We’re looking forward to showing you our combat system around E3, when we’ll be unveiling it. [From forum Q&A session #1]
Can we expect to see a variety of enemies? or will it be exclusive to the islanders and animals? (ie no more mythological creatures?) and/or boss battles?
I don’t want to keep giving away spoilers. There is obviously an element of mystery to the island that you have to play to properly experience. I can say that there are plenty of people on the island, and lots of diversity in your encounters. I look forward to fans seeing the bow in action, and to hunting. That’s what you do on an island, right? Hunt. [From forum Q&A session #1]
– Now that Lara is so much more humanized, what’s the potential to see her get involved in any relationships?
KS: I’ve read and fed into the script now on many, many occasions, and I can tell you that there is no love interest in this game. She is trying to survive. She is busy. Surviving the situation is all she can cope with right now; surviving a relationship would be a bit tough. In one of the next releases we could possibly see this more human Lara meet someone, but that is way over the horizon. [From forum Q&A session #1]
– All the past games have had Lara search for an artifact. Will the goal of the game be an artifact, or survival?
KS: Lara has landed on an island that is shrouded in mystery, so obviously we want her to uncover that mystery. First and foremost she has to survive. There is a core discovery to be made, and that core discovery will unlock the mystery of the entire island and answer a lot of questions for you. There are items and artifacts that you have to pick up and find around the island, but everything points to this big discovery. [From forum Q&A session #1]
– Will the axe interact with fixed climbing points, or will we be able to free climb with it?
We have a very wide range of fixed points, guaranteeing you’ll have freedom of movement. There are limitations, however, like not being able to jump off the side of a cliff and hook onto the side at random to free climb. The real world doesn’t work like that. Like real life you can’t just walk up to a cliff and assume you can climb it. It may be too steep, or too rocky, or jagged. But then there will be other areas perfect for climbing. It will feel organic and natural. The path won’t be screaming at you. [From forum Q&A session #1]
– Will the music in the trailer be the Main Theme?
d1n0_xD asks: The music in the trailer is so awesome, is it going to be the Main theme?
Alex Wilmer: It is indeed the theme. It was very important for us to reveal it in this way. [From official forum]
Does the game engine support dynamic lighting?
Phaid asks: Lara seems to not cast any shadow in these pics: pic1 pic2 pic3. Does the engine support dynamic lighting?
Brian Horton: The engine supports dynamic shadows on multiple light sources, the shots you pointed to have shadows but they were not clear in those angles. Thanks for the question, hope that clears it up.
