_Lam
27-06-07, 02:06
Hi ! I just wanted to share with you what could be the best Tomb Raider. Don't get me wrong, I love both Core and Crystal, but both of those team did mistakes, mistakes that can be easily correct with today's technologie. We know that the next Tomb Raider will be out in 2008-2009, and we know that in those years, game will be... BIG !
So, I'm not scared, I will post all the things that need to be corrected to me. And I want to know if you are agree, and I hope that CD will read this, they told us they would make research in the fan community so...
I'll start with this... it's from Black Sheepa, and I agree with what he said : http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=99466
First, we know that TRL2 (Tomb Raider Legend 2) will be the sequel of TRL, and we know that it's not everybody who like TRL. So I think that this is the goal that Crystal Dinamic need to reach :
PLEASE ALL THE FANS... OLD AND NEW !
How to do that ? OPTION, I think that it's a great issue, because we cannot make a game that will please all the fans without options, CD show us that they can do it by adding auto-grap or manual-grab in TRA. So why don't continue this ?
Alister and Zip :
We know that a lot of people here, including me, do not like those 2 guys, so here's my solution : Why couldn't we turn off the headset. And, instead of talking about everything that is not important, they could give us clue.
- For exemple, in TRL, they were like : Hey Alister, you are so stupid !
Why don't change this for : Maybe this thing can be movable. So, for those who want clue, they wouldn't be obligated to hear their boring joke. You know what I mean ? Instead of talking about anything, they could just focus on clues, like if they work with Lara. Because in Legend, they make fun of her when she risk her life....
Fear Factor :
CD showed us what they can do, in TRA, the fear factor was there, but why wouldn't we ask for more ? I don't want a Resident Evil of course, but simple fear that a simple person would have when this person would be alone in a temple. I would say one thing : BREAK THE LIMITS ! Why don't make falling blocks, just to scare the player, strange noises... You know what I mean, just simple objects, we don't need a big dragon to scare someone, just a little statue, noise or animal.
For exemple :
- You are in a big room, you hear a huge tiger roar, but there's no tiger.
- ............................, there a statue in front of you, you jump on it, it falls.
- ............................, there's a bird that pass in front of the screen.
But we can also use huge things, like a big monster coming out of no where. In TRA, ennemis were showed with cinematics, of course those cutscenes were impressive and beautifull, but nothing can be as scary as a huge T-Rex coming out of no where. So here's my suggestion : Break the limits !
Combat :
The combat system have change a lot in those years. Both of Core's and Crystal's combat system have problems. First, the Core's one... It's just, boring, jump, shoot, jump, shoot... There's no technic...
And the Crystal's one is very complicated, my father was no able to played it. First, we need to remove those huge red cross that break all the graphical work that they've done for the levels... One simple suggestion : Make it optionnal. It's as easy to know wich ennemis we shoot by looking at the direction Lara is pointing. So if the new fans prefer those red cross, they just need to turn them on on the option menu.
Also, I like those crazy bullet-time effects, but PLEASE, PLEASE ! Don't obligate us to use them, I mean, if an ennemis start a rage attack, we were obligated to use the bullet-time action, or if we want to kill the Torso or the T-Rex... There should be a lot of way to kill a boss, and if we want to use this effect, we will use it, don't force us.
Also, I like that in TRA, each guns as it proper way of use, like the pistols, we need to push the shooting buttons one time for one bullet, and not for the uzi.
So here's my suggestion : Make the combat more attractive than shooting and shooting and don't force us to use a technic to kill the ennemis.
For exemple.. If someone would prefer to kill Natla by shooting at her, like the old way... Just shoot, she would die. Or, if someone prefer the technic and want more challenge, he would need to search in the area to know what to do, for exemple, if I don't want to break my finger on my controler, I would just need to look around for something that could killed her. And we would need to avoid her fire ball and THINK ! So, maybe after few minutes I would saw that there's a strange collum, and I would see that I could use my grapple to make this collum falling on Natla.
And if I'm tired and I don't find the solution, I would just be like : Oh, too bad, it's too hard, I will just shoot at her.
So, the resume what I say : Make us choose the way to kill the ennemis, if I want too break our controller, we would just need to shoot, if I prefer to find a technic, I would just need to look around and avoid the ennemi's attacks to find the way of killing the ennemis...
And, make us free, nobody here need a battle area, we don't need to be in a battle area to feel that we are stuck... Like the T-Rex in TRA, where's a small place where we can hide ? And, if you create new monsters, why couldn't we avoid their attacks by hidding in hidden place, so, again, if we want to simple way, we just need to jump to avoid the attack, or, again, if you want to hard way, we you need to look around to find a place to hide and to think about the way of killing the boss or the ennemis.
Ennemis :
I think that everyone here agree that it's much more funny to kill DIFFERENT ennemis instead of humans. But this doesn't mean to remove all the humans, in TRA, all the human killing were in cutscene, NO, WE WANT BOTH !
And again, I say to Crystal : Break the limits, like Gow of War, you can create the most crazy creature, the smallest, the biggest ! Break the limits... I think that it was a bit cheesy in TRL the water snakes or the strange black things... We already saw these, be creative, like what you did with the Torso or the Atlantean, we need to be like : What the hell is this thing !
Lara :
This is probably the most important point, some here like Lara to be emotionnal (happy, smiling, almost crying, mad...) and some prefer her to be a killer... So here's what you could do : Don't exagerate... Like in TRA, when Lara see the T-Rex, this is TOO MUCH, she look crazy, and we do not feel that she's scared, she just looks... stupid ! Don't make her crying each time she saw a corpse, but maybe one time she could be a bit sad, for exemple, when she saw her mother... But in Legend, Lara is too much happy, sad... Come on' when I'm excited, I can be excited without being like : I'M FALLING IN LOVE ALL OVER AGAIN... Just a simple smile... But of course, we need to keep her bad ass attitude and sarcastic sentences, without making Lara like a serial killer.
Story :
Of course the mother and father will be there, and again, don't overuse it. I think that it was perfect in TRA, just like 2-3 time we saw Lara talking about them... Not more.
And here's one of the most important point, we need to answer thoses non-explained story.
I WANT TR8 TO BE THE ANSWERS OF EVERYTHING.
Why don't explain what's the seventh age, why don't imply a connection with TR1-TRA-TR6-TR4-TRL... We need to know, YOU CANNOT remove the old story, you cannot, it's a part of Lara's story, we need an answer :
- What's the seventh age ?
- What happen to Lara in the pyramide (TR4)
- Kurtis ?
- What happen to mommy and daddy
- Chronogical order of those story ?
- What is the Nephilim
- What is Avalon
- And more.
I think it's better to create a link between all this, because if nothing is connect, we will start to be fuc*k*d after 12 differents stories.
Kurtis :
Ok, this is complicated. Some want him, some not. I would say that YOU SHOULDN'T make him playable, it's Tomb Raider, it's Lara... But this doesn't mean to remove him, why couldn't he be in a cutscene to answer some of our questions. But please, don't start a love story between those two. I think that the Lara-Larson story was great, not too overuse...
EDIT 1 :
The Mansion :
The only thing I can say is that both of the mansion were funny (I'm talking about TR1-2-3 vs. TRL-TRA) but the TRL-TRA mansion is more boring once you finish the quest. So here's the goal, we need replay value. The mansion need to be a place where we can play in peace, and practice our move, not a long quest...
And again, be creative, we couldn't we create an outside path to reach the mansion's roof, be crazy ! Lara could climb the window, water drain and balconny to reach the roof, and on the roof, there's could be a huge target down on the garden so we could do a swandive and we would need to reach the red point to get more points... It's just crazy loll, there's no logic there it's just fun ! No need a long complicated quest to have fun, just crazy things to laugh a lot. A trainning path in the outside, or a huge maze (like I saw on a fan's concept art) and maybe a place where we would need to shoot the target ! Hidden places in the basement, and place where we could learn more about Lara's history. A huge aquarium in the basement, a place where we could fight a robot (TR1 MOVIE)...
And to please bot of the fan, maybe create the old and new mansion... But even in 2009, it's still hard to do. Or you can just mixt the two together, but adding small thing the the fridge (TR1) the trainning path (TR2) and more !
So here's the suggestion : Be crazy !
EDIT 2
Interactive Cutscene :
Honnestly, I never like those, why ? First :
- The huge icon appear out of no where and it break the immersion
- When you are not able to do it, you need to watch the same cutscene over and over again
But I know that you (Crystal Dynamic) seems to like them, so here's what I would do :
- Make them harder, there should be combinasion of buttons, like when the T-Rex appear, why couldn't we just tap the triangle buttons repetively when Lara run... Come on' we can hold more than just one simple buttons. And if you want to please the younger fan, why couldn't we make them optionnal ? So, if the interactive cutscene option is off, you got the same cutscene, without those huge icon and you don't need to tap on it, it's just a normal cutscene
- If the icon could be smaller, why don't put them in the corner of the screen, like what you did with the triangle button in TRA, I think it was brilliant !
And also, sometime, I felt like you made the cutscene especially to create an interactive cutscene like : Well, we need to had another icon... Hummm, so why Lara wouldn't jump over this raptor...
You know what I mean ? Don't -force- your cinematic to created an interactive cutscene.
So, I think that with this, you will please EVERYBODY !
So I will stop here for tonigh, I will edit my post each time I have other suggestions. And I want your opinion about what I've written.
Also, I want to say that I think CD did a great job with TRA, for me, it's the best, but there's still things that need to be corrected for TR8.
BREAK THE LIMITS, DO SOMETHING NOBODY DID BEFORE !
*Sorry for my bad spelling, I'm french.
So, I'm not scared, I will post all the things that need to be corrected to me. And I want to know if you are agree, and I hope that CD will read this, they told us they would make research in the fan community so...
I'll start with this... it's from Black Sheepa, and I agree with what he said : http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=99466
First, we know that TRL2 (Tomb Raider Legend 2) will be the sequel of TRL, and we know that it's not everybody who like TRL. So I think that this is the goal that Crystal Dinamic need to reach :
PLEASE ALL THE FANS... OLD AND NEW !
How to do that ? OPTION, I think that it's a great issue, because we cannot make a game that will please all the fans without options, CD show us that they can do it by adding auto-grap or manual-grab in TRA. So why don't continue this ?
Alister and Zip :
We know that a lot of people here, including me, do not like those 2 guys, so here's my solution : Why couldn't we turn off the headset. And, instead of talking about everything that is not important, they could give us clue.
- For exemple, in TRL, they were like : Hey Alister, you are so stupid !
Why don't change this for : Maybe this thing can be movable. So, for those who want clue, they wouldn't be obligated to hear their boring joke. You know what I mean ? Instead of talking about anything, they could just focus on clues, like if they work with Lara. Because in Legend, they make fun of her when she risk her life....
Fear Factor :
CD showed us what they can do, in TRA, the fear factor was there, but why wouldn't we ask for more ? I don't want a Resident Evil of course, but simple fear that a simple person would have when this person would be alone in a temple. I would say one thing : BREAK THE LIMITS ! Why don't make falling blocks, just to scare the player, strange noises... You know what I mean, just simple objects, we don't need a big dragon to scare someone, just a little statue, noise or animal.
For exemple :
- You are in a big room, you hear a huge tiger roar, but there's no tiger.
- ............................, there a statue in front of you, you jump on it, it falls.
- ............................, there's a bird that pass in front of the screen.
But we can also use huge things, like a big monster coming out of no where. In TRA, ennemis were showed with cinematics, of course those cutscenes were impressive and beautifull, but nothing can be as scary as a huge T-Rex coming out of no where. So here's my suggestion : Break the limits !
Combat :
The combat system have change a lot in those years. Both of Core's and Crystal's combat system have problems. First, the Core's one... It's just, boring, jump, shoot, jump, shoot... There's no technic...
And the Crystal's one is very complicated, my father was no able to played it. First, we need to remove those huge red cross that break all the graphical work that they've done for the levels... One simple suggestion : Make it optionnal. It's as easy to know wich ennemis we shoot by looking at the direction Lara is pointing. So if the new fans prefer those red cross, they just need to turn them on on the option menu.
Also, I like those crazy bullet-time effects, but PLEASE, PLEASE ! Don't obligate us to use them, I mean, if an ennemis start a rage attack, we were obligated to use the bullet-time action, or if we want to kill the Torso or the T-Rex... There should be a lot of way to kill a boss, and if we want to use this effect, we will use it, don't force us.
Also, I like that in TRA, each guns as it proper way of use, like the pistols, we need to push the shooting buttons one time for one bullet, and not for the uzi.
So here's my suggestion : Make the combat more attractive than shooting and shooting and don't force us to use a technic to kill the ennemis.
For exemple.. If someone would prefer to kill Natla by shooting at her, like the old way... Just shoot, she would die. Or, if someone prefer the technic and want more challenge, he would need to search in the area to know what to do, for exemple, if I don't want to break my finger on my controler, I would just need to look around for something that could killed her. And we would need to avoid her fire ball and THINK ! So, maybe after few minutes I would saw that there's a strange collum, and I would see that I could use my grapple to make this collum falling on Natla.
And if I'm tired and I don't find the solution, I would just be like : Oh, too bad, it's too hard, I will just shoot at her.
So, the resume what I say : Make us choose the way to kill the ennemis, if I want too break our controller, we would just need to shoot, if I prefer to find a technic, I would just need to look around and avoid the ennemi's attacks to find the way of killing the ennemis...
And, make us free, nobody here need a battle area, we don't need to be in a battle area to feel that we are stuck... Like the T-Rex in TRA, where's a small place where we can hide ? And, if you create new monsters, why couldn't we avoid their attacks by hidding in hidden place, so, again, if we want to simple way, we just need to jump to avoid the attack, or, again, if you want to hard way, we you need to look around to find a place to hide and to think about the way of killing the boss or the ennemis.
Ennemis :
I think that everyone here agree that it's much more funny to kill DIFFERENT ennemis instead of humans. But this doesn't mean to remove all the humans, in TRA, all the human killing were in cutscene, NO, WE WANT BOTH !
And again, I say to Crystal : Break the limits, like Gow of War, you can create the most crazy creature, the smallest, the biggest ! Break the limits... I think that it was a bit cheesy in TRL the water snakes or the strange black things... We already saw these, be creative, like what you did with the Torso or the Atlantean, we need to be like : What the hell is this thing !
Lara :
This is probably the most important point, some here like Lara to be emotionnal (happy, smiling, almost crying, mad...) and some prefer her to be a killer... So here's what you could do : Don't exagerate... Like in TRA, when Lara see the T-Rex, this is TOO MUCH, she look crazy, and we do not feel that she's scared, she just looks... stupid ! Don't make her crying each time she saw a corpse, but maybe one time she could be a bit sad, for exemple, when she saw her mother... But in Legend, Lara is too much happy, sad... Come on' when I'm excited, I can be excited without being like : I'M FALLING IN LOVE ALL OVER AGAIN... Just a simple smile... But of course, we need to keep her bad ass attitude and sarcastic sentences, without making Lara like a serial killer.
Story :
Of course the mother and father will be there, and again, don't overuse it. I think that it was perfect in TRA, just like 2-3 time we saw Lara talking about them... Not more.
And here's one of the most important point, we need to answer thoses non-explained story.
I WANT TR8 TO BE THE ANSWERS OF EVERYTHING.
Why don't explain what's the seventh age, why don't imply a connection with TR1-TRA-TR6-TR4-TRL... We need to know, YOU CANNOT remove the old story, you cannot, it's a part of Lara's story, we need an answer :
- What's the seventh age ?
- What happen to Lara in the pyramide (TR4)
- Kurtis ?
- What happen to mommy and daddy
- Chronogical order of those story ?
- What is the Nephilim
- What is Avalon
- And more.
I think it's better to create a link between all this, because if nothing is connect, we will start to be fuc*k*d after 12 differents stories.
Kurtis :
Ok, this is complicated. Some want him, some not. I would say that YOU SHOULDN'T make him playable, it's Tomb Raider, it's Lara... But this doesn't mean to remove him, why couldn't he be in a cutscene to answer some of our questions. But please, don't start a love story between those two. I think that the Lara-Larson story was great, not too overuse...
EDIT 1 :
The Mansion :
The only thing I can say is that both of the mansion were funny (I'm talking about TR1-2-3 vs. TRL-TRA) but the TRL-TRA mansion is more boring once you finish the quest. So here's the goal, we need replay value. The mansion need to be a place where we can play in peace, and practice our move, not a long quest...
And again, be creative, we couldn't we create an outside path to reach the mansion's roof, be crazy ! Lara could climb the window, water drain and balconny to reach the roof, and on the roof, there's could be a huge target down on the garden so we could do a swandive and we would need to reach the red point to get more points... It's just crazy loll, there's no logic there it's just fun ! No need a long complicated quest to have fun, just crazy things to laugh a lot. A trainning path in the outside, or a huge maze (like I saw on a fan's concept art) and maybe a place where we would need to shoot the target ! Hidden places in the basement, and place where we could learn more about Lara's history. A huge aquarium in the basement, a place where we could fight a robot (TR1 MOVIE)...
And to please bot of the fan, maybe create the old and new mansion... But even in 2009, it's still hard to do. Or you can just mixt the two together, but adding small thing the the fridge (TR1) the trainning path (TR2) and more !
So here's the suggestion : Be crazy !
EDIT 2
Interactive Cutscene :
Honnestly, I never like those, why ? First :
- The huge icon appear out of no where and it break the immersion
- When you are not able to do it, you need to watch the same cutscene over and over again
But I know that you (Crystal Dynamic) seems to like them, so here's what I would do :
- Make them harder, there should be combinasion of buttons, like when the T-Rex appear, why couldn't we just tap the triangle buttons repetively when Lara run... Come on' we can hold more than just one simple buttons. And if you want to please the younger fan, why couldn't we make them optionnal ? So, if the interactive cutscene option is off, you got the same cutscene, without those huge icon and you don't need to tap on it, it's just a normal cutscene
- If the icon could be smaller, why don't put them in the corner of the screen, like what you did with the triangle button in TRA, I think it was brilliant !
And also, sometime, I felt like you made the cutscene especially to create an interactive cutscene like : Well, we need to had another icon... Hummm, so why Lara wouldn't jump over this raptor...
You know what I mean ? Don't -force- your cinematic to created an interactive cutscene.
So, I think that with this, you will please EVERYBODY !
So I will stop here for tonigh, I will edit my post each time I have other suggestions. And I want your opinion about what I've written.
Also, I want to say that I think CD did a great job with TRA, for me, it's the best, but there's still things that need to be corrected for TR8.
BREAK THE LIMITS, DO SOMETHING NOBODY DID BEFORE !
*Sorry for my bad spelling, I'm french.