What would AoD have been like on other consoles?

[Phlip]

If it wasn't console exclusive to the PS2, what do you think it would have appeared on, and would it have helped or hindered the production?

For me, it might have made it worse for Core having to make it work on other systems, and it may have appeared on Dreamcast... or Xbox.

[Caesum]

I don't think that there's much to discuss about. It would have been practicaly the same as the difference between PC and PS2 version. The gameplay would be the same. The biggest difference would be in graphics and controls only. Core wanted to squeeze out as much of the hardware as possible and so it would be visible in textures, details and little touches(like in PC version) and pfx and fullscreen effects(PS2). Other than that, it would be the same game.

[Phlip]

Yeah, I was just wondering if the extra workload of an extra port would have negatively impacted on the production. Like maybe something wouldn't work on one system so they would have to remove it from all others. Apparently Sony making Core use analogue controls screwed up some stuff and parts had to be taken out of levels, or something, and so obviously it would have been taken out of the PC version as well.

Also I wonder what other platforms it could have gone onto.

[Caesum]

You're right, but as you said, it was because of controls that were forced by Sony. Yet on other consoles there wouldn't be such a problem. Even if there was someone who would be possible to force them to change controls, they already had both classic and analogue based ones done.

[peeves]

I bet it woulda turned out to be like bad graphics if it was on other systems.

[motoleo]

^ I thought you liked Tomb Raider 6.

[peeves]

Originally Posted by motoleo

^ I thought you liked Tomb Raider 6.

I do like TR6 i was saying if it was on platform like the Dreamcast the graphics would be bad.

[aussie500]

Originally Posted by Phlip

Yeah, I was just wondering if the extra workload of an extra port would have negatively impacted on the production. Like maybe something wouldn't work on one system so they would have to remove it from all others. Apparently Sony making Core use analogue controls screwed up some stuff and parts had to be taken out of levels, or something, and so obviously it would have been taken out of the PC version as well.

Also I wonder what other platforms it could have gone onto.

The only other console they were looking at was the Xbox, but that got cancelled when Sony wanted another exclusive deal. I do not think Core would have ever realised the problem with AOD till it was too late, all three versions would have still been the same. The content deleted was not deleted because it would not work with the controls, it was deleted for other reasons.

Unfortunately the old interviews are vanishing pretty fast, my original source for the two below has vanished, but they were CVG interviews.

Tomb Raider Next Gen: world's first details
Wednesday 15-Aug-2001 12:00 AM
CVG has it. Head in for the first details on Tomb Raider Next Generation. Be prepared for a shock: it's actually completely amazing…

Lara, Lara, Lara. We knew you so well. The most famous gaming heroine in existence. The über-Goddess of the TV screens of the masses. Sweet Lara. RIP.

Ms Croft, as you've known her to this point, is dead. Tomb Raider Chronicles will be the last version to appear on PlayStation, "The culmination of all the best things we've worked on so far with Tomb Raider," according to Adrian Smith, operations director of the company.The new Lara - note: not Tomb Raider - is looking so good you want to scream with frustration at the marginal yearly PlayStation output Core has bombarded us with for the last five years. CVG took the first look at what has been completed so far of the PS2 Lara last Friday, and can confirm beyond any shadow of a doubt that this has the potential to be the most accomplished adult-oriented adventure game ever created.Character animation is looking extremely slick. The new PS2 Lara has over 5,000 polygons on her body, as opposed to the 500 of the PlayStation version. Walking, running and speaking, she looks a world away from what you're used to seeing on your PlayStation and PC.

This easily looks as polished as anything we've seen running on PlayStation 2 so far.In the model we saw, Lara was wearing a brown jacket and a pair of blue jeans. Hair was still long and tied back, but the way she moves and her facial animations are nothing short of brilliance, in terms of stylised realism. It is the quality of the FMV in PlayStation Tomb Raider in real-time.Environments are being painstakingly being pinned together by the as yet small team of around six people. Concept art pinned on the walls of Core's studio bears heavy influence from European cities such as London and Paris. One still image we saw showed a staircase with stone lions at the base, and others contained alleys and back streets for Lara to explore. Detail is extreme, fine and rich. Anyone out there that's taken a day or two in Paris or Venice, and spent some time wandering around the smaller cobbled streets, should have an idea of what to expect in terms of atmosphere.Rest assured you won't be seeing a Tomb Raider Next Generation every year. "No way," laughed Smith. "We certainly won't be setting that precedent again."

Aside from Lara, at least two other characters will be playable. One is called Curtis, a streetwise guy that, at the moment, sports a Motorhead jacket, a team joke. The other is being kept under wraps at the moment, but character art pinned on the wall showed around 12 separate people drawn in charcoal, including obvious baddies, large-eyed females and fat men in suits. One showed a man hanging from chains in a crucifix-esque pose with a leather mask over his face. "We're definitely aiming for a more mature audience," said Smith. S&M 'r' us.Tomb Raider will not be the name on the box this time, and will instead focus more on Lara herself. Core has not yet decided the final moniker of the new and improved version, but CVG can confirm that the game will not be a PlayStation 2 exclusive. Xbox was mentioned in the development room, but Smith was reticent to actually go on the record on the matter. "I won't confirm it for Xbox today," he said. "There are certain licensing issued involved. But put it this way: Tomb Raider has always been developed on PC alongside the PlayStation version. Go figure."Look out for the first images of the new Lara included on the disc of Tomb Raider Chronicles, to be released in November. Core plans to include still shots, FMV from the game shown at the Eidos press event just before ECTS, and actually footage from the upcoming movie, with Lara played by Anjelina Jolie.You can't say fairer than that. We'll have the shots as soon as Core is ready to release them. Tomb Raider Next Generation is scheduled to ship at the end of 2001.

source

I would say in hindsight the 2001 date could have been wrong and it was meant to be 2002 by this point, but there were interviews done before TR5 came out that indicated it was originally planned to be a 2001 release. Eidos only announced the Nov 2002 date, and all the later revisions to that date. The fans of course latched on to every date given, we had no reason to think Core Design would not be able to predict how long it would take them to make the game.

Interview: Tomb Raider boss says PS2-only series "makes sense"
22-Mar-2002

Following the debut of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness this week, we collar Core chief Jeremy Smith: PS2 owners take note
Core Design boss Jeremy Smith hinted today that the relationship between the leading UK developer and Sony is unlikely to be broken for this generation of hardware. Smith said it would "make sense" for the upcoming set of Tomb Raider games to appear exclusively on the machine, although he declined to go into any serious detail on the wrangling involved in offering the franchise as a PS2 exclusive.

It's as edgy as edgy can be, this new Tomb Raider lark, so read on for the Core big man's views on Xbox, art and just what is new about Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.

So you had a good time at the launch?


Smith: Absolutely. We achieved everything we wanted to get across: the mood of the game, we wanted to get across that Lara's still Lara, and we wanted to get across that we're back. You know, we've never been away, we've just been a bit busy [laughs].

Obviously the fact that it's a PS2 exclusive isn't really a shock but you would have thought Sony would have to shell out a fair amount of money for that. Got any idea how much it was?

Smith: I think it isn't just about cash, if I'm honest with you. This is a relationship we've had for seven years with Sony. Sony and Core grew each other's brands in the early days. If you look back at where we were when we launched Tomb Raider, it was the second year of PlayStation, this time it's going to be the second year of PlayStation 2. The timing's right; it just makes sense that we co-op on advertising and everything else. Cash on the table? Don't know, but I know this for a fact: it made a lot of sense for us to do it.

A lot of people were expecting an Xbox version. What happened with your discussions with Microsoft? Did you just decide that Sony was a better partner?

Smith: Exactly, to be honest with you. We've got a good relationship with Microsoft and we like their machine, but we just feel that what we want out of the franchise we can get better with Sony.

You've taken a very different direction with Lara this time. You promised it would be dark, and it certainly is that. What worried us a little were the references to great artists and so on. Are you really aiming to deliver a highbrow product?

Smith: Yeah, I think there was a bit of, shall we say, artistic license there. These guys are artists; you know what they're like. I'm a gamer. This game is going to be squarely aimed at the Tomb Raider fan-base, so she is Lara and it's aimed exactly there. The story has the mystery; the game will get some of that across, but at the end of the day it's still a 3D action adventure game and we don't want to lose that.

What are you bringing in that's new? We saw the aspects that were obviously heavily influenced by Metal Gear there, and you've got the darker storyline, but what can we really expect that going to be new over the rest of the franchise?

Smith: Well, it's been really well reported that there's a second character to be introduced in the game. I don't want to dwell on that, because we're going to talk through that a little later on in the year. Also, we've changed Lara to be far more flexible. Her character now has matured; she's going communicate with other people in the game.

She's actually going to have a skill-set rating as well. We're not going RPG, what we're trying to say is that when you're in an environment there could be two ways to solve a puzzle such as getting to a room. One could be climbing up a wall and going through a window. If you're a Tomb Raider die-hard fan you'll probably know to try that. If you're new to it you'll probably go through a door and go up through the building. If you go by the direct route we may give you a special move, say, for example, to jump further. That special move will ultimately be given to all the players, you just get it a bit quicker. And then there's just the freedom that the PlayStation 2 enables us to do now. You saw Lara do that stealthy move by moving up behind a character and break his neck: for the first time she's going to have hand-to-hand combat. She's going to use stealth, but this isn't a Metal Gear Solid Game, this is a Tomb Raider game, but of course we looked at Metal Gear and Resident Evil and said, "Those two games are great games, what can we take out of that?" I know for a fact those two companies [Konami and Capcom] took some stuff out of our game, which is fine. I'm pretty relaxed about that. I think we're in good company.

You wanted to make Lara grow with the fanbase, because the people that were playing it years ago are obviously a lot older now, and they want something that's far more adult. Do you really think that you're going to deliver a truly adult title or are you still looking to appeal to younger players as well?

Smith: Well it's a question of defining adult really, isn't it? What we're trying to give the older player now, people that have grown up with Lara, is where we think you are. We want it to be a little more edgy, we want Lara to have different outfits and do different things. We still want it to be the classic jumping and looking for puzzles, but we want some extra elements in there like stealth and hand-to-hand combat. Define what you mean by adult. We think we're appealing to all audiences, but our heart is set to appeal to the Tomb Raider fan. We certainly haven't taken our eye off the ball there.

If we can talk about the future of the series: you signed the game as a PlayStation 2 exclusive. Can we expect the entire storyline to simply appear on PlayStation 2 and PC?

Smith: We haven't announced that yet but it would probably make sense. When we designed Tomb Raider 1, we designed one game. We didn't think we'd do four as we didn't know how successful it would be. We're sat here now, 28 million copies later, with the benefit of hindsight which is wonderful. But this time we've designed a game which we feel will unfold and lead into other games, so we've devised a plot which is almost like X-Files. It doesn't kind of end, but it does end: there's always something left for you to latch on to. We've designed a story to spin out as many games as we need to do.

How many can we expect to see in this storyline, taking Angel of Darkness as the first chapter?

Smith: It's hard to say. We've got the first one and then we're going to take stock and see where we are afterwards. As I said, we can do as many as we need to do. We have no definitive plans as yet.

source

[vinnyvis]

Oh god... Makes me sad ready this interview.. IF ONLY

[Phlip]

Thanks for that, aussie.