Tomb Raider: Hanging Destiny (2010) -- Synthesis of popular ideas

Bowie · 22-12-08, 09:51

Title: TOMB RAIDER: HANGING DESTINY (2010)
Rated: M (Mature 15+)
Plot: Set sometime between 2003-2009, Lara discovers that a New Zealand explorer* named Charles Canterbury is possessed by some sort of ancient God creature he found inside Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia, an unknown monster that is slowly dying and who has ordered Canterbury to find a 'plant of immortality' from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, located in ruins somewhere beneath modern day Iraq.
Trilogy: there is potential, but the main storyline is fully resolved
Gameplay style: Large open-world areas
Locations: Mykonos/Greece, The Amazon/Brazil, New Zealand mountains, Babylon/Iraq, Ayers Rock/Australia
Level order: Play levels in any order (but certain points of access are restricted until other areas completed***)
Mythology: Gilgamesh and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Mesopotamian)**, Amazonian river mythology, Aboriginal Dreamtime
Villain: New villain - Charles Canterbury
Boss fights: Scorpion men, Gilgamesh's Snake, Charles Canterbury himself, unknown God creature
Past characters: Anaya (can unlock other characters such as Amanda, Zip, Natla, etc)
Engine/technical: Totally new and next-gen engine; at least a full year spent on building and testing the new open-world engine code and advanced combat system with all bugs resolved; full interactivity with (and potential destructability of parts of) environment, and no bugs or arbitrary invisible walls
Control/camera system: Fluent next-gen movements à la Assassin's Creed, developing and refining the motion-capture technique of TRU, with smoother animations and transitions; emphasis on precision of control with utterly limited scripted actions; several camera options available, can control Lara independently of camera, or depending on camera's position, etc; camera is totally still and unobtrusive and player can revolve camera fully around Lara
Time/weather system: Cycles through night and day and different weather patterns (similar to GTA), although one can opt to begin a level at any time of day
Multiplayer: Can play as Lara only, OR as Lara and Anaya (A.I. or human player) (with ability to switch between co-operative and single-player experience between levels) (with ability to unlock additional options/playable characters)
Other modes: Can play AGAINST other players (local or online) through the single-player version of the game, or WITH other players (local or online) through the two-player version of the game; either separate levels or the full adventure
Weapons: dual pistols, Uzis, shotgun, Desert Eagle, combat knife, assault rifle, sniper rifle (Iraq only), machete (The Amazon only), environmental objects, others
Vehicles: helicopter/Cessna aircraft/parachute (travel between levels), motorbike, jeep/car, jet ski, snowmobile, horseback, others
Manor (Training): The Croft Retreat, on the Isle of Mykonos, Greece
Lara's look/model: Traditional turquoise outfit for The Amazon, new and revamped outfits for the other locales, traditional white headdress garb for parts of Babylon; model resembles the TR:A and TR:U pre-rendered Lara more than ever
Interactive cutscenes: None.
Save system: Option for 'immersive' (soundless checkpoints) OR 'progressive' (save your position anywhere/anytime with checkpoint backups)
Replay: Can replay from any checkpoint upon completing the game
Secrets: Culture-specific secret artifacts can be found along the solo adventure and also the two-player co-operative version of the adventure. These unlock new playable characters and gameplay modes, owing to additional replay value
Difficulty/Help system: TRU's Player Tailoring returns with a broader spectrum of difficulty options, including manual grab-and-hold; no help system available
Synopsis: The game begins with Lara at The Croft Retreat on the Isle of Mykonos, another of the Croft family mansions built in a similar style to the original, complete with ornate Greek marble touches and handy helicopter and helipad. Mykonos is a large "open-world" island environment where Lara is free to roam by foot or by copter, and this location introduces Lara to (and similar to the opening level of Tomb Raider Chronicles, optionally trains her in) various elements she will encounter, and the basic ways to navigate, throughout the rest of the game.

Lara is to meet her old friend Anaya at the Theoxenia Café somewhere on Mykonos. Having not spent much time here prior to her other manor being burnt down, she must travel by foot and ask locals for directions to the café. Anaya informs her of an archaeologist friend with whom she has been exploring the underground rivers of the Amazon. This person was connected briefly -- but became disillusioned -- with Charles Canterbury, a dynamic adventurer from Down Under Anaya says is apparently determined to find an ancient source of immortality from the ruins of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. After Lara's bouts with Natla, she is of course thoroughly opposed to those who pursue immortality. Anaya was told of a lair somewhere around or on Mt Cook in New Zealand, and of stories of trips to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia, but her friend gave no specific information in fear of putting anyone on Canterbury's scent. Canterbury is apparently the "vicious, vindictive type of person who would hunt you down and kill you if you got in the way of his plans".

So we are now introduced to the four main open-world locations of the game to which Lara is free to travel by aircraft (insert brief travel cinematics here) in any order so chosen: The Amazon in Brazil, Canterbury's home in the snowy peaks of New Zealand's Mt Cook, ancient Babylon in modern-day Iraq during the Iraq War, and near Ayers Rock in outback Australia, although certain information found in certain areas dictates how to progress in other areas***. According to what Anaya says, it makes the most sense to first travel to the Amazon to find and meet Canterbury's estranged explorer partner who knows the exact location of his hideout on Mt Cook, NZ. Discovering this will lead us to Canterbury himself at the Hanging Gardens dig site set amidst the Iraq War, and ultimately to inside the giant red rock in Australia where the final God creature is located.

(*The New Zealand idea was chosen to fulfill the popular snow setting/component, but any other snowy location and thus villain's nationality could conceivably suffice.)

(**Gilgamesh was a great hero, whose stories are told in Sumerian and Babylonian poems. He is the son of the goddess Ninsun. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a long poem that was composed before 2000 BCE. It tells the story of Gilgamesh and his friendship with Enkidu who search for immortality. Enkidu dies, though, and Gilgamesh finds the fame to be hollow. Gilgamesh goes to Utnapishtim (similar to the Bible's Noah) who tells him about his immortality, a gift he recieved during ‘the great flood’. Gilgamesh learns of a plant of life but the plant is swallowed by a snake. Gilgamesh learns that death is inevitable. This poem was preserved on clay tablets and deciphered much later. (Source))

(***Since we are technically able to travel to the final destination at the outset and skip most of the game, in order to prevent cheating, unique numerical solutions (to door keycodes, puzzle orders etc) are given to each console so that exploration through all of the game's environments is mandatory, and one can't simply Google the answer to the final location.)

I could spend forever elaborating on the final boss God creature and all sorts of other elements but I thought I'd leave them up to your imagination. Would YOU like to play this game? What parts of it would you change? What other ideas do you have?

Jin Uzuki · 22-12-08, 09:56

Wow, this ought to be a good read.

Will comment in a while. But for the meantime, may I suggest that the information list be bulleted for better readability? Thanks, Bowie!

tha_mattster · 22-12-08, 10:43

I wish you worked for CD because you have really paid attention to what people want

Not sure about helicopter travel being realistic for such far apart locations. Also I'm not such a fan of the NZ/Aus idea

Great scenery sure, but what about ancient ruins? Well I guess it could work. But I'd rather you had a level set in Africa. In all the TR games Lara has only been to a non-egyption african setting once!

How about mentioning that TRU was too easy? The next game should have puzzles which challenge the mind not just reflexes. Oh and another popular idea is that the game shouldn't be filled with bugs or exclusive content!

Bowie · 22-12-08, 11:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by tha_mattster

I wish you worked for CD because you have really paid attention to what people want

Not sure about helicopter travel being realistic for such far apart locations. Also I'm not such a fan of the NZ/Aus idea

Great scenery sure, but what about ancient ruins? Well I guess it could work. But I'd rather you had a level set in Africa. In all the TR games Lara has only been to a non-egyption african setting once!

How about mentioning that TRU was too easy? The next game should have puzzles which challenge the mind not just reflexes. Oh and another popular idea is that the game shouldn't be filled with bugs or exclusive content!

LMAO. I thought it would be a little insulting to Crystal if I wrote "Bugs: None."

And yes, there would ideally be a 'hard' difficulty setting that is actually HARD.

Anyway, all very good points you raise. The NZ level (as I said) isn't crucial, but people seem to love snow levels so I thought it could make sense to tie together people's Australia/snow location wishes with a Down Under element. Africa/Egypt is quite possible but Babylon has a lot of similarities with Egyptian architecture/mythology and I just think the consensus is we've been to Africa enough and somewhere new like Australia and The Amazon are due.

As for the helicopter, I imagine that it 'skips' the part where we fly between countries. But yes, it may make more sense to have a small Cessna instead, as helicopter isn't suited to long-distance travel. Or maybe it skips the part where we fly by helicopter to a nearby airport, travel by plane to the desired destination, hire out a local helicopter and fly to the area in question.

But the point is, any interactivity of this scale would help make it seem like the player is actively engaged in the adventure, not just being chauffeured on a world trip.

Jin Uzuki · 22-12-08, 11:57

I would definitely want to play a game like this. What I find especially interesting is that the level order itself is a puzzle. It's like trial-and-error but on a grander scale. For the start of the adventure it's good that Anaya could tip off Lara where to go first from among all the available locations. But the prospect of going first to the Ayers for example, not knowing that in order to progress beyond the halfpoint of the level, you'll have to make use of an artifact you can find in Greece, could add to the immersion of the game. It's like active puzzle-solving across levels.

And so, realizing that there's an artifact needed to progress through the Ayers open-world level, Lara can back-track to the 'drop-off' point and go to Greece to retrieve the artifact which is at the end of the level. With this kind of framework, the additional challenge of having a logical sequence to the level which you'll have to figure out for yourself can add to the length of the game, without making it needlessly frustrating.

Bowie · 22-12-08, 12:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jin Uzuki

I would definitely want to play a game like this. What I find especially interesting is that the level order itself is a puzzle. It's like trial-and-error but on a grander scale. For the start of the adventure it's good that Anaya could tip off Lara where to go first from among all the available locations. ... With this kind of framework, the additional challenge of having a logical sequence to the level which you'll have to figure out for yourself can add to the length of the game, without making it needlessly frustrating.

Well, I can't really take credit for it, as it's the only logical combination I could think of for having both 'open-world' explorable environments and the ability to choose the level order (the side effect being increased length, difficulty and replayability), unless you do the standard "retrieve artifact A from location A, then retrieve artifact B from location B, etc etc then combine them all to access the final location."

You can use your head and actively follow each location in their logical order, or you can feel out other levels first (say, if you're desperate to try out the new advanced wartime combat above ground in the Iraq level), progressing as far as you can before you must retrieve some information or key or something from another location.

Basically, the story is kind of modelled after Tomb Raider 2 (which many people would like to see remade), but with the added ability of being able to choose to go to Venice, Tibet, the Maria Doria, Xian etc in any order you wish, but of course because this time the areas are so large and expansive, you really need specific information to know exactly where to go and what to do.

In other words, you don't just get conveniently dropped in the Venetian backstreets 20 metres away from Bartoli's headquarters, to continue the analogy.

tha_mattster · 22-12-08, 12:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowie

Anyway, all very good points you raise. The NZ level (as I said) isn't crucial, but people seem to love snow levels so I thought it could make sense to tie together people's Australia/snow location wishes with a Down Under element. Africa/Egypt is quite possible but Babylon has a lot of similarities with Egyptian architecture/mythology and I just think the consensus is we've been to Africa enough and somewhere new like Australia and The Amazon are due.

I know that Egypt is in Africa, but apart from Egypt, Lara's only been to Ghana in TRL. Africa is a huge continent and Lara should explore it more

Snow levels are great but kinda weird if there are no tombs. How about the Ural mountains in Russia? Russia is another place barely touched in TR. When she does go there it is a very stereotypical cold war adventure

kristi · 22-12-08, 13:25

Just fantastic!

Eddie Haskell · 22-12-08, 13:25

Nicely done! You certainly did a fine job combining many popular elements, and even the story is something admirable. The only thing missing is a movement system incorporating greater precision and not solely relying on heavily scripted moves. And also with this new engine they should come out with much more destructibility in the environment; making nearly all of it interactive (scalable, usable or capable of being altered or destroyed.

All in all one of the finest examples of a proposed TR game I have read in this forum.

Encore · 22-12-08, 13:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowie

So we are now introduced to the four main open-world locations of the game to which Lara is free to travel by helicopter in any order so chosen

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jin Uzuki

I would definitely want to play a game like this. What I find especially interesting is that the level order itself is a puzzle. It's like trial-and-error but on a grander scale. For the start of the adventure it's good that Anaya could tip off Lara where to go first from among all the available locations. But the prospect of going first to the Ayers for example, not knowing that in order to progress beyond the halfpoint of the level, you'll have to make use of an artifact you can find in Greece, could add to the immersion of the game. It's like active puzzle-solving across levels.

And so, realizing that there's an artifact needed to progress through the Ayers open-world level, Lara can back-track to the 'drop-off' point and go to Greece to retrieve the artifact which is at the end of the level. With this kind of framework, the additional challenge of having a logical sequence to the level which you'll have to figure out for yourself can add to the length of the game, without making it needlessly frustrating.

I just LOVE this idea!!!

And also the dynamic weather system I so wanted to see in TRU....

One thing I'm not so keen on though is introducing war like elements (in Iraq), if I understood your post correctly... I would expect the Iraq sequence to be a little bit like Cairo in TR4 (not as ugly though, hopefully

), but most of it spent on the babylonian ruins, because anything too "military" would be a bit of a stretch for a TR game...

But in any case, I would totally play that game!!

22-12-08, 09:51	#1
Bowie Archaeologist Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 1,391	Tomb Raider: Hanging Destiny (2010) -- Synthesis of popular ideas Title: TOMB RAIDER: HANGING DESTINY (2010) Rated: M (Mature 15+) Plot: Set sometime between 2003-2009, Lara discovers that a New Zealand explorer* named Charles Canterbury is possessed by some sort of ancient God creature he found inside Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia, an unknown monster that is slowly dying and who has ordered Canterbury to find a 'plant of immortality' from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, located in ruins somewhere beneath modern day Iraq. Trilogy: there is potential, but the main storyline is fully resolved Gameplay style: Large open-world areas Locations: Mykonos/Greece, The Amazon/Brazil, New Zealand mountains, Babylon/Iraq, Ayers Rock/Australia Level order: Play levels in any order (but certain points of access are restricted until other areas completed*) Mythology: Gilgamesh and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Mesopotamian), Amazonian river mythology, Aboriginal Dreamtime Villain: New villain - Charles Canterbury Boss fights: Scorpion men, Gilgamesh's Snake, Charles Canterbury himself, unknown God creature Past characters: Anaya (can unlock other characters such as Amanda, Zip, Natla, etc) Engine/technical: Totally new and next-gen engine; at least a full year spent on building and testing the new open-world engine code and advanced combat system with all bugs resolved; full interactivity with (and potential destructability of parts of) environment, and no bugs or arbitrary invisible walls Control/camera system: Fluent next-gen movements à la Assassin's Creed, developing and refining the motion-capture technique of TRU, with smoother animations and transitions; emphasis on precision of control with utterly limited scripted actions; several camera options available, can control Lara independently of camera, or depending on camera's position, etc; camera is totally still and unobtrusive and player can revolve camera fully around Lara Time/weather system: Cycles through night and day and different weather patterns (similar to GTA), although one can opt to begin a level at any time of day Multiplayer: Can play as Lara only, OR as Lara and Anaya (A.I. or human player) (with ability to switch between co-operative and single-player experience between levels) (with ability to unlock additional options/playable characters) Other modes: Can play AGAINST other players (local or online) through the single-player version of the game, or WITH other players (local or online) through the two-player version of the game; either separate levels or the full adventure Weapons: dual pistols, Uzis, shotgun, Desert Eagle, combat knife, assault rifle, sniper rifle (Iraq only), machete (The Amazon only), environmental objects, others Vehicles: helicopter/Cessna aircraft/parachute (travel between levels), motorbike, jeep/car, jet ski, snowmobile, horseback, others Manor (Training): The Croft Retreat, on the Isle of Mykonos, Greece Lara's look/model: Traditional turquoise outfit for The Amazon, new and revamped outfits for the other locales, traditional white headdress garb for parts of Babylon; model resembles the TR:A and TR:U pre-rendered Lara more than ever Interactive cutscenes: None. Save system: Option for 'immersive' (soundless checkpoints) OR 'progressive' (save your position anywhere/anytime with checkpoint backups) Replay: Can replay from any checkpoint upon completing the game Secrets: Culture-specific secret artifacts can be found along the solo adventure and also the two-player co-operative version of the adventure. These unlock new playable characters and gameplay modes, owing to additional replay value Difficulty/Help system: TRU's Player Tailoring returns with a broader spectrum of difficulty options, including manual grab-and-hold; no help system available Synopsis: The game begins with Lara at The Croft Retreat on the Isle of Mykonos, another of the Croft family mansions built in a similar style to the original, complete with ornate Greek marble touches and handy helicopter and helipad. Mykonos is a large "open-world" island environment where Lara is free to roam by foot or by copter, and this location introduces Lara to (and similar to the opening level of Tomb Raider Chronicles, optionally trains her in) various elements she will encounter, and the basic ways to navigate, throughout the rest of the game. Lara is to meet her old friend Anaya at the Theoxenia Café somewhere on Mykonos. Having not spent much time here prior to her other manor being burnt down, she must travel by foot and ask locals for directions to the café. Anaya informs her of an archaeologist friend with whom she has been exploring the underground rivers of the Amazon. This person was connected briefly -- but became disillusioned -- with Charles Canterbury, a dynamic adventurer from Down Under Anaya says is apparently determined to find an ancient source of immortality from the ruins of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. After Lara's bouts with Natla, she is of course thoroughly opposed to those who pursue immortality. Anaya was told of a lair somewhere around or on Mt Cook in New Zealand, and of stories of trips to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia, but her friend gave no specific information in fear of putting anyone on Canterbury's scent. Canterbury is apparently the "vicious, vindictive type of person who would hunt you down and kill you if you got in the way of his plans". So we are now introduced to the four main open-world locations of the game to which Lara is free to travel by aircraft (insert brief travel cinematics here) in any order so chosen: The Amazon in Brazil, Canterbury's home in the snowy peaks of New Zealand's Mt Cook, ancient Babylon in modern-day Iraq during the Iraq War, and near Ayers Rock in outback Australia, although certain information found in certain areas dictates how to progress in other areas**. According to what Anaya says, it makes the most sense to first travel to the Amazon to find and meet Canterbury's estranged explorer partner who knows the exact location of his hideout on Mt Cook, NZ. Discovering this will lead us to Canterbury himself at the Hanging Gardens dig site set amidst the Iraq War, and ultimately to inside the giant red rock in Australia where the final God creature is located. (The New Zealand idea was chosen to fulfill the popular snow setting/component, but any other snowy location and thus villain's nationality could conceivably suffice.) (Gilgamesh was a great hero, whose stories are told in Sumerian and Babylonian poems. He is the son of the goddess Ninsun. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a long poem that was composed before 2000 BCE. It tells the story of Gilgamesh and his friendship with Enkidu who search for immortality. Enkidu dies, though, and Gilgamesh finds the fame to be hollow. Gilgamesh goes to Utnapishtim (similar to the Bible's Noah) who tells him about his immortality, a gift he recieved during ‘the great flood’. Gilgamesh learns of a plant of life but the plant is swallowed by a snake. Gilgamesh learns that death is inevitable. This poem was preserved on clay tablets and deciphered much later. (Source)) (Since we are technically able to travel to the final destination at the outset and skip most of the game, in order to prevent cheating, unique numerical solutions (to door keycodes, puzzle orders etc) are given to each console so that exploration through all of the game's environments is mandatory, and one can't simply Google the answer to the final location.) I could spend forever elaborating on the final boss God creature and all sorts of other elements but I thought I'd leave them up to your imagination. Would YOU like to play this game?* What parts of it would you change? What other ideas do you have? Last edited by Bowie; 23-12-08 at 16:36.

22-12-08, 10:43	#3
tha_mattster Relic Hunter Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 7,672	I wish you worked for CD because you have really paid attention to what people want Not sure about helicopter travel being realistic for such far apart locations. Also I'm not such a fan of the NZ/Aus idea Great scenery sure, but what about ancient ruins? Well I guess it could work. But I'd rather you had a level set in Africa. In all the TR games Lara has only been to a non-egyption african setting once! How about mentioning that TRU was too easy? The next game should have puzzles which challenge the mind not just reflexes. Oh and another popular idea is that the game shouldn't be filled with bugs or exclusive content! Last edited by tha_mattster; 22-12-08 at 10:48.

22-12-08, 13:25	#8
kristi Archaeologist Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,496	Just fantastic! __________________ ...Hmm...I need a larger canvas to paint my life...

22-12-08, 13:25	#9
Eddie Haskell Relic Hunter Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 8,240	Nicely done! You certainly did a fine job combining many popular elements, and even the story is something admirable. The only thing missing is a movement system incorporating greater precision and not solely relying on heavily scripted moves. And also with this new engine they should come out with much more destructibility in the environment; making nearly all of it interactive (scalable, usable or capable of being altered or destroyed. All in all one of the finest examples of a proposed TR game I have read in this forum. __________________ Quondam is locus eram valens...

22-12-08, 09:56	#2
Jin Uzuki Professor Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 3,946	Wow, this ought to be a good read. Will comment in a while. But for the meantime, may I suggest that the information list be bulleted for better readability? Thanks, Bowie!

22-12-08, 11:57	#5
Jin Uzuki Professor Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 3,946	I would definitely want to play a game like this. What I find especially interesting is that the level order itself is a puzzle. It's like trial-and-error but on a grander scale. For the start of the adventure it's good that Anaya could tip off Lara where to go first from among all the available locations. But the prospect of going first to the Ayers for example, not knowing that in order to progress beyond the halfpoint of the level, you'll have to make use of an artifact you can find in Greece, could add to the immersion of the game. It's like active puzzle-solving across levels. And so, realizing that there's an artifact needed to progress through the Ayers open-world level, Lara can back-track to the 'drop-off' point and go to Greece to retrieve the artifact which is at the end of the level. With this kind of framework, the additional challenge of having a logical sequence to the level which you'll have to figure out for yourself can add to the length of the game, without making it needlessly frustrating.