Engine tweaks to make TR:AE a successful remake...

[Elysia]

One thing that has been bugging me a little bit is how the new autograb engine is going to cope with the sheer size and 'explorability' of the original TR.

In the original TR, the terrain decided where you could go - potentially, all surfaces were 'grab-able' and 'climb-able' - only the gradients and heights of the blocks decided where you could and couldn't go. This meant there was a huge scope for explorable areas - if you were particularly tenacious, you could even end up in areas that you possibly weren't meant to go, but that was the joy of the game.

In Legend, the autograb decided where you could go, meaning that there was a pre-mapped 'course' that was programmed in. In order to get the scope and exploration 'feel' of the original, this is going to be a huge task for CD to pull off with this particular engine - som many more suraces are going to have to be made 'autograb-able'. I know I'm not the only one who was frustrated by Lara's silly 'bunny hop' (which was bascially her equivalent of 'the computer says no...') when it came to exploration - something I didn't feel when playing the original, because although I may have been faced by a 'sliding surface' (one she couldn't climb on to), it felt 'real' in the sense that, well, at least I could TRY, whereas in Legend, if you went to a 'hey, it looks like you can climb on here!' block and she did an arthritic hop, you knew that is was just part of the scenery and nothing important was there. This is something that I hope CD take on board... but I do worry that they are going to take the easy option and limit exploration the way they did in Legend because they want to keep the autograb and Lara's new moveset - which will not be a shame - it'll be a crime!!

Oh, and sort the sliding out, too CD. She pauses at the end of slides in Legend, meaning it's almost impossible to fail the jump at the end...

Please, people - re-assure me! This isn't a 'omg! CD r crap and they r gunna riun TR' rant - it's a legitimate concern. I hope beyond all hope that they will implement the same depth of exploration as the original, but I can't shake this sneaking, horrible feeling that we are going to be offered the TR1 'Diet Coke' version when it comes to the exploration side of the gameplay... *worries*

[MattTR]

Yea, I see what you main. I really do hope they use the original control system, no autograb crap, backflips and side jumps, and no gun targeting! I just want it like the original games.

[thevman]

Well put elysia! I hope they can get it right. I do not want to have my exploring limited by the autograb. I hated not being able to grab ledges that were easily in lara's reach. I agree, it did force you to stay on track in legend because you knew instantly that wasn't the way to go if she couldn't grab it. I loved finding ways to get to impossible places in TR1.

One thing I hope they find to do is there was a dropped route above the switches in the midas level, wonder if CD can make it work. I knew that because I contacted core back when TR1 was new. The dreaded large med pack was stuck on a pillar that we couldn't reach in the switch room. Well, until a corner bug came out and you could get on any pillar!

[Rivendell]

Something worth noting, it is a small hope, but it is a possibility:

CD might not use the legend engine.

Though, I suppose they will as - it's a ready built engine, they don't have much time, I guess they like it.

However as Elysia said, it is restricting, and personally I hope they try and make a new engine that resembles the old Tomb Raider engine, as a great deal of the infamous 'feel' came from it.

[jackali]

Originally Posted by Rivendell

Something worth noting, it is a small hope, but it is a possibility:

CD might not use the legend engine.

Though, I suppose they will as - it's a ready built engine, they don't have much time, I guess they like it.

However as Elysia said, it is restricting, and personally I hope they try and make a new engine that resembles the old Tomb Raider engine, as a great deal of the infamous 'feel' came from it.

agreed

[BeciMester]

I don't believe the Legend engine is restricting, they just need to add more surfaces to grab, I don't know about the programming side of this but it can't be THAT hard to do!

[taika]

I'm really worried about crystal d making this game, especially if they use the legend engine...

[jackali]

there would have to be ladders everywhere, rather than just climeable walls
and there would have to be ledges halfway up al the big blocks, so she can jump to the top like she used to be able to do in one jump

[Elysia]

Originally Posted by BeciMester

I don't believe the Legend engine is restricting, they just need to add more surfaces to grab, I don't know about the programming side of this but it can't be THAT hard to do!

It's not as simple as that - the entire engine has almost reversed hoe the terrain can be designed. In the classic TRs, the terrain decided where Lara could go, making possibilities for exploration almost limitless, since all surfaces were by default grabable (you only had to change the height / gradient to make then impassable).

Now, the autograb (and therefore Lara herself) decides where to go, meaning a specific path must be devised and the 'grab-able' ledges programed in to accommodate it - it's why so many potentially explorable areas were 'no go zones' in Legend. In order to make all the surfaces that were grabable / climbable in TR1 feature in the AE, it's ging to take a HELL of a lot of coding. That and the fact that TR1 is inherently a larger, more complex game... a lot of the areas / moves that Lara could do in the classic TRs are simply not possible with the new engine. Same goes for the larger water areas - they are going to have to go back to basics with that, or dramatically increase the time Lara can hold her breath.