"The Lost Library/Hall of Demetrius" analysis

Scottlee · 18-08-06, 20:45

Note - Hidden inside this analysis is an interesting piece of trivia from Nicky. See if you can spot it.

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It's not easy to lose a library, to wake up one day and suddenly think "Hmmm, that library I built. Now where did I put it?". You would have to posess some serious amnesia issues. Over the years though Lara's travels have unearthed many a lost temple or city, usually buried conveniently two yards beneath ground level. Peruvians, Greeks, and Indians are just some of the races proven to have extremely bad memories, and thanks to TRLR, we can now add Egypt to the list. In fact Egypt might as well top the list, as every building in sight seems to be in danger of getting lost every time one of Set's yawns unleashes a sandstorm, or a plague of crickets.

Anyway, the lost library cannot considered to be truly lost because the Jeanmeister knows where it is. It can barely even call itself a library, given that it has no books. Indeed there are few resemblances at all to a proper library, and by the time we finish the level it's important to recognise the fun we had in doing so rather than debate with ourselves all day long as to what seemed true to life and what didnt. How would we know anyway? None of us were around a thousand years ago (apart maybe from Neteru. I'm not sure).

In people terms, most of us associate libraries with middle-aged women wearing Deidre Barlow spectacles and out-of-date cardigans. Not here. Instead we have a frankly comical platoon of shiny gold tin men patrolling the interiors. And not content to sit quietly behind a reception desk reading Jane Austin, the tin men librarians all clank around the corridors demonstrating either a poorly realised A.I or an unbearable need for the toilet (again, I'm not sure). The novelty here is that they can only killed by shooting them in the heart, which might actually be tricky but for the miracle of auto-aim and the enemy's insistance that Lara must be faced directly at all times. Seriously, all the tin men had to do was nail another piece of tin over the heart area and they would have been laughing all the way to the bank, Von Croy's "Dead or Alive" reward jingling merrily in their gold tin pockets. Ah, what could have been.

One of the tin men shows the dubious presence of mind to smuggle a horse into the library, the idea being to simply crush Lara under its hooves. This not very ingenious plan makes about as much sense as trying to smuggle a giraffe into a snooker hall to attack the local hustler. The horse certainly doesn't look thrilled (I'm surprised it didn't buckeroo the tin man when it was made to cross the Coastal Ruins). But it does at least look evil, kind of like an Anti-Black Beauty. I've decided to call him "Brute".

Black Beauty was far more of a credit to the horse society though. When she wasn't foiling evil land developers from turning the nearby orchard into a golf course, she was flying like the wind to avoid pot-shots from the farmhouse ruffian. And then we have Brute, whose sole purpose in life seems to be snorting and grunting its way in the direction of Lara Croft with nothing but mischief on its mind. This mini-boss fight really is a bigger arsehole than Elen's avatar, with much jumping around and shooting required before you can move on. Just for the record, it takes about 20 shots to kill the jockey, and prior to that, only about 20000 shots to put Brute out to pasture.

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<<<<<HiDdEn NiCkY tRiViA<<<<
"it makes sense that there are no actual books if you consider that, in ancient Egypt, they didn't have typography"
<<<<<HiDdEn NiCkY TrIvIa<<<<

(Next week, Nicky explains the reason for Brute)

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The original owner of the library decided to install other dangers to ward off looters like Croft, and these include swinging chains, rotating cog wheels, and errr ghosts. The chains are perhaps the most ridiculous way Lara can be killed in the entire series. Honestly, in the real world she would lose more health from a bout of PMT than getting slapped in the arm by a giant piece of chav bling. Passing the cog wheels is another matter altogether (even Brute would probably think twice), and has proved an absolutely nightmare over the years for H.C players. As for the ghosts, well, judging by the way they instantly follow Lara into certain death, we can probably deduce that they're simply the floating souls of some dead tin men.

Complimenting the more physical action are one or two intellectual 'puzzles', one of which is fantastic and the other of which is rubbish. The good one is the fire statue puzzle. With its complicated logic and pointless reset pedastal (but in an amusing way), it remains to date one of the most glorious TR sections of recent times, if of course we can still call TRLR a recent game. It's tantalising to have six of the seven fires lit and know you're still a long way from lighting all of them. Also, this is one of those rare puzzles which still seems to offer a challenge several times after you've already done it. Classic raiding.

By contrast, the room with all the planets just gets on my nerves. This is quite simply a drag, literally, and in terms of gameplay badly scrapes the bottom of the barrel, almost literally. Just try lugging one of those plastic planets all the way across the room only to discover you've put it in the wrong place. I swear I lost about a stone in weight completing this task, and that was just from repeatedly banging my D-pad for half an hour!

Furthermore, the scraping sound when Lara moves an object resembles that of somebody dragging their fingernails across a blackboard; it's not nice. What's wrong with the tried and trusted 4-keys-in-the-door technique? Why the tedium with the planets? I can only presume Core meant to be educational, but unless you're a spaceman playing Tomb Raider on a PSP handheld inside your lunar module, as you pass the time waiting for the next command to come through from Houston, what use is knowing where Neptune is in relation to Pluto? None, would be the answer. In another part of the level Lara gets to play the harp. Arghh! Why the harp? That's just not funny enough. Imagine how funny it would have been had she been made to bang the drums, or strum an electric guitar, or play the accordian, or blow the trumpet. The list is endless. So why a harp? 8/10

Hall of Demetrius does not warrant much text-space. Locate an artifact, listen to Von Croy's voice sounding a touch more husky than it did the last time you saw him, kill 3 ninja's, and then do some more wretched dragging. And that's that. It's still a better level than the Deepsea Dive, though. I just have to wonder why this Demetrius fellow was such a skin-flint that the only property he could afford was this tiny hall. What did he use it for, disco functions? 2/10

("I'm really sorry, but Core said only for me to go the Lost Library auditions")

Tomb Raider Master · 18-08-06, 21:22

Quote:

Hidden inside this analysis is an interesting piece of trivia from Nicky. See if you can spot it.

No, where is it?

Quote:

Peruvians, Greeks, and Indians are just some of the races proven to have extremely bad memories, and thanks to TRLR, we can now add Egypt to the list.

Eh...

Quote:

apart maybe from Neteru. I'm not sure

Quote:

This mini-boss fight really is a bigger arsehole than Elen's avatar

LMAO, just wait until they see this!

Quote:

the tin men librarians all clank around the corridors demonstrating either a poorly realised A.I or an unbearable need for the toilet

What gave you that idea?

Quote:

By contrast, the room with all the planets just gets on my nerves. This is quite simply a drag, literally, and in terms of gameplay badly scrapes the bottom of the barrel, almost literally. Just try lugging one of those plastic planets all the way across the room only to discover you've put it in the wrong place. I swear I lost about a stone in weight completing this task, and that was just from repeatedly banging my D-pad for half an hour!

So true...

Quote:

I just have to wonder why this Demetrius fellow was such a skin-flint that the only property he could afford was this tiny hall. What did he use it for, disco functions?

LOL!

Quote:

("I'm really sorry, but Core said only for me to go the Lost Library auditions")

Awesome writing, Scott!

Mytly · 19-08-06, 05:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottlee

It can barely even call itself a library, given that it has no books.

Yeah, actually it has plenty of books. Lara even reads one of them … Yeah, I mean the scrolls. Books in ancient Alexandria weren’t the printed and bound tomes that we know of. They were handwritten scrolls of papyrus – of which there are plenty lying around in the Lost Library. (Strange that they haven’t disintegrated after all these centuries.)

rr_carroll · 19-08-06, 10:20

Again, I am forced to point out that the fire puzzle is a complete crock. Each location receives a stimulus from its own lever and two other locations. Therefore, just go around the circle and pull each lever once. Each location will go On-Off-On, and obviously all locations will be lit.

I once encountered a bug where the swinging chains were frozen in place! It let me get some daring-looking screenshots:

Chocolate · 19-08-06, 12:00

HAHAHAHAHA, this purely deserves an A*!

Nicky · 19-08-06, 14:02

LOL Scott, the trivia is indeed very well hidden

Very good text but I don't much agree with the 8/10 (it should be 10/10)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottlee

In another part of the level Lara gets to play the harp. Arghh! Why the harp? That's just not funny enough. Imagine how funny it would have been had she been made to bang the drums, or strum an electric guitar, or play the accordian, or blow the trumpet. The list is endless. So why a harp?

At least we should be happy that apparently Lara knows music. Imagine arriving in the harp room after all this running and dragging only to find out that she can't read the notes

peeves · 19-08-06, 19:29

Why did they put golden axemen in that area?

Titanium · 19-08-06, 22:01

LOL, nice one Scott

DREWY · 20-08-06, 23:21

Although, as Nicky said, Lost Library should have been 10/10.

WILDRAIDER · 23-08-06, 04:13

"Quote: Black Beauty was far more of a credit to the horse society though. When she wasn't foiling evil land developers from turning the nearby orchard into a golf course, she was flying.."

Wasnt Black Beauty a stallion?

Just a thought....

Your right about everything else you've said. The library is trully the worst place to be, where I've lost most of my medpacks trying to climb the pole with sllicing blades....and barely making it to the water after grabbing the scroll.
I dont get the moving globes and the lit burners. Without hesitation I proceeded to follow my trusty walkthrough. GOODBYE frustration

18-08-06, 20:45	#1
Scottlee Relic Hunter Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Leeds, England Posts: 7,507	"The Lost Library/Hall of Demetrius" analysis Note - Hidden inside this analysis is an interesting piece of trivia from Nicky. See if you can spot it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's not easy to lose a library, to wake up one day and suddenly think "Hmmm, that library I built. Now where did I put it?". You would have to posess some serious amnesia issues. Over the years though Lara's travels have unearthed many a lost temple or city, usually buried conveniently two yards beneath ground level. Peruvians, Greeks, and Indians are just some of the races proven to have extremely bad memories, and thanks to TRLR, we can now add Egypt to the list. In fact Egypt might as well top the list, as every building in sight seems to be in danger of getting lost every time one of Set's yawns unleashes a sandstorm, or a plague of crickets. Anyway, the lost library cannot considered to be truly lost because the Jeanmeister knows where it is. It can barely even call itself a library, given that it has no books. Indeed there are few resemblances at all to a proper library, and by the time we finish the level it's important to recognise the fun we had in doing so rather than debate with ourselves all day long as to what seemed true to life and what didnt. How would we know anyway? None of us were around a thousand years ago (apart maybe from Neteru. I'm not sure). In people terms, most of us associate libraries with middle-aged women wearing Deidre Barlow spectacles and out-of-date cardigans. Not here. Instead we have a frankly comical platoon of shiny gold tin men patrolling the interiors. And not content to sit quietly behind a reception desk reading Jane Austin, the tin men librarians all clank around the corridors demonstrating either a poorly realised A.I or an unbearable need for the toilet (again, I'm not sure). The novelty here is that they can only killed by shooting them in the heart, which might actually be tricky but for the miracle of auto-aim and the enemy's insistance that Lara must be faced directly at all times. Seriously, all the tin men had to do was nail another piece of tin over the heart area and they would have been laughing all the way to the bank, Von Croy's "Dead or Alive" reward jingling merrily in their gold tin pockets. Ah, what could have been. One of the tin men shows the dubious presence of mind to smuggle a horse into the library, the idea being to simply crush Lara under its hooves. This not very ingenious plan makes about as much sense as trying to smuggle a giraffe into a snooker hall to attack the local hustler. The horse certainly doesn't look thrilled (I'm surprised it didn't buckeroo the tin man when it was made to cross the Coastal Ruins). But it does at least look evil, kind of like an Anti-Black Beauty. I've decided to call him "Brute". Black Beauty was far more of a credit to the horse society though. When she wasn't foiling evil land developers from turning the nearby orchard into a golf course, she was flying like the wind to avoid pot-shots from the farmhouse ruffian. And then we have Brute, whose sole purpose in life seems to be snorting and grunting its way in the direction of Lara Croft with nothing but mischief on its mind. This mini-boss fight really is a bigger arsehole than Elen's avatar, with much jumping around and shooting required before you can move on. Just for the record, it takes about 20 shots to kill the jockey, and prior to that, only about 20000 shots to put Brute out to pasture. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<<<<HiDdEn NiCkY tRiViA<<<< "it makes sense that there are no actual books if you consider that, in ancient Egypt, they didn't have typography" <<<<<HiDdEn NiCkY TrIvIa<<<< (Next week, Nicky explains the reason for Brute) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The original owner of the library decided to install other dangers to ward off looters like Croft, and these include swinging chains, rotating cog wheels, and errr ghosts. The chains are perhaps the most ridiculous way Lara can be killed in the entire series. Honestly, in the real world she would lose more health from a bout of PMT than getting slapped in the arm by a giant piece of chav bling. Passing the cog wheels is another matter altogether (even Brute would probably think twice), and has proved an absolutely nightmare over the years for H.C players. As for the ghosts, well, judging by the way they instantly follow Lara into certain death, we can probably deduce that they're simply the floating souls of some dead tin men. Complimenting the more physical action are one or two intellectual 'puzzles', one of which is fantastic and the other of which is rubbish. The good one is the fire statue puzzle. With its complicated logic and pointless reset pedastal (but in an amusing way), it remains to date one of the most glorious TR sections of recent times, if of course we can still call TRLR a recent game. It's tantalising to have six of the seven fires lit and know you're still a long way from lighting all of them. Also, this is one of those rare puzzles which still seems to offer a challenge several times after you've already done it. Classic raiding. By contrast, the room with all the planets just gets on my nerves. This is quite simply a drag, literally, and in terms of gameplay badly scrapes the bottom of the barrel, almost literally. Just try lugging one of those plastic planets all the way across the room only to discover you've put it in the wrong place. I swear I lost about a stone in weight completing this task, and that was just from repeatedly banging my D-pad for half an hour! Furthermore, the scraping sound when Lara moves an object resembles that of somebody dragging their fingernails across a blackboard; it's not nice. What's wrong with the tried and trusted 4-keys-in-the-door technique? Why the tedium with the planets? I can only presume Core meant to be educational, but unless you're a spaceman playing Tomb Raider on a PSP handheld inside your lunar module, as you pass the time waiting for the next command to come through from Houston, what use is knowing where Neptune is in relation to Pluto? None, would be the answer. In another part of the level Lara gets to play the harp. Arghh! Why the harp? That's just not funny enough. Imagine how funny it would have been had she been made to bang the drums, or strum an electric guitar, or play the accordian, or blow the trumpet. The list is endless. So why a harp? 8/10 Hall of Demetrius does not warrant much text-space. Locate an artifact, listen to Von Croy's voice sounding a touch more husky than it did the last time you saw him, kill 3 ninja's, and then do some more wretched dragging. And that's that. It's still a better level than the Deepsea Dive, though. I just have to wonder why this Demetrius fellow was such a skin-flint that the only property he could afford was this tiny hall. What did he use it for, disco functions? 2/10 ("I'm really sorry, but Core said only for me to go the Lost Library auditions") __________________ For the first time ever I will understand my television Last edited by Scottlee; 19-08-06 at 06:33.

19-08-06, 10:20	#4
rr_carroll Bug Scientist Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: California Posts: 5,253	Again, I am forced to point out that the fire puzzle is a complete crock. Each location receives a stimulus from its own lever and two other locations. Therefore, just go around the circle and pull each lever once. Each location will go On-Off-On, and obviously all locations will be lit. I once encountered a bug where the swinging chains were frozen in place! It let me get some daring-looking screenshots: Last edited by rr_carroll; 19-08-06 at 10:39.

20-08-06, 23:21	#9
DREWY Moderator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 11,691	Although, as Nicky said, Lost Library should have been 10/10. __________________ Stay alert - the world needs more lerts

23-08-06, 04:13	#10
WILDRAIDER Student Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Toronto Posts: 108	"Quote: Black Beauty was far more of a credit to the horse society though. When she wasn't foiling evil land developers from turning the nearby orchard into a golf course, she was flying.." Wasnt Black Beauty a stallion? Just a thought.... Your right about everything else you've said. The library is trully the worst place to be, where I've lost most of my medpacks trying to climb the pole with sllicing blades....and barely making it to the water after grabbing the scroll. I dont get the moving globes and the lit burners. Without hesitation I proceeded to follow my trusty walkthrough. GOODBYE frustration __________________ "The uneximined life is not worth living"

19-08-06, 12:00	#5
Chocolate Professor Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: United Kingdom Gender: Questionable Posts: 3,968	HAHAHAHAHA, this purely deserves an A*!

19-08-06, 19:29	#7
peeves Tomb Raider Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: NY State Dutchess County Fishkill Gender: Male Posts: 15,501	Why did they put golden axemen in that area?

19-08-06, 22:01	#8
Titanium Tomb Raider Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: England Posts: 13,059	LOL, nice one Scott