Mark my words E3 for TOMB RAIDER II.

Karl: As an amazing new feature to the system for this new game we introduce the swimming system. This is utilized in a gritty and visceral way. Vehicles also play an integral role to our new story as we use them in our physic based environment over rough terrains and to access new areas to progress further in the game.

:)

:vlol:! It sounds funny, but I wouldn't be surprised if it really was like that :/ Seriously...I dunno what all we can expect from them.

It will basically just feature the den with a coat of new paint and flooded and Lara will get grabbed and pulled by some sort of eel. Also if monsters don't make an appearance expect them in the sequel and a cover reveal of them. :vlol:

What they can introduce now for the sequel as new stuff is a smart marketing move from them. :D

This. *Looks at AC2*

A lot of developers do this, I think.

Maybe it's because it works for the experience they're going for with TR2? Ever thought of that?

True. Afterall, it isn't like swimming will really help Lara in this game. Maybe it might help Lara in another scenario in a different location.

There will definitely be a horse in future games. It'll be one of those things that keeps the franchise "fresh" even though other games will have been doing for years and years before Tomb Raider ever did....sigh.

Well you see, it's like a recess cup. Some recipes might have had peanut butter before, or some recipes might have had chocolate, but when it's finally combined with chocolate/peanutbutter, it's something fresh and new.


People are lying if they say they don't like my food related analogies.

^That's an interesting way of interpreting it. :vlol:

A Recess Cup - A cup full of good ol free time.

But reeses peanut butter cups were invented many years ago, leglion...

But from a business point of view it's one many developers do use. Ultimately story and experience aside the business is to sell things they need to ensure a quality product and up their game with new features for the next. When I done A-Level Media we had a lot of discussions on the topic of how to sell different games and had seminars from people within the industry and ultimately they look at it from a business prospective their aim is to sell and come back with more to offer for the next instalment.

They put in the work before hand and come up with a solution that will keep them going for years. There is a certain creative experience to immerse the player and entice them to buy the product but they need to think of selling terms and what they can leave out or include for the next instalments hence what changes from the concepts to the production stage. Experience is important to sell it to the reviewers and gamers but new features like DLC and ingame content is more important in terms of sales after the dependant of the initial success from the first game in the franchise. :)

But it was fresh at the time of it's invention even though other things had it's ingredients long before.

They scrapped the horse just because they realized they wouldn't have enough cool ideas for the sequel. I don't believe they removed it because it doesn't fit in the story. It always fit. The horse would be cool option, there's nothing they would ruin if they added it in the game. The same with the swimming. I just hate how they lie. :(

I don't think they removed it for story purposes, I think they removed it because people thought "a horse? In Tomb Raider? Wut?"...:/

That is basically what I said. But are we sure they care about players opinions?

Well the original leak was from a survey, so there was a focus group or something, in which that must have been the consensus.

I really doubt that, if they had that approach to everything a lot of new features wouldn't have been implemented.

They have to, it's the foundation of a successful franchise. They can't listen to everything though, because sometimes our opinions are clouded by bias and uninformative.

Well, they have people stalking the forums and lots of the things they included in this game reflects what people in and out of the fanbase have been complaining about for years, even some since Core has been around. So I'd say they care about fan opinion.

I've also heard some opinions that it leaked on purpose so CD would find out what people thinks. Do you find it possible?

I don't know about that, who knows what the survey results were, or even how much they affected the decision.

I definitely believe this. I think most leaks are intentional. They like to hear feedback on risky ideas and media without having to officially release it so they don't get criticised if it's **** or whatever.

Well it's not an impossibility.

Once they started designing levels I'd say that they quickly realized that a horse didn't fit in with how you move through the environment. The terrain looks really rough...not a good place for a horse.

What survey are you talking about, bb?

I don't think they needed that to be honest... They were already conducting some surveys with some marketing companies to make sure they were doing the right thing, by calling in some gamers, and asking what they thought of the actual game, like most developers do....!

Well, they could've still leaked it to get far more opinions which seems easier, tbh.

All it takes is a minor piece of concept art to leak on the internet about a unreleased game or a concept and there will be a huge reaction and criticism. It's quite useful for the devs.

^It's not useful when the criticism is knee-jerk and shallow.

I feel like they would have decided on that before building terrain.

The horse could have been a fast travel system and the areas between hubs could have been designed for use with the horse, thought because there is so much platforming involved in TR maybe they found this to be an issue.

It always seemed to me that the leaked concept for the game involved a more traditional open world setting as opposed to hubs.

The Nielson survey, that's where the concepts and brief were from, apparently.

That's what I thought as well. I think it leaked on purpose.

Remember, big open areas, hubs etc. But if they added the horse, it could mean faster traveling and it could make the game play shorter. Maybe that's the reason they removed it.

Wait...there are base camps that offers fast traveling....uhm, idk. :/

Yeah I think a horse only works well for open world environments. I didn't even like it much in UC3.

Actually. I think they might have removed the horse because it kinda redacts from the exploration and platforming of the game.

So why pay a company in the first place (I'm sure with pretty big bucks) with a contract, stating they want all of this to remain a big secret, and then release all of this to the world doesn't make any sense...!

Both parties could sue each other if they knew one did it on purpose....! I just really think someone stole those pics, but they did a favor to CD in the process...

^Oh, stop. Please.

Do you think they actually had people testing the game in 2009? I'm sure that was when CD were just gathering their ideas on what to do with the game.

Also, why are you ending all of your sentences with Ellipsis's and an exclamation mark?

The concepts were leaked in 09, which must have been when the survey was being conducted.

They had been working on the game for two and a half years as of E3 last year.

I should go to the 24/7 petrol station that is 5 mins by a walk from my house to check that bloody magazine :pi:

Magazine?

^PLAY magazine is supposed to be out May 10th with all new exclusive TR poop on a disc for ten minutes or something. But some suspicious tweets make buying the magazine not encouraging.

Only if you think they have it.

I'll look for PLAY on the weekend if it's not discovered by then.

Well, it's 0:13AM here, so I assume they should change the stock at midnight, no?

Who knows, not me. :/

I'm going to give them a call. Gimme a sec.