Chronicles Appreciation

[_Seth]

Originally Posted by Boobandie

It must be. She's wearing the normal backpack in the FMV.

My guess is they changed its look to explain it not having straps. Lara's backpack straps are textured onto her body, but with the way the catsuit is textured (single texture with reflection map shine applied, this is why she doesnt have belts and holsters like the FMV as well) they couldn't do that and making them 3D would be too resource heavy.

Yeah, they could have at least uncrushed it and textured it black.

[mizuno_suisei]

Originally Posted by Joey79100

NONE of the classics runs at 60 fps on any platform. All at 30fps (or 25fps for TR1 PSX PAL version - don't know about Saturn)
However TR5 does use floating points instead of integers for 3D coordinates, so it results in a smoother feeling (points don't snap to the closest full number).

Here's a comparison video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd_N0TCMxMQ
TR4 vs TR5: Integers vs Floating points

You can see how Lara moves smoothly in TR5, but in TR4 it's more jerky. You can even see her butt "going in and out" as she breathes.
This also applied to cameras and everything that has coordinates.

This isn't solely the case mate.
I HAVE enabled 60fps rendering in tr5 which mostly affects effects but does interpolate. Watch at 1080p60. I see a phenomenal difference in smoothness, especially in Laras movements. This is a direct recording straight from PCTomb5(J) at internal 60fps.

I think the assuming problem is that most seem to think the classics only have ONE flag for framerates. I've found 3 (thanks to TREP).
Its needed some trial and error but, I've made the same change in TR3 and TR4 - TR2 is proving a bit difficult

By the way - to actually test 60fps capability to its fullest you need a smart TV that runs at 60hz, or a very new gen mobile phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAHT9X34CUc

On the topic of the thread overall - I actually adore chronicles. I always have! For a quick filler game, I think they provided something truly wonderful. Who would suit a chapter retelling saga than Lara Croft

[s2m6]

Chronicles has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, being the first TR game I played. The ambiance of each level is unique unto itself, the eclectic variety of the locations is admirable,
and there is a tremendous amount of imagination that went into the individual stories, particularly the Ireland levels, which adds a creepiness that the series had never seen before,
particularly as the player is controlling young Lara who is incapable of defending herself.

[FreakRaider]

The title screen video is not really 60fps. The video file might be but there is no difference to 30fps

[Greenapple968]

Chronicles is my 5th favourite TR game out of the Tomb Raiders that I've played; I rate Chronicles above AOD, Legend, Anniversary and Underworld but I rate Chronicles below TR1, TR2, TR3 and Last Revelation.

I certainly don't worship Chronicles but I don't dislike it either. I used to have a much lower opinion of the game but then I started to like it more as I came to realise that my reasons for disliking the game weren't as valid as I initially thought.

My reasons for disliking it were as follows:
1) I considered the gameplay to be poor and didn't enjoy the game much. The reason why I felt that way was because I thought lowly of the game when comparing it to the first 4 Tomb Raider games. However, by thinking about Chronicles as a game of its own, I realised that I liked the game more than I thought.
2) I didn't consider the secrets to be rewarding. The secrets are just flowers which don't help you during the game; you don't gain healthpacks, weapons, ammo or anything like that which you did in the previous TR games. I do still feel this way, although the secrets in Legend don't appear to help you during the game and there might be other TR games where this is the case.
3) Collecting items didn't seem worthwhile since you would always lose everything at the end of each section. This is kind of annoying, but I suppose it does make sense since all the sections were years apart.
4) The double death of Pierre and Larson was a bit confusing. The Rome section within Chronicles is set one year before TR1. In which case, it has to be assumed that Larson survived being attacked by the dragons and Pierre survived the fall into the ditch. Then Lara crossed paths with them again in TR1 where she then killed them.
5) The VCI section can be very buggy, especially after saving at certain times and places. This affects my opinion of the game, although it isn't exclusive to Chronicles; I've encountered similar problems in certain parts of Last Revelation and AOD can be very buggy as well.

[Tomb Raidering]

Originally Posted by Greenapple968

Chronicles is my 5th favourite TR game out of the Tomb Raiders that I've played; I rate Chronicles above AOD, Legend, Anniversary and Underworld but I rate Chronicles below TR1, TR2, TR3 and Last Revelation.

Chronicles above Underworld and Legend: Good.
Chronicles under TRIII and TRII:

I certainly don't worship Chronicles but I don't dislike it either. I used to have a much lower opinion of the game but then I started to like it more as I came to realise that my reasons for disliking the game weren't as valid as I initially thought.

You should though.

1) I considered the gameplay to be poor and didn't enjoy the game much. The reason why I felt that way was because I thought lowly of the game when comparing it to the first 4 Tomb Raider games. However, by thinking about Chronicles as a game of its own, I realised that I liked the game more than I thought.

So Chronicles has a place deep in your heart. ^.^
Poor gameplay? At least you don’t get busted by goons at every corner (looking at you, TRII).

2) I didn't consider the secrets to be rewarding. The secrets are just flowers which don't help you during the game; you don't gain healthpacks, weapons, ammo or anything like that which you did in the previous TR games. I do still feel this way, although the secrets in Legend don't appear to help you during the game and there might be other TR games where this is the case.

Collecting the secrets unlock concept art for Angel of Darkness. Plus, there’s a trailer for Angel of Darkness on the PS1 version.

3) Collecting items didn't seem worthwhile since you would always lose everything at the end of each section. This is kind of annoying, but I suppose it does make sense since all the sections were years apart.

It made sense story-wise. That’s what matters. At least Lara doesn’t abnormally start the game with a shotgun (TRII) or finds a shotgun at the first two seconds of the game (TRIII).

[Greenapple968]

Originally Posted by Tomb Raidering

Chronicles above Underworld and Legend: Good.
Chronicles under TRIII and TRII:

I agree with half of these two sentences.

Originally Posted by Tomb Raidering

You should though.

But I don't.

Originally Posted by Tomb Raidering

So Chronicles has a place deep in your heart. ^.^
Poor gameplay? At least you don’t get busted by goons at every corner (looking at you, TRII).

Chronicles has a small place in my heart. For what it's worth, I find TR2 much easier than Chronicles.

Originally Posted by Tomb Raidering

Collecting the secrets unlock concept art for Angel of Darkness. Plus, there’s a trailer for Angel of Darkness on the PS1 version.

I have been informed about this a few times.

Originally Posted by Tomb Raidering

It made sense story-wise. That’s what matters. At least Lara doesn’t abnormally start the game with a shotgun (TRII) or finds a shotgun at the first two seconds of the game (TRIII).

It did make sense as far as the storyline was concerned. If you don't like obtaining shotguns early on, then you should probably avoid Resident Evil 4, and possibly other resident evil games.

[Woops]

I think Chronicles is my favorite game. I really appreciate it!

[Tomb Raidering]

Originally Posted by Woops

I think Chronicles is my favorite game. I really appreciate it!

It’s my favorite too. Tbh, it deserves every praise it can get.

[Greenapple968]

Originally Posted by Woops

I think Chronicles is my favorite game. I really appreciate it!

Originally Posted by Tomb Raidering

It’s my favorite too. Tbh, it deserves every praise it can get.

It's just a shame that Chronicles doesn't like either of you!