General Tomb Raider Underworld discussion

[killchan]

Originally Posted by JAMJOOM

Does the game really need improved graphics
I do not know
It looks very good so far
I made this little demo
for fun
Oh really
I need some opinions on this

A side by side direct comparison would help.

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ok so I'm still playing this game for some reason , and now I finally understand why it plays so bad
It's easy to say it's a buggy game, but I think it has more to do with a series of bad decisions.

First of all, camera and gameplay flow.
Because CD has this obsession with the autocamera (maybe due to the fact that Legend and Anniversary were designed for the PSP, which didn't have the right thumbstick so the camera had to move by itself), as long as you go exactly where you're supposed to go and never rotate the camera in the process, the game plays fine... but the second you go anywhere else, everything goes to **** because the camera doesn't know what to point at.
They could have solved this by increasing the field of view and use the fixed camera mode in way more areas and avoid the (more than welcome I'm not gonna lie dat_ass.gif but ) not really functional thing of having Lara sit on your face whenever she sprints.

The second thing that broke the game imo was the way they implemented the multi-180° walljump. On paper, it's a nice mechanic as it allowed level designers to better conceil the point of exit. Let's say you're looking around for a ledge to grab but you can't find it but then "OH WAIT two walls right in front of each other! I could use those to go up!" . I thought it was neat.
The problem however is that this mechanic should have been strictly context sensitive, meaning the move should never trigger if not on those few specific walls you're actually supposed to use as vertical platforms. In this game for some reason they did the exact opposite: even though there's never a reason to do a 180-walljump outside of the "2 walls" scenario, they still chose to prioritize that move over the normal jump or the simple act of vaulting over an obstacle. The result is that if you press jump in front of anything, unless you're in the perfect ideal spot for the intended action you're supposed to perform, the game doesn't know what do to and Lara either just stands there or initiates a 180-walljump. And again, this is yet another case of a problem that doesn't really show up unless you play exactly , pixel perfect as intended.

They made this game considering only what the player needed to do in order to win, while completely ignoring how the game would play like during the entire process of getting there.

It's like they never had someone outside the studio play this game. That's what playtesting is for.

What were they thinking?

[JAMJOOM]

Originally Posted by killchan

A side by side direct comparison would help.

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The result is that if you press jump in front of anything, unless you're in the perfect ideal spot for the intended action you're supposed to perform, the game doesn't know what do to and Lara either just stands there or initiates a 180-walljump. And again, this is yet another case of a problem that doesn't really show up unless you play exactly , pixel perfect as intended.

They made this game considering only what the player needed to do in order to win, while completely ignoring how the game would play like during the entire process of getting there.

SO TRUE

It's like they never had someone outside the studio play this game. That's what playtesting is for.

What were they thinking?

Perhaps the game was incomplete
Look at the ps2 version
It is really disastrous
Lara has no features compared to Remastered
They wanted to distribute the game faster
To get sales......................................

As it happened with the angel of darkness
The target was sales
And everyone noticed the deficiency

[TRExpertgamer]

Is there a way how we can port Lara's doppelganger to play as for TRU from Lara's Shadow?

[GaviCroftREmix]

Originally Posted by TRExpertgamer

Is there a way how we can port Lara's doppelganger to play as for TRU from Lara's Shadow?

As I said no not at the moment and porting it would hard because the PC and Xbox have different formats and different archetypes. they have to convert and no one has well except for Gh0stBlade but he’s not working on that project atm because firstly he can't do it on his own if someone chooses too they can help so...yeah there u go.

[TRExpertgamer]

Originally Posted by GaviCroftREmix

As I said no not at the moment and porting it would hard because the PC and Xbox have different formats and different archetypes. they have to convert and no one has well except for Gh0stBlade but he’s not working on that project atm because firstly he can't do it on his own if someone chooses too they can help so...yeah there u go.

Ok. Thanks for letting me know about that because I was thinking about this idea IN MY HEAD for like 11 & 12 years and I still hope there's a way how to make that to happen which will sound so thrilling!! It'll definitely sound so exciting to play as Lara's doppelganger in to this game on the PC!! I especially wish if we can do that for PCSX2 as well but I really doubt there's a way how we can make that to happen as well. That's why it's easier for Gh0stBlade to do it for PC since he know how to do those types of fun things in advance.

[GaviCroftREmix]

Originally Posted by TRExpertgamer

Ok. Thanks for letting me know about that because I was thinking about this idea IN MY HEAD for like 11 & 12 years and I still hope there's a way how to make that to happen which will sound so thrilling!! It'll definitely sound so exciting to play as Lara's doppelganger in to this game on the PC!! I especially wish if we can do that for PCSX2 as well but I really doubt there's a way how we can make that to happen as well. That's why it's easier for Gh0stBlade to do it for PC since he know how to do those types of fun things in advance.

if your curious u should PM him Idk he may be working on it on the low.

[TRExpertgamer]

Originally Posted by GaviCroftREmix

if your curious u should PM him Idk he may be working on it on the low.

Ok

[Jonipoon]

Honestly, I never found Underworld to be as bad as many people on this forum claim it to be. I played it on the PS3 and I never had any problems with the controls. The game always ran smoothly for me, the graphics were beautiful and the level design was a step up from both Legend and Anniversary. Having access to all weapons from the start wasn't even something I realized until I read people complain about it, and I think it's an unneccesary complaint.

The story isn't as well-paced as Legend nor as focused as Anniversary, and in many ways it feels like a re-thread of both games. The only things that really stand out are the Doppelgänger and destruction of Croft Manor, which were done really well. It's not my favorite in the series but it's far from the worst IMO.

[HaniHeger]

Originally Posted by Jonipoon

It's not my favorite in the series but it's far from the worst IMO.

Very true, I did have problems with the controls in my experience and it could be very stressing. But everything else really compensates, the music, the cinematics, story and the incredible places and views...

I think that whoever takes Underworld as a bad game only because of controls and backtracks, is only looking at one side of the coin. Actually as I see, its the same as AOD, many people (not all of them) hate it only because they had an awful time at the controls and stuff like that, but it is forgetting about so many other incredible things about the game.

My brother won't play the game because of the buggy controls (that can be fixed a little but he refuses to do so too), his loss.

[Valentino]

I think I'm alone in appreciating Crystal dipping in to the norse mythology. Truly. They did the norse stuff before it became mainstream with Marvels Thor and God of War 2018. The whole cultures built on top of another deep long lost culture/civilisation was really interesting and new to me. The explanations in the diary entries are brilliant too. Ragnarök being a culmination of natural disasters and not an mythological serpent. Or the Naga being reptiles which created the "snake people" inspiration.
She got Excalibur. She learned the truth about King Arthur and the round table. I'm glad they wove another myth and artefact for Lara to explore but still even at the end showed the Dias and Excalibur linking these cultures and myths together. I'm not sure i'd have wanted to see some fantastical land called Avalon. I think the darker turn these truths revealed was better.