Tomb Raider 3 - Beta, October 5 1998

[RequiredField]

A download link has been available to the general public for more than 2 weeks since that's how I got hold of it during that time. I promise.

[Nate]

I mostly just read the forums and don't post much bet damm this stuff gets me super excited! I will have to find it and download it when I get the chance and go exploring. Thank for sharing

Edit: Also what PSX emulator did you use?

[New Dwight]

Originally Posted by RequiredField

A download link has been available to the general public for more than 2 weeks since that's how I got hold of it during that time. I promise.

PM the link if you still have it.

Originally Posted by Nate

I mostly just read the forums and don't post much bet damm this stuff gets me super excited! I will have to find it and download it when I get the chance and go exploring. Thank for sharing

Edit: Also what PSX emulator did you use?

either psX or ePSXe.
psX

[jonathanrij]

^ Yup, pSX. I enjoy using it, even though it's seriously outdated and not very accurate. I intend to switch to another emulator eventually.

And about the download link, I would have loved to include it in my OP, but I didn't want to risk getting my thread shut down. I remember some time ago where threads discussing beta content would get closed/hidden, but the staff seem much less bothered by them now. I'm just not sure about the file sharing aspect anymore.

Originally Posted by Kirishima

I'm not even sure if those chunks of ice have any collision applied to them (I did not read the description, so I could be wrong).

They do, but the boat ignores static mesh collision. Lara herself does not, though.

And while I absolutely love seeing some of these beta Antarctica elements in action, I can totally see why they ended up changing/removing some of them:
1. The orange boat: seeing as Lara's jacket has a similar shade of orange, she blends in just a little too well with it. This wouldn't have been a problem with her old outfit (which was primarily white/blue), but then again Lara would have faced a similar colour blending issue, seeing as the environment is made up of mostly whites/blues.
2. Ice chunks: with the boat ignoring their collision, players can drive right through them, which is not exactly a realistic look. But even with this issue fixed, players would have bumped into them instead, which I can imagine would have been such an annoying hindrance. As great as they look, I assume they were considered too problematic, especially considering the level was already lagging enough as it was.
3. The orca: very cute, but what is the point? If it was supposed to guide Lara somewhere eventually, that would have been pretty cool. But at this stage there seems to be no evidence of this whatsoever, given how the directive is so clear and how big the level already is anyway. Plus, it's known that there used to be a shark instead, so it's very likely they replaced it. It's obvious why they ended up removing it, but at least Willy will live on forever in this build.
4. See-through windows: they look great and offer some real immersion, but were most likely considered low priority in a time where memory was so incredibly sparse.
5. Extended ship section: I'm on the fence about this one. I was overjoyed when I realized just how different it is and how it really shows the depths of the ship, but does it actually offer worthy gameplay? You spend most of the time tediously moving boxes, followed by jumping over two empty pits. It does feel like a bit of a cheap way to add some extra gameplay time.

Also, for those of you who watched the Antarctica video in full, you'll notice that there was a button issue near the end of the level, which prevented Lara from accessing the Gate Control Key location. I bypassed this by simply moving the box below the button a little. Here's how you can replicate this fix yourself:
(0. Make a backup of the .img file.)
1. Open the original .img file in a hex editor. (I use HxD myself.)
2. Go to offset 00C6CB50.
3. Change the value 2E to 30.
4. Save.

This increases the box's Z value by an integer of two, which in practice places it half a tile forward, effectively making way for Lara to push the button.

[Maverin]

^ I agree! The beta is really interesting to see and the see-through windows were cool but I'm glad that they changed it. Especially the orca and the ice chunks felt too much like needless clutter.

[tlr online]

From a historical perspective this find is incredibly valuable. Thank you for documenting the changes.

[jonathanrij]

The River Ganges



Check the video description for some differences.

[noname]

Is there any CD audio that would have accompanied CUT10? Are the FMVs the same as the final version?

[New Dwight]

Originally Posted by noname

Is there any CD audio that would have accompanied CUT10? Are the FMVs the same as the final version?

Don't think there are FMVs in the beta build from what you see in the video.

[jonathanrij]

There are indeed no FMVs.

Originally Posted by noname

Is there any CD audio that would have accompanied CUT10?

That's difficult to say for sure, seeing as the file is almost a month older than the rest and was not supposed to be included in the first place. Any references were possibly all undone at this stage. I can only confirm that there are no extra audio tracks in this build and that all audio tracks that are present match the ones in the final build. I used jPSXdec to verify this.