The best settings for Tomb Raider The Angel of Darkness.

[Maverin]

Hello everyone

This game is getting pretty old as 2003 has been long gone (†). Even so, I'm sure that now and then someone (like myself) would like to give this game another/the first try. We are 2018 already and a lot has changed, one of them being the machines we run our games on. Luckily, this game doesn't need all that much tweaking to get it running. However, if you wish to get the best possible experience this game can possibly offer you might want to follow my guide!

First, I like to point out that a very similar thread already exists and can be found here: http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=204371. That thread is from 2014 though and is missing some of the more recent patches. I decided to create this thread mainly so I can fall back on it whenever I have to reinstall the game. There are many custom patches for this game that are on the verge of getting lost between all other threads so that's why I thought it would be a good idea to compile most of them here. Okay lets get started!

Step 1: installing the game

Install the game files from the game you've bought. This task is pretty much straight forward. Just run the setup and let the program do it's work. If you have the physical copy, you'll need to switch disc 1 and 2 halfway the progress.

Step 2: updating to the latest official version

Most likely, your game will already be running on the latest official version released: version 52. If you somehow got your hands on a really old copy though, it might be missing some of these official patches. If this is the case, it's always a good idea to manually patch your game using the famous multipatcher found on one of the following links.

• For Windows XP and Windows Vista:
  https://www.tombraiderchronicles.com/vista/patch.html
  
• For Windows 7:
  https://www.tombraiderchronicles.com...ws7/patch.html
  
• For Windows 8:
  https://www.tombraiderchronicles.com...ws8/patch.html
  
• For Windows 10:
  https://www.tombraiderchronicles.com...s10/patch.html
  

How to install?

➜ Simply download and extract the file, then run it as administrator if it doesn't do so by default. Follow the instructions from the program.

Two short remarks on using the multipatcher:

1. Despite the description only mentioning support for TR2-5 it also does support Angel of Darkness which is TR6.
2. Certain utilities within this patcher might still fail with an error telling you that your O.S. is not windows Vista. You can easily work around this by right clicking the program and selecting properties --> compatibility --> run this program in compatibility mode for windows vista.

Step 3: fixing the sluggish controls

This game is infamous for it's horrible controls. One of the main complaints is how slow and clunky the movement scheme is. Luckily, one of our members by the name of Sasho648 tried his best to fix the controls by restoring some deleted beta moves and by increasing both characters (Lara and Kurtis) running speed.

You can download the latest version of this patch here:
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%...FB2D14F5621F5F [make sure you download the 6.6.4 version dating from 2016, not the one from 2017!]

Or an older version here, in case you experience issues with the latest version:
https://sites.google.com/site/tombra...fixed-controls [this is the older v6.6.1 version]

How to install?

➜ Just download the file and put it in your main installation directory which is commonly located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness. Also copy and paste this same file in the bin folder which is commonly found at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\bin. If you get a prompt to overwrite the file, select yes.

A few things his patch does:

1. increased movement speed
2. removed the infamous glitch causing the player to first walk for a second or two before allowing you to actually run.
3. added an animation when Lara hits a wall, similar to the classics.
4. restored a move which allows you to make a 180 degree turn.
5. restored a move to quickly change directions whilst running
6. added animations to show Lara is hurt when her health has decreased over a certain amount. The screen also turns blurry and purple.

If you want to, you can watch this old video https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=_c1v55wcdQw which showcases most of these things.

It takes some time getting used to it, especially in the first level of the game where there are some narrow paths which might cause you to bump into walls or easily lose control over the now faster Lara. Don't worry though, you'll get the hang of it soon and you'll be grateful for this patch later on. Just use the walk button in narrow areas. If you want to walk backwards you now have to press both shift and arrow down simultaneously.

Step 4: higher quality FMV scenes.

Somehow the PS2 always got better looking FMV scenes. It's our lucky day though because some guys (or girls) extracted and modded these to work with the PC version.

https://mega.nz/folder/en5GES5L#p1zMfjjiyu6mGM8nHaartw

How to install?

➜ After downloading and extracting them you'll have to replace the original ones in your installation folder. Mostly located here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\FMV. Accept any overwrite prompts you might receive.

Step 5: improved language

This is minor, but might offer a more enjoyable game experience if you're one to get easily annoyed by bad grammar. One of our members by the name of LateRaider improved almost all text files within the game. He fixed all kind of errors like missing punctuations, capital letters, ...

You can find and download his patch here: http://www.tombraiderforums.com/show...57#post7225157

How to install?

➜ Once again, extract and copy the file and replace the one in your game's installation folder. Mostly located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\locale. Accept any overwrite prompts you might receive.

Step 6: improved levels and cutscenes

This important step consists out of two subdivisions: a and b. Please follow them in the correct order!

a) install Slayer's ultimate patch

First, we must install Slayer's patch to fix a bunch of bugs caused by the official patches. Yes, it's quite sad that an official patch adds more graphical glitches but it is what it is. If you want more information on his work you might want to check his original thread here: http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=204089

How to install?

➜ Download and extract the files from this link:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/z39zk4nhc0bqyz0/SUP2.zip

note: in case you've read the thread above you might have noticed that there are actually two different download links. I've only included the second link because it includes all updates and fixes you need anyway. No matter what version of the game you have, there will be no harm done in overwriting their files with those of the download.

Now open the folder you have downloaded until you get to a division between 3 folders: char, fronted and maps. Therefore you should find them at C:\Downloads\SUP2\SUP2\Data. Copy all three folders and paste them in the data folder within your TRAOD installation directory located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data.

Overwrite any overwrite prompts you might receive.

Now also install the files from this link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/w3c6x...+cutscenes.zip

These files will fix an oversight by the developers where Lara wears the wrong outfit in the wrong location which can come across as weird and unrealistic.

How to install?

➜ To install these files first go to the maps folder at C:\Downloads\Corrected cutscenes\Corrected cutscenes\Data\Maps in which you'll find another folder paired with 3 CLZ files. First copy and paste these files into the maps folder of your AOD maps directory at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\Maps and accept any overwrite prompts you might receive. Then enter the Cutscene folder you saw earlier from the download file, I'm talking about the folder at C:\Downloads\Corrected cutscenes\Corrected cutscenes\Data\Maps\CutScene and copy the 5 CLZ files inside, paste them in the cutscene folder of your AOD cutscene directory as well which is at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\Maps\CutScene. I hope this is not too confusing with all the directory paths

b) install Nakamichi680's patch

Member Nakamichi680 fixed a lot in this game! Lets begin with his reworked levels an cutscenes. He fixed almost (if not all) missing textures within the game and he improved the cutscenes.

You can download his work here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...0Z2c3dmTXJZeFU.

A piece of advice: to download all of the files at once you'll need to press and hold control while clicking on each file. Once all of them are slightly highlighted with a blue-ish effect, you can right click and select download. Don't forget to separately download the PARIS4A folder which is also included in the same link. It can be found under the section 'folders' and it also contains an updated level file. You'll notice there are 2 folder files that go by the same name. I always choose the left one since it also adds PS2 gas (the description appears if you hover over the folder).

To view what exactly he has fixed for each level, you might want to check out his original post here:
http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=215413

How to install?

➜ First download and extract the files like usual. Then copy and paste them in your installation folder under 'maps' usually located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\Maps. The files that start with 'CS..." are the cutscene files and should be pasted in their corresponding folder usually located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\Maps\CutScene

Step 7: fixing bugged characters

This step will have you fix some bugged characters within the game. It's a little complicated but since I've not encountered any bugs with the characters in question I'm assuming that this step works.

In case you skipped step 6 you'll have to download Slayer's base patch now in order to get the char folder. You can find his download here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/qrri8zqup9pmqqu/SUP2S.zip.

How to install?

➜ Extract the files like usual. For the next instructions, I will quote a slightly modified explanation by LateRaider

Originally Posted by LateRaider

1. Copy and paste the Char folder within Slayer's SUP2 > data folder.

2. Locate your main Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness installation folder.

3. Locate the Data folder in your Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness installation folder.

4. Paste the char folder here.

5. When asked to merge folders and/or overwrite files, say yes. This shouldn't be the case though.

6. Locate your Maps folder in your Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness Data folder.

7. Manually create a folder called "char".

8. Within the Maps folder's char folder, create a folder called "PC".

9. Copy (DO NOT cut) and paste the contents of your char folder in your Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness Data folder to the "PC" folder

After doing that, download and extract the char files by Nakamichi680 found here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...k9oWE9BeDJLOU0

Paste these files in both char folders, which you should have if you followed the steps within the quote. Therefore these files should be pasted here C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\char and here D:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\Maps\char\PC

Step 8: restoring the missing credits

This patch is created once again by Nakamichi680. The PS2 version of the game has credits while the PC version for some reason doesn't. If you like to fix this error, follow this step.

How to install?

➜ First, visit this thread: http://www.tombraiderforums.com/show...&postcount=525 and look for the download links below. You'll probably want to use the first link, it's the highest quality file and it's in English. You'll then be redirected to google drive where you can preview the video if you want to. Download the file (there's a button in the right corner) and paste it in the game's installation directory under FMV which you'll most likely find here C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\FMV.[/COLOR] Accept any overwrite prompts you might receive.

Step 9: fixing the herbalist

Another very minor but still worthwhile fix is the one that fixes the non moving lips of the herbalist in Paris (Apparently this guy is a master ventriloquist! ). To get this NPC working as intended download and extract this patch: https://mega.nz/file/eyxCQSIR#Zl-NzG...5z-NX41WtHm5yg from surprise surprise... Nakamichi680.

How to install?

➜ Download the file an copy it. Then paste this file in the 'maps' folder of your installation directory. This is usually located at D:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\Maps

Step 10: increasing the overall gaming experience and graphics

This step will have you fix all kinds of graphical aspects. It consists out of two subdivisions: a and b. Especially 'b' is important! Please follow them in the correct order.

a) improving the general interface and items

This is a rather small improvement which gives the game a more high definition look. You health bar will look sharper, the notebook will look sharper and more realistic, the main menu and the items therein will look better,... Credits for making these little updates go to TRJTA.

How to install?

➜ Follow this link:
https://onedrive.live.com/?id=A72302...23026F337B9313

Select and download the first folder "chapter 0A - Interface and Items". Extract it and open the folder. You'll notice there's a tpf file inside, but we are not going to use it within this guide (see step 14 for more details). Instead, open the 'install in data folder' where you'll find two more folders. For clarification: you should now be at C:\Downloads\Chapter 0A - Interface & Items v0.1.1\Install in data folder. For each folder, select it's content and copy and paste it in it's corresponding folder within the data section of your TRAOD main directory which you should find at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data. Do not copy and paste the folders as a whole or you'll be missing a lot of files required for your game to run.[/COLOR] Therefore you have to do this twice, once for each folder. Just copy and paste the files from your download folder to the game's installation folder and accept any overwrite prompts you might receive.

b) installing and configuring the AOD multipatcher

This is perhaps the most important part of this guide. Download the AOD multipatcher (not to be confused with the multipatcher from step 2) created by AOD hero Nakamichi680. There is a big list explaining everything this program has to offers here:
http://www.tombraiderforums.com/show...&postcount=310.

There is a link to download the file included in the thread above, but I'll also post a direct link here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tFn...dQa65oe0z/view.

How to install?

➜ First, I recommend you to download another file, the remastered and missing demo cutscene which is supposed to play when you remain idle for a while on the start screen. This feature is present on the PS2 version but is missing on the PC (figures). If you want to fix this you'll need this file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e8S...9hN0W-QUk/view

Just paste it in the FMV folder within your installation directory for now which should be at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\FMV.

Now for the patcher itself. Open the folder you have downloaded and extracted from Google Drive. You should see some pictures along with the executable. The pictures are before and after pictures, which showcase the included patches quite well so feel free to take a look before continuing. Don't click on the program, instead open a second windows explorer (you can do this by pressing the windows key + e together) and navigate to your main installation directory which is at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness. Now you should two windows open, one with the patcher and one with TRAOD_P4.exe. Drag and drop the TRAOD_P4.exe file onto the TRAODMP.exe file. If you successfully did this you should now have a new window with a blue background and with multiple options. Lets review them together.

Some instructions for those who find the program confusing: pressing a number (followed by enter) next to the corresponding patch will enable or disable that option respectively. Press 'n' to go to the next page. Press 's' to save and apply your changes. If you change your mind and don't want this patch after all you can just close the program. More on the other options later.

Page 1:

1. Lara's sunglasses:
   Turn this option on to have Lara wear her sunglasses all the time. More specific: she will wear the sunglasses outside the FMV scenes and some particular cutscenes too. Turning this on 'fixes' the unrealistic event in which she suddenly has her sunglasses on during cutscenes. You should follow your preference for this one.
2. Subtitles:
   My recommendation is to leave them enabled unless the subtitles annoy you somehow.
3. Kurtis farsee effect fix:
   During the Kurtis levels there are small cutscenes in which he will use one of his unique skills called 'the Farsee ability'. This ability is supposed to be accentuated by an orange looking effect which is yet another effect present on the PS2 while missing on the PC. I recommend enabling this but put it on light (option 1) as I found the original PS2 effect to be rather strong.
4. Persistent corpses:
   This is also preference but please note that even if you enable this the corpses will still disappear whenever you save the game. That includes quick saving. So the main difference is that the bodies will no longer flicker and they'll remain as long as you don't save your game.
5. Blood patch:
   This does not restore the missing blood effects which appear on the ground and which are present in the PS2 version. This is only interesting if you are playing on a censored German version which has no blood at all.
6. Unlock player position:
   There are quite a few tutorial scenes during which you cannot move in the first level. This can be a little annoying if you already know the controls. If you want to skip them, enable this option. It allows you to move freely and shut Lara's constant chatting.
7. Lag free look camera:
   In the unpatched version, there's a noticeable delay between pressing the look key and the character actually looking. It takes about a full second before it works which can become annoying after a while. I recommend enabling this option to get a more fluid gaming experience.

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Page 2:

1. Snow:
   Enables snow in the Monstrum Crimescrene level. This is an absolute must! It should already be enabled though because of Sasho's patch which I assume you installed earlier during this guide.
2. Snowflakes trembling intensity:
   Basically it means how much the snowflakes 'vibrate'. I recommend putting this on low as it felt more realistic to me.
3. Snowflake fall speed:
   I recommend putting this on slow as it also felt more realistic.
4. Cubemap reflection resolution:
   If you want the best graphics possible you should put this on 4x. It makes reflections from certain objects sharper. Like the reflections from the glass cages in the Louvre. It speaks for itself that I recommend this.
5. Dynamic shadows resolution:
   put this on 4x for sharper and better looking shadows, which is also recommended.
6. FUR:
   Enabling this is another graphical improvement. It will render 'real' grass in certain locations (the graveyard for example) instead of the original and rather bland looking textures. A recommendation for sure.
7. Specular:
   This creates a shiny/glossy effect on Lara and Kurtis. It's a preference thing but I like to have this option enabled.

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Page 3:

1. Main menu demo video:
   Enable this to restore the missing demo cutscene which I've written about earlier. If you followed this guide then the file will already be in the correct location. If you skipped that part you might want to read the first few lines of "how to install?" in this step.
2. Classic health/breath/grip bar:
   This is another preference thing. If you enable this option then the health bar won't show unless you are hurt, have weapons drawn or you're in the menu. I prefer to leave this disabled because that way it's easier to keep track of your health.
3. Cutscene/FMV skip button:
   In the PC version it's possible that you are pressing certain buttons at the same moment when a cutscene is being triggered causing you to accidentally skip that scene. Enabling this option will prevent that from happening unless you press the escape button. I recommend enabling this one for convenience.
4. Aspect ratio fix:
   Does what it says, I recommend enabling it and choosing for the 'full mode': the loading screens and the HUD will now be displayed in the correct aspect ratio. Only Werner's notebook will remain stretched which I don't really mind because it's not that important and it doesn't affect anything gameplay wise.
5. External font support:
   Replaces the game's font by a custom one. You'll need a FONT.TGA file inside your C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness\Data\effects folder which Nakamichi680 conveniently included in his download. Follow this path: C:\Downloads\TR AoD EXE Multi-Patcher v.2.2\Fonts\v. 49-52\HD Font by TRJTA. Copy the file and paste it in the effects folder as described above. This font was created by TRJTA! I strongly recommend turning this on.
6. Lag free walk mode:
   Yet another annoying delay between pressing buttons and the action being executed removed. Naturally, I recommend turning this on.
7. Underwater effects fix:
   This is a little, missing effect in the PC version which should show up when you destroy the ceiling in vault of trophies. Enabling this patch adds to the suspense of an otherwise bland cutscene so I recommend turning it on.

---

Advanced mods (access by pressing 'x'):

For the casual player there is only one option worth looking at really:

➜ Hide camera cutscene blinds:
This one removes the black bars above and under cutscenes when they're being played. I recommend enabling this because it allows you to see more and because it feels like you've increased the quality.

Now it's time to say goodbye to this wonderful program by pressing 's' to save and pressing 'y' to confirm. The program automatically places the updated exe in your game directory together with a backup file of the original, unpatched exe just in case something went wrong.

Now go to your main directory at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness and copy the TRAOD_P4.exe file. Paste it inside the bin folder and accept the overwrite prompt.

Step 11: getting the settings right

We are nearing the end. Before starting your game, you probably want to maximize the graphics. To do so launch the launcher (no pun intended)and go to settings. Welcome to the most complicated settings panel you'll EVER get from a game!

There aren't too many things to do on the general tab, but you might want to put 'frame rate compensation' on fast. Also tick the multi threaded, Intel SSE and Intel SSE2 boxes.

Now go to your graphics card tab. I'll quickly go over the most important options here:

• Screen format: 32 bit X8R8G8B8 32 bit A8R8G8B8 (avoid 32 bit A2R10G10B10 32 bit A2R10G10B10)
  
• Screen res: select the highest resolution that your monitor supports
  
• Colour depth: select the first option
• Multi sampling: select 8 samples(1)(1)
• Render type: what you select here should be based upon your preference. Fixed hardware is the option that probably causes least flickering textures (examples of this flickering can be seen on the cabinet in Francine's apartment or on the glass boxes inside the Louvre), but at the cost of some of the effects like reflections, specular map, glow and high quality water. If you select shader hardware instead, you'll have all of those effects activated but that also enables the flickering to come through more often. Software might be an option in case you're suffering from slowdowns or lag but is not recommended otherwise.
  
• Gamma (slider): you probably want to move the slider a little to the left (there's an indication to where it should be actually). The PC version is a little too bright by default and dragging this slider slightly to the left fixes that.
• MultiMon Output: only important if you have multiple monitors. This option is preference based
  
• [IMPORTANT!!] Monitor aspect: the number resembles the aspect ratio the game will run in so choose the one that you want. Unless you like a thicker Lara you should modify this value. I'll quote Caesum since he explained this really well.
  

  Originally Posted by Caesum

  Generally:
  1.33 for 4:3
  1.6 for 16:10
  1.77 for 16:9

  I set my ratio at 1.77

• Monitor size: someone pointed out that this parameter is pretty useless but for the sake of completion I'll explain briefly what you're supposed to put here. This number should be equal to how many inches your monitor screen has diagonally. Most monitors have a code written on the top right corner (For example: S24D300). The first two numbers resemble the inches so in my case that's 24 inches.
  
• Options: make sure everything is ticked (like fog).
• Textures: put everything on 'anisotropic' or 'high'. For the two texture options you'll want to use '32 bit A8R8G8B8'. According to nakamichi680 it won't do any good to go higher than that.
  
• Render targets: make sure everything is ticked
• Reflections and refractions: make sure everything is ticked and put texture on 32 bit A8R8G8B8. Depth should be 32 bit (the first option)
• RT characters reflect: ticked
• Effects in reflections: ticked and select the highest number on the right, in my case it's 10
• Texture: nakamichi680 recommends '16 bit A4R4G4B4' or '16 bit A1R5G5B5' in case you're using the 4x cubemap option from his patch (see step 10 -> page 4 -> option 2). If you decided not to go with that patch you'll want to leave this on '32 bit A8R8G8B8'. Note: my settings only gave me the option '16 bit R5G5B5' which I assume to be the same as 16 bit A1R5G5B5
  
• Depth: select the second option, 32 bit Depth D24X8 shadows. The first one can apparently cause problems with Lara's textures.
  
• Camera update: select 'all'
• Character update: select 'all'
• [IMPORTANT!!] Character quality: select 'high'. This is important in order to make the specular patch of the AOD multipatcher work.
  
• Projected shadows: make sure everything is ticked. If possible, tick nVidia shadows and select the highest number in the drop down menu next to it, which is 12 in my case. You should DEFINITELY uncheck pixel shader 2.0 shadows! For the option format and the option depth you're probably best of by putting them on the 32 bit option.
  

Now go to the sound tab. If you are still running a Windows XP then chances are that you'll be able to tick 'enable EAX' without any problems. You should absolutely tick all these options if you are on a Windows XP machine.

If this option is greyed out for you then there's still a way to enable it by tweaking a little. The sound quality will then be emulated through a program called Alchemy. However! Since it's emulated software and not the real thing, it will most likely sound exaggerated and well... bad. There's an interesting topic about it here: http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=212300.
If you still want to try it out yourself then you can find everything you need compiled in this download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/8hx4ru.../TRAOD_EAX.zip provided by Caesum! See the txt file inside that download for further instructions.

Step 12: optimizing the graphics through your graphics card

You can increase the graphics even further thanks to the control panels that graphic cards companies almost always offer nowadays. I use Nvidia so I'm not sure if the explanation below this also applies to other cards like AMD.

To get to the control panel, right click anywhere on your desktop and you should see the option. Click on it and the panel will open. You'll see a bunch of options on your left side, you want to select 'Manage 3D settings'. Now look at the right side and click on 'Program Settings'. You know you're on the right tab if you get the option to manually select a program. Click on the add button and browse for your TRAOD_P4.exe which should be at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness. Open the file. Now maximize everything there. I won't go too much into detail but basically you want to select the following options: on/16x/8x/override applications settings/highest number pre rendered frames/prefer maximum performance/high quality. If you are unsure what these options mean then I'm happy to redirect you to this guide: https://www.techporn.ph/basic-nvidia...ization-guide/

Step 13: launch the game directly instead of the launcher

A very small step just for convenience sake. Normally when you click on the game's shortcut you'll be redirected to the launcher before you can launch the game itself. If you rather directly go to the game and skip the launcher then you should go to your installation directory for one last time, which is at C:\Program Files (x86)\Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness and create a shortcut from your TRAODP4.exe file (*). Now rename the shortcut to whatever you like (for example: Tomb Raider The Angel of Darkness).

(*) In case you don't know how to do so: right click the executable file -> send to -> desktop.

Step 14 (optional):

There are many other mods which I haven't included here. There's a nice compilation out here: http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=204371.

There are some interesting ones like TRJA's HD patch or the beta levels by Sasho. I have not included them here because the HD patch requires the use of the external program "texmod" every time you launch the game and adds a long startup loading time. The beta levels from Sasho are interesting but glitched (missing textures, cops shooting at you during cutscenes, not compatible with the level fixes from Nakamichi680,...)

Troubleshooting:

If you receive errors whenever you try launching the game, look here for possible solutions: https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Tomb_R...TION_HANDLE.22 . Still not resolved? Search the internet or make a post in the technical section on this forum.

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That's all folks! You have now done everything possible to optimize this game. It should now feel like a polished/finished game. This has taken much more time to write than I anticipated. Feel free to correct me if there are things missing or if you find errors. I only take credit in making this guide, everything you find within it has been created or provided by other members which I tried to give credit where due. If there is someone you should thank, it's them! Happy raiding everyone

[Chamayoo]

Excellent guide ! I will follow your instructions when I will replay AOD in the near future. Thank you for your hard work.

[Joey79100]

It kinda hurts to realize so many steps are needed. I wish someone would make an installer that can do all of this with only a few clicks, like a bit update installation. Maybe with an advanced mode, so we can select what we want and what we don't want, but a "simple" mode that would install everything without having to do anything else than clicking Next would be absolutely awesome. People would finally try all these fixes that way and realize AOD is not that bad this way. I already imagine the name of the installer: "Less Dark Angel Of Darkness".

[ANoDE]

I'll reinstall and reconfigure the game with these settings / patches. Thanks for the guide!

[Alex Fly]

Wow great job there! Well done Maverin!

[nakamichi680]

Really good job!

I'd like to contribute with some corrections and suggestions:

- You could add the mpeg2 codec installation step for those who are playing on Windows 8/10 (if they haven't already installed it).
- I'd suggest v. 6.6.4 of sasho's patch (which can be downloaded here: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%...FB2D14F5621F5F) because it fixes the annoying randomly Lara disappearing bug.
- Add a step between 5 and 6: Slayer's Ultimate Patch. It MUST be installed before my levels/cutscenes definitive patch.
- Remove Verbose ouput debug string from the guide: this mod adds nothing to gameplay, actually it could slightly decrease performance. It's useful only if you're planning to debug the game with Microsoft DebugView (or similar tools).
- Screen format value: 32 bit X8R8G8B8 32 bit A8R8G8B8 (avoid 32 bit A2R10G10B10 32 bit A2R10G10B10)
- Render type: maybe you meant "Shader Hardware"?
- Monitor size: I'm pretty sure this parameter is completely useless
- Textures Format RGB/ARGB: there's no point in going over 32 bit A8R8G8B8.
- Reflections and refractions Texture: same as before
- Cubemap Reflections Texture: same as before but if you're using the 4x setting in my multipatcher for reflections resolution I suggest 16 bit A4R4G4B4 or 16 bit A1R5G5B5
- Projected Shadows: nVidia Shadows should be enabled on AMD cards too.

[Mokono]

Genius guide, Maverin !

[Lillie]

This is great! I will definitely use some of these for my next AoD playthrough.

[Maverin]

Thank you for your kind words everyone. It's nice to hear that this guide might help fellow members both now and in the future

Originally Posted by Joey79100

It kinda hurts to realize so many steps are needed. I wish someone would make an installer that can do all of this..

It's unfortunate that this game suffers from so many annoyances and glitches... that's why we are very lucky to have such a devoted fanbase. There are so many members who tried their best to make this game more enjoyable. I think they've succeeded! It feels like a finished product now for the most part!

Originally Posted by nakamichi680

Really good job!

I'd like to contribute with some corrections and suggestions: ... (I didn't quote them in order to keep a clean overview)

Thanks for pointing these out. I've updated the guide accordingly! I really appreciate your advice on the subject

[ANoDE]

Originally Posted by Maverin

Step 14 (optional):
There are many other mods which I haven't included here. There's a nice compilation to be found here: http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=204371.

There are some interesting ones like TRJA's HD patch or the beta levels by Sasho. I have not included them here because the HD patch requires the use of an external program every time you launch the game and has adds a quite long startup loading time and the beta levels are glitched (missing textures, cops shooting at you during cutscenes, not compatible with the level fixes from Nakamichi680,...)

I'd at least have a look at the "Interface & Items" patch from TRJTA (http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=204174). It really pimps the main menu interface and doesn't need anything external