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Old 06-05-20, 07:26   #1
SoraSakai
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Default Why “realism” shouldn’t factor into decisions.

She can’t wear the shorts! Her legs will get scratched!: This isn’t a mechanic in any Tomb Raider game. Or any game for that matter. The developers have complete control over what can and can’t injure Lara. Wearing shorts will result in her legs being scratched? Then don’t program that function into the game. Which they already aren’t.

She can’t dual wield guns! It’s not realistic!: In a series that has tackled dinosaurs, Egyptian gods, Norse gods, Japanese witchcraft, zombies and Yoki, your suspension of disbelief should be able to withstand something like firing two guns at the same time.

She can’t dress like THAT in this climate!: Similar to the shorts comment, but a little more expansive. Lara is a video game character in a video game. You’re looking at polygons and textures. The environments aren’t real. If you want to immerse yourself to a (let’s be honest) weird extent, then by all means, choose environment-suited outfits. But allow other players to choose whatever outfits they want. In other words: No ridiculous outfit restrictions.

She can’t just do endless back flips and acrobatics. She doesn’t have the muscle capacity. again. These are games. She can do whatever the developers program her to be able to do.

Last edited by SoraSakai; 06-05-20 at 07:28.
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Old 06-05-20, 08:07   #2
_Seth
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I think TR should be "realistic plus," where everything is grounded in realism, but has the capacity to be a bit more. For example, it's not impossible to have a British woman in short shorts with makeup climbing a mountain without any climbing gear, it's just extremely unlikely, so let it be. It's not impossible that there could be an undiscovered underground temple with working traps, just very very unlikely, so it should be eligible.

When it comes to artefacts, there are all sorts of scientific things we still don't know, so artefacts should be able to tap into our knowledge gaps and do what would appear to be fantastical things. However, I wouldn't suddenly want oranges to grow out of metal, or Lara to knowingly enter a blizzard wearing only shorts and a vest.
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Old 06-05-20, 08:32   #3
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Those are the kind of excuses fans make themselves to try and justify why things are the way they are. However I think the developers don't even care for those reasons, they are just stubborn to not want to alter anything from their "vision"...even though it's been a complete mess overall.

Fans who say those kinda things (and maybe even some developers) really don't understand what Tomb Raider should be about. Yes, we go on about these things all the time, but taking away dual pistols, shorts, acrobatics and the less practical outfits, does remove the key features of Tomb Raider. Without these things it's not the same game.

I don't play video games to criticise everything the character does and wears and be like "well that wouldn't work IRL", "he obviously wouldn't have made that jump" or "why is he wearing that?". I just want to have fun.
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Old 06-05-20, 08:57   #4
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Realism has always been an excuse, not a factor.
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Old 06-05-20, 09:29   #5
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Games and Realism
Find the error
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Old 06-05-20, 09:58   #6
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Golden Age = Games were once created to fun and enjoyment, not for core target realism.
Now = Realism walking simulator. More emphasis put on realism that core engaging gameplay mechanics/contents.
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Old 06-05-20, 10:34   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tombraider95 View Post
Those are the kind of excuses fans make themselves to try and justify why things are the way they are. However I think the developers don't even care for those reasons, they are just stubborn to not want to alter anything from their "vision"...even though it's been a complete mess overall.

Fans who say those kinda things (and maybe even some developers) really don't understand what Tomb Raider should be about. Yes, we go on about these things all the time, but taking away dual pistols, shorts, acrobatics and the less practical outfits, does remove the key features of Tomb Raider. Without these things it's not the same game.

I don't play video games to criticise everything the character does and wears and be like "well that wouldn't work IRL", "he obviously wouldn't have made that jump" or "why is he wearing that?". I just want to have fun.
This. All of this.

Honestly, I agree with the TR should be realistic plus angle above. Whilst, even though the engine limitations make it looks odd, some things like the movement mechanics etc were based in being a realistic representation, for the time, of control there were many elements of the series that are based in the fantastical and you have to suspend your disbelief a little bit. Tomb Raider has always been reality based in fantasy.

I have the same gripes with comments about the whole key and leaver critisisms from the earlier games. Sure it was a bit fantastical to pull a lever and three rooms over a door opens - but hey these are meant to be areas that protect ancient environments so they should be a bit convoluted and deliberately difficult to navigate. It's part of the challenge. It perfectly adds exploration and is much better than 'rope arrow that lever over there'. Thailand and Mexico from TRU perfectly prove that this type of gameplay can work when thought about thoroughly. I'm not saying get rid of the reboot era style puzzles - some should and would be easier than others but by god let's get some interesting and expansive locations back in the games even if they do take some suspension of disbelief.

Last edited by jajay119; 06-05-20 at 10:38.
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Old 06-05-20, 10:54   #8
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Its funny, the fandom that fights often so against realism...also praises one of the most realistic platformers as THE thing.

Why do people think is tomb raiders platforming the way it is? Because of realism.

You need to press a button to keep holding onto ledges, simulation how it is for the ingame character.
You need momentum for your jumps, you cant change direction mid jump.
You have a character with weight in every movement...sometimes a bit too much weight but still weight to send a visual sign of realism to your eyes.

Why does it look like lara struggles when she shoves some boulders or so around? Because of the sense of realism the game wants to sell...that this object is heavy and lara has a limited amount of strength.

If people like it or not, everything is based on realism.
The most fantastical worlds follow simple and realistic rules.
Be it weather, day and night cycle, the need to eat and sleep, gravitation...everything.

Sure it would be nice to bend the rules a bit more, i always fight for less grounded and realistic approaches of comic book movies for example...but im also a huge fan of seeing how grounded you can go while still using more fantastical approaches.
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Old 06-05-20, 11:28   #9
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Realism and Tomb Raider shouldn’t be in the same sentence. Tomb Raider is all about Lara Croft finding Myths, battling supernatural creatures and finding Artefacts that do not exist. None of that screams “real” to me, Tomb Raider should be a fun game. As TombRaider95 said it’s just an excuse to not go back to what made Classic Lara standout, they don’t want to divert away from an image they’ve created.

I like the reboot games but let’s be honest, they’re not going for realism. They want to create their own character instead of continuing the work of someone else’s.
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Old 06-05-20, 11:35   #10
_Seth
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Classic TR was never unrealistic anyway. I remember Toby Gard said it was a guideline that everything has to be based in reality, but he broke that rule when animating the Midas gold death. So TR's always been realism plus.
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