Garrett Hawke
Member
I hate it too. I actually like TR2013 and ROTTR becauze they went full uncharted but LAU are just shitty tonplay. So many fucking shit jumps
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Best way to play Tomb Raider 1?
- Thread starter Garrett Hawke
- Start date
Just played around with this for a few minutes, and just pushing a block in this browser game is more compelling than both NuRaider games combined.
Sweet Bellic
Member
Playing the PS1 classic on the Vita.
definitely this, OLED screen that keeps the graphics small enough to look nice, an ideal d-pad for this game, and you can play it anywhere in short bursts.
holy crap this is cool
grandwizard
Member
OG controls are glorious and anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong.
TR1 was an actual platformer where it took planning and skill to navigate environments. 3d action platformers have gotten worse as they dumbed down platforming to magnetized ledge hopping. Now platforming sections are used as filler instead of the meat of the gameplay.
TR1 was an actual platformer where it took planning and skill to navigate environments. 3d action platformers have gotten worse as they dumbed down platforming to magnetized ledge hopping. Now platforming sections are used as filler instead of the meat of the gameplay.
60 fps Tomb Raider is incredible. The only version with unlocked framerate was the PowerVR patch.
I just see that OpenLara is not finished. What's the progress in Open Tomb? I can see youtube videos from 2015 with the game running at 60 fps too.
Okay,I think the original Tomb Raider is great, but let's not pretend it's flawless. The combat, for example, is basically terrible. It's just one of those games where the combat is secondary to the platforming and puzzles, so it doesn't matter that much.
I wouldn't crap all over anniversary's platforming either.
I wouldn't crap all over anniversary's platforming either.
sublimit
Banned
I wish that was true but sadly i doubt it.Even if Eidos Montreal is also working on SOTR i'm sure Crystal Dynamics will also have a saying to the project.
Hopefully after SOTR and when the trilogy fiasco is finished a new development studio will be given a new opportunity to try their hand on the series,this time taking inspiration from Tomb Raider's own legacy and not from whatever cinematic shooter is hot today.
j^aws
Member
I played the original back in the day with a digital arcade stick - those slow tank controls worked precisely. There is a certain level of tension built by these controls, especially playing into the fear of falling off a towering ledge and into a dark abyss.
The PC version came with various 3D APIs, Glide (Voodoo), Speedy3d (Rendition), SGL (PowerVR), and IIRC, CIF (ATI). I tried a PowerVR PCX2 with the demo recently on a CRT, and it looks very nice and crisp at higher resolutions. You can scale this resolution down to get that 'low-res' look, too.
If you played the original 2D Prince of Persia platformer, you could see that Tomb Raider was an evolution into 3D space.
The PC version came with various 3D APIs, Glide (Voodoo), Speedy3d (Rendition), SGL (PowerVR), and IIRC, CIF (ATI). I tried a PowerVR PCX2 with the demo recently on a CRT, and it looks very nice and crisp at higher resolutions. You can scale this resolution down to get that 'low-res' look, too.
If you played the original 2D Prince of Persia platformer, you could see that Tomb Raider was an evolution into 3D space.
The problem is that the franchise's identity and brand has become so muddled that the chances of that happening are rather slim. I mean, there's no way to please both fans of the old and fans of the new games because their design philosophies are so completely opposed to one another. Not to mention that they feature completely different interpretations of Lara Croft. Once Shadow is released, there will be as many Crystal-developed "Tomb Raider" games as there are Core-developed Tomb Raider games, not to mention three movies all featuring this dumb, cheesy backstory with Lara's dead and/or missing archaeologist parents which completely contradicts the original character bio. The films and Crystal's games have basically ruined the franchise by watering down and switching around its formula and identity so much that you've now essentially got two or three separate Tomb Raider fandoms all with their own, completely different and incompatible ideas of what a Tomb Raider game is supposed to be.
eso76
Member
Phew, I'm not entirely sure. I think most of the OpenTomb progress only gets posted on GitHub, not on any of the fan sites I frequent, and there are several different branches and it's all a bit confusing to me
. OpenTomb was started first but from what I've seen, it looks like work on OpenLara is progressing quite a bit faster so I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it was further along than OpenTomb by now but I honestly don't really know.EDIT: I also didn't realise that the OpenLara controls weren't listed on the site anymore. You can press H to see the control scheme.
RadarScope1
Member
For anyone who wants to know more about the control design in this game:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/187601/untold_riches_the_intricate_.php
Again, the controls are absolutely fine, and wonderful in fact. Like the original Prince of Persia or Castlevania, the control scheme is finely tuned to the environments and allow a great deal of precision.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/187601/untold_riches_the_intricate_.php
Again, the controls are absolutely fine, and wonderful in fact. Like the original Prince of Persia or Castlevania, the control scheme is finely tuned to the environments and allow a great deal of precision.
eot
Banned
It's been a few years since I last played it but I don't remember it having any magnetic ledges, you can miss jumps by very small margins in that game. I like both games and I don't really agree with any of your criticisms, never found TR1 that challenging (TR3 is way more challenging) and the moveset is too limited compared to the later Core games. The only thing I will concede are the marked ledges, but afaik that's not a problem anyone has solved properly in a high graphics fidelity game like this. I don't think the platforming is more two-dimensional at all, no idea where you're getting that from.
I'm pretty sure that you're misremembering. Try playing a few levels of Anniversary and a few levels of TR1 back-to-back and you'll see just how magnetic Anniversary's ledges are. Precision is rarely ever needed on the part of the player in that game, certainly not to the degree that it is in the classic games.
I don't think that TR1 is a particularly challenging game generally speaking but it's certainly more challenging than Anniversary. Compared to the original game's controls, Anniversary's are dumbed down, automated and oversimplified. Possibly slightly less so than Legend's but not by much. Just navigating the environment requires less skill and focus in Anniversary than it does in TR1. And, at least IMO, it's less satisfying and more boring as a result.
Simple logic and observation. Like I said, Anniversary's main form of "platforming" (which shouldn't actually be called platforming since it doesn't involve platforms) is shimmying and ledge-hopping. This results in several things. For one, it makes things more linear since you're moving almost literally on rails - you can only move along the path of the ledge you're hanging from. However, it also robs you of an entire dimension because these ledges only allow 2D movement as you're moving along a flat surface - a wall. And in fact, most of the time you can only ever move in one dimension at a time while traversing these ledge segments. You'll be moving either up/down or left/right. Rarely, you'll be hopping sideways/backwards to a ledge that's located in a lower or higher spot than the one you're currently hanging from so for that brief sideways or backwards hop, you will actually be changing your position on two axes at a time but the game's ledge system does not allow for full three-dimensional movement.
On the other hand, in the original games where most of the traversal was actual platforming, you could jump to a platform that was, for instance, located in front of you (on the Y axis), below you (on the Z axis) and to your left (on the X axis) all at the same time meaning you actually had to move on all axes simultaneously. And sure, you can theoretically jump from one platform to another in Anniversary and it'll also be 3D movement but the game's level design rarely ever asks that of you and the controls aren't really designed for that kind of level design, anyway.
Shadow Hog
Member
To be fair, if I recall correctly the game was developed as a Saturn exclusive first (which made sense, since Core, to that point, had been heavy into development for Sega consoles; they've got some really impressive Sega CD work, for instance), which eventually changed to having a PS1 version as well. That said, the PS1 version really does play a lot smoother and have crisper sound effects, much as I love Sega's little box-that-could. PC version is obviously better still on many fronts, though there's a 16-bit to 8-bit deal with the sound effects that makes them have a bit of a hiss to them, despite having a higher bit rate. (A best-of-both-worlds high-quality set of sound effects would certainly be nice... Wonder if they used such for the mobile versions?)
Sony quickly moneyhatted the sequels after the first game hit it big on their console (understandably, since it performs much better than the Saturn version does), and the series didn't return to Sega until that deal ended after 3, letting The Last Revelation and Chronicles hit the Dreamcast. (I have no idea where the PC versions fit into any exclusivity deal; safe to say Sony didn't care, at any rate.) Does make me wonder, if Sony hadn't done that, how would Tomb Raider 2 have run on the Saturn, assuming Core cared to bother again in the first place?
TheRazielim
Member
sublimit
Banned
I agree.I believe Tomb Raider is the series with the most fragmented fanbase.The only other series that i think that comes close is Resident Evil but still not quite.
SE really needs to re-evaluate what they want from this franchise.Money is the obvious answer but then they have to decide how much money is enough?How much of development and marketing costs are enough for a Tomb Raider game?
The bottom line is that you can't go very far by copying what's hot today and then spend tons of money on marketing trying to convince people that your game is something special when actually it's not.You also can't go very far by trying to please everyone.
They really need to decide if they want to return Tomb Raider to its roots by studying very close what was that that made the classics what they were and bring it back in a modern way.And i think the only way to do that is if they backtrack from the photorealistic,cinematic style and make Tomb Raider a more graphically stylized game with emphasis on level design,platforming,atmosphere and puzzles.And of course tone down the focus on Lara.The real stars of the classic games were the level design and gameplay not Lara's character.The moment the focus started to shift on Lara's personality it was the moment the gameplay started to suffer.
ResidentDante
Member
That's a NTSC picture stretched up to a PAL size 4:3. Lara looks weirdly thin.
Shadow Hog
Member
Nah, the Sonic fanbase takes that trophy handily.
First you've got a split between fans of the games, the cartoons and the comics, all of which were pretty different from each other, but then you get subdivisions within those subdivisions. Games get divided into classic, Adventure and boost, all of which are very different (Adventure having more in common with the other two than the other two having in common with each other). There were no less than six different cartoons to consider (Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (colloquially called "SatAM" to differentiate it), Sonic Underground, Sonic the Hedgehog: the Movie (i.e.: the two-part OVA), Sonic X and Sonic Boom). Even the comics has a sizable spread - North America got Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog series while Europe got Fleetway's Sonic the Comic, but then Archie also put out separate Sonic X and Sonic Boom comics. There's admittedly a lot of overlap with fans, but there's definitely some peope who have picked one niche out of all of these and will eagerly shittalk others. It's a total mess that Sega allowed to happen.
Comparatively, Tomb Raider fans debating which direction was truly best for the series seems to be divided between the way Core Design made them and the way Crystal Dynamics is making them, with maybe groups preferring Legend through Underworld or digging the GBC games or something - at least, from an outsider looking in. I don't doubt the situation is more complex than that, but even then, I'm not sure it compares to the aforementioned mess that is the Sonic fandom.
daninthemix
Member
Eh, I had no problems using the TR automated fix, and I get 4K widescreen, wider FOV, no texture / polygon warping, plus the PSX soundtrack, plus higher quality FMVs, unlocked draw distance, the same brightness and water color as the PSX, etc etc
With that patch there's really no reason to play the PSX version again.
You've got fans of the classic games, you've got fans of Angel of Darkness (most of whom are also classic fans but there are classic fans who don't like AoD, and there are fans who think AoD is the best game in the series and pretty much everything in between), then within that you've obviously got some smaller divisions of people who preferred the first three games or people who liked 4 and 5 better, etc. Then there are LAU (Legend, Anniversary, Underworld) fans - again, some of whom are also classic fans, some of whom aren't, some of whom have never played the classics - and reboot fans. Of course, not all LAU fans like the reboot (and many classic fans don't), whereas many reboot fans don't like any of the previous games, including LAU (or have never played them).
Obviously, TR has also had films, comics, novels, etc. based on it but I think most people who are fans of those tend to also be fans of at least some of the games so it's indeed not quite as bad as the Sonic situation in that regard. However, there is the new film reboot coming up and there are people who're already complaining that they preferred the previous films' direction or that they don't like Alicia Vikander playing Lara and liked AJ better and so on (vs people who're excited for the new film and think Alicia is a great choice).
On top of all this, there are pretty big disagreements across the different parts of the fandom regarding what Tomb Raider actually is, who Lara Croft actually is and so on. Some people think Lara is totally irrelevant and that the series could work just as well without her (not from a commercial standpoint, obviously), for others, Lara is one of the main reasons to play the games. Some people think the game mechanics are the most important aspect of the formula, others think it's the treasure hunting atmosphere, ancient environments and exotic locales. Some people think Lara is a borderline psychopathic antihero, others think she's a charming heroine who always saves the day. And so on and so forth. The Tomb Raider community is pretty awesome but yeah, it's fragmented as fuck. Maybe not quite as much as the Sonic fandom but still
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ProgenitorCastle
Banned
Thanks! I figured it might have to do with editing the .INI file
MrCunningham
Member
Yep, this is the best way to play the original Tomb Raider. Though you might have to use a gamepad profiler or something to map the keys. The game is all digital input, so it is easy to map. But playing this game with a keyboard just works fine.
Of just play the original Playstation version on retroarch, PSN or real hardware.
ResidentDante
Member
Does this have the music from PS1 too?
KainXVIII
Member
Yes.
ResidentDante
Member
I'll go for this if I'm gonna replay TR1 for sure! I love that they've put everything in one huge patch so it's easy to upgrade.
sublimit
Banned
You've got fans of the classic games, you've got fans of Angel of Darkness (most of whom are also classic fans but there are classic fans who don't like AoD, and there are fans who think AoD is the best game in the series and pretty much everything in between), then within that you've obviously got some smaller divisions of people who preferred the first three games or people who liked 4 and 5 better, etc. Then there are LAU (Legend, Anniversary, Underworld) fans - again, some of whom are also classic fans, some of whom aren't, some of whom have never played the classics - and reboot fans. Of course, not all LAU fans like the reboot (and many classic fans don't), whereas many reboot fans don't like any of the previous games, including LAU (or have never played them).
Obviously, TR has also had films, comics, novels, etc. based on it but I think most people who are fans of those tend to also be fans of at least some of the games so it's indeed not quite as bad as the Sonic situation in that regard. However, there is the new film reboot coming up and there are people who're already complaining that they preferred the previous films' direction or that they don't like Alicia Vikander playing Lara and liked AJ better and so on (vs people who're excited for the new film and think Alicia is a great choice).
On top of all this, there are pretty big disagreements across the different parts of the fandom regarding what Tomb Raider actually is, who Lara Croft actually is and so on. Some people think Lara is totally irrelevant and that the series could work just as well without her (not from a commercial standpoint, obviously), for others, Lara is one of the main reasons to play the games. Some people think the game mechanics are the most important aspect of the formula, others think it's the treasure hunting atmosphere, ancient environments and exotic locales. Some people think Lara is a borderline psychopathic antihero, others think she's a charming heroine who always saves the day. And so on and so forth. The Tomb Raider community is pretty awesome but yeah, it's fragmented as fuck. Maybe not quite as much as the Sonic fandom but still
That's a pretty accurate description of the current situation i think.
Personally i belong in the bolded categories.
That's a pretty accurate description of the current situation i think.
Personally i belong in the bolded categories.
I think I'm somewhere in the middle
. I'd actually kind of love a game with the story/atmosphere and RPG stuff from Angel of Darkness but the platforming from the classics.Does that even support a controller? (Even if it does, I'd still argue that the keyboard controls are far better than the controller ones and I use a controller for almost all of my other games.)
Yeah both TR1 and 2 have controller support. Trying to play with the touchscreen was quite painful, that it push me to check out TR1 on PC finally lol.