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Tomb Raider: The Dagger of Xian (TR II fan remake on UE4)

A

Accoun

Member
eot said:
edit: is this using Anniversary assets? Some of the sound effect sound just like it, and hell even the animations looked ripped from that game.
Click to expand...

It is. Someone ITT mentioned they're just placeholders, but I haven't bothered to look it up myself. Would make sense, though.
 
H

Harlequin

Member
eot said:
This is one of those things that would be great, but I doubt will ever be finished, because it is a huge undertaking. I also hope he doesn't translate the game too literally. One of Anniversary's strengths was that it expanded the levels. While TRII has some fantastic level design, it also has a few stinkers. Venice drags, for example.
Click to expand...

It didn't expand on them at all, it shortened many of them, even cut entire areas (for example, it merged Tomb of Qualopec and the Cistern into one level, cutting large parts of the original levels in the process). Core's remake would've expanded on the levels (and even added a whole new level to the game's end) but, of course, they never got to finish it.

edit: is this using Anniversary assets? Some of the sound effect sound just like it, and hell even the animations looked ripped from that game.
edit2: no tigers tho
Click to expand...

The sounds may be ripped from Anniversary but I'm pretty sure that the animations were made from scratch to look like Anniversary's (or maybe it's a mix of new and ripped animations because some of them definitely look different from Anniversary's).
 
eot

eot

Banned
You're right they shortened Cistern, but when I say expand I mean that the levels are literally larger, and have a grander sense of scale. St. Francis Folly for example, is a great level in Anniversary. I also much prefer the Egypt levels in TR:A.

It's not a perfect game, but I still think it's the best Tomb Raider since TRIII (some would say TRL, but I don't like it as much) and it's easily the best of the CD games.
 
H

Harlequin

Member
eot said:
You're right they shortened Cistern, but when I say expand I mean that the levels are literally larger, and have a grander sense of scale. St. Francis Folly for example, is a great level in Anniversary. I also much prefer the Egypt levels in TR:A.

It's not a perfect game, but I still think it's the best Tomb Raider since TRIII (some would say TRL, but I don't like it as much) and it's easily the best of the CD games.
Click to expand...

To me, none of Crystal's TR games so far can hold a candle to any of Core's simply because of how inferior Crystal's platforming mechanics, systems and controls are (I know, classic TRs get a lot of flack for their "tank controls" but they're actually very accurate and precise whereas LAU's controls were overly automated and dumbed down). Not to mention the excruciating amount of ledge hopping that Anniversary specifically had. That alone makes its level design terrible in my eyes. Some of the puzzles in it were alright, I guess. At least this remake doesn't seem to be copying Anniversary's bland, monochromatic art style so that's sth, I suppose.
 
eso76

eso76

Member
First time I've heard of this.

Looks crazy good for a one guy job and still quite amazing regardless.
Wow. I just wish it were TR1.
And.. i don't remember the great wall being in TR2 ?
It's great that he's allowed to do this, but the bigger problem is I'm not hopeful he'll be able to make it; not the entire game, not without massive help.
 
Plumpbiscuit

Plumpbiscuit

Member
eso76 said:
First time I've heard of this.
Wow. I just wish it were TR1.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure how familiar you are with the TR series, but the 1st TR game has been completely remade already and it's called Anniversary, came out over a decade ago.
eso76 said:
And.. i don't remember the great wall being in TR2 ?
Click to expand...
It was the very first level.
eso76 said:
It's great that he's allowed to do this, but the bigger problem is I'm not hopeful he'll be able to make it; not the entire game, not without massive help.
Click to expand...
It's possible because a majority of TR2 is gameplay with as little cutscenes and narration as possible, if he can nail all the level designs and get the mechanics in, he's done alot of the work already. From there he can just use already-made assets for sounds or textures or whatever.
 
eso76

eso76

Member
Plumpbiscuit said:
I'm not sure how familiar you are with the TR series, but the 1st TR game has been completely remade already and it's called Anniversary, came out over a decade ago.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i know but i didn't play it back then and anniversary is so old at this point it just needs another remake.

It was the very first level.
Click to expand...

Weird.
But then i don't remember much about TR2, only Venice actually.

It's possible because a majority of TR2 is gameplay with as little cutscenes and narration as possible, if he can nail all the level designs and get the mechanics in, he's done alot of the work already. From there he can just use already-made assets for sounds or textures or whatever.
Click to expand...

I mean, yeah it is possible but statistically, and naturally, people involved in projects like this eventually realise they can't spend years of their lives on something they are not even allowed to take money for.
 
eot

eot

Banned
Harlequin said:
To me, none of Crystal's TR games so far can hold a candle to any of Core's simply because of how inferior Crystal's platforming mechanics, systems and controls are (I know, classic TRs get a lot of flack for their "tank controls" but they're actually very accurate and precise whereas LAU's controls were overly automated and dumbed down). Not to mention the excruciating amount of ledge hopping that Anniversary specifically had. That alone makes its level design terrible in my eyes. Some of the puzzles in it were alright, I guess. At least this remake doesn't seem to be copying Anniversary's bland, monochromatic art style so that's sth, I suppose.
Click to expand...

I'm familiar with Core's games, I replayed the first four quite recently (well I have like a few levels left in TRL because I don't like it as much). I like the platforming in them, though tbh I think the first game's moveset is too limited, it gets complete by TRIII. Sure, Anniversary is different because it's not grind based and doesn't have tank controls, but I like it as a platformer as well. It's not the sticky jump garbage you see in modern 3rd person adventure "platformers", it's actually possible to play well in TR:A.
 
Plumpbiscuit

Plumpbiscuit

Member
There is a full demo walkthrough of the first level (30 mins long)! The audio sounds muffled, not sure what's going on there, and the game is still using some placeholder animations and sound effects as it's a demo. However, the music is brand new and is composed by Dean Kopri, who is trying to emulate Nathan McCree's original score.

Seems like the guy behind it is also including extras like the model viewers, very very nice!
pdRzgMd.png


This is the best thing that has happened to the franchise, imo, a full modern remake of what I consider to be the best video game ever made. I'm so full of hope, nostalgia and goosebumps when I was watching the video! Shame on Crystal Dynamics for fucking up the TR franchise with their manly Lara and dudebro shooting.

Some keys points to the demo for those who can't/won't watch:

- Sprinting is now a thing
- Targetting reticule as seen the PS2 games
- PS2 acrobatic animations
- Can shimmy around corners and jump directly behind from a ledge
- Tutorial boxes, as opposed to Lara talking to the player
- Load screens using 2D art as in the original
- Flares return, as opposed to a PDA light
- Lara with her classic red shades B)
- Video options including textures, post-processing, etc
Click to expand...
l0IWdyl.png
 
Plumpbiscuit

Plumpbiscuit

Member
CALL ME HYPED! Tomb Raider II is the best video game ever so I'm freaking out so much right now, this is the one project I've been dying to see come to light!!

Now why can't Enix allow for an official remake, given how TR2 is the best selling TR game ever?
 
Fredrik

Fredrik

Member
Oh wow first time I heard about this, CD needs to hire whoever is responsible for this asap, it looks amazing!
 
K

kuYuri

Member
I only ever played the TR2 demo back in the day, never the full game. Guess I'll play this demo too once it releases. :p
 
S

Sendero

Member
Can't believe I missed the initial announcement.
The 2 first Tomb Raider games are among my favorite of all time, so it great to see the continued dedication of fan players.


It's painful though, knowing that this kind effort does not come from the current owners. The new games are interesting in their own way (have not played the latest one, though) but there are special elements on the originals, that have yet to be re-captured.


Hopefully, there is enough noise for this demo, that it turn around some executive heads on SE.
 
M

Mr. Phellps

Member
I remember seeing this some time ago, the first test videos. It looks gorgeous and hopefully will be finished. Looking forward to this demo!
 
W

Wanderer5

Member
Harlequin said:
Eh, it'll probably be more similar to Crystal's LAU games than to the proper TR games. But it's impressive nonetheless.
Click to expand...

Not probably, it is the LAU style, with some tweaks here and there, and not relying on white ledges and such. I am pretty happy that he went with this style, which could use some love to be worked on and all.
 
P

PantsuJo

Member
Plumpbiscuit said:
There is a full demo walkthrough of the first level (30 mins long)! The audio sounds muffled, not sure what's going on there, and the game is still using some placeholder animations and sound effects as it's a demo. However, the music is brand new and is composed by Dean Kopri, who is trying to emulate Nathan McCree's original score.

Seems like the guy behind it is also including extras like the model viewers, very very nice!
pdRzgMd.png


This is the best thing that has happened to the franchise, imo, a full modern remake of what I consider to be the best video game ever made. I'm so full of hope, nostalgia and goosebumps when I was watching the video! Shame on Crystal Dynamics for fucking up the TR franchise with their manly Lara and dudebro shooting.


l0IWdyl.png
Click to expand...
Fucking awesome.
 
H

Harlequin

Member
Relaxed Muscle said:
Looking at the footage released months ago, is more similar to old tomb raider games than Crystal's PS2 efforts.

More akin to what Core Design was doing with their cancelled Anniversary version of the game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFc98vU4Ji0
Click to expand...

I've seen the videos he's released and I disagree. The moveset and controls appear to be almost entirely borrowed from Crystal's Anniversary, he's using a scripted ledge system instead of dynamic ledge detection (which, granted, would be a bit tricky to do in such detailed environments but it's still likely to limit the gameplay in much the same way as it did in Crystal's LAU games), there seems to be a general overreliance on ledges for traversal instead of actual platforming, etc. This is not at all similar to Core's cancelled Anniversary Edition (which I've been following for years and which I wish would leak already) but really looks pretty much like what Crystal may have done with a TR2 remake during the LAU era (well, minus the generational graphics leap). Which is both a compliment and criticism, depending on how you look at it, I suppose. It certainly looks amazing and it's clear that a lot of hard work has gone into it but from a game design perspective, it's far too closely related to a branch of the series that had little to do with the actual Tomb Raider games for my liking. But it's his project and if that's the kind of game he wants to make, then more power to him, I guess.
 
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