LARA
CROFT - ARDENT TOMB RAIDER
Copyright © 2005 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
| Feb 20th 2002
Following Tuesdays
return to Derbyshire-based studios'
Core Design to meet and greet new
PR Manager Gary Reading and to snatch
a sneak-preview of this years most
anticipated video-game, tombraiderchronicles.com
can exclusively reveal further details
from Tomb
Raider Next Generation - specifically
the dramatic increase in detail
from past to present Lara
Croft models ahead of the official
unveiling by Core Design on March
20.
The new Lara Croft
model is a marvel of modern-day
technology, an adhesive marriage
of mesh, bone and cloth lacquered
with high resolution detail and
illustration. Lara Croft's face
has undergone extensive digital
surgery - re-modeled sporting the
proportional crisp characteristics
of an attractive young brunette.
Lara Croft's standing
pose now boasts a realistically-teasing,
hip-swaying draw while the mechanics
of her upper skeleton gently inflate
with each intake of breath.
The model we saw had
Lara dressed in a ragged demin jacket
and long blue-jeans and her movements
bore the fluid resemblance and organic
feel of a character whose former
500 polygon skeleton has been replaced
with an additional 5,000 shiny new
polygons, each dripping with realism.
The attention to detail was superb
with a maze of crease and shadow-lines
spawning across her attire.
Lara Croft's supporting
cast is enormous, and although we're
not allowed to reveal too much until
the official March release, we witnessed
the same attention to detail in
the supporting characters as found
in Lara Croft herself.
Core Design has stripped
the characters down to the wire-frame,
rebuilding the basic mesh and mechanical
architectures and in turn rendering
a more organic and fluidic movement
and feel. This coupled with detailed
illustration and the terrain-based
power of Sony's PS2 effectively
adds a new dimension of realism
to the game.
Pinned to the wall
of Next Gen Mission Control were
various sketches and concept illustrations
of characters yet to be confirmed.
Many bore the marked resemblance
of scientific gene exploration gone
drastically wrong. Core Design will
also be implementing ground-breaking
lip-synchronization technologies
which realistically tailors dialog
with mouth movement for FMV segments
and in-game scenes.
The traditional open/shut
motion of in-game dialogue will
be made redundant in favor of advanced
speech to mouth synchronization
(lip-synch) so effective the company
speculates players will be able
to follow a conversation by deciphering
the movement of a characters lips
as he/she speaks.
Core Design will officially
unveil Tomb Raider Next Generation
- including the games heavily guarded
title - on March 20 at a secret
location in London, arming their
press release with a media onslaught
including FMV movies, screen shots
and high resolution concept art.
