CHRONICLES LEVEL
EDITOR REVIEW
Copyright 2000 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ September 8th 2000 ]
Changing
the angle on Chronicles for a moment, we follow
the progress of the level editor, being produced
by Core Design for shipping with PC versions of
Chronicles. Key attributes in creating levels,
according to Core, are patience and basic computing
skills, as well as a degree of creativity. Initially,
a 3 dimensional room is created at structure level,
then textures, object placement and enemies are
then integrated into the broth on squares, which
act as triggers in the game, like climbing textures
or monkey bars.
Lara's
control codes and animations are already programmed
to interact with whatever type of tomb you create....
For example, if you create a long drop into a
water room, she will go into her swimming animations
when she hits the water. For enemies, you can
select the type of enemy artificial intelligence
and set trigger points in the room to trigger
the enemy. The editor (menus/buttons) will be
in English, but the manual will be translated
into different languages. The manual will have
a basic tutorial and an advanced tutorial. 4 different
level sets from Tomb Raider - Last Revelation,
possibly more level sets at a future date. You
cannot modify the textures/model of Lara.
Two tutorial
levels will be included with the documentation,
the first showing the user basic overviews of
creating rooms and placing objects, while the
second demonstrating more advanced concepts. Four
level scenarios from Tomb Raider The Last Revelation
will also be included as projects, allowing the
user to dissect and learn how the environments
were formed. Objects and textures from the TLR
levels can then be imported into the users own
level designs. The basic challenge of manipulating
environments comes quickly, although the application
of texture and more details increase the learning
time for the editor. Tweaking can take just a
few short minutes, or more in depth creativity
might take weeks. Basic use of the editor should
come pretty quickly for most. Core says that you
wouldn't need to be a programmer to use the software.
Creating
a room involves sowing together squares, then
actions and objects are placed on the squares
and properties are adjusted allowed the trigger
events to unfold when playing your levels. Lara's
control codes and animations are already programmed
to interact with whatever type of tomb you create....For
example, if you create a long drop into a water
room, she will go into her swimming animations
when she hits the water. If the dimensions of
blocks have not been set correctly, then Lara
will not jump on to them, illuminating the fun
box approach of throwing as much into a room as
possible without much thought.
Enemies,
although needing no independent character build,
will have behaviours associated with them, allowing
different moods to interact within different environments.
Some enemies can, after attacking Lara, then sweep
the area looking for objects or move and behave
to a different portion of the level. Favourite
characters from earlier versions of the game,
i.e. Tomb Raider, TR2, 3 or the GOLD levels will
not be automatically available for use with the
Chronicles editor, although Core's attention to
development may allow future integration a possibility.
Although
the user will not be able to create specific FMV's,
camera angles and the way Lara is tracked can
be modified in the third person and environmental
perspectives. Attention to detail has also been
carefully integrated, with texture tiles 64x64
pixels, TGA format in 24bit color. Users then
lay them out four or eight across. A total of
128 textures per level (you can use all of the
texture more than once). You can also use parts
of a texture tile in increments of 16x16 pixels.
The Tomb
Raider Chronicles Editor ships only with PC versions
of the game. The official Chronicles Demo is expected
very soon, although the first appearance of the
editor will not come until December when the game
ships.
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