The Life & Times of Video Games

Episode 8 - The Tomb Raider grid (part 2)

February 18th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  37 mins 37 secs
3d, blockbuster games, core design, documentary, game design, game development, lara croft, level editors, rise of the tomb raider, tomb raider

Continuing the story from Part 1, this is how the original Tomb Raider's grid-based engine/level editor impacted on the series, on Lara Croft's rise to fame, and on the shifting sands of blockbuster game development. This episode also discusses the place that such a grid system has — or might have — in game design today. Featuring input from former Core Design artists and level designers Heather Stevens and Andy Sandham as well as programmer Gavin Rummery.

Episode 7 - The Tomb Raider Grid (part 1)

December 23rd, 2017  |  Season 1  |  31 mins 30 secs
3d, core design, documentary, game design, game development, lara croft, level editors, tomb raider

Every aspect of Tomb Raider comes back to the grid that lies beneath it — the majority of the puzzles; the platforming; the cavernous chambers and ruins and outdoor areas that provide a sense of isolation, of solitude and discovery; and Lara Croft's iconic acrobatic movement style. And yet it never would have happened if not for one pragmatic choice made by a programmer early in the game's development.

This is the story of how that came to be, and how it made Tomb Raider…well, Tomb Raider.