History of Tomb Raider (1996)/How Lara Croft was created
Tomb Raider is a unique game series that marked the beginning of the popularity of female characters in video games. Toby Gard from Core Design dreamed of making an adventure game that would be cinematic and give a completely new experience to players.
From this issue you will learn: – How one designer’s idea turned the gaming industry upside down – What were the secrets in the development of the console versions of Tomb Raider – How the success of Lara Croft led to the fact that the author had to leave the company.
— With the advent www.casinoandfriendsonline.co.uk of more powerful hardware in consoles, developers have more freedom to experiment and be creative. Sprite-based 2D games began to fade into the background and looked more and more boring and archaic in the eyes of people. Players wanted more. Tired of linear arcade toys, it’s time for serious projects. But so far no one has been in a hurry to do this kind of experiment, because.To. by and large there was nothing to compare to. And, perhaps, the pioneers in the industry who gave the world a real three-dimensional game with huge locations in a 3D environment are Core Design. Within the walls of their office in the mid-90s, a game that became a cult favorite was created – Tomb Raider.
As Toby recalls, starting a franchise with a female lead back then was akin to commercial suicide. Well-known titles everywhere featured muscular fighters that graced the covers of new products on the shelves of video game stores. The idea was cultivated in the minds of gamers that a cool game should only have cool guys who fight evil and look like real heroes. But Toby always thought that ignoring heroines was a terrible omission and that they were really lacking in video games.
For 18 months the team worked together, like one big family. Everyone gave their best while remaining in the office. The whole atmosphere that reigned during development was more like a dormitory where all the friends are together, rather than a real department where professionals are working on a high-budget project. There were no conflicts or misunderstandings, so the friendly spirit contributed to fruitful work.
None of the guys expected Tomb Raider to be a hit. Even Toby Gard, answering the question of whether he expected the franchise to be successful, firmly answers that he did not. He simply had a vision for his game and everything that happened to Lara Croft later was not at all part of his plans. Is it good? Not for him.
The fact is that he considered Tomb Raider a self-contained game that did not need a sequel. But the publisher saw the situation differently. Feeling the success of the new project, Eidos invested huge sums in promotion even before the release. They managed to enter into partnerships with major publications. This is how Lara Croft ended up on the cover of TIME magazine. In other youth publications, Lara was presented as a real sex symbol, sometimes flirting with consumers with provocative advertising. They felt the approaching wave of popularity.
So Lara Croft, after its release on PC and consoles, exceeded all expectations. With Eidos planning to sell 100,000 copies, the first game in the series sold about 7 copies worldwide.5 million copies. Such a stunning success came unexpectedly.
The press noted that Tomb Raider turned out to be truly innovative and managed to turn the gaming industry upside down. Firstly, the female character, who was initially predicted to fail, became an icon and every day the fan base around the world only increased. Secondly, the completely three-dimensional environment and freedom of movement with a bunch of animation and mechanics that the heroine owned made her look at the game in a completely new way, because such a level of realism had never been seen before. It really felt like a big budget project. Few people knew that, by and large, only 6 people did it..
