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Spring 2010
 

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Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Art Work Brora, UK - August 13, 2010 This is the second key art for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light!

Crystal Dynamics Senior Artist Kam Yu on Working with Lara July 27, 2010 Kam Yu talking about Lara Recently, a number of questions from Tomb Raider fans were put to Kam Yu, the senior Artist at Crystal Dynamics, on working with Lara in the upcoming game, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. The questions and answers are here for your enjoyment. NightWish In what way did you change Lara's look since TRU? Are you responsible only for the infamous thighs? Kam: Actually, we didn’t approach this project with the intent of radically changing Lara’s appearance. In Underworld, we were able to establish a look that could be used in other games like LC:GOL. However, some degree of optimization needed to be done on the model, the textures and materials. Also, a few improvements, like the thighs, were done to enhance her looks and visibility in the game. Personally, I think the more muscular thighs look better than the skinny ones! Lara Fan 4Life What was the reasoning behind getting rid of Lara's backpack and gloves for GOL, which have appeared in nearly all of Lara's past game models, so why leave them out for the GOL model? This was a really hard decision for us to make. On one hand, the backpack and gloves are an integral part of Lara’s image. However, we had to make compromises in order to increase her visibility in the game. Since this game features an isometric, top-down camera, Lara appears much smaller than she does in her main titles. Having a simpler, cleaner outline was essential in this case to make her stand out against the background. But aside from the backpack and gloves, Lara does have all her other accessories that she’s come to be known for. aussie500 Lara seems a bit more rounded now, is this an overall attempt at a realistic figure or just our imaginations. The baked on shading (sorry I have no idea of the technical term, but the painted shading that is there all the time) also adds to the realistic look this seems a new approach to shading, did Square Enix have any influence on using that method? Or is the new shading a natural progression of what was started in TRU. Lara, up until now, has been consciously designed to look not quite “real”. Even though we’ve made her rendering appear more realistic with better technology, her proportions and face are based, in part, on precedence set by earlier games. Our goal has been to retain that certain look that has made her famous. As stated, our technology has been steadily improving since Underworld, which was our first next-gen console game. The ability to use ambient occlusion, normal, specular, blend and decal maps helps push the realism of our characters. In addition, there have been a lot of advances in materials and lighting. We now use rim lighting, subsurface scattering, directional ambient and spherical harmonics to enhance Lara’s appearance in the game. All these improvements were started years ago at Crystal to coincide with the “next gen” consoles. Altair In creating character models, especially Lara's, do you feel as though you are under pressure to create the perfect representation of a character? First of all, working on Lara has been one of the highlights of my career! I truly believe she is still one of the most interesting characters in video games today. Moreover, she is one of the most recognizable characters in the industry. Her fans are among the most loyal in gaming (MANY THANKS!). That is why it's also the most nerve wracking thing I've done in my career. There is a constant struggle between the desire to innovate and the need to remain true to the legacy of Lara Croft. I'm responsible for 3 versions of Lara: Legend, Underworld and LC:GOL. Even though each version may differ slightly, the fundamental thought process has always been the same: Lara is a unique individual, unlike anyone you have ever seen before! We didn’t want her to look like just anyone walking down the street (or a runway, for that matter). That's what makes her so compelling! larafan25 Did you greatly increase the LENGTH of Lara's legs in comparison to the rest of her body for Tomb Raider Underworld? Yes, there was a conscious decision during the production of Underworld to increase the length of her legs. We did this for a couple of reasons. First, with the camera always slightly above her, we didn't want her to look short. That's always a danger when it comes to third-person type games. The longer legs also made her appear more graceful when performing her characteristic moves like climbing and jumping. Zebra Do you know why the braid was replaced by a simple ponytail in Tomb Raider: Legend? We did see early trailers and screenshots with Lara having a braid. I think the most popular explanation was that you had problems with the hair physics or something along those lines and that you chose to use a ponytail instead. If that is correct, what's the big difference between the hair physics of a braid and those of a ponytail? If that is incorrect, what was the real reason for getting rid of the braid? The question of the ponytail is not an easy one to answer. People probably don't realize how many agonizing hours I've spent trying to decide whether Lara will wear the classic braided ponytail or a straight up non-braided one. Luckily for me, decisions like this are what I'm consumed with every day! While others crunch numbers, I get to decide how high the ponytail rests on the back of her head and how long her hair flows. What it comes down to is this: Lara's hair is defined by the fact that she is fashionable yet practical. She wears her hair tied back to facilitate her predilection for spelunking (ie: she an active explorer). Over the years she has been inclined to change it according to her moods. She never follows trends. That's not her way. Her ponytail is a part of her self-expression. That is not to say that one day she won't feel an urge to return to her braided roots (pardon the pun). Braider As LCGol is a new departure from the main franchise, was it nessessary to change the Lara model to improve the overall look of the game as it has a fixed camera view and the characters are smaller on the screen? One thing about designing characters for games is that you always have to consider the format in which they will appear. In this case, with a top-down camera, we did have to make a few concessions. As mentioned before, we had to get rid of the backpack and gloves. Memory limitations played a role as well. Her textures and material use had to be scaled back. Her poly count was brought down but she still has a considerable amount (~10k), even compared to other AAA titles. Mikky Does that mean he was the one who decided to bring back the classic colors on her outfit? So, my question is, why did he bring them back? (in GoL) I'm a big fan of Lara's classic turquoise color. I think it truly defines her looks so I try to bring it back as often as I can! If I can't use it as a main color I'll use it for accent colors on her outfit. Billy959 Do you listen to what the fan says about how Lara model should look like? (like in ''how lara should look in the next TR games'' thread)or you come up with your own ideas. I love looking through the forums to get a feel for what the fans are thinking. After all, what better source of inspiration is there than the people who love Lara the most? I also draw upon as many different resourses as possible when designing Lara’s looks. I try not to restrict myself to one form of media but also draw influence from comic books and even classic art. t-raider26 Is Lara's model influenced by a specific person or people. For example, I've noticed that in the last 3 games, Lara looks a bit like Angelina Jolie. A lot more than she did in TR1-6. Was that intentional? Lara is not really influenced by any single person. She is an amalgam of different people but also hugely influenced by her own history. I study all the work that was done before and draw inspiration from them. In my mind, she is always evolving, but never so radically that people won’t recognize her any more. She should always possess that element which makes her instantly recongizable to her fans right away. There are certain standards for Lara that I try to maintain. For example, Lara stands 5'4". In all three games she was the shortest character. (Toby was really fond of this idea and thought it made her seem more vulnerable and her achievements even more inspiring). There is a certain color palette that she fancies. She never wears pink (in the primary game). She never wears blue jeans (I know she did in pre-Crystal days! RoombelinaUK What do you usually observe, or get inspiration from while creating and going through the process of thought and conceptualization of a Lara Croft model? Are there certain "role models" for Lara's figure? Or are all her body parts her own? I always try to design a character with aesthetics and function in mind. Foremost, she has to look good and be alluring to the player. However, she also needs to fulfill certain technical requirements as well. How does she appear in the game? Does the camera make her look short? Do the animations work well with her body structure? For example, her legs are disproportionately long to make her movements more elegant. Also, from the slightly top down perspective, which is how we see her most of the time, they won’t look so stumpy. Max 28 What do you think is Lara's most defining feature, appearance-wise? This is a great question! I’ve spent countless hours trying to determine the single most important element in Lara’s design. The obvious and crass answer would be her feminine assets but I believe it’s more than that. There are plenty of other characters out in the market that have pushed those boundaries far more than we have. Yet, Lara is still in a class all by herself! I think her most defining feature is her uncomplicated design. Lara is an explorer. She’s single-minded in that endeavor and her appearance always reinforces that fact. That is something that was successfully conveyed by the people at CORE and that is something that I’ve tried really hard to continue. Evan C How does it feel to work designing the most popular female videogame in the industry? I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to work on Tomb Raider and Lara Croft. I remember playing TR1 as a kid and thinking it was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. Having wonderful fans who feel so passionately about the character has also been great!

Crystal Dynamics On Making Lara Croft Downloadable By Spencer, June 9, 2010. 4:12pm Read the full article at Siliconera.com - click here This summer, Crystal Dynamics is plunging into the digital space with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Steam. Why did they pick the digital space and what do they plan to do with it? Three members of the Crystal Dynamics team explain. Lara Croft: Guardian of Light is not billed as the next Tomb Raider. The game could have worked with any character, maybe even Gex since he can jump. So, why did you decide to use Lara? Daniel Neuburg, Creative Director: [Laughs.] We have our pillar releases for Tomb Raider and there is never anything that lives between that for Tomb Raider fans and action-adventure fans. It’s Tomb Raider pillar and later down the road there is another Tomb Raider pillar release. The digital platform is a great place for us to inject something in between. What I really wanted to do with this game is tailor a game around what Tomb Raider fans are going to enjoy, what action-adventure fans are going to enjoy, but give them something fresh, something new that lives between those pillar releases. Even though maybe from the outside this game may not seem to be a Tomb Raider type game, once you see it in motion and once you start playing it you’ll see it’s really a Lara Croft experience. Karl Stewart, Brand Director: And to that point, our studio Crystal [Dynamics], Tomb Raider and Lara Croft are in our DNA. We have a talented bunch of guys have been working on it for a number of years. When we opened up this type of opportunity, those guys see Tomb Raider and Lara Croft all the way through. From puzzles, to exploration, to combat and they can try to do some fresh new things. Try to get different with the franchise where before it has only gone in that one direction. [Shout out]: Gex may be unlockable, we’ll see! [Laughs!] There’s nothing wrong with being different, but Crystal Dynamics has a number of franchises. KS: When we came off Underworld and finished that chapter, as a studio we took a step back and sort of said who are we? Where do we go from here? We wanted to try to breathe fresh life in new areas. So, we spent a couple of months looking at new ways to push boundaries. In our case, digital downloads gives us that opportunity to be fresh, try new things, test new tech, give you guys a fresh approach to gameplay. Speaking about who Crystal Dynamics is, did you go through some identifying when you joined Square Enix? KS: The decision to do this has been done before Square Enix purchased us and purchased Eidos. They looked at and thought this is absolutely phenomenal. They want to support it. They want to get behind it. They see we’re pushing the brand in a new direction. And really that’s it. Square Enix have been phenomenal. They’ve been a great parent. We share things and we talk openly so that’s good. So, what about the next Tomb Raider pillar. Do you have any thoughts on that? KS: Obviously, we are way, way away from talking about where we are going with any popular franchise. We are a two team studio. Reading into that we are doing something. In due course we will talk about other things. Our sole focus right now is that new space that we’ve we entered into we make the most compelling and ambitious title as we possibly can. Did selling Tomb Raider as episode packs spark the decision to make this? KS: Part, not a big part of it. Certainly there is an awareness there. More about where the industry is going in general. As a studio and Darrell’s [Head of Studio] vision for pushing the studio in the right direction, we see the digital space ultimately as a platform. Games such as Shadow Complex, Trine, and Braid have really pushed the boundaries. Our goal and mantra is being able to deliver unique experiences to that audience, not porting our titles to that platform. We saw the arcade space, the digital space, as somewhere we can bring a whole new perspective not just to our franchise, but to gameplay. We’re trying to push the boundary of people’s perception of an arcade game. You mentioned this is not a Tomb Raider title. So, do you think we’ll see more of these games like Lara Croft and the something of something? KS: We are a studio of never say never. If this game is huge and successful well then tomorrow is another day. There is plenty of opportunities in this space. Depending on how well this works, never say never. What can you say about The Legacy of Kain franchise? Darrell Gallagher, Head of Studio: I’ll answer that one. We see the fan feedback on Legacy of Kain. There’s nothing we can talk about right now, but we can tell fans we definitely hear it. Now that Square Enix and Eidos are a family… do you think we will ever see a Square Enix and Lara Croft crossover? I couldn’t imagine a game with Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy together when I was young, but there is Itadaki Street now! KB: Not that we’re aware of. Wow, that would be up there with the rest of them. [Laughs.]

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If you don't like spiders . . . Brora, UK - June 05, 2010 Crystal Dynamics have released a new screenshot! _____________________________________________________________________________

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