Warms my heart to see Tomb Raider finally getting the analytical breakdown it deserves. It seems like over the last 3 or 4 years there's been somewhat of a Tomb Raider renaissance, what with a bunch of reviews, lore videos, and story/hidden facts videos popping up one after the other. The map design and precision platforming were stellar and were what helped it to sell millions of copies each release, back-to-back, so seeing the maps laid bare here and analyzed from a gameplay perspective is interesting.
thanks for checking it out! i agree, i've seen some good retrospective type stuff as well. i think of the early TR games as level design masterpieces for the era alongside Doom and Zelda, but they don't always get remembered as such because they were difficult at times and obviously Lara Croft commands a lot of the discussion, but they pulled off some pretty impressive spectacle for the time.
Thanks, I've started on the basemaps for TR2 here, plan to cover at least 2 and 3: www.deviantart.com/vgcartography/gallery/79359338/tomb-raider-classic-maps
This game has some of the best 3D dungeons ever made. LoZ: Ocarina of Time and EverQuest's dungeons were similar in scope (and wonder). Feels like most modern 3D dungeons are single-floor borefests, or each floor is a separate map.
I've played through the game countless times so like many fans I know it by heart, but it was very cool to experience it in this way. Thanks for sharing! (Also, as an enthusiast for fanmade TR remixes and all that, I'd say your KORG Gadget remix warrants an upload on its own. ;) TIA)
Mind actually blown. I had no idea the doors in Palace Midas had the codes written above them! For like 25 years I've always just pulled the levers randomly trying to open the doors when playing this game. Also I've always wanted to see an overview of these levels, thanks very much for the vid!
Awesome job!, there are a lot of details that one can miss such as the throne room in Atlantis. The top and isometric view highlight how beautiful shadows could be, and give a better understanding of the level. Also, I hadn't noticed how smooth is the transition between levels.
This was such a beautiful documentation of the first game. I really enjoyed every second and thanks for crediting me (@croftyboy) for such a tiny thing, I am flattered. I wish you continued success and patienly waiting for similar video for TR2 too. ❤
you set a high standard for demonstrating map layouts and just explaining games in general. This was easy to watch, fun to learn, and super retainable dude
Loved seeing that maze of a game mapped out and connected together. It really puts things in perspective how much Lara travels! The enemy hp & damage is a nice touch as well! Thank you 😊
This video is astonishing. I've often looked at these maps and felt overwhelmed, but you've just walked me through them and allowed me to completely relive the game in my mind. Amazing.
Had no idea the Cistern was hated. Played this game on release on the PS1 and it honestly was my favorite level. That first reveal of the gigantic main room with so many platforms and the music that plays after you walk out of that starting area was super cool back in '96. What's kind of funny in retrospect is that at that time I knew nothing about framerate. So when I walked out into that main room and the game sloooowed to a crawl I thought it was done intentionally to be cinematic and show off the area, when what was really happening was the game's performance tanking and slowing the game speed way down because the devs put too much stuff in view.
I have some fond memories as well... but it came up in all the "worst level" polls I found online while making this haha... people just don't like water dungeons I guess
One of my favourite levels, but honestly, I sort of love them all equally, City of Vilcabamba is probably my least favourite. Im in my 30's and think the modern obsession over frame rate harms gaming.
This is so incredible, no idea why yt has been recommending me tr1 videos recently but I am glad it did cause this is amazing to look at. It really changes how you see the level when you can think about it like this. The breakdown of secrets and enemies as well wow this is absolute quality.
What an amazing summary! Never thought I wanted this until I saw it :) Been tackling "Final Stats" videos of TR1, 2 & 3 + expansions on my channel, summarizing the Enemy/Item/Secrets contents of each game, and it's great to see someone else do this in might I say much more efficient way!
that's very kind, I recognize your name and voice - I referenced some of your TR LPs on this + the TR2 maps I'm working on if I was missing a detail :) I forgot about my stats bit at the end, I need to clean those up, excited to check out your vids I just found on the topic! great minds think alike with all the ammo count analysis :) I was so worn out at the end of this vid I didn't narrate the stats and as a result that ending bit is probably too quick to be comprehensible...
@@VGCartography Wow, I am flattered! I hope they helped somewhat! I think the end of your video is fine, as I paused each of the screens to take a deeper look myself :) Working on a TR IV summary video, wish me luck!
I fell in love with Tomb Raider from the level Palace Midas. Happy to see I'm not the only one who views it as the best level in the game. Comparing the Cistern to the Water Temple is funny, but I have to say, the hate that level gets baffles me. Compared to the Water Temple that is a slog in OoT and makes you raise the water level so many times, I find the Cistern to be pretty straight forward in comparison. Once you know what to do, it can be finished in a much shorter time span than the water temple.
I wish they would remake the origional tomb raider don't change the story at all just update the graphics couldn't you think of the beautiful Egyptian I think it would be unreal no changing story just update the graphics
@@RaginKavu cheers. here's the preview i posted today, i'm gonna drop splitscreen and focus on just one more detailed map view this time. twitter.com/vgcartography/status/1493595128572825608
yeah, 2 and 3. i was midway through the italy levels in TR2 and was having trouble making a clear map of opera house, it was so dense. i put the project down for a few weeks, but i am going to come back to it soon. TR3 was my favorite growing up but i'm trying to be disciplined and do them in order!
Oddly I remember a lot of this. It's also dredging up memories of the Core Version of Anniversary getting a leak or whatever. Man do those dinosaurs look terrible in retrospect... and yet... This was the ultimate of graphics. maybe i should queue up Final Fantasy the Spirits Within or something?
wow, what a great video, this 3d games are very hard to map, specially some of the maps with tons of rooms interlacing at different heights. I was planning on doing something like this, but this video is just too great. May I ask, are you the author of the 2d and isometric maps ? How were they done ? Were they somehow extracted with an editor ? Thanks !
@@DarkMoe hey thanks i appreciate it! The isometric views I used a version of this: popov72.github.io/TRN2/ but modified it to render with an ortho camera instead of perspective camera in three.js - in the near future i'll share my fork of the project so others can do stuff with it as well
this tool is open-source on GitHub: popov72.github.io/TRN2/ I made some modifications to render with orthographic camera instead of the normal one and used that + photoshop. I intend to make the isometric fork available sometime soon once I can clean up my code changes
with luck I'll cover the "dlc" for the trilogy as one chunk. IIRC TR1 Gold came out around TR3, quite a bit after the original game. I've never actually played it yet!
@@VGCartography From my understanding, the two Atlantis levels in that are supposed to be played first as Lara begins Atlantean Stronghold sliding down the same slope from the end of The Great Pyramid.
Warms my heart to see Tomb Raider finally getting the analytical breakdown it deserves. It seems like over the last 3 or 4 years there's been somewhat of a Tomb Raider renaissance, what with a bunch of reviews, lore videos, and story/hidden facts videos popping up one after the other.
The map design and precision platforming were stellar and were what helped it to sell millions of copies each release, back-to-back, so seeing the maps laid bare here and analyzed from a gameplay perspective is interesting.
thanks for checking it out! i agree, i've seen some good retrospective type stuff as well. i think of the early TR games as level design masterpieces for the era alongside Doom and Zelda, but they don't always get remembered as such because they were difficult at times and obviously Lara Croft commands a lot of the discussion, but they pulled off some pretty impressive spectacle for the time.
Great video, would love to see the rest of the classic TR games.
Thanks, I've started on the basemaps for TR2 here, plan to cover at least 2 and 3: www.deviantart.com/vgcartography/gallery/79359338/tomb-raider-classic-maps
These are the sort of walkthroughs we used to get in quality gaming magazines prior to the internet - thanks!
This game has some of the best 3D dungeons ever made. LoZ: Ocarina of Time and EverQuest's dungeons were similar in scope (and wonder). Feels like most modern 3D dungeons are single-floor borefests, or each floor is a separate map.
this video was one of the best "teardown" Videos I've ever seen!! Entertaining and educational.... Thank you for your hard work you put in this!!
really glad you enjoyed it!
What a great video. The isometric style and cute icons works so good for the game.
glad you liked it!
I've played through the game countless times so like many fans I know it by heart, but it was very cool to experience it in this way. Thanks for sharing! (Also, as an enthusiast for fanmade TR remixes and all that, I'd say your KORG Gadget remix warrants an upload on its own. ;) TIA)
kind words, thanks!
ua-cam.com/video/V1KhZhoxVkk/v-deo.html
Mind actually blown. I had no idea the doors in Palace Midas had the codes written above them! For like 25 years I've always just pulled the levers randomly trying to open the doors when playing this game.
Also I've always wanted to see an overview of these levels, thanks very much for the vid!
sounds like how I played Myst lol. thanks for checking it out!
What an absolutely incredible video this was! Informative, detailed and totally engaging to watch. Thank you so much for making it!
appreciate it! I also made a TR2 and 3 version as well
Awesome job!, there are a lot of details that one can miss such as the throne room in Atlantis. The top and isometric view highlight how beautiful shadows could be, and give a better understanding of the level. Also, I hadn't noticed how smooth is the transition between levels.
This was such a beautiful documentation of the first game. I really enjoyed every second and thanks for crediting me (@croftyboy) for such a tiny thing, I am flattered. I wish you continued success and patienly waiting for similar video for TR2 too. ❤
you set a high standard for demonstrating map layouts and just explaining games in general. This was easy to watch, fun to learn, and super retainable dude
thanks, I appreciate that!
Loved seeing that maze of a game mapped out and connected together. It really puts things in perspective how much Lara travels! The enemy hp & damage is a nice touch as well! Thank you 😊
thank you, glad you liked it!
6:55 that secret can be reached even with an accurate jump from the entrance of the room.
Hello from Reddit! These videos are like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow! Phenomenal work and captivating narration!
St. Francis Folly is a game design masterpiece
Oh my, this is exactly the type of content i needed to study level design. Thank you very much!
This video is astonishing. I've often looked at these maps and felt overwhelmed, but you've just walked me through them and allowed me to completely relive the game in my mind. Amazing.
This is so well done! Excited to watch the ones for TR2 and 3.
Had no idea the Cistern was hated. Played this game on release on the PS1 and it honestly was my favorite level. That first reveal of the gigantic main room with so many platforms and the music that plays after you walk out of that starting area was super cool back in '96.
What's kind of funny in retrospect is that at that time I knew nothing about framerate. So when I walked out into that main room and the game sloooowed to a crawl I thought it was done intentionally to be cinematic and show off the area, when what was really happening was the game's performance tanking and slowing the game speed way down because the devs put too much stuff in view.
I have some fond memories as well... but it came up in all the "worst level" polls I found online while making this haha... people just don't like water dungeons I guess
One of my favourite levels, but honestly, I sort of love them all equally, City of Vilcabamba is probably my least favourite. Im in my 30's and think the modern obsession over frame rate harms gaming.
This is so incredible, no idea why yt has been recommending me tr1 videos recently but I am glad it did cause this is amazing to look at. It really changes how you see the level when you can think about it like this. The breakdown of secrets and enemies as well wow this is absolute quality.
thank you! yeah this had a few hundred views a couple weeks ago, suddenly algorithm decided to boost it i guess, can't explain it either!
I love, LOVE your brain. Thank you for making the best content on the internet.
thanks for the kind words.
The level design of the first few games is incredible.
As someone that enjoys level design above all else in video games this channel was a blessing to find
Good channel and videos, keep up the good work.
I appreciate it!
Great video! Hope more people find this.
What an amazing summary! Never thought I wanted this until I saw it :)
Been tackling "Final Stats" videos of TR1, 2 & 3 + expansions on my channel, summarizing the Enemy/Item/Secrets contents of each game, and it's great to see someone else do this in might I say much more efficient way!
that's very kind, I recognize your name and voice - I referenced some of your TR LPs on this + the TR2 maps I'm working on if I was missing a detail :) I forgot about my stats bit at the end, I need to clean those up, excited to check out your vids I just found on the topic! great minds think alike with all the ammo count analysis :) I was so worn out at the end of this vid I didn't narrate the stats and as a result that ending bit is probably too quick to be comprehensible...
@@VGCartography Wow, I am flattered! I hope they helped somewhat! I think the end of your video is fine, as I paused each of the screens to take a deeper look myself :)
Working on a TR IV summary video, wish me luck!
You earned a subscriber! This is beautiful! Hoping you get to do Tomb Raider 3 one day. It's my favorite Tomb Raider in the franchise!
thank you! I'm hoping to start on TR2 video this month and TR3 in spring!
This video is substantially underviewed lol.
this main theme remix is fantastic
Boom, guy
thanks friend, on both counts :)
great work
Great vid lad!
Really good my friend 😉👍👌
thanks! you got some cool beats too, checking out more.
I fell in love with Tomb Raider from the level Palace Midas. Happy to see I'm not the only one who views it as the best level in the game.
Comparing the Cistern to the Water Temple is funny, but I have to say, the hate that level gets baffles me. Compared to the Water Temple that is a slog in OoT and makes you raise the water level so many times, I find the Cistern to be pretty straight forward in comparison. Once you know what to do, it can be finished in a much shorter time span than the water temple.
yeah cistern isn't so bad unless you get disoriented!
THANK YOU!
BEAUTIFUL
fascinating!
Whoa this is awesome
This is awesome
I meant to comment on this ages ago. Excellent job as ever - really in depth explanations!
0:15 I didn't know Lara's Home was in The Sims 1
I wish they would remake the origional tomb raider don't change the story at all just update the graphics couldn't you think of the beautiful Egyptian I think it would be unreal no changing story just update the graphics
Damn this is so high quality! Super educating for level designers. Great resource. If you make more, can you do either Alien Resurrection or Doom 3?
i beat doom 64 for the first time recently and gonna play doom 3 next, so we'll see!
Great video!
Just wish there was one for TR 2...
Or even 3 as well!
working hard on TR2, Venice levels done so far!
@@VGCartography nice!
You just got another subscription.
@@RaginKavu cheers. here's the preview i posted today, i'm gonna drop splitscreen and focus on just one more detailed map view this time. twitter.com/vgcartography/status/1493595128572825608
Amazing
this is exceptional! Do you have any plans for covering TR3 eventually?
yeah, 2 and 3. i was midway through the italy levels in TR2 and was having trouble making a clear map of opera house, it was so dense. i put the project down for a few weeks, but i am going to come back to it soon. TR3 was my favorite growing up but i'm trying to be disciplined and do them in order!
Oddly I remember a lot of this. It's also dredging up memories of the Core Version of Anniversary getting a leak or whatever.
Man do those dinosaurs look terrible in retrospect... and yet... This was the ultimate of graphics. maybe i should queue up Final Fantasy the Spirits Within or something?
wow, what a great video, this 3d games are very hard to map, specially some of the maps with tons of rooms interlacing at different heights. I was planning on doing something like this, but this video is just too great. May I ask, are you the author of the 2d and isometric maps ? How were they done ? Were they somehow extracted with an editor ? Thanks !
oh just watched the credits at the end , and answered myself. Definitely one of my favorite videos on YT
@@DarkMoe hey thanks i appreciate it! The isometric views I used a version of this: popov72.github.io/TRN2/ but modified it to render with an ortho camera instead of perspective camera in three.js - in the near future i'll share my fork of the project so others can do stuff with it as well
AHA!
wow, a shame this has so few views. How did you created the maps of the levels? Is there a tool on the internet for it?
this tool is open-source on GitHub: popov72.github.io/TRN2/ I made some modifications to render with orthographic camera instead of the normal one and used that + photoshop. I intend to make the isometric fork available sometime soon once I can clean up my code changes
Awesome ♥
Would love to see the area 51 level of tr3. Particularly where you go in the space ship which is bigger on the inside 😃
I actually just finished working on that level last week! yeah there's some weirdness I had to work around in that room lol
@@VGCartography honestly thought it was in my head but then I replayed it years later
Could use a documentation of the four Gold levels.
with luck I'll cover the "dlc" for the trilogy as one chunk. IIRC TR1 Gold came out around TR3, quite a bit after the original game. I've never actually played it yet!
@@VGCartography From my understanding, the two Atlantis levels in that are supposed to be played first as Lara begins Atlantean Stronghold sliding down the same slope from the end of The Great Pyramid.
12:28 *widely hated by dorks. People of culture love the Cistern
You forgot to mention the failsafe at the end of Atlantis.
something in the lava moat room?
@@VGCartography The part where level 15 begins.
Will you do this for the rest of the classic Tomb Raider games?
Tomb Raider III definitely, haven't decided about 4 or 5.
@@VGCartography Thanks.
Please do Tomb Raider II PLEASEEEE
planning to start it this weekend!
How come you have 2380 followers as of this comment? That number should be 2.38m
How do you make levels for TR1?
popov72.github.io/TRN2/ check this out as a starting point. if you actually mean custom levels, you'll want www.trle.net/