New Riley Cooper and Morgan Gray interview

[TombCrow]

New Riley Cooper and Morgan Gray interview in the September issue of US Official Playstation mag.



TOMB RAIDER: LEGEND
The Secrets Behind Lara's Triumphant Return.

Over the years, it's seemed the only artifact that's managed to elude Lara Croft is her lost glory. Bad games released on a yearly basis made this onetime industry darling - star if nivues, magazine covers, and even U2's Popmart tour - a laughingstock.

That is until Eidos ripped Lara away from creators Core Design and decided to give Crystal Dynamics a shot at resurrecting Lady Croft's reputation.

Mission accomplished.

We sat down with Crystal Dynamics producer Morgan Gray and lead designer Riley Cooper to discuss the past, the future, and the anatomy of a comeback.

[TombCrow]

This is courtesy of Official Playstation Magazine. (September issue)

OPM: Now that Tomb Raider Legend has finally hit retail, are you happy with the reaction?

CD: We're very happy with the fan reaction. It's ultimately how we judge the quality of our games. Did the people we make it for appreciate it? So that they've been as happy as they have (been) has been really rewarding,

OPM: Why do you think this game has been so well received? What did you do that made people love Lara again?

CD: I think it's just that, from day one, we set out to be true to Lara and to create an experience that put her back where she excels - in the tombs. Of course, getting off the grid system of the past six Tomb Raiders was very important as well. The physics gave us room to do some new things with level design. There were a lot of things we concentrated on, but from day one, it was our intention to stay true to the first two games in the franchise and bring Tomb Raider up to modern game-play standards.

OPM: Is there any particular level of section of the game you're most proud of?

CD: The very first physics-based puzzle that takes place in the heart of the first tomb. It uses this relatively new game system to re-create the classic Tomb Raider.

OPM: Is there anything in the game our readers may have missed on their first playthroughs?

CD: Most of them probably didn't get all the rewards and their associated unlockables. There are some helpful gun upgrades and pretty cool outfits if you do - and they're fun to find. Some of the associated puzzles are the harder ones in the game.

OPM: Legend feels a tad short compared to earlier games in the series. Is there anything you hoped to add to Legend but couldn't due to time constraints?

CD: The length of the game is always a challenge, given the art fidelity we go for. That much custom content for every corner of the game, let alone every level, means that everything takes a long time to build - and then a long time to iterate - as new technology comes online. And people want a good looking game. We had a couple of physics puzzles that we were excited about that we weren't able to get in. Look for lots of physics based fun in the next games.

OPM: Is a sequel inevitable? Anything you can say about it right now?

CD: Wish we could...

OPM: Do you think the Tomb Raider series lends itself to any sort of online play? Was anything like that considered for Legend?

CD: Very early on in the design process, online was considered and then dropped. We had our work cut out for us in delivering a quality single-player experience. Part of the problem with multi-player in the Tomb Raider universe is there aren't many characters you'd want to play beside Lara. That said, I wouldn't rule it out as a future possibility.

OPM: The story line of Legend re-created the originals of Lara to a certain extent. Does that mean everything that happened in the first six games has been completely wiped away?

CD: Not at all. We chose to tell a story that didn't have much to do with the previous Tomb Raider stories, but we also tried not to trample what the previous stories had established. There are some back-story elements that have been carefully preserved as well. These elements are only touched on in Legend, but we're doing our best to create a cohesive universe for future stories that doesn't ignore the previous ones.

OPM: What was your favourite of the first six games? Did it have any major influence on Legend?

CD: Probably the second. It delivered the Tomb Raider experience better than the other five. The first and second games both had a major influence on Legend. They defined the spirit of what we set out to deliver: cutting edge movement mechanics, spending the vast majority of the game in and around ancient spaces, large physical puzzles and acrobatic combat.

OPM: Tomb Raider practically became the poster child for how not to milk a series. Where do you feel the series went wrong originally? Was the pressure to produce a new sequel every year the main problem?

CD: The pressure to produce a sequel a year is always an issue. Making any big game in that time frame is a challenge. Who knows what hurdles Core Design had to jump in making their games? All kinds of things happen in this industry. That said, from the outside, it looks like they spent too much time trying to evolve the "soft design" - story, characters, and locales - and not enough time trying to evolve the "hard design" - controls, mechanics, and game systems. This resulted in Lara getting further and further from her element - tomb raider - and left the game-play almost exactly where it was when the series started.

OPM: How will you keep the same thing from happening with Tomb Raider this time around?

CD: We care a lot about story. We believe in it as a critical component of the experience and essential to developing Lara's character, but game-play comes first. We'll not forget this.

OPM: Before Tomb Raider was handed to Crystal Dynamics, Core Design made a lot of noise about their future plans for Lara and her story following Angel Of Darkness. Does Crystal Dynamics have any sort of overarching story line they've only just scratched with Legend?

CD: We've put a fair bit of energy into the back-story. Legend was really about Lara, as any Tomb Raider game will be, but future games will deal more with this developing back-story to give fans a better sense of the larger forces at work in Lara's world.

OPM: What kind of input did Lara's creator, Toby Gard, have on the project? Will he be consulting on the inevitable sequel?

CD: It was great to have Toby on board in developing Legend. He's smart and friendly and obviously cares a lot about Lara. He did a lot of different things on Legend, including providing direction for cinematics, collaborating on story, and doing character concepts. He always had great feedback for those tings he wasn't directly on the hook for as well. He'll definitely be trapped for contribution to future projects.

OPM: Finally, we just have to ask whether you've had a chance to mess around with the Playstation 3? What are your thoughts on the system?

CD: We look forward to having three consoles out there to show our work on. Only our engineers have played with it thus far. We're sure they're having some fun with it!

[Yew]

多年来，唯一能逃脱劳拉·克劳馥手心的宝物似乎就是她失去的光环。每年一部糟糕游戏的发布使得这个一次性产业的宠爱——电影明星，封

面女郎，甚至U2的PopMart巡演——成为一个笑柄。

事态一直到Eidos解除了一手创造了Lara的Core工作室的开发权并决定将恢复Croft女士名誉的的使命交由晶体动力。

使命完成了。

我们与晶体动力的制作人摩根·格雷和主设计师赖利·库伯一道谈谈（游戏的）过去、未来，以及东山再起的点点滴滴。

OPM：《古墓丽影：传奇》已经取得了零售冠军，您对反响高兴吗?

晶体动力：我们对于饭丝的反响是非常高兴的。这是我们最终判断我们的游戏的品质好坏的依据：我们让玩家满意了吗? 显然他们就象他们已

经[是] 真正得过奖励一样高兴。

OPM：您觉得是什么原因让这个游戏是如此受欢迎? 您用了什么秘诀使人们再度喜爱上Lara?

CD：我认为这就是，从我们朝着真心对待Lara并且具有了将她带回她擅长的领域——古墓的经验的第一天起。当然，摆脱前六部《古墓丽影》

的栅格系统也是非常重要的。物理（引擎）给我们在关卡设计的别出心裁上提供了空间。[我们专注于]许多方面，但是打开始，[我们的意图]

是保持前两部游戏在franchise上的原汁原味并且带领《古墓丽影》达到现代的适玩标准。

OPM：游戏中有什么是您引以为傲的关卡或内容吗?

CD：发生在第一座墓穴心脏地带的那个基于物理（原理）的迷题。这个新的游戏系统再现了经典的《古墓丽影》room-filling迷题。动作方面

是非常动感的， 而且Lara运用力量的方式也很有意思。

OPM：游戏中有没有我们的读者在他们的第一次游戏通关中可能会错过的东西?

CD：大多数玩家可能没有得到所有的奖励以及相应的unlockables。这其中会有一些有用的升级枪支以及相当酷的服装——寻找它们是一件有趣

的事情。一些[与之相应的]迷题在游戏中的难度也更高些。

OPM：较之早期的几部游戏《传奇》感觉偏短。有没有什么是您希望加入到游戏中但限于时间因素而未能如愿的东西?

CD：游戏的长度总是一个挑战，尤其是规定了我们将要企及的艺术高度后。游戏的每个角落都有许多约定俗成的内容，更不用说每个关卡了，

这意味每一点每一滴都需要花大量时间来塑造——然后是长时间的反复测试——像新技术问世那样。而且玩家想要赏心悦目的游戏。我们有好

几个自认为不错的物理迷题最终都没有加入到游戏中去。希望能在下一个游戏中露面。

OPM：续集是肯定的了? 您现在能对此说些什么?

CD：愿望我们能......

OPM：您认为《古墓丽影》系列适合在线游戏吗? 有没有为《传奇》向那方面考虑?

CD：最开时始时[ 在设计过程中，] 考虑过在线的想法，到后来就抛弃了。我们全力以赴旨在提供有质量的单人玩家体验。还有部分原因就是

多人玩家的《古墓丽影》世界面临除了Lara以外没有多少让人愿意操作的角色的问题。尽管如此，作为一个未来的可能，我不会不加以考虑的

。

OPM：《传奇》的剧情在某种程度上重新构造了Lara的身世。这是否意味着在前六部游戏中发生过的一切都已经被完全地抹去了?

CD：哪里话。我们选择一个同过去的《古墓丽影》剧情不太相干的故事，但是我们也设法不践踏前作剧情里已经确定的事实。还有一些背景故

事元素已经被细心地保留下来。这些元素在《传奇》中只是零星，但是我们尽所能为将来的剧情创造一个一致的世界同时不忽略前作。

OPM：前六部游戏中您喜爱哪一部? 它对《传奇》有没有什么大的影响?

CD：也许是第二部吧。它所体现的《古墓丽影》经历比其它五部要更好一些。第一、二部游戏都对《传奇》有主要影响。他们定义了我们努力

要表达的精神： 出类拔萃的运动技巧， 游戏的大多数时间用在同古代空间打交道，大型的物理迷难，以及花式战斗。

OPM：《古墓丽影》几乎成为一个怎么也榨不出油水的系列的典型。您觉得这个系列出错的原因在哪? 每年一部新续集造成的压力是主要问题吗

?

CD：每年一个续集的压力总是一个问题。以那种时间表来做任何一个大游戏都是一项挑战。谁知道[Core工作室]在他们制作游戏的时候必须跃

过什么样的障碍? 各种各样的事情发生在这个产业。尽管如此，从外在看，他们似乎花费了太多时间来试图演化"软件设计" ——剧情，角色，

以及场景——没有足够时间花在"硬件设计"上——操作，技能，以及游戏系统。这导致Lara同她（赖以成功）的元素——古墓历险越走越远—

—同时游戏适玩性几乎完全停留在[系列]最初的水平上。

OPM：您将怎么避免同样的事情发生呢?

CD：我们对剧情关心的很多。我们相信它是经验的一个重要组分也是开发Lara性格的根本，但是游戏适玩性优先。我们不会忘记这一点的。

OPM：在《古墓丽影》被交给晶体动力之前，Core工作室透露了许多就未来Lara和她在《黑暗天使》之后的剧情的消息。晶体动力在构成《传奇

》的剧情中有没有什么故事只停留在草稿阶段?

CD：我们投入了相当的位精力到背景故事。《传奇》就是关于Lara的故事，如同任何一部《古墓丽影》游戏那样， 但是未来的游戏在Lara的世

界里将会更多地出现背景故事来给饭丝们一个宏篇巨制的满足感。

OPM：Lara的蒂造者，托比·嘉德，在项目上有什么样的贡献? 他会在续集中担任顾问吗?

CD：能让托比加入开发《传奇》是很棒的。他精明且友好而且对Lara明显了解很多。在《传奇》开发中他做了很多不同的事情，包括为动画制

作提供方向，合作编剧情，以及人物设定。对于那些他没有直接参与的一些工作他也总有很棒的反馈。他肯定会为未来项目的工作的。

OPM：最后，我们就只问您是否有机会品玩过PlayStation 3。您对该系统有何见解?

CD：我们期望能有三个平台来展示我们的工作。迄今只有我们的工程师体验过它。我们相信他们正玩得开心。

[TombCrow]

yew动作真快啊～～

你说这个放新闻还是放百科呢

[TombCrow]

嗯，决定了，放新闻里面，百科做个链接就好了