The absolute TR level!

Well its about time we start throwing ideas here about a level that will live up to the TR title. You can post everything here that can help in the process until we build up the idea of the level - inspiration pics, concepts, puzzles, traps and even only written ideas.

Now lets start!

Here are my ideas so far - This level should have a Tomb - Duh! Maybe tombs of the fallen angels that are the fathers of the Nephilim?

Or something of that sort. At some point there should be a treasury - its weird that so far I haven't seen a TR level with actual gold treasures in it!

We can have various references to the underworlds of many cultures in the levels in Cappadocia - since TRU didn't really do that. For example there can be a puzzle with huge scales and a feather that symbolizes Egyptian underworld. this way we in an interest way say that this is in fact the underworld and the nephilim are the ancient gods, titans, devils - everything. We can have ornaments from every major ancient civilization too - showing that the nephilim were the base of each one of them - but there shoudl be something combining them all too. This is good because it allows us more freedom and things will looks more various and well..just different.

OR this level may be the entrance to the actual city. where Lara crosses this underground river that is a river STYX analogy (from greek mythology - the underground river hat the dead cross to reach the underworld). And reaches the arc that we have a concept of - the one of Lara on the boat. (can anyone post it because I cant seem to find it)

Also since the nephilim city is underground I imagine this HUGE town-like area - with roads and strange houses carved in the rocks and somewhere in the middle a tall glowing tower that that illuminates the whole city> MAYBE there can be a puzzle to make the tower glow and the player has to get oriented in teh dark with flares! And maybe whats in the tower that shines is something Lara needs - and the goal of the level is lara to take it.

We should think about the bigger picture of the level. What the player has to do and whats his goal.


I will work on concepts and reference pics, textures too

Oh yes the boat concept, Shadow made that concept a few days ago.

About various cultures and stuff, I dont know but wouldn that take soo much time to research and produce??

Well I dont know about produce - but its enough to have some common knowledge on these things to understand what I mean :p Plus it woul dmak ethings more interesting... ANd I think it would be harder to give the nehilim their own look ...

I think the idea with the different cultures is good. But I don't like the underworld thing and we should make it less obvious. And I would like the Nephilim to have their own style in architecture. RCA's temple is a good example.

I LOVE the tower idea. At first it should be dark. As if it was at night. And maybe you hear the Nephilim and see them running around with flares in the distance. I think they could maybe sing. Something frightening and mysterious. I can imagine a scene like that so well:

Lara and Kurtis sit down on the roof of an old house somewhere high above the Nephilim city. Lara sees lights and hears the Nephilim singing and celebrating in the lower parts of the city.

Lara: What do they do?
Kurtis: Prepare to fight.
Lara: Against us?
Kurtis (laughing/grinning): Against humanity.
...

Maybe after that they talk a bit more and maybe Kurtis tells her about that tower and that it has some importance.

Why dont you like the underworld idea? its not so obvious. we won't mention directly the link - just hint it with stuff.. I mmean,a braham wouldnt get it

I just don't think that the Nephilim's underground city inspired the underworld myths of the cultures surrounding it. That doesn't fit. I imagine the underground city to have been a lively place. That just doesn't fit to a land of the dead. And the "less obvious" was actually meant for the different cultures. Not for the underworld stuff. But as I said I do really like the idea with the tower and the idea with the Nephilim/Angel tombs is also very good. I think we should make them similar to Karel's tomb in the LV flashback.

NO, not land of the dead - hell and the nephilim are the devils. No ghosts. but then really becaume the land of the dead since the nephilim all died...

That's about the same. I think that it was once a happy and lively place. Nothing hell-like or anything.

I think we could design it a bit like the city of light area in PoP. But it should be bigger, less linear and with an actual ground.

How can is possibly be a happy place?

When the Nephilims were still there and living happily underground. I imagine it to have been quite a wonderful place for Nephilim to live in.

But they are evil and sinister. no one cares if they lived happily. they should be ebil ans spooky

And in their eyes the humans were evil. It was a war. There were no real good and bad ones.

but they ARE EVIL! they are born from evilness! no good there! they wanted satan to get it back at god and make heaven their dominion

Concept in progress:
It will be a huge wallpaper size pic but now I am only ok with showing you the tower and I will tell you some about the look I am going for.
BTW this is a concept of Cappadocia I have had in my mind for a long time. It was about time to express it digitally.
It doesn't need to be the absolute level i was talking about. I rather think this is the main area of the city. the very center. the actual city where they lived - with living quarters and etc. But it leads to other levels. SO this level could be the center combining those levels. Like for examples from this center you go to a temple and then when you do what you have to return one way or another pack to the center and go do your business elsewhere. This has been done a lot in the classics. Plus could save a lot of modeling and could give more content.
The tower should be in the center of the whole center area. it could hold an artifact, key etc or it can be the light source of the area too.



As you can see I am using reference pics of cappadocia for now. I have always imagined Cappadocia looking like a mirror image of the ground above. Everything carved in the soft limestone (which btw formed because millions of years ago this whole area was a sea bottom). But its also darker and cave-like with stalactites and so on meaning the place is damp like a cave. Which allows us to have many strange forms that can be claimable slippery and so on. But also just like the actual town of cappadocia , to the carved buildings have been added bricks, pillars, poles, decorations and at places the carvings are more precise to make the place more beautiful. For example friezes and pillar capitals that have been borrowed from Greek, Egyptian Chinese etc architecture styles

So what do you think of my concept of the area so far? Do you agree we shoudl aim for this look?

rough rocks carved as the building at some places its built upon them destroyed and carved better...

It looks good. I can't really see the size of it. But it looks like it's not that big. It should be HUGE IMO (not only the height but also the width). Lara and Kurtis should look rediculously small in comparison. I imagine it to be about twice as big as the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria.

Do you see the doorway at the botom of the tower? its not detailed yet but you can about see the proportions

Too small (the tower).

LOL it is just a sketch, we can make it a big as we want

Yes. That's what I'm saying. That it should be bigger in the game.

Lol i cant imagine it right now. the image is just too small

no comments on the pic? like? dislike? are u ok with the direcyion? thats why I posted it so early and not compleated

btw zebra it can be a doorway for giants since nephilims were giants... big enough now lol

Of course. But I still think it's too small. Nephilim weren't THAT big afterall.

SRSLY?

lol i mean the image.

IS THAT REAL???