STACK October 2016 Issue 144

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We can’t remember how the
conversation headed in this
direction, but when it’s revealed
to Mike Brinker, senior designer at Crystal
Dynamics, that we struggle with the
puzzles in the Uncharted franchise because
of colour blindness, he’s over the moon.
“I’m so glad you brought that up. We
have several people in the team who are
colour blind and we always run through
tests with people to make sure it works,”
he replies. “When we do our colour
layering, we run it past the game director
who is also colour blind. Ironically, quite a few
members of our art team are colour blind, so
we try to stay away from colour palette shifts
and more in tunnel shifts, so you have a big
contrast.“
From colour blindness we move to puzzles;
the conversation is lurching like a container ship
in the midst of a storm. So intrinsic to the Tomb
Raider experience, puzzles are back – bigger
and better – in Rise of the Tomb Raider;
and we're keen to learn how they
come together.
“We have a team called
the SRL team, which stands
for the Smart Resources
Lara team,” Brinker explains.
“What that basically means
is we spend all of our time
working out how we build
our puzzles, how we
build our mechanics
to speak to Lara’s
character, and how
she tackles situations
in a smart, resourceful
way.
“When we start
visit
64 OCTOBER 2016
GAMES
FEATURE
Rise of theTomb Raider is making its way to
PlayStation 4 this month, celebrating Lara
Croft's 20th anniversary. Feel old yet?
to build puzzles, we go back to what our layers
of history are and what our narrative is. You start
to structure things around that, and then, when
you find those myths and those stories that
play along with the main story, we start to work
on the puzzles and how they would feel in the
specified time period.
“What’s cool about how we build puzzles is
that it’s not just about, ‘hey, go build one’. It’s
about, ‘hey, let’s start with a micro set of
concepts and then build up this beautiful
ramp where we have all these options’, and
that becomes a very diverse and very cool
puzzle.”
Crystal Dynamics have been in charge
of the Tomb Raider legacy now for almost
a decade, replacing franchise progenitors
Core Design in 2006. Just what is it about
Lara Croft that appeals to so many gamers?
“She is absolutely driven to go and
uncover the mysteries of the world,”
Brinker offers. “If you look at the evolution of
the franchise, look who Lara is, what appeals
to people is that sense of adventure and that
sense of purpose. She’s always been about
uncovering those truths and the risks and
sacrifices that she has to make
in order to do that. I believe
that's what really appeals to
people.”
What you’ll get in
Rise of the Tomb
Raider 20 Year
Celebration:
Rise of the Tomb Raider on PS4
New Blood Ties single player content;
the new Story level, as well as
Nightmare mode – Lara vs. Zombies!
Ultimate Survivor difficulty in story mode
5 “classic Lara” skins
Plus, all the previously-released DLC
Lara
Turns
20
• Rise of the
Tomb Raider
on PS4 is out
Oct 11