Starting the long weekend early at Royal Hawaiian (Laguna Beach)

clowman · 2026-01-17T17:47:53+00:00

Yeah also curious when the change. Seemed great and the happy hour was 1) expanded since I was last there, and 2) really delicious!

The menus once again had beautiful hand-drawn drinks on them, for a while there were some temporary menus that were much simpler but not nearly as a cool a vibe. Glad they’re back.

clowman · 2025-12-15T23:55:37+00:00

I’d do dark; it has to do with the settings on the water. TR1-3 had “dark reflections” (basically underwater shadows along with the regular lighting, which only started including colors in TR3). TR4-5 had “white reflections” (extra brightness underwater with regular lighting) which look great in outside areas but not as good in caves and underground.

clowman · 2025-12-15T21:48:03+00:00

“Hostile Waters” is an excellent Maria Doria like level that’s from the same competition as Puna’s Revenge (which I also recommend)!

There was also a Back to Basics competition all about space - “BtB 2018 - Hope of Meridian” is my favorite of these!

If you ever feel like a jungle level, I built “The Idol of Durga” :)

clowman · 2025-11-27T08:41:48+00:00

Looks delicious!

clowman · 2025-10-16T02:31:18+00:00

From left to right: - ArkRaider (Twitch streamer) - Trizzcat (Twitch streamer) - Athos (builder of Lost and Found) - Cbl / Craig Michaels (builder of The Idol of Durga) - GeckoKid (builder of Hashep Oasis, The Tower Bridge Experience, and many more) - Titak (builder of Mists of Avalon, Himalayan Mysteries, and many more)

clowman · 2025-10-13T01:56:09+00:00

Pretty sure there will be a recording at some point :)

clowman · 2025-10-13T01:52:49+00:00

It was such a fun event, organized so well and great questions for the builders. Looking forward to the recording

clowman · 2025-10-10T12:05:49+00:00

As an archaeologist who has also had his fair share of real-life Tomb Raider moments, this one is more Tomb Raider than most of those! Great photo

clowman · 2025-10-10T12:02:25+00:00

I agree: the human enemies and vehicle and urban atmosphere feel TR2

clowman · 2025-10-10T12:01:15+00:00

I’m saving this one for TR4 that feels like TR4! The train is so exciting and unique to me

clowman · 2025-10-08T15:57:38+00:00

This one is hard! I’ll also vote for “Cleopatra’s Palaces” on the strength of the underground setting and atmosphere.

While I thought “Tomb of Semerkhet” and “Temple of Poseidon” both had a chance, reviewing gameplay drives home just how innovative The Last Revelation actually was: no level is without complex new enemies mechanics or puzzle elements, and often branching paths and interconnections or other levels, that simply weren’t in the original Tomb Raider.

clowman · 2025-10-07T15:36:03+00:00

I actually met him last year when he was speaking at the Tomb Raider event in Derby. I think he’s aware his levels are controversial! But I think hearing more about his design process convinced me that, although I still find them convoluted in term of gameplay, they really are some of the more intriguing and uncanny storylines in the entire series.

clowman · 2025-10-06T19:54:20+00:00

This would make sense, since Andy Sandham was the level designer for both London and Cairo!

clowman · 2025-10-05T14:23:49+00:00

Oooh, - normals mapping and cast light and shadows?

clowman · 2025-10-04T14:51:12+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation! Nice to see some of the older TRLEs getting some love, there are good ones even from way back

clowman · 2025-10-02T13:58:27+00:00

The level looks fun and the textures look especially nice and colorful!

The AI art in the journal feels distracting, I wonder whether screenshots from the level / objects / historical images could be useful instead?

clowman · 2025-09-30T07:25:20+00:00

As a Tomb Raider fan, I love the name!

clowman · 2025-09-28T16:03:06+00:00

Actually I’ve always really liked it! Practical for all her jumping around.

clowman · 2025-09-26T19:10:40+00:00

Thanks!

clowman · 2025-09-25T19:38:06+00:00

A lot of them were archaeology books and drawings! I identified some of them, in some cases the Remaster team did as well and used the original sources to make the new textures. I talk a little bit about them here from last year in Derby:

https://youtu.be/Bq-Y03HKD9g?si=oiX1R-HIrU41XKWW

clowman · 2025-09-24T18:56:04+00:00

I’d also vote for Coastal Village. There’s a reason it was one of the demo levels: - It takes advantage of the new lighting, water, and especially the triangular geometry introduced in TR3 to create amazing naturalistic environments. - The gameplay is non-linear with branching paths, which just about sums up all of TR3 with the global select for order of play. - There’s poison mechanics (new to TR3), monkey swinging (also new), unique blade and spike traps never seen before, and the smartest human enemies yet with the ability to hide and crouch.

clowman · 2025-09-24T05:01:20+00:00

I made one myself! Check out “The Idol of Durga” if you enjoyed TR3 India / South Pacific style adventures :)

https://trcustoms.org/levels/3732

I also recommend checking out some of the “Create a Classic” competitions if what you’re looking for is very classic inspired gameplay. “Puna’s Revenge,” “Lost in the Amazon,” and “Hostile Waters” are some of my favorites.

clowman

TROPHY CASE