I'm playing the third-party remake w/TR-4 engine a second time. Already about to start the next-to-last level. This thing's added a couple of hours already to my best overall time on the first time around. Waiting to see how I improve.

If there's room, can I join y'all (if someone explains how this works, that is)?

Rapierman, you are very welcome to join in!

How it works is just that we are all playing TR1. You can go as fast or slowly as you like. You can also choose to share all your experiences and stats, or you can just give a summary every few levels or when you finish the game. It's up to you.

Hope you do join in. The more the merrier!

Starting to play today. I don't have a PS1 memory card so I'll have to leave my PS2 on until I finish it, lol.

Just finished Lost Valley. And Stella, you were right. It is more fun with no kills! :^D

But there's a small problem because I found all secrets even though it says 4 of 5. Perhaps not picking one up erases it form the record?

Anyway, Lost Valley is finished: (all secrets, no kills)

Rapierman, you are very welcome to join in!

How it works is just that we are all playing TR1. You can go as fast or slowly as you like. You can also choose to share all your experiences and stats, or you can just give a summary every few levels or when you finish the game. It's up to you.

Cool.

I just finished the TR-1 remake. Took me 12 hours, 44 minutes and 12 seconds of game time, about two hours better than my previous time. Guess I'd better dig up the original.

Here's the bigger challenge, though: Go through every TR ever made and total up your time, all kills and all secrets. I currently stand at 5 days, 20 hours, 41 minutes and 28 seconds of game time.

Yes, I said "game time", not real time. That would probably take a few weeks.

EDIT: Completed "Caves" (Level 1) in 11 minutes, 35 seconds. I'll post a pic as soon as Imageshack registers me.

EDIT-2: Quick test.

Okay, so it's a thumbnail.

Edited April 9, 200719 yr by Rapierman

Well, found my disc!!

I've got to say...as far as Tomb Raiders go, this one has knocked TR4 out of the second spot in my personal favourites (Tr2 still being my fav!).

I noticed some amazing things! Firstly, I noticed that a lot of sounds, and some of Lara's voice was re-played in TR2, specifically the 'Caves' background music, and the 'Arghhh' she does while killing the wolves in the first FMV, and when the plane goes down in TR2. First of all, I was thinking, "Tsk tsk Core, that's being a bit lazy!" But then I thought...a lot of PC users never got to hear that music when it first came out and I think it was a bit of homage to those who played the original to know how some of it sounded! Secondly, wow...the voice acting is brilliant IMO! Thirdly....what an atmosphere this game creates! I have never in my entire life in any TR game wanted to get my guns out when I entered every new room...it just goes to show how much sound can make a difference...or lack there of!

Obviously this game has it's annoyances for me, but I blame that on the technology at the time. This truely is a magnificent game, and I'm so glad that for once in 10 years that I've been able to finally play it with sound!

Here's some screenies:

"City of Vilcabamba" (Level 2) completed. That brings the total time to 33 minutes, 33 seconds.

EDIT: Completed "Lost Valley" (Level 3).

No Kills: and All Kills:

Total Time: With no kills, 47 minutes, 19 seconds; with all kills, 57 minutes, 53 seconds.

Edited April 9, 200719 yr by Rapierman

Yay! I'm so glad more people are joining in. I told a couple of other friends and hopefully they'll sign on too. The more the merrier, right?

@Shrensh: I'm hoping that lift cable ride sequence will be an interactive cut scene in TRA--that is, if they're going to be including those the way they did in Legend. That and the motorcycle jump where Lara chases after the speedboat, though that could probably also be in-game. No doubt people who didn't play the original will think they copied it from Legend.

@Ms.Croft: I'm with you on the atmosphere/sound. It's so subtle compared to the stuff they do today, but it really makes you use your imagination. And imagining things can be a lot more powerful than having them laid out in front of you. I'm only in St. Francis' Folly now (where I literally get sweaty palms from the heights), but I still remember the creepy heartbeat soundtrack from Atlantis. That was reused in one of the sunken ship levels in TR2 as well, but it completely creeped me out both times.

I'm pretty much done already, played alot during the weekend.

@Shrensh: I'm hoping that lift cable ride sequence will be an interactive cut scene in TRA--that is, if they're going to be including those the way they did in Legend. That and the motorcycle jump where Lara chases after the speedboat, though that could probably also be in-game. No doubt people who didn't play the original will think they copied it from Legend.

Oh, yeah, I absolutely hope those sequences will be interactive. The bit where Lara chases after Natla and her minions in particular, I thoroughly enjoyed the motorcycling sections in Legend

Who remembers Lara's Soul Mate? :lol:

@Shrensh: I'm hoping that lift cable ride sequence will be an interactive cut scene in TRA--that is, if they're going to be including those the way they did in Legend. That and the motorcycle jump where Lara chases after the speedboat, though that could probably also be in-game. No doubt people who didn't play the original will think they copied it from Legend.

Here is a quote from GameSpot reqarding the interactive cut scenes. "We've already encountered arrows firing across corridors, huge swinging axes, rolling boulders, and collapsing rope bridges, along with a couple of scripted "super-action sequences." Like those in Legend, these sequences are quite cinematic and can be passed successfully only by hitting buttons in time with onscreen prompts."

Read the article

Edited April 9, 200719 yr by Sudi

Done with the Colosseum now.

My stats:

Got all the secrets and for once I didn't cheat and bypass the room with the pressure pads and timed doors.

This guy is so annoying... I shot him in the back multiple times but he just won't die >.<

I love the slightly surprised "Ow" that Lara makes when she gets run over by a boulder, like she just pricked her finger a bit or something...

Who remembers Lara's Soul Mate? :lol:

Creepy! I got to say it was one of my favorite part of the game

"Tomb of Qualopec" (Level 4) completed:

Total time is now 1 hour, 11 minutes, 54 seconds.

EDIT: "St. Francis' Folly" (Level 5) completed:

Total time is now 1 hour, 48 minutes, 39 seconds.

EDIT-2: "Colluseum" (Level 6) completed:

Total time is now 2 hours, 17 minutes, 39 seconds.

EDIT-3: "Palace Midas" (Level 7) completed:

Total time is now 3 hours, 3 minutes, 47 seconds.

Edited April 12, 200719 yr by Rapierman

Just finished the Peru levels!

Finished Rome! Those secrets are getting ever more tricky to find! Stella, I think I'm gonna have to resort to your guide if I ever do this game again, how did you find them?!

Tomb_of_Tihocan__lvl_8.bmp

Edited April 12, 200719 yr by Ms.Croft

I always liked the "meat Lara" too. Kind of a cross between E.T. and an uncooked steak.

Rapierman & Ms.Croft, WOW! You guys are cranking along!

I finished Midas last night. I think I found everything there is to find, but it took me over an hour (actually more like 2 hours with all the reloading and replaying). I even got the large medipak in the switch room by using the corner bug (pic below). And, believe it or not, I aced the fire pillars on my second try. Woot!

What a great level that is. It seems so huge when you're running around looking for the lead bars, but so much of it is cleverly stacked and interwoven. Excellent level design!

Ms.Croft, I'll freely admit I didn't find all the secrets myself the first time through. If it weren't for the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup, I'd probably have missed about a third of them. But that's why we have forums like that (and this). It's great to have experts on tap 24/7.

BTW, I'm not posting all my stats. Just when I want to show off. I don't think I've missed any kills or pick-ups so far, though. I've used about 2 small medipaks, since I generally play pretty cautiously. (That doesn't include my experimental run through the Lost Valley with no kills. I think I used up every health pack in my inventory.) And my times for each level are generally about twice or three times longer than everyone else's.

On to the Cistern...!

Rapierman & Ms.Croft, WOW! You guys are cranking along!

Only because I've been doing this for a while (since 1997).

"The Cistern" (Level 8) has been completed:

Total time is now 3 hours, 41 minutes, 20 seconds.

EDIT: "Tomb of Tihocan" (Level 9) has been completed:

Total time is now 4 hours, 15 minutes, 31 seconds.

Edited April 14, 200719 yr by Rapierman

Ok, finished it! Ahh, what a great game, that was great fun, I enjoyed evey minute.

I managed (Albeit barely) to get through the whole game with just the pistols, and it's a real challenge when you have 3 Atlantean guards after you lol. Also, at the end, is it me or does Natla say, "You won't bump off me and my crew that easily Lara." I can't figure out if she does say crew lol.

EDIT: I also have a sudden urge to play TR4 all of a sudden. After the Tomb Raider Anniversary festivities, do you guys think that should be next?

City_of_Khamoon.bmp

Atlantis__lvl_14.bmp

The_Great_Pyramid__lvl_15.bmp

Edited April 14, 200719 yr by Ms.Croft

"City of Khamoon" (Level 10) has been completed:

Total time is now 4 hours, 45 minutes, 38 seconds.

EDIT: "Obelisk of Khamoon" (Level 11) has been completed:

Total time is now 5 hours, 29 minutes, 43 seconds.

EDIT-2: BTW, MsCroft, I prefer to go in order of the way they came out. TR-1A ("Unfinished Business") would be next.

EDIT-3: "Sanctuary of the Scion" (Level 12) has been completed:

Total time is now 6 hours, 13 minutes, 0 seconds.

EDIT-4: "Natla's Mines" (Level 13) has been completed:

Total time is now 6 hours, 55 minutes, 35 seconds.

EDIT-5: "Atlantis" (Level 14) has been completed:

Total time is now 7 hours, 43 minutes, 22 seconds.

EDIT-6: "The Great Pyramid" (Level 15) has been completed, bringing TR-1 to a successful conclusion:

Final total time: 8 hours, 8 minutes, 48 seconds. A new record!

This reduces the overall total time for all episodes to 5 days, 16 hours, 47 minutes, 56 seconds.

Edited April 17, 200719 yr by Rapierman

id be able to join in with 2 3 4 and legend, on ps1 though so i wont have screenshots.

Just finished Palace Midas. Yeah, I am slow; I keep getting distracted by episodes of Doctor Who and season 4 of The X-Files...

Anyway, my stats:

Remembered where all the secrets are

I got set alight in the flame room when I did it, but I just picked up the iron bar while chomping medipacks to keep Lara alive, then dived her into the water to put out the flames.

Lara is one tough chick!

Also, at the end, is it me or does Natla say, "You won't bump off me and my crew that easily Lara." I can't figure out if she does say crew lol.

EDIT: I also have a sudden urge to play TR4 all of a sudden. After the Tomb Raider Anniversary festivities, do you guys think that should be next?

I'm up for playing TR 4 over again....

But I think Natla was saying to Lara "You won't bump me and my brood off that easily Lara."

Done with The Cistern now

My stats:

This floating crocodile gag never gets old

The Cistern is one of the levels that I'm very much looking forward to in Anniversary, although I'm not altogether sure why. It drove me nuts the first time I did TR1, and I'm fairly certain that that new version of it will drive me even more nuts.