TOMB
R
IDER
Core
Design Ltd., 1996
GAME
DESIGN
Version
1.8
9.05.96
Introduction
Tomb Raider follows the
adventures of Lara Croft after she is hired by a powerful syndicate to retrieve
a mythical object called the Scion. After discovering that she has been used as
a pawn in some larger scheme, Lara takes matters into her own hands deciding
that whatever the mystery behind this artefact is she will uncover it.
The actual game has many
influences as you play. In manoeuvrability it plays like prince of Persia,
except that Lara is far more versatile than the prince was. Its puzzles are
ultima underworld/doom/dungeon master and a million other games inspired, but original
implementation is what counts. Its environment will be richer than any game
that has yet been produced, in as much that we are attempting to create realistic places (Peruvian massacre
sights littered with Spanish and Incan skeletons for instance.) As for
fighting, there is no game that has had a system even remotely similar to the
one we are going to implement, the closest thing I can liken it to would be a John
Woo fight scene. On top of this the visual icing on the cake will be the camera
system that will elevate the look of the game far beyond fade to black’s dull
follow camera.
The Story
The Game
Theme 3D Action Adventure
Style Third/person Action Shoot-em up
Target Age 8 and upwards
Machines Sega Saturn, Sony
Playstation, PC CD
No. of players 1 Player
Overview
Tomb Raider will comprise of
4 levels each of which linked by FMV cut sequences. Each location has a primary
goal, levels 1 to 3 require the player to retrieve the three pieces of The
Scion. Level 4 is the Pyramid of Atlantis. Each level will be split into
several zones. As you progress, extra weapons and power ups will be available
to pickup. 5 main activities
1. Exploration
2. Platform influences, i.e. (jumping/climbing)
3. Fighting
4. Solving Puzzles
5. Avoiding traps
Game Structure
1st Load:
LOGO SCREEN
INTRO.
PLAY GAME
MENU:
save / load games
detail levels
quit
PLAYER DIE SEQUENCE (BRINGS
UP THE MENU)
GAME COMPLETION SEQUENCE
2nd load:
LOGO SCREEN
INTRO.
Passport:
save / load games
quit
PLAY GAME
PLAYER DIE SEQUENCE (BRINGS
UP THE MENU)
GAME COMPLETION SEQUENCE
Game Chronology
The locations are as follows:
Level 1 Vilcabamba:
The lost Incan city,
supposedly the last stronghold of the Incans against the Spanish. This simple
starting level gives the player a chance to get used to the character, and the
game feel, providing more atmosphere than non-stop action. There will be a minimal
number of ‘baddies’ in this level.
Zone1
Cave
Waterfall.
Barracks
Zone2
City
Central Square
Palace
Harem
Zone3
Tomb
Sacrificial Area
Crypt
Kings Chamber
Level 2- Labyrinth
Greek / Roman Style mixing legends of the odessy and Illiad, in a
jungle setting.
Zone1
Temple
Library
Meditation Garden
Baths
Zone2
Stairs
Stairs bit
Coliseum / gladiator bit (no Ulrika.)
Zone3
Tomb
Underwater Scion resting place
Level 3 Egyptian
Obligatory Egyptian level built on the remains of atlantian storage
facility.
Zone1
Living Quarters
River /waterfalls
Temple
Zone2
Tomb
Star Map
Queens chamber
Kings Chamber
Zone3
Atlantean Puzzle
Mental Test
Physical Test
Fighting Test
Resting place of Scion
Level 4 Atlantean Pyramid
On entering Pyramid, it is
Deactivated, and spooky, nothing going on. Then The pyramid is activated by
Natla, and all hell breaks loose. Once the control centre is destroyed, Lara
must escape as the Pyramid is blowing up around her.
Zone1
Entrance
Waterbit
Natla enterprises place
Entrance with statues
Zone2 Pods
Pod Area
Laboratory
Scion resting place
Zone3
Exit
Stuff.
Game Character
Lara Cruz - Main Character.
Lara enjoys working with
underprivileged children and the mentally disabled. She has a degree in needle
work, and loves to travel. Lara’s one wish is to ski down Everest with Brian
Blessed strapped to her back. The simple reason for having a main character as
a woman is that if you are looking at a character all the way through a game,
the more pleasing on the eye it is, the better. Plus psychologically, a male
playing the game will be more involved with a woman character, in some macho
protective little farty way.
Enemies
The enemies in Tomb raider are as follows:
Level 1
Snakes
Bats
Dogs
Bears
Giant Lizard
Dinosaur
Larson (not Gary)
Level 2
Bats
Monkeys
Lions
Shark or Eel
Centaur
Pierre Dudont
Seamonster
Level 3
Pumas
Crocodiles
Man Eating Plant
Streaky Bacon Man
Skinned Centaur
Larson (again)
Level 4
Mercenary1
Mercenary2
Mercenary3
Streaky Bacon Man
Skinned Centaur
Flying Skinned thing
Dino Warrior
Natla
Natla’s abortion
Traps
1. Breaking Floor Blocks.
Floor blocks that look
cracked. When you walk across them they take a few seconds to break, then they
fall away beneath you. This can be used to keep the player moving forward
rashly, and to stop them from doubling back.
2. Doors in the ground.
Simply what its says. They
take no time to open, but they never make Lara fall to her death.
3. Timing trap.
The timing trap will be
either a door that is opening and shutting at regular intervals, or some
elaborate spinning knives, that spin out of the walls periodically.
4. Rolling Balls.
Reminiscent of some little
known Harrison Ford film of the 80’s, the rolling ball is used to move the
player in a certain direction. It can also be used in a puzzle if it rolls over
a pressure pad for instance. Lara can push the ball to start it rolling in some
instances.
5. Spike Hazard.
The spike hazard is
triggered when you enter its square. If Lara is running, the spikes will impale
her gruesomely. If she is walking, the spikes will come up ahead of her
harmlessly. Lara can also jump these spikes if she so wishes. The spike hazard
will be visible.
6. Shooting thing.
Blow Darts or Fireballs,
whatever are fired at Lara when she activates a pressure pad. Lara will be able
to escape them if she is quick or avoid the square altogether, if she is wary.
Puzzles
Puzzles will involve the
player either pulling switches, activating pressure pads, pushing objects, or
placing specific objects in a specific location. Various effects will then be
possible, mainly moving objects, switching objects on or off, opening doors or
swapping rooms.
Specific puzzles are under
discussion at the moment.
Screen Display
The Screen display must be
as uncluttered as possible, the only extra information on the screen is your
health, which may be displayed as a number, and the amount of ammo in your
guns, displayed as number of clips.
Player Control
Walking, Turning and Running.
UP- Moves Lara forward at a running pace, if she runs
into a wall at an oblique angle, she will straighten herself up and run
parallel to the wall. If she runs head first into a wall at an acute angle, she
will put her hands out to stop herself.
UP AND ‘SLOW’- Lara slows down to a walk,
unless there is something blocking her in which case she will refuse to move.
DOWN- stops Lara dead if she is walking, stops
her quickly if she is running, or makes her walk backwards if she is doing
neither (NB. there is no run
backwards.)
LEFT
AND RIGHT- will turn Lara left or right respectively regardless of what she is
doing; running, walking, or standing still.
UP AND ACTION - If Lara doesn’t have her
guns out, and she comes up against a raised section that is larger than a step,
pressing Up and Action will make Lara vault up onto the obstruction.
Looking Up and Down
Pressing the
CAMERA button moves the camera to directly behind Lara overriding whatever the
camera is trying to do. When Lara is still, the player can look around the area
they are in by using the directional buttons.
Additionally if
Lara is walking, she will not fall off a ledge, she can only run off, because
of this a player can walk up to a precipice, and keep pushing forward when she
stops at the edge. This effectively moves the camera up over her head, enabling
you to see if you would like to fall down it or not. The same applies to
walking into a wall at an acute angle so that she stops, in this instance
continuously pushing forward will result in the camera moving down to the
floor, and looking up, enabling you to see if there is something up there.
Jumping
JUMP BUTTON- A quick tap will make Lara
jump forward unless there is a wall in front of her in which case she jumps up
vertically.
‘JUMP’ BUTTON WITH ‘SLOW’-Lara will jump straight
up as though she is in front of a wall.
‘JUMP’ BUTTON WHILE RUNNING- Lara will make
a long jump, but timing is everything.
Grabbing Hold and Climbing
If Lara hasn’t
got any weapons in her hands, she will be able to grab ledges when falling. She
must be facing the correct direction, and not falling too fast. When she is
close to a ledge, (for instance after not quite making a jump across a
Crevasse,) pressing the Action button will cause her to grab it. Pressing the
Up button will then cause her to pull herself up, releasing the Action button
will make her let go.
Lara will be a
able to climb certain selected wall types. To climb a wall all she need do is
walk up to it at an acute angle, then press the Action button while pushing Up
to climb.
Picking Up Objects.
There will be
many objects in the game that Lara can collect. Most objects will be purely of
monetary value (vases, jewellery, arcs of the covenant etc.) the other objects
will be of actual use, like weapons, ammo and healing objects. An object is
picked up by simply standing over it and pressing the Action button with
nothing in your hands. The object will then be available in the Weapon or Item
Rings.
COMBAT
Firing Weapons
If there is an
enemy in the room and Lara has guns in her hands, her arms will lock onto the
closest target. Lara can lock onto two independent targets, if she has a weapon
in each hand, so the battles can become quite hairy.
hot
spot
Left arm Right arm
If a target is in the hot spot area, both guns will snap to it,
otherwise each arm will lock to the closest target within each of its own
fields.
Weapon and Special Items
Rings
You start the
game with two high-power pistols. These are your default weapons, they have
infinite ammo, and are slung around Lara’s hips. When you want to fight, you
must press the Draw button to make Lara draw her irons.
Because so many
of Lara’s actions require her to be empty handed,(i.e. climbing, saving herself
from falling down pits, opening doors etc.) most of the players time should be
spent without her weapons drawn. This will add an element of tension, as the
player spends his time wondering if there will be an ambush around the next
corner.
Menu Ring
When the player brings up
the menu, the game pauses and a 3D ring will appear on the screen. Left and
right will rotate the ring in either direction highlighting a different menu
item. Up and Down will move you between different rings.
Ring 1.Options.
1
Passport.
The Passport is Lara’s load game and quit
item. Page 1 will restart the game, Page 2 will have the zones of level 1
as and when you have completed them, in the form of entrance visas. On
completing a level, an exit visa will be printed showing your scores and
achievements on that level. The last page has a Polaroid of Lara’s ancestral home,
this is the quit page.
2
Sunglasses.
Gamma Correction.
3
Maglight.
Detail Levels.
4
Walkman.
Music / Sound Effects Control.
5
keyboard / Controller.
Configure input
Ring 2 - Items
Items ring will be where
usable items will be put, either your weapons, or consumables like when
selected, the number you have will be printed next to it:
1 Medical Thing 1
2 Medical Thing 2
3 Invulnerable
4 Super accuracy
5 Weapons (ammo)
6 Dynamite / Grenade thing
7 Map.
The map is Lara’s
journal, a hand drawn map with notes that Lara makes as she progresses through
the game.
Ring 3 - Objects
Things that you have picked up
Camera Control
Lara Cruz will be an
exceptionally acrobatic character. Able to leap wide crevasses, somersault out
of danger, and climb walls, she will make the most of the complex environments
that we put her in. In order that the game is still playable without the
intimacy of a first person perspective, we need a very intelligent camera. 4
basic views will be used, but when you are playing they will merge seamlessly
together.
The
Spot camera:
The camera will
be in this mode 90% of the time. It follows your character, looking over her
left or right shoulder according to need. It will reacts slightly sluggishly as
though it is attached to a rubber band zooming in or out if obstacles or walls
block you view. It also allows you to look up and down, as described in
Movement Control.
The
Dynamic Pan:
This rotates the
camera around Lara, so that we can view her from any angle, and any distance
(walls permitting) We will use this purely for dramatic effect.
The
External View:
When Lara enters
certain areas, and or performs certain actions the camera will swoop or cut to
a predefined external view such as the ones used in the Alone in the Dark
series.
The
3 Point View:
This view is
basically like drawing a line between 3 points, where an object is the first
point, Lara is in the middle at point two, and the camera is point three which
must move in order to stay on a line. e.g.
Target
Lara
Camera
If Lara walks
forward, her position relative to the target will change, and so the camera
must move to stay on the line:
This view will be
used to give clues to the player when they enter a new location, by targeting
important things within the area, among other things.
All of the above
views will be smoothly interchanged according to the needs of the situation,
giving the effect that the whole game is being Directed like a film as you play
it.
This is the main
selling point of this game, with these four views, Tomb Raider will give a
depth of atmosphere never before seen in a computer game. (probably)
Lives and Resets
There will be no
lives. If Lara dies, she will restart at the beginning of that zone. Or you can
reload a previously saved game.
TOMB
R
IDER
STORYBOARD
DRAFT 3
VERSION 3
9/5/96
FMV 1
EXT. DESERT DAY
An empty, arid desert.
Totally silent.
A snake suns itself on a nearby rock.
The land starts to shudder around us - the rock
shaking.
The snake, disconcerted flicks its tongue and
slides off into a hole.
A huge white mushroom cloud breaks on the horizon.
A delayed BOOM echoing across the land.
From the blast, we see a large black circular disc
is spinning through the air toward us.
It lands heavily, kicking up dust before us - a
vast metal lid.
Nearer the blast - in the immediate fallout, is a
large circular hole gaping ominously in the ground.
We drop in.
Into darkness...
A ring of red lights flash briefly before us.
Then we hear a clunk of unlocking metal - and the
darkness in front of us slides open to reveal a lighter shade of metal - this
too unlocking and sliding back and another and another...
Until we reach the core of this Russian doll - a
frosted glass cylinder.
The murky figure of a body encased within.....
INT. CAFE MEXICO
A newspaper drops onto a table - its headline
shouting:
LARA CROFT STAMPS BIGFOOT
OUT!
Beneath is a photo of Lara in North American
mountains - dressed heavily in fur wrap. Elbows on waist, she casually holds
two guns in the air - a big grin flashing beneath her hood shrouded face.
Strung up next to her, reading 12ft on a
police-style height board is a dead Bigfoot - his head and eyes drooping sadly
We hear the voice of an American hillbilly (Larsen)
close by
LARSEN
(VO)
Understand ye like
ferretin’ fa thangs
miss
CU on Lara’s shades - Larsen’s hulk reflected in
them
Lara speaks with a polite upper-class British
accent
LARA
I’m not sure I’m quite as
dashing as a
ferret - but yes, I can
see where you’re
coming from
Larsen shifts uneasily in his checked shirt, unsure
if that was insolence targeting his origin. But Lara, obscured in the shadows
of the seedy cafe, exudes none.
And Larsen continues
LARSEN
Weell is someone here to
see ye
He pulls out a laptop computer onto the table
LARA
Oh?
And fastidiously sets it up in front of Lara
Flipping it open breaks a halo of monitor radiance
into the gloom around Lara
LARSEN
Yees - Ms Jaqueline
Natla. From Natla
Technologies y’understand
- creeator of all
thangs bright and
beautiful
As he talks, the face of Natla futzes up onto the
screen and she cuts his reverence off brashly
NATLA
Seal it Larsen
Larsen shifts submissively into the shadows
LARSEN
Ma’am
Leaving just Lara and Natla staring each other out
through the screen
Then wads of dollars pile up endlessly on the
screen over Natla
NATLA
(VO)
Feast your eyes on this
Lara - how does
that make your wallet
rumble?
Lara though, is dismissive
LARA
I’m sorry - I only play
for sport
And she pulls away to go.
Natla, reappearing as the dollars sift away is
fazed for only a brief moment before a calculating smile draws on her face
NATLA
Then you’ll like a big
park - Peru...
Lara hovers - her interest caught and the screen
fills with a bleak panorama of Peruvian mountains.
Natla runs a savage travel guide to it
NATLA
(VO)
Vast mountain ranges to
cover....sheer walls
of ice...
Lara’s weak-spot is being hit with these seductive
images of the wild and she’s sucked back to the screen like a magnet
LARA
Mmm
She fidgets restlessly
The panorama continues...
NATLA
(VO)
Rocky crags...savage
winds...bleak snowy
wastes
Lara is absorbed, murmuring
LARA
True postcard terrain
The panorama then melts away as a 3D diagram of the
Scion spins into close-up
NATLA
(VO)
And there’s this little
trinket - an age old
artefact of mystical
powers...
A series of profiles of the Scion and tightly
listed data runs on the screen
NATLA
(cont...)
...buried in the unfound
tomb of Qualopec
That’s my interest...
CU on Lara’s glasses as she acknowledges all this
intently
NATLA
(cont.)
You could leave tomorrow
...you busy
tomorrow?
EXT. MOUNTAINS
- PERU DAY
Lara, her figure obscured by a large hooded wrap,
follows a native guide - Carlos, through bleak snowy waste in the Peruvian
mountains.
Clambering onto a plateau, they are confronted with
a vast rock face jutting to the sky. Carlos motions toward large, raised, Incan
carvings near the rock’s summit.
A grapple hook flies up and digs into the lip of
the rock.
We see Lara (still in wrap) climbing the rope
toward the carvings.
Suspended from the rope, she places both hands on
them and pushes, as she does, a large door starts to grind heavily up in the
rock face below.
Carlos nervously watches the empty black open
before him, then the red dots of eyes gleam rushing toward him and before he
can react, a pack of wolves have hurled out onto him - attacking him viciously.
Lara above, kicks out her boot and grabs a large
blade from within, in one swift move, she slashes the rope holding her and
sends the knife sluing into the head of one of the wolves below As she falls to
the plateau, she draws two guns from her side holsters and blasts the rest.
Till she lands - her wrap falling off - and kills
the last
She stands poised amidst the carnage for a moment
The door grinds to its end - a foreboding
invitation into the unknown.
Lara bends to the bleeding Carlos and checks his
pulse - but he is dead
And she enters the cave alone...
But as she disappears inside, we see the burly
figure of Larsen watching her from the plateau edge...
Game on
LEVEL
1 -
PERU
Enemies:
Snakes
Bats
Giant Lizard
Dinosaur
If Lara makes it to the tomb, she will find the
first part of the Scion on the body of Qualopec. (His name is engraved on his
sarcophagus)
The Atlantean cybotic guards in the tomb have
ceased to work and seem only to be evil statues
On the way out, Lara will be attacked by Larsen and
they fight
If Lara succeeds in getting Larsen down, he is wounded and move to...
FMV 2
INT. QUALOPEC’S TOMB
Larsen is slumped wounded against the tomb wall
breathing heavily in fear
Lara is crouched over him - gun pressed into his
neck
LARA
Wrong neck of the woods
for a lumberjack
I’d say
LARSEN
Ain’t no tree-cutter
Lara seems to be sincerely searching out an
explanation for his presence
LARA
Oh. Moonlighting then?
Larsen is confused as hell
LARSEN
Wha?
Lara cuffs his lumberjack shirt-collar with the
nose of her gun
LARA
You should be more
discreet - Natla wouldn’t
like it I’m sure
LARSEN
(protesting)
She sent me
LARA
Why?
Larsen is defiant in his cause against Lara -
glaring at her
LARSEN
To deliver this piece of
the Scion from evil
LARA
The artefact?
Larsen nods
LARA
This piece you say - there’s more?
Larsen dithers unsure how to erase his mistake.
Unsure how bad it is
LARSEN
Duh
Lara twists her head with a smile - pushing the gun
harder into him. Offering more violence
LARA
More?
Larsen relents, whimpering
LARSEN
She has Pierre Dupont on
the trail
LARA
Another hungry ferret -
where?
Larsen leers
LARSEN
He’s a bat outta hail -
you’ll never catch him
Lara makes to stand over him - casually clicking
her gun hammer back
LARA
Well I wouldn’t like to
leave you nourishing
trees now...but...
Larsen cringes back in fear. Whines his plea
LARSEN
I don’t know where -
you’ll have to ask
Ms Natla
Lara looks down on him appreciatively
LARA
Thank you
Then whacks him deftly over the head with the butt
of the gun
LARA
I will...
EXT. DOWNTOWN SEATTLE NIGHT
A large industrial blowtorch comes into view
And exhales a noisy jet of gas
A hand flips a zippo open next to it and flicks a
flame
Igniting an intense blue power of heat
Lara is standing on the roof of an external
elevator that runs up the side of a skyscraper.
She is holding the torch - burning it into the
thick, vertically run, elevator cable.
With her free hand, she grips tightly onto the
cable above the flame
The cable begins to fray to the core - each strand
twanging off and straining the cable upward
Until it snaps...
Violently surging skyward
Yanking Lara up by her gripped hand - catapulting
her at tremendous speed
Up the elevator pulley of the skyscraper
The elevator has been left behind far below - its
counter weight now plummeting past Lara to the ground below
She speeds on up - the lights of the city and
neighbouring buildings blurring past her in a yellow rush
Until she nears the building top and frees her hand
- letting the momentum send her up
The cable whips into the black night above
But Lara slows in freeflight until she’s holding
air just metres above the roof - before dropping neatly onto it’s lip
A large sign reading “NATLA TECHNOLOGIES” glares in neon before her
INT. NATLA’S OFFICE NIGHT
The office is in shadow - its contents strewn
across the floor
As we move across this, we hear...
LARA
(VO)
Tomorrow, I and my four
men will be embarking
for Cambodia in search of
the Tomb of Tihocan...
And find Lara in the light of a small lamp -
sitting back, feet resting on Natla’s desk - reading from an old leather-bound
book on her lap
LARA
(VO)
- one of the three
legendary rulers of the ancient,
Lost Continent of
Atlantis. Myth has it that with
Tihocan is buried his
piece of the Atlantean Scion ...
On the opened page, at the bottom of the text, we
see a hand drawn picture of the Scion in its entirety. Lara holds her piece
next to the illustration - seeing that it is a part of this artefact
LARA
(VO)
- a pendant divided and
shared between the
three rulers and
accounted to harness terrible
powers. It is this
artefact that I seek.
I do not believe my
ambitions to be wholly gullible
as many colleagues
unjustly presume...
Lara turns the page which reads in florid hand:
“A
Doomed Expedition”
Hamilton
William Graves
1923
To the memory of my companions
LARA
(VO)
Whatever, my resolution
is taken; tomorrow we
march...
And we dissolve to...
EXT. TIHOCAN’S TOMB - CAMBODIA DAY
Lara standing beneath a giant, crudely carved rock
statue of a man holding his arm outstretched
LARA
(VO)
...to the statue of
Karn... and the entrance of
Angkor
We follow the arm’s path to the entrance of the
tomb
Arriving at it, Lara sees a small fire smouldering
and picks out an empty Heinz
bean can from it
LARA
Pierre you litterbug
She tosses it aside and makes her way into
Tihocan’s tomb...
Game
on...
LEVEL
2 - CAMBODIA
Enemies:
Bats
Monkeys
Lions
Shark/eel
Centaur
Pierre Dupont
Sea monster
As Lara goes through this level, she encounters the
other adventurer, Pierre Dupont - a cheeky, speedy Frenchman
He confronts her, demanding to know who she is -
tells her to go away - then zips off.
At a later puzzle, he nips out of the shadows and
interferes - e.g. cutting ropebridge.
Lara and he become like Krypton Factor contestants
- racing each other to the Scion
He will however approach Lara for help on a puzzle
- one which has two pressure pads to trigger.
After the puzzle, he speeds off again...
Also on the level, are working Atlantean guards -
the ‘undead’ that Hamilton had written of
There are also a few pods on the walls which are
triggered as Lara goes through the level - glowing up green once this happens
and growing fast from embryo to fighter - emptying out as a fully grown warrior
if not destroyed
Lara will need a big gun to destroy them
When Lara reaches Tihocan’s tomb, Pierre is already
there - laughing, holding the Scion
But a large grotesque Warrior emerges behind him
and kills him violently
Lara needs to then kill the Warrior before it gets
her too
If she succeeds...
FMV 3
INT. TIHOCAN’S TOMB
Lara bends down to the body of Pierre Dupont
And picks the Scion from a pool of blood
Above her, she sees ancient carvings running along
the wall by Tihocan’s sarcophagus
She flicks a match and looks curiously at the
inscriptions which are written in an ancient language. Beneath them are crudely
carved pictures
Lara reads along it by flickering matchlight - translating as she does
LARA
(VO)
Here lies Tihocan - one
of the two just rulers
of Atlantis...
We see the scratching of a triangle and three
dots/figures at each point
LARA
(VO)
Who even after the curse
of the continent had
tried to keep rule here
in these barren other-lands...
We see a crude depiction of a meteor plummeting
through the skies toward Atlantis. Stick people looking up in fear, then dead
on the ground. Huge tidal waves engulfing the land
LARA
(VO)
He died without child and
his knowledge has
no heritage...
Stick people crouched in knelt prayer around the
entrance to the tomb
LARA
(VO)
Look over us kindly
Tihocan
The Scion, fragmented in its three pieces - rays of
power carved out about it
The match dies out...
And
Fade up on Lara still in the tomb
As she takes her two acquired parts of the Scion
and holds them close together
As she does so, it draws itself together in perfect
fit by its own accord - weak green rays of energy emanating from it
CU on Lara’s eye
As a bright white light fills her vision
And the dimensions of a pyramid and the figures of
three people surrounding it mould into this
We rush into the darkness of the pyramid...
And see the Scion - its three pieces fitted as a
whole - slotted neatly into a flat rock - strong green energy rays powering out
of it. Three hands laid in consent over it. The sounds of the warriors’ growls
echoing in the background
A shaft of light soars from the pyramid tip into
the sky
Then in quick, chaotic cuts we see
Sand blown up...
One hand alone clenched on the activated Scion
Violent screams and roars
Flesh and muscle flexing in green hues
An evil looking eye flicking open
A figure knelt into submission outside the pyramid
- 2 others standing over it
The silhouette of a figure strapped as to a
crucifix in the desert
A piece of the Scion ripped from a chain around
someone’s neck
And flung from the hand
We see it hurtling through the air... Flipping over
the ocean...
A burning meteor plummeting toward us. The sounds
of screams and death as it explodes into Earth
The Scion rushing silently over canyons and
desert...
Stills of people blasted by the meteor explosion
The Scion heading through a long straight canyon
with a large rock facade at the far end
A great tidal wave engulfing a city
People drowning in it
We’re racing down the canyon now...
Toward a base entrance in the rock facade
And up its interior at lightening speed
To a quiet room
Where we see the last piece of the Scion in its
resting place
And we’re out of Lara’s eye
The Scion in her hand now inanimate...
EXT. DESERT CANYON - EGYPT DAY
The canyon floor stretches ahead of us toward the
rock facade we have just seen.
Everything is quiet in ancient rest
A shadow suddenly forms on the floor before us
Growing larger
We can hear a faint whistling of wind
The shadow sliding further away
WHAM!
A Norton streetfighter bike suddenly crashes out of
the sky, landing on the canyon floor with a near rear wheel wash - immediately
righted as Lara guns it on toward the location of the third Scion...
She skids the bike into hiding behind a rock - the
facade towering above her
Seeing an entrance in its base, she makes her way
in...
Game on
LEVEL
3 - EGYPT
Enemies
Pumas
Crocs
Man Eating Plant
Streaky Bacon Man
Skinned Centaur
Larsen
The level moves up from the base of the rock to the
top
It differs from the previous two levels in that
it’s not a tomb but the hiding place of Natla’s Scion - a specifically designed
fort, heavily guarded with Warriors and trapped with loads of pods to be
triggered
If Lara retrieves the third piece of the Scion,
Larsen will appear - having followed her for his revenge. This time he has come
more prepared...
If Lara kills him, she heads for the exit...
FMV 4
INT. SCION 3 RESTING PLACE EGYPT
DAY
Lara makes her way toward the exit and the bright
sunlight streaming in...
EXT. LEDGE
DAY
The glaring sunlight subdues into the figures of
three men - guns all trained on Lara...A door in the exit behind Lara
immediately snaps shut, and as she turns to the sound, a fourth man (Baldy)
grabs her roughly from behind
BALDY
You just pulled the
shit-end of a wishbone
They are standing on a large ledge high in a
cliff-face, far below is a raging river.
The only path of escape is a small mountain road to
the left. It however, is blocked by the men’s two vehicles - one of which is a
jeep - its open back covered by tarpaulin
One of the men in front comes forward and pulls
Lara’s two hip guns from their holsters. He swivels them round his fingers like
some Western hero - jabbing them at her as if to shoot, drawling;
COWBOY
Howdy
Before plunging them into his belt, Lara nods
pleasantly
LARA
Afternoon
Then a familiar voice sounds out...
NATLA
(VO)
Left Larsen sucking
humbugs then?
Lara twists round to see Natla appear from the
vehicles and make her way over
LARA
If that is the phrase
NATLA
The ape was so eager too
LARA
He was to the end I can
assure you
Natla stands before Lara now
NATLA
Well your little vacation
riot’s over now...
Time to give back what
you’ve hijacked
off me
She motions to Baldy who’s still holding Lara back.
He makes a delve for her rucksack.
BALDY
Let’s try the lunchbox
Rummaging into it and pulling out the three pieces
of the Scion. Then he throws Lara back against the wall
She falls back unsteadily. Stabilising she starts
forward on the offence
But is blocked as the men all bring their guns
level with her
Baldy hands the Scion pieces to a greedy grabbing
Natla. Engrossed, she starts to fit them together
The men - still with guns aimed at Lara - are all
watching out of the corners of their eyes as Natla starts to fit the three
pieces together, annoyed with this audience, Natla impatiently notions them to
Lara
NATLA
Well kill her
The men turn to business, clicking their safeties
at Lara in unison like a firing squad... She crosses her arms waiting in a
fatalistic stance
But a loud Whoomph! and a flash of green makes the
men turn - to see the Scion glowing strongly in Natla’s hands - her eyes
entranced as it blasts its information at her. Lara grabs the chance of
distraction... Breaking through the line of men and making a run for the cliff
edge...
First to recover, Baldy swings his machine-gun
after her. His bullets spray the ground up behind Lara, as she makes a dive off
the ledge...
NATLA
(VO)
You morons
And starts her fall down the sheer drop toward the
river far below
Natla, a huge gun now slung from her shoulder,
grabs the fuddled Skatekid’s board, she drops onto it and shuttles it across
the ledge...Skerfing the back-fin down to a stop at the cliff edge and blasting
the gun with hefty recoils after the receding figure of Lara. Lara plunges into
the river with a splash and Natla stops her firing Peering down in the silence
as Lara disappears under whitewater. Natla gives a satisfied smile as The
Skatekid appears at her side
NATLA
Let’s go
EXT. RIVER BANK DAY
From the edge of the river, we see Natla’s vehicles
starting to wind their way down the mountain path and out of sight...
Watching this from behind a rock, is a soaked Lara
EXT. CANYONS DAY
The bike is kick-started up with a roar
Lara spins it a half-donut turn and hurtles off
Riding up through the canyons and rocks - targeting
the road where she’d seen Natla’s vehicles go
She speeds through a cave
Running out of it onto a thin ledge with a sheer
drop on one side
Getting her knee down on the corners
Until the road ahead runs out, broken at the apex
of a U-bend
Lara though keeps going - berming up the sheer
cliff side, wall of death style through the turn - then hitting back down when
the road returns
Zooming up an incline, she powers off the crest
into a jump...
As she lands down, we see ahead of her the road
stretching toward the sea
Parked at the coast edge are Natla’s two vehicles
A large pleasure cruiser is motoring away from the
shoreline
Lara rises up out of her seat for a better view
The cruiser is heading fast out of the bay
Frowning in determination, she tucks down behind
the fairing and pulls hard on the throttle
Speeding toward a lip on the headland
And the cruiser below
As she hurtles toward it, we see Lara jump feet
standing onto the bike seat
Just as the headland is running out
And as the bike takes off on its suicide course
over the sea, Lara steps up onto and launches herself off the handlebars...
Soaring through the air
Before diving cleanly into the sea
The bike landing more heavily behind her with a
violent splash
EXT. YACHT
Two of Natla’s men - Rambo and Skatekid - are on
the stern of the cruiser
RAMBO
What was that?
SKATEKID
What?
Rambo points to the mysterious disturbance in the
water that the sunken motorbike made
RAMBO
Over there
They watch hard. Seagulls screech overhead
Lara, hearing their voices, swims silently to the
anchor chain
She starts to clamber up
SKATEKID
(VO)
Probably just a fish
RAMBO
(VO)
A monster one
SKATEKID
(VO)
Man you’re edgy.....I’m
going back inside...
...you coming?
We hear the cabin hatch slam shut
And Lara reaches the top of the chain...
Once on deck, she checks around quickly and seeing
a hatchdoor in the floor at her feet, pulls it up looks in then drops down
INT. STORAGE CABIN
YACHT
The place is dark and dank - filled with a few
crates and ropes
Lara closes the hatch. The only light now coming
from a small porthole.
She leans tired against the wall and slides down to
sit on the floor
But as she does, something clatters dully beneath
her weight
Turning to see what it is, Lara finds she’s sitting
on a large zip-bag spilling with a selection of guns
She inspects them - slotting two handguns into her
empty holsters
Satisfied, she curls on the floor and rests her
head on the bag - falling asleep.
Fade to black...
Later:
We hear the engine cut
Snatches of voices...
BALDY
(VO)
Steady
Something scraping against the side of the yacht
SKATEKID
(VO)
Here she goes
We hear a splash
NATLA
(VO)
Ready yet?
And we fade up as:
An outboard motor fires up
And Lara wakes to hear the sound of it receding
into the distance
EXT YACHT / SEA
Lara, loaded again with guns, opens the hatch and
peers around cautiously
Everything is silent and empty on deck
The yacht is moored a short distance off the beach
of a large island
On the island is a huge mountain
Lara dives off the cruiser and swims the distance
to the island
A dangerous reef breaks the waters around the beach
but a thin passage of calm water leads to a large cave in the cliff edge
Lara swims this line
But as she disappears into the cave’s mouth, we see
Rambo standing, watching her from the yacht bow behind
He brings his hand to the radio on his lapel and
speaks into it...
INT. CAVE
- ISLAND
Lara pulls herself out from the cave’s pool of
water where a small motorboat is moored
A rusting JCB stands wasting at the back of the
cave
And red and white tape reading “NATLA TECHNOLOGIES
- NO TRESPASSING”, crosses a dank tunnel which is excavated through into the
heart of the island
Lara breaks through the tape
Into the tunnel
GAME ON.....
LEVEL 4 - ISLAND
Enemies
Mercenary 1
Mercenary 2
Mercenary 3
Streaky Bacon Man
Skinned Centaur
Flying Skinned thing
Dino Warrior
Natla
Natla’s creation
The tunnel leads through the heart of the island to
the mountain/pyramid
Lara is under sniper fire from Natla’s alerted men
and has to kill them
Inside, the pyramid, it’s dark and ominously silent as Lara makes her way through. She turns each corner in anticipation, but there’s nothing...
LEVEL
4 FMV INTERCUT:
INT. CONTROL AREA MOUNTAIN
Narrow gangways set high above the void of the
mountain’s interior meet at a circular platform
Natla is here - slotting the Scion into its place
in a flat rock
Strong green energy-rays power out from it and a
thunderous noise echoes inside the mountain
EXT. MOUNTAIN - ISLAND DAY
Great avalanches of rock are cascading from the sides
of the mountain
Revealing the smooth walls of a pyramid beneath
A great shaft of white light soars up from its peak
into the clouds
INT. THINK TANK - PYRAMID
On another circular platform, Natla has her arms
spread in embrace across a vast glass tank. Water bubbles inside with
increasing turbulence as green rays of energy pulsates through it
And an obscure whiteness starts to ooze and swell
in its depths
With her face pressed toward this, Natla croons softly
NATLA
Rock-a-bye-baby...
INT. PYRAMID PASSAGES
The thundering dies away
And the tunnel ahead of Lara suddenly striplights
up in a green glow and hum
We see that there are hundreds of pods lining the
walls ahead...
Game on
LEVEL
4 Cont...
Lara won’t be able to kill all of the pods because
there are so many and they need such heavy fire-power
She can only move on - knowing what will grow out
of them behind her
Other Warriors are also already there
When Lara reaches the control area, the Scion will
still be in place - but Natla nowhere to be seen
If Lara tries to pull the Scion out, it won’t budge
but will power another blast of information to her...
FMV 5
EXT. DESERT DAY
Natla’s face fills the screen, It’s hardened in
disbelief
NATLA
You can’t do this...
We pull out quickly and see that Natla is strapped,
arms splayed to two pillars in an open temple in the desert. The temple is a
cylinder of huge metallic pillars rising from a circular platform to a heavy
roof. Two Atlantean warriors stand in guard posture either side of it, standing
on the platform before Natla are two men - dressed as she is in ceremonious
garb. They are Qualopec and Tihocan
A green glow emanates from around each of their
necks - the three pieces of the Scion
Qualopec seems to have curious appendages rising
from his body
His voice drones formally as he addresses Natla
QUALOPEC
(VO)
We condemn you Natla of
Atlantis for your
crimes...
Qualopec is not an old man but he is a pathetic
monstrosity - a contraption of hydraulic crutches supporting his broken sagging
back
He is obviously in pain as he reads from a scroll -
balancing undignifiedly
QUALOPEC
For the flagrant misuse
of your powers...and for
robbing us of ours...
As he says this, Tihocan grabs and violently rips
Natla’s Scion off her neck
She seethes in shamed anger
NATLA
You can’t ... I’ve...
But Qualopec goes on monotonously - his heart
really not in such formalities
QUALOPEC
Breaking that three-bond
of consent that our
people are ruled and
secured under...and
invading Tihocan and
myself with our army...
He gestures loosely in a creak to one of the
obedient warriors at the temple side
A slight curdle of indignation in his voice
QUALOPEC
Our warriors...emptied from our pyramid...
So that you could use the
pyramid - it’s
powers of creation - for
your own mindless
destruction...
Natla retorts indignantly
NATLA
Mindless? Look at you -
neither of you
have one squirt of
inventive juice in your
heads...
She looks down judgementally on them
NATLA
Wasters
Qualopec waits for her silence - intense dislike on
his face
He shuffles his scroll and resumes
QUALOPEC
Mindless
destruction...letting loose those...
But trails off - waves his hand dismissively -
weariness in his voice
QUALOPEC
I can’t be bothered with
this...
He drops the scroll lethargically to the ground and
it blows off in a gust
QUALOPEC
I’m tired...I don’t
care...
He starts his slow, creaking way off the temple
platform
QUALOPEC
Let’s just do it
Natla watches concerned - fear finally on her face
NATLA
Do what?
She turns to Tihocan as he makes to follow Qualopec
- Firing a plea;
NATLA
Tihocan!
Tihocan turns to her - and vents his anger
TIHOCAN
You used a sacramental
place as a source of
individual pleasure - as
some freak factory
NATLA
They aren’t freaks
Tihocan stands face tight with Natla’s as he mocks
her
TIHOCAN
They were brain tumours -
your rampant barbaric
brain tumours
NATLA
(defiant)
Survivalists - a new
generation
TIHOCAN
(smiles)
A slaughter-heap now -
and you...we’re gonna
lock you in limbo...make
your veins, heart, feet
and that diseased brain -
stick solid with frozen
blood...
He turns to leave the platform - leaving Natla
alone, scared now
TIHOCAN
So let’s just do it
He steps off from the temple and joins Qualopec -
motioning to the guards
They grab two huge levers slotted into the temple
pillars and pull...
TIHOCAN
Greet your eternal unrest
Natla
A grinding noise sounds from the earth beneath
Natla
She shouts with desperate evil to the two other
rulers;
NATLA
You’ll regret this - you
won’t rest either
As a segmented glass cylinder rises quickly from
the floor around her - and starts to close, surrounding her...
NATLA
Or your damned continent
Atlan.....
CLUNK!
The cylinder is shut… Silence
We can only see Natla ranting inside
Qualopec and Tihocan bow their heads
Cold air rushes through the cylinder and Natla
quickly immobilises
Freezing, until she is still - stuck enraged and
the cylinder frosts over.
When it does, another, bigger metal cylinder
thrusts up from the temple floor around it and the glass one sinks, twisting
inside it into the ground
As the metal cylinder peaks, another rises around
it - rotating the opposite way, as the other falls into the ground
This goes on again - the cylinders growing in
diameter - until it is the temple pillars which fix together and descend like a
great lock into the earth
Leaving only the heavy lid to be obliterated by the
sands of time
And a blank desert horizon stretching out before
Qualopec and Tihocan and the two Atlantean guards
INT. CONTROL AREA
- PYRAMID
As the flashback resides in a mush of colours,
Natla’s voice sounds out;
NATLA
(VO)
Back again?
Recovering from the info-blast, Lara catches focus
of the figure of Natla disappearing into the shadows of machinery rimming the
platform behind the Scion, hands resting on her holstered guns, Lara makes her
way cautiously into the throat of this metal maze. Well worn dials, levers and
gauges line it.
Green pulses of energy fitzes randomly through it
LARA
And you - for a grand
re-opening I assume
She’s stalking Natla’s voice - waiting and
following the sound trail as Natla expounds her theories
NATLA
Evolution’s in a rut -
natural selection at an all
time low...shipping out
fresh meat will incite
territorial rages again -
will strengthen and
advance us...
Lara rounds a belt of machinery
And as she does, a red light strokes out - catching
Natla’s face gleaming at Lara
NATLA
Even create new breeds
Before melting to blackness again
Lara feels out again;
LARA
Kind of evolution on
steroids then
NATLA
(VO)
A kick in the
pants...those runts Qualopec and
Tihocan had no idea - the
cataclysm of Atlantis
struck a race of
langouring wimps...plummeted
them to the very basics
of survival again...
Lara is homing in on the voice - cautious now as
she emerges out from the darkness to the open platform and the Scion again
NATLA
(VO)
It shouldn’t happen like
that
The Uzis slide easily out from Lara’s holsters
LARA
Or like this
She has come face to face with Natla - the Scion
ahead of them
Natla seems unconcerned with this faceful of Uzi
NATLA
Targeting me won’t
help...
She smiles self-satisfied and gestures at the
energy activity surrounding them
NATLA
Trouble’s already in the
pot
LARA
You’re right it would be
a terrible shot
Lara keeps her eyes trained intently on Natla but
slowly swivels her guns toward the Scion
LARA
How about in the heart?
Natla’s reaction is absolute
NATLA
Noooo!
As she makes a swift and violent dive for Lara -
careering into her
Body shielding the direction of the Scion. Lara’s
guns blast up reduntantly into the void of the pyramid. As the two women roll
and tumble toward the platform edge in a skid of momentum and over - falling
sharply into the abyss, bodies entwined. Past layers of platforms, silhouetted
briefly against the luminescence of the bubbling think-tank. Before Lara
clutches for some rimming on the side of the shaft and is yanked to a hold by
one arm, then jolted heavily again as Natla claws a grip with Lara’s other
hand,dangling below her, desperate;
NATLA
Grip tighter
Lara is holding all she can - both arms stretched
and strained with the weight
As she offers the price of this life bargain
LARA
Then - please switch it
off
Natla can’t contain her mockery
NATLA
Please?!
A few of her fingers slip and plop out of Lara’s
grip
Lara rises an eyebrow
LARA
If you wouldn’t mind
Natla takes a new look at Lara
Fetish edging in her voice
NATLA
You really are a
fascinating creation
Suddenly a warning alarm sounds violently in the
pyramid
A red strobe of light pulsing heavily out from the
platform above them
A pre-recorded voice of Natla echoes down the void;
VOICE
Hatching commences in 30
seconds
Natla grins through her desperation
NATLA
Too late for abortions
now...
Breaking an insane but passionate plea to Lara
NATLA
Surely you can’t deny it?
Her fingers sliding till just the little one is in
Lara’s grip
VOICE
Twenty...
Lara cranes up to the pulsing red danger above
And back down to the squirming Natla
LARA
When I’m first on the
menu of natural selection...
She empties Natla’s pinky from her grip
And boots a definite kick into her shoulders
LARA
...I’m afraid I can
Sending Natla plummeting into the void below
Her scream melting into the darkness with her
VOICE
Ten...
The red light still flares out from above
And Lara’s already climbing swiftly up the
guttering toward it
VOICE
5...4...3...2...
Just as her leading hand clasps the lip of the
platform, the warning alarm hits a frenzied pitch
VOICE
ONE...
Then cuts... Moments before an explosion of
shattered glass fills the air
As the think-tank’s walls burst from the sheer mass
of the obscured body within
Water breaking out in a vast spill
Drenching down past Lara. Glass shards flying into
the black around her
Then a cry of new born life sounds, as Lara jumps
neatly onto the platform
Turning to a deep-throated growl...
Lara looks up from the hatching debris strewn
across the ground...
And comes face to face with Natla’s latest
creation...
GAME ON
LEVEL 4 Cont...
If Lara succeeds in killing it...
She still won’t be able to remove the Scion - but
it will register as a viable target.
When Lara shoots it however, the pyramid will start
to shake violently and start to collapse around her. Lara has to escape the
crumbling pyramid, fighting the Warriors emerging from the pods
Once out of the pyramid and in sight of the yacht,
Natla will reappear as Lara hadn’t actually succeeded in killing her before
They fight for the final time...
If Natla is successfully killed
And Lara reaches the outboard on the shore...
FMV 6
EXT. ISLAND DAY
(To be decided...
Lara’s
escape from the exploding island in her own, suitably individual, inimitable
style)
END OF GAME