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XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

Gard On Tomb Raider, Galleon, Delays 24

Posted by simoniker from the for-he's-a-jolie-good-fellow dept.
Thanks to The UK Independent for its article-based interview with Confounding Factor's Toby Gard, best known as the creator of Tomb Raider while at Core Design. The article discusses the genesis of Lara Croft, with Gard arguing: "I thought that what was interesting about her was she was this unattainable, austere, dangerous sort of person." Of the hideously delayed Galleon, finally due out this summer, the article suggests: "It's not too silly an exaggeration to say that, in the computer-games industry, Galleon is the equivalent of Donna Tartt's The Little Friend or the Stone Roses's The Second Coming", and Gard clarifies his impressions of the game's intriguing influences: "I wanted to have a visual language that was quite comic book... I realised the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films were the way to go."
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Gard On Tomb Raider, Galleon, Delays More

Gard On Tomb Raider, Galleon, Delays

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  • Second Coming? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ... Galleon is the equivalent of Donna Tartt's The Little Friend or the Stone Roses's The Second Coming

    The Stone Roses' "Second Coming"? He's saying his own game is gonna suck after all this time?!

  • No change there, then (Score:3, Funny)

    by Weirdofreak ( 769987 ) <weirdofreak@gmail.com> on Sunday April 18, 2004 @01:12PM (#8897788)
    If I'd have stayed I might have become rich. But I'd have been so arrogant.
    [Galleon is an] earth-shatteringly cool game

    So, if he'd stayed, there'd be no difference apart form the money? Seems like a good deal to me.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • It's not, boasting about them is.

        It's the difference between saying 'This thing I made is much better than that thing you made', and 'I reckon this thing I made is more appropriate to the task at hand because of X, Y and Z features that your thing doesn't implement'.
        • What are you like?! We made something cool, it's finally finished and we want to big it up a bit. Where's the harm in that?
          Disclaimer: Toby's my boss. But cut him some slack!
          • Well for one thing I was only semi-serious, and for another, arrogancy is still arrogancy whether or not you just want to 'big something up a bit'.

            I'm not saying it's inherently a bad thing, I'm just saying it's there.

  • Sure, toby... (Score:5, Funny)

    by b0r0din ( 304712 ) on Sunday April 18, 2004 @01:13PM (#8897797)
    "I thought that what was interesting about her was she was this unattainable, austere, dangerous sort of person."

    "That, and her huge breasts sort of kept the team together during a difficult coding process. We all knew none of us could get a real girl like that, so when Bob suggested making her British with perfect teeth, we implemented it, but it was a stretch."
    • ... that can't be explained with two world wars.
      More than two generations of their best genes are pushing up the daisies all around Europe.

      God, I'm glad I'm a Scandinavian.
    • "Bob suggested making her British with perfect teeth, we implemented it, but it was a stretch" Has someone been watching a bit too much Austin Powers?

    • Re:Sure, toby... (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      "That, and her huge breasts sort of kept the team together during a difficult coding process. We all knew none of us could get a real girl like that, so when Bob suggested making her British with perfect teeth, we implemented it, but it was a stretch."

      Um, Core Design is a British company, and Gard is a Briton. We don't share your stereotypes about our nation. We don't even find them funny.

      • We don't share your stereotypes about our nation. We don't even find them funny.

        I'm sure you Brits have stereotypes about Americans that aren't remotely true. We all find reasons to laugh at each other. Life would be so boring if we didn't. ;)

        --from a gal who never really got the joke with Austin Powers' teeth until now...

  • Oh ... that's not right ... (Score:4, Funny)

    by obsidianpreacher ( 316585 ) on Sunday April 18, 2004 @03:19PM (#8898688)
    "Lara was based on elements of Indiana Jones, Tank Girl and, people always say, my sister," says Gard. "Maybe subconsciously she was my sister."
    *shudders* There's something wrong with this guy ...

  • Well, look on the bright side. (Score:3, Funny)

    by GaimeGuy ( 679917 ) on Sunday April 18, 2004 @06:25PM (#8899680) Journal
    At least it's not as bad as Duke Nukem Forever! :)
  • what are they going to be this time QQQ sized or something since it seems like tradition to make Lara Crofts breasts bigger in every game

  • In other words... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MMaestro ( 585010 ) on Sunday April 18, 2004 @08:04PM (#8900228)
    she was this unattainable, austere, dangerous sort of person

    In other words : "she was this boobalishous gal, was perfectly postured and formed, and armed with dual pistols with supernatural aim and strength with unlimited ammo."

  • Galleon (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Shakey_Jake33 ( 670826 ) on Sunday April 18, 2004 @10:20PM (#8900856)
    I remember reading previews of Galleon waaaaaay back when it was due to be a second generation Dreamcast title.

    Back then, the game looked stunning from the images.... from the images I saw, it looked somewhat like a more 'mature' version of Skies Of Arcadia (I'd not know that at the time of course, I'm talking retrospectively)... the gameplay was nothing like it, but it's a good way of explaining the graphical style of the game. We were all impressed, and Dreamcast owners saw it as their own Tomb Raider.

    We waited.... and waited.... and it never appeared... we were used to that on the Dreamcast, but it was still saddening.

    3 years after I initially saw the preview, I find out it's finally appearing. I headed over to GameSpot to check out some of their movies of the game, and I gotta admit, I was underwhelmed... it didn't look anything particularly new or special. Final judgement is reserved until release of course, but my fears are that it may get average reviews.

    Problem is, as you'd expect from a game that has been in developement for 4 years, it looks 4 years old.

    And this truely is a great shame because for Toby to turn down big cash for what he believed was right, that really is pretty admirable... it's easy to say it happens all the time, but I doubt I'd bail out of a company in that position.

    So I wish him luck with this title... but I do suspect that many people will be buying this title mainly because they wanted it 4 years ago, and they may be disappointed.

    Just my probably-jibberish prediction.
    • I really hope you're wrong about this, but I have to say these are pretty much my feelings about Galleon too.

      Prince of Persia Sands of Time is pretty much the Galleon was going to be, which leaves Galleon itself rather out in the cold..

      • I haven't played POPSoT yet (must buy it) except for a demo at ECTS (it was pretty much finished). They're quite different games. Our control system is fundamentally different. But you're not the first to point out the similarity...
        I do have genuine respect for Ubisoft. I've just completed Beyond Good and Evil. It's a wonderful game, sadly overlooked by the buying public. It's now selling for half price and you'd have to be mad not to snap up a copy.
        In the current arena of tired sequels and franchises

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