安迪·桑达姆和理查德·莫顿谈《最后的启示》《历代记》中劳拉的角色塑造
Andy Sandham and Richard Morton Talk Lara's Characterization in The Last Revelation and Chronicles
2025年1月22日
Jan 22, 2025
随着《古墓丽影4-6复刻版》即将于2月14日发售,我们有机会与前核心设计工作室开发者安迪·桑达姆和理查德·莫顿进行了一次激动人心的对话。作为《古墓丽影:最后的启示》和《古墓丽影:历代记》的关卡和叙事设计师,他们带我们深入探讨了劳拉·克劳馥在这些游戏中黑暗时期的角色演变。
With Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered set to launch on February 14th, we had the exciting opportunity to speak with former Core Design developers Andy Sandham and Richard Morton. As level and narrative designers for Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: Chronicles, they took us on a deep dive into the evolution of Lara Croft's characterization during her darker era in these games.
《古墓丽影:最后的启示》标志着对劳拉·克劳馥角色更深层次理解的开始。在前三部游戏中,劳拉主要是为了寻找感兴趣的文物,并在此过程中阻止反派利用这些文物实现他们的计划。而在《最后的启示》中,尽管她的主要动机仍然是寻找感兴趣的文物,但她被迫尝试修复自己鲁莽行为所造成的破坏。
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation marks the beginning of a deeper insight into Lara Croft’s character. In the first three games, Lara is primarily after an artifact of interest and, in the process, stops villains from using those artifacts for their own plans. In The Last Revelation, whilst her primary motivation remains the same – going after an artefact of interest, she is forced to try to repair the damage made by her reckless behaviour.
游戏以年轻的劳拉和她的导师冯·克洛在柬埔寨冒险寻找名为“彩虹女神”的文物为开端。劳拉提醒冯·克洛要尊重古老的警告,但他却将其担忧斥为迷信,吹嘘自己作为著名考古学家冒险家的名声。劳拉回想起他之前的话,指出不尊重是粗心大意的根源。他们的冒险以冯·克洛因过度自信而永久伤残一条腿告终。
The game begins with young Lara and her mentor Von Croy embarking on an adventure in Cambodia to find an artifact called the Iris. Lara cautions Von Croy to respect the ancient warnings, but he dismisses her concerns as mere superstition, boasting about his reputation as a renowned archaeologist-adventurer. Lara, recalling his own earlier words, points out that disrespect is the route to carelessness. Their adventure ends with Von Croy’s overconfidence permanently injuring his leg.
问:《古墓丽影:最后的启示》的故事是如何诞生的?其背后的灵感是什么?
Q: How did the story of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation come to be? What were some of the inspirations behind it?
理查德: 我认为《最后的启示》的故事源于我们希望从《古墓丽影3》的全球冒险中稍微收敛一些,我们真的希望这个故事比之前的《古墓丽影》游戏更具电影感和参与感,同时也更详细地探索地球上的某个区域。我们选择埃及作为主要地点,不仅因为它有着丰富的古代历史,还因为那里仍有大片未开发的区域,我们可以用自己的场景、谜题和陷阱填补这些空白。像往常一样,《夺宝奇兵》电影(尤其是《夺宝奇兵》)对故事线的灵感起到了巨大作用,此外还有20世纪30年代的电视连续剧,如《泰山》和《飞侠哥顿》。
RICH: I think The Last Revelation storyline was born from our desire to rein things back a little from the globetrotting exploits of Tomb Raider III (TR3), we really wanted the story to be much more cinematic and involved than previous Tomb Raider games and to also explore an area of the globe in much more detail; we chose Egypt as the main location not only because it has such a rich ancient history, but also because there are vast areas still uncovered, and we could fill in those gaps with our own locations, puzzles and traps. As usual the Indiana Jones movies (especially Raiders) played a huge part in inspiring the storyline, but also the old 1930’s TV serials such as Tarzan and Flash Gordon.
核心设计工作室 01
Core Design Studio 01
安迪: 正如理查德所说,团队希望回到埃及,而杰兹(核心设计工作室的老板)也希望将故事设定在埃及,回归《古墓丽影》的“根源”,这为我们提供了最初的方向。我们知道我们需要一个至少与劳拉旗鼓相当的反派,通过游戏有效地追逐她,作为玩家的驱动力。因此,这为我们提供了起点。从剧本的角度来看,当时游戏剧本写作的问题是,我们会设计一个关卡,并在接近完成时才找到薇琪·阿诺德(《古墓丽影1-3》编剧)来围绕它添加一些情节——这对薇琪来说简直是噩梦,但她在前三部《古墓丽影》中表现得非常出色。
ANDY: As well as the team wanting to return to Egypt as Rich has said, it’s well documented that Jez (Core Design boss) wanted this to be set in Egypt, to return to the “roots” of Tomb Raider, so that gave us our initial direction, and we knew we wanted an antagonist that was at least equal to Lara, pursuing her through the game effectively as a driver for the player. So that gave us the starting point. From a plot perspective, the problem with scriptwriting for games back then was that we’d design a level and be mostly through making it before approaching Vicky Arnold (our in-house scriptwriter for Tomb Raider I-III) to add in some plot around it – a real nightmare for Vicky basically, and kudos to her for managing it so amazingly on the first three Tomb Raiders.
在《古墓丽影:最后的启示》中,这是团队第一次从一开始就计划剧本,包括情节、主题和想要包含的关卡——这对设计师来说就像是拿到了糖果店的钥匙。我们在古墓丽影3中打下了基础,了解了机制和引擎,并证明了自己作为一个团队的能力——现在是时候制作我们自己的游戏了。
On Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (TR4), this was the first time the team could plan out the script from the outset, the plot, the theme, and the levels we wanted to include – a bit like handing over the keys to the sweetshop to the designers, really. We’d set out our stall with TR3 and understood the mechanics and the engine and had proved ourselves as a team – now it was time to make OUR game.
我们核心团队的七八个人在房间里待了两周(显然不包括程序员——程序员以厌恶情节而闻名),提出我们想创建的关卡或场景,这在一定程度上确定了我们想探索的埃及地区,以及一些主要情节节点。然后我根据这些节点编写了连贯的内容,并基本上负责编写对话,因为这在当时我们已经很紧张的工作量中又被视为另一项工作,而且没人想做。当我的学生们看到如今这么多叙事设计师试图进入游戏行业时,觉得当时这是个“没人想要的工作”十分有趣!因此,一个有机连接所有关卡的连贯情节在古墓丽影4中得到了真正的推动,这也是我认为它深受粉丝喜爱的原因。
Seven or eight of us from the core team sat in a room for two weeks, (not the programmers, obviously – programmers are notoriously allergic to plot) and we pitched in with the levels or setpieces we wanted to create, and this kind formulated the areas of Egypt we wanted to tackle, and some of the major plot beats. I then took these beats and wrote the connective tissue and got to write the dialogue basically because this was seen as another job on our already tight workload, and nobody else wanted to do it. My students find it highly amusing that this was an “unwanted job” when we look at the number of narrative designers attempting to get a break in games these days! So, a coherent plot that organically linked all the levels together got a real push forward in TR4, which is why I think it’s a fan favourite.
我要注意的是,很多场景一如既往地受到了我们最喜欢的电影的启发——整个团队,但主要是我、里奇和彼得(邓肯)都是电影迷,所以你可以发现很多致敬。总的来说,我们从《印第安纳琼斯》三部曲、《异形》《虎胆龙威》《黑客帝国》,甚至把《落水狗》中的车库场景偷偷塞入一个关卡中汲取灵感。《终结者2》也对我们产生了很大影响,总体上,片中强大的女性角色逐渐意识到自身行为的严重性并为此负责激励了我们(稍后详述)。有趣的是,如今“电影受游戏影响”已取代了“游戏受电影影响”,大多数大片都有一些对电子游戏情节或角色的“致敬”——别提《勇敢者游戏2》中那辆“注定无法成功”的吉普车追逐戏了!
I’d note that a lot of the setpieces, as ever, were inspired by our favourite films - the whole team, but primarily myself, Rich and Pete (Duncan) were huge cinephiles, so there’s a lot of references you can tick off. Generally, we took inspiration from the Indy trilogy, Aliens, Die Hard, The Matrix, and even sneaking the garage out of Reservoir Dogs into a level. Terminator 2 was also a big influence, inspiring us more generally with the strong female character gradually understanding the gravitas of, and taking responsibility for her actions (more on that shortly). It’s interesting to note how “games being influenced by films” has flipped to “films influenced by games” in modern times, with most tentpole blockbusters having some recognisable “homage” to video game plots or characters – don’t get me started on the “not going to make it” Jeep chase out of Jumanji 2 !
安迪·桑达姆
Andy Sandham
我们还希望让劳拉更像一个会犯错的普通人——我们都觉得她在之前的游戏中很强,但并不是完全“讨人喜欢”。为了解决这个问题,我努力编写了一些“拯救猫咪”的时刻,即她会回去帮助别人,而不是无情地追求宝物。我也热衷于加入一些幽默,基本上是为了让她的角色更轻松一些。我应该指出,劳拉仍然必须是一个彻头彻尾的英雄,这是她的角色支柱之一——但现在她更容易犯错了(正如她在游戏开始时犯的错误,这实际上成为了贯穿整个情节的“幽灵”)。
We also wanted to make Lara slightly more of a fallible everyman – we all felt she was strong but not entirely “likeable” in the previous games. Some efforts to tackle this included my efforts to write “save the cat” moments, i.e. moments where she would go back to help people rather than a relentless inhuman pursuit of artefacts. I was also keen to write in some humour, basically to lighten her character somewhat. I should note Lara still had to be an out and out hero, that was one of her character pillars – but was now more fallible (as per her mistake at the start of the game, which effectively became her “ghost” that follows her through the plot.)
除此之外,我们还希望我们的反派冯·克洛不仅仅是一个千篇一律的恶棍——我们希望减少非黑即白,增加更多的灰色地带,是更复杂劳拉角色的另一面。在我编写非玩家角色、次要角色和反派时,这种设定在古墓丽影4和古墓丽影5中有机地得到了体现。在大多数情况下,我都旨在为角色设定强烈且可理解的动机和目标,即使玩家不同意他们的做法,比如开罗关卡中的士兵,以及古墓丽影5中的俄罗斯潜艇指挥官(“我们不会滥杀无辜”)。我试图为这些角色增加一些立体感,虽然并不总是完全成功,但这毕竟是个开始。
And in addition to this, we also wanted our antagonist, Von Croy, to be more than a cookie cutter villain – we wanted less black and white, more shades of grey, a kind of flip side of the more complex Lara character. This kind of fed out organically across TR4 and TR5 as I was writing the NPC’s, minor characters and bad guys. For the most part, I aimed to give characters strong understandable motives and objectives even if the player didn’t agree with them, such as the soldiers in the Cairo level, and the Russian sub Commander in Tomb 5 (“we shall not kill indiscriminately”). Writing in an attempt to add a little more 3 dimensionality to these characters, it was not always entirely successful, but it was a start.
我还应该提到,我们有自己的历史学教授基兰,负责核实我们所有关于埃及的基础知识——要知道当时互联网还处于起步阶段!我们经常去图书馆和博物馆寻找灵感和搜集所需信息(我们是英国博物馆的常客)。
I should also note we had our own professor of history, Kieran, fact checking all our Egyptology 101–remember the internet was in its infancy at this point! Much visiting of libraries and museums (we were British museum regulars) to find inspiration and hunt down the info we needed.
问:你们是如何构思冯·克洛和劳拉之间关系发展的?你认为在劳拉人生如此年轻的阶段,她对冯·克洛的警告揭示了她怎样的性格特征,特别是考虑到这与《历代记》中的黑岛冒险故事发生在同一年?
Q: How did you approach developing the dynamic between Von Croy and Lara, and what do you think Lara's warnings to Von Croy reveal about her character at such a young stage in her life, especially given that the Black Isle adventure from Chronicles takes place in the same year?
理查德:是的,我们知道我们想要把冯·克洛塑造成一个强大且复杂的角色,他最初会是劳拉的导师,但最终会成为她的死敌(然后在《黑暗天使》中形成一个完整的循环)。我们参考了从《夺宝奇兵》中的贝洛克角色到詹姆斯·邦德与他的敌对犯罪首脑之间的动态关系,他们保持着谨慎的默契,同时又不断地相互暗中讥讽。即使在年幼时,劳拉就已经是一股不可小觑的力量!
RICH: Yeah, we knew we wanted to Introduce Von Croy as a strong and complex character, who would start as her mentor and ultimately become her nemesis (then going full circle in Angel of Darkness) We looked at everything from the Belloq character in Raiders to the dynamic James Bond has with his enemy criminal masterminds, having the cautious rapport and constant sly snipes at one another. Even at a young age Lara was a force to be reckoned with!
古墓丽影4 劳拉与冯·克洛 复刻版
TRIV Lara Von Croy Remastered
安迪:我们希望冯·克洛在整个游戏中都是一个持续的反派角色,并且至少与劳拉拥有同等的智慧,使他成为一个真正的威胁,这在当时的游戏中算是相当新颖的设定。冯·克洛几乎总是比劳拉领先一步(正如理查德所说,有点像《夺宝奇兵》中的贝洛克);真正导致他灭亡的,只有他自己(或赛特神)对财宝的贪婪,尤其是在游戏接近尾声时。这实际上反映了原版系列的设定,即游戏往往表明,这些神器(或“麦高芬”)成为贪婪或复仇之人的目标,通常都不会有什么好下场,特别是对于那些(通常是男性)试图占有它们的角色。你会注意到,在《历代记》(古墓丽影5)中,劳拉把所有的神器都锁在了庄园的一个密室里,以免它们惹麻烦。你可能会问,那个房间是不是铅衬的?但愿如此!
ANDY: We wanted Von Croy to be an ongoing antagonist throughout the game, and of at least the same intelligence as Lara to make him an able threat, something reasonably new in games at the time. Von Croy was almost always one step ahead of Lara (a bit like Belloq in Raiders, as Rich says); it’s really only Von Croy’s own (or Set’s) greed toward the end which is his downfall. This mirrors the original series, really, in that the games tend to specify that the artefacts (or “MacGuffins”) became something that were sought after for greed, or for revenge, and usually ended in no good for these (frequently male) characters that have attempted to claim them. You’ll note Lara has locked all the artefacts in a hidden room in the mansion in Tomb Raider: Chronicles (TR5), to keep them out of trouble. Is the room Lead-lined, I hear you ask? Fingers crossed!
至于她对冯·克洛的警告,虽然大部分对话是为了支持游戏玩法而写的(我们需要两人之间的敌对关系来推动一些情节,比如计时追逐),但核心在于,她是在警告他不要不负责任,而他实际上是在忽视她的警告,因为他认为自己“很聪明”,他的行为不会有任何后果,这导致了可怕的“巧克力橙”*裤子钩住情节,在那里,他被迫面对自己行为的后果,而这些后果对冯·克洛来说并不妙!“对自己的行为负责”这一主题是《古墓丽影4》情节的核心,虽然在早期的情节会议上,我们曾作为更“成熟”的劳拉的一部分讨论过这一点,但我认为有很多原因使得这一主题逐渐融入了游戏的精髓之中,我稍后会讨论这一点。
With regards to her warnings to Von Croy, although much of this dialogue was written to support the gameplay (we needed antagonism between these two to drive some of the sequences such as the timed chase), at the core of this, she is warning him about being irresponsible, and he’s effectively ignoring her as he believes he is “wise” and his actions are without consequence, leading to the dreaded “chocolate orange”* trouser snagging sequence, where he is forced to face the consequences of his actions, and they do not bode well for Von Croy! This theme of “taking responsibility for your actions” is at the core of the plot for Tomb Raider 4, and although this was discussed in the early plot meetings as part of the more “grown up” Lara, I think there are a lot of reasons why this gradually worked its way right into the DNA of the game, which I’ll discuss later.
关于黑岛的情节,事后看来,你可以说,如果劳拉先经历了黑岛冒险,她已经观察到贪婪和傲慢如何导致自我毁灭,正如哥萨克人对永生的贪婪导致了他的毁灭,但不幸的是,这完全是我的虚构,但听起来不错,所以我保留了它。
With regards to the Black Isle episode, in hindsight, you could say that if Lara experienced the black isle adventure first, she has already observed how greed and hubris can lead to self-destruction, as observed by the greed for eternal life in the Cossack that leads to his destruction, but that, unfortunately would be a complete fabrication on my part, but it sounds good, so I’ve left it in.
*这是团队用来称呼教程关卡结束时那个神器容器的名称,这让菲尔(建造并为其制作了动画)大为恼火。
*This is what the team used to call the receptacle for the artefact at the end of the tutorial, much to Phil’s (who built and animated it) chagrin.
核心设计工作室 02
Core Design Studio 02
问:在《最后的启示》中,当劳拉从赛特之墓中取出荷鲁斯护身符时,过度自信导致她重复了冯·克洛多年前在彩虹女神上犯下的错误。这是有意让劳拉的行为与冯·克洛的错误相呼应吗?这种平行关系如何反映她在整个系列中的角色成长?
Q: In The Last Revelation, Lara’s overconfidence causes her to repeat the same mistake Von Croy made years earlier with the Iris when she removes the Amulet of Horus from the Tomb of Seth. Was it intentional to mirror Von Croy’s mistakes in Lara's actions, and how does this parallel reflect her character’s evolution throughout the series?
安迪:如前所述,最初的教程关卡确实展现了冯·克洛的傲慢和不负责任,他认为自己的行为不会有什么后果。事实上,在这段剧情中,劳拉被塑造成了“成年人”。当我们回到成年劳拉的剧情后,看到的是我们在前作中熟知的鲁莽劳拉(例如,她不懈地摧毁濒危物种等性格特征)。所以在这款游戏中,劳拉经历了这样的转变——从以往的鲁莽到最后意识到自己必须为自己的行为负责,甚至不惜牺牲自己来阻止全球毁灭,在此过程中“成长”起来*,并反过来成为了老师——教导冯·克洛要为自己的行为负责。我最近和里奇谈到了这一点,我认为有趣的是,我们现在意识到,当时团队中许多人出于个人原因,潜意识里(在一定程度上是有意识地)认为“为自己的行为负责”是贯穿始终的主题。团队中的一些成员开始有了年轻的家庭、新房子,在披萨盒和凌晨3点的赶工之外有了真正的生活,我们也意识到,我们作为游戏行业的中心(或至少是围绕中心的轨道),正处于这一全球性文化现象的开端,我认为我们也意识到,我们在世界舞台上正处于一个阶段,不仅劳拉,整个游戏行业都必须“成长”起来,开始对未来几代人负责。当然,我自己的一些写作中也确实有一些证据表明,我对整个以男性为导向、充满枪战的行业已经相当厌倦了(“我累了,琼——让女孩休息一下吧”)。不过,在我过于自我陶醉之前,我还应该指出,我和里奇也讨论过这样一个事实,即劳拉在这两款游戏中仍然花费了大量时间继续射杀许多濒危物种和无辜的非玩家角色,但千里之行始于足下,对吧?
ANDY: As mentioned, the initial tutorial really shows how Von Croys hubris and irresponsibility believing there are no consequences for his actions. In fact, Lara has really been written as the “adult” in this sequence. When we flip back to adult Lara, it’s the reckless Lara we know from previous games (i.e., character traits like her unrelenting pursuit to destroy endangered species). So this game Is where we ended up kind of arcing Lara – through this usual recklessness, through to finally realising she actually has to take responsibility for her actions, effectively sacrificing herself to prevent global destruction, “growing up” in the process*, and cyclically becoming the teacher – teaching Von Croy about the taking responsibility for your actions. I’ve talked to Rich about this recently, and I think the interesting thing here is that we now recognise that subconsciously (and to some degree consciously) the overarching themes of taking responsibility for your actions was due to several personal reasons across the team at the time. Some of the team were starting to have young families, new homes, real lives outside of pizza boxes and 3AM crunch, and we recognised we were at the centre (or at least orbiting the centre) of games as the beginning of this massive global cultural phenomenon, and I think that we also recognised that we were at a stage on the world platform that not only Lara, but the game industry had to “grow up” and start taking responsibility for its actions with a view to future generations. Certainly, there is some evidence in my own writing here that I was becoming quite jaded with the whole, male oriented, shooty industry (“I’m tired Jean – give a girl a break”). I should also point out before I get too far up my own rectum, that me and Rich also discussed the fact that Lara still spent much of these two games continuing to shoot quite a lot of endangered species and innocent NPC’s, but the longest journey starts with a single step, right?
*(以及她的牺牲,在《古墓丽影5》结尾的“死亡”和随后的“重生”,但我在这里甚至都不想开始思考那可能意味着什么)
*(and her sacrifice, “death” and consequent “rebirth” at the end of TR5, but I’m not even going to start thinking about the possible implications of that here)
理查德: 是的,正如安迪所说,我们有意让劳拉重蹈冯·克洛的覆辙,即使劳拉也可能一时冲动而没有意识到后果,直到为时已晚。我认为,在《最后的启示》之后,劳拉在做出这类决定时会变得更加谨慎。
RICH: Yeah, as Andy says, it was an intentional decision by us to mirror Von Croys mistake, that even Lara can get caught up in the moment and not realise the consequences until it was too late, I think after The Last Revelation Lara becomes much more cautious in how she approaches this type of decision.
核心设计工作室03
Core Design Studio 03
问:是否可以说,冯·克洛在《最后的启示》中一直追捕她,为故事增添了一层深刻的内涵,象征着被遗忘的教训在追逐着你?
Q: Would it be correct to state that Von Croy's pursuit of her throughout The Last Revelation adds a nice layer of depth, representing the concept of being chased by a forgotten lesson?
安迪:是的。我想说这是我巧妙计划的一层不错的深度,但其实并没有。这其实是她性格从鲁莽到负责任转变的副产品。教训在追逐她,而她最终(致命地)学到了教训——理论上也让冯·克洛认识到了他早先行为的错误,并让他也有了转变。(尽管后来的游戏中并没有太多证据表明冯·克洛有所转变)
ANDY: Yes. I’d like to say I cleverly planned this “nice layer of depth”, but I didn’t. It’s really a byproduct of her character arc from reckless through to responsible. The lesson chases her, and she finally (fatally) learns it - theoretically also teaching Von Croy about the errors of his earlier actions in the process and allowing him to arc. (Although there’s not much evidence of Von Croy having arced in the later games)
理查德: 是的,没错,我们想让冯·克洛成为她宿敌的化身,不断提醒她。
RICH: Yes, that’s correct, we wanted Von Croy to be the constant reminder embodied as her nemesis
在每年发布一款游戏的压力下,核心设计团队已经在思考如何结束《最后的启示》,并在着手制作PS2时代的下一篇章之前好好休息一下,这并不奇怪。这导致了游戏以更黑暗的基调收尾的决定。然而,这一选择也为劳拉·克劳馥的崭新开始铺平了道路,为角色的未来发展创造了激动人心的机会。
With the pressure of releasing a game every year, it’s no surprise that the Core Design team was already thinking about how to wrap up The Last Revelation and take a well-deserved break before tackling the next chapter for the PS2 era. This led to the decision to end the game on a darker note. However, this choice also paved the way for a fresh start for Lara Croft, creating exciting opportunities for the character's future development.
理查德: 是的,我记得当时我想出了杀死劳拉的想法,或者至少尝试设计剧情,让玩家可能会相信劳拉已经死了,留下一个真正的悬念。这并不是因为筋疲力尽,我们想要找到一种方式,让玩家渴望更多,并希望他们对《古墓丽影:黑暗天使》充满热情,这款游戏将继续讲述劳拉是如何幸存下来的,你们会知道那些被删除的劳拉新导师普泰出现的过场动画和游戏关卡。
RICH: Yes, I remember coming up with the idea to kill Lara or at least try and engineer the story so the player might believe Lara was dead, leave it on a literal cliff hanger. This wasn’t down to exhaustion, we wanted a way to leave the player wanting more and hopefully be enthusiastic for the PlayStation 2 Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, which was to continue the story of how Lara survived, you’ll know of all the deleted cutscenes and game levels featuring Lara’s new mentor Putai.
理查德·莫顿
Richard Morton
问:《历代记》探索了劳拉人生的不同阶段,其中包括她找回彩虹女神的情节,还展示了她在黑岛的第一次超自然冒险。你们是如何构思这个故事的,这四个小冒险故事中最吸引人的故事元素是什么?
Q: Chronicles explores different phases of Lara’s life, including a segment where she retrieves the Iris, as well as showcasing her first paranormal adventure on the Black Isle. How did you approach writing the story, and what was the most appealing story element of those four short adventures?
安迪:《古墓丽影:历代记》最初的构思很大程度上是基于“精选集”的理念,这确实是对劳拉传奇的一种“总结”,不仅是为了所有一直支持我们的玩家和粉丝,也是团队的一次“告别”。这个“精选集”理念的好处在于,我们可以重新利用资源,以减少压力并迅速推出游戏——所以我们坐下来,回顾了整个系列中积累的内容(年轻劳拉的模型、带有《黑客帝国》风格的紧身战斗服、神器等),并围绕这些进行规划。我创建了一个“框架故事”,借鉴了我非常喜欢的老式Amicus恐怖电影风格,角色们围坐在暴风雨中阴森的老宅壁炉旁,为故事增添了一丝庄重感,也让我能够将各个不相关的场景/故事联系起来,而无需像《古墓丽影4》那样将它们连贯地结合在一起。
ANDY: Much of the initial approach on Chronicles was based around a “greatest hits” package, really created as a kind of “wrapping up” of the Lara legend, not only for all the players and fans who had supported our efforts up to this point, but also as an “adios” from the team. This “greatest hits” concept also had the benefits of allowing us to re-use assets to limit crunch and get it out of the door – so we sat down and had a look at what we’d accumulated over the series (young Lara model, catsuit with added Matrix shades, artefacts, etc.) and planned around that for the most part. I Created a “framing story” in the old Amicus portmanteau horror style of which I was a huge fan, characters sitting round a fireplace in a gloomy old mansion in as storm, to add an air of gravitas to the proceedings, and allowing me to link the various unrelated levels/stories without having to tie them together coherently (as per TR4)
很多场景的想法都来源于我们在《古墓丽影4》专注于埃及主题之前所做的规划。黑岛场景是我负责的,所以这可能是我最喜欢的关卡——比如,以《神父特德》的风格创作帕特里克神父(“显灵,诸如此类”)——尽管我非常确定编写皮埃尔和拉尔森的故事紧随其后。我写得很开心,尽管从历史上看,在古墓丽影5中,我可能是唯一一个玩得尽兴的人。
A lot of the level ideas came out of what we had planned for TR4 before it became specifically Egypt focussed. The Black Isle was my level, so that was probably my favourite – e.g. writing Father Patrick, in the Father Ted mold (“manifestations, that sort a thing”) – although I’m pretty sure writing Pierre and Larson was a very close second. I had a ball writing them, although I think, historically, you may find I was the only person having a ball on tomb 5.
过场动画被外包给了一家外部渲染公司(按过场动画的时长付费,所以你可能会注意到其中一些场景显得有点突兀),因此我只需将剧本做基本交接,无需担心皮特·巴尼亚德(Pete Barnyard)会因为我写的复杂情节而瞪我。团队里的每个人都希望尽快把剧本写完并做好,所以我基本上可以随心所欲地发挥,拿一些经典角色来逗乐自己并稍作改编,而团队中的大多数人对这些角色都怀有深厚的感情。我们和他们一起经历了很多(如果他们被锁在冰箱里也算的话)。
The FMV cutscenes went out to an external rendering company (paid by the duration of the cutscene, so you’ll note how abrupt some of them seem), so that was just a basic handover of the script with no Pete Barnyard glowering at me over any of the complex bits, and everyone on the team just wanted it written and done, so I basically got to noodle about amusing myself and taking liberties with some of the classic characters, which for the most part, the team had a lot of fondness for. We’d been through a lot with them (and them with us, if being locked in the refrigerator is anything to go by).
理查德: 因为《历代记》是出于必要而诞生的,它某种程度上干扰了我们原本计划在《最后的启示》和PS2版《古墓丽影:黑暗天使》之间至少休息一两年的计划。所以我们同意制作《历代记》作为一款新的古墓丽影游戏,同时又不打乱我们的计划,所以我们用它来进一步向玩家强调劳拉已经死了,通过劳拉的葬礼以及冯·克洛和其他人谈论与克劳馥女士过去的冒险来定下游戏的基调。从某种程度上说,这是一股清新的空气,因为它让我们深入了解了劳拉的过去,看到了那些被提及但从未展示过的事件,并从中获得了一些乐趣。
RICH: Because Chronicles was born out of necessity it kinda interfered with our plans to have break between The Last Revelation and TR PS2 (Angel of Darkness) of at least a couple of years. So we agreed to make Chronicles as a way of having a new Tomb Raider game, without it breaking our plans, so we used it to further hammer home to the player that Lara was Dead, setting the games tone with Lara’s wake with Von Croy and others talking about their past adventures with Ms Croft. In a way it was a breath of fresh air because it allowed us to deep dive into Lara’s past, to see events that had been talked about but not shown, and to have a bit of fun with it.
问:除了显而易见的原因外,你认为是什么促使劳拉闯入冯·克洛工业公司夺回彩虹女神的?
Q: What do you think motivated Lara to break into Von Croy Industries to retrieve the Iris, beyond the obvious reason?
理查德: 彩虹女神是一个麦高芬(电影术语),它本来应该是劳拉和冯·克洛之间长期争执的焦点,在他们的一生中,彩虹女神在他们之间传来传去,我不确定我们是否弄清楚了它的真正力量或真正起源,它甚至来自地球吗?玩家第一次看到彩虹女神是在劳拉宅邸的宝藏室里。
RICH: The Iris was a MacGuffin that was meant to be a long-standing bone of contention between Lara and Von Croy, with it passing between them throughout the course of their lives, I’m not sure we ever found out its true power or its true origin, was it even from earth? The first time the player sees the Iris is in Lara’s Mansion in the Treasure Room.
古墓丽影5“带着彩虹女神逃跑”关卡
TR5 Announce EscapeWithTheIris
如上所述,我可以说,我们想把所有的神器都放在克劳馥宅邸的一个房间里,作为给玩家们的精选集——就像“啊,我记得我就是在那一关卡中发现它的!”这样的体验。考虑到这一点,再加上我们可以重复使用冯·克洛的模型,而且里奇也想制作一个《黑客帝国》风格的关卡,里面有一个阿盖尔/《虎胆龙威》式的角色指挥行动,这一切突然之间就水到渠成了。(有时候就是这么简单!)
ANDY: As above, I can say that we wanted to get all of our artefacts into one room in the Croft mansion as a greatest hits for the players – “ah, I remember the level where I discovered that!” type of thing. So that and the fact that we could re-use the Von Croy model, and with Rich wanting to make a Matrix level with an Argyll/Die Hard type character directing the action, it all, suddenly, fell into place. (sometimes it was that simple!)
问:在《历代记》中,劳拉的朋友们聚集在克劳馥庄园,分享他们与劳拉的冒险故事,而我们最喜欢的二人组——拉尔森和皮埃尔也回归,进行最后一次冒险。拉尔森、皮埃尔和劳拉之间的互动非常有趣。是什么激发了你们让他们回归的灵感?
Q: In Chronicles, Lara’s friends gather at Croft Manor to share stories of their adventures with her, and we get to see the return of our favorite duo, Larson and Pierre, for one last adventure. The dynamic between Pierre, Larson, and Lara is incredibly entertaining. What inspired the decision to bring them back?
安迪:所以,安德里亚·科德拉(罗马关卡设计者)真的更侧重于游戏玩法(而非叙事),所以这基本上给了我在那个关卡上在剧本方面自由发挥的空间。我们有皮埃尔和拉尔森的模型,并希望把他们放在某个地方,所以这似乎是个理想的位置。拉尔森和皮埃尔之间的关系完全是用来逗乐的——我觉得需要一些轻松的氛围来抵消主角过场动画中劳拉之死所带来的阴郁气氛。尽管这让一些玩家觉得有些滑稽可笑,但我仍然对那段情节中的许多笑料感到非常自豪(“你被一匹马踢到头了,是吗?”“你怎么知道的?”),尽管我应该指出,直到今天,这些喜剧背后仍隐藏着许多谜团和深意——汤姆(斯卡特)最近给我发了一条他在领英上收到的消息,一名愤怒的玩家问他为什么皮埃尔决定带拉尔森去买奶昔。为什么是奶昔?她愤怒地质问道。有时候,最好还是留下一些未解之谜……
ANDY: So, Andrea Cordella (designer of the Rome level) was really more gameplay (as opposed to narrative) focussed, so that pretty much gave me free reign with what I could do script wise on that level. We had the Pierre and Larson models, and wanted to fit them in somewhere, so this seemed like the ideal place. The relationship between Larson and Pierre was entirely played for laughs – I felt a bit of levity was needed to offset the gloomy shadow of Lara’s death in the main cutscenes. Although it irks some players that it all goes a bit slapstick, I’m still incredibly proud of a lot of the gags in that sequence (“You were kicked in the head by a horse, Oui?”- “how’d you know about that?”), although I should note there is still, to this day, much intrigue and depth behind the comedy – Tom (Scutt) recently sent me a message he had received on LinkedIn from an irate player asking why Pierre decided to take Larson for a milkshake. Why specifically a milkshake? She fumed. Sometimes it’s best to leave some mysteries unsolved…
里奇:正如安迪所说,我们觉得他们之间有一个更大的故事要讲述,如果以他们作为三名年轻冒险家的经历为基础制作一款前传游戏,那将会非常棒,但这样的机会从未出现过。再次扮演这些角色很有趣。
RICH: As Andy says, we felt there was a bigger story to tell between them, it would have been great to base much more of a prequel game around their exploits as a trio of young adventurers, but the opportunity never arose. It was fun to play around with those characters again.
问:对于那些将首次体验《古墓丽影4-6:复刻版》的粉丝们,你们有什么想分享的信息吗?对于这个时代的游戏新手,你们有什么建议或提示?
Q: Is there a message you’d like to share with fans who will be experiencing Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered for the first time? And what is the one tip or piece of advice you would give to newcomers to this era of games?
理查德:我想衷心感谢所有古墓丽影和劳拉的粉丝,无论是使复刻版成为可能的原版游戏,还是新的古墓丽影游戏。能够从头开始参与一个游戏系列的工作,成为创造如此标志性系列的团队的一员,看到它在许多方向上发展并成为其中的一部分,这是一种真正的荣誉。我希望有一天能重返这个系列……你永远不知道《黑暗天使2》(或《古墓丽影:失落的领域》)从未制作,也许它应该被制作!
RICH: I would like to sincerely thank all the fans of Tomb Raider and Lara, of both the original games that made the remasters possible, and the new Tomb Raider games. It’s a true honour to have worked on a games franchise from the ground up, to be part of the team that created such an iconic series, seeing it grow in many directions and being a part of it. I’d love to revisit the series one day… you never know Angel of Darkness 2 (or Tomb Raider: The Lost Dominion) never got made, maybe it should!
给古墓丽影系列新手的建议……到处看看,不要留下任何一个黑暗的角落不去探索。同时保持警惕,你永远不知道敌人何时会跳出来,或者地板何时会从你脚下塌陷!
My advice to newcomers of the Tomb Raider series… look everywhere, don’t leave a single dark corner unexplored. Also stay on your toes, you never know when an enemy will jump out, or the floor will fall away from under you!
核心设计工作室标牌
Core Design Studio Name
安迪:给这个时代的游戏新手的一个建议或提示——有趣的是,里奇谈到了“黑暗的角落”,我想说,特别是在我的关卡上——把亮度调高!(除非重制团队已经手下留情,为你这么做了!)
ANDY: Starting with one tip or piece of advice for newcomers to this era of games – and interesting Rich is talking about “dark corners” as I’d say, specifically on my levels – turn the brightness up! (unless the remaster team has taken pity and already done this for you!)
关于这两款游戏,虽然《古墓丽影4》是出于热爱而制作的,也是粉丝们的最爱,但最近在重新评估《古墓丽影5》时我意识到,这可能是团队在设计和技术方面都处于巅峰的作品——我们对引擎了如指掌,并将其推到了极限,拥有一些出色的AI、音乐、音效,以及(当然)设计和剧本,所有这些都成就了一款不为人知的瑰宝——我仍然对我们这个小团队能创造出这两款游戏感到惊讶,也许这就是为什么它仍然能引起玩家共鸣的原因——因为我们的个性和激情贯穿其中。所以希望这些复刻版也能引起你们的共鸣,新玩家们——请享受这两款我们的小团队倾注了几年心血的游戏——也希望新团队在重新创作时和我们第一次创作时一样开心!
Regarding the two games, although Tomb Raider 4 was a labour of love and a fan favourite, recently re-evaluating Tomb Raider 5 made me realise this was possibly the title where the team were all at the top of our game from a design and technical perspective – we knew the engine inside out and were pushing it to its absolute limits, with some outstanding AI, music, SFX and, (of course) design and script all leading to an unsung gem – I’m still kind of amazed we created these two games with such a small team, And perhaps that’s why it still resonates with players – because our personalities and passion shows through. So hopefully these remastered versions will still resonate with you, the new players - please enjoy both of these games that our little team poured their heart and soul into for a couple of years – and hopefully the new team have had as much fun recreating as we did the first-time round!
再见了,劳拉!别让我耽误了你!
Adios Lara! Don’t let me hold you up!
如果你想学习设计像原版古墓丽影系列那样的游戏和关卡的基础知识,并且书中充满了古墓丽影的例子和趣闻,请(无耻地推销一下)购买我刚出版的新书,这本书汇集了我20年的游戏行业设计经验,以及12年来向渴望(并最终进入游戏行业)的学生传授这些知识的经历!
And if you’d like to learn the basics of designing games and levels like the original Tomb Raider series, with Tomb Raider examples and anecdotes aplenty, please (shameless plug) purchase a copy of my new, just released book, collecting together 20 years of industry game design and 12 years of teaching this knowledge to eager (and consequently industry employed) students!
链接在此:
LINK HERE:
www.routledge.com/9781032644707
想了解更多安迪·桑达姆的社交动态,请访问:
Discover more from Andy Sandham on social:
● YouTube
如果您想查看理查德·莫顿的作品,请访问他的网站。
If you want to check out Richard Morton’s work, visit his website.