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The Crystal 1 - Lara's House by ColeMoles

CC 3 4 3 4
Ceamonks890 3 4 4 4
Cory 3 4 5 5
eRIC 4 4 4 6
Gerty 3 4 3 4
Jay 3 3 4 4
Jennifer 3 4 4 3
John 4 5 4 6
Jose 3 3 4 6
Kitkat 5 5 5 5
Kristina 3 3 4 4
Magnus 3 4 3 5
manarch2 3 4 3 4
MichaelP 4 6 6 7
Orbit Dream 2 5 6 6
Oxy 3 5 3 5
Ryan 3 4 4 5
Treeble 4 6 6 6
 
release date: 05-Sep-2006
# of downloads: 54

average rating: 4.17
review count: 18
 
review this level

file size: 26.70 MB
file type: TR4
class: Home
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
chriscoletaylor@icloud.com

Reviewer's comments
"I'm currently doing a weird shift at work so I'm grateful there's a surplus of short levels that I haven't played yet. In this case, it's a new take on an old acquaintance of ours. Truth be told, I've played (and built) worse Home levels, so while there were a few issues with a few sfx missing, shut doors and windows placed against the void and that strange in-doors garden and pond (?!), generally speaking I managed to relax and decompress here — and today that's all I really needed. 10 minutes. 02/22" - Treeble (13-Feb-2022)
"this laras home level must be a demo because its just waaaay to short! i mean its an original build with nice textures but there isnt alot of gameplay here you just spend a few mins looking for keys to open doors to progress but theres nothing to do when you reach the final room which isnt obvious its the final room because there isnt an end trigger there, only when you pull the switch near the front door the level ends how strange! ok so its not all bad, you have a few crocs and enemies, a movable block puzzle and some boulders, blades and fire as traps which are always welcome for me in a home level but just as i was starting to get into it then it was the end how disappointing, its worth a look if you have 10 mins to spare and you like traps in home levels" - John (16-May-2021)
"Not bad at all despite missing sounds , but way too short. I had to look at the walkthrough to know i have nothing less unfinished after a dozen of minutes spent here. Nothing indicated that this room was your final goal (there was still an unopened door in the kitchen). Gameplay was entertaining the timed it lasted with search for a few keys , some traps and a movable crates puzzle. What i enjoyed the most was the opening audio track (from TR2 Venice) which fits perfectly here , a couple of objects i don't think i've seen elsewhere, and the choice of textures was rather good." - eRIC (27-Aug-2019)
"This rendition of the mansion isn't too badly constructed as far as it goes (the texturing is at least competent) but there's not a whole lot to get stuck into for the 10 or so minutes it lasts. Find a couple of keys, avoid a couple of very simple traps, push a few blocks around and then find your way to the main door as there's nothing else to do. You can also just choose to leave as soon as the level starts, as the main button works regardless of what you do." - Ryan (22-Mar-2019)
"A little game that feels more like a debut level that is actually wasn't. The house is not too badly designed with okay texturing (rather flat lighting though) and decent object usage, but one can see that this is an effort by a rather inexperienced builder - two or three missing sounds, objects called "Load", simple geometry. The gameplay is not bad with an (easy) trap gauntlet and a block puzzle but those are actually the only things to do except for using keys, and the game ends strangely after 10 minutes or 10 seconds - after entering the trophy room there's nothing else to do, but you could at any time have used the button at the front door to finish this level, a very odd choice. Found no secrets in this game." - manarch2 (04-Aug-2015)
"While an improvement from the builder's initial debut in several areas(including some rather decent lighting and custom object/texture utilization on top of a completely original-designed manor level map for once with a proper finish trigger included), what lets this release down the most for me, is that it acts like more of a teaser for a much bigger and grander project in the works(which as of this review still hasn't come out) and at this point, I very much doubt that it will ever see the light of day after eight years of inactivity from the builder in question. But as it is though, this probably isn't going to be the biggest time-waster that you'll potentially end up going through on this site. So if you're willing to go through some rather simplistic gameplay that lasts roughly around 20 minutes and you have nothing better to do yet desire a nice distraction, than this will certainly do the job while it lasts." - Ceamonks890 (09-Dec-2014)
"This is nice furnished Lara's Mansion. Rooms are well lit and textured with care. Game-play (approximately 20 minutes) is searching for keys, avoiding some wall knifes and shooting few crocodiles. I liked pushable block puzzle though it was too easy to solve. Worth to see if you like houses." - Oxy (07-Apr-2009)
"A short nice mansion level, which is quite well constructed. You can end the level in less than 5 minutes by pressing the button next to the door but you can also explore the house and find a few keys. The texturing was okay and object placement was fine. I am looking forward to the next level in the series. All in all, a short mansion level with little gameplay, give it a go." - Cory (20-Apr-2008)
"It's another Mansion level but don't go running off just yet,for instead of downloading a convenient House prj and adding a few objects to it (as so many other 'builders' are guilty of doing),the Author of this level has made the effort of actually contructing an original Mansion from the ground up (as it were) and for that should be given some recognition. It's a shame that his Gameplay was nothing to write home about, but I found it quite relaxing to wander around the various rooms and passageways searching for the three keys (the traps were pretty much harmless). After 20 leisurely minutes I found myself with absolutely nothing left to discover and therefore pressed the wall button which activates the 'Finish Trigger'. Yes it was unexciting,but the textures and objects were nicely chosen and applied and there are many far worse 'Mansion levels' than this." - Orbit Dream (06-Aug-2007)
"This is a short mansion level. It is intended to be the first instalment of a multi-level adventure. The mansion it self is well built and the textures chosen do fit it nicely but the lighting could be better. Also, there are some oddities: crocodiles in the basement? On second thoughts, sure why not! This is Tomb Raider after all; where lara regularly goes head-to-head with Egyptian gods or finds Excalibur! I did like the pushable puzzle and avoiding blade traps and rolling balls is always nerve wracking fun. But as you could leave the mansion at any point during the proceedings it made me wonder why Lara was there in the first place. Hopefully we will find out in chapter two." - Kitkat (19-Jul-2007)
"This is a short introduction level, part 1 in a series, set in 'a' mansion. There are some object placement hiccups here, like a seat stuck in a wall and a column in the window ceiling. There are also some quite plain looking spaces. But overall this is a nicely designed mansion level that looks like a mansion, not a semi-d extension with impressive banisters. Lara has installed an underground pool area to hide a precious key, guarded by crocodiles and giant rotating blades, as you do; or maybe don't, because this is not the Croft Mansion. So perhaps one of her relatives has decided to give Lara a taste of her own medicine! That, as well as a rolling ball to run past, statues and crates to move around, is about it in the gameplay department. If the player wishes to forego all this fun they can simply open the front door and... wait for the next level :D." - CC (20-Mar-2007)
"It's a very short level that can be classified as a demo because of the lack of gameplay. In the twelve minutes it lasted I killed some crocodiles, found a few keys and an Uzi that was unnecessary since there are no other enemies and I pushed the button near the exit door to finish the level. Not really what I would call a fun play." - Kristina (19-Mar-2007)
"You can finish this small level in less than 15 seconds! Simply run to the entrance door and push the button. I've been exploring the house and it hasn't much to offer us, only the moveable crates puzzle, some crocs to kill and two well known melodies to hear. There are a missed sound and a no-appropriate movement too. It's easy to find the keys to enter the rooms. When I get the last key ("Load") and open the door near the very beginning of the level and I found nothing there, I supposed that there was no more to see and I finally press that button to finish the game." - Jose (11-Oct-2006)
"It is a definite step up from Chris' first release, but it lets the player down a bit because it is really only a bit of a demo/intro level in which you can spend 15 minutes on a little course around the mansion looking for three keys, killing three crocs, avoiding a few traps and managing a nice little push box puzzle. And when you run out of things to do you press the button at the entrance door and the level ends. Probably more interesting when it gets released as a full package including all the levels intended for the series." - MichaelP (08-Oct-2006)
"Well, it's a mansion level. I always feel there should be a short apologetic pause after that statement somehow, although I'm sure there are people out there that really love mansion levels. Right. This isn't the standard mansion layout, which makes it a bit more interesting, if occasionally bizarre. I mean, I honestly cannot believe Lara would keep crocodiles in her own house - surely she must have seen more than enough of the damn things on her travels. According to the readme, this is the first of a five parter and is perhaps best treated as a brief taster for things to come. Certainly, it's very short, with only rudimentary gameplay, but hopefully things will perk up a bit in part two. Anyway, you just have to warm to a builder who prefaces a readme with the words"be a dear"." - Jay (27-Sep-2006)
"You can end the level in less than a minute, but then you missed some fun. So don't go opening the front door, you hear, as that is the finishing trigger. At least I hope so, as at my end it was. Finding three keys opening the three closed doors. Found no way to open the other doors though. There is a nice block puzzle (with no sound) and some jumping over knives but they hardly harmed Lara. The only enemies I encountered were some crocs. The level could use some tweaking with the lights, as it was quite bright and also a bit in the game play department as there isn't that much to do apart from running around trying to find more things to do in this short level." - Gerty (24-Sep-2006)
"I used to think that level builders built joke levels because they thought they were being clever. Because it was a way for them to mess with people. I was wrong. People build joke levels because things can only get better after that. Expectations are lowered, and people are likely to be nicer because it's such a great improvement over the previous level. And it is. This is supposedly the first level in a five-level epic. The author apparently decided to start with the cliche mansion level. Luckily, it's not the same mansion we're used to. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot to do in this new mansion. The main quest seems to revolve around getting into the trophy room, where Lara keeps the Iris (all the other artefacts have been donated to charity or something). You swim with some crocodiles, dodge a few boulders, and move quite a lot of blocks. It's nothing new, and don't expect to spend longer than somewhere between five and ten minutes in this level, depending on how long it takes you to solve the tedious block puzzle. Since it's actually possible to just leave the mansion at any time, I'm not completely sure if the trophy room was the end, but I couldn't find anything else to do. The texturing is adequate, but could have been improved quite a bit. The lighting is more or less non-existent. Some of the objects are placed rather well, but others seem out of place (what was the point of the crate filled with medipacks?) or don't work correctly (my dreams of dancing on the dinner table were shattered). My main gripe, though, is that there isn't much gameplay in this mansion. And while that was okay back in 1998 when Tomb Raider 3 was released, we're all good enough at the game now to not need yet another training level. This is definitely an improvement over the author's previous level, but there's still a long way to go until he has reached the epic adventure he's trying to create. If he can keep the curve going upwards, he might just succeed. Oh, and a note to the author: no need to include the sound samples when you release a level as a TR4 file - they're only needed with TOM files." - Magnus (09-Sep-2006)
"Since this is only the first level in a trilogy, expectations are that the games will improve over time and that at some stage the author will return to this and go into a frenzy of editing and redesigning. Which is no bad thing; the same process is true of any art or craft. And while this is a good practise level, it doesn't claim to be anything else but that - a practise on the author's part to get to grips with the editor and learn its tools. While the mansion layout is fresh (love the sweeping staircase), lighting and texturing are still unfinished leaving many rooms 'flat'. It was great to hear the return of some old fashioned TR melodies playing in the background, but some of the object placements let the rest of the level down (sorry Chris, but plantpots don't belong in kitchens ;)). The warm wooden panel textures used throughout the mansion gave it a pleasant atmosphere - totally different to that of the mansion in the official games - but again, the lighting let it down. The puzzles were standard TR-fare, but since you could end the level at any time by flipping the door switch I was left a little bemused at the author's intentions. If this is solved by making the level ending more definitive (in an improved Trophy Room?) then the game as whole will instantly become more rounded. A good start for a beginner, but more work - particularly on lighting and creating a mood - is needed." - Jennifer (09-Sep-2006)