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Anniversary Manor by Skyler Ortega

Ceamonks890 2 4 2 2
DJ Full 4 3 2 4
eRIC 2 3 4 3
eTux 2 2 1 2
Gerty 2 2 2 2
Jay 2 4 4 4
John 5 4 3 4
Jose 1 2 1 3
manarch2 1 2 1 2
MichaelP 2 4 3 3
Moonpooka 3 4 4 3
Orbit Dream 2 2 2 3
Ryan 2 3 2 2
Treeble 1 3 2 3
Wendee 2 3 3 1
 
release date: 15-Jun-2008
# of downloads: 71

average rating: 2.58
review count: 15
 
review this level

file size: 17.40 MB
file type: TR4
class: Home
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
skylerortega11@yahoo.com

Reviewer's comments
"You know despite its clear lack of problems, issues and the fact its clearly unfinished and too short i actually quite liked exploring around this mansion and outside area. i mean yes theres lots of issues with stretched textures, no lighting, wafer thin walls and clearly unfinished rooms but other areas are actually very nicely done! i liked the puzzle with motorbike in the maze, finding the switch and artifact in the aquarium was a task i enjoyed as well, and the placement of other artifacts and switches in sneaky little secret areas as well were very well done, for example the chimney and a secret alcove behind a bookcase, clever! its only a shame there wasnt more interesting puzzles, tasks or things were more polished but i spy an "enhanced anniversary manor" level by this author so i'll have to check that out!" - John (08-Aug-2021)
"A manor level, well you know the score and this is no different. A veritable yawnfest of backtracking and running around, with only the picking up of an item or the pulling of a switch to break the monotony. The rooms are much larger than they should necessarily be and the texturing is very bland (I know next-generation textures are used, but in this case it doesn't disguise the crudity of it all). This builder has progressed much better since this dubious effort, so this level is pretty much pointless in this day and age." - Ryan (26-Feb-2018)
"This offering was not much better than the builder's debut to be honest. Huge, very messily textured halls, endless running around for half a dozen of levers and as many items, only to find the finish trigger being opened up by a single lever in the maze (which is even worsely designed as the rest, with end-of-the-world moments and horrible texturing everywhere). I'm glad to see the builder has evolved over the time, so we can put this level into the category "(almost) first try" and see it as a curiosity today. 15 minutes." - manarch2 (21-Nov-2017)
"Yet another Mansion level which I had somehow missed (how many more are there remaining for me to play,lurking in the shadows of the Level Index?);and,upon re-reading my review of this same author's "Enhanced Anniversary manor" I can really do little more than suggest that any interested potential players browse through my comments for that particular release,as they uncannily replicate my feelings about this (earlier) level.Skylar has gone on to far better things,so I would much rather people play his more recent levels,as this particular offering is really a waste of anybody's time." - Orbit Dream (18-Jan-2015)
"Another manor remake, but this time, as it looked in TR Anniversary(or at least, it tries to be.) Instead, what we have here is a rather uneventful trek around the manor, involving several switches and levers to pull in between rather dull moments of running back and forth, from one badly-textured room to the next, with literally nothing standing in your way. While the author has added some well-fitting objects and dabbled with the lighting somewhat in attempts to bring a little more life to his creation, the final result still leaves the level with a rather empty feeling throughout and a lot to be desired. Overall, an improvement from the builder's initial debut, but not by much. In this day and age however, it's only really worth playing if you wanted to know how Skyler Ortega started out, before he became the established builder he is today. Otherwise, simply don't bother with this release." - Ceamonks890 (13-May-2014)
"After thinking for a while, I decided to give 1 point for the cameras. They are very unfinished, but the author's concept is clear and the flybys show what they should. Texturing is sometimes fine, but sometimes monotonous and stretched, so it results in 2 points only. Lighting is acceptable, and in some places good. This also results in 2 points "in my rating system this means "overall average". No enemies, and it's rather a pity, because we find all those weapons and ammo useless and all this time we spend on picking them up appears to be wasted. Objects are very pretty. Maybe not so complex, but they make good environment, especially in the passages, really resembling those from Anniversary Manor. And I had a pleasure to find some fine secrets. Overall gameplay is average, as well as the puzzles. SUMMARY: Wanna watch first steps of Skyler Ortega? Play this level. But don't expect something unusual. All in all, it's an average manor." - DJ Full (27-Oct-2010)
"It's far from even resembling the Anniversary manor, but at least the effort was there. The rooms are all huge, boxy and empty however and you don't really do a whole lot other than running about. Object placement was rather obscure (a piano by the pool, seriously?) and texturing is nothing to get excited about either. Not to mention the few fly-by cameras that are actually "fly-through". When I reached the maze outside I got shivers just by the looks of that area, but I was rather happy to learn there's no maze, just a huge room with a couple of narrow corridors and a bike you can get stuck in every corner. There are many other mansion levels out there, surely one is bound to please you better than this one. I found four of the artifacts. Oh, and I actually liked the concept of the armory room. 25 minutes. 11/08" - Treeble (01-Nov-2008)
"Well, apart from the paper thin walls and the hugeness of the manor, I must say I rather enjoyed this 30 minute run around. Lara explores the manor for artefacts, of which I found 1, 2, 3 and the TR1 Scion. You also get to explore the garden and use the bike in the maze. The textures are really nice but needed some attention when placing them. It was also very bright in my game. Most rooms are quite empty, and one or two levers are used to proceed. At the end I found a huge stash of cool weaponry and had loads of fun trying out the new guns; especially the new assault rifle. Ok, so all in all not a bad level, but there needed a tad more to do, plus the rooms could have been made slightly smaller to add to give the manor a bit more of a"lived in" feel. Very nice though, and now I will move on to the"Enhanced Anniversary Manor" level." - Moonpooka (09-Sep-2008)
"Well, eeerrrr,... Yes, this builder is learning some things, bumpmapping, texturing water,.. but there are another more important things to make a playable level. The most important thing is that there must be any puzzle to entertaining the players. Running around and around only admiring the decoration, pulling some switch or picking up some item is not funny for anybody. A decent level can't be builded in seven hours. The rooms are too much huge and square, with few furniture, wafer thin walls and stretched textures always give a bad impression, rooms with nothing to do disorient the players,... I think the author must play a level high rated, see the features and try to learn a little." - Jose (29-Jul-2008)
"As the title suggest, house level alert, so put your running shoes on. This house is huge and even if there are couches and bookcases enough it still feels rather empty. Use a lever here and a lever there and pick up some artefacts you can take home with you, including an arsenal of weapons. There are still textures that need attention, paper-thin walls and indeed some rather odd things floating here and there." - Gerty (26-Jun-2008)
"First of all, I wanted to express my gratitude to Jay for remembering that I was only 14 when I built my first level, as I would've used that as a counter-argument against the age thing here too. Now, maybe I wouldn't say my level was amazingly good myself, but given the work put into it, I think I did well. And reading that the author put in a whopping 7 hours for this manor, I am not surprised to see the result as it is. Sure, it's an improvement from his initial effort, but besides the training that the tutorial level + manual offer, what a level needs is also quite some time and effort invested into it. Having just experienced how Titak seemingly tirelessly spent the weekend in the German TR meeting working on Door objects only (!) for an upcoming level, and juxtaposing it with the level here, I think it's fair to deduct that there is some correlation between the time invested and the outcome. Now, I'm not saying that that's the dedication everyone will be willing to devote to the hobby - and I can totally understand different builders drawing the line in different places, but I guess it's not hard to imagine that there should be some middle ground if you want a decent result. As it is - the level looks uninspired (not to mention that most of its areas are based on the Legend/Anniversary manor - though that may have not been a bad thing if executed well), the pickup hunt seems entirely pointless, and while the set of guns provided is pretty cool, there's nothing to practice them on, and at best the gameplay relies on some of the manor-cliche's everyone who's played a custom level will know of. I wouldn't call this level a success from where I stand, but then again - I respect the author's right to build his levels as he likes, and if this is it - who am I to judge what he should or should not do?" - eTux (26-Jun-2008)
"It shows that the author has developed new skills in level building. It seems he is working on a multi-levels adventure and maybe this mansion is a prequel or a kind of warm up , as there are fancy weapons to collect but no enemies in this mansion ? Anyway I suppose that if you have already played TRA, this mansion level should be of no interest for you. As for me, the interest was to see this set of textures in game, also some of the objects ; it is a pity that some of the textures are stretched and there is thin walls galore. I don't know why the author has made this manor so big, you spend almost all of your time running, and besides that caused my screen to become very jerky and slow in the hedge maze. There is one room where the lighting was good (having a sun bulb), while in the majority of the others Lara does not appear in 3D. The gameplay is really poor, at least the gymnasium could have been put to good use to hide one of the artefacts Lara is looking for (you can monkey swing and make a series of jump/slides there but for nothing) ? There is a motorbike you have to use to trigger the flyby opening the last door. This flyby by the way should need quite a bit of rework. Anyway, it is encouraging to see a new builder improving his skills and I am curious to see what the upcoming series will look like." - eRIC (20-Jun-2008)
"I did not play Skylars other level, but did see in the readme that he/she is only 14. I tried to keep this in mind while playing. I actually enjoyed the level in the beginning because I kept thinking about this kid on summer break working hard to make a fun level to play. And it was kind of fun. But, then I kept falling through things, finding pickups in unorthodox places (by luck), and going up and down the stairs. I did like the new swimming sound! Of course Skylar will improve and I look forward to the next set of levels to be offered." - Wendee (19-Jun-2008)
"Certainly a step forward vs the author's debut, but I guess my real hopes go with the upcoming adventure announced in the readme, as this one here is yet another mansion level, which offers plenty of running around in huge oversized rooms which are rather carelessly textured and lit and not much else. There are still thin walls, texture issues around the raising blocks and other things that need more fine tuning, but this young author is beginning to get there." - MichaelP (16-Jun-2008)
"This may not be a particularly brilliant level, but it certainly represents a good learning curve for this young builder, being a very definite improvement over his first offering. In his readme, Skylar describes himself as"only 14", and I couldn't help but remember that eTux was that age when he gave us the amazingly good Armageddon's Temple, which probably indicates that real talent knows no age boundaries. Still I digress and I certainly don't want to denigrate Skylar's efforts, because if he continues to improve at this rate he could soon be bringing us something worth playing. Keep up the good work." - Jay (16-Jun-2008)