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Secrets of Palace Midas (Demo) by CosmicDust4444

alan 9 9 10 9
DJ Full 8 9 8 7
Drakan 7 7 7 7
eRIC 6 7 6 5
Gerty 6 7 6 6
janachorider 7 7 8 7
Jay 6 7 7 6
Jose 6 7 6 6
lokky99101 7 7 7 8
manarch2 5 7 7 6
MichaelP 6 8 8 7
Orbit Dream 5 7 8 8
Phil 7 7 7 7
Ryan 6 6 7 7
The Snarky Lesbian 5 6 7 4
Torry 7 7 8 6
Treeble 6 7 7 6
Xela 7 6 6 6
 
release date: 19-Jul-2013
# of downloads: 77

average rating: 6.83
review count: 18
 
review this level

file size: 39.00 MB
file type: TR3
class: Rome/Greece
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
a.lz_90@yahoo.com

Reviewer's comments
"A different take on Palace Midas from TR1 under the TR3 engine so graphics are a little better but not as good as when using the glide file available these days. I did not like the walk through walls and there was also a monkey swing that was impossible to spot so the walk through is a must folks. As per the original level you are tasked with finding three lead bars and turning them to gold. One took me forever to find and without the walk through I would still be looking for it. Also the receptacles to change the lead to gold were not obvious but apart from these failings a decent raid of around 20 minutes." - Torry (08-Jan-2020)
"This was a nice tribute to the original TR1 under the TR3 engine. The starting room is remade 1:1, but from there it's an all new adventure. Gameplaywise there isn't much to it, sadly, you must locate a few hidden levers and then three iron bars (one of which is sneakily hidden in a spike pit and gets covered by the break-away floor, so pay close attention to camera clues). I admit I also was a bit at a loss as how to convert the bars into gold, but Phil's walkthrough got me on my way. There was also a rather brief cameo appearance from (a clone of) Sophia and general nods to TR1 such as the Midas statue supposedly melted down and a centaur "statue". I noticed at least one untextured spot and in a few areas (such as the wall in the area with the tent) the texturing felt like patchwork, plus the one monkeyswing ceiling was not obvious enough in my opinion. It's rather on the short side, so it's a pity we never got the complete release with the other two levels the author had planned. 20 minutes, 4 secrets. 01/20" - Treeble (05-Jan-2020)
"Interesting level for a return to Midas with its lead bars to change to gold. The texturing and lighting are not perfect and there are some strange noises in some places (may be normal given the location). I liked this short demo level." - Drakan (28-Oct-2019)
"Certain inconsistency with holes, sometimes you die sometimes you don't, and at least one time you softlock in them but other than that it's cool and would be a little masterpiece if only lighted and shaded properly. Impressive how all those experimental features have worked, remarkable how such a small level can be so immersive, and surprising how well a blend of TR1 and TR2 works in TR3 engine, which in this case feels cuter and comfier than TR4. Recommended, and I wonder what happened to the builder because 6 years and no word raise a certain concern." - DJ Full (18-Jul-2019)
"This short level is really strange and all over the place. First of all, I really like revisiting stages from TR1 (one of the best TR games) especially Palace Midas. With all that gold flowing around and creating a hazard, that is really cool. However that room looks kinda strange with the hole in the ceiling, same for another room. Are Palace Midas and the Colosseum not so far underground that they are essentially below the main structure of St. Francis Folly? In any way, the broken of ceiling makes it look like there are missing textures, maybe because the skybox looks so bland. There is also quite a bit of flickering in many areas that ruined the experience a bit. Also the Lions use TR3's dog enemy AI, not the TR1 Lion AI, but this was made in the TR3 engine, so I understand why it works that way, no loss of points there.
The gameplay generally flows well enough, but some of the riddles are a bit obtuse, like the one with the pressure plates that require a bit of playing around, or finding an iron bar in one of the spike traps. Not just is it finiky to get into them without dying, because the broken floor lies among the spikes like rubble it's basically impossible to know that an Iron Bar is there, unless you just try them all out (which I did). All of the secrets are pitifully easy to find, but it's the first level of a set to come, so I am not expecting too much. What was however a bit odd is that you get Arrows, Shotgun Shells and Grenades in a level that does not award you either of the weapons required to use them. But Uzis easy for anyone to find that had not a single ammo drop in the level. I would that attribute that to this level being a demo too I guess, but it still feels super unrewarding for a Demo to find useless pickups.
Work on the flickering textures, make the secrets less obvious and you can have a very good level on your hands." - The Snarky Lesbian (27-Feb-2019)
"A short adventure featuring Sophia Leigh! One of my favourite Tomb Raider characters. Sometimes she scared me because I didn't expect her xD. Nice death when Lara steps on Midas' hand, just like TR1. Indeed, almost everything is like TR1, the lead bars, Midas, a building with something on top... I don't think ghost walls are a good idea because you don't know where they are, so you have to check every wall. If this is a demo I hope to see the full game/level." - alan (15-Oct-2016)
"Didn't mind this trle at all the lighting was good not too dark the secrets were not super hard to find like in other trle the enimies weren't hard to kill because there were a few lions and some aligators and there was this Sophia look a like running all over the place even tho we only see her twice but I think the author missed some textures also there were some levers that were quite hard to spot also there was a bar that was too hard to find as it was hidden in a spike pit there were also so some new areas and some old ones that were like palace Midas in tr1 but overall not a bad level I'm just waiting for the full version to come out now :)" - lokky99101 (25-Jan-2016)
"As it is a demo for a possible future full version, I can't rate it high yet. But what I saw was promising and brought back the TR1 nostalgia for me. Very nice!" - Ryan (20-Dec-2015)
"Somehow I missed playing this at time of release and as I got to it now, I thankfully had the walkthrough nearby, so that the obscure elements of gameplay did not bother me much (the impossible to see iron bar in the spike pit, a few walkthrough walls, the one gold square that is not deadly etc). What you get is a pretty fast paced 30 minute adventure with the classic Midas elements and it is fun in that regard - not more, not less. Amazingly the author managed to cramp 6 secrets into this short Level nonetheless." - MichaelP (19-May-2015)
"I enjoyed this level,its almost a remake of the Palace Midas from tr1 with new áreas.i think if the builder could watch where he put the textures the level could be better.im still waiting for the full versión." - janachorider (11-Jan-2014)
"Not bad but why call it a demo as for me this looked like a normal level. You goal is getting your hands on some lead bars to change them into gold. Not nice was the strange collision I encountered with the huge feet of a statue and totally unfair was one lead bar hidden in a spiked pit with a collapsible tile on top of it all. Saw a missing texture and some others that could use some attention but the choice of textures, as well as the enemies, did fit the story." - Gerty (19-Nov-2013)
"Not bad this demo with some original ideas and nice to play with a mixture of old environments. There are some missed sounds and the texturization sometimes have not a good appearance, but the level is enjoyable anyway. I think the spiked pit where the metal bar was should not be covered with a breakable tile; that way players could see the item and think something to get it or so, otherwise it's almost impossible that a player has curiosity to explore a small deadly pit one tile wide. Looking forward for the final release of this adventure." - Jose (13-Aug-2013)
"This is a pleasant but fairly short TR3 level that appears to be the first of a multi-level release. I played it to write a walkthrough and was greatly assisted by the earlier reviews and the comments in the stuck thread. I found five of the six secrets on my own, albeit one by accident (the one you get right after a phantom wall where you slide a couple of times and jump to grab a crawl space). The one I missed also involved a phantom wall, and manarch2 provided the necessary hint for me to locate that one. Despite the obscure nature of some of the tasks, I felt that everything fit together quite well and I enjoyed the gameplay as it unfolded. Something nobody else seems to have experienced is the neat way Lara dies if she jumps onto the open hand in the first gold room. A worthwhile download." - Phil (08-Aug-2013)
"Aside from a missing texture,and lighting that could be a little more dynamic and varied,there's little to fault in this Demo construction wise;and,in terms of visual ideas,plenty to praise.The atmosphere is pretty potent,there are loads of nooks and crannies to explore(usually with a suitable reward),and an effective placement of enemies (including a rather more homicidal variant on Sophia,who crops up a couple of times at somewhat awkward but entertaining moments).What absolutely lets it down,though,are a couple of truly abhorrent gameplay concepts which I sincerely hope will be changed in the completed level.1)A lever cheatingly hidden behind one of very many small tress,and 2) an important pick-up (a lead bar) in a pit of spikes;which not only can't actually be seen when looking in,but can only be accessed by dropping into the pit at a very specific angle.If it hadn't been for the Stuck Forum,I would never have been able to guess the 'solution' to this particular 'puzzle',as it brazenly cheats the player. Aside from that,there were displays of imagination which were rather fun,especially the transformation of the lead bars into gold (a device which was perfectly logical to work out for those of us of a lateral frame of mind). All in all,this was a decent and well put together Demo,and the builder shows talent - provided they ensure that the gameplay remains fair!" - Orbit Dream (22-Jul-2013)
"I'm not the biggest fan of TR3 levels, always finding them a bit frustratingly 'clunky' compared to TR4. Having said that, it was still rather agreeable to visit Palace Midas again to change some iron bars into gold. Ah nostalgia. Initially, the game looks very much like the original (I even seem to recall the well hidden wall switch), but after that it becomes very much a re-imagined Palace Midas. Enemies are mainly lions, which made me jump once or twice by leaping out when I least expected it. Apart from that, there's a mad female with a deadly weapon (Sophia?) but as I couldn't seem to kill her I just ran away until she disappeared. It took me almost half an hour to complete, due to one of the iron bars being rather cunningly hidden. In fairness, the builder did make Lara 'look' at the spot, but I still failed to get the connection for a while. I also managed to miss two of the six secrets. As demos go, it certainly shows promise of being an entertaining game, but, as usual, it's hard to judge on such a small taste." - Jay (22-Jul-2013)
"35 minutes in this demo. The builder may hope for feedback before releasing the whole game. Firstly , the level is quite interesting with some good ideas. I particularly enjoyed the 5 pad puzzle with the torches. The holes to change the iron bars into gold was intuitive for me and provided a good moment when finding out it could be certainly there (only the yellow lava texture before one of the 3 holes was confusing) ; the monkey swing above the trapdoor was rather evident although it would be good to add some greenery to better indicate it. A few things did not worked very well : the iron bar in the spikes hole , as you can't even see it , while the same placement was quite okay for the visible secret. In the same room there seemed to be two trapdoors at mid height, but only one had a use. The other one confused me. Another mystery : I wonder why some other player has met a female enemy when all enemies I met were animals. Or perhaps the trigger is only when you found some secret , I got only 3 out of 6... Some small bugs to be mentioned that perhaps could be fixed in the whole game : a strange sound of quick footsteps , some textures could be fixed , and lighting is totally absent in the first garden room. Anyway , a TR3 demo that proposes some difference with the norm , and I guess that the whole game will be interesting." - eRIC (21-Jul-2013)
"This is certainly something a level with a difference. I applaud the builder for several good ideas, but some things in this level are a bit too obscure and thus this might not be appreciated. The negative things first: The two levers at the start were way too well hidden as well as the players sometimes have to guess what to do next, such as finding the receptacles for the iron bars, for of of those you even have to jump into the seemingly deadly lava, and the iron bar hidden by a fallen breaktile is a big no-no for me. The ladders and monkeyswings aren't really well marked, though that's not such a bad thing, as well as the invisible opening for one of the secrets. Lighting could have been a bit brighter and not that uniformly grey. Everything else, even if very short, is quite interesting - from pulling a block to fill a pool with lava over a Tomb of Seth reminiscent torch puzzle to the nice way of turning the iron bars into gold (I raised the score of the second category by two points just because I think the concept is brilliant). The atmosphere is rather nicely done with the few outside areas where it rains, and solid usage of music. Still the gameplay is not the most involved as the amount of tasks is a bit low and the game mainly lives from the few highlights and some unorthodox secrets, but I definately enjoyed it for what it is. Finished in less than 20 minutes with six secrets and having left Francine where she is because I didn't have enough ammo left. For the builder - try to add a few more gameplay elements to this level and try to give more obvious hints to the player on what to do next; then I think this could be a very nice game." - manarch2 (20-Jul-2013)
"I had to concede defeat on this one, as I could not find the third lead bar after about an hour of searching everything I could think to search. But I believe I got the feel of what the author is trying to portray in this demo. Let me start with what I enjoyed. The concept is kind of cool, getting to roam around in Palace Midas again, but with a makeover. The first room is exactly the same as in TR1, but we get to see further into the Palace, which is apparently falling into ruins, with fire-gold-lava everywhere (not exactly sure what happened here). It was a nice tribute to the original, while still leaving room to grow in its own direction. Now for what I liked, but would enjoy even more with improvements. I was kind of hoping to see a completed version of Midas, as that was the original intention of the TR1 team. I guess that there's no inherent problem with it remaining as just the legs, and it might not even be possible (or feasibly plausible) to created the complete structure. But it's something to think about. I found it odd that there were camera cues for nearly all of the secrets I found (four), but not for when random things were opening or closing, like a gate that I heard opening when I stepped on a random tile. And there are a few bugs that need to be flushed out; not a big deal, since it's just a demo. There was a missing texture on top of the roof of the building where one of the bars was found. A couple of the slanted tiles in the Midas room floated with the gold-lava, not sure if it was intentional. After the lead bars are turned into gold, the apparatus left behind an awkward shadow, because of whatever was used to get the effect. And once I put the two bars in their final places, I heard this weird running sound, like someone was glitching into a wall. Now for what I'm iffy about, namely the atmosphere. I'm just not sure if the original TR1 textures fit well with the TR3 music, items, etc. It just felt weird to me. Maybe that's just a fluke experience, or that's what was intended, but the demo kind of befuddled me. I don't want to harp on the idea too much, because it certainly has potential, especially since I can't really pinpoint what exactly bothers me about the atmosphere. I'd say that this isn't a bad start, but there is definitely room for improvement. The author may also want to consider changing the room full of random spike and lava pits, simply because it's very disorienting to look at. Keep at it though!" - Xela (19-Jul-2013)