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Petra-fied by Mike Petruzzi

alan 6 6 7 7
Blue43 6 6 7 7
Dimpfelmoser 6 6 7 7
DJ Full 5 5 6 7
eRIC 8 8 7 8
eTux 5 4 5 6
Gerty 8 7 7 7
Gonxii 7 6 7 8
Jay 7 7 7 7
Jerry 6 6 7 7
Jose 3 4 6 5
Kristina 6 6 7 7
MichaelP 7 6 7 8
Mulf 5 4 5 4
Orbit Dream 6 7 8 6
Phil 8 7 8 8
RaiderGirl 8 7 7 7
Ryan 6 6 7 7
Sash 6 7 6 7
Scott 8 7 8 7
Scottie 9 8 8 9
Torry 6 6 9 10
Treeble 5 6 6 5
vienna 6 7 8 7
 
release date: 04-Apr-2001
# of downloads: 59

average rating: 6.64
review count: 24
 
review this level

file size: 17.00 MB
file type: TR4
class: Egypt
 


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Reviewer's comments
"I’ve been avoiding this level for a long time because I knew there was little chance that I’d not be underwhelmed by its attempt at representing an archaeological site as magnificent as Petra in Jordan; it would take an extraordinarily capable and committed builder to do so in an adequate manner. As a consequence, I loaded the level up with low expectations when I had eventually made my peace with this outlook. But the fact that it is a butt level still caught me by surprise.
The first of these butts can be spotted floating high up in the sky when you turn around right after the initial slide, and as usual it had me wondering whatever it might be that the builder saw fit to place up there. The other butts are placeholders for shatter vases and two types of columns. I learned this from comparing the version currently available, which was compiled with the Tut1 wad, with an earlier version I exhumed from my archive. This latter one, provided by the builder himself, was compiled with a custom wad, and here the shatter vases (from “Catacombs”) and the columns displayed on the temple façade and elsewhere (also from “Catacombs”) are present and correct, which goes some way towards alleviating the level’s sorry looks. This version also comes with the proper sample for the rollingball, missing in the current download as is commonly the case with Tut1 levels.
However, this ‘authorised version’ is a butt level as well. The second type of columns was missing from the builder’s wad too, with the result that in the hub room with the pool, the player gets to see floating platforms (with butts embedded in them) in both versions alike. And to make matters much, much worse, the wall torches—which, by lucky happenstance, show up perfectly correct in the Tut1 version—are replaced by levitating writing desks. While they don’t interfere with gameplay as much as one would expect, there’s a lot of them, and they obviously nip any emergent atmosphere in the bud. Even if they took the floating platforms in stride, few of the early reviewers could help being bemused or befuddled by the many floating desks scattered all around the level. They are certainly not the mark of a builder as capable and committed as one would wish.
I gather from the reviews that for an even earlier version of the level, the builder employed an ‘avantgarde’ way of distribution. It required that prospective players download TRWest (the tool since replaced by Wadmerger) and compile not only the .TOM file, but even the wad by themselves from resources on their hard drive, using scripts provided by the builder. I hazard a guess that this worked out as well as one would expect, i. e. not at all. I found TRWest scripts quite handy back in the day and suspect they were underused (they were not entirely unlike Tomb Editor’s feature of compiling a wad on the fly from various other wads on your HD), but I never considered using them as a means of distribution a viable option. Still, should anybody still be in possession of that version, it would be our best hope to reconstruct the level as it was presumably intended.
For the rest, the level displays the rough-and-ready look typical of such very early efforts, with slapdash patchwork texturing (the texture set is compiled from various sources: Nevada, Tinnos, Karnak and others, plus a few custom textures, some of which are fine in themselves, but usually not used to their best effect), negligible lighting, and unsophisticated room geometry in outside areas (which are also marred by textures stretched to a distracting degree). The looks improve somewhat when it comes to interiors, and technically, the construction is sound; but the builder’s decision to simply not texture the bottom of his bottomless pits at all can only be attributed to laziness, and at least one texture is missing elsewhere as well, in a place where you can’t help noticing. There are, however, a few well-executed flyby sequences and useful cameras, and as mentioned, there is at least one version in which the rollingballs make the sound they are supposed to.
In terms of gameplay, the level doesn’t fare too bad. A tedious pushable chore constitutes the sole puzzle element, but otherwise there’s a reasonably entertaining mix of (mostly mild) platforming, traps, and enemy encounters. The problem is that the most challenging bits—such as a rollingball trap involving a jump from a slope to a ladder, and the jump from that slope to the a secret—are all clustered in the early part of the level, so the level sort of peters out as it progresses; and not just that, you can also bypass the tricky bits completely (as I notice several experienced players have done), only to become irretrievably stuck later on because of a one-way monkeyswing.
There is no prize for you to take home, but there is a sort of finale, a confrontation with three ninjas upon whom you descend while they are engaged in lively conversation. However, you’ll have amassed ample Uzi ammo by that point, so it’s not much of an issue. The builder’s muddle-headedness didn’t do the level any favours, but it could have been a much better debut (and only) level if beta-testing had taken place at some point." - Mulf (04-Jun-2021)
"This starts in some desert-like corridors with a few dogs that get on your way. From this place you have to find the first of the 4 stars that you'll need in the end of the level. After the desert you enter to an egyptian temple or something like that, with some textures from the karnak level. Some cameras are well placed and they show you doors opening or where you have to move a statue. There are various Lara's butts scattered around; I guess those were supposed to act as baddies or other pick-ups but there was an error and now they look like Lara's butt. I liked the tall room with the lion textures and jumping on the floating platforms till getting to the top and then drop to the water. Give this one a try, it's not bad." - alan (21-Feb-2018)
"I missed the first Orion star, so I had to use Trpos-programm to go startplace, where is the ladder to first star. Level style and puzzles are good and I liked atmosphere. Textures are quite good but some fine-tuning could be nice. Recommendable level and it is also very nice example of year 2001 level." - vienna (23-May-2017)
"Catchy title, and a pleasant little raid. Initially it starts in a desert setting but gradually gives way to more impressive architecture, particularly the first sighting of the temple at Petra. It's quite simple gameplay, mainly avoiding traps, activating levers and shooting skeletons and ninjas. A few butts around, I assume they were meant to represent enemies or pickups but I left them for what they are." - Ryan (15-May-2017)
"This looked nice in GTSS and indeed the global graphics work good despite of local mess, but I see it's another sad memory scenario - I simply cannot believe it has been released just like that. One would of course understand single mismatch errors but how is it even possible to put so much effort in placing the pillars and not to realize all of them were replaced with default meshes? And even if such overlooking could somehow occur, how do you manage to ignore all the bug reports and not to repair the game according to them? You also wouldn't retrieve the first star if missed, but in this rare case a graphic error is even more frustrating than a crucial gameplay one. SUMMARY: Got really sorry for this level. If there was a way to recompile correctly, I would." - DJ Full (24-Mar-2016)
"Whilst the best thing about this thirty minute level is undoubtedly the title, I still found it to be quite an enjoyable little adventure. There are four Hands of Orion to find in various areas with mainly exploring, a couple of boulder traps, some ninjas and scorpions to kill and, at one point, several skeletons to blast into a spike put. There's nothing difficult to achieve, but it jogs along nicely. It looks quite well built, although there are a few stretched textures about, but I admire the builder's attempt at portraying the Rose City. Not bad." - Jay (21-Jan-2016)
"This was a very enjoyable level in which you need to find four hands of Sirius (I guess) to open a door leading to exit. Gameplay was easy and you always know wher to go and what to do. There are a few rocks to avoid here and there and a few jumps too. Enemies were scorpios, crocs and ninjas. Atmosphere and texture were good. I recommend this one for half an hour of entertaining raiding." - Gonxii (28-Nov-2015)
"Not bad this level, even when there are a lot of pickups you can't pickup (errors in the wad or in the script so they're showed as a part of Lara's outfit), even when it's difficult to drag a statue with a couple of skeletons disturbing you all the time. I gave a low rate in the gameplay 'cause I had not a way to finish the level. I arrived to the final room with the 4 receptacles for the hands, only with 3 hands and checking the walkthrough I realized that I missed the first one so I tried to go back all the way to the very beginning but unfortunately I was not able to grab the monkeyswing to go back so I had to abandone. There is a good atmosphere, but the textures are not well applied in many surfaces and I missed some more musics here and there. This is what happens when a builder doesn't read carefully the page 70 of the official manual." - Jose (17-Jun-2015)
"Here we have a nice little level with relatively easy and straightforward game play where Lara has to open a few rooms, climb some platforms, do a few nice jumping sequences and pull a couple of levers. The goal is to find four Hands of Orion and place them to access the final area. Unfortunately I missed the very first one right at the beginning and was not able to backtrack because of the monkey swing area, so I ended up having to play through the whole thing twice. There are a couple of enemies in form of dogs, ninjas and skeletons - all easy to dispose of. Most of the texturing and design was simplistic, but there were a couple of rooms that looked very nice. As others mentioned there were strange artifacts in many places of that level, but I didn't think those affected the game a negative way. The lighting wasn't bad at all and the atmosphere was pleasant. Overall it is a decent and easy raid, worth the download. (27min, 2 secrets found)" - Blue43 (09-Jun-2011)
"This old level is characterized by a straightforward and easy gameplay. Besides jumping and climbing it's mainly switches to pull and some enemies like baddies, scorpions and a few skeletons to kill while collecting 4 stars on your way. Seems the builder used a wrong wad as there are some Lara hips lying around. Texturing and lighting is of medium quality and could have been done better, even considering it being a level made in the early days of the level editor. I needed 30 minutes to finish." - Jerry (26-Jul-2009)
"Lara is on the move again, but in Egypt. This time she is in Jordan. More precisely she wants to explore Petra, the old town of the Nabater. Of course this is not so easy, because, as everybody knows, one comes only by a narrow gulch into the rock town. And the leve builder has copied even the most famous building, namely "Khazne al-Firaun", the "Treasure house of the Pharaoh" which is, however, only a rock grave. Lara must find four hands of Orion to open the door which leads to the level end. She must walk through natural and artifical rock caves, push a statue, dive, flee before Spikeballs and fight against skeletons and Baddies. Playing time is about half an hour. Though the "treasure house of the Pharaoh" is not an exact copy of the original, but a strong resemblance exists. Because the level is well built and textured, it gives a lot of pleasure to explore the old rock town. Though a few stretched textures are also to be seen, however, but they are negligible. The skeletons are no problem, because one finds the shotgun and it gives enough holes. The Baddies are not so numerous. Except at the level end. There has assembled a small poker round . Lara wanted to ask, actually whether she can join in, because one can play poker, as everybody knows, also in a group of four. However, nothing became from it, because the Baddies immediately shot at Lara. And with it it was nothing with a regular poker play. On this occasion: Did you know, that the movie "Mission to Mars" was filmed partially in and around Petra?" - Scottie (24-May-2009)
"Here's another of these older levels that I've been able to play only because Harry Laudie has recently provided hassle-free tr4 files that eliminate the laborious and error-prone steps formerly required to build the level properly. Harry has also, by the way, provided the walkthrough for this and other early levels, giving them a fresh exposure demonstrating that even levels released back in 2001 were often skillfully planned and provide much entertainment. I had the privilege of visiting Petra several years ago, and the moment of revelation in this level brought back fond memories of reaching the end of that narrow pass and beholding the magnificent temple carved in the rock face. It's a fairly short raid, a half hour or so, but challenging in spots and very effective in its use of lighting. Play it if you haven't already." - Phil (01-Mar-2006)
"Even with having played quite a lot of levels, I found this to be rather challenging on some points - like escaping the boulder near the start, or finding the 1st secret right before that. The rest is rather simple, so it might be I missed something obvious in the seemingly challenging areas as well, but nevermind that, this was a rather enjoyable play in a desert setting, and as can be guessed from the title lots of stone is involved in the setting too. There are some really nice looking rooms here, especially within the temple, and the lighting is really good mostly, but it still has quite some beginners mistakes like stretched textures and the like. Also - maybe it could've been something on my end, since the level's object set has to be built manually using the author's provided TRwest script - but since others have complained about it too, I suppose it actually is there in the level. Naturally I'm talking about Lara's posteriors all over the place (must've missed the desk everyone's talking about, though). They don't really ruin the experience much, only leave us guessing what they would've been if it had looked like the author had wanted it to look? The enemies are fitting - ninjas and dogs in outside areas and skeletons as guardians in the temple, I also found 3 secrets, of whom I already mentioned the first was the toughest to find. Overall - the toughest thing about this level is the installation, so any player should be off fine, if he/she gets it going, and it defiently is a memorable visit, even if only for such moments like the discovery of the temple, or the couple of fun tasks within it. A decent oldie - try it if you want to." - eTux (20-Aug-2005)
I believe this is the author's first try. There are stretched textures, floating butts and some definitely weird objects in the level (such as burning floating desks). I could have believed I had converted the level with a wrong wad, but since the level is provided as a TR4 the mistake couldn't have been mine. You're looking for four stars of Orion, and in the two times I've played this level I missed the first - be careful, you cannot backtrack legally at some point and thus, if you didn't get the first hand of Orion, you'll have to start over or to DOZY. I chose the latter. Soon after placing the four stars the level ends. 30 minutes, 2 secrets. 07/05 - Treeble (11-Jul-2005)
"Twenty five minutes spent to collect four hands and push a few levers. The spike balls and spike traps are not much trouble and the baddies scorpions and dogs are easily destroyed with the shotgun and Uzi. I found two secrets and enough flares as this is a gloomy level. A couple of skeletons tried to harass Lara but they got spiked. It's an easy level with some kind of desert setting outside and a temple but not the classic one inside. One pushable statue was the only puzzle here and the camera spoiled the fun by showing where it should be placed. Not much to see but enough to have some fun." - Kristina (13-Jan-2003)
"Beginning outside in a mountain gully the aim in this level is to collect 4 Hands of Orion and 3 secrets while winding your way inside and outside buildings set into the mountainside which I have to say wasn't a difficult task. Some of the settings were nice like the outside of the main building as it looked very grand encased in the mountain and the pooled room with the floating platforms but really there didn't seem to be that many areas to explore and play in. Still though this was a cute 30 minutes level that will be a breath of fresh air for all those people sick of playing dark Egyptian styled levels." - Sash (21-Jun-2002)
"Really nice flow in this one for all the 30 minutes it takes. You spend time running through canyons and buildings to pick up four hands. There is a lot of running swimming climbing jumping over platforms - all very entertaining and not overly difficult. Not sure what all the flare pick-ups were for as there is thankfully not much darkness in fact I thought the lighting overall was one of the high points. Dogs scorpions ninjas and once a few skeletons to blast into a pit. A movable object and a very nice pool room. I actually missed the secrets completely so I better go play this one again." - Michael (21-Jun-2002)
"Finally a level that was not too damn dark. Sadly there are other things wrong with it. Most notably the Lara butt infestation is well advanced in this level and I recommend you playing with gloves on as it appears to be spreading. The level is simple enough with the object being finding four of those hand/star thingies but I never found the shotgun and dealing with those skeletons without a decent weapon was a real pain in the BUTT!" - Torry (21-Jun-2002)
"I liked this level a whole lot. The creator did have some interesting innovations when it came to level design. I really enjoyed the physical structure of the levels. The biggest fault of this level was Lara's butt floating in the air not just once but all over the level. Also the enemies were a little boring and predictable. You'll enjoy it all 30 minutes of it." - Scott (21-Jun-2002)
"Petra-fied contains a nice mixture of indoor/outdoor areas some great puzzles and good traps and a search for four hands. I found a great secret right away that involved both a boulder and spike trap and took me three tries to finally get to the secret. Actually it's necessary to find this secret as on the way out I found the first hand. There are more boulder traps spike pits sliding block puzzles pushable object puzzles and tricky monkey swings along the way. After reading some of the other reviews I'm wondering if I converted it correctly. You're supposed to download and use a program called TRWest which is a little annoying in my opinion. Anyway I had no skeletons or desks in my version but I did have quite a few floating butts which were very interesting at one point. I got to a room with two floor switches and some floating butts over a pit of spikes. When I pulled the switch near the pit all the butts walked away and the invisible platform that was over the pit was now gone. It was pretty neat to see all those butts walking off though - I had to reload and watch them again. Later I got to a room with more butts and kept hearing footsteps which was quite spooky - I looked around but never saw any more walking butts - maybe they were supposed to be the skeletons. I kind of liked the effect though. The only enemies I found were a few ninjas and scorpions and they were no trouble at all. Despite a few quirks this is a very enjoyable 30 minute level and I hope the author releases some more work." - RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002)
"This is a nice level to play. It is straightforward but there are some tricky parts in it. Like the first secret that was hard to get. I was amazed at the levitating desk lots of them still don't really know why they are there but at least the author was persistent. More than enough goodies to get enemies that are not hard to battle. I liked the way this level was put together. Definitely worth playing perhaps several times." - Gerty (21-Jun-2002)
"Congratulations to Mike Petruzzi for the smart job of recreating the entrance to the City of Petra. When Lara arrives there you're greeted to a classic Tombraider moment. It's rather a shame that what she finds inside is not particularly memorable. There are a few easily correctable errors with objects (levitating Writing Desks?) and water textures but the level is otherwise good looking and very playable." - Orbit Dream (21-Jun-2002)
"This is a very enjoyable level not difficult. The texturing is well done the outside areas are realistic and the arrival at Petra is a great moment. Not too much enemies but there are some good fights against ninjas skeletons or dogs. The secrets are cool to find. The gameplay and progression are excellent worthy of a true TombRaider level. This level is very good because in ninety per cent of the custom levels there is something irritating in them but not in this one. Enjoyment guaranteed for non expert raiders I have already play it twice." - eRIC (21-Jun-2002)
"Petra-fied has all the trademarks of the amateurish level: Too many levers pick ups you'll never need the surreal element (floating office desks) and finally Lara's butt. Still it's fun to play and won't take you longer than half an hour unless you run past the first hand of Orion (like I have done). There is nothing too tricky here sending the skeletons into the pit being the most challenging action enemy wise. So it petters on with some swimming statue pushing monkeyswinging etc. until you come to the room with the pool and the suspended platforms. And this is really beautiful. When you do your rounds in the water you get a nice camera angle from above that makes you wanna stay there for the rest of the day. Unfortunately there are still five things to pick up four hands of Orion to place three people to kill two jumps to execute and one boulder to avoid." - Dimpfelmoser (21-Jun-2002)