LEVELBASE ADVENT CALENDAR 2012 - CHRISTMAS DREAMS

Level by Pat Chancey (Mugs)

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Lara begins the level in a closet.  Someone has stolen all her clothes save a pair of boots, but has thoughtfully left behind a few Christmas presents.  Turn around and open the closet doors.  Exit to a little seasonal Tchaikovsky and find yourself in a den which seems to have been decorated by someone who's had too much Christmas spirits.  Pick up a small medipack from the carpet near the fireplace. 

Go around to the S side of the fireplace and look up to see a shimmy crack in the wall near the grandfather clock.  Back flip onto the sloped fireplace and jump off to grab the crack.  Shimmy left and pull up.  Note the green alcove ahead, but let's save that for later.  Hop back down to the floor and locate the red and white candy striped flooring.  Stand at the edge of the deep S opening near the Christmas tree and face N.  Hop back as if to grab the edge, but wait a split second until Lara clears the edge and hit the control key to glide into the opening below. 

Safety drop to the floor and enter the W crawl space for SECRET #1.  Pick up the GIFT and exit the way you came.  Pull up S, turn around and take a standing jump N and grab the higher opening.  Pull up, run forward and climb up the ladder to your right through a hole that has magically appeared in the floor behind the sofa. 

Go to the E edge of the candy striped floor and jump SE into the passage.  There are two pushblocks in the E wall of the passage.  Push the left one two times, go in and around and push the second block into the passage.  Go around and into the passage, climb up onto the second block and into the green alcove S for a TEDDY BEAR.  

We're through here, so get back to the den and use that shimmy crack to get up S.  Get into the green alcove, turn around and take a running jump to grab the swingpole.  Swing around, jump off and grab a second swingpole N.  Jump off that one and land in a passage high up in the N wall.  Follow to a storage area for Santa's reindeer and enjoy a little Gene Autry nostalgia as he sings about Rudolph with the red nose. 

The reindeer are remarkably sanitary, as there's nothing for you to shovel out of the way.  However, as you roam around petting the reindeer you'll suddenly fall through a phantom hole in the floor and slide down to a lower area.  Make your way around SW and crawl into the opening for SECRET #2 and another GIFT.   Crawl back out and locate the NW wall switch which lowers a trap door in the reindeer stall. 

To get out, stand in the center of this lower area facing the S slope.  Back flip and jump off the N slope to grab the opening in the floor of the reindeer stall.  Pull up and go to the hay storage area in the E wall where the trap door lowered.  Pull up into the hay bin and turn right to pull up S through the open trap door.  Dixieland Christmas music starts playing as you make your way up the stairs to a collection of hay clusters.  Pick up the small medipack and jump N across the gap (watching out for the central beam in the ceiling).  Use control to avoid hitting your head against the wall.  Step forward and pull down the switch in the N wall to open the door behind you in the S wall.  It's timed, so don't waste precious seconds getting back across (and don't forget to hit the control key as you jump the gap).

In the next area, save your game just in case, then turn around and slide backwards down the long E slope, grabbing the edge at the bottom.  Shimmy left until you've reached the "ho ho" texture, pull up and take a rolling back flip to the E green slope.  Slide down, grab the edge and shimmy right as far as you can.  Pull up, take another rolling back flip and repeat.  Shimmy left into the "ho ho" texture and take a final rolling back flip from near the wall.  You'll land safely inside a passage.

Run to the far end and jump carefully NE onto the blue block.  Note the artifact down below E.  Jump N and grab the shimmy crack.  Shimmy right around two corners and drop down onto a "ho ho" block.  You can see an opening down SW, but you can't reach it from here.  Instead, jump SE to the green pillar and continue SE to the next ledge to pick up that small medipack you saw earlier.  If you look down SE from here, you can see a door that needs to be opened.  You can also see a narrow opening SW and an alcove high up in the N wall.

For now, hop back and grab the edge, release and grab the crack below.  Safety drop to the floor, at the cost of considerable health, and locate a pushblock in the SE corner.  Pull it back along the E wall four times so that it comes to rest beneath an otherwise inaccessible opening in the E wall.   Pull up into that opening and drop down the other side.  SE is a ledge, and beyond that is a trap door you'll raise for a timed run in just a minute.  But for now, run E and get into the crawl space at the floor for SECRET #3 and another GIFT.

Get back and through the W passage to the other side.  Hop down from the block and continue W through the tall passage.  Loop around to the right and locate a timed wall switch that raises the trap door you saw just now.  After pulling it, return quickly through the passage and hop onto the pushblock and into the opening in the E wall.  Run forward, hop down to your right and hop S onto the ledge.  Angle a standing jump onto the raised trap door and back flip or side flip as necessary to reach the ledge above. 

As you approach the closed door W (the one you saw earlier from above), it swings open.  However, there's a barrier ahead that first needs to be lowered, so stand in front of the nearby green slope E and back flip to the W slope behind you.  Bounce back and forth a couple of times until you can curve left off the W slope to land on a breaktile.  Turn left and jump up to the next breaktile, then quickly turn left and jump to the high W slope.  Slide down and grab the edge.  Shimmy as appropriate until you're at the left portion of the candy striped wallpaper ahead and below.  Pull up and take a rolling back flip.  Grab the edge of the alcove and pull up.  Step forward and pull down the wall switch to lower that barrier I mentioned earlier.  Turn around, sidestep away from the switch, jump back to the slope and safety drop to the floor.

Approach the opened door W and jump the gap.  Continue with a running jump W to the alcove and pull up to find a wall switch that opens the doors leading outside.  Turn to your right and see another block lowering in front of you.  Before going there, however, turn back and jump E across the gap (don't let the lowered wall switch get in your way).  Pull up and face SW.  Jump to grab the gap in the S wall and pull up into the crawl space.  Drop down the other side and pick up the TEDDY BEAR.  Get down two levels and approach the S "ho ho" wall.  Turn to your left and push the block to reveal a wall switch.  Pull it to lower a block down below so you can continue down and exit N.  To get back up, however, you have to repeat the timed run.  In the alternative, and to save a little time, you can simply jump back up to the crawl space after picking up the teddy bear.  Get to the other side and shimmy left along an invisible crack so you can drop down onto the lowered block.

Take a running jump W and grab the edge of the alcove.  Pull up and follow to your right.  Hop the gap, pull up onto the green block and hop up NE.  Jump SE to the green pillar and turn to jump N into the alcove.  Go outside into the softly falling snow to the strains of "White Christmas" (and later, "Winter Wonderland").  Watch out for that water down below.  It's not frozen, but it'll freeze your buns off if you fall in.   Stand at the NW corner of the pond and take a running jump across to the NE cleft as a boulder rolls down behind you into the icy water and an ice platform is raised somewhere.  Step forward and Lara will look up at the nearby tree.  But what is attracting her attention?  (As it turns out, it's a icy trap door just past the tree that she needs to raise.)

Take standing jumps NW toward the towering bridge.  Beyond it in the N wall is a hard-to-see opening near a tree.  Pull up into this passage, run to the far end and turn around to activate a jump switch.  This raises the icy trap door you saw earlier, but you still need to find a way to get to it.  Hop down out of the passage and go to the W end of the bridge.  You can see a ice boulder poised at the top of the ramp.  To shake it loose, jump onto the ramp and keep going as the boulder rolls by and comes to rest in a hole. 

Climb the block next to the hole and continue up N.  An icy trap door has been raised there, so pull up onto it and hop into the N passage.  Run to the far end and pick up a TEDDY BEAR.  Get back down and face two icy trap doors S that have also been raised through your previous endeavors.  Take running jumps to them, then turn left and make a tricky running jump E.  Stand on the far right side of the trap door and turn slightly left before starting your running jump.  Veer slightly to your right in midair so that Lara clears the overhang.  Keep the action key depressed so that Lara grabs the ledge just beyond the overhang. 

Pull up and go to the far end of the ledge, hopping over the mound of ice along the way.  Take a curved running jump N to the top of the bridge and run E to the other end.  Lara takes a look over at that raised icy trap door far below as she reaches the S edge of the bridge.  Take a running jump slightly SW down to that trap door, losing a good bit of health upon landing.  Take a running jump SW onto the roof line and follow to the corner where the snow has accumulated.  Jump to a flat spot in the corner and pull up E onto the roof.  Jump forward to the higher flat spot and step forward to pull up yet higher.  Go to the corner ahead and pick up the GIFT for SECRET #4.  Get back down to the lower roof line and go around past the windows to the other end.  Hop down into the colorful passage and locate the ladder in the S wall.

Climb the ladder to the second from the top rung and take a rolling back flip to grab the passage behind you.  Pull up and turn around.  It's a boulder trap, of course.  Take one step back, then hop back to trigger the ice boulder.  Don't run forward and jump to the ladder, or you'll be squished.  Instead, run forward and jump out into the right corner.   The boulder comes to rest right in front of the ladder, naturally, but you can manage to jump at an angle and grab the ladder.  Get back into the boulder passage and run to the top.  Pull up left and follow the passage to a closed door.  Open it and step inside.

To your right is a ladder leading to a closed trap door (to which you'll return soon).  To your left are steps leading up to a quaint little village in a wintry daylight setting.   As you explore there, you'll find two closed doors at opposite ends of the village for which you need keys. 

Go into the alley opposite the entrance to the village.  There's a shop called "Teas & Treats" at the end.  Look near the glass table and two chairs and pick up the key to SNIPPER'S (the beauty salon over in the SW section of the village).  Before leaving here, stand facing W, one block from the W wall, and jump up to grab the roof line.  You can't shimmy past the tree, so pull up and jump back and forth along the roof line, using the arrow keys until you get beyond the tree and reach a flat spot in one of the corners.  If you wind up at the NW corner, take a curved running jump over to the NW corner, and from there a tricky curved standing jump into the alcove for SECRET #5 and the last GIFT.  (If you're content with moral victories, you can trigger the chimes without actually making it all the way into the alcove, but I stuck with it and eventually got there.)

Get down and head over to the beauty salon.  Open the doors and find the place to be unattended.  Go past the lipstick mural into the passage and use the Snipper's key to open the door.  Head up the stairs into the upper room.  Shoot the purple bucket and pick up the HOUSE KEY.  There's also a large medipack in the NE corner and a TEDDY BEAR in the SW corner.  While you're in a destructive mood, shoot out the window and pull up into the sill.  Either jump across to the roof and shimmy over, or take a running jump SW directly into the little courtyard that you couldn't access from down below.  Activate the jump switch attached to what looks like an outhouse.  You hear a trap door opening, but it's not the one right behind you.

To get out of here, go to the SW corner of the courtyard and stand on the highest part of the snow mound facing E.  Side flip left over the fence and head down the steps separating the two courtyards.  That trap down you saw down below is now open, so climb the ladder into an upper passage and pick up the PUZZLE PIECE. 

Now to put that second key to good use.  Return to the village and go left to follow the SW passage.  Open the door with the House Key and enter.   Straight ahead in the living room, amidst all the presents, is a mural where you can insert the Puzzle Piece to open a squeaky door, trigger some relaxing Christmas music, and cause to materialize a "Merry Christmas" greeting.  Turn around and enter the open doorway to end the level.