Lucas: "To start, the basic. How was your first contact with Tomb Raider?"

Renato: "I always liked playing games since the old Game and Watch, then Atari, later Nintendo and then Super Nintendo. In 1997 my brother bought a Playstation and invited me to play it. I went to his house and he had about three games, and among these there was Tomb Raider. When I held the joystick in my hands, I felt there was something very different in that game. The character had almost real animations, impressive settings, the possibility to explore those places, the cameras with inovative effects, things I never saw before, everything was perfect! I saved money then I bought a Playstation and Tomb Raider 1. I couldn't stop, I spent hours and hours playing and I was getting excited at each level I could finish. Each area had a different surprise. I've played that game many times, until I finished it with all secrets. Later there was Tomb Raider 2, with new settings and great inovations such as the lighting, new enemies. All that together hallucinated me, and I was wondering how could they make a game with such perfections. In Tomb Raider 3, more excitement, new places, variety of enemies, incredible settings. Whenever I was idle I was playing that wonderful game. Later, Tomb Raider 4 and even more excitement in those Egyptian adventures. Again, there was me, sitting next to my Playstation feeling as if I was the main character. Then Tomb Raider Chronicles with Level Editor and some worrying news - it was going to be the final game of the series. 'Will there be another Tomb Raider?', I was asking myself. After some time, euphoric news from Eidos - they were working in a new Tomb Raider!"

Lucas: "Why did you decide to make your own levels?"

Renato: "With the Level Editor release I could make my own levels, customise it and also share ideas and join this incredible people at Internet. In the beginning, it was very hard, but I was integrating into it with time. Just the fact of the possibility to create levels relieved me - Tomb Raider would be forever!"

Lucas: "Tell us more about your first level, King Tut."

Renato: "When I made King Tut (released Dec 30, 2001) I was yet learning how to work with the Editor, a lot of things still were a mystery and the Manual in English wasn't much of help, my English is terrible. But, I was decided to make my own first level, and I wanted also to make something different in the opening, as many of the custom levels I played usually opened with a fly-by, with some exceptions, such as KingSpyder's The Caves, even if that was a flyby camera as well. The opening in King Tut gave me a lot of work, trying to cut the cameras in the right time and synchronize all those triggers, but I think people liked it. Until then, I didn't make a level before, only a few tests to learn the Editor."

Lucas: "And about Selvagem? It's a bit boxy for a jungle setting. Were you satisfied with that or didn't you have time to make it look better? (Interviewer's note: 'Selvagem' means 'savage', 'wild' in Portuguese.)"

Renato: "Selvagem (released Jul 6, 2002) was, actually, a request of my brother, he wanted me to build a level for him. At first, I wouldn't make it a public release as I wasn't totally satisfied, but I did it. The level really is a bit boxy, but I felt I had a big progress in making it, like the waterfall."

Lucas: "While we talk about Selvagem, why such name for your level? Is Lara or the adventure savage?"

Renato: "The name doesn't refer to Lara. When I finished the level I didn't know what name should I give it, and a friend suggested that name, so the level was called Selvagem."

Lucas: "Do you believe TR:AOD release will be strong enough to make the Level Editor fall down? And what about you, will you still build levels after its release?"

Renato: "I think TR:AOD will make people give it more attention, after all we're waiting to play it so long, but soon people will be back to the Level Editor. I don't think it will be enough to defeat the TRLE, because who likes Tomb Raider will always have new ideas to fulfill and the Level Editor is the only way. And yes, I will keep building levels. (note: for example: Traps and Traps 2). There are a lot of possibilities to do with the current Level Editor and people are creating custom tools that are going to make it even better."

Lucas: "What do you usually do with your free time? And what kind of music do you like to listen to?"

Renato: "I spend mostly my time with my computer, playing custom levels and working with the Level Editor, I have a lot to learn as I don't know how to use some features yet. And about music, I like a bit of everything, but my favorites are MPB, 60's hits..." (Interviewer's note: MPB = Musica Popular Brasileira, 'Popular Brazilian Songs')