Lara Croft and the Lost Artifact of Heroic Manliness
v1.3 (Final Version)

Alterations in v1.3

- Quite a few people have acquired the Rusty Key by simply grabbing it and, having been set on fire, swallowing medipacks on the way to the small water pool. While it is unavoidable to be set on fire at this spot, the premature acquisition of the Rusty Key not only protracts unnecessarily the time you spend burning, thereby contributing a lot to the medipack shortage, and seriously affects the dramaturgy of the level; it is also a considerably less elegant way of performing the task than the one intended. In v1.3, this option is precluded.
- The bug that stops short your progress if you quit out of a certain flyby sequence has been exterminated. (The ‘climb out of the water bug’, however, has been retained: At the very end of the underwater sequence, as you enter the misty, greenish room with two levers, you may find yourself mysteriously back in the water. This is due to some small rooms which have been shifted into one another. As the bug occurs only if you climb out of the water at a specific spot, I decided that redesigning the incriminated rooms would be too much trouble.)
- I have brightened up the level in certain spots that indeed were unnecessarily dark. On the whole, however, the level remains rather dark and sinister because it is meant to be that way, so there is still no radiant splendour for you to enjoy; but maybe that in those long winter nights you’ll find that the level isn’t that dark after all as you thought in the summer.
- Another (the seventh) secret has been introduced—nothing spectacular, more a case of sharp eyes...and perhaps one of ‘the right moment’.
- I have cut down on the horrendous number of flares to the advantage of other pickups. Some of them have been moved.
- On the other hand, I have also placed another baddie or two; refraining eventually (I’m glad to say) from inserting a crocodile into the underwater door puzzle. :)
- I have replaced the original Lara model with another one that doesn’t display a wafer-thin shotgun. Although I don’t remember exactly where I got the wad from, I believe the credit must be given to Lil Kid (whose Tomb Raider website, however, is not online at the moment, and the wadfixes haven’t been available there for some time anyway).
- Several minor changes not affecting the gameplay (changed the default sky colour, etc.).

Installation

You can play this level either with or without the custom sound files,
but I strongly recommend the former.
I will officially approve only of the Full Version (that is, sound files included).

— Unzip your download(s).

— In case you have chosen the full download, make backup copies of the files 090.wav, 094.wav and 098.wav in your \trle\audio folder, and replace them with the new ones.
In case you haven’t downloaded these files because you possess them already as part of a previous version, you need to rename them as follows: The former 006.wav becomes 090.wav; 014 becomes 098; 050 becomes 094.

— Backup your original Script.dat, English.dat and Strings.h files and replace them with the new ones.

— Do the same with the load.bmp (optional).

— Move the contents of the ‘wads’ folder into your \trle\graphics\wads folder and open the Level Converter. Click the ‘Add’ button and select manliness_1.TOM from the list, then click ‘Build all’. The size of the level will cause the Converter to seemingly freeze after line 3 (“Room Tex Infos: 347”). Click on the ‘minimize’ or ‘close’ buttons in the top right corner of the window; when it reacts to these commands, the Converter has finished creating the manliness_1.tr4 file.

— Play the game.

Contact

Mail me if you have questions or suggestions: wurstsalon@gmx.de

Check my homepage for updates, a walkthrough (as yet unfinished), and information on current projects.

Disclaimer

This level was not made and is not supported by Core Design Ltd. and Eidos Interactive.