tomb raider

Ice Palace

by rory on August 22, 2010

Welcome to the Ice Palace. This frozen temple has been lost in the mountains for thousands of years…until now. Part of our “Earth Chakras” series, this level will be the throat chakra, center of communication, wisdom, voice, sound, clarity etc. Lara must activate the seven chakras of the Earth, each in a very different location, helping our beautiful mother Earth to heal herself once again.

This level is very much a work in progress, expect more screenshots later and a trailer for all 7 chakra levels by the end of the year, time permitting. This is just a short preview to give you a taste. I mixed the music for this video (which will be in the level), which features tracks from Deuter, Ivo Sedlacek, and the Baraka soundtrack. A lovely meditative vision. Expect more relaxing videos like this in the future!

Merlin's Mountain

by rory on March 17, 2010

I’m working on a series of Chakra themed Tomb Raider levels, each in a different part of the world representing a different chakra and element. Merlin’s Mountain, symbolizing vision, will be the mysterious third eye chakra. The level is set in Ireland, where Lara must travel through an old church and cemetery, a witch’s house, and the eerie Mountains beyond…

I’m posting this sneak preview in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. More previews to come as I explore the rest of the Earth Chakra series, and perhaps a trailer later in the year.

Island of Poseidon

by rory on February 11, 2010

I’m working on a series of Chakra themed Tomb Raider levels, each in a different part of the world representing a different chakra and element. Island of Poseidon, symbolizing water, will be the second chakra. Here are some early screens:

Palace Dionysus

by rory on November 22, 2009

I participated in this year’s trle.net “Back to Basics” competition, in which level builders are given a texture and object set for a specific location, and given two months to build their best level. This year’s theme was Venice, and Palace Dionysus was my contribution.

My level was #12 out of twenty something levels, and scored an 8.6, which is fair. The level is largely non-linear and has a variety of gameplay, including blowing up Bartoli’s stronghold. This level makes some connections to the TR2 Venice levels the competition was based on. Fun to play for anyone who enjoyed TR2 Venice, or not.

Horus from the trle.net community created the beautiful high-quality textures and objects seen in the level, which were used by its participants. Levels were released anonymously for two months and then the builders were revealed. It was a great competition, and a pleasure to work alongside such great people. I would highly recommend many of the other levels created for the competition. You can download the whole package below:

Download & Play FREE! >>

Copyright Michael McCracken
Lara starts in a hotel room in the Old City of Venice, an abandoned area filled with old apartments, theaters, boathouses, libraries, atriums, and palaces…

Lara gets to blow this house up, Bartoli’s Hideout style. It’s probably the highlight of the level!

Copyright Michael McCracken

Legend has it that above a bath of wine, the Greek God Dionysus will bring any person back to life at the cost of their heart. Bartoli’s men have saved his heart for this very purpose, and they intend to resurrect their leader beneath the next full moon. Lara catches wind of the rumors and decides to head to Venice to prevent any such thing from happening. She’s also heard rumors of the legendary Pan’s Rose surfacing within a nearby Dionysian cult. Lara will have to deal with both Bartoli’s men and the cult members in order to escape Venice alive.

Download & Play FREE! >>

Mythic Journeys II

by rory on August 16, 2008

After my first Mythic Journeys project, I set out to revise the levels and create a more expansive experience, still keeping the core idea intact. I created a few new areas and improved others. I may pick up this series again down the road and finish it. Here are some screens:

Mythic Journeys

by rory on May 14, 2008

Mythic Journeys was a multi-media three class project I undertook in the Spring of 2008. I wrote a four part “dreamscape” adventure story over the course of my Advanced Nature Writing class, made it into a game (a self portrait as my own personal myth, hence Kurtis Trent and not Lara), then made a book out of it with the story and screenshots for my Constructed Realities class.

I made the game incredibly easy so that teachers and students could play it, so even though the four-level game is totally finished, it needs a lot of work to become difficult and expansive enough to challenge the die-hard TR fans. This series will hopefully be finished in Winter 08, expect a trailer in the fall. =)

In this game I have worked really hard on not only the aesthetics but also the gameplay. Some puzzles were taken from older games, while others I planned out before creating the levels. Again though, at the moment it is all too easy and linear.

Lara will be going on this journey in the fall, not Kurtis.

Mythic Journeys Book

by rory on May 10, 2008

For my three-class multimedia project Mythic Journeys (more info in another post) I created this book to tell the story with screenshots from the game for my Constructed Realities final. I self-published and printed this book using Lulu.com. More images coming soon!

I have another post with images of the actual game. If you want to check those out, go here. Enjoy!

Gardens of Lost Time

by rory on November 9, 2006

An expansive Tomb Raider project that I started and never finished, Gardens of Lost time was a menagerie of mythical delights. More screenshots to come, if I ever find some more of them.

Copyright Michael McCracken
Lara travels a maze of these round garden rooms, leaving one and entering another, appearing in places all around the level by means of these magical gardens.

Beautiful Sundial object by Piega. Check out trsearch.org for more custom objects!

This main area with the end-of-level double doors connects the many small areas of the level together.
Copyright Michael McCracken

This puzzle, featuring the fantastic Lion Fountain by Piega, was a centerpiece for the beginning of the level.

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tomb raider

rorymccracken.com
Personal Site, Visual Resume and Portfolio