Cheats that aren't cheats

[Louis_Wu]

I'm stuck at the Mayan calendar puzzle. I'm having a hard time with the motorcycle driving part and can't, as yet , get the timing to this puzzle right. I'd dearly love a gaming hint for the timing part of the puzzle but I'm sure timing and driving have no cheats. I hate the driving aspect and speed trials of most adventure games.

Other aspects of the game concerning the AI are not so much cheats as they are aspects of gaming the game. When I play the game, I find that I am very conservative and over protective of Lara. I find it best to be a little cautious and engage enemies at a distance.

The puzzles, thus far, are relatively easy if you take your time with them. Some puzzle solutions are apparent after Lara attempts a solution and dies. The restart of the puzzle will often put you in a position of advantage fro finding the proper solution for your dilemma. The puzzles in this game are meant to be solved. Some of the puzzles require more patients than others

There are things to know that guides don't tell you about this iteration of Lara that are important in game play; Lara can only do one action at a time. She can employ he grappling hook but she can't swim at the same time. Lara can employee the grappling hook while in mid air.

I hate speed trials.:mad2:

[Valthiel]

This part wasnt even that hard, I think. You dont have to be that fast, just be sure not to drive the wrong way first, or fall into one of the pits, if you die the doors will close no matter how fast you were before.

I think you should try not to drive at full speed, but therefore make no mistakes like said, wich would slow you down even more.

And if that still doent work, maybe you get to know the path better with every try, and can drive faster when you allready know each turn and pit.

Thats not much of a help I guess, but I cant imagine there would be any better.

Good luck anyways ^^

edit: and of course the obvious: place your bike already facing the direction you want to drive, and near the exit of the puzzle "room", so you dont loose time with that.

[Salty]

I'm guessing that you're referring to the timed mega gate that opens when you complete the calendar puzzle then have to drive to the court to enter the gate? I had a bit of trouble with this as well (I've never liked the driving controls in TR games) so I practiced it several times after the gate reset: I parked the bike outside the exit facing down the stairs then put Lara back at the control to the calendar. I sprinted to the opening, did a dive under the stone, mounted the bike and memorized the rights and lefts, obstacles and terrain on the way to the lower court's opening. After about 3-4 rehearsals I fired up the puzzle and aced the drive getting the achievement for speed demon on the way.

I've always been very cautious and deliberate with TR games so rehearing moves like this is just part of game play for me.

True that Lara can't multi-task her moves but she can chain several together to make some impressive actions.

Good luck to you sir.

[GeorgeMaciver]

Hi Louis, the timings for the gate are very generous and if you can just make it there carefully, without speeding, you'll make it. Take your time and get over the jumps. When you make it down the ramp speed up for a final jump which will catch you out otherwise.

[Louis_Wu]

My frustration level with this segment of the game is increasing exponentially. Driving the motorcycle is more like driving a boat, The directional response is sluggish. If it could be directed with the mouse, things would be different. I'd dearly love to map the directional controls to the mouse. Are you reading this EIDOS?.

There are often alternate methods and walk arounds for the puzzles in TR. I'd appreciate an alternative solution to the speed trial.:mad2:

[UMIST_For_Ever]

try to find the Calendar puzzles and rate how difficult the journeys to the open courtyard area are and how long they are - find the easiest and shortest one and complete that puzzle last - do a few dummy runs until you feel confident enough, then complete the puzzle and go for it.

Good Luck!

:D

[Love2Raid]

Some tips: park the bike right outside the gate. When the cutscene starts, get ready to let go of the mechanism of the calendar. Then sprint to the gate, get on that bike and go for it!

Just every time take the right turn, and after getting past the pits, when you get down some steps/stairs, immediately go right and you can't miss it! I missed the last turn to the right the first time and went all the way to the structure where the entrance to the other calendar is......:nut:
The second time I got the Speed Demon achievement, so there is plenty of time! However, I don't know what it's like to control the bike on the pc, I can imagine it is harder. But you will make it, don't stop trying! :) :thumbsup:

[jimras]

what I did was just practice the drive a few times to get the turns right and figure out exactly where I needed to go. Then park the bike....do the last puzzle again,,,,,run to the bike and go for it. It's not hard to get there if you know where you are going.

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

It should be fairly easy the second time.

The first time I killed the jaguars, so the second time didn't have them to contend with.
I parked the motorcycle just outside the exit so that the second I stood up I could get on.

I drove very controlled, not wildly and I was able to go down the ramp just before the gate closed. Just remember which pit you jump and witch on you go around.

Mike

[Louis_Wu]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. You all have been very helpful. Before I posted this thread I had tried every suggestion that has been posted for over coming this time trial. My biggest problem is the 10 or so seconds required to watch an animation before I can "E" & "S" with a "W"+shift and Ctrl then "E" to the bike. The first jump is practically a blind jump. The blind jump can be avoided by positioning the motorcycle as to make a bee-line for the jump and, after that bloody animation has run its course, make the dash to the pre-positioned bike and gunning it over the first jump.

My problem is maneuvering the boat of a motorcycle through the first arch and getting the hairpin through the final arch and then the sprint to the underground entrance. Ironically, the reverse speed of the motor cycle presents the best best control. With "W", all I get is the boat effect and full throttle. I'm trying for a variable throttle by just tapping "W" to get forward momentum. :mad2:

[Curious101]

I agree that speed-trials suck. I was on the PC with this one and the motorcycle portion was around 5 FPS. That made it extremely difficult to steer and get to where I needed to get in the right amount of time.