Exclusive Fan Interview With Tomb Raider: Legend Producer, Morgan Gray!

[MattD]

Hey everyone,

I am pleased to announce that we are able to have an exclusive fan interview done here on the forums with the Producer of Tomb Raider: Legend, Morgan Gray.

This is a great opportunity, and if this has a good response, we can try and have more things like this done on the forums.

To submit a question, simply post it up here. We will be taking 10-15 of the best questions, have Morgan answer them, and then post up the results within the next few weeks.

We will be taking questions directly from the fans until next Monday, 3/13.

For more information about Morgan, here is a quick bio:

Morgan Gray is a 10 year video game industry veteran and San Francisco native. He started his gaming career as a tester for LucasArts and then moved to Totally Games as a designer on the X-Wing & TIE Fighter series, as well as Star Trek: Bridge Commander. Later he rejoined LucasArts as a Project Coordinator on Secret Weapons over Normandy. After joining Crystal Dynamics to work on Project: Snowblind, his most recent endeavor in the gaming industry has been his role as the Producer for Tomb Raider: Legend. Morgan is a self proclaimed gaming geek and student of all things pop-culture. He has studied history and philosophy at a university and in his private time can be found struggling to play music in San Francisco.

[Mark_]

Thanks a lot, Matt!!! Here is my question.

Why did you decide to use the manor from the movies, instead of remodelling the actual manor from the first games?

Thanks again!

[Ruum Taedor]

Thanks for the opportunity to post questions. How did you choose Troels Folmann for composer for Legend, from auditions, or samples of his music?

[Ruum Taedor]

What instruments do you play, Morgan?

[PlanetLara]

What a great idea!

Hi Morgan. Chris here from PlanetLara.com with a few questions for you.

Q: What was your biggest challenge with the creation of Tomb Raider: Legend.

Q: How do you feel playing a key role in the creation of such a landmark game?

Q: How do you find the response of fans in the Tomb Raider community with regard to work in progress and creations made by fans?


More to come!

[Treeble]

By redesigning the whole concept of Tomb Raider, do you think the main goal has now been achieved, even if only with the sacrifice of many things that old dated fans fell in love with (mainly Lara's biography)?


(thanks for the opportunity, Matt! )

[Takashii]

Are there plans for a Tomb Raider game after Legend, if yes will it continue with the Legend storyline (that is if there is a storyline to continue)

[Mark_]

DJ_CRON from www.tombraiderfans.com asks:

Hello gentelman, I'd like to know:

1. Will the change of Lara's biography in Tomb Raider: Legend affect so much the story of the previous games?
2. Are there big differences between the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox 360 versions of the game?
3. Why does the PC version of the game use 9.9 GB?
4. Will there be any video during the install process?
5. What about the game's extra features?

[matt2324]

After Tomb Raider Legend, is Crystal Dynamics and Eidos planing on making a Tomb Raider 8, or is this the end for Lara Croft?

[Joshorty]

* Will there be a soundtrack release to this game ? (like Perfect Dark Zero, Helo, etc...in WAL-MART!!)

* When will the PSP verison be released ?

Is the PSP version goin' to be an exact port of the game -- absolutely no cut-outs? (PLEASE let it be)

*WILL THIS NOT BE ON THE PS3 ?!?! / WILL THIS BE ON THE PS3 ???

Will the PSP verson have the mansion ?

Does the PC version have the option to switch from current-gen graphics to next-gen?

*the one in bold and italics are the major questions that I think you should be aiming for other then theo ones below...

[Sophia Leigh]

Legend has been described as taking Lara back to her roots. From what I have seen, Lara's bio has been completely changed and this new game is completely different from the original. Having said that, how and in what ways has Chrystal Dynamics taken Lara back to her roots?

[Mekairinek]

Hi Morgan!

Here's my question: How great has the pressure been to "get" Tomb Raider Legend "right"? I realize it must be pretty huge, considering that the industry and the majority of gamers these days see Lara as a has-been.

I have great faith y'all will do the series justice and then some. Thank you for making the long-dormant 12 year-old TR fan in me happy again!

[Rascalius]

Hey dude, can I borrow your car?

[Legendary Lara Croft]

Thanks Matt I got several

1) Can you please tell us more about what outfits Lara will have in TR Legend.
2) What kind of unlockable bonuses and secrets will Legend feature?
3) What will Karima Adebibe be doing in future to promote the game?
4) Are there any Legend collectables, action figures, comics etc planned for the fans?
5) Will there be special edition of Tomb Raider Legend?

thanks

[Johnny]

Good idea!

My questions:

#1: How did you feel about the incorporation of city/town levels in TR: Legend, seeing as how Angel of Darkness was widely criticized for it?

#2: I absolutely love Lara's new voice in TR: Legend! Just wondering... Why didn't Jonell Elliot voice Lara this time around?

Thanks, Morgan!

[cornchild]

I only have one question.

Are there any plans or even consideration of releasing a map editor?

It has been said that this could not be done because the levels are designed in 3ds max, but Discreet has the product Gmax " A free version of 3ds max geared towards fan content design" which allows developers to release mod packs to build content for their games.

The original Editor is very popular so the addition of a new editor would not be a wasted feature.

Thank you for your time.

[adri55]

Hello eidos congratulation for the game is the best.
My one question is
When finish for ever tomb raider? In tomb raider 10, 11. 12...?
The bso of tomb raider, Will continue leaving the bso of tomb raider? The one that has left in all? Please answer

[Ruum Taedor]

Are there any plans to release Legend on the Macintosh platform?

[Xxx_Lara_xxX]

From your experience pre-testing games in the past (and I'm assuming you're familiar with Legacy of Kain) do you feel CD made the new Lara's movements too similar to Kain's, especially the way she "cling jumps" up vertical ladders and poles, like Kain with his claws, rather than slowly climb up each step as in the old TR's? Was the Legacy of Kain series an influence behind Lara's new "superhero" -ish movements, the inclusion of human enemies (when some were predicting there would be only 5 or 6 other humans like TR1) and play style? Thanks.

[kevork]

Q: When are we going to play some ATV Hockey?

[Takashii]

I've seen some interactive cutscenes.. If you fail to press the right button will Lara die or just get hurt. If she dies will it be realistic.. like if there's a saw or something coming towards your legs and you fail to press the right button will she like.. lose her legs ?

[Mekairinek]

Sorry, I've got another question. ^^

I've heard rumors from various places that the game is based off of the same engine as that from 'Legacy of Kain: Defiance'. Is this true?

Which I also have to ask: is the 'Defiance' development team working on 'Legend' as well, or is that another rumor as well?

Thank you very much!

[Laraman]

Sorry for a 'nasty' question but it's been bugging me since they started it:

When will the Legend team stop putting down previous TRs in order to build up Legend? If Legend is good, then it is good, no need to bash previous games - which fans may have enjoyed - in order to bring up your own game.

But a 'nice' question to balance it out

What type of things have changed since the first trailer was released (weapons, decisions on Lara or characters, storyline etc.) and if you were to change or include something in the game, what would it be?

Thanks

[I can see]

That's my question

Hi, Morgan, why did you decide to have Amanda as unloackble character?
I think that's a bad idea, but it does not broke the beauty of the game...

[susan]

What is Morgan's favourite level from a previous TR game (not Legend) and why does he like it? What is it that makes it so great?

What does Morgan think is the essence (apart from Lara Croft and "Tombs") a Tomb Raider game, and what made the original TR games so successful?

Why does he think previous TR games sold much better than other Crystal Dynamics games in the past?

Who is the target audience for the new TR game?