Toby Gard Interview

[Blue Skies]

Hello all, just dropped by to say hello!

Here is a snippet from the latest gamesTM magazine (UK mag - Issue 44).

Evolution, Not Expansion

Tomb Raider was real proof if ever proof were needed that something different does appeal - and does, indeed, sell. Lara Croft was embraced by the gaming community as both something of a feminist icon as well as a sex symbol. On either side of the gender divide, her character remains respected - with Tomb Raider: Legend now on general release, Lara Croft appears to have discovered her fans again. "It's nice to see that people still have that warm place in their hearts for Lara," says Gard.

So what does Toby Gard think is next for Lara Croft and, indeed, for himself? How does being reunited with his highly successful creation feel? "I never thought it was going to happen," he admits. "Lara has a long way to go now that we've done Legend. We can do what Core didn't, which is to seriously push and expand the franchise - to evolve Lara. The problem before was that ot all became very stagnant, every Tomb Raider game was essentially the same but with different graphics or the odd new costume or maybe vehicle. In the future, they're going to be moving Lara to new spaces, with new types of gameplay, I hope. That's what's needed, you know? Evolution." Quite. Ten years might be a long time to spend away from your creation, but it seems that Gard is glad to be back.

[JANKERSON]

Sounds good to me.

[Mangar The Dark]

I like the fact the Toby is interested in evolving the franchise rather than letting it stagnate. Sure, there will be missteps along the way, that's inevitable. But at least it should keep the series fresh and alive. Hopefully they learned from what people liked and didn't like about Legend.

[susan]

I'd love to know how much say he actually has in anything to do with TR. I get the feeling from what he and others say (reading between the lines) he's mostly tag-along to the creative process.

In the future, they're going to be moving Lara to new spaces, with new types of gameplay, I hope

Hope?? What is his role in all of this?

He's has excellent PR vaue though, as the players think of him as the TR Guru.

[Straw Dog]

Yeah its all very nice and encouraging and lets all keep our fingers crossed his word's actually come to fruition, aren't just a load of hot air blagging to keep the TR train rolling and we get innovative, expansive revolutionary tomb raider games in the future.. but I wish he'd stop dissing Core. Its really unprofessional. For all their faults in the later years of Tomb Raider they were absolute masters of the game on the last generation's hardware. After all, none of us would be here today with the passion we have for Tomb Raider if it wasn't for Core's incredible grasp of adventure gaming atmospherics, level design and story telling (And before someone quotes me, I am well aware that Gard conceived Lara but I'm talking about the work Core did across 5 games to ignite the interest we all have today)

Just my 2 cents. Its business and in business its pretty counter productive to slag off your competition when they are no longer your competition.

[StarChampagne]

Interesting. And let's not forget Aod still has a humble following. Although by emphasising the 'mistakes' made by his predecessors, Gard might well be reassuring people that he knows what they did wrong and therefore those problems won't happen again, and that Tomb Raider's in safe hands. But I agree with Straw Dog. Yes, we've heard how much better you are, now for the deliverance. Legend was great, but it could have been better. And I know it would never be perfect, but having slated Aod so much they had a promise to live up to. I personally would have loved to see a continuation of the Aod storyline, but Legend is still fantastic. It has the potential to have a lot more - longer, bigger environments, more levels, and an outside to the manor. Core gave us THAT now, didn't they?

[susan]

Originally Posted by Straw Dog

Yeah its all very nice and encouraging and lets all keep our fingers crossed his word's actually come to fruition, aren't just a load of hot air blagging to keep the TR train rolling and we get innovative, expansive revolutionary tomb raider games in the future.. but I wish he'd stop dissing Core. Its really unprofessional. For all their faults in the later years of Tomb Raider they were absolute masters of the game on the last generation's hardware. After all, none of us would be here today with the passion we have for Tomb Raider if it wasn't for Core's incredible grasp of adventure gaming atmospherics, level design and story telling (And before someone quotes me, I am well aware that Gard conceived Lara but I'm talking about the work Core did across 5 games to ignite the interest we all have today)

Just my 2 cents. Its business and in business its pretty counter productive to slag off your competition when they are no longer your competition.

Marvellously well put Straw Dog.

It doesn't make sense to me either why the new developers as a whole can't show better respect for what Core did. I suppose with Toby though there may be some personal feelings clouding things up...

[winston]

That sounds intriguing.
Definitely he sees room for improvement, and I guess there will always be something they can do to improve the games.

As for the old games being the same- I would not agree. There was definitely different atmospheres in each of the older games.

I do agree though with what he said about there not being many outfits in the past. I think it would be a good idea in TR 8 to let players choose Lara's outfit from the start.
I definitely like the outfit unlockables in Legend

All in all i think it sounds promising.

[Sophia Leigh]

Originally Posted by Straw Dog

.. but I wish he'd stop dissing Core. Its really unprofessional.

Yes, agreed. I'm quite tired of hearing it too. Real professionals sell their product by selling their own strengths, not by discrediting others. It makes me intrigued as to why Toby Gard really left Core Design in the first place...