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LB Advent Calendar 2012 - Christmas Dreams by mugs

Bigfoot 9 9 10 10
Christian 8 8 9 8
DJ Full 8 8 9 8
dmdibl 8 9 9 9
Jay 9 9 10 10
JesseG 7 10 9 8
John 6 6 9 9
Jorge22 9 9 9 9
Jose 6 7 7 7
manarch2 8 7 8 7
MichaelP 7 9 9 8
misho98 8 8 9 8
Mytly 8 8 8 8
Orbit Dream 8 7 8 8
Phil 9 8 9 9
requiemsoul 7 6 7 6
Ryan 8 9 9 8
Sakusha 9 9 9 9
Shandroid 8 8 8 8
sharnilal 8 9 8 9
sonnyd83 9 10 9 10
TheStig 8 8 9 8
young Lara Croft 6 8 8 9
 
release date: 12-Dec-2012
# of downloads: 108

average rating: 8.28
review count: 23
 
review this level

file size: 55.50 MB
file type: TR4
class: Xmas
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
pchancey@tampabay.rr.com

Reviewer's comments
"Despite the gorgeous atmosphere and textures later on in the level, the beginning part started to grate on my nerves fast and while i appreciate a timed run or platforming tasks usually, i got fed up, frustrated and bored of seeing all those same textured floors, walls and ceilings in the "house" areas but the bit with the stables and reindeer was cute and made a refreshing change. Things did get better once you get out into the icy wilderness a bit more and then the town, with some more challenging platforming and boulder traps to avoid but no really fun puzzles or tasks really it was just search and find quests after that but with all that snow, festive music and atmosphere it certainly makes a pleasant place to explore around" - John (22-Aug-2021)
"This is an eclectic holiday level that explores a nice variety of areas, including a house, a town square, and reindeer stables. Tying these together are "wrapping paper rooms", and I know it's supposed to be a dream sequence but these areas could have still been a little more atmospheric. The lighting was decent but could use more color and contrast. This level offers slightly more interesting gameplay than a stereotypical xmas level, with boulders to dodge, and a few timed runs and tricky jumps, some of which involve collapsing tiles. I appreciated Lara pointing out that the hay she falls into is in fact hay. Give this a run if you want a short and sweet raid with a variety of thematic audio tracks. 27 minutes." - JesseG (29-Nov-2020)
"That key... THAT KEY!!! Why not on the table, why not on the chair, why not on the shop window, why not anywhere visible but blending with the ground instead... it's so frequent to hide pickups randomly, and I lost 30 minutes... Everything else is just fine, and while I know it might seem random, it's a dream so I blame it on magic. A nice little gift from mugs :)" - DJ Full (27-Jul-2019)
"Pat has brought us a unique and enjoyable advent level that stands out. Lara has had her presents stolen and suddenly her home changes to a surreal mood. Wonderful." - Ryan (26-Jan-2016)
"I loved this level, if brings you such a Christmas-y feeling with interesting tasks and different locations. My favorite was the last one with the locked doors. I think with such areas there could have been more tasks, but I liked that the level is not too long. It took me half an hour to finish it. I loved the music and the objects, texturing and lighting weren't perfect but they were divеrse and colorful and they could easily put a smile on your face. Recommended!" - misho98 (21-Dec-2013)
"It seems that this author builded the level in a hurry, 'cause I've enjoyed her previous levels a lot, but this one is not very funny. No entertaining puzzles and only some ordinary tasks to do; at least there is no backtracking. In the first part there is a surrealistic environment (of course, it's a dream) with very colourful and original textures; the second one is more real and it was a bit better. Sometimes Lara loses a lot of health and another times there are very tricky tasks like the hard jump with low ceiling or going out from the small coutyard with metal fences near the end. Cameras and lights are not very well worked, but the level is playable anyway and I've enjoyed the nice Christmas melodies." - Jose (25-Apr-2013)
"Starting off in a mansion wallpapered with Christmas decorations, this slightly surreal (if peaceful adventure) sets quite a nice challange. Texturing is good, but the lighting is perhaps a little overly bright and flat in places. There's no nasties to nibble at you, so you can explore the mansion, gardern and the town section quite safely. Be aware of boulders that might drop on you and icy waters though as these can harm lara. Some of the climing gets fairly tricky as you go on, but all of the puzzle elements (mainly switches. pushblocks and getting boulders to drop) are pretty straight forward. All in all I netted 1 hour 8 minutes from xmas dreams. It's different and quite fun :) Recommended, Stiggy." - TheStig (02-Feb-2013)
"It's been a while since I've reviewed a level, because I've been involved with several multilevel releases such as KAP and the Catacomb pairing of five levels each. I took a break to play Mugs' level and write a walkthrough for it, and I found the experience to be enchanting. The gameplay is sufficient difficult to keep the player on his toes, but it's accessible to players of all skill levels. I resorted to the stuck thread in a couple of places, and Pat helped me in a few places, but most of it I was able to figure out on my own. You get several looks, from the surreal to the quaint. No enemies, since this is an Advent level, but there are a number of dying opportunities if you're not careful. A pleasant 30 to 45 minute raid for any time of the year. Recommended." - Phil (01-Jan-2013)
"This level really evokes classical elements from the Christmas season, from the great maze of wrapping paper to the cozy houses with fireplaces. Even the little town, the Christmas music, and the snowy landscape bring forth some of the Christmas spirit into the level. On occasion though, the player's keyboard skills are put to the test with a few tricky jumps, and a hair-raising timed run or two. One of the keys was subtly positioned, but the way Lara moves around a shootable object gives a hint about the location of the second key. I was able to get four gifts and a teddy bear." - Sakusha (29-Dec-2012)
"This was an absolutely perfect level for the season. A bit quirky in its general idea, with a nicely constructed path in the first part and a few agility tests on the slightly tricky side, with a nice setting in snow in the second part and a few boulders to trigger and a tiny village at the end, which is more a search and explore section. All this supported by a nice mix of Christmas tunes and teddy bears and secret presents to find along the way. It wonderfully put me in the mood for CHristmas today, so Thank you, Pat!" - MichaelP (24-Dec-2012)
"I can't believe I'm so late for this review, I finally managed to finish this beautiful level after a week's hiatus. I loved the beautiful setting , the little village at the end and the dream elements I think everything was woven in a nice way. However I cannot pass over a few things that were a little too difficult to go through , not to mention that I had some hard times finding key no 1 which was hard to spot. I have to say that I liked the textures and lighting the atmosphere but I wanted to explore more village - type surroundings since we were supposed to enjoy the advent and all. I think the music was beautiful and added a lot to the level." - young Lara Croft (23-Dec-2012)
"A 1st surreal part with walls was athmospherically not that convincing, but it showed good gameplay with 2 not moderately timed runs in an environment, characterized by a lot of climbing up and down. A 2nd part's gameplay in an outdoor-area is quite interesting, too. We have to raise a couple of platforms by releasing some boulders, a last boulder run is quite hard to perform, before we reach another area, a village-like setting, that's quite convincing. 2 keys are needed to finally place a puzzle-piece to end this nice little game. Very recommended!" - Christian (18-Dec-2012)
"I have to admit to completing this level with a something of a sense of relief as it really challenged my powers of observation, which I am sad to say were sorely lacking on a number of occasions, and initially it seemed to me to be one challenge after another. For me, it often came down to positioning Lara correctly at the start of a sequence of moves - for example, I had Lara standing too close to the wall when she started the run and jump for the swing-pole and consequently she would not grab it. This resulted in me asking some inane questions on the forum, for which I am suitably abashed. However, none of my problems with this game were the fault of the builder, who has once again delivered a lovely level with some interesting game play, and for me at least more than a little mental challenge as well. Loved the "wrapping paper gone wild" and once I've recovered from this run through I may even play it again!" - sharnilal (17-Dec-2012)
"I am not a fan of surrealistic levels, but this being a dream and Christmas, I decided to play it. The package wrapped wall rooms were confusing, but interesting. I think I missed a few teddy bears and secrets. The audio was a bit scratchy, but that could have been my old PC's fault. My very favorite types of Christmas levels involve gorgeous villages with beautiful architecture. This level gives you just a snippet of a lovely village. Fun little level for the holidays." - Shandroid (16-Dec-2012)
"This deliberately schizophrenic level contains something for just about everyone.There's crazy primary-coloured seasonal texturing;icy and snowy landscapes;a quaint Christmassy village;and gameplay which matches the wide diversity of the locations.None of it is terribly difficult (although that plain-sighted key was a bit sneaky),and progression is pretty linear.The music is equally diverse,and everything on offer is generally charming. Nonetheless,the ending seemed extremely abrupt and rather took me by surprise;almost as though the builder didn't quite know how to finish the adventure.I was expecting Lara to either wake up or find herself back in her Home (where the level began) at the conclusion.Never mind,it's all about the journey and not the destination; and the journey is definitely good fun!" - Orbit Dream (15-Dec-2012)
"A nice Christmas level on the surrealistic side, which adds to a little "puzzleness" at times. From Lara's apartment (manor?) to loads of Christmas packages on every wall, a snowy outside location and a small town with a good timed run in between. I must say I was relieved when I finally reached the town because I felt more like I was on solid ground. There are a few nice touches atmospherewise, namely the rays of light upstairs at the beauty parlour. The music is nice but just what you'd expect from a Christmas level. I was counting on having to find five gifts but I only found four (maybe I read something wrongly or maybe it's possible to finish it just like that). I also found several cool teddy bears. Maybe not my main league but still very nice and original, hence the good ratings." - Jorge22 (14-Dec-2012)
"Hoorah, a lovely Advent level to make the run up to Christmas even more special. This is everything an Advent level should be - peaceful (naturally), filled with gorgeous Christmas textures and objects and, above all, great fun. Lara's house has transformed into a colourful patchwork of Christmas wrapping paper, the outside area is covered in snow and the pretty little village is decorated for the festive season. There are one or two slightly tricky jumps and timed runs to achieve and one really well hidden alcove that had me stuck for some time, but everything should be readily achievable for most players. There are five secrets to find, in the form of Christmas presents, and a few teddy bears to pick up along the way. It's just a pleasure from start to finish." - Jay (14-Dec-2012)
"This is fun to play, it looks Christmassy, although I was a bit disappointed that it seemed so short. The beginning section has Christmas wrapping-paper designs used to cover walls, and the hardest part for me was finding hidden push blocks. The texturing is one of those rare cases where there is almost too much Christmas, as the bold wrapping-paper designs make it a little harder to discern how to proceed. To find one secret Lara has to fall through textures. Usually the author's levels are harder, but here players mostly need to keep going, with a few jumps or boulder triggers to figure out. At the end Lara reaches a quaint little village. Everything seems a fitting prelude to the village, and I thought this section would be much longer, and here the author does have a dastardly trick of placing a key right out in plain sight, knowing that players' eyes will instead be searching for concealed hiding places. After an all too brief interlude in the village the level ends. I enjoyed the carols, the original textures, and that Lara can add to her teddy bear collection. A charming and warm-hearted level for the holidays." - dmdibl (14-Dec-2012)
"Alcatraz, Bones Palace are fantastic levels. .. but I haven't enjoyed with this one. Boring and not diverse gameplay, repetitive and uninspired lighting and textures. Not recommended, sorry." - requiemsoul (14-Dec-2012)
"The first part of this level is essentially a 3D maze textured in gift wrapping paper designs, giving the impression of being among giant gift-wrapped packages. It has some fun platforming and a nice timed run. The middle section features a snowy outdoor courtyard with a mixture of realistic textures and the gift wrap textures. This is a short section, featuring one puzzle and some climbing around and boulder traps. The final section takes place in a realistic Christmas village, which features mainly exploring and collecting some keys. It's very pretty, but feels a bit anti-climactic in terms of gameplay, which flows more smoothly and faster in the first part.
It's difficult to judge the texturing, since it's deliberately meant to be bizarre and wildly colourful. The all-gift-wrap sections and all-realistic sections are both pretty in their own way, but the transition areas look distinctly odd, for example, the high gift-wrapped walls surrounding an otherwise realistic snowy courtyard. The lighting is a little too flat and bright at all times - a bit more contrast would have helped. The Christmas carols that play whenever you reach a new area are nice, but once they end, there's only silence. The secrets are gift boxes, and you can also collect some teddy bears (though I don't know their purpose). While objects are mostly well-used, there is an obscure moment due to the placement of a tiny key on the snowy ground where it's barely visible. The trees tend to flicker in and out of view.
Overall: A cute and fun little holiday level. Recommended." - Mytly (14-Dec-2012)
"What can be more fun than negotiating Lara through hundreds of giant Christmas presents? I've never seen a level quite like this one, it's charming to say the least, especially the rather short town square section. You get a lot of fun for your time, timed runs, a lot of climbing and jumping, rolling balls triggering things, collecting gifts, making ice platforms appear, etc. The objects were nice, I enjoyed the reindeer, and everything in the town square area. Christmas carols are played intermitently although they tend to only play once and the rest of the time is silent. This'll certainly get you in the festive mood. Game time was 1 hour for me." - sonnyd83 (13-Dec-2012)
"This time, it's in a little dream we discovered Lara. Like Mugs explain in the readme, something strange was happened in Lara's home ... The level start in Lara's living room and the goal in to find few teddy bears through this strange world. A few mix of christmas presents, icy regions, town (my favorite part) and little house with few presents. There are no enemies but some trapps are hiddens in this game but nothing impossible, I think the level can be played by the bigginners easily. I also really like the few news objects and musics. There ad a perfect christmas atmosphere through the game. Thanks a lot Mugs for this beautiful level. Very recommended!" - BigFoot (13-Dec-2012)
"The third "trademark" Advent level this year (being the third Advent level this year, this has to say something), as I would have recognized this as a Mugs level as well as the two other releases, with her usual design that still doesn't appeal totally to me, I rather prefer a few more efforts in the lighting of the outside areas. Despite Pat's usual elements mixed in this level, this one stands out unique in a way as it's certainly one of the most surreal Christmas levels ever, with lots of colourful and - though in a good way - disturbing present textures and a funny implementation of some rather realistic rooms, like the reindeer stable, the snowy area and the town setting. I liked the usage of some more modern versions of X-mas songs much and it added to the atmosphere. Some areas would have benefited from more object usage, especially the surreal rooms at the start. Being a quite linear level - although what we know from the builder - the gameplay is quite fun and varied, with a lot of purely fun platforming; especially liked the timed run including a pushable block, the breakable tile sequence and the usage of boulders and raising trapdoors in the snow areas. Partially the progression was a bit obscure with an unmarked fall-through flood, a pair of too well hidden keys toward the end and the last of the raisable trapdoors being really hard to spot (and also requiring an health-consuming jump which seemed kind of unnecessary to me), but I liked the gameplay much in general. Found all five secrets and also some teddy bears which didn't have any importance at all (could have been secrets too) in 25 minutes of net gameplay time. Warmly recommended but you certainly have to get used to the setting at first." - manarch2 (13-Dec-2012)