trle.net
Your host for all Tomb Raider Custom Levels ever released!

Levels listed...
TR5 - 31
TR4 - 3137
TR3 - 177
TR2 - 132
TR1 - 60

72240 reviews (20.4/level)
3530 (99.8%) walkthroughs
442 Hall of Fame levels
1217 levels rated >= 8

TR Fan Site

 


VCI Space Base by Cornchild

CC 7 8 7 7
Ceamonks890 5 6 5 5
Dimpfelmoser 6 6 7 6
eTux 5 6 6 6
Gerty 6 6 7 6
Jay 6 6 7 8
Jose 6 7 5 7
Kristina 6 8 5 4
MichaelP 7 7 7 8
Miguel 6 5 5 4
MountainDewNut 5 7 5 5
Orbit Dream 5 5 7 8
Phil 6 6 7 8
RaiderGirl 7 7 8 7
Ryan 6 6 7 7
Sash 6 6 7 7
Treeble 6 6 7 7
 
release date: 12-Sep-2002
# of downloads: 75

average rating: 6.29
review count: 17
 
review this level

file size: 17.10 MB
file type: TR4
class: Base/Lab
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
n/a

Reviewer's comments
"For a level released nearly 20 years ago, its definitely aged visually and can sometimes be slightly too vague for its own good on what exactly needs to be done at any given time (having to go on a hunt for four computer disks, one of the VCI's security keys and various artifacts for the road, in order for Lara to get back out of the VCI's moon based headquarters and presumably return to Earth). When executed in concept however, Cornchild does a commendable job at immersing you into the game and being somewhere in outer space (with decent use of desert and night sky textures within some empty rooms to better sell the illusion, in spite of how crude the effect looks by today's standards). There's also some noteworthy highlights in the form of carefully dropping out of a vent above a laser grid at just the right time to avoid getting burnt to a crisp and obtain a piece of one of the VCI's distinct security keys, a frankly ludicrous scenario involving the destruction of a random computer on the ground to reveal the way forward (which requires a huge suspension of disbelief to make any sense of it), a bottomless pit textured with night sky textures to give off the illusion of it being an airlock of sorts (even though you're hardly in any real danger from falling if you play your cards right), a decent-looking attempt at a reflective floor in one of the offices and a room filled with robotic skeletons that are in an inaccessible area (who's sole mission appears to be guarding a random quadbike from intruders). But while a good number of elements in this level can be excused due to limitations of the era it was made in (such as the lacking interactivity which makes a lot of areas feel more like mere window dressing, the occasional out-of-place spiked boulder or wooden textures within metallic vents and some buggy sounds for various gameplay elements), the texturing can oftentimes come off very bland and stretched, with the lighting not fairing much better and invisible barrier triggers for currently locked doors, being a consistent nuisance throughout (as you battle through the latest hired VCI muscle's slow-witted but nevertheless durable defenses, to ultimately achieve your goals). Overall, an average level that managed to keep my attention from beginning to end. But not exactly one that I see myself revisiting in the distant future." - Ceamonks890 (04-Feb-2022)
"Apart from the misnamed inventory items and the occasional really jarring objects such as wooden crowbar doors in the otherwise VCI setting, this is fairly standard fare. Cue the ducts, guards, ducts, alien skeletons!, ducts and ... you get the picture. It’s not badly made, but there are certainly better VCI levels out there." - Jay (13-Aug-2019)
"A reasonably well made but rather underwhelming base level. By now, you know what to expect from these sorts of levels: plenty of duct traversing, guards to shoot, buttons and switches to use, and some lifts, and they are all present and correct here. Not bad, but really only for base level fans." - Ryan (15-Oct-2017)
"This is a rather ordinary base level that took me a bit under 40 minutes to play. Your goal is to gather four computer discs to open the gate to the shuttle so you can make your escape. The artifacts have traditionally Egyptian names (except when they're named "load") and the soldiers are retextured ninjas. The light is fine, and I had no trouble seeing everything. The surroundings are rather bland, especially the many ducts you have to negotiate. Harry Laudie has provided his typically competent walkthrough. Strictly a level to pass the time, as you'll see nothing innovative here. Still, a fairly fun raid." - Phil (06-Jun-2017)
"Typical VCI-labs level, with many ducts to go through, grates to shoot, cards and disks to get, etc. What I saw here: missing textures in the room with the first golden rose; wrong names for the artifacts (a card called "timeless sands"?); bad placed doors with the invisible block in front; several paper walls in the ducts; the golden roses didn't count as secrets... Enemies are well balanced, and I found enough guns and ammo to shoot them all. I was disoriented 'cause I didn't know I could jump through the red lasers. There are not cameras, and very few cd tracks. Textures are usually well applied and the architecture is good. If you like this kind of levels, this will be worth to play for you." - Jose (05-Aug-2016)
"This is one of those levels which gets itself off to a bad start with a string of unfortunate bugs,many of which could terminally halt progress. Navigate yourself around these (mulitple saves are a blessing) and you'll end up with a straightforward but neatly made VCI adventure.Search cupboards,crawl through ventilation shafts,shoot guards,pick up key-cards;you know the form and (aside from a slightly dodgy 'working' Lift)progression is generally uninspired. Technically (and taking into account when it was made) it does a rather good job.Textures are well applied and lighting does the requisite task of creating an appropriate atmosphere.There are many levels on a similar theme as this out there (in fact,the 'Space' concept of the title is superfluous)and there's no reason to choose this over most of them,but it wiles away the time entertainingly enough." - Orbit Dream (28-Apr-2008)
"Lara is in a VCI building in space apparently but you don't know the difference until you look out of the windows! I thought that first lift good and hopped off onto the next floor but the lift kept going up! In this level you have to keep an eye on the ceilings for trapdoors. And the computers for that matter. I like the little touch of a computer book with Lara's face on it and skeletons that look like they are made of metal. Plenty of cupboards and shelves to rummage in plenty of crawlspaces and watch each time you kill a soldier for what he leaves behind. The main thing here is getting four CDs the extras are gold roses (I got I think 3) and a pharos pillar. There were areas I could see but didn't get to like a room with skeletons walking but I've no idea if it is possible to get there. A very good fast paced level just be careful of some of the guards I was killed a lot by them and don't have weapons drawn when entering one office or you'll get fried." - CC (10-Dec-2003)
"I am not sure what to say about this one. It is a nice level but... I mean well first I started over because I thought I was stuck for using the 3 discs on wrong computers then after playing it all over again I got stuck in the same part. THEN I discovered there was a fourth disc. These things are too small and very easy to miss. Then in this second play I could get to the end BUT I missed the second part of the VCI Eye. I hacked the project to find that object and I discovered it was right at the beginning so there was no way back and I was too bored to start over again. So be sure you get the two Eye pieces before using the elevator! Also at the central shaft in the four computers room what were those invisible tiles?" - Treeble (22-Sep-2003)
"A typical VCI Level with card stations computers and the well know marble textures. Enemies are soldiers which die real fast some 'metal-skeletons' and some traps. But sorry even though the ideas are not bad the work presented here has some downsides. 1. Deadend - if you take the Elevator without looking in the other rooms you will not find the Crowbar and later you'll get stuck. 2. Deadend - Elevator - if you don't go out the first time - then the Elevator goes on through Lara - then she falls downs and is stuck there...Textures sometimes stretched or some are not placed. The lattice entrance opens with a shot-sound. Goodies have no name or false name in Script. I liked the room with polish-effect on the floor. At the end you'll meet some soldiers coming out of nothing....Above average - half an hour gameplay." - Miguel (26-Feb-2003)
"No great surprise here that you get a fairly standard VCI level although you do get a few windows where being on a planet other than earth is evident but my surprise came with my enjoyment of the 35 minute course that I took through it. I'm not a fan of duct crawls and the usual base stuff but it was all made pretty interesting for me and I didn't once think 'here we go again'. There are a few little oddities like a rope that seems to have no significance whatsoever maybe a red herring enemies that just take forever to realise you've pumped a couple of rounds into their skulls an invisible triangular piece of floor that you need to make use of and an unexpected disk receptacle in a bathroom/toilet. The biggest oddity though without doubt was why the hell would a large group of men stuck on a desolate lonely planet want to kill the only living breathing female they are likely to be seeing for quite a while. Hmmm they wouldn't happen to be big fans of 'The Village People' by any chance!?!" - Sash (24-Dec-2002)
"Not a big fan of the Base levels myself this still was fun to play. Very fast paced game although I had to start all over as right in the start of this level I thought that those doors couldn't be opened. Although game play exists in opening doors pushing buttons it was always a surprise what you did find on the other end. The view you have every now and then of good old mother Earth is a sight for sore eyes nicely done. All those soldiers appearing out of thin air the moment you want to climb that ladder made me jump in my chair. 04-10-2002" - Gerty (07-Oct-2002)
"Bugs galore! I had to restart the level twice and was about to restart it a third time when I decided to give up. If you play this level make sure that you check every room before you take the elevators otherwise you might end up restarting the level like me. I did enjoy the elevators a lot but there needed to be an elevator that would go back to previous floors. The objects were good but improperly placed e.g. an electronic device in the bathroom. I also didn't notice any credit in the readme for objects that were taken from someone else but that's beside the point. I am very fussy about texture placement sometimes too fussy. I disliked stretched and overused textures. A little bit of lighting could have distracted me a bit from the textures but since there was almost none my attention was drawn to them. Some things that I enjoyed about the game were the windows and the VCI doors with proper animation. The horizon could have been stretched out a little further or raised at the edges to halt the view of the black ground." - MountainDewNut (24-Sep-2002)
"I really did feel like I was in some sort of military base out in space - it was fun to look out the windows and see the stars and the planet earth off in the distance. Otherwise it played like a classic VCI base level and offers an enjoyable 45 minute search for four discs some magnetic cards parts of a key the Iris a Pharaohs Knot and three golden roses - I'm assuming the latter were secrets but they did not register as such. Even though gameplay consisted mainly of opening doors and pushing buttons it was done in a way that I found very enjoyable and I had fun searching for the items - especially with the little surprised thrown in around the level: the elevator the iris the boulder the computer with Lara's picture on the screen the lasers the retextured skeletons the see through office floor and just the overall realistic atmosphere that has you sneaking around the building through crawlspaces and ducts." - RaiderGirl (21-Sep-2002)
"A classic VCI base level quite an improvement from Cornchild's first level and a few neat things in this 45 minutes adventure that I really liked such as the Nevada outfit the 'virtual iris animation' the elevators and the scene where you shoot a small computer and it blasts a huge hole into the nearby wall. Many shelves and cupboards to search many shooting baddies and rather cool retextured skeletons. I found 4 discs three cards the VCI Key that ends the level when placed and the Iris a Pillar and three golden roses which you keep with you as a prize. Still a few design issues that are annoying - I got stuck in one room with no hope of escape and had to reload a savegame the starry sky is great but what is that light blue piece on the sides? some textures are missing and there are quite a few thin walls. But still I enjoyed my time here - just watch out for those discs as they are small and easily overlooked." - Michael (18-Sep-2002)
"A nice try to create a level with some objects and 'moves' from the last TR game. It was good to see Lara open a wardrobe and use elevators although the lifts were not well textured. In fact nothing was well textured even a deliberate invisible extension to the floor had major problems. The reason for the high mark at the objects category is exactly that the animations and the enemies not the retextured skeletons but the guards boy they were shooting like mad you could die in a second I'd love to have a weapon like that. The goal is to collect four card disks I found no use for the iris and exit the level. The disks are either dropped or you can reach them through ducts crawlspaces and sandy areas. Quite nice and it is worth taking a look into this one I hope the author will do too and especially about the design of the rooms so the next level will be improved." - Kristina (18-Sep-2002)
"A nice short level with a few nice touches like the sentry guns that only attack you if you enter the room where they are with weapons drawn 2 elevators the marble floor and some views to the outer space and earth. But I admit I did expect something more unique from a space level and this felt more like the VCI levels and less like a space level. There is nothing extraordinary that I can assure you've never seen in another level but I've played worse." - eTux (16-Sep-2002)
"Quite a big leap forward from Cornchild's first level. There are some missing textures and more effort could have gone into the lighting but otherwise it's a solid base environment with everything you expect in this kind of level: The Guards (they are a bit slow on the intake; it always tales them five seconds to realise that they are shot at) the crawls the shootable grates the code disks the many doors to open buttons to push the laser barrier. Some bits are fairly strange like the elevator that doesn't stop or the fusebox you can shoot which makes a rope appear but that proves to be completely useless and I never found out what the Pharaos knot is for. Could it be that it gives access to the quadbike that is guarded by some space skeletons. Sadly enough I never got to ride it. I really liked the view into space you get from some of the offices and parts of the gameplay where fairly entertaining. So despite the few flaws it's still an enjoyable base/lab level. Have a look if you like that kind of thing." - Dimpfelmoser (16-Sep-2002)