Level reviews

"As my fellow reviewers have said, what you get here is a very solid debut level set in a Peru environment, which you can get through in about half an hour in fairly linear and simple fashion in terms of gameplay. Architecture overall is quite basic and the dark areas seemed a bit unnecessary and could have been much more atmospheric with a bit of effort invested into lighting them instead. The 3 secrtets were a nice addition though and you had to work for them at least a little bit. Good work and worth a quick look." - MichaelP

"Probably the simpliest level I played this month, but it plays nicely. Nice to have some easier secrets so I didn't have to repeat parts of the game for total completion. Nice to have correct number of flares. Not nice to find ammo without weapons (the only gameplay flaw here, I think). I would also like to get out after the final pickup but that's not mandatory. You can try it, it won't hurt." - DJ Full

"I've played debut levels much worse than this one. It's no classic, but it's worthy of higher average scores than it has garnered to date. Rather crude and dark, it still has its share of solid gameplay elements. I was a bit discouraged by the excessive darkness in many areas, but the builder has provided enough flares that I never had to worry about running out. Treeble's walkthrough enabled me to finish in just over 35 minutes, which means it's a short level, but it provides enough entertainment to justify the download." - Phil

"Not a bad debut, but also not a very original level. Simple architecture, flat texturization, few enemies to shoot, the inner rooms are too dark (black), simple puzzles with moveables, poor atmosphere... Anyway the secrets are well placed and nice to find, and the level is solid with no bugs (except the horizontal pole jumps, a bit tricky for me; and the last jump in the final lava room). I think this builder with more patience and some more effort can bring better levels in the future. Encouragement!" - Jose

"Well, we've all seen far worse debut levels than this. It's short, simple and pleasant enough, apart from some pitch black areas that I could definitely have done without, but at least sufficient flares were provided. Enemies are sparse, comprising a couple of compys and some restless natives. Otherwise, it's straightforward and readily achievable. I'd say there's good potential here and we always welcome new builders." - Jay

"It's amazing that 20 years later we still get new builders joining our community. This debut level will not blow your mind and obviously there's plenty of room for improvement in potential further releases from this author, but all the basics are there. The end of the world is quite within reach at the top of the pyramid, but otherwise it was a solid effort. Lighting felt like a mix of on/off, either it was the default or it was pitch black, and the level design in itself felt a bit boxy at times, such as the walls surounding the pyramid. Gameplay is pretty linear, but I may have walked away with unfinished business as there was a keyhole for which I never found a key. 35 minutes, 3 secrets. 06/20" - Treeble

"Not bad for a first effort. The gameplay is very much on the easier side but flows in a generally sequential manner, while the architecture is unambitious but the pyramid area showcased a bit more building prowess. I'm not entirely sure why the maze area existed for the sole purpose of obtaining a couple of ammo pickups and secret trinkets tucked away in small alcoves, when normally they are used in normal gameplay (admittedly this maze isn't that easy to find anyway, but my point still stands), and you don't need them to progress further, enemies being generally easy to take down. The lighting was also far too gloomy in places, but the brighter areas tend to counterbalance that. Still, there are flashes of potential here." - Ryan

"An okay first level. The looks are not unpleasant but simplistic and there are only few exceptions from those cramped and dull corridors you experience most of the time. Cameras need some rework as well as texturing (missing ones and top of the map appearing in the larger pyramid room). The lighting is also not well worked upon as it is flat outside and too dark in interior rooms. The gameplay starts rather dull as well, but towards the end there are some decent little tasks like the pushable puzzles and also a bit of platforming here and there. Three secrets are to be found here which all are in some extra areas but are quite easy. The end comes more than abrupt after 20 minutes so I hope there is more to come from this builder as the last half showed potential." - manarch2

"First try level with no big technical flaws, that's already something. There is no work on lighting except for some shadows , the outside areas are too blocky to pretend to be atmospheric , the background audio loop is always the same fitting more to catacombs, and what has to be done is too much evident. You think you are always in the main progression of the level , but you may find out you were only on the way of a secret. Not unpleasant level to play for about 30 minutes and the use of pole ropes was fun." - eRIC

"First level from this author. Gameplay was not too demanding, we were collecting keys and dragging the levers. We will also find pushable blocks. The atmosphere could have been quite good were it not for the fact that the ambient from cave was playing all the time, when we were outside. I also think that the opponents were a little too strong, you had to put a lot of lead in them to make them fall. There were a few bugs with textures, and they were repetetive. The end of the level was quite weak, we jumped on the ramps and took Gold Idol after which the level ends. The level took me 27 minutes. Finally, I wish more and better levels from this author! Thanks!" - BlackWolfTR

"For a first attempt,this isn't too bad. There's plenty of gameplay in here;and some of it is rather fun (decent jumping sequences;a few push-blocks;the occasional deviously hidden underwater lever);although the first secret is sequestered inside a stupidly large and pitch- black maze close to the start - an unnecessary detour,which gets the level off to an awkward start.Enemies are rather sparse;and the two tiny dinosaurs feel rather pointless.There is a copious use of objects,which create an initially favourable impression;but they generally serve no purpose,and ultimately just clutter up the level.The static cameras are helpful;but the fly-by really ought to have been deleted,as it's poorly implemented.Although the scenery is adequate,all the rooms (including the large courtyard containing the Mayan Temple) are resolutely rectangular and lack the feeling of being properly organic,especially with the generally flat lighting throughout;which prevents the creation of much atmosphere. Nevertheless,at 45 minutes it's of decent length,;and it kept me reasonably entertained throughout." - Orbit Dream

"This is Indycatalan's debut submission to trle.net and I guess one of the first levels that the author has created. Despite some moments of brilliance, this lack of experience and perhaps time spent on developing this is evident in several different ways. The aim of the level is transpires is to collect an idol, along the way you must deal with multiple, rather lengthy pushblock puzzles which are fairly simplistic but still time consuming. The majority of the level is dominated by this. The rest of the time was mostly spent trying find an underwater lever and key which are both textured very similarly to the walls and floors. Some occasional combat comes in the form of multiple tribesmen who have a lot of HP. Ammo is there to collect in-game but no weapons are there for the ammo to actually be used. So you are stuck using the pistols in these encounters with no reward as such for finding the ammo. This undermines the value of finding the secrets which mostly rewards the player with ammo and occasional flare packs. This brings me on to lighting. The flares are absolutely vital to finish the level. Myriad passages are often pitch black, your initial 3x flares should be used sparingly until you can find the other flares, ironically hidden away in said pitch black passages. Once you do find them the level becomes a lot more bearable and become plentiful. My advice here would be to brighten the passages slightly and avoid using 0/0/0 lighting values in caves or passages or provide the player with a lot more than the default amount of flares as soon as you begin. Failing to do this can easily softlock the player and cause frustration which could be avoided. Another avoidable source of frustration was the lack of camera hints - most switches and puzzles did not reveal which door has been opened and in one instance, the flyby camera shot was totally broken. One good use of the camera and puzzle overall was where a trapdoor is released beneath a pushblock to force open an underground passage. A good use of physics with a clearly marked camera shot telling the player what has been achieved. More of this would be welcome, albeit without the lengthy pushblocks preceding it. Sound effects were generally good with no obvious bugs or issues. However, the ambient track was the same across the level with little to no incidental music which could have been used when puzzles were being solved or enemies being fought. This caused the atmosphere to feel rather flat. In the same vein, the lighting was almost completely flat with darkness conveyed through 0/0/0 (pitch black) light values and no light bulb placement at all. I strongly recommend looking at tutorials on lighting or videos on Youtube which can help you on this. Brighter lighting in the dark areas and the use of darker ambient lights mixed with sun/point/spot bulbs for outdoor sections can dramatically improve the lighting. Textures were often used in a haphazard manner, with a mixture of textures from TR3's Madhouse level and BTB Peru. The use of ladder textures on non climbable walls should perhaps be avoided. Use of more transition textures would improve things. Most textures ended abruptly with obvious lines across walls and floors from one area/texture set to the next. These transitions are available in both TGAs so please make use of them. Objects were used sparingly but where they were used it added to the atmosphere and sense of place. However, be careful about putting objects in the shatter slot. Large stone obelisks are randomly shatterable while small cracked vases that look shatterable are not. Consider how to make this more consistent next time. Also be careful about how plants are used. Ferns and grass floating above Lara and the ground should be avoided. If you want to create foliage above the player, you can texture the ceiling above and then create another room above that to create a canopy. Overall, Indycatalan has demonstrated potential with a level that attempts to tick all the boxes, with platforming, puzzle solving, secrets and combat all present but often falls flat with implementation, repetition of long pushblock puzzles, pitch black lighting and ammo collection which leads to nothing. I believe the builder can easily overcome these issues though and give us a tighter delivery next time. Hopefully this level is a stepping stone to greater things going forward." - Reggie

"I can't imagine more generic level than this one. Running around, pulling some levers, picking some objects and after some 20-25 minutes you're done. There is one interesting hub area that stands out with central structure in the middle and some difficult to reach rooms surrounding it. The secrets are pretty weird. Not only that they provide you with totally unnecessary ammo (as you don't get the weapons and there are very few enemies anyway), but they also contain pointless mazes (not the routes to the secrets, but the secrets themselves). There are some expected debut issues like stretched textures or squarish rooms. There are a few nice audio tracks in the first half, but they are obviously missing afterwards. All in all, there is a lot room for improvement, so lets wait and see where this builder will go from here..." - Tolle87