Joanna also decompiled source code for the game and dev tools.

Download it here (Mirror)

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You can now download and print them here:

• Zine #1
• Zine #2
• Zine #3

Follow Jemima, Insta: @jemimaclairsims, Twitter: @jemimacsims and Bluesky: @jemimacsims.bsky.social

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Venturing back to its roots, Fighting Force 3 promised classic beat ’em up gameplay, offering gamers a fully immersive cooperative mode. With an array of four distinct characters to select from, players could step into the shoes of familiar faces like Hawk, Mace, and Smasher from the original game, alongside the exciting addition of Jill. However, Alana was slated to be absent from this instalment.

We’ve managed to unearth some of the captivating concept and environmental artwork created by the talented Gary Tonge, a key designer at Core Design. These visuals offer a glimpse into the untold potential of Fighting Force 3, showcasing the creativity and vision that could have defined this remarkable gaming experience. We thank Gary for sending us these.

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Lara has many technical fathers, but only one commercial godfather. Besides the game creators Andy Green, Robert Toone, Terry Lloyd, and Chris Shrigley, Jeremy Smith was the single sales and marketing professional in the founding team of Core Design in 1988. His company developed in ten years from a small, ambitious programming studio to become a worldwide entertainment business.

Under the leadership of Jeremy and his brother, Adrian, Core survived the ragged transition from the home computer market of the 80’s to the Sega and Nintendo paradise of the early 90’s. The winning move of Sony’s PlayStation pushed Core right along with it. Lara Croft represents for the Sony and PC market what Mario was for the former market leader, Nintendo: cult figure and commercial hit rolled into one.

This interview with Jeremy Smith, Core founder and President, reveals much about the development of the video game business in the past years, the commercial side of game development, and the meaning of hardware in an industry overflowing with Lara, Sonic, and Mario. Smith explains how Lara was created, how hits develop a surprising life of their own, and how you—against all odds—secure the lifespan of a successful brand.

“She fights with wolves.” —Jeremy Smith, Producer at Core

Prima Games: Does it bore you yet to constantly talk about Lara?

Jeremy Smith: (Laughs) No, it’s hard to get bored in discussions about a beautiful woman.

PG: When I look at the many Lara posters and statues in your office, I ask myself how life before Lara looked for you and Core.

JS: Before Lara? The game industry was still fighting with too many computer and console variations. We also had to program more games. Core developed simultaneously for Amiga, Atari ST, PC, and Mega Drive. We were quite busy. The introduction of Lara came together with the breakthrough of the 32-bit platforms. After that, it all changed. The games got more difficult, and suddenly it wasn’t possible to produce six games for five different platforms. We concentrated very much on the PlayStation, and naturally on the PC. The change from 16 to 32-bit wasn’t just a doubling of power. The devices were suddenly 500 times more powerful than their predecessors, Sega Mega Drive and Super NES. The PlayStation meant an unbelievable step forward for the game market. Then came the 3D graphics cards for the PC. That changed the games greatly, and naturally, the way the games were programmed and produced.

PG: Before the PlayStation emerged, Core was closely tied to Sega. What was special about the relationship between your company and the Japanese giant?

JS: With Sega we always totally understood that it was important for the growth of Core. They helped us when we were still a tiny company that wanted to play with the big boys. I spent a lot of time in Japan to present my technology and my games. Sega went so far as to support all of our projects. We were one of the first English firms to receive a license for the Sega Mega Drive. A small company in Derby, surrounded by huge game concerns, we were very loyal to Sega.

PG: Even as Sega’s first CD console, the Mega CD, totally sunk on the market?

JS: The Mega CD was a disaster! We developed Thunderhawk especially for it. In all of Europe, we sold about 300,000 units. At least for this system, we had a huge hit. Months later the hardware was essentially dead. We were lucky that Thunderhawk was out when there were hardly any other Mega CD games.

PG: Now Sega has a new wonder console with the Dreamcast. Is Core going to support this hardware so zealously too?

JS: We are good friends with Sega and have been using several Dreamcast development systems for months. Our Dreamcast games are going to be done for the European hardware introduction this year. The problem with Sega, though, is that it has to catch up to fifty million PlayStations. Core is now part of a large company that naturally first and foremost wants to develop games for the most popular console, in the long term probably the PlayStation.

PG: Back to Lara: Were you the first one at Core to recognize the charm of the video game heroine?

JS: I was at least the kind that people ran to and yelled, “Wow, you’re great, you made Lara Croft!” (laughs) But naturally I didn’t make it, I just approved it. The working style of Core is simple: The development teams have ideas that they present to me or my brother and we then talk about them. “Yes, that could be it!” or “No, the idea is bad.” With Tomb Raider, I personally wanted a game where you plunder ancient pyramids and burial grounds.

PG: Like ten years ago in your Rick Dangerous?

JS: Exactly! That is still my favorite game; absolutely great! In the case of Tomb Raider, Toby (Gard) came to me with the idea and I said, “Great! Let’s do it!” Toby and the rest of the team played around with this idea of an Indiana Jones-type hero for months. I loved the idea and spurred them on, simply to keep going. When I saw the Indiana Jones hero for the first time, I thought George Lucas would be mad. Toby and his team worked over the hero and after a few weeks, he came back with Lara. I looked at the monitor in disbelief and said something like, “My God, now that’s a woman. You can’t be f***ing serious!” But Toby was enthusiastic and you have to give the creatives their freedom; the freedom to go after what they believe.

PG: So only a little bit of skepticism from your side?

JS: Of course I was skeptical, as was everyone then. But then, that was five years ago, and Lara simply came to life and you could see what Toby was planning. There weren’t any girls in video games at all then, other than in Japanese games. Sure there were a few single women figures, for example in Virtua Fighter, but still no game that completely revolved around a heroine. We had always developed games that were a little bit different, and looked at many to ask ourselves, “Super game. Why wasn’t it successful on the market?” We played with the ideas and finally gave them the missing twist. Tomb Raider was surely the most ingenious and original Core game.

PG: Core is recognized as one the most technically progressive game companies and still hasn’t ever tried an online or internet game. . .

JS: At this moment, we’re playing with this idea. For twelve months we’ve been working with a few things in this area. But as long as we aren’t really sure that we can do it well, we’d better let it go. It’s difficult to get into this sector.

PG: Do you believe you have to use Lara to get a foothold there?

JS: No, I believe that would be easy; maybe too easy. We would rather do something more difficult and not take advantage of Lara too much. I’d be nervous that you would see Lara everywhere, in every shopping store, on every T-shirt . . .

PG: Do you believe that Lara’s success will ever be matched by Core?

JS: Actually, now I’d have to say yes. Though the Lara story surprises me too, and that’s how I stake my trust in Hollywood. Look at James Bond: born at the end of the 60’s, eighteen films later, he’s still as fresh as the first time. We’ve created such an icon, and now we have to give the consumers what they want. Ian Fleming was very smart. He knew exactly what his readers want. Some science, cars . . .

PG: . . . girls, technology, and exotic locations.

JS: Exactly. Everyone seems to love it. But it doesn’t matter if they love it or not, they watch it every time! This is exactly what we’re doing with Lara. The Bond philosophy says, “Give the consumers what they want!” That’s why there will be no Lara role-playing game. Lara is a 3D adventurer. She fights with wolves!

For eight years Adrian Smith has helped Jeremy, his older brother, lead Core. He too comes from software sales, but in comparison to his brother also has a technical background, and is thus the ideal connection between management, development teams, and external partners. As Operation Director, he also takes care of the Lara hype, reviews, offers of potential licensing partners and gets angry about unlicensed Tomb Raider products. We discussed the Lara cult and its growth.

“Jennifer Lopez would be my first choice!” —Adrian Smith, Producer at Core

Prima Games: We just asked your brother this same question: does it bore you to be asked about Lara again and again?

Adrian Smith: No . . . or to be honest, yes. It’s slowly gotten a little annoying. On the other hand, it’s flattering to be addressed as the “father of Lara Croft.” It only got really grating with the reaction of many trade magazines to the third Tomb Raider. In certain circles it really became the fashion to mince up Lara.

PG: Has your “baby” developed through the three parts, like a proud father had imagined?

AS: Yes, in every way. Although all episodes were primarily created for the PlayStation and this hardware hasn’t gotten any better, there still have been significant technical improvements. In 1996, Lara began as a 3D heroine with about 230 polygons, and in the third part she’s detailed and is made up of about 300 polygons. In addition, she develops somewhat further with every gaming idea. For example, as we invented water and flooded caves, we opened a whole new dimension for Lara to explore.

PG: Up until now, all Lara games were created for 32-bit platforms. With the introduction of new game consoles like the Sega Dreamcast and the PlayStation2, do you see a gaming quantum leap for the series?

AS: New game consoles like the PlayStation2 will certainly provide a whole new gaming experience. Videogames are getting more and more similar to Hollywood films, and we anticipate a whole new graphical experience.

PG: Won’t that drastically change the role of the professional game developer?

AS: Yes, definitely. For example, we need better Sony authors than each of the ones we have. Like in movies, games will show up with multiple protagonists with strong personalities and their own character. That requires new talents and will probably further crank up the size of the programming teams. Now only Japanese firms use one hundred or more people for a single game.

PG: The Lara cosmos doesn’t just determine the fate of your games, but also the countless, often even unlicensed, fan items. How do you deal with that?

AS: The fans on the Internet are particularly enthusiastic about Tomb Raider. For us it’s of course great and that’s why we help out with the unofficial (Internet) projects that were created out of the interest of the fans. On the other hand, there are also things that we don’t like as much, like the naked cheat that our team allegedly built into the game. Although the pictures are created through a technical trick, and Lara is simply represented in another color palette, it seems many players get off on this. For us, this is naturally a thorn in the side, and destroys Lara’s good reputation. The peak, though, is on a CD that I received this morning . . .

PG: What’s on it?

AS: (Pulls out a CD-ROM with ” Nude Raider” written on it and explicit photos on the cover.) A hardcore porno with someone dressed up as Lara as the main actress! That’s really just vulgar and repulsive!

PG: Your office film project will probably bring you even more fun.

AS: Of course, the coming Hollywood film is a big thing, though also not without risk. With Lara, we’re bringing a worldwide popular character to the project. Core has a lot to lose with the film, as compared to Paramount which can only win.

PG: Does Core have any influence on the film? Could you, for example, determine the actress for the title role?

AS: No, we can’t determine it, but Paramount naturally talks to us about potential candidates. My favorite actress for the title roll, by the way, would be Jennifer Lopez. The woman is classy and fits right in with the Lara image. Jennifer would definitely be my first choice!

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The Salford Mayor Citizen Award is a recognition scheme that celebrates the achievements and contributions of individuals and groups in Salford, a city in Greater Manchester, England. The award aims to honour those who have made a positive difference in their communities, demonstrated excellence in their fields, or shown outstanding courage and resilience.

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Format: PS2
Release: 2003
Publisher: Eidos
Developer: Core Design

The stress fractures were clear a long time before Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness was released. In May 2002 at the E3 conference in LA, Eidos showcased ‘playable’ levels of the game which were little more than short animation demos. For a game due out ‘imminently’, it appeared woefully incomplete.

Fast forward to Sony’s PlayStation Experience at Earl’s Court in September the same year and the public was able to see the next-gen Lara for the first time. Able to play the opening level – set in a Parisian backstreet – the disappointment at Lara’s clumsy negotiation of a dumpster followed by some awkward ladder climbing was tangible. “We spent an inordinate amount of time on the animation of Lara and designed the controls around the animation instead of designing the animation around the controls,” explained Jeremy Heath-Smith, Core Design’s co-founder, shortly after the game was released.

“We got wrapped up in that whole beautiful big animation experience. I don’t know if we ever would have understood what we got wrong with the animation until the game was out. We could have easily used another two or three months. We could have used another year.”

Significantly, Heath-Smith had to present the game at a buyers’ conference several months before the game was released. It was an agonising experience both for the man himself and those attending. ”It was the worst opening level to any game,” an anonymous source tells Edge. “I had to sit through Jeremy Heath-Smith cursing through it while attempting to get Lara on top of a bin. It was unusual behaviour at a buyers’ conference to say the least.”

But this is the end of the story; its beginning is equally gruesome. By all accounts, The Angel Of Darkness was in trouble from the very start. A new team was assigned to the next-gen Lara game while the experienced Tomb Raider stalwarts continued to plug away at Tomb Raider: Chronicles, the last of Eidos’ annual Tomb Raider hits on PS1.After completing Chronicles at the back end of 2000, lead programmer Richard Morton moved over to Angel Of Darkness, and he was shocked at what he found. “The tech had to be completely rewritten from PS1 to PS2 and scrapped again when the Chronicles team started on the game,” he explains. “We lost the first year due to Chronicles and only had the basic story, character models and concept art.”

It’s a classic tale of hubris, with Core’s senior management boasting of innovative features to the press while the artists and programmers tried to keep up with the grand design. “The phrase ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ springs to mind,” continues Morton. “This, coupled with the management trying to cram every new game idea into the design – stealth from Metal Gear, character interaction from Shenmue, upgradeable attributes from RPG games, and so on. Instead of letting the team make a really great Tomb Raider game.”

Early reports also hinted at an epic storyline spanning several games, or episodic content depending on how effusive Core’s management were feeling when they spoke to the press. Charged with outlining this vision was a fresh-faced writer, Murti Schofield: “The Tomb Raider games were in a rut and needed fresh thought and direction. Would I be interested in coming over to Derby and doing a pitch? Would I! I was determined to make the most of this opportunity to pack in as much of my own thematic obsessions as I could get away with and still have it work effectively in a gaming situation.

“Obscure references were dropped in everywhere, in names, as locations, as clues. Background histories of characters were chronicled to depths that gave me intense satisfaction as a writer even though I knew only the tip of these biographical icebergs would ever show in the game.”

Core was keen not just to give Lara’s first PS2 outing a dark mood but also set it in contemporary locations. “By December of 2000 the bulk of the story, establishing scenes and supporting concepts were in place and documented,” recalls Schofield. “I would say the main skeleton of 90 to 95 per cent of what we finally used was there. Then there were changes throughout the next two-and-a-bit years right up until the last possible minute but the infrastructure of the story, as it now exists in the finished game, was there.”

While Angel Of Darkness’ plot is still the subject of much fan activity, the decision to set it in contemporary locations backfired dramatically. Even lukewarm reviews pointed out how little classic tomb raiding made it into the final cut. With the first third of the game set in unpopulated Parisian streets, the Louvre, a discotheque and the city’s sewers, it couldn’t have felt less like an adventure. While later levels in a sanatorium and at an archeological dig were better, few players bothered to get there.

“It was only when we’d been in development for a while that we realised the world wasn’t ready for episodic games,” adds Morton. “We decided to concentrate on the first part as one boxed game, but even this proved too big a task for us with the time we had. Originally The Angel Of Darkness had four distinct locations: Paris, Castle Kriegler in Germany, Prague and Cappadocia in Turkey. We decided to cut to two, Paris and Prague, leaving Castle Kriegler in Germany and Cappadocia in Turkey as the two main locations to a proposed sequel, The Lost Dominion.” Practically cutting the game in half midway through its development had a deleterious effect on the team’s morale and the end product felt disjointed. Players complained that plot inconsistencies, characters, clues and levels felt tagged on or made no sense in the overarching plot.

Fortunately, one of the game’s crowning achievements, its orchestral score, was not affected by the cuts. “These changes took place after we recorded the music and fortunately it didn’t have any negative impact on what we did,” explains sound designer Peter Connelly. “Our music still worked within each of the game’s locations. If the storyline had been completely changed – with a positive plot throughout – we would’ve been screwed, but we were confident this was never going to happen.” Although Core was one of the first companies to receive PS2 dev kits, locking down code proved problematic.

“The other main reason for the delay in my opinion was the tech side of things,” explains Morton. “The PS2 hardware was still proving tricky to optimise and get the best results out of it. We were designing and building levels and characters without any real restriction on polygon budgets or memory limits, which obviously came back to bite us in the arse. Levels were shrunk and characters were dropped.”

Many of the press-friendly features brainstormed into the original design were also curtailed. Lara’s ‘RPG’ skill power-ups felt tagged on, and her stealth moves appeared limp next to those of Sam Fisher or Solid Snake. Indeed, Core planned to spawn a new franchise out of Lara’s new sidekick, Kurtis Trent, but many of his abilities ended up in the bin.

“There was a lot of material that got cut and changed; the whole process was one of slash and patch, right up to the latest possible moments before release,” recalls Schofield. “There were things that got left so late that their final omission left the game badly crippled, and I mourn them. One example was the range of hero abilities planned for Kurtis. He ended up as such a thin, emasculated version of the character we planned in the early stages of development that I could have wept. I may actually have done so.”

The story that emerges from Angel Of Darkness’ ashes is a bleak one, with members of Core’s staff leaving due to the constant changes in direction and an upper management unwilling to listen. “We weren’t able to fully control the game as a team and there were far too many chiefs,” concludes Morton. “As a result, the game lost direction. It was also technically a nightmare with some editors only coming online in the last eight months of development. We didn’t have full character control in until a year before the game’s completion – we’d been in development for ages before then.”

The game that eventually emerged was beset by bugs and felt disjointed in the extreme. The situation wasn’t helped by Eidos facing financial troubles. An ex-Eidos employee tells us that by March 2003 the game had already been submitted eight times to Sony and was eventually rushed out to hit the April 1 accounting deadline. Core wanted more time to polish the game, but another delay could have tipped the publisher over the edge.

Schofield’s sentiments on the experience mirror those of many ex-Core employees: “Angel Of Darkness played like a dog and did not get good reviews. I moved on to other things, scarred and wiser, determined to follow my own path.”

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Shifting Priorities:

According to the internal email exchange, reported by the Verge, Microsoft recognized a “yield miss” for the Xbox Series X/S consoles, but attributed the console scarcity during the initial launch period to factors beyond hardware production issues. The company strategically reduced compute units on the consoles to improve production yield, while simultaneously holding back chips for its cloud gaming services. This decision underscores Microsoft’s focus on investing in the cloud and gaming content over console volumes.

Cloud Gaming Investment:

Less than a year after the launch of Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft upgraded its Xbox Cloud Gaming servers with custom Xbox Series X hardware. This upgrade aimed to enhance frame rates and load times for an improved gaming experience. Microsoft’s investments in its cloud infrastructure for Xbox Cloud Gaming demonstrate its belief that cloud-based gaming, combined with compelling content, is crucial to realizing its full potential in the gaming industry.

Windows 11 in the Cloud:

Microsoft’s future plans involve streaming the entire Windows 11 operating system from the cloud. Presentation documents from the ongoing hearings between the Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft shed light on the company’s long-term goal. By leveraging cloud technology, Microsoft aims to enable users to load Windows 11 seamlessly, further expanding the accessibility and availability of its software suite. This move aligns with the company’s strategy of using the power of the cloud to offer improved AI-powered services and a personalized digital experience.

Implications and Challenges:

While Microsoft’s focus on cloud and streaming services holds significant potential, it does come with challenges. The company’s ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard is being closely scrutinized by regulators due to concerns about reduced competition in the gaming market. Microsoft’s determination to grow its cloud-based services, including Xbox Game Pass, has attracted antitrust advocates’ attention. However, Microsoft remains confident in its ability to leverage its console strength, developer engagement, gaming community, and content catalogue to differentiate itself from competitors like Amazon Luna and Google Stadia.

Conclusion:

Microsoft’s decision to prioritize cloud and streaming services over Xbox Series X/S console sales reflects its long-term ambition to establish a strong presence in the cloud gaming market. By sacrificing immediate sales growth, the company aims to invest in its cloud infrastructure, gaming content, and AI-powered services. Furthermore, Microsoft’s goal of streaming the entire Windows 11 operating system from the cloud signifies its commitment to revolutionizing the user experience and expanding the reach of its software suite. As the industry evolves, Microsoft’s strategic shift positions it at the forefront of the cloud gaming and streaming revolution.

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