[Infernal Mass]

Toby Garb returns to save Lara.

What connects Lara Croft to Toby Gard and Adrian and Jeremy Smith? Nothing, besides the fact that without them she wouldn't exist.

Adrian Smith or Ady is one of the founders of Core Design, together with his brother Jeremy Smith. In the beginning both of them were programmers and animators in Core Design, but later they took their place among the most important men in the company. Adrian was especially distinguished. From the beginning of his work on games he has proven himself as a man capable of many varied jobs. He did well as a producer, designer and a composer, so he worked on many popular games. The first active involvement of Adrian Smith in game development is connected to 1994 and Nintendo - as a designer he worked on Donkey Kong Country. He also cooperated in the development of Thunderstrike II in 1995, published by US Gold, and then Smith also worked on a sequel to Donkey Kong Country - Donkey Kong Country: Diddy`s Kong Quest. An interesting fact is that Smith, who was soon to become one of the persons who were responsible for the successes of Tomb Raider, didn`t take part in development of the most successful game about Lara Croft, the first Tomb Raider. His work on Tomb Raider began only when Toby Gard left, and when he became the executive producer and coordinator of everything connected with Tomb Raider.

In 1994 a financial crisis began for Core Design because of the commercial failure of several games released between 1993 and 1994. Nobody could imagine that the idea of one man, Toby Gard, will solve all the problems. After many opposing opinions about what should the new game be like, it was decided that it will be an action title with a male as the main character. This idea was accepted and the development of the engine began. From the very beginning Toby Gard was against the idea about the male character, but he was sure that his idea would be rejected, so he didn`t mention it to anyone. Around the same time a movie called Tank Girl was released, and Toby Gard saw it. Soon after that he was convinced that the main character in the game should be a woman. Only a few days later he presented his idea to the head honchos of Core Design, but it was not accepted. Gard then began modifying the model of the strong and well-armed warrior on his own, transforming him into something much nicer, more feminine, gracious and beautiful. Soon the first model of Lara Croft was created, with bombs and a knife, military pants and a cap, but the development was continued on the same track. Then the model similar to the one from the first Tomb Raider was designed. At the same time, Gard also worked on the development of gameplay in the first Tomb Raider, the game which is considered to be the best game in the series. He was the one who decided that Tomb Raider has to be a third person title, he thought of a story, and thus made something which was going to become a part of history.

Tomb Raider soon became the game of the year, Lara became a worldwide phenomenon, and Core Design knew how to make money from it. Praises and credits came for all sides, but Toby Gard was ignored. In the beginning this didn`t bother him, especially in the period until the fame of Tomb Raider hit the world. Later, he was troubled - besides the credits, his name wasn`t mentioned anywhere. Disappointed and sad, at the beginning of 1997 when the development of a sequel began, Gard left Core Design. "I don`t feel sorry for everything that happened. I`m pleased that I have created a character which is loved by people from all over the world", he explained, although many people doubted that he was indifferent. The character of Lara Croft was and remains the property of Core Design, so Toby Gard could just watch from the sidelines as his work become a worldwide phenomenon, the mascot of the virtual art from the end of the previous and the beginning of this century. However, the development team of Tomb Raider wasn`t disturbed. Most of the men who worked on the first game kept their jobs when the development of Tomb Raider II began, lead by Smith brothers who became the main producers for the sequel. Although Toby Gard was gone, the new game kept the recognizable atmosphere of the first game. After the third installment, it was clear that some changes were needed, but Adrian Smith thought that it was still early for that. So, Last Revelation and Chronicles kept the old style, and one phase in the history of the series was finished. Aware that the changes were inevitable, the guys from the team tried to make something new with TR, but without Gard that was rather hard. It is hard to talk about the success of the new Tomb Raider, because of many controversies, affaires and disturbances which affected the further fate of Tomb Raider and Lara Croft, but also the men who worked on it. Because Angel of Darkness wasn`t sold well, Core Design was dumped, and then California-based Crystal Dynamics got the job, although Core has already began the development of the game. Several days ago a news appeared that the leaders of Core, Adrian and Jeremy Smith, left the company. The brothers founded a new development team, Circle Studio, and stated that they were pleased because in the previous seven years they were able to work on a game such as Tomb Raider (they have also worked on the Fighting Force series, Project Eden, and several less known games), but that they have to look to the future and turn to something new. They have also hired 35 ex-workers from Core Design. Circle Studio will mostly develop games for consoles, and they ambitiously announce the development of games for next generation platforms, Xbox 2 and Play Station 3. Thus the situation became rather complicated for Core Design and Tomb Raider. The leader of the company left as well as many staff, so the development of the online version of Fighting Force was put on hold, just like the development of the sixth sequel to the Tomb Raider series - the game which is really unlikely now. On the other side, Toby Gard currently works for Confounding Factory and he`s finishing the development of Galleon for Xbox. He said goodbye to Tomb Raider and Lara Croft a long time ago.

The ways of life are definitely unpredictable, but if somebody had said to me that Core Design would be one step from closure some five or six years ago, that Lara Croft and Tomb Raider would have an uncertain future, I would have convinced them that they was been wrong. The guys who had created Tomb Raider today don`t even think about it, Circle Studios is going in the opposite direction, Toby Gard has other work to do, Core Design almost doesn`t exist, and the fate of Lara Croft is in the hands of Crystal Dynamics, but they are silent. The old team definitely doesn`t exist any more, there`s no sign of a new one, and we know nothing about the new Tomb Raider. Miss Croft definitely didn`t deserve to be abandoned by its creators, but it seems that is the case. Whether Lara Croft will live or die, that is the question now. And we`ll probably know the answer soon …

update: August 6th 2004

Original designer of Lara Croft comes back to the series after seven years


Lara Croft creator Toby Gard has joined US development studio Crystal Dynamics to work as a senior designer on the next Tomb Raider title - marking his return to the series after leaving Core Design following the launch of the original game.

The move follows reports that Gard's own studio, Confounding Factor, was set to disband after the release of Galleon - its long-delayed Xbox adventure title, which came out in Europe and North America this summer after almost seven years in development.

Crystal Dynamics, perhaps best known for its work on the Soul Reaver titles, was handed the Tomb Raider franchise after it was removed from originators Core Design following the critically panned - and hugely delayed - launch of Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness last summer.

"Toby will complement the existing talented team creating the next Tomb Raider title," a spokesperson for publisher and franchise owner Eidos said last night. "As the creator of the Lara Croft character, he brings a unique perspective to the development process."

Gard isn't the only well-known designer bringing a new perspective to the next iteration of Tomb Raider; according to persistent rumours within the industry, Deus Ex creator Warren Spector has also been drafted in to provide input on the evolution of Lara's adventures.