Tomb Raider Pre-Alpha Tech Demo (1995)

This is an early prototype of Tomb Raider, which was done by Core Design to demonstrate what the engine was already capable of. Tomb Raider has a custom engine that uses a grid system for the level maps. Unlike the final game, this prototype also has angled walls in some corners, even though they behave like normal blocks. You may notice that Lara actually has a braid and wears sun glasses, much like in FMV cutscenes and in some promotional materials. However, Core Design had technical issues implementing the braid, so it was replaced by a bun. This prototype has only one map with a bunch of empty rooms. Some textures look a lot like those used in the City of Vilcabamba level in the final game. There is a small bear wandering around and a wolf that doesn’t do anything. Those two animals allow to demonstrate the dual-aiming capability that was scrapped later. You can’t shoot in this prototype. Lara has different and longer animations, and not all movements were implemented yet. Rai