Eighty Years (or so) To The Big Zero

I’m in shock. I just passed a level in Tomb Raider Anniversary I have been stuck on for four months.

Shortly after purchasing the game for the PS2 last year sometime in October or something I got stuck on a level with an impossible jump. I spend hours trying to make this jump. It couldn’t be done.

I read walk throughs all over the web looking for a clue to how to make this jump. I knew what needed to be done I just couldn’t do it.

It sucked too because this was the fifth location for the game and there are 14 locations. I barely made it through a 1/3 of the game and it was driving me insane. I had dreams about this jump that I couldn’t perform.

So I haven’t played the game since early December - having gone to it every other month on and off just to see if somehow the jump had changed or I was able to via a fluke make it. Nothing. But tonight, tonight seemed different somehow.

Tonight I wrapped my tiny brain around the fucked up camera angles that Tomb Raider forces on the user. Camera positions that change dynamically and quickl as Lara Croft is moving through the space so that at one moment the left directional button will become the down button and a split second later the left again, only to turn into the right directional button on its way to becoming the down button again all the while the camera is twirling and changing views trying to get the best shot of Lara’s ass and breasts. (The only reason to buy the game according to the people to develop this once amazing title. Now it’s all about which shot will give you the best close up of the product. And by product we mean, tits, lips, ass and full frontal shots. How about making a playable game again you jerks! We can enjoy your 3d handy work in the Manor when we’re not trying to save our skins from vicious bears and crazy fifty foot drops.) Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a well photographed woman, real or imagined, it’s part of my dna as a male to respond to these things - I’m a slave to evolution. But come on people! Does it have to interfer and prevent game play?

So anywho…

Somehow I worked out what was happening and made the jump only to have so little health left and used up all my health packs from the three dozen times I fell attempting the jump tonight I restarted the game. But I made the jump.

Then I went to the Manor House and tried the same jump in the training room. After three attempts I made the jump in the training room and was able to eventually get the silver elephant in that room. But I wasn’t happy. I tried the jump again. Fell. Again. Made it. Again, Made it. Again. Made it. I was able to do the jump on command now and so loaded up my saved game from December.

Went through all the traps that I had memorized having done them so often when suddenly I fell from the top of a column before I even got to the jump. Slow down! I reloaded and tried again. Slowly. Methodically.

I made it to the jump area. I positioned Lara and went through the moves. First time made it. Got out and saved the game.

Now I can enjoy the rest of the dangers and adventures Lara must go through in this game. The stories for these games are always so good. I like them a lot. But sometimes the game play is brutal. I’ve never actually finished a Tomb Raider game. Actually I rarely finish video games. Often times I just stop playing them. Classic expections are Diablo II (enough said), and all the Ratchet and Clank games - all four of them except the latest because it’s on the PS3 and I don’t have a PS3 I have a PS2. Darn companies forcing people to purchase new gaming consoles to play their games because they don’t want to keep developing for older systems. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t - see Abes Odd World for the Xbox. Microsoft killed that series.

But Ratchet and Clank now that’s a game series. I’ve played those games at least four times through each and they never get old. Man I love me some Ratchet and Clank.

Thinking out loud

If you’re tracking the road to My Olympus you’ll notice I finally put a 1 into the weight lifting row.

That row kinda has a dual purpose. Originally it was to be for lifting weights at my house. And it still is. But I’m also keeping track of anytime I do the circuit training equipment at my work. The what!

We have this brand new amazing PE area with perhaps a dozen stations covering all muscle groups. Last night (Friday 25Jan08) was the first time, myself and another co-worker took advantage of the machines and worked out in the room.

We’re hoping to make a regular once a week event and perhaps twice a week but that’s not until later. For now once a week is more than enough for me. There are 11 stations and you go around the circuit doing exercises for the different muscle groups. There’s also a treadmill so I may be substituting my nightly walk on Fridays for that.

So the weight lifting row is confusing because it only shows a number one, when it should show: biceps (10), triceps(10), lats(10), quads(10),delts(10),hamstrings(10),lower back(10),abdomen(10),treadmill(1.5 miles) etc. etc. Just know that for each 1 it covers a lot of areas.

Oh, on a cool note I did sit-ups in their machine and it was a flat bench, not an incline like the one I have now (a gift from my mom a long time back), and I was able to easily do 20 situps. 8^)

This morning I’m a little sore but nothing major. I can definitely feel the difference with each week. New mass update by the end of today.

Until then, I have some coding errors to track down on my other website.

A Whole New You