Some new screenshots and a First-Look post on gamespot have been released in the meantime. Thanks to @fylaracroft for mentioning it.

It seems that LCatGoL is not meant to be the next real Tomb Raider sequel. To me it looks more like a promotional mini game or something like that. Hard to believe that i shall open my purse for it…

Back to the 80′s!

This is how gamespot describes it: “Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (…) is an arcade-inspired action romp with a fixed isometric camera and a focus on high scores and replay value…”

After the first shock is over it becomes clear to see that this piece of bits and bytes really has nothing to do with Tomb Raider. It seems to be a side-product and reminds me on some 80′s Jump n Run games…

I mean fixed isometric camera, high scores and arcade-inspired… really not my genre. And when i want to play such stuff i’m sure i can find Mario in the forgotten box underneath the bed.

Maybe not that bad!

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light probably isn’t that boring. Nobody played the game yet. It can happen that it’s an entertaining, nicely done game for a lazy weekend or two.

After all, such an unexpectedly strange looking Lara Croft game is better than nothing. Maybe it’s the perfect thing to shorten the waiting time until the true Tomb Raider 9 comes out.

Still a remaining questions is about the platforms. I still don’t believe that it comes for the PC, but anyway, everything is possible, even that “Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light” is available for free download (Huh, have i really said that?).

I’m sure the Games Developers Conference will bring more news.

If you are a Tomb Raider fans as well you can follow developer Crystal Dynamics on Twitter. The guys trying hard to satisfy the needs of Lara’s fans. Check them out.

First-Look post on gamespot.com (The game is sorted under “xbox 360″ there)

It’s an old-fashioned single player action role-playing game for PC and XBox, created by Piranha Bytes, the same guys who also have made the famous “Gothic”-Series a few years ago.

Well, for me Risen is pretty much the same like Gothic 1 & 2, which is a good thing. The game has 100% the same feel, except the fight system which is much better than in Gothic.

I just finished my first round as bandit/sword fighter and already started a second round where i want to try the magician career.

But before i do so let me set up the free cam mode and visit some of my favorite places in Risen…

If you are planning to play Risen better don’t read this post, it contains a lot of spoilers. Click on the pics for better resolution.

Coast and Sara’s (first) Refuge!

The first important place in Risen is this deserted house not far from the beach where you and Sara were washed up. You leave Sara here because it’s too dangerous for her to move along… well, it’s also dangerous for you but, you know, she’s a woman… you’re a man :-)

Harbor City!

The main capital of the Faranga Island is simply called Harbor City. Although i’m missing the small alley ways of Khorinis (Gothic 2), it’s still a wonderful town with many quests to explore. Picture shows a part of the upper quarter.

Harbor District!

This is the harbor district in the evening light. Daytime-Lighting and weather changes are brilliant made in Risen.

Patty’s Bar!

At first Patty seems to be only a young, pretty – and little bit wayward – bar owner. But you will learn quickly that Patty is so much more. Definitely the strongest character (apart from Cardinal Mendoza and your avatar) in the game. And a very good companion.

Donna Sonja’s Brothel!

In Sonja’s whorehouse, located in the harbor district, you can have fun for 50 Gold and get information for 10 Gold. There’s also some work to do: Rescue the poor girls from brutal Erikson. A secret tunnel can also be found in this house of red light…

Marvin’s Hideout!

Not only that Marvin ran away from home, he also stole a ring from an undead lord who is appearing in terrible nightmares every night since then. But at least Marvin found this beautiful cottage in the dangerous east forest. It’s the perfect place when you need to rest from hunting.

West Coast Ruins and Jungle!

You can’t find a better place to build a luxury seaside hotel and vacation apartments. People will love to visit the west coast of Faranga; waterfalls, beaches, beautiful landscape… if there weren’t those armies of undead skeleton fighters and hordes of other beasts around. So grab your sword or better move over to Mallorca.

East Tunnel!

When you want to travel to the east you need to cross this tunnel. If you still got all your body parts once after you reached this entrance you can be lucky. If you are still alive after crossing the tunnel you’re probably in God-Mode. No, it’s not too hard and worth a few tries. And still the prettiest look into a cave in Risen.

Big Hanging Bridge!

This big hanging bridge connects the mainland with the mysterious east-peninsular where the Gyrger is doing mischief. Wooo! Are you afraid? You don’t need to because the excellent hunter Rupert will help you.

Gyrger Castle!

At the end of the east-peninsular you will find the rotten castle of the legendary Gyrger. You and Rupert have to fight a lot to stay alive. I remember this was the first underground level where i left happy thinking “Wow, that was cool.”

East Swamp Valley!

Next to the buried East Temple – another great place – is a huge swamp area. It looks nice on this screenshot but when i visited it the first time it was at night and the weather was bad. I couldn’t see much in the fog… and so i couldn’t see the attack coming… Bog-Bodies and gigantic Rottworms.

Volcano!

The volcano in the center of Faranga is the perfect place for some exciting adventure trips. Hiking, Cave Exploration, Hunting, whatever you want. Don’t miss to visit the volcano temple, the magicians will welcome you (no matter if you want or not)…

Volcano Temple!

The home of magicians, templars and the most powerful man in Risen: Inquisitor Mendoza. The temple keeps the holy fire and if you’re enlightened enough you can become a magician as well. Anyway, the day will come when you are even stronger than Mendoza.

Old Library!

I love staying in the old library below the volcano temple. It’s a great place for learning and studying magical formulas, you can even practice a few important spells. Tipp: In chapter 3 some ugly, brutal and overskilled Lizard-Fighters will teach you some lessons about pain.

Subterranean Lizard Village!

Deep down under the rocks of the volcano you need to free a contorted village from Lizard-Fighters. But the habitants don’t like to discuss the topic with you. You have to use other methods… killing, for example. When it’s done what had to be done have a look around and enjoy the silent beauty of the cave village.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you are interested to play Risen as well, have a look at worldofrisen.de or visit your local dealer.

Thanks for reading.

Then it took some more seconds before i finally understood that an very old dreams will come true:

There will be a ceiling over the sims’ head!

After so many years we will finally be able to make indoor shots from better perspectives, even worm’s-eye views will be possible.

But there still seems to be a small restriction…

On both shots – the one above was from this excellent trailer – the ceilings look the same.

I’m wondering if there really will be no way to paint the ceiling. And i hope that it will still be possible to create double-floor tiers.

We will know for sure on February 19…

Oh, here’s another new screenshot, a cool outdoor scenery with fancy cars. Interesting here: Cars will be there by standard, no expansion pack required.

Edit: Hi Visitor, please imagine that this post was written long time before the Sims 3 was released. The modding-scene is still alive but it takes time. Please use the site search or tags to find more posts about The Sims.

Today i’ve visited a few official and leading inofficial websites to get the latest news about The Sims 3 (Release: February 20, 2009).

There has been the rumor that we could not build our own houses in The Sims 3 due to the new open neighborhood. This point is not totally clear so i wanted to find more info about that.

Another important question is about the customizable breast-size of female Sims. I often read about it the search requests – and i understand that need ;)

Read here what i have found out about Sims 3 breast-sizes and more…

Is there a building mode in Sims 3?

Okay, i didn’t see a screenshot of the Sims 3 house-building mode yet. To be honest, i don’t know for sure if you can create your own houses.

But i simply cannot imagine that Maxis would steal this most-beloved and important feature from the gamers. Creating a mansion stone by stone always has been one of the most important parts of the whole Sims-series.

Luckily, in the latest “Making of…” video, a guy says something like: “…some players want to build houses, some want to do other things, The Sims 3 has it all…”

Additional neighborhood tool!

On the other hand there won’t be another neighborhood than the standard one in the basic game. That’s a sad fact.

But Maxis want to release an additional tool to create own neighborhoods.

In The Sims 2 you always had to go the long and rocky road to create a landscape with streets and lots by using SimCity 4. Since ages i’m waiting for more in-game neighborhood tools but they never appeared.

So a stand-alone “Body Shop for neighborhoods” is better than nothing.

The Create a Sim Menus!

In the same “Making of…” video you can see a number of menus of the new “Create a Sim” editor. It really seems to work a million times better than the old Sims 2 Family Creator.

I deeply hope that there will be all the import/export/actualize functions inside the game’s CAS and we never need Body Shop anymore to create own outfits.

I’ve made a few screenshots of the menus, look carefully, they tell us something about customizable breast-sizes:

On the first page of CAS you give the Sims a name, gender, zodiac and age.

The “Create a Sim” (CAS) Editor looks cool and contains some innovations. But what about the possible body shapes? Let’s see:

Only 2 rulers for the body shape of this guy. And only the belly seems to be affected.

Maxis knows why they show us this most interesting menu only with a male sim :)

But anyway, i don’t think that the female version will have more rulers for the breast sizes. It will be pretty much the same thin/heavy/muscle ruler like in the male window.

Hair can have up to 4 different color zones (Roots, Base, Tips, Highlights)...

In the screenshot above you can see a detail preview screen at the down left corner of CAS. There’s also a navigation button (zoom and turn). And well, this picture also shows clearly how flat standard Sims 3 women are :(

This photo shows the "Facial Details" Designer.

Closely looking at a Sims 3 face gives us an idea of the enlarged number of polygons. The mesh is much smoother than in Sims 2.

"Shape Presets" only shows default thumbnails yet.

Sims 3 women remain to be unnatural!

Though these pictures are no absolute proof i do not think that we can change the breast-sizes of Sims 3 females. Every real woman has a different breast size and shape but not in the Sims 3.

I also was looking very carefully to many in-game screenshots but each and every female character was appearing exactly the same to me – at that most attractive body zone.

I don’t understand Maxis’ reasons which may be mostly political. But the game will be marked as “inappropriate for children” anyway, due to some “nudity” and “violence”, so why don’t they add a button and make numerous fans happy?

A new motivation for modders!

We can discuss this topic until the Sims 3 come out on February 20 but i already know:

If we want our Sims 3 to look sexy, maybe super hot or at least really unique (and not in the one-way Maxis wants them) we have to figure out the file-structures again and start modding The Sims 3.

I guess this will happen anyway, though it will be a very long way to go again.

Thanks for reading. If you know something more about the building mode and breast sizing, please write a comment ;)

More Links:

“About The Sims 3 – making of” video clip by Maxis