Here's How The Original 1996 Tomb Raider Tackled Texture Distortion

Among all the reasons why old-school video games and their developers deserve respect, one thing that has always stood out is their remarkable creativity in overcoming hardware and software limitations of the '90s, when, despite the inability of top-of-the-line PCs and consoles of the era to handle many of the features considered basic nowadays, teams consistently delivered realistic and immersive experiences through innovative approaches.

One game that serves as the perfect example of this is the original 1996 Tomb Raider, a renowned action-adventure video game and the first installment in the Tomb Raider franchise. Immersing players in the role of the iconic archaeologist Lara Croft, the game unfolds across a series of low poly 3D environments where Lara confronts enemies and solves puzzles to progress. Recently, Game Developer and Art Director Visuwyg shared a brief demo offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Lara Croft's first adventure, highlighting how the legendary game handled its levels.

As shown in Visuwyg's showcase video, the first Tomb Raider game managed to achieve "very solid dynamic subdivision" all the way back in the '90s, with the demo showing the number of subdivisions on walls adjusting based on Lara's proximity – decreasing when the camera is farther from walls and increasing when closer.

In the comments on Visuwyg's original post, there have been numerous theories about why the developers decided to include this feature in the game. One of the most plausible theories was shared by Rain Games' Art Director Ole Ivar Rudi, who suggested that it was most likely added to prevent texture distortion on the PlayStation 1 caused by the console's infamous graphical artifact known as Affine Texture Warping.

Previously, Visuwyg also offered a similar behind-the-scenes look at several other PS1 games, among them Quake 2 and Medal of Honor:

If you would like to learn more about Affine Texture Warping, what caused it, and how its effect can be recreated nowdays in Unity, we also recommend checking out Daniel Ilett's short tutorial discussing all of that and more:

Check out Visuwyg's original Tomb Raider post here and don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.