FAQ (Frequently asked Questions)
General
- When will new texture packs be available?
- Can the entire game really be completely re-textured?
- Does this work with Saturn/Playstation/Mac versions of Tomb Raider?
- Does this work with Tomb Raider 2 or any of the other sequels?
- Can I use your textures in my own projects?
Troubleshooting
- I've downloaded and applied your textures, but I only see the old low-res textures -- what's wrong?
- I've downloaded and applied your textures, but they aren't displayed in the right places in the game or some are missing -- what's wrong?
- I'm not very technical! Where can I get help installing the texture packs?
- Why don't some of the textures 'tile' properly?
- The edges of some transparent graphics look weird
- How do I get rid of the spinning Glidos logo?
General
1) When will new texture packs be available?
When I started this project at the end of 2003, it was just me (Matt Hill) producing textures. I certainly planned to re-texture the whole game. However, I quickly lost enthusiasm as the amount of non-design work required to get the textures working was dull, repetitive and boring, and I had seriously under-estimated how long the texturing would take. Over time, more people started their own packs and raced ahead to texture many more levels. The intention is for each artist to texture the entire game in their own style, though how long this will take is anyone's guess. For most of us this is an occasional hobby that fits around a busy life, so none of us can make any guarantees when it will be finished. You'll just have to be patient! :-)
2) Can the entire game really be completely re-textured?
Almost. Environment textures, Lara, other characters, monsters, weapons, sprites and lettering can all be replaced. There are some restrictions though -- solid colour objects, such as Lara's arms and legs, can't be changed, so everything will be made to work around that.
3) Does this work with Saturn/Playstation/Mac versions of Tomb Raider?
No. The high resolution textures require Glidos which allows some old DOS games to run under Windows and for them to utilise Open GL or Direct 3D hardware acceleration. None of the other platforms support Glidos.
4) Does this work with Tomb Raider 2 or any of the other sequels?
No. As above, Glidos is required for the high-resolution textures and only works with Glide based DOS games. Since Tomb Raider 2 and above all ran natively on Windows, it's not necessary to use a third-party program to make them work.
5) Can I use these textures in my own projects?
John Capon, Quest and Matt Hill allow you to use their textures provided you follow these rules:
- Please respect the amount of work that we have put into this, and DO NOT claim it as your own work.
- Include a credit for the relevant artist in the documentation associated with your project.
- Inlcude a link in your documentation to the Tomb Raider Xtra website
- You must not host textures on your own site, or redistribute the texture packs anywhere else
- We'd love to see what you make with our textures, so finally, please email us to let us know about your project and where we can get hold of it.
We monitor fan projects on most Tomb Raider forums and sites: if we discover you are using our textures without following basic courtesy, you will be asked to remove them from your project.
Troubleshooting
1) I've downloaded and applied your textures, but I only see the old low-res textures — what's wrong?
Tomb Raider has two detail modes built in -- one called Normal, the other Mipmapping. For the new high-res textures to display, you must be in Normal mode. Select the Sunglasses icon on the menu to change modes, or press F4 while playing a level to switch between modes. (Note: There is often a long delay as the high-res textures are loaded)
2) I've downloaded and applied your textures, but they aren't displayed in the right places in the game or some are missing — what's wrong?
There are different versions of Tomb Raider and this causes some problems because textures are arranged differently in each version. Some of the downloads on this site only work correctly with the version of the game that that particular artist owns. Other downloads use a special technique available in later versions of Glidos that helps ensure textures will work with all version of the game. In any event, you should be using at least version 1.33 of Glidos to ensure maximum compatibility. If you still see incorrect texturing or missing images, it may mean that the pack is still in development and is incomplete or that it hasn't been optimized for all versions of the game. Hopefully, all packs will eventually work with all versions of the game so you might want to check back in a few weeks for updates.
3) I'm not very technical! Where can I get help installing the texture packs?
We have tried to make the installation of texture packs as simple as possible. The packs themselves come in self-extracting archives. Once you have downloaded a pack, it's simply a case of double-clicking (running) the EXE file and following the prompts. By default, textures are installed into your
C:\Program Files\Glidos\Textures\ folder. The Installation page has more information.
Please note that you must have a working copy of Tomb Raider and Glidos 1.33 or higher for the texture packs to work. Unfortunately, we can't provide help for getting Tomb Raider or Glidos to run on your system. If you need help with this, try these resources:
4) Why don't some of the textures 'tile' properly?
This is a limitation of the original texturing applied by the designers at Core Design. I have no idea why, but a lot of the texturing is very poor, and alignment of textures seems random. This wasn't really a problem with the old low resolution images, but it is much more noticeable with high-res textures. Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done about this.
5) The edges of some transparent graphics look weird
Many of the sprites such as plants, weapons, etc. use alpha channels to handle transparency. There is currently a limitation in Glidos that when a semi-transparent sprite is drawn over another, 'holes' are punched out of the lower one where the semi-transparent pixels overlap. This may be fixed in a future version. It generally doesn't detract from the game though.
6) How do I get rid of the spinning Glidos logo?
Glidos comes as shareware and costs $10. Although TRX requires it, the program itself is nothing to do with the TRX project. The spinning logo protects the software from being exploited, and depending on your version of Tomb Raider you will either see it straight away or you may be able to play the first three levels without it getting in your way. If you want to remove the spinning logo, you need to purchase Glidos.
Any queries sent to TRX members about the spinning logo will be ignored. If you have any issues with Glidos, please visit the Glidos forums