[Originally written in 1997 or early 1998 - believe it or not, Confounding Factor's game, "Galleon", is _still_ not out (as of early 2001), and the 'Dural' (ok, Dreamcast!) has come and gone, practically. I believe it's due later this year on PS2 and other formats, and it looks _very_ promising indeed. As it should do, considering how long it's taken ;)]

Now, here's an interesting one. videogamedesign.com has managed to get an exclusive word or two with Toby Gard and Paul Douglas, the main forces (code and graphics respectively) behind one of the biggest computer games _ever_, "Tomb Raider".

As many of you may know, they left Core Design shortly after finishing "Tomb Raider", and have now set up their own company, Confounding Factor. where they're working on a new project that may just be destined to be as big as Lara.

So read on for scoops about why they left Core, what they're working on now, and what they think of "Tomb Raider 2" :)

h0l: You guys are obviously best known for "Tomb Raider" - but Core has had a pedigree of decent games going way back. What did you work on before "TR"?

PD: "Tomb Raider" was my first commercial game. Toby previously worked on "BC Racers" but he doesn't like to talk about it.

h0l: What do you attribute the success of "Tomb Raider" to?

TG: It being better than most of the other games around at the time.

PD: First and foremost it was/is a good game. Some people have attributed its success purely on the fact is has a female lead character, and the associated marketing, but there has been plenty of mediocre games in the past with female characters.

h0l: Were you amused or appalled at "Nude Raider"? :)

PD: It's pretty sad. Have you heard the rumour that it was Core that did it? It wouldn't surprise me in the least. We were actually asked to put something like that in the game by the boss, but flatly refused.

h0l: I know some of you were almost tempted over to join Shiny at one point. What changed your mind?

PD: I dont think I would have been able to concentrate on making games if I worked in somewhere as cool as Laguna Beach.

h0l: Why did you decide to leave Core Design in the end?

PD: We were basically given the option of doing a "Tomb Raider" clone on N64 in less than 12 months from scratch, or "Tomb Raider 2",  neither of which interested us, so we chose the only other possible option.. the door

h0l: Did you find setting up your own company easy, or has it shifted you into all kinds of administration and management issues that you might not want to deal with?

PD: Well, it took us about 6 months to fully set up Confounding Factor, what with having to negotiate a publishing deal, find offices, buy equipment, etc, etc. Now thats all done, we've found that all our admin and business related issues can be quickly sorted out in about 15 minutes daily, which I generally do with a cup of coffee in the morning while I wake up. We more than make up for this "lost 15 minutes" by not having to deal with useless middle-management.

h0l: Are you happy with how the continuation of the "Tomb Raider" franchise is going? (the new game, the publicity campaigns for it?)

PD: I've been playing "TR2" the last week. It's certainly pretty good, but has a number of flaws that I wouldn't have done. Its also more of a "TR1.5", rather than a full-blown sequel, which is a shame. It'll be interesting to see if Eidos milk it dry or nurture it. It's also looking exceedingly dated when compared to what we're working on now...

h0l: Can any of you give me any hint as to what game you're working on? Or is it top top secret? :)

PD: It's even more than top top secret, if we told you about it we'd have to kill you...

h0l: Which game developers do you particularly admire?

PD: Off the top of my head and thus in no particular order and probably missing someone really cool: Bullfrog, Looking Glass, iD, Rare, Shiny, Squaresoft, Nintendo, Westwood, Parallax.

h0l: What kind of timelimits and platforms are you talking about for the new title?

PD: The game will be released this millenium, definitely on PC, and quite possibly on Dural and Playstation 2. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on what way you look at it), the game design and technical specification are way beyond the capabilities of Saturn, Playstation and N64.

h0l: What games are you guys playing at work/home at the moment?

PD: "Tombraider 2", "Final Fantasy VII", multiplayer "Micro Machines 3", "Abe's Oddworld", "Curse of Monkey Island". Out of all of them i've probably enjoyed "Final Fantasy VII" the most. I've also just started playing "Quake 2", which is an awesome sequel.

h0l: Do you think the trend of small development teams working for big publishers is a good one, in terms of structure and creative freedom?

PD: Well, it's certainly working for us. I couldnt really say if it works in general though.

h0l: Are people in the games industry socially inadequate? :)

TG: No more or less than people in any other industry that demands long working hours.

h0l: Finally, name your three favourite words or phrases.

PD+TG: 1. Pants.
2. Who'd like a nice cup of tea?
3. Here's your royalties.

h0l: Thanks, guys!