Building blocks
In the classic Tomb Raider games Building blocks are the smallest unit of volume the environment is made of. The standard building block is about one cubic metre in dimensions (e.g. the size of a movable crates - which is actually not a building block but a movable object), but it's height can start at one fourth of that (0.25cm x 1m x 1m) and can be as high as the room it is placed in.
To understand Building Blocks fully it is advisable to take a look at some of the demo levels that get shipped with the Level Editor.
Back in the time the first Tomb Raider games were released the computing power of then current consoles like the first Playstation or Sega Saturn, as well as PCs was too low to render a surface entirely made out if polygons, and the necessary tools to build such an environment were not available. Additionally the concept of building blocks made level design easier.
In the newer games starting with Angel of Darkness and continuing through all Next Generation games the graphics engine has changed drastically and building blocks have become obsolete. Instead these games feature a more smooth surface entirely composed of a wire frame of polygons.
This article has been added to the list of Articles Needing Improvement. Please help us to improve the article or section.
The following reason for adding it to the list has been given: Too short. Further reasons might be found on the "discussion page".
