LEVEL 21:
CITY OF THE DEAD
Blue text
added starting 9/22/06. It mostly concerns crawl-corner bugs.
STREET NEAR BIG WROUGHT IRON GATE AND BUILDING WITH
WIDE STAIRS: The corner to the right of the wide stairs, below the red onion dome, allows
the corner bug from both faces. At the right face, Lara is protected from the
two snipers, but there’s no advantage to being on the roof for taking
them out. Lara can move west to get on higher and lower roofs, but
there’s nowhere to go from there. Instead, go south to drop to a lower
roof; from there, she can jump to the strip of roof that held the high sniper
(there’s a strip of wall in back of it). Move east until Lara bumps into
an invisible wall. Hop back once, move left to the edge of the roof, and turn
45 degrees to the left. -
Hop back and take a running
jump with Action; this should land Lara on the wall beside the east edge of the
stairs. You have three interesting choices at this point:
1. Move toward the orange
tower. See the BIG WROUGHT IRON GATE below. Get behind the gate with 5% damage.
2. From the column before
the gate, hang above the black switch. Drop and re-press Action, to catch the
switch and open the gate. Watch out for the soldier who starts shooting as the
gate opens.
3. From the same column as in #2, take a running jump with Action across the
street to land in the hole in the opposite wall. Traverse left and continue
down to the ROOM WITH LIT TORCHES. Pick up the small med-pack and secret #1 (a
large med-pack and Uzi clips). The door to the SQUARE HALLWAY WITH DEAD SOLDIER
is closed, so return the way you came. Back at the opening, jump across and
grab the black switch, opening the BIG WROUGHT IRON GATE. Now, when you jump
the motorcycle onto the RUINED BUILDING WITH X-SHAPED WOODEN BARRICADES, you
can turn back before sliding down to the SQUARE HALLWAY WITH DEAD SOLDIER, or
if you’re willing to forego a small med-pack, flares, and set of wideshot
shells, you can skip the motorcycle jump entirely.
The puffs of smoke from the damaged first automatic
gun keep appearing after Lara destroys the gun! While checking for corner bugs,
I thought it was a ghost, at first. It’s the small light-colored globe in
the lower right of the picture.
Just before reaching the X-shaped barricades, turn to
your left. Note the extension of the building with the tower, covered by three
faux arched doorways. The corner bug works on the right-hand corner.
From there, Lara can walk all over the tower base
level, including through the tower. She can pull up to the north, onto the next
building, but it dead-ends from there (Lara can also reach this higher roof
directly, by bugging into the corner to the left of the opening and the
platform before it; be ready to press Roll). She can jump east across the
street to catch the edge just to the right of the higher section of wall, but
that's a dead end also.
It looks like she might get to the area
behind the low sloping wall whence a soldier shot at Lara, but there's no space
for her to jump through or over. She can jump back across the street to catch
the building's edge.
As she goes south, she walks onto an
invisible shelf. From the corner of the shelf, she can take a running jump onto
the low sloping wall mentioned above, but not far enough to get behind it. From
the same spot, she can jump south across the street, high enough to catch the
top of the wall, but there's no edge to catch.
She can go west and drop into the walled
cemetery, but there's nothing there. Exit by getting onto a step surrounding a
tombstone, then jumping over the east or south fence; or jump to catch the edge
of the roof she dropped from.
Through the BIG WROUGHT IRON GATE: The
corner bug works immediately to the right as you pass through the gate. Lara can
move west to the gate and the ledge above the stairs of the first building of
the level. She can drop without damage from anywhere over the stairs. Or she
can take a running jump from the initial rooftop block a bit south of east, to
land beyond the large orange tower. Dropping from this roof area damages health
about 5%. See picture above, choice #1.
LEVEL 22: CHAMBERS OF TULUN
STREET OUTSIDE CHAMBERS OF TULUN: As you approach
the Street, the corner to your left allows the corner bug. The rectangular
invisible area at the top lets Lara jump and catch the lip of the chute across
the Street.
She can also jump and catch the edge of
the similar area across the entrance road (avoid the cupola). Drop to the
uphill portion of the entrance road for no damage.
Of course, to
top off your health, return to the CITY OF
INSIDE THE CHAMBERS OF TULUN: In the main room
of the first building, the corner bug works at the north end of the horizontal
crevice in the west wall (left face only). Lara ends up with her head above the
crevice space, while her legs are enclosed below the space. If she turns, she
pops up so she is enclosed from the knees up. She can only turn or crouch.
Crouching allows her to drop and hang from the crevice, then traverse to the
right and stand in the open space. This might be slightly faster than jumping
from the ledge at the south end of the room.
From the middle
level, the northeast corner of the column with the ladder-like surface allows
Lara to bug up to the jutting ledge where she can jump to catch the rope. This
same corner doesn’t work from ground level.
From near the
switch, Lara can jump to hang from the sloping east wall. To drop to the middle
level below, stand, then release Action as she begins to drop. She will land on
the ledge below. But there's something odd about this ledge - a hop back while
holding Action will NOT cause her to catch the edge?!? However, crouching then
backing off the ledge works.
AREA BEHIND (NORTH AND WEST OF) CHAMBERS: Minotaur and Wheel: Not a bug: To
avoid damage, stop near the wheel at the lowest spot. The Minotaur will start
pounding near Lara. Then jump up to the wheel and begin turning it. The shock
waves will pass UNDER Lara, causing no damage. But if she’s too far from
the Minotaur, he'll reposition.
LEVEL 23: CITADEL
GATE
All through the
level, several corner bugs work, but Lara appears back at Sgt. Azizus, with him
demanding the codes. Or she bursts into flame.
ALLEY WITH WOUNDED SOLDIER: To the sergeant's left is a small
balcony. Near the left edge (where the ground is higher) Lara can jump up
through the balcony, and land inside the railing.
But then she seems to be trapped. The
railing is invisible from the inside, but she can't jump through it. To escape,
jump forward at either end of the railing while turning back and forth near a
45-degree angle.
AREA WITH TWO COFFINS, SWITCHES, AND
BELLS: Instead of using
a rope swing to the right-hand bell, use the corner bug at the right-hand edge
of the recess that contains three switches. Lara appears standing at
the left-hand edge of the crawlspace to secret #1. Her thighs are trapped in
stone. She can turn, but not move.
But if she crouches, she's under the
layer of stone, and can crawl. Proceed to secret #1.
Unfortunately,
she can't jump to the rope from there, so she must fight the locusts and bats
to swing to the small ledge.
ACROSS THE
STREET LEDGES: Lara can
swing directly to the striped awning. The beetle appears anyway.
LEVEL 24: TRENCHES (first time)
Not a bug: After getting the WEAPON CODE KEY, and in
the squares just before the square for grabbing the crevice, grab the edge and
pull up to get on the level with the wrecked jeep you walked under. You can
move around, especially if you crawl, or jump over the walkway, but there's
nothing to do.
OPEN AREA WITH
A WRECKED JEEP: The two corners that the wrecked jeep points at
support the crawl-corner bug. Only the faces outside the passage work. Lara can
view the helicopter from three sides.
ACROSS THE DEEP PIT TO SECRET #2: After running over the soldier, find the
low block with two tombstones(?) on it. Go to the northwest corner of the
block, to the right of one tombstone and next to the high column. The corner
bug works at that corner of the column.
It provides a nice view to the south of
the columns you need to jump around on. You can start the sequence with a
diagonal running jump to the lowest column with a sloping top.
The easy way to
the secret is to use the corner bug at the last corner before the secret area.
Hold Jump and Lara will spring into the entrance.
When doing the
backflip to enter the area for secret #2, I rolled during the backflip and held
Action. Lara caught both sides of the peak and hung. When I pulled up holding
Jump, she entered the secret area.
Before leaving
the area where Lara picks up the three items, look at the low wall with the
sloping surface to the south. There's a dome to the left with a line of fancy
stonework below it, above a plain wall. You can use the corner bug to the
right, but the upper surface slopes, so Lara will jump toward the fancy
stonework. If she rolls as she jumps, and you press Action, she ends hanging below
the stonework, at the top of the plain wall. But she can't traverse or
pull up from there. If you do the bug one jump at a time while holding Action,
Lara will hang from the top of the wall.
Traverse left as far as you wish before
pulling up to jump with a roll.
She can also
backflip from the top of the wall she gets on to exit the area, to land on the
sloping top opposite the dome. Hold Action and she'll end up hanging from the
edge, as above.
TRENCHES (second time)
As you enter from Chambers of Tulun, the corner to the left, only on its
left face, allows a crawl bug to raise Lara to the top of the building, but she
falls whether I use Roll or Action. Both faces of the corner to the right let
Lara crawl-bug onto the roof area referred to two paragraphs below.
ROOFTOPS: The corner to
the right of the door you unlock allows the crawl bug to put Lara on top of the
shed and the bars she used to traverse to the ROOFTOPS . After walking along
the bars, she can turn left and hang above the area where she jumped to the
traverse; turn right, and she can walk through the dome and around the far end
of the ROOFTOPS area.
The corner in the middle of the area on the other side of the door
permits a crawl bug to lift Lara to a nearby, but segregated area of the roof.
She can then walk south. From there, a walk east puts her above the south side
of the rooftops, or a walk west allows her to hang and drop to the roof of the
passage from Chambers of Tulun. To hang above the balcony, she must crawl
backwards off the edge. When she does this, Lara will pop inward a foot and be
hanging out of sight.
The two corners behind the palm tree let the crawl-corner bug put Lara on
the roof between the east end of ROOFTOPS and the dome to the north. It only
works on the faces outside the passageway.
Stella refers to possibly killing the guy
on the roof from across the street. Instead, use the left-hand alcove near the
stairs. After getting the large med-pack, stand on the lip of the alcove
entrance, facing the street. Use the corner bug on the corner to the right.
When you pop up on the (invisible) roof, quickly draw weapons, turn to your
right, and pour it into your assailant.
Lara can now walk south to the parapet,
then along it to the east. At the end of the parapet, the low area to the left
is accessible, but it's a dead end.
Instead, walk around the alcove or jump
directly over it to the north to land on the higher block, which has no visible
top surface. Run straight along behind the façade at your left (turn
right to see it) until Lara runs into an invisible wall even with the visible
wall one square to the left. For a weird but useless experience, turn right and
again run till she hits an invisible wall one square before the brown face. To
get around this barrier, turn left, then hop back and hang. Note that Lara is
behind the façade with the arch-shaped opening. Traverse to the right
and pull up. Now she's past the barrier, but there's nothing to do. Step back through
the barrier - it's a one-way wall!
Now walk back
along the invisible surface until Lara reaches the façade near the red
light she must shoot. The façade has no material existence in game
space; prove this by turning around and hopping back to hang from the bottom
edge of the façade. Traverse at will.
Pull up, then jump through the
façade to land on the platform in front of the red light. Discover one
of the various ways to shoot it with your pistols and see the cut scene of the
door rising. Or hold Look and turn left to observe it directly.
On the ground,
both faces of the corner one square to the right of the red light’s
square permit the crawl-corner bug to lift Lara to the level behind the
façade.
The corner two
squares south and one square east from the previous corner (or top of stairs
from palm tree) allows a crawl-corner bug to put Lara on the roof near the red
light.
Return back
across the street the way you came, or jump directly across the street. If you
do the former, you will find another one-way barrier when you reach the end of
the invisible surface, at the edge of the alcove which led to the large med
pack. Turn right, but if you then attempt to step off the square to the lower
level, you can't. Instead, hop back, then jump forward. Lara lands on an
invisible square even with the top of the façade! Run forward to drop to
the roof again.
Now run forward
and jump onto the stone extension of the dome's base, with a peaked roof. Hold
off from pulling up to the dome, and jump to the green square to the left
between the dome's base level and the high wall with the viewing slit at the
east end. Turn left, walk east and pull up. Now you're on top of the high wall.
Walk east to the end.
Turning around shows the end face of the
wall. Run off the end, and Lara lands on another invisible platform, above the
parapet. That dead-ends farther on, where it's even with the far side of the
stairs below.
The wall that
Lara stands on in the picture at left lets the crawl bug work on both faces at
the far end, and at the corner of the viewing slit, below Lara.
Go back to the peaked-roof extension.
Pull up onto the dome base. Lara can walk through the dome, it's immaterial.
The corner opposite the door that opens for the motorcycle jump allows
Lara to use a crawl-corner bug on the right face that raises her to the level
holding the dome. The other corner of the opening with the first corner allows
a crawl-corner bug to lift Lara to a level lower than the dome’s base.
TWO STAIRWAYS AND LONG JUMP TO STREET BAZAAR LEVEL ENTRANCE: Stella says
that you can't reach the ladder on foot because the sand pile is too steep.
This is not true. At the left side of the sand pile, walk a couple of paces to
the right and up.
Turn left toward the square corner of the
pile, which is sloped, but not too much to stand on. Carefully aim at the
corner and take a standing jump without Action. Lara will land right on the
corner and can then walk up the pile to the base of the ladder. Of course, Lara
needs the motorcycle up there to continue into the CITADEL GATE (second time)
level.
A more spectacular way to the ladder if
you are still on the roof after using the corner bug: After getting on the roof
supporting the dome, go north to the parapet. On the last raised block, line up
a running jump without Action along the right edge, aiming at the right-sloping
incline ahead. Hold down the two keys. After the second jump, release the keys,
then press and hold Action before Lara hits the wall above the ladder. She'll
hang there.
Traverse left to get fully above the
entrance at the ladder's top. Climb down till Lara hangs by her fingertips,
then lift briefly off Action. Lara will catch below the opening.
LEVEL 25: STREET BAZAAR
ROOFTOP NEAR BRIDGE AND LIGHTNING ROD
PAD: Step onto the
bridge, intact or broken. Face north. Set up a few "inches" from the
building at the north side of the bridge. Aim a few degrees west of north and
hop back. Take a running jump, and add Left to Forward near the end of the
jump. Probably after 6 or 7 tries, Lara will land in the first embrasure of the
parapet. You will likely need to try several tiny adjustments in takeoff
position and angle. The hard part is adding Left at just the right moment.
Lara will likely
be attacked by a guard below. A few seconds of Uzis takes him out.
Continue north
along the parapet. But the second raised block is odd. At the face, Action +
Forward does nothing; Action + Jump causes Lara to catch an edge about two
"feet" above the block; and a Standing Jump from the previous block
lands her on the invisible surface past the edge. Lara can walk on this surface
to another parapet, with two turrets and stone buildings beyond.
OR, she can turn left and walk into empty
space! Hang from the south edge of the invisible surface for a striking view.
Go to the west
side of the invisible surface. Run south above the wall below. You'll hop down
to a lower section of the wall.
Hang from the edge. An archway is below.
It looks like a possible early exit from the level, without needing to get the
mine position data. Traverse to the left half of the arch (it's a shorter drop)
and pull up. The drop will cost about two-thirds of health, so use a med-pack
if needed. Use the safety-drop bug (release Action when Lara's waist is even
with the floor) to land under the arch, not on the mines. Pressing the big red
button causes a satisfying click, but nothing happens. The large chamber beyond
has blackness where paths to other levels should be. The corner to the left of
the button points northeast, but if you attempt a corner bug there, Lara bursts
into flame! Out of boredom, Lara eventually jumps onto the mines. This area is an extension of Street
Bazaar. The “real” version of this area is part of Trenches, but
can be accessed in a similar way. See the blue text below just before TRENCHES - STREET WITH PALM TREE.
Instead return
whence you came. But you'll appear stuck at the step back up; Action + Forward
doesn't work. Hop back then jump forward, instead. Or hang above the mines and
traverse right to the parapet, then drop onto the square below. From there,
Lara can take a running jump (with Action) to land inside the arch. If she
lands in the left half, health is damaged about 5% less than the drop from
above.
Step onto the
embrasure. Turn around, and Lara can either hop down to the square, or jump and
catch the edge of the invisible surface.
Continue to the invisible floor under the
turrets and stone buildings. You will find that the turrets are immaterial,
have no back side, and the front is invisible from the back side. It's possible
to get on all the stone buildings; from the dark reddish building at the east,
or on the invisible structure between the two buildings at the west, or via the
horizontal upper edge of the westernmost building's west wall. But there's
nothing useful to do.
It's a bit scary
to run around here, particularly if you're facing only blackness. But it's
impossible to die unless you cross over the parapet.
Enter the
embrasure in line with the parapet bordering the east side of the minefield.
Lara can walk forward to the square, or jump-and-catch, as is possible from the
western embrasure. Do the former, and she can hop to the square in the corner
of the minefield. As from the square in the other corner, she can take a
running jump into the archway. Or she can drop onto the walkway next to the
minefield.
Walk back to the
turrets and buildings. Around the eastern end of the parapet is a complex of
blocks, visible and not, that leads across the parapet.
There are various paths to the highest
square, next to the building. Lara can jump up and catch the wall to the south.
It appears she might be able to traverse right and around the corner, but the
angled block below prevents it (this same block prevents Lara from jumping from
the parapet to secret #1). She can traverse left and around the
corner, but to no purpose.
To return to the bridge, take a running
jump from the closest block. Her shoulder should scrape the building on the way
by; and hold Forward throughout, or she won't pull up through the bridge
railing.
To save a little
time, jump to the left of the closest climbable wall, catching the wall beyond
the two corners.
After picking up the three prizes, use
the corner bug at the first bend of the path to the prizes.
The invisible surface supporting the
immaterial dome extends over the courtyard with the prizes and the path to it,
also out to the overhangs above the climbing walls.
Walk through the dome to the visible
strip beyond. Near the end, hang from the right edge. You will see two
balconies below, but don't try to drop onto either; Lara will pass through,
falling to her death. Instead, run forward with Action to the right of the end
of the strip. Lara should land on the pavement next to the small rectangular
latticework building, costing about 2% health.
Lara runs against the walls of the small
building, as if they're doors. Have Lara stand with her back to the north end
of the west wall and press Look. There's a piece of invisible wall behind her,
but it seems to have no significance.
Walk to the ledge ahead. Notice the
Fabulous Floating Balcony below on the right. Move right to the last square
before the drop-off, then turn left and jump down to an invisible surface
behind the balcony. Turn left to see an immaterial façade; Lara can drop
and hang from the bottom of the façade, but she'll pass
through the balcony if you let go.
Pull up and face southwest. The area
seems made up of some elements from where Lara shot the red light. Hang from
the south side of the invisible surface to see the arch below. Then continue
west to just before the wall on your right. From here you can hop down to a
large invisible surface that extends all the way to the end of the building
behind the peaked extension (the building supported a dome in the
"real" game space); or turn left and continue south to an edge. Turn
right from there, and you'll find a similar situation to the "real"
space - you can't pull up to the square ahead, you must hop back then jump
forward.
The wall with
the viewing slit at the base and the parapet to its east also are similar, and
there are invisible surfaces above the visible parapet.
But Lara can't fall far, there's an
invisible floor much higher than the original.
It's hard to
believe that all this is needed just to provide a view from play space while
getting to secret #1.
Lara can return
to play space by dropping into the area containing the broken bridge, but
she'll seem to be trapped unless she opened the green door from the garage
before going up to the bridge. It’s possible to use the left edge of the
door to the minefield to bug up to the parapet, but it’s hard; you must
press Roll after the camera shifts to behind Lara, but before the bug works.
Try that if the jump from the bridge isn’t working for you. Crawl corner bugs help: it works on both
corners outside the door, and the roll isn’t needed until after
the bug works.
Or even better,
go through the door and use the corner inside; roll isn’t needed at all,
and the camera goes back to normal operation. No, wait! The bridge
doesn’t exist from this side! But if you perform a safety-drop bug to the
big red button across the minefield, unlike the case pictured above, the red
button actually opens a door, and you have access to the rest of the trenches
level! I must research the implications.
Researched. Shortcut: Start where you meet the dying soldier. Ignore the mine detonator and
the climb to the roof. Instead, press the large red button and go out the door
to the enclosed area. Run through the door to the minefield area (that puts you
in Trenches, to be technical). Use a crawl-corner bug at the edge of the door.
Turn left and do a running jump with Action to the left half of the pointed
arch (50% damage). Press the red button to your left. Go out the door you just
opened and get the motorcycle. Jump the deep pit to Citadel Gate, retrieve Sgt.
Azizus and end the level.
TRENCHES - STREET WITH PALM TREE: We're seeing how far we can go without
jumping the motorcycle to the ladder. Although Lara has found the MINE POSITION
DATA and survived the bull, the sand hill is still the same. It won't change
until she jumps the motorcycle to the base of the ladder. Anyway, it's still
possible to jump to the squarish corner of the top brown layer; or use the
rooftop route described previously.
LEVEL 26: CITADEL
HALLWAY: Several of the corners allow a higher
view of the location when Lara crawls or jumps while imbedded in the corner.
Nothing useful. Checked all corners to the following room for crawl or trigger
bugs.
TALL ROOM
WITH STAIRCASES AND POOL: The
corner bug tries to work from the first platform at the corner of the entrance,
but the block next to the corner on the upper platform prevents it.
Past the WEST DOOR of the Compass
Room: Note the rather startling view of Lara as she floats in the first
trapdoor.
The ledge with
the trapdoor has other corners touching its front corners. Lara is trapped in
the walls on both faces of each opposing corner.
CRUSADERS’ VAULTS: The crawl-corner bug works at both corners
just before Lara triggers the final cut scene of the level (with jackal-master
Werner). Lara can walk all over both columns, but any forward or sideways jumps
off a column triggers the cut scene.
Most of the bare
corners in the entire CRUSADERS’ VAULTS area allow momentary glimpses of
the spot where the wooden barrier is (or was). Occasionally a crusader shuffles
by. This appears to be a trigger bug, since the same view occurs at all
corners, and it is evoked by crawling or jumping while imbedded in the corner.
But nothing useful occurs.