LEVEL 27: SPHINX COMPLEX
Blue text
added starting 9/16/06. It’s mostly about crawl-corner bugs.
DIRT ROAD: The corner bug works on the stonework at
the left side of the large gate with "DO NOT ENTER" on it, but space ends
at the gate. Lara can run a few squares back along the canyon wall, but she
soon comes to a slope too high to jump up, and too far from the previous
The crawl-corner
bug is permitted at the right corner of the gate, from both faces. It
doesn’t work at any corners on the outside of the WALLED AREA.
WALLED AREA WITH LEDGES AND LEVERS: The left side of the entrance alcove
(atop the wall) allows the arch bug, but Roll is required. Anyway, there are
many corner bug sites: the left side of the doorway in the gray wall, the right
side of the alcove in the southwest corner, the four corners on the lever
platforms, and the east block of the wall around the south lever. If Lara bugs
over the wall to the EXCAVATION PITS,
the assassin does not appear.
All the other
sites get her on top of the high rock wall. Then she can travel on top to the
northwest corner of the area, and drop to the wall, with no damage.
The crawl-corner
bug works at both faces of the corners of both tall alcoves and the exit door
in the gray wall.
She can then either drop to the ground
and proceed north over the pits normally, or take a running jump north off the
wall, keeping as close as she can to the higher wall on her right.
Lara will start to slide into the deep
pit, but she will be stopped by an invisible triangle. Walk to its
northern tip and take a standing jump north, with Right in the air. She will
land safely across the pit. Again, no assassin.
EXCAVATION
PITS: The three corners
near the door allow crawl-corner bugs to put Lara on top of the wall.
Note the large doors in the southwest
corner of the complex. Lara can corner bug over the wall at the left corner of
either door’s support block, going right into LEVEL 31: THE MASTABAS.
From the right support block, she can jump left past the higher wall to catch
the edge of an invisible roof. She can’t jump from that because she hits
the sky, but she can go south then west to walk on the rocks over the tunnel
opening. Lara is blocked from continuing to the next set of rocks and back to
the other support block by the edge of space; and if she jumps anywhere from
the tunnel roof, she’s sent at once to THE MASTABAS level.
The crawl bug
gets Lara onto the door blocks on both faces of all three corners. Dropping
into the area on the other side of the door doesn’t immediately send her
to THE MASTABAS. Can Lara jump over the corner of the area to the rocks? No,
any jump from rocks where Lara stands in the picture above leads to the next
level. To go back, return to the gray wall behind Lara’s head, drop down
and pull up to the rocks on the other side, near the support block.
EXCAVATION PITS AGAIN: You can
get over the big DO NOT ENTER gate by the WOODEN HANDLE! Go left along the gray
wall from the handle until Lara comes to a corner.
Perform a crawl-corner
bug. Lara bugs to the top of the wall. Go to the other end of the wall
rectangle and drop to the gate block below (a safety-drop is not necessary to
avoid damage). Drop to the ground. There’s a large area that includes the
rear end of the sphinx and several wall rectangles along the cyclopean gray
wall to the left (west). A crawl bug lifts Lara to the top of the wall at all
corners except the most northerly one, but Lara is trapped by height at all
rectangles except the one nearest the gate; there, she can jump to the original
rectangle and drop to the gate block again. That is also the only way to return
to normal game space.
There’s nothing useful in this “forbidden” area, but enjoy
the high and low views of the sphinx, and the gray wall stretching into the
distance.
LEVEL 28: UNDERNEATH THE SPHINX
Checking for
crawl-corner bugs and trigger bugs.
HALL WITH BULL
GUARDIANS AND HIEROGLYPH BUTTONS: Nothing through the first 56 corners, before any gates are opened.
WEST GATE/ROOM
WITH METAL STATUES AND CHUTES WITH COLORED LIGHTS: Entered, checked bend in passage, two
corners by statues; nothing. Used binoculars to look up all four shafts, went
back to adventurer’s skeleton to get FLARES and SCRAP OF PAPER, tried the
corners by the statues again; still nothing. Tried the corners around the
entrance gate; nothing.
Retested the two
statue corners after finishing the NORTHWEST GATE; still nothing.
Retested the two
statue corners after finishing the SOUTHWEST GATE; still nothing.
Retested the two
statue corners after finishing the EAST GATE; still nothing.
Retested the two
statue corners after finishing the SOUTHEAST GATE; still nothing.
NORTHEAST
GATE/TRAPPED HALLS: Nothing.
NORTHWEST
GATE/CAVE WITH MAZE OF CRAWLSPACES: Nothing.
SOUTHWEST
GATE/SQUARE POOL WITH
EAST
GATE/SECOND HIEROGLYPH PUZZLE: All four corners trap Lara when she crawls into the wall
from a shelf.
When the angle is correct, you can see
the STONE OF RE! But I couldn’t trigger anything by turning, rolling,
and/or jumping.
A bug appeared:
pressing the hieroglyph buttons didn’t work. I couldn’t reproduce
it by crawling into non-shelf faces. From testing the inside of the entrance
gate? Redid everything after the WEST GATE room.
SOUTHEAST GATE/WATER
MAZE: a corner by the deep pit yields nothing.
TRAPPED ROOMS
LEADING TO THE EXIT: The corner before the traverse lets Lara
enter the wall via jumping, but nothing happens.
LEVEL 29: MENKAURE'S PYRAMID
BUILDING WITH
GUARD UNDER SIEGE: All the
corners in the front of the building allow the corner bug, except the one to
the left of the door. The
same corners allow the crawl-corner bug, except the corner to the left of the
door requires Roll on the left face, and the left corner of the left-most
alcove doesn’t work.
The corner to the right of the door is an
arch bug site on the right side. There, unless you run forward at the end, be
ready for Roll when the bug works.
The next corners
out also get you to the highest roof level. After any of the bugs, Lara can get
to the sandy area surrounding the other three sides. Don't walk into either of
the windows with broken bars; Lara will be trapped by broken glass.
Instead of going
out the door and taking the traverse, Lara can go left out the door to the tall
alcove, then use a crawl bug at the right face in the alcove, jump down to the
land near the building’s corner, go northwest and jump into the
rock-enclosed area, then jump over the chasm to the pyramid’s base again.
From the sandy area, Lara can climb the
mound to the left of the building that looks like an unfinished small pyramid.
She can then take a running jump and land on a block on the front of the small
pyramid, and then hop to blocks taking her to just below the summit. Or she can
go down to the valley between the two small pyramids and the back of the large
pyramid. But there's nothing to do with either of the pyramids or in the
valley. She can return to the sandy area around the building by climbing the
front of the first small pyramid and jumping to the right this time. Watch out
for "sinkholes" where slopes that she slides on meet; but I was able
to flip out of one of them.
Lara can also travel behind both small
pyramids, near the Edge of Space.
When she reaches the area in line with
the gulch separating the two small pyramids, it's necessary to walk as high as
she can, then angle uphill for a jump without Action. Then she can stand on the
blocks that were too high to reach from the gulch, but be careful - turning,
even while standing in one spot, is prone to crash the game in these few
squares, so you probably want to save as soon as you jump uphill.
Continue behind
the second small pyramid, and left around its far corner to the head of the
valley between the two small pyramids and the back of the large one.
To the side of the large pyramid, there's
a dark sloping block that Lara can get onto.
And a large area of the far corner is
invisible; but it's all a dead end. Return to the normal play area by going
back the way you came, or hopping into the main valley. In the Expert’s Challenge on Theresa’s site, these areas
were accessed from the face of Menkaure’s pyramid(?).
LEVEL 30: INSIDE MENKAURE'S PYRAMID
STAIRS DOWN TO
ROOM WITH HUGE BASIN: The corner on the right partway down the stairs
allows a regular corner bug to lift Lara to the upper level.
PITS WITH CONCEALED
SPIKES AND DANGLING ROPES: The right face of the left corner allows a trigger bug activated
by crawling. You can release all the spikes squares in the pit ahead, except
for the last row. Of course, this is all useless.
At the second corner on the left past the
first pit, the left face permits activation by crawling of the last three squares
of spikes in the first pit. Again, a useless example of the trigger bug.
At the two pairs of ropes, it's not necessary to catch the second rope. Just take two
full swings forward and jump at the full extension of the second swing.
Both corners of the
ramp to the trapdoor release some spikes in the two-rope pit, via a crawl bug
from the face by flat ground.. Third and fourth useless trigger bugs.
It looks like
some squares in the parallel spike pit were triggered by a corner near the
first pit! More squares at the ramp to the switch trigger squares in this
second pit.
(The two pits are
in reversed order because I was attempting to get through the trapdoor without
throwing the switch.)
OUTDOORS NEAR TWO SMALLER PYRAMIDS: It is not possible to jump from the face
of the small pyramid to its side and thence to the stepped building, as it was
when this same(?) area was first encountered from the MENKAURE'S PYRAMID level.
Lara hits an invisible wall, instead.
This occurs whether or not Lara has pressed the button to open the top of the
small pyramid. Neither did the trapdoor in the valley nor that button (accessed
from between the small pyramids) exist in
that prior manifestation.
Checked for crawl
bugs.
LEVEL 31: THE MASTABAS
GAS STATION AND FIRST MASTABA: The right corner of the gas station
allows the corner bug. At the west end of the roof, one might think that a leap
over the fence is possible. But apparently there is no game space there - Lara
seems to hit an invisible fence.
Both faces of both
corners of the doorway permit the crawl-corner bug.
The east side is
more productive. Take a running jump to the narrow flat spots on the ridgetop
to the east. Move south to the building, jump to catch the roof and pull up.
The hole in the roof admits Lara to mastaba #3. She can even open its door from
the inside - but there's no advantage. Instead of dropping down, move south to
the gap before mastaba #2. It's an easy jump from the doorway masonry.
All corners of #2
permit the crawl bug, although the outer faces of the door corners require a
roll. All the corners of #3 bordered by flat ground allow the crawl bug. The
front (west) face of #5 allows the crawl bug. All available faces of #8 allow
the crawl bug (on the north and south sides).
When traveling in the tunnel from #4
(THREE GOLDEN LIONS’ HEADS) to #5, the last two corners before the hole
permit the crawl bug to raise Lara to the inside of #5. The first corner of the
two also allows a normal corner bug. This corner saves about three squares of travel,
and Lara emerges one square closer to the exit of #5, so she escapes the
scorpion a little faster.
At the southwest corner of the doorway
masonry of #2, a running jump without Action works to the sloping block at the
left of the entrance cave from the previous level. Then the whole plateau in
the southwest of the area can be explored, which gives access to the wall tops
of mastaba #5. Jumping directly from #2 to #5 also works, either between the
lower corner squares with Action, or from the next square east to the lower
square without Action. Lara can also jump from #2 to the flat
triangle on top of the northeast corner of #5.
A dog will appear below and can be safely
dispatched. She can also catch and pull up to the triangle from the ground. However
she gets there, she can only drop to the ground from it. But she can then jump
the chasm to the doorway to #6, and the corner bug works from the left side of
the doorway's masonry.
Jumping from #2
to mastaba #8 doesn't seem to work at first, but there's a trick: jump straight
up from the roof of #2, with or without Action. You'll note that Lara
"touches the sky" and so drops a little faster than you expect.
Jumping forward does the same, so it shortens her leap. Instead, jump with Action
from the lower square at the southeast corner of #2 to the lower square on #8.
Lara will catch and you can pull up. Both holes in the roof lead to the room
inside. You can't hang inside the hole, so dropping in costs a bit of health.
If you wish to kill the two bats inside,
jump over the west hole to awaken them; then shoot down into the holes, or wait
for the bats to fly up through the holes. Hang and drop near the door for no
damage. Shoot the boards across the door, then enter #8, or use the arch bug on
the inside right of the door masonry. When Lara enters the corner a bit, be
sure to press and hold the forward key until she runs a couple of strides onto
the roof, or she may fall back. Notice the shallow pit near the northeast
corner - the north block is invisible! But only from the inside.
From the roof of
#8, it's an easy jump to the masonry around the doorway of #6. If you drop to
the ground there, the corner bug works at the left side of the doorway masonry
(both faces).
(5) SOUTHWEST
MASTABA: There's no need to jump to the entrance of mastaba #6, since the
corner bug works at #6's northwest corner.
(13) NORTHEAST CENTRAL MASTABA: After the running jump to the north side
of the excavation pit, the corner bug works at the southwest corner of mastaba
#16, right next to the pit. From the northeast corner of #16's roof, drop down
to the adjacent sand.
While turning, note a couple of burning
torches in the blackness to the north; they're only visible at certain angles.
I believe these are underground torches in rooms #10, 11, or 12. A standing
jump west lands on the northeast corner of mastaba #13, which has no roof.
There's nothing further to do here, so return to the roof of #16. Go to its
southeast corner and drop onto the sand, but not too close to the doorway
masonry, or Lara will get stuck in a perpetual cycle of stumbling off the slope
into the masonry. A standing jump south lands on the corner of mastaba #15, but
so what? Slide down into #15 or between #15 and 16 and then enter #15. The two corners to the left of #16’s
doorway allow the crawl-corner bug.
If you want the
revolver ammo, drop into the tunnel and draw the pistols. The three scorpions
will appear, but behind Lara, so listen for their clicking walk
and spin around fast, shooting.
If you walk to the closed trapdoor in
mastaba #14, note the two hanging loops of rope, even though this image would
never be seen during non-bug play. Attempts failed to open the trapdoor by
jumping with Action at all four edges, or shooting it with shotgun or explosive
arrows while jumping.
Go back to #15.
Since you never enter #14, you avoid the bats in it.
The corner bug
works on the south side of #16 only at the inside right of the doorway masonry.
Sometimes it seems not to, if you’re too close to the corner.
In #17, the crawl
bug works on both corners of the high ledge, on both faces of each. But Lara
can’t operate the lever mechanism, so you have to release the friendly
monkey anyway!
All corners in
this level above the surface and below were checked for crawl-corner bugs.
LEVEL 32: THE GREAT PYRAMID
MASTABAS: A crawl bug
lifts Lara out of the hole at the corner below mastaba #1.
The corner bug
works at the left side of the doorway masonry on #1. The arch bug works at the
inside right of the same doorway, but requires Roll. The other face of the same
corner allows Lara to bug through the masonry. Corners next to the pit don't
support the bug. All four
corners of #1 support the crawl bug on both faces.
Mastaba #2: The
corner bug works on both sides of the doorway masonry. The arch bug doesn't
work on the right, and requires Roll on the left. The other side of that corner
allows Lara to bug through the masonry above her, but you can hear the
blue-robed baddie muttering inside #2; he’s been activated by your
approach to the door.
Shooting the guy
inside #2 through the hole in the roof works badly. He easily targets Lara,
while even a close miss with explosive arrows seems to have no effect. Kicking
in the door lets Lara take him out with an explosive arrow with no damage to
her, and she swats the giant beetle with the same shot. The corner bug works at
left on the exit doorway; the arch bug does not. It's barely possible to do a
running jump, with Left in the air, from the entrance to the exit side of #2.
Take out the bad guy between #2 and #3 if you haven't already. If the jump is
too hard, bug over the roof of #2. Bonus! When Lara leaves the entrance
door alone, she won't have to re-draw her weapon after kicking the door in;
entering the exit does not cause the blue-robed bad guy and giant
beetle to appear, nor does retrieving the 10 grenades (secret #1).
If she opens the entrance door from the
inside, the beetle sits quietly in the southwest corner; the bad guy only
appears if she steps out the entrance door. But if she nears the exit, the
beetle activates. Two
entrance doorway corners and one exit doorway corner allow the crawl bug to
work.
Mastaba #3: The
corner bug works at the inside left and outer right side of the entrance
doorway masonry, the arch bug doesn't work at the inside right. If you're not
going for kills, bug over #3. Even if you open the exit door and enter #3, the
bad guy doesn't appear. He only appears if Lara opens the entrance door and
goes out through it. On the exit doorway masonry, the corner bug works on the
outer right, but not the outer left; on the inner left corner the arch bug
requires Roll, and other side of that corner Lara bugs through the masonry. The
inner right corner shows no bugs. The crawl bug works at one corner of the entrance door and three
corners of the exit door.
Mastaba #4: The
corner bug works on both sides of the left-hand corner of the doorway masonry.
The arch bug fails on the left, and requires Roll on the right; the other face
of that corner lets Lara bug through the masonry. Lara can drop in through the
hole in the roof (losing about 15% health) and collect all three prizes,
without evoking the two giant beetles. But as soon as she steps onto the square
just inside the boards across the entrance, one beetle appears. At least the
other beetle stays quiescent if Lara does not approach the southeast corner. The left face of the northwest corner
allows the crawl bug, as do all faces of the four corners near the door.
Don't get too close to the pyramid, or
the beetle will attack Lara during the (unstoppable) cut scene.
If you're going
for speed, exit mastaba #1 and kill the bad guy, use the corner bug on the left
of #1's doorway masonry, leap to the top of #4, safety drop off the north side,
and proceed to the great pyramid. Of course, it's kind of hard to pass up the
14 grenades et al.
You can even avoid the
inspect-the-pyramid cut scene by going to the northeast corner of #4's roof and
walking onto the ridge. Walk as far north as you can, then slide west down the
hill to a position past the three squares that trigger the cut scene. Speaking
of the ridges between the mastabas and the pyramid, it looks like some
shortcuts from the ridges to the pyramid might be attempted at the far west or
far east, but Lara hits invisible walls when she reaches the outer edges of the
mastabas, and the chasm is still too wide within those limits.
Nice views, though.
Lara can enter No-space! Go to the southeast
corner of mastaba #4's roof. Note that you can't hop off the south edge, space
ends. Go west to the half-cube step. Lara is blocked by an inside corner of
No-space to the south and the half-cube to the west. Do repeated vertical jumps
into the corner, changing angle until it's exactly 45 degrees. Lara will jump
up, then vanish on the way down.
Hold Look and use the four arrow keys for
various fascinating views. Here’s a sampling.
Try various actions, especially throwing
flares (a grenade is pictured). It soon becomes evident that Lara is several
cubes up. The effects of firing weapons differ in interesting ways.
If you Save and Load, Lara may be seen
from a new camera position. When she turns, Lara pops back into play space.
SCALING THE PYRAMID: (12) I reached the large med-pack on the east
side of the pyramid without jumping south across the chasm.
Start from the block above the takeoff
block. Aim east and uphill a bit, so Lara lands two blocks to right. Jump
forward with Action.
Lara will slide down the steep slope and
catch the edge of the chasm. But she can't traverse - note that the bottom
edges of her hands are on the lip of the chasm. Do a quick release and
re-grab; her fingertips will then be at the lip, and she can now traverse. Go
right to the jutting block, around the inside corner, and pull up. Now Lara is
on the same block she would have landed on when jumping back north, and she
avoids the giant beetle on the other side. On Windows XP, the catching
with the bottoms of her hands did not occur.
Checked all
corners for the crawl-corner bug.
LEVEL 33: KHUFU'S QUEEN'S PYRAMIDS
OUTSIDE NEAR
BUNKER: If one soldier
is left alive, he may or may not attack Lara.
Before or after the battle, Lara can
climb the hill to the north. Jump without Action from the point shown.
This affords some interesting views. As
you can see, Lara has been to the first small valley to trigger the giant
scorpion. Note that if Lara drops to the square below the jutting block, the beetle
mentioned three paragraphs below appears right next to her.
Both bunker
doors: The left edge of the doorway allows the arch bug (by jumping, not a run
forward), but Lara must roll after it works (or she falls with 50% damage).
This lets her explore a large “forbidden” area, including the stone
structure and ridge that enclose the two bunkers, and space behind the three
small pyramids on the west side of the deep pit. In fact, you can enter the two
small valleys between the pyramids from the uphill end. In the first valley,
the giant scorpion appears only if Lara enters the right-hand square next to
the pit. But there’s no pickups here, so skip it and go directly to the
second valley. Drop in and pick up the small med-pack. The giant scorpion won’t
appear unless you go two squares to the right around the corner at the deep
pit, so it’s easy to slide the block to open Khufu’s queen’s
pyramid, and leave when you’re done. This skips two giant scorpions
(three if you skipped the one that appears when you exit the second bunker
door) and two beetles.
There are a
couple of flies in the ointment (if not scorpions): in the forbidden area, the
game is prone to crashing when Lara turns in one spot. Also, the edges of space
have several squares with steep slopes next to them, where Lara becomes trapped
in a stumbling cycle; several are in areas of invisible ground, where
there’s only blackness. You must reload. And near the small pyramids Lara
must make a couple of careful jumps from the visible squares past some invisible
ones, or she may become stuck.
One reason to
drop into the first valley is a chance to try some long-range target practice
on the giant scorpion you left behind near the bunker. Surprisingly, one normal
grenade may take out your target, even without a direct hit. Use Look and lean
back to get more loft on the grenade. Then you can return to the bunker by
jumping directly back along the right (west) side of the deep pit, or jump
across the pit and go back along east side (but then you’ll have to deal
with a beetle).
By the way,
contrary to what Stella says, Lara can jump from the bunker area to the first
valley by landing on the jutting ledge. Just aim for the right side (which is
lower) and don’t use Action. But the giant scorpion is still triggered as
you land.
Lara can pass by
both small valleys and reach a large area beyond the third small pyramid. Lara
slowly fades to black as she approaches the northern limit to this area. But
she can’t jump across the deep pit or pass in front of the third pyramid,
so she can only return the way she came, to either of the valleys between the
small pyramids, or all the way to the bunker.
Lara can’t
jump back to the first valley from the second.
LEVEL 34:
INSIDE THE GREAT PYRAMID
ACTIVATING THE SHAFT OF LIGHT: The corner in the southwest allows Lara
to enter the column using the crawl bug, from either face. She is trapped, and
using Look while facing into the rock generates the usual camera-in-the-wall
views. At the northeast corner of the room, only the left face does the same.
All corners in
this level were tested for crawl-corner bugs.
LEVEL 35:
Bug notes: After
the second water puzzle, jumping into the opening in the floor caused the illumination
from the flare Lara was holding to disappear. But dropping the flare let it shine again. This stayed true until sometime during
the race to the switches after awakening Set, although the flare worked
underwater to find the Amulet of Horus; then it didn't work again
after she surfaced.
FIRST WATER AND SCALES PUZZLE: At the doorway
from the room at the bottom of the pole from the first puzzle, crawling into
the left face of the left corner sucks Lara into the wall. It looks like many
other traps, but more of Lara’s body extends out of the right face than
usual. Jumping forward, back, or to the side through the right face extricates
her from the wall; if you put the camera inside the wall first, it stays there!
The right corner has no such bug; a good lesson that one should test all
possibilities.
SECOND WATER
AND SCALES PUZZLE: As above, but from the right face of the right
corner! Curiouser and curiouser.
ROOM WITH SHAFT OF BLUE LIGHT: If Lara climbs down so her hands are about a foot and
a half above the bottom of the climbing wall, an odd little bug appears.
Traverse right around the corner to the exit block. Lara’s hands stay
above the block! Traverse further right, and she turns into the block. 
This is followed at once by a diagonal
“teleport” to the opposite corner of the block. From there, Lara
can traverse back and forth around the corner, but otherwise she can’t
move. Lift off Action briefly; she’ll catch normally and then you can
pull up.
SHOWDOWN: Lara says "No" whenever she attempts to place one of the
four Holy Scriptures, whether she is successful or not. She fails when she is a
little to one side.
Attempting to kneel and bow before Set,
as he demands, fails to deter his attack.
As a shortcut to the thin shelf leading to
the exit, take a running jump from the island and catch the side. This shelf
also yields a strange bug: traverse right along the side to the corner. Pull up
and then hop back and attempt to catch the edge.
Lara will suddenly appear at the ceiling! Keep
holding Action or she’ll fall. Hold Forward to move her to the wall.
Hitting Left or Right at any time causes
her to rise to her knees (on air!) and begin a perpetual rotation. Let go of
Action, and if Lara is near the wall and oriented correctly, she will slide
down a slope whose edge she can catch. Pull up and do a safety-drop bug to land
on the original thin shelf, with a few percent damage. You get a similar bug if
you traverse to the left corner of
the shelf, but the ceiling is lower there and there’s less opportunity
for movement. It’s not good for anything, as far as I can tell.
FROM THE SHAFT OF BLUE
LIGHT TO THE EXIT: Lara can no longer climb the walls by or in the shaft after
trapping Set.
After jumping
over the first pit, the upper left corner of the column in the middle of the
jump over the next pit traps Lara in the column when she attempts a
crawl-corner bug.
The column on the
left after the second pit traps Lara in the air at its upper right
corner, after attempting a crawl bug followed by a normal corner bug.