Tomb Raider

So on Tomb Raider, I helped Crystal Dynamics from Eidos-Montréal. Mind you, I never went to California once. The cultural gap between Crystal and Eidos-MTL was real, and so were the egos. At the programming layer though, the collaboration worked. Most of the work happened internally on our side, which kept the hand-offs clean and let us own our architectural calls.

The piece I'm proudest of is the 3D main menu framework. We built it on Scaleform, with ActionScript driving dedicated 3D geometry hooks, camera transitions at the base camps, and contextual prompt layering. Honestly, that one ended up defining the visual style of this Tomb Raider, a gritty, survival-feeling interface that matched the darker tone of the game. Alongside that we shipped the multiplayer UI systems (leaderboards, HUD, faction and inventory management), reusable UI architecture standards, and an asset library that shortened iteration cycles for the whole team.

When you think about it, this project cemented something for me. Cross-studio collaboration is less about the tech than about the handshake at the seam. Who owns what, who defers, and how you keep egos from getting in the way of the craft.