Trivia / Tomb Raider III

• B-Team Sequel: While it was developed by Core Design again, most of the team was brand new to the series, with the majority of the team from the first two games gone.
• Creator Backlash: No members of the original team responsible for first game were involved. They outright threatened to quit, being simply tired with making yet another Tomb Raider in as many years. Core had to assemble a team from scratch to satisfy Eidos' demand for another game. Some of the people involved in TR2 returned in this new crew, but they were not present during the making of the original and at best did secondary programming for previous game.
• Dummied Out: Exit data discovered in a beta build of this game reveals that the bonus level for collecting all secrets, All Hallows, was in fact a London level originally. All Hallows contains a curious area at the very end, a room containing lots of ammo pickups (that cannot be picked up, as the level ends just before Lara enters).
• No Port For You: Like with the first two games, the expansion pack was only released for PC and Mac. Even with the main game re released on Steam, the expansion pack did not come along. The remastered version would finally allow console players and new PC players to play it.
• What Could Have Been:
  • All Hallows might've been another level in the London section with the Cathedral Key being required to unlock a door to the next level (the key itself is only used as a secret in the final version of the game). The filename of All Hallows is called STPAUL.tr2, which would indicate that the level would be based on Saint Paul's Cathedral. It would also make sense that the next level would have taken place there since Lara jumps down the shaft of the bell tower at the end of Thames Wharf, but the final version of the game has her falling down a shaft leading to the decommissioned Aldwych subway tubes. One of the game's level designers confirms that the level was cut from the main game due to memory constraints and being too difficult to play through.
  • As shown in the behind-the-scenes featurette on one of the PlayStation Underground discs, Lara was supposed to have a knife in this game but it never came to fruition.
  • Lara was supposed to be able to roll forwards while crouched and this move was restored in the remaster.
  • The second level, Temple Ruins, was originally named Temple of Shiva. Since no-one was that willing to desecrate an actual temple, the name was dropped.
  • The fight against Dr. Willard's mutated form was going to have a boss theme playing, but due to time constraints, it was cut out. It got repurposed in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation in a different form and the 2024 remaster would add it back in.
  • The beginning of the High Security Compound level was supposed to have a cutscene showing Lara lying on her bed and then waking up while observing her new surroundings, but it was cut out for unknown reasons. The remastered version would add the scene back in.

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