Custom Levels
A Custom Level is a level - or game, if it consists of multiple levels - that has been created by fans with the Tomb Raider Level Editor (TRLE) or the fan-made modification, the Next Generation Level Editor (NGLE). These levels use the TR4 engine (tomb4.exe), either in the original version that was part of the Level Editor, or in some modified or patched version to support a variety of enhancements.
Most Custom Levels only consist of a single level, but there have also been quite a few series with up to 15 Levels.
Despite the fact that the Level Editor was released a long time ago (together with Tomb Raider Chronicles in late 2000) there is still a very active Community of Level Builders that create new levels. There are now far over a thousand levels you can download from the internet. A comprehensive list would be too long for this Wiki.
Contents
Download Links
Playing Custom Levels
Many modern Custom Levels can be played on a wide range of Windows machines. These come bundled with a modified and patched version of the tomb4.exe so they only need to be extracted from the download archive and run from the resulting folder. Note that some of these modifications trigger a warning from the Windows virus protection. Remember to only run trusted code on your machine! If you are unsure of the origins of a file, do not run it! The files from the download links above have been tested by the community and are probably fine.
On first start the tomb4 engine asks for the desired settings. On modern machines use the native screen resolution and 32 bit colour depth. Set the texture depth to 32 bit as well. If you are using a modern 16:9 aspect ratio monitor, check the box labelled "wide screen". Please note that many modern levels need a rather potent gaming PC with a powerful graphics card. If your machine struggles try to reduce the game resolution. (You can enter the configuration again by creating a Windows shortcut to the tomb4.exe, adding "/setup" to the executable path listed in there, and then launching this shortcut.)
Older Levels
Many older levels that needed special treatment before (like compiling them yourself or the use of the Windows compatibility mode) have been repackaged by the community. Check the links above if such a repackaged and patched version exists.
Running Custom Levels on Non-Windows Machines
- Main article: Wine#Running Custom Levels using Wine or Proton
On non-Windows machines - such as Mac or Linux - most if not all modern custom levels can nowadays be played using Wine, Proton, or even the Steam client.
