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Nightmare in Vegas shortcut

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Gordon Freeman

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Jun 3, 2012, 3:04:16 PM6/3/12
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I was just replaying the bonus level to the Tombraider II Golden Mask bonus
game, Nightmare in Vegas, and found a shortcut that I've not seen mentioned
anywhere which makes it possible to finish the level in under 10 minutes.

Getting access to the Vegas level is fiddly as it is only unlocked after
completing the other gold mask levels, but I think you can still get a
savegame that puts you at the start of it from Stella's walkthrough site.

To recap, in this level Lara starts in a hotel room and must first free her
butler from an adjacent hotel room, then have various adventures around a
giant gold sculpture. Leaving aside the treasures, stripped down to the
basics the level is considered complete when Lara has killed a giant gold
bird. To reach the bird she must take a lift at the top of the atrium which
leads up to the roof. But to get the lift to work she needs a junction box
from outside at ground level. And to open the doors to the outside she
needs a circuit board which is on a black ledge just above ground level.

My shortcut concerns getting the circuit board from the black ledge.
Normally you must fight some guys in the black and white area to cause a
lift door to be opened and then ascend the lift to an alcove from where you
can jump to a small gold ledge (an outpost of the sculpture) and from there
carefully gain the black ledge via some broken glass.

But in fact you never have to fight anyone or use the ground floor lift. In
a death defying move, you can drop directly down from the top of the atrium
onto the tiny gold ledge! Not only does this save time, but it prevents all
the baddies (other than the dinosaurs) from being activated, saving even
more time.

Entering the top of the atrium from your hotel room, walk round to face the
middle black pillar on the far side, and step back to the edge. Glancing
down you will see a gold ledge directly below. Now step backwards whilst
briefly pressing grab but letting go before you actually grab the edge (the
famous grab-and-miss manoevre which lets you land in an alcove directly
below you). You will land on a sloping ledge half way down with some
damage, and start to slide off. Grab the edge and safety drop to land on
the gold ledge with flashing zero health. From here you can stroll over the
glass to the black ledge and use the large healthkit there to restore 100%
health. (The presence of this healthkit makes me think that this move might
well have been foreseen by the makers of the game, as so many other sneaky
moves obviously were (e.g. the high dive off the Great Wall of China .))

Now with the circuit board, safety drop down to the ground for the first
time, go outside for the junction box, run back dodging the dinosaurs and
climb the sculpture back to the top as per usual and kill the bird.

Using a previous less optimal two-stage shortcut to the gold ledge (via
some projecting ledges higher up) I achieved a time of 9:40. I haven't
timed the complete run with this new slicker shortcut but think it should
save another 30 seconds so a total time of about 9 minutes should be
possible. This involves getting none of the treasures and only 3 kills (the
bird and the 2 hotel room goons at the start).

Gordon Freeman

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Jun 4, 2012, 4:12:03 PM6/4/12
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Gordon Freeman <Gor...@freeman.invalid> wrote:

> Using a previous less optimal two-stage shortcut to the gold ledge (via
> some projecting ledges higher up) I achieved a time of 9:40. I haven't
> timed the complete run with this new slicker shortcut but think it should
> save another 30 seconds so a total time of about 9 minutes should be
> possible.

Just to follow myself up, I've now done it in 9:07, travelling 787 metres.
I wasted about a minute at the start though picking up all the shotgun
shells I could for killing the bird with, I think I could save another 30
seconds if I forget the shotgun shells and get the automatic pistols
outside instead. (Pity there isn't a grenade launcher in this part of the
game!)

McG.

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Jun 28, 2012, 11:58:27 AM6/28/12
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Great job. Never even thought of that one!
McG.

"Gordon Freeman" <Gor...@freeman.invalid> wrote in message
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