Players have spotted the original Tomb Raider Level Editor (TRLE) hiding in the remaster of Tomb Raider Chronicles, sitting as a screenshot on one of the computer monitors during a cutscene in the "13th Floor" level at Von Croy Industries. It's a nod to the tool fans used to build their own levels with, and it's got people speculating about whether a modern version could turn up in Tomb Raider Remastered.
TLDR;
The Easter egg reads as a nostalgic reference to the original PC release. There's no official confirmation that the level editor is coming back, and Aspyr hasn't announced plans for one in the remastered trilogy, so custom levels still mean community-made tools.
The Original Level Editor: A Brief History
The Tomb Raider Level Editor shipped with Tomb Raider Chronicles (TR5) in 2000 and let PC players build their own Tomb Raider levels for the first time. It was designed around the engines behind Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (TR4) and Chronicles (TR5), and it took off, producing thousands of custom levels and keeping people playing the classics for over two decades.
For a lot of fans it turned Tomb Raider from a finite game into something you could keep adding to.
The Easter Egg: What It Shows
The screenshot shows the original level editor interface on a computer monitor during the "13th Floor" level, a tribute to the original PC release, and it's in the same game that introduced the editor in the first place.
Will the Level Editor Return?
Aspyr hasn't announced a level editor for Tomb Raider Remastered. Here's what we know:
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No Official Confirmation: Aspyr hasn't said anything about bringing the level editor back to the remastered trilogy.
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Technical Considerations: a modern editor built for the remastered engine would take serious development work. The original was designed for the classic engine, so a new one would mean building a new tool from scratch.
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Community Speculation: plenty of fans hope the Easter egg points at future plans, but it could just as easily be a nostalgic reference and nothing more.
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Current Alternatives: the community still makes custom levels with TombEngine, TRNG (Tomb Raider Next Generation) and TE, which have moved past what the original editor could do.
What This Means for Players
If you want to play or make custom Tomb Raider levels:
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Existing Custom Levels: thousands of fan-made levels built with the original editor are still up on community sites and forums, though they won't run on the remasters without a lot of modification.
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Community Tools: the modding community keeps building and improving its own tools. Aspyr doesn't officially support them, but they're the best option if you're interested in making custom levels.
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Future Updates: Aspyr could still surprise everyone with an editor in a future update, but that's not something to base a purchase on.
The Community Response
Reaction has been a mix of nostalgia and hope, with veteran players sharing stories about the original editor and newer fans curious about that side of Tomb Raider history. Forum threads have thrown around ideas for how a modern editor could work:
- Hooking it up to modern game development tools
- Support for the remastered trilogy's graphical features
- Sharing created levels across platforms
- A cleaner interface that keeps the spirit of the original