a three-dimensional action-adventure like "tomb raider" was unprecedented at the time, and the development team struggled to find a way to make toby gard's vision for the game work on contemporary hardware, in particular getting the player character to interact with freeform environments. according to programmer gavin rummery, the decision to build the entire game world on a grid was the key breakthrough in making the game possible. though the 3d platforming gameplay, player character abilities, and focus on exploration have been likened to "super mario 64", the developers have denied it was an influence on "tomb raider", and development on "tomb raider" started well before "super mario 64" had been shown to the public.