Molluck's Vault.

[Vlam]

Here's your final piece of Molluck's Vault art, a full colour version of a concept sketch posted earlier! pic.twitter.com/LYS2jrRRpq

— Oddworld Inhabitants (@OddworldInc) 18 septembre 2016

Here's the inside of the vault! Check out Instagram, we're showing even more on there... https://t.co/nOsqV0MUsp pic.twitter.com/sfEI3P7Dej

— Oddworld Inhabitants (@OddworldInc) 18 septembre 2016

[Oziah]

I love how they have all this art and lore just waiting to be exploited in-game. Looking forward to whatever didn't make the cut in the original Exoddus appearing in Soulstorm.

[Vlam]

I love how they have all this art and lore just waiting to be exploited in-game. Looking forward to whatever didn't make the cut in the original Exoddus appearing in Soulstorm.

Well, it has nothing to do with AE which was released in 1998 (whereas all those pictures are from 1999). Molluck's vault must be linked to his trial (which was supposed to take place during MO).

[Oziah]

Well, it has nothing to do with AE which was released in 1998 (whereas all those pictures are from 1999). Molluck's vault must be linked to his trial (which was supposed to take place during MO).

I don't mean I expect Molluck's vault in particular to appear in Soulstorm. I just mean there were so many concepts that were never used in the final releases of both AO and AE that looked really intriguing. With AE having been rushed out in 9 months and Lanning stating that Soulstorm will be a retake of it (as it was originally intended), I'm interested to see what new ideas or areas such as this will be brought into Soulstorm that might have been conceived way back in '97 and '98

[Connell]

Vlam is right, these stills have to be from MO production because of the dates, and you can see Abe pushing Munch's wheelchair in this art:



The way they phrased it did sort of make it sound like it was Oddysee concept art. Doesn't mean they won't put it into Soulstorm though.

[SlashClaw]

looks amazing

[Vexen]

Molluck probably had a lifetime supply of meech munchies in there that he told no one about. Those damn glukkons are keeping secrets from us.

[Nepsotic]

Aw, I assumed it was where all the good Oddworld games were locked away.

[Vlam]

With AE having been rushed out in 9 months and Lanning stating that Soulstorm will be a retake of it (as it was originally intended)

I disagree. AE wasn't "rushed", Lanning is attempting to rewrite history. On the one hand, MO and NnT, which took years to develop, are rushed (for example, the Shrink was meant to appear in NnT). On the other hand, if you read the interviews related to AE, then you'll see that Lanning is satisfied by the final product. AE was nothing more than a bonus game. Everything made it into the game (except the Mudombies).

[Connell]

I disagree. AE wasn't "rushed", Lanning is attempting to rewrite history.

It was well documented prior to the announcement of Soulstorm that the team were rushed into a Christmas release for Exoddus. Besides, it's not as if people aren't allowed to change their opinion on their work when looking at it retrospectively (Even though that isn't the case here). I recall hearing of several film directors, actors and musicians that can't watch or listen their early works because they're now not happy with them, despite at the time being pleased with them. It wouldn't really be a good move to start saying he was unhappy with the product he was trying to push at the time as well.

Everything made it into the game (except the Mudombies).

There's no evidence for this, and in a recent podcast Lanning mentioned "flammable brew" that he wanted to include in the game that had to be cut, and that was the first time that had ever been mentioned publicly. There's potentially many ideas that didn't make the cut.

But yeah, the Vault is cool.

[Vlam]

It was well documented prior to the announcement of Soulstorm that the team were rushed into a Christmas release for Exoddus.

Yes and yet that doesn't mean that AE (which is the game that the fans enjoy the most, by the way) was "rushed": extra months won't necessarily make the game better (again, MO and NnT).

There's no evidence for this, and in a recent podcast Lanning mentioned "flammable brew" that he wanted to include in the game that had to be cut, and that was the first time that had ever been mentioned publicly. There's potentially many ideas that didn't make the cut.

I agree, except that Mudombies and "flammable brew" aren't, and you know it, substantial things. MO, unlike AE, was supposed to be a "revolutionary title" according to OWI. Proof: Molluck's vault is still from MO.

[Oziah]

I disagree. AE wasn't "rushed", Lanning is attempting to rewrite history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcqKAKpuyjw - from 3:30 onwards Lanning explains how they intended to create it over two years but, due to the success of Oddysee, GT Interactive effectively forced them to have the sequel done within 9 months. He says the script wasn't the heart of the game as it had originally been envisioned.

[Vlam]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcqKAKpuyjw - from 3:30 onwards Lanning explains how they intended to create it over two years but, due to the success of Oddysee, GT Interactive effectively forced them to have the sequel done within 9 months. He says the script wasn't the heart of the game as it had originally been envisioned.

I saw this interview in april. We're talking about actual content here like "Mudombies" and "flammable brew", not words. By the way, we have the proof that Lanning is capable of lying.

[Nepsotic]

AE was clearly rushed. If you can't see evidence of that by playing it then you mustn't have played AO.

[Oziah]

We're talking about actual content here like "Mudombies" and "flammable brew", not words. By the way, we have the proof that Lanning is capable of lying.

Sure, but my original point was concerning my hope for content that had only ever existed in conceptual stages eventually coming to future games.

And besides, like Nep says I think it is apparent that Exoddus was somewhat rushed. I found the constant hub areas and numbered sections less interesting than the way Oddysee handled it.

[Vlam]

I found the constant hub areas and numbered sections less interesting than the way Oddysee handled it.

And? You could have even more hub areas. AE sure is flawed, that doesn't mean it's rushed.

[Oziah]

And? You could have even more hub areas. AE sure is flawed, that doesn't mean it's rushed.

I dunno man. I think if the creator wants to do a 'retake' of it because of time pressures during the original game's development, it speaks for itself. But really I mean rushed in comparison to the two years they had originally wanted on it. Ultimately, they got less than half of that.

The constant hub areas comes across as more formulaic copy and paste. Oddysee had them, but I feel Exoddus went overboard. The Vaults, the Barracks, the Bonewerkz, the Brewery (x3!)...

To be fair, that doesn't mean it's 'rushed' as such. But it did make it a little less varied than how Oddysee was designed. Oddysee featured more 'open' sections such as the Stockyards, the Monsaic Lines, Scrabania and Paramonia etc. Yeah they're still just longer levels, but to me AE feels more like a series of stages, whereas Oddysee just one long journey. Hard to explain what I mean by this, so oh well haha

EDIT: But back on topic! Looking forward to whatever other cool and previously unreleased artwork they put out there

[FennecFyre]

To be fair, that doesn't mean it's 'rushed' as such. But it did make it a little less varied than how Oddysee was designed. Oddysee featured more 'open' sections such as the Stockyards, the Monsaic Lines, Scrabania and Paramonia etc. Yeah they're still just longer levels, but to me AE feels more like a series of stages, whereas Oddysee more one long journey. Hard to explain what I mean by this, so oh well haha

I'd say you hit the nail on the head there. AO felt more like a proper adventure/hero's journey than AE did. It was still a good game, but it was more "go here, then here, then here, then you're done."

MO also had that problem IMO. Each level was just another puzzle rather than the next stage of your journey.

[JayDee]

I disagree. AE wasn't "rushed", Lanning is attempting to rewrite history. On the one hand, MO and NnT, which took years to develop, are rushed (for example, the Shrink was meant to appear in NnT).

Of all the points, I don't understand this one. If something is "rushed" then it doesn't necessarily need to have any negative connotations to it, but the implications are still there - which you seem to be arguing with despite being them being your own and what "rushed" implicitly means to you.

Abe's Exoddus was definitely rushed; to have it's production cycle cut down in half is astonishing but the other point about Munch's Oddysee and New N' Tasty taking years doesn't make much sense either. Abe's Exoddus was using pretty much the exact same engine and assets as Abe's Oddysee, the reason it felt so copy/paste at times was because it was and it's still my favourite Oddworld game. Rushed? Yes. Bad, or otherwise unsatisfying to play? Not at all.

Munch's Oddysee was the companies first jump into the 3D space and as such they would have wanted to be prepared for all the hassle that brings, and did end up bringing. That's why there's so much concept art, and so many things missing from the game, because OWI spent a long time planning it, only to not have enough time to implement it all. And New N' Tasty being the company's first major release since it closed it's studios, and outsourcing the development to an indie team in a different country whilst they also worked on HD ports, it's understandable why it took so long. There seems to be a bit of confusion about what 'production' is, rather than planning and waiting to be lifted out of the dirt through steady OddBoxx sales.

On Topic: I like this art.

Edit: Also Molluck has a painting of him with his mummy locked in his special place and I think that's adorable.

[Scrabaniac]

I found the vault in Abe's Oddysee/New n Tasty

[Xavier]

Wow that's nicely spotted Scrabaniac! Seems like I always rushed past it

EDIT: Pictures are available on TOGG in their full glory:

http://oddworldlibrary.net/archives/...ture.php?/5713
http://oddworldlibrary.net/archives/...ture.php?/5714
http://oddworldlibrary.net/archives/...ture.php?/5715
http://oddworldlibrary.net/archives/...ture.php?/5716

[Nepsotic]

I'd say you hit the nail on the head there. AO felt more like a proper adventure/hero's journey than AE did. It was still a good game, but it was more "go here, then here, then here, then you're done."

MO also had that problem IMO. Each level was just another puzzle rather than the next stage of your journey.

This exact criticism is the exact same problem I have with Dark Souls 3 compared to 1. Obviously DS3 is vastly superior to AE but the point still stands.

[UnderTheSun]

Part of me wonders if the vault would have been instrumental to the Lulu Fund.

If it wasn't what would Abe and co. do with it? Destroy it to rid Oddworld of worthless paper soaked with the blood of enslaved Mudokons? Take its contents to fight the industrialist world at its own game (money = power)? Blow it all on a lifetime's worth of brew and Slig escorts?

[Xavier]

Maybe the vault originally contained a can of Gabbiar... Which would explain why Abe and Munch originally would need to go back to the RF ruins in MO

[SlashClaw]

Maybe the vault originally contained a can of Gabbiar... Which would explain why Abe and Munch originally would need to go back to the RF ruins in MO

that sounds like a interesting reason but i think you are right maybe they used the moolah to build all of the Lulu Fund machines

[Vlam]

Here's an interview from 1998:

< Greg > When Abe's Oddysee was released last year Oddworld Inhabitants was very vocal about the fact that they had mapped out a "quintology" of titles. Now that this title is being released I have to ask, wasn't Munch's Oddysee supposed to be the second title? Where does Abe's Exoddus fit in?

< Lorne > Yes, Munch's Oddysee was scheduled to be the second game of the Quintology and we had not planned on doing a title outside of the Quintology. However, we found that we could not achieve what we wanted with Munch's Oddysee on the current level of technology (PSX, 120MHZ PC) and that created a dilemma for us. We would not be releasing another Oddworld title until the new console systems arrived (PSX II, Sega Katana, 500MHZ PC).

Munch is going to be in 3D like you've never seen and we need this next technological jump to pull it off. You can't do the character personalities, art quality, and AI qualities that Abe's Oddysee has and do real-time 3D on the current level of technology. That's why we chose to do a "2 1/2-D" game in the first place. Character appeal, entertainment value, and fun factor are most important to us. We won't do real-time 3D and compromise art, animation, or charm. However, many PlayStation owners sent us email and they really, really wanted another game on the PlayStation. Our game designers also wanted to do one more version of the same game style that would achieve and do many things that they weren't able to do in the first game. So we decided to do one more PlayStation title, picking up right from where Abe's Oddysee left off and ending right where Munch's Oddysee would begin. We also had a lot of story points that we wanted the gamer to learn about before we entered the world of Munch. Thus, we came to the conclusion to build Abe's Exoddus. So we look at Abe's Exoddus as though it is a bonus game. It's bigger than Abe's Oddysee, it's better than Abe's Oddysee, it has all new levels, environments, puzzles, and story, but it's not a Quintology game. Munch is still the second game in the Quintology. Overall, we found that we will probably be doing a bonus game several times in between the Oddysee games that compose the Quintology. Sorry if it's confusing, but basically, the Quintology games are all Oddysee games

http://web.archive.org/web/199901290...ials/oddworld/

[Connell]

I don't see how that backs up what you're saying

[Vlam]

I don't see how that backs up what you're saying

Are you saying that AE was supposed to have more levels, more species and more characters?

[Connell]

Are you saying that AE was supposed to have more levels, more species and more characters?

No. The only extra asset I mentioned was the "flammable brew" Lorne has gone on record as saying they wanted to include. Aside from that I said there's potentially more content, but I have no proof, so I didn't definitively say either way.

All I'm saying is that it's well documented that the team were placed under time constraints, so the finished product would have presumably been more polished and a better experience, and thus the team would be happy with what they put out.

[Vlam]

All I'm saying is that it's well documented that the team were placed under time constraints, so the finished product would have presumably been more polished and a better experience, and thus the team would be happy with what they put out.

I'm just saying that it's normal to have time constraints (plus, one could say it actually made the game greater). Moreover, having more time doesn't equal, unfortunately, quality (MO and NnT are good examples of that fact).