Odd Piece of the Week - Scrabs

[Xavier]

It's been suggested to try to have more Oddworld character/creature/location feature threads. I think it's an idea worth testing so I suggest we try it right here...

... and start talking about Scrabs.

So what do we know about those glorious creatures besides the fact that they are kickass dancers?

Here are some reference links should you want to learn more about those majestic creatures:

http://oddworldlibrary.net/archives/.../tags/65-scrab
http://oddworld.wikia.com/wiki/Scrab
http://oddworldlibrary.net/wiki/Scrabs
http://oddworldlibrary.net/archives/.../ow_scrab.html

[SgabbitGabbiar]

They are a pain in the ass , but i love them

[kjjcarpenter]

Was there ever a reason why the sound bytes for Scrabs was changed for Munch's Oddysee? I understand the original sounds were probably lost in archaic and unaccessible archives by the time New 'n' Tasty came around, but it seems a conscious effort was made to make the Munch's Oddysee era Scrabs radically different from Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus. This can also be noted by the Scarbs in the original games being territorial and agressive, and the Scrabs in Munch's Oddysee existing in quite passive herds.

Also, they are apparently terrific dancers!

[STM]

Their WIP name was Arachnid Sr wasn't it?

I fucking love scrabs, would be really interesting to see some distinction in colour and temprament between the Scrabanian ones and those roaming in packs in the MO wilderness if it gets remade.

[horiZon]

Majestic Creatures, huh?
Never. Ever. Since AO i hate them the most. They givin' me the hardest time in this Game. I don't remember how often i screamed at my TV, cause i get killed from one. Still hating them to deepest of my Heart.
Also i laugh my ass off since in AE one of them was ate by an Fleech. HAH! He deserved it.

If Oddworld Inhabitants ever comes the idea to make flying scrubs, i'm building an Altar of wood for that Game they're in & burn my House down with it. And then i'm the Guy who's kickass dancing!

[Varrok]

I heard they made good cakes out of 'em, too!

EDIT: What's with that ninja-posting, lately?

[ndvr]

Well, I love both Scrabs and Paramites, they're nature of Oddworld and acting in way their instincts told them. But from childhood up until now they spook me with one thing, which I think can be categorized as "Uncanny Valley" - Scrabs torso look like humans/muds torso without arms, and Paramite's "face" looks like human hand/palm, which simultaneously forces to think - haven't these creatures evolved from humans? Or was them humans before?

[Manco]

Was there ever a reason why the sound bytes for Scrabs was changed for Munch's Oddysee? I understand the original sounds were probably lost in archaic and unaccessible archives by the time New 'n' Tasty came around, but it seems a conscious effort was made to make the Munch's Oddysee era Scrabs radically different from Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus. This can also be noted by the Scarbs in the original games being territorial and agressive, and the Scrabs in Munch's Oddysee existing in quite passive herds.

For the sounds, it may have been one of the many things lost to MO’s rushed development – from what I remember a lot of the creature sounds in AO and AE were created from stock sound effects. It does seem strange that they wouldn’t have those audio files available during MO’s development though, so who knows?

The difference in behavior between AO/AE and MO has been given two differing explanations: one, that Scrabs are not naturally so territorial, and the ones in the temples have grown aggressive from confinement; the other is that only alpha Scrabs are aggressive to one another, and simply every Scrab encountered in AO/AE happened to be an alpha. In MO, the herd would only have had one alpha, so no infighting.

[kjjcarpenter]

Slightly related, New 'n' Tasty offered some exciting intelligence on Scrab Cakes!

• According to the RuptureFarms Annual Board Meeting, the company had been recently forced to pay higher taxes on Scrab Cakes due to the company being unsuccessful in convincing the Nolybab courts of this particular tasty treat's "cake status". This is a reference to Jaffa Cakes, a type of confectionary sold in the United Kingdom which is classified as a cake for taxation purposes.
  
  
• Although Scrab Cakes were once a popular tasty treat in the Mongo Valley, the introduction of game hunting, spearheaded by Sekto, has caused a significant reduction in sales.
  
  
• With his recent acquisition of the Necrum Mines, it appears Molluck had attempted to introduce Scrab Cakes into the region, but due to the lack of stable residents, there was no major demand.
  
  
• It is suggested that the commercial spokesperson for RuptureFarms in the Fegas region had successfully introduced Scrab Cakes onto store shelves. However, any successive marketing strategies appeared to have failed, as the spokesperson became distracted by gambling. According to the Annual Board Meeting, "[they] ended up shooting craps", which significantly impacted the ongoing sales of Scrab Cakes.

[Xavier]

Very interesting stuff KJJ!

Where in NnT can we find all this info?

[Vlam]

This can also be noted by the Scarbs in the original games being territorial and agressive, and the Scrabs in Munch's Oddysee existing in quite passive herds.

Like Manco said, plus:

Female Scrabs form herds with the leader being the ‘Queen’, while the males are expelled and left to fend for themselves.

http://www.oddworld.com/2014/01/dear...uscles-mating/

[kjjcarpenter]

Very interesting stuff KJJ!

Where in NnT can we find all this info?

I deciphered it from the Board Meeting in the opening and elaborated using my awesome writing skillz. Haha. It's over on the wiki.

I believe it was Wil who said they had a lot of fun with the extra detail they added into the Board Meeting. I had just as much fun deciphering it!

[Manco]

Yeah, there’s a lot of hidden text on the screen during the Board Meeting, I think it might be the first place to reference Fegas (Oddworld Vegas)?

[Xavier]

Are the three last points also from the board meeting?

I never realised there was so much text in there.

[kjjcarpenter]

Yeah, it's all there.



Go to 2:39. I don't know how to make it start there, lol.

[Connell]

I was always impressed by that shot of the Scrab heard running together from MO, was that ever featured in the game or was it just test footage? I can't remember. Either way that was cool.

Also, no matter how many times I play the games, the minute a Scrab turns and starts to run for you, coupled with the THUD in the music cue, really makes me jump.

[STM]

...Capt. Wanky.




CAPT. WANKY FUCKING WHAT?

[Alf Shall Rise]

When I think about which creatures pop into my head the most when I think of Oddworld, I'd say Scrabs are usually one of the first. I played AE first when I was really young and I could never make it past Mudanchee Vaults, and I wasn't aware it was possible to start with paramites first. So for the longest time I couldn't make it past the Scrabs.

I really dig the whole gimmick with Scrabs too. How they're dangerous alone, but will fight each other if two of them meet. It was pretty cool. Kind of a shame that they're underused in MO, and in the one level that they are present, they're kind of fucking dumb.

[Manco]

I was always impressed by that shot of the Scrab heard running together from MO, was that ever featured in the game or was it just test footage? I can't remember. Either way that was cool.

That was a pre-made visualization that never made it into the final game:

[TheParamitePie]

Man I Love scrabs. Even as a child they never terrified me. Though I was always terrified of Slogs. The boiler room part in AE is where my fear of Slogs began. But as for Scrabs, always loved them. And I always thought Scrab cakes looked tasty!

[Xavier]

Yeah, there’s a lot of hidden text on the screen during the Board Meeting, I think it might be the first place to reference Fegas (Oddworld Vegas)?

I now realize I never looked into all the text in the RuptureFarms Annual Board Meeting. I don't think I ever heard about Fegas before.

EDIT: Looks like it was mentionned in a couple of Dear Alf entries:
http://www.oddworld.com/2013/03/dear...2013-volume-1/
http://www.oddworld.com/2013/11/dear...-abe-stranger/

[Alf Shall Rise]

Do you know what disappointed the hell out of me?

There's a secret area in AE where a meat saw and a Scrab are in the same room, and I got the Scrab to run into it thinking it was gonna explode into pieces but it just displayed the usual death animation for Scrabs. That really made eight year old me disillusioned with the world.

[Vlam]

I was always impressed by that shot of the Scrab heard running together from MO, was that ever featured in the game or was it just test footage? I can't remember. Either way that was cool.

Answer:

He also told a story about the infamous Munch PS2 footage, and for the first time on public record admitted it wasn't actually created on a PS2 dev kit.

http://www.citizensiegeforums.net/sh...ad.php?t=22292

[horiZon]

Do you know what disappointed the hell out of me?

There's a secret area in AE where a meat saw and a Scrab are in the same room, and I got the Scrab to run into it thinking it was gonna explode into pieces but it just displayed the usual death animation for Scrabs. That really made eight year old me disillusioned with the world.

Maybe they can only die in this way. Maybe they have some sort of Rigor?! :<

[Connell]

I now realize I never looked into all the text in the RuptureFarms Annual Board Meeting. I don't think I ever heard about Fegas before.

I've never actually heard of Fegas before either, was it ever referenced in any other games?

[Gunnr]

Since I first first saw them over a decade ago the first thing I wondered was how scrabs get such an amazingly beefed up upper body given that they have no arms.

Also if the scrabcake filling is gelatinous or chewy. I also guessing they are artificially colored green. Ah the majestic scrumptious scrab
Lol

[Crashpunk]

Scrabs used to scare the ever-loving christ out of me. Just having them off screen was scary enough, but when they came suddenly charging at you. Got me every time.

You gotta love the swole bastards.

[kapteeni13]

Runnin, screamin & jumping away from Scrabs. Just to be safe while checking this walking nightmare..

Scrabs love to chase Abe and his pals. Specially on Abe's Exoddus these creatures felt like breathing to Abe's neck in case situations. They felt even faster than in original Abe's Oddysee

Pretty beast and good scares

[Manco]

I think this is the first time I’ve seen this piece of art: http://oddworld.wikia.com/wiki/File:Run_cycle.png

It looks like Scrabs had some kind of antennae at one stage in their development. Would have helped to explain how they can actually perceive their surroundings.

[UnderTheSun]

Now a compilation of Alf's wisdom regarding the majestic Scrab.

Q: Everyone knows that Scrabs can't stand each other, so what's with the "Large Scrab Herd" video?

Alf: Uh. They're Union Scrabs? I dunno, YOU go ask'em... maybe if yer real polite they won't accidentally knock you over and tear you to shreds first. Me, I'll be happy to just smile and nod at whatever they show on the Oddworld Nature Channel.

Tom: I’ve always wondered how exactly you catch a scrab to make scrab cakes, I mean, they’re not exactly the tamest of creatures.

You don’t need to tame them to catch them, but you do need one or several of the following: nimbleness, strong rope, a gun, heavy armor, fleetness of foot, a foot trap, boxcars, enough kahonees for a game of billiards. It helps to tame them, but that’s not in the interests of RuptureFarms. Dragging them kicking and screaming to a crampt outdoors pen does just fine.

What’s happend if a Scrab and a Paramite meet? Who going to win, if have a fight?

Ah! The age old question! The Six Skillyan Moolah Question. The question to end all questions except, logically, itself. One single Paramite up against one single Scrab? The Scrab would win. No sweat. The question should be how many Paramites would it take to guarantee the Scrab’s defeat. Or maybe it’s an extra large Paramite, or an extra small Scrab, or both! What about a Fleech-sized Scrab fighting a Sea Rex-sized Paramite? Or you could throw in an extra Scrab, so the two Scrabs fight each other while the Paramites scratch away at them from relative safety. Or maybe anywhere near two Scrabs wouldn’t count as safety at all. Boy oh boy, sure hope I don’t develop a critter baiting habit!

Nikki: Do vegetarian Scrabs exist?

Hahaha, you got some spooced out concepts shakin’ it up in yur brain cavern. Oh Muddy, that little number’s gonna keep me laughing all through winter! Vegetarian Scrab, HA!

Lewis: will abe ever be able to ride a scrab into open battle against the glukkons? elum is pretty cool, but c’mon, scrabs man.

On the one hand, you gotta be pretty reckless to think anybody could ride a Scrab. I mean, sure, I have actually seen it done. But the discipline it takes, the years of training, the countless near-death accidents… Abe’s barely got the patience to comb his ponytail, I don’t think he’ll ever give up the ease of an Elum. I say ease. I mean compared with Scrabs, which have historically been noted to treat him with far more murdersome aggression. On the other hand Scrabman is a cool name for a superhero!

Golcea: Will Abe be able to roll between a scrab’s legs ?

Yeah sure. But like anything else that rolls between a Scrab’s legs, how many separate piece he’ll come out in on the other side is a totally different and much splattier question for another day.