Sorry for the double posting: I have been reading many old Lanning's interviews. I didn't find anything about what could have been Abe's Exoddus (unlike Munch's Oddysee).

I think that's because Abe's Exoddus was a "bonus game" that wasn't really planned in advance and seemed to be conceived and developed within 9 months. In the interviews for SoulStorm Lanning is addressing this, though. As in he's talking about the game having "twice the gameplay, half the heart". There are ideas in Exoddus that they want to expand and develop but not to the extent that there was in MO - which was supposed to be the next big Oddworld installment.

Yes, but what the people want are things (Queens, RuptureFarms) which were supposed to appear in MO, not AE. It's highly probable that SoulStorm will be like New 'n' Tasty.

Like New 'n' Tasty in what way exactly? Lanning has said they're rewriting Exoddus' script. When they were developing NnT he often talked about how they were keeping the same script - but remaking it in new technology.

Unless he's flat out lying SoulStorm will have a different script than Exoddus. So not like New n Tasty in that regard. But that's all we've really been told so far. Nothing about level design or gameplay yet.

Imagine if they blew all our expectations out of the fuckin' park and it was in full 3D. Odds on that?

I would hate that.

I'm 99% sure it's going to be 2.5D sidescroller.

It's been confirmed that it's being made on Unity and they already have the foundations on that engine thanks to NnT.

It's possible they might include some of the dropped threads from Munch (Molluck's trial/returning to RuptureFarms, etc.). I can definitely see that as a possibility, and it would make thematic sense, especially for Molluck facing down his mother. Things would go from bad to worse for him as various Cartel facilities disappear off the radar.

Would it be badass or what if it was over-the-shoulder.

Not being funny but how can you be 99% sure?

How can we be sure of anything, Nate's said--and I agree--we know fuck all, other than that Lorne's mixing things up a bit, whatever that means. Y'all need to hold your horses until we know something.

I hope it's not going to be in full 3D.

Lorne's very vocal about the fandom responding positively to the classic, side-scrolling experience, so I think—at least for Soulstorm—they'll be keeping to what works.

First person

Gears of Odd

Tabletop RPG?

EDIT: Actually, that would be kind of cool. Oddworld, make that.

The interviewers are to blame. They don't really ask good questions like: "reimagining? Lorne Lanning, what does it mean exactly?". Moreover, they don't care about Oddworld (just appreciate the games), know nothing about it. That's why Nate is a great interviewer.

One of the things I'm hoping for in Soulstorm is a redesign of the factories interiors and exteriors similar to the treatment Rupturefarms got in NnT, mostly FeeCo Depot. It certainly did more than the original Rupturefarms to fit it's intended purpose, but it could definitely be improved upon.

Whilst I agree that the original Rupturefarms is pretty iconic, it just didn't feel like a meat processing plant: though you could argue that a few meat filled barrels and saws placed sporadically makes it a meat processing plant, you could also say the same about some people's basements.

New N Tasty made the place feel not real, but atleast somewhat more logical. Somewhere in an interview when talking about designing creatures Lorne had said that he "wanted the creatures to feel alive; like they could be born." or something along those lines. I just feel as though a similar principle could be applied to the factories.

Also cutscenes with actual paintings of Bonewerkz or Slig Barracks exteriors would be excellent.

Could you tell me more about it?

How would you guys feel about a compromise of the two? Like, a 2.5D sidescroller along catwalks, that connect between full 3D 'rooms' (reminiscent of the old MO demo where Abe drops down and throws the slig out the window? Maybe fixed camera)

I was so disappointed they didn't realise that demo to it's full potential. Always felt that connected rooms would be a good 3D substitute for the old flick screen and hub system. Leaving and reentering a room could reset slig positions etc., and there could be entirely new types of puzzle.

I just feel like Abe, as a character, interacts strangely with a 3D environment. My view of this might be tainted by how Abe controls in Munch's Oddysee, but his movements don't really suit a 3D environment sadly.

I can't help but agree. I really, really love the style of AO and AE, I feel like it opens up more potential for a more detailed, darker world. I think Strangers wrath was one of the best examples of Oddworld in a 3D enviroment, but it was a western (which was still awesome).

I wish Soulstorm had AE's art style and direction, just a way higher resolution and better 3D renders.. :fuzsad:

Just straight-up HD remasters won't be the case. It was in official plans before NnT (instead of NnT?), but L.L. left the source code for the first two games in his other pants.

I think you’re right in that it’s because we’ve only seen Abe work well in 2D, and in MO everything was much worse.

Abe moves very differently in MO to how he did in 2D: he’s faster, jumps higher, is generally bouncier and more slippery to move. It feels like there’s very little weight behind him, and that’s not helped by his animations and how it feels to interact with other entities in the world.

Then to compound the problem, MO suffers from a common problem in early 3D platforms: big, empty levels. OWI simply didn’t know how to make a 3D game and translate over the 2D gameplay systems they had in a way that worked.

I actually think a 3D Oddworld game is totally possible, it just needs to adapt the format to bring in what makes the 2D games so compelling – interesting and varied environments, and character movement with realistic weight behind it. The key thing is that the traversable areas of the game don’t need to be huge, they just need dimension.

Well I'm not too interested in an HD remaster, I am really excited that Soulstorm is said to be AE, but with more of the story Lanning wanted to tell. I don't want to play the same game only prettier, I'd like to play a new game. What I mean is the art direction, not this 2 1/2D like NnT.

NnT was.. nice looking, but I really didn't like the art direction, nor the lack of detail compared to AO and AE. I really hope Soulstorm rectifies this, and doesn't look like NnT.

Sometimes I don't really think I want to know the story Lanning wanted to tell, if he considers NnT the game AO was supposed to be.

Back to SoulStorm: when Lanning talked about "reimagining" are you thinking of "new levels and features"?

I honestly think it's really up in the air. Entirely changing the story, only keeping the main points (Brew, bones, vandalizing the burial, bling mudokons, another factory, ect), but altering the way Abe hits those points. He said "twice the gameplay, half the heart" which sounds like he wants to streamline AE with a better more coherent storyline kinda like AO. But for wall we know, it could become a 3D adventure or a RTS like Hand of Odd was supposed to be.

I really want to hear what the direction is, and more then just buzzwords on the announcement page. But again, I'm pretty sure it's all still being conceptualized!

I'd like to hear others thoughts on what they suspect, and what they want.

Tell me (considering what we know of AE) what could be those new levels. I can't see. Maybe the beginning in the desert and Vykkers Labs (playable in MO, so it won't happen).

I so want to see this in a new game

The only thing I could confidently speculate, is that the 300 Abe saves (900 in NnT? Please confirm!) gets addicted to brew, and he's forced to save them all over again. Who knows, maybe Abe gets addicted too, and the Weirdos snap Abe out of it, and he has to break out of Necrum and gain the ability to save those addicted from the Weirdos?

I also doubt the Weirdos will be the same thing, and might be more serious this time around. If they're even an element at all.

Dem fast hands betray me! :fuzcool: