Yes indeed:

https://youtu.be/L3zdCg4tbOc at 25:40

(can't seem to link to right timestamp on mobile)

Yeah, that was my interpretation too.

I just checked the New 'n' Tasty opening again, and while Molluck's obtuse form is obscuring some of the text, it clearly states that sales have dropped due to "privatisation and game [hunting]". So Sekto had established himself there sometime in the past year before Abe's Oddysee.

If we go by Stranger's Wrath HD, however, Mudokon Pops have already gone into production, though this could be easily be handwaved: Perhaps the Mongo Valley was subject to a RuptureFarms product trial period.

Plot twist: Stranger's Wrath is actually the first part of the new Quintology.

I know it's probably too much to hope for, but it would be pretty cool if somewhere down the line (very far down the line, obviously) we could get a quintology of quintologies, ie once Abe's story is wrapped up we could move on to Munch's with Abe still making appearances as a secondary character.
aaa I just really wanna play an MO with true underwater gameplay ><

Taking MO into account, we know that RuptureFarms 1029 wasn't the only meat factory, just the biggest. It's pretty feasible that other factories took over the idea and ran with it anyway. Abe also alludes to it when he says "You know what's in a Mudokon pop?" IS, not 'was supposed to be'. What IS in a Mudokon Pop.

Well Mudokon Pops do appear in AE on a sign which actually raises a bigger question how under wraps where Mudokon Pops if they had fully made advertising in what i assume is weeks from the start of AO and have them in mass production for shipping to Mongo Valley hell where the RuptureFarms board the last people to hear about it?

SW hd retconned SW. what if soulstorm retconned SW hd as well?? Maybe stranger isn't even born mate. Oh and the mongo valley might not even exist anymore...

For all we know it had been months in planning and the production started the night Abe escaped. So far we've seen the story told mostly from Abe's point of view (something I really hope Soulstorm changes).

Also, the entirety of Abe's Oddysee + Exoddus appears to take place in a span of just 4 to 5 days. He escapes at night, breaks back in the following night, is rescued (I assume) later that same night. Leaves for Necrum that same morning or the following morning at the latest. Arrives there 'by dinner' at dusk. Escapes the mines early morning, arrives at the Brewery by dusk and escapes that same night.

There's certainly not weeks between all those events.

However, the most likely explanation for all of this is probably that the Mudokon Pops in SW are just easter eggs and weren't meant to be canon at all. There's plenty of plot holes in the series if you start looking carefully. This is one of those things one shouldn't look at too seriously.

so you can choose what is canon or not?? interesting

Actually yeah, you pretty much can.

The Mudokon Pops barrels in the SW game don't mean much. Those could have been proof of concept samples produced before the board reveal. You don't do a reveal of this magnitude without a bit of R&D beforehand.

Also Sekto has been big game hunting for an extended period. Probably before the events in Oddysee/NnT and after them as well. That's why it's on the board in the board meeting.

Those elements don't really allow us to determine which game comes first in the timeline.

My interpretation is that Lorne is telling the larger story of Mudos - which is about Native vs Industrial, and all the conflicts within each group - that he always wanted to tell, but now he's doing it only through Abe's eyes.

And to expand on this, the references to Mongo Valley hunting in NnT don’t necessarily mean SW is canon either – it likely still is, but there’s nothing explicitly confirming the events of SW are canon to the new timeline.

If OWI decides to focus exclusively on Abe for a new version of the quintology (which would be awesome) I hope they reveal what the original plans were for the other characters, like that interview about Squeek. It would assuage a lot of pent up curiosity! :)

I always used to think that Abe stumbled upon plans to kill off the entire mudokon workforce for Mudokon Pops. However, it appears to be a more subtle plan to avoid suspicion.

At EGX and I believe in some interviews before, Lorne talks about 'the retirement plan being a lie'. It's heavily implied that Mudokon Pops are made selectively of muds that are no longer useful as slave labour - those too old to work, injured, and the occasional whistleblower. Those who could disappear from the factory floor permanently with a decent alibi. I guess there's a fast enough turnaround of workers to facilitate this, with new eggs constantly being hatched and trained (though this itself is absent from both AO and NNT).

The retirement plan element wasn't referenced to my knowledge in AO. Though references can be found in NNT (signs reading 'Happy Early Retirement Wiloum, you deserve it!' etc. To me, this suggests Mudokon Pops have been in production for some time, right under the muds' noses. This could of course have been an internal prototype/product development stage, reinforced by the fact that the Gluk investors seem unaware of Mudokon Pops until Molluck's presentation. Something New and Tasty! is 'coming soon' after all.

Though, this doesn't fit with the timeline + poster seen in AE, as you guys have said. You wouldn't have the marketing machine prepped and ready to deploy posters of the finished product, on the same night you first pitch the idea to the board! Unless Molluck was that confident in his plan. I guess it's a moot point if discussing NNT/Soulstorm anyway, since the poster in AE is no longer canon.

While we're on Mudokon Pops, something about them has always confused me. The consumers on Oddworld are analogous to the real world, largely unaware of the atrocities being committed. Surely marketing Mudokon Pops to a population with a mudokon contingent would be a little too obvious? Or is Oddworld society so far gone they still don't realise or care?

It has been explained by Lanning himself:
http://oddworldlibrary.net/blog/nath...lanning-again/

Wildum was a Slig.

Ah no way, that's interesting :)

I guess Mudokon Pops could be seen as being made for and marketed to mudokons then, in the same vein as dog treats are for dogs. Even have dogs on the packaging. Doesn't mean it's all made of dog (plot twist :fuzblink:)

yeah i've seen plenty of dogs buying dog treats. i got stuck behind a cocker spaniel in the cue at Tesco's the other day.

honestly i think we should have separate cues, one for dogs and one for humans. sick of hanging around forever while the alsatian in front buys two dozen cans of pedigree chum. SICK OF IT

this just raise another question if this was a R&D run of the pops why did they have the Finished label on them if this is the original time line shouldn't everything before the board meeting have a Muds head on a stick for the packaging?

i saw a dog head on a stick once. if that counts.

The severed head Mudokon Pop was retconned by Abe's Exoddus, as seen during Abe's entry into FeeCo. It was never meant to be a severed head, as it clashes horribly with the other tasty treats product labels.

[See Vlam's post above.]

The reason the head on a stick was retconned was because of an incident in Japan close to AO's release there. Some kid at a school decapitated a fellow student and put his head on a stick/fence. Originally the design was only changed in the Japanese version of AO, but later it was applied to all versions of all Oddworld games.

http://oddworld.wikia.com/wiki/Mudok...#Design_change

I think the original head on a stick design was meant to shock the player, and drive home the connection between Abe's appearance and the graphic. That effect is basically absent from the newer design.

Lanning also didn't like it.

Citation needed

i have citations for my dog theory if anyone CARES

that's all well and good, but is there a reason why japanese schoolkids are so fucking psychopathic?

Mod edit: removed offending part of post.

CravenKnight, stay on topic please.

Citation provided on the previous page.

Where? Pretty sure Lorne actually told us in person that he liked the original Mudokon Pop design when we were speaking to him after the talk. Either way, it's not really important.

Oh right, maybe I'm misremembering.