Is Oddworld Inhabitants Slacking Off?
 

The site has not been updated for God-knows-how-long, and Alf has been taking his "sabbatical" for about five months now. Sure, they have released four games already and they deserve a break, but jeez, what a break they're having! And with one more game in the queue, all they should be doing is working, working, working! Who knows when the Hand of Odd shall be released? But, of course, there had already been a period like that. The period with the "Oddworld staff being put into giant transparent barrels and rolled around by giant monkeys", and then they had released Stranger's Wrath. Is OWI in reality working on their next game? Or maybe just taking a break?

P.S. Yes, I understand that I'm being harsh, but hey, it's my thoughts.

OWI are no more, sonny chap. Do a search, they left the gaming industry some time ago.

WHAT?????????

Yep it's probably movies for OWI from here on.

Just because they haven't publicized anything doesn't mean they're doing any work. DUH!!!!

But yes, they are out of games, and are possibly working on a movie. I'd appreciate some info as much as anyone, but I'm sure if they aren't saying anything, then they have no reason to (or reason not to).

movies???????? the OWI is a gaming industry, man. They can't quit.What about bringing us the Hand of Odd?

that's what i said. i was letting room for being merciful, jeez! go read my post first.

Not anymore.
Trust me, they made a bad move.
From here on its just movies, unless ofcourse Lorne realizes what he is doing.

I'm devistated as well. And so are the other oddworldian fans 'round 'ere. We all with that the OWI shouldn't of went off on us like that, and they said they would do the quintology. Or have they? Lemme see...AO, AE, MO, SW....that's four games...quint is four...damn...I'm lost

They havent really even made four games, Stranger's Wrath is NOT a Quintology game.
Still a game, but doesnt really count.

Uh-oh, lack of understanding alert. Let's clear some things up here…

Not so relevent to OWI's current model, but I really do wonder why people think Hand of Odd is the next game to be released. OWI haven't mentioned it in over five years and haven't worked on it since long before the release of Munch's Oddysee.

OWI are no more in the movies industry than they are the gaming industry. They're a purely creative company now, and all actual development is outsourced to external companies, whether that's a video game or a film.

Lorne has stated on more than one occassion that he has no desire to leave the gaming scene behind, and should he be presented with an opportunity to create a new game, he will. He acknowledges that this will most likely be a tie-in to a movie, as is the current trend in the entertainment media industry.

The last we heard from OWI was that a completed Abe's Oddysee film screenplay was being circulated.

EDIT:
You're joking, right? You know Abe's Exoddus counts as the first chapter in the Quintology and, as cullen pointed out, Stranger's Wrath isn't even part of it, aren't you?

I say Stranger's Wrath should be part of the quintology. They left it in a slight cliffhanger. Like the Blair witch project. What will happen next to Stranger?

Hopefully nothing.
I want ABE!

Stranger's Wrath can't be part of the Quintology, because the five-part story is already mapped out and plotted. Adding another chapter would make it a six-part series, and the name Quintology wouldn't then be appropriate.

I was joking, golly.

Why in the hey not? It was an awesome game, and it was made by OWI.

Shushington J.

That is why Im so puzzled as to WHY in the hell they made Stranger's Wrath.

And Kimon Please get a better comeback besides THUSTHINGTIN J!

I think cullen means just that it doesn't count as a Quintology title, which it doesn't.

Lorne's reasoning, psychologically and in terms of marketing, have been well covered and repeated on countless occassions.

I don't see that as a comeback, but an appropriate reminder that we shouldn't have a repeat performance of a recent thread.

^Yus.^

But they have made 4 games. He ipmlied that SW wasn't one of them. Sadface.

Why? When you haven't come back with anything even more stupenderfuls, whys should he conjure up the effort to?

And that's just stupid.

Thash it, me's done, shant repeat the other thread. I'm just saying that OWI are currently no longer making games, and may perhaps move into different mediums.

Makes me sad Stranger's Wrath wasn't a part of the quintology. But I'm with cullan, this time...Why did the make OSW IF IT WASN'T PART OF THE QUINTOLOGY?

Wow MAx.... I never knew OWI aren' in the movie industry also.... Well thanks for clearing that up. They are stiill in business and that is all that matters. So calm down Skillya. Don't worry about the company they know what they are doing.

That is not at all what I meant Kimon. I know it is one of the games, just not from the Quintology.

Because it expanded on the Oddworld universe, and it was an awesome game. And who knows, maybe they wanted to make the Quintology characters all non-violent, but they didn't have the technology to make a good game with characters of that quality (evidenced by Munch), so they created Stranger as a standby.

Standby? as in, something to entertain folks while they make the process of a new game? Probably.

I dont understand at all, why doesnt nobody like Munch's Oddysee???
It was my favorite, favorite, favorite gmae of all. What was so wrong about it!

That's not to say they won't comission and work with other companies to create films, but as it stands they're just a creativity-creating company with no in-house development.

Two reasons: following the market flop of Munch's Oddysee, Lorne and Microsoft agreed that the gaming climate was such that no game featuring a playable fish could be a commercial success, so a more desirable avatar was designed, which is Stranger. Additionally, the failure of Munch's Oddysee not only in profit-terms but in that it didn't live up to Lorne's own expectations of it meant that he wanted to step away from the Quintology emotionally until he felt technology progressed enough for him to feel he could express his epics sufficiently.

It had incredibly tedious and dull gameplay, childish controls and overly-cartoonish humour and sound effects. The story was confusing because large portions of the plot were unexplained. Nowhere in the game, for instance, does it say what the Raisin is, so gamers unfamiliar with Oddworld are left completely in the dark. SpooceShrub-collecting turned out to be a horrible idea, at least in the way it was implemented. It also lacked at least half of all the features OWI had promised gamers and fans, so upon receiving it they were all incredibly disappointed. The landscapes are drab and boring.

But if you like it, that's fine. The ability to look past shortcomings is a blessing.

For me, MO was somewhat of a disappointment. I mean, it was fun, and on the scale of gaming I'd say average...but compared to it's previous siblings, it was a let down.

Take scenery.

In AE, the backgrounds are lavishly drawn with details and structures going off into the distance. Everything had a rich feel of culture and scope. Then MO came and everything was, well, flat, with rather uninspired scenery.

BigBro Sligs ruled, though.

Ahhh, my ears!
I loved the scenery in Munch's Oddysee!
It was so great.

As opposed to the scenery in SW, MO was drab and boring.

Also, the only well-done designs in the game were that of the characters (and the airship, I suppose). The levels were largely uninspired for a company such as Oddworld.

The only reason why OSW was created was to;

One- Expand the oddworld universe to let people see more of oddworld

and..

Two- Just to keep gamers and fans occupied with another game, just so they can escape?