Oddworld Forums - Date set for my Oddworld show!

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Date set for my Oddworld show!

Alrighty, I finally got a chance to talk to my news director, and my show is set.

Wednesday, April 6th, 10:30 AM Pacific Standard Time (USA west coast. I think it's -8 behind Greenwich mean time).

You can stream it here. Click on the ear to listen.

What will the show include?

-Commentary on the Oddworld games
-News about Oddworld Inhabitants, their plans, the new game(s), and the future of the franchise
-An interview with OWI Production Designer Silvio Aebischer

-Music (which may or may not be oddworld related. If someone wants to send me an .mp3 of music from an Oddworld game, I would be highly appreciative).

I'll also post the transcript of the interview on Wednesday after the show in case any of you miss it.

Hope you tune in!

the link with the ear is brocken it says this page cannot be displayed

mine says that too! :fuzconf:

Sometimes the server is down or there are too many users listening online.

If it doesn't work at the time of the show, I'll see what I can do about hosting the entire show as an .mp3 somewhere online.

I'm sure Max will happily host your show on Oddblog's server :D
anyway here are some nice MP3 of oddworld music:
http://www.oddworld.com/downloads/ow_audio.shtml

We could put it up on Oddworld-Web or the forums server too if you are interested.

I've updated my site's main page as well. I'll be sure to be listening in ... *goes to figure out time zone differences* ... looking forward to it!

Abe Babe...

Tell you what, UnforgivingEdges, you pick the one day I won't be at home to broadcast your show, and I'll just go without. ;)

No worries, I'll no doubt get to read about all the good bits. OddBlog would love to host the full mp3 if you decide to make one, too. Great work for preparing the show!

I've updated my site's main page as well.

Oh wow, that's pretty nifty. Thanks a lot! ^^

Also, thanks Xavier for linking me to the songs. (I guess I should have looked around Oddworld.com a little more :fuzemb: )

As soon as I get the show file from the studio to my computer, I'll let you all know.

Again, thanks a bunch.

I think this may help some people over here:
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/conve...d=6&h=10&mn=30

Ack... 3:30am for me. That's not a good time for me. I'll try to get up, but if not at least the mp3 will allow for the show to be listened to later on.

Interesting your link converts to Russian time Xav.

Abe Babe...

that's their default mode... but you can select what contry you live in, right above the "it will be" :p

As of my posting this, the show is about 25, thirty minutes away.

It sure is. So do I just click on ear to listen when it starts?

you can click before...
but the streaming is down, so we will miss all of it

Ahh too bad. I hope theres another way we can listen, or get it as an mp3 file or even a transcript.

I tryed to refrech but still, no oddworld special

Same here. I even tryed to copy the URL, and then pasteing it on Quicktime, but no.

God, I am so sorry, guys. :fuzmad:

They don't have the internet server working for some reason. This really blows.

Well, if you can wait a couple hours, I'll post the interview with Silvio, and if you can wait several days, I'll break down the show file into managable bits and post it here as well so everyone can hear it.

Again, very sorry...I really wish everyone could have heard live :crying:

don't worry, we will finally be able to hear/read it
that's all what matters, no? :D

Xaviar's ight. maybe UE can write it out!

Interview posted.

Either download the file, or read the transcript here:

(notes: Bishop's Peak is a large hill that the town of San Luis Obispo is built around; McClintock's is a steak house down the road that's famous on the central coast; Linea's and Rudolph's are bars, I believe. Kristin in the marketing manager who sat in on the interview.)

ME: First of all, you’re from Switzerland, right?

SA: Yeah, I’m from Switzerland.

ME: Are you a hockey fan at all?

SA: As a kid I never played, but I like to watch games, definitely

ME: I’m a huge hockey fan, and I’m bummed that the season was canceled, so I had to ask you that when I came in because I know you have the same name as David Aebischer

SA: Yeah, actually, we’re remote family

ME: Really? Wow

SA: My mom was related to…with his father. Actually my mom and his father knew him really well and it was like family.

ME: That’s interesting. I was wondering about that. I was going to ask you ‘are you related’, you know? As a joke.

SA: Yeah, actually it is. It’s really strange. My dad actually still talks to his dad, too.

ME: Have you ever met him?

SA: No, never, unfortunately.

ME: So, you’re the production designer here at Oddworld Inhabitants, right?

SA: Yeah. Yeah, that’s what I do. I do production design here at Oddworld. Everything from the little characters to the logos, just all this kind of stuff.

ME: How long have you been in San Luis Obispo?

SA: In San Luis Obispo, it’s been 7 years. Before that I was in Michigan for 3 working on cars, designing cars, conceptual cars and interiors, things like that.

ME: How did you make that transition from designing cars to coming here and designing all this wacky sort of odd stuff?

SA: Well, actually, I went to a school in Switzerland that taught design and drawing and industrial design and things like that. It’s actually called Art Center. It’s down in Pasadena, L.A. [Los Angeles, California] And they used to have a sister school in Switzerland. And that’s where I went to, and that’s where I met a guy who eventually worked at Oddworld, and by staying in touch with him, I eventually ended up here. Actually we were roommates and we remembered having good times, drawing crazy
things during our school time.

ME: What are sort of the dynamics of this job that you never would have thought of in designing cars? What’s some of the stuff that you had to adapt to when you were here?

SA: I think the most drastic change was the painting. It’s not so much about function and engineering and…here, it’s really about how cool the drawing looks. I wasn’t a painter when I got here. I barely was able to design characters. I mean, I did it on my own. I sketched a bunch of crazy things just for fun, but I wasn’t really good at it. What ended up taking me here, and I think what they liked, was the background in the sort of engineering and the functionality in design, and that brings a nice realism to Oddworld,
like making our things look partially functional, like especially the machines and architecture, those kinds of things.

ME: Right, Kristin was showing me the sketches of the things from Munch’s Oddysee, the vehicles and stuff that you had done, the drawings and everything. Did you take anything from designing cars, like ideas and stuff?

SA: Oh yeah, definitely. It’s more the process of thinking about it, like having to deal with ‘Oh, where does the engine go? Transmission? Fuel?’ I like thinking about all those things, how they actually be put together, not just making a cool box, but there’s no room for anybody to sit in or access the pilot’s seat. So when I usually do those vehicles and things like that, I make little cross-sections of ‘ok, just for fun, where would the engine
go? Would that be a reasonable size?’ Things like that. Just structurally too. It needs to look pretty solid and convincing; that way we’ll buy it more because the designs are usually kind of weird shaped and disproportioned. So if we can bring in some "engineering" qualities to these strange designs, I think they just help. And that’s actually a lot of fun. I enjoy doing that a lot. Mechanical things.

ME: That’s sort of your thing, you’re really interested in mechanical things?

SA: Yeah, I think maybe it’s my Swiss background. Or really being brought up there. Apparently there’s a lot of engineers, I don’t know. So maybe I inherited that somehow, and I find that actually quite fun.

ME: So, San Luis Obispo, it’s a nice town. What did you think when you first came here?

SA: I thought it was actually really beautiful. I was in Michigan, in Grand Rapids, so it was very different. The look was very different. The houses were smaller and all these things. But, having the ocean nearby and the mountains…Michigan was fairly flat where I was. I thought it was beautiful and very inspiring. I think it lends itself pretty well as a creative environment. I mean, you go up on Bishop’s Peak and at the top there are these enormous boulders and trees growing around them and that stuff is totally things that inspire the Oddworld universe. It’s really nature that inspires a lot of things that we take and twist, but if you actually go out there, sometimes there’s things that are so unexpected. Like for example Bishop’s Peak, they kind of look out of place when you’re up there. But those kinds of things are great.

ME: The real trick is getting up there to begin with. That’s a long hike.

SA: (laughs) Yeah, it’s good fun though.

ME: Do you live in San Luis Obispo?

SA: Yeah, yeah, I live down on Broad Street. I got really lucky; I can actually walk to work.

ME: Yeah, I was reading the interview on the Oddworld website with you a long time ago, and you said it’s great that you can walk 3 blocks to work.

SA: (laughs)

ME: Do you have a favorite place around here to eat or hangout?

SA: Eat? Sushi is always nice. McClintock’s sometimes is fun in the back by the creek. I mean there’s actually a lot of fun places to go. One of my favorite places, not necessarily to eat, is like Linea’s or Rudolph’s. Or over lunch during the week actually Monterey Café is really good because…just be out in the sun for a little bit, I mean for half an hour just sit out there. I mean the best part is basically walking people walk by. Because of
what I do here, designing characters and also their behavior, not just their look, but sort of the ground animations of how they’re going to be behaving and walking. It’s pretty fun sitting out there and watching people go by looking at their postures and some people drag their feet, some people, you know…different ways they behave, and then you accentuate that or you make it tenfold and you turn that into a character here at Oddworld. Like, ‘wow, this guy, it’s just so weird how he’s hunched over, and his hat is
bobbing left and right. That would work really well for this kind of character that we’re doing here’, so, it’s actually quite fun.

ME: Talking about the games a little bit. First of all, you’re developing games for a living, you’re production designing. Do you play video games? I mean, obviously you’re really busy here, this is a really busy place. Do you ever find times to play video games yourself?

SA: Well, my wife actually doesn’t let me too much (laughs). Sometimes. I did finally buy a PC and played Half-Life, which was great, I just loved it. I played Halo 1 and 2. I played actually our game quite a bit too, but I never finished it I have to say. It’s pretty horrible. I think it’s the, you know, it’s a hard kid, like Munch and Stranger’s Wrath was hard labor. So you kinda wanna almost take a break. I mean I’ve seen the whole process, but I’ve truly never played the entire game from start to finish.

ME: Yeah, a lot of my friends are playing Half-Life all the time. They’re always on the computer playing. In the future, do you see your style and things that you develop and sketch out, do you sort of see it evolving, and if so, where do you see yourself going?

SA: Just from sketch style and artistically, we’re moving into…I don’t know, can we divulge where we’re heading. The flavor? (consults marketing director) Okay, I just have to make sure…Artistically it is going almost more into a real world environment where now characters are a little bit more human. Kristin, stop me if I’m giving something away that we
shouldn’t (laughs). So that’s actually pretty exciting. The stuff we’ve been doing previously is very Oddworld, it has a signature look; kind of quirky, weird, not necessarily beautiful, but they might be cute or likable. Now where the next game is going, it’s evolving definitely into a little harder look, more realistic in a lot of ways actually. Anatomy is more, is going into more directions of what we know, what we see in real life, so that’s actually good, I enjoy that because it gives me some fresh air into the
whole process of designing stuff.

ME: Alright Silvio, thank you very much.

SA: You’re welcome

ME: Thank you. This is amazing, I’m so glad I got the opportunity to come in and get a tour and interview with you. I’m a huge fan of the Oddworld games, so when I found out they were in San Luis Obispo, I was just so excited.

SA: (laughs) Well, it was great having you.

So anything about the next oddworld game?

Woaw excellent interview!!!
not one with those stupid questions over and over again. It was an excellent read!

*applauds

*crowd roars* Bravo! *puts up sign that says* 'STOP' :p

Well done UnforgivingEdges! Thank you so much for the and interview and transcript, you've done good.

I do love it they way oddworld makes things look realisticy. And I like what Silivio Aebischer draws, and way he designs them, has great ideas doing these oddworldly things . Also I just love the mechanical things, just adding all that those detales and making them look real.

And we known the next oddworld games will have a harder look, just look at fangus.

and also more human desings... that's a bit sad, but I guess we'll have to get used to it

I thought it he ment about Citizen Seige, which isn't on oddworld, but if he ment on oddworld, then it is worrying.

I think he means more in a general sense that we as humans will recognize more similarities with our own world in the next game.

Also, thanks everyone for the compliments; I actually did this interview before Fangus was even known about, so I didn't get a chance to bring it up.

And don't worry, I'm still working on getting the show hosted for everyone.

Oh, too bad. That would have been cool to hear about Fangus. Great interview, though, I appreciate it.

Artistically it is going almost more into a real world environment where now characters are a little bit more human.

I sincerely hope this is not within the Oddworld Universe. Hearing that designs are going to become even more human is deeply upsetting. If OWI are retaining only their creative team then they'd better produce some creativity, not just body builders with cougar masks or fat chickens in overalls, and definitely not things that look “a little but more human.” Anything a little bit more human than Stranger would be a goddamned human.

Ranting and raving aside, great interview, Unforgiving! I can't wait to hear it, so best of luck in getting it online. Thanks also to Mr Aebischer, I suppose, for being interviewed.

Yes, I would buy the games, but would hate it if the characters were any more human.
A clakker is like a human and a chicken. A wolvark is like a lizard and a human, and an outlaw is like a human who has been beaten in the face with a shovel.

Well, I think they're hinting at Citizen Siege, which is set on Earth (?)
I don't know what I think of that... might be good if Oddworld's doing it, might not be.

I have to agree with what Max says here. I already feel dissapointed with the whole guns and ammo look of Fangus. But at least he still has an Oddworld look about him. I would hate to find out that "humans" are living somewhere on Oddworld. It just to me would not only seem out of place, but it would also take away from the whole mystical feeling that you get from Oddworld.

UE, any update on whether you have managed to get a MP3 of the show yet.

Abe Babe...

humans on oddworld?
you are right, worst idea ever!!!
It would ruin a great part f the whole oddworld universe

UE, any update on whether you have managed to get a MP3 of the show yet.

I'm going into the studio tomorrow morning; while there, I'm going to break the show up into several 6 or 7 MB files and move them to my home computer.

I should have that all taken care of by the end of the week. How do you want me to get them to you?

via msn, or perhaps DropLoad:
http://www.dropload.com/

best way to give to a webmaster, and he will take care of putting the file on his server

That would do it, if the next OW game focused on humans, I would be crushed.

Before I start to moan, one thing: great interview, very informitive. :) Moaning shall now commence.

Design creativity is goin waaaay down.

AO: sligs=not even going to try...
AE: greeter=metal rubbish bin with a wheel at the bottom and a really creepy grin
MO: meep=one eyed, one legged sheep (I know Gabbits and Vykkers were odd, but I'm making a point)
SW: clakkers=chickens with clothes
FK: Fangus=bodybuilder in a mask

In the interview Silvio says 'Artistically it is going almost more into a real world environment where now characters are a little bit more human.', wheather this is good or not, I don't know, not in that the characters will be more human which I think is terrible, but in so much as the fact that they still have the creativity is great, but the fact that they're not using it and exchanging unique, quirky looking characters for yet another muscled tough-guy is disgusting. Not that there is anything wrong with OWI creating muscled tough-guys, but he could be more original couldn't he?

Okay Silvio says ' Now where the next game is going, it’s evolving definitely into a little harder look, more realistic in a lot of ways actually. Anatomy is more, is going into more directions of what we know, what we see in real life, so that’s actually good, I enjoy that because it gives me some fresh air into the whole process of designing stuff.' but...I mean it could look 'harder' without turing new species into overly masculine tweaked earthlings couldn't it? Save us Sherry!

The audio file of the entire show has been sent to Abe Babe. You all should see it soon.