Interview with Lorne coming up on rpad.tv
 

There's already a preview snippet over here:

http://rpad.tv/2009/11/12/oddworlds-...dience-on-psn/

EDIT: it's available:
http://rpad.tv/2009/11/16/lorne-lann...ming-and-more/

So true!!!

I remember getting to the new school, we had computers with Internet there. I had never been on Internet before, but knew a little bit about it.

First thing I went to, was www.oddworld.com. The ONLY website I knew at that time!

Jeez jeah, times have changed!

I don't think i would have known what the internet was considering i was only 4.

“I remember my father used to play, but I was too young”

You could pretty much say the same thing for me, except it was my uncle. And then I played it anyway.

I didn't play AO and AE till 2000. Even then I still didn't use the internet. That didn't happen till a couple years later. Can't wait to hear/see more from Lorne.

didn't get oddworld till 2005 didn't get internet till 2006! poor me

I've been playing Oddworld since I was seven, I think, so that would be around 2000. I remember using said internet to look up cheats for it and so I never played the game properly... didn't finish it 'til a couple weeks ago.

~and now I'm playing again, trying to get all 300 stupid green guys...
Enchilado



On-Topic Post:

Gud on ya lorne c more soon i hop

He's right, even I'm amazed at the ever growing fanbase for those old games.

It's good stuff.

Kinda proves that games are getting slowly worse as time passes by, so much so that we're reverting back to the classics...I mean, I'd happily go dig out my old Spyro games than play half of the crap that's out now.

Same with cartoons really. The quality of animation and design is shit.

It's because Abe games aren't like others. Today games are usually made to fit standards. A lot of games are "American friendly" - WTF is American friendly anyway? - Why some people just can't play without HUD, blinking numbers on the screen and click-to-kill? When I was first playing Abe, it wasn't so easy like today games and there were'nt many games of that kind. It has it's own magic. Not just some copy-paste concept...

TEMPLATE=RPG:
" came, and because they killed his , he seeks . In the end there is , which is big and powerful. His weakness is , so that's why he built his base right in the middle of .

Abe doesn't have really good plot too, but it's still interesting to find out something about enviroment and world. This game has "atmosphere". Look at those background pictures for example, that world looks way more interesting than some games of today (not all ofcourse...

So I say: Oddworld FTW...

(*I have seriously nothing against USA guys, but when Game-Devs starts to talk about "American people want easy games", then my blood starts boiling.Btw I heard about China statement on World of Warcraft -> I "lold")

It's all about money. Game Developers can't take risks if they plan on getting their games published. Publishers want to see generic FPS that don't ask anything of the player. Different, better graphics and easy 'shoot till they die' game play. So what if it only has about 4 hours of single player gameplay? Put in achievements that require multiple play throughs and tag on a multiplayer. Now you can brag about having a 20 hour game with lots of replayability. It's a real shame. But that's just how the market is.

Yea and that's what pisses me off. Stupid games that aren't special in any way. That's why stand-alone game-devs does better games. Publishers "destroyed" already a lot of games... Maybe that's why I practise "Try and Buy". And there aren't really too many games that worth buying :P

A short list of games that wouldn't have been made in today's development climate:

The Sims
Worms
Thief
Half-Life
Ultima Online

However good those games were, they were all unarguably crucial to the advancement of games, and it was only because the Devs had more freedom to try new things that they got made at all.

I pray for the day FPS games (Bar the Fallout Series) will die off.

Yea... I wanna make my own games at some point.. or at least make concepts for them. It would definitely be anything but FPS games.

And god I envy those lucky bastards who get to meet Lorne... He was like my Idol when I was younger :D Creepy I know.

Buy some books about developning DirectX/OpenGL games or 3D graphics from A to Z and then you can create dev team (j/k... unless you are really up for it :D). I don't mind FPS, but I prefer RPGs. And noone care about concepts, unless you are team member with position of game designer.
And about meeting Lorne - so far I was always giving "c**p" about meeting any famous person.

Lorne isn't really famous.. He is the creator of my favorite game series, which is why I'd want to meet him :p

There's so many ways to learn how to make games. I started with Game Maker myself, then Adobe Flash, and now I'm learning how to make games with C++ and Allegro. Game Maker gets a lot of trash talk, but it's an amazing easy way to learn the basics of programming. Though there are other fields to the Video Game Industry. Such as art, music, journalism, etc. What's important is your passion but don't let it stop there. Find what you're good at and work at it.

You blasphemous spawn of satan! You unfaithfull wiccan abortionist! You deserve to be burnt at the stake until death!

Yea, but we are talking here about 3+ years projects. There is very low probability, that someone with regular skills could join the team and design the game. Although I know someone who made it. He just joined small team in the beginning and now he is designing games even with little of Graphic and Programming skill.

Anyway, we should get back to topic imho.

I wasn't saying anything like that. Just pointing out that a lot of people are 'idea' people. But ideas are a dime a dozen. If you ever want to see your ideas become games you need to take things into your own hands. Just ask Lorne.

Nicely said. But still taking things into your own hands is especially in game industry very risky job if you are trying reach something bigger. That's what I wanted to say.

You have to take risks in the game industry. Otherwise you end up with The Princess and the Frog(the game), Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, Personal Fitness for Women, Petz Hamsterz Superstarz, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

The Video Game Industry needs more independent game developers who can take the risks to make independent games with new game concepts.

Thanks to an anonymous source for pointing out that the interview is now available.

Best Quote Ever!

Good lord, is that the real MeechShrykull1029 on rpad there?

Well, a shit-load of info that had. Did anyone else learn anything other than that OWI has stalled another project and that Lorne likes shitty racing games?

It's always sure to assume Lorne is working on something new :p

Meh after Citizen Siege being put on hold I just have no more faith.

I mean seriously why can't they just stay on a single project instead of trying to work on multiple failures. Like the dominos effect.

I agree and posrep. According to the interview, contrary to what we saw in a thread a while back, CC is "On hold". So i'd like to see what they're up to in the meantime.

I sympathize with Lorne.
He's one of those guys that has far too many ideas but lacks the money/merit to make them all happen. Yet, he can't come to a consensus on which idea should be pursued and when.

Someone needs to just drop a grant in Lorne's lap to get him started, otherwise he's going to keep idea-hopping. He'll keep working a little on each idea and constantly switching until he completely runs out of steam and has several projects that are only half done, as opposed to one complete project.

That's what I'd expect from someone new to the game industry. Not a professional.

It's pretty common in the movie industry though. Most producers and directors have several projects on the boil at any one time and whichever one gets funding first gets made.

In case it's not obvious, the holdup is not his skill, time or committment to any one project. It's all about where the money is meant to come from.

I'm still going to help keeping the Oddworld Library up to date at the moment and hang around here at the moment. But I'm not holding my breath every time Lorne mentions a new project, I'll just be happy when something will finally be released.

Lorne made a mistake by announcing Citizen Siege publicly, a move he might've been forced to make to raise awareness and interest into the film. But nonetheless, there are almost just as many unfinished film projects as there are completed. Just because a film doesn't end up being made doesn't mean it's the end of it. It's a norm in the industry.
All you people going "they should just focus on Citizen Siege", understand this: there are no guarantees in the world. Just because they focus 100% on one single project doesn't mean they'll get anywhere. Big projects like these require major consensus from investors and by that I mean a lot of luck. Putting all your bets on one single project is like signing your own death will. It's a gamble, every time.
Developing several different projects simultaneously is GOOD. Every single studio in the world does it, they have to if they want to stay alive. Games, movies, music, you name it, they all do it, they just don't announce it.
There will be times, many times, when your team cannot work on your main project due to reasons outside of your grasp. This can range from weeks to years. What will you do during those gaps? Go home and sleep?

Well said, Zukan, although Lorne made his announcement as much to attract the interest of potential investors as anyone else.

And so far no bites? I agree with Max in that he said anything to soon to the public

if that means that us, the people who wouldn't buy a console for just one game (however good it may have been) get to play munch and strange, then i like it. I've never used steam before (if they decide to use this method) but i am willing to give it a try