Abe HD Ideas
 

MOD EDIT: This is split from the thread "HD Abe picture released"

It's vital to keep in touch with the community. Let's face it; as a developer of a franchise like Oddworld, the easiest thing to do is to accidentally alienate the community.

Abe HD is going to be frought with design decisions that need to be made very carefully as to protect the original game from the Aych-Dee-ification process. A number of those decisions may even come down to talking to you guys to try and find out how you feel if something was to be tweaked slightly to fit in the new engine.

Yeah, we're a bunch of pernickety cunts.

I'll buy anything with Oddworld in its title to be honest.

Oddworld: Fuck Our Fans

How do you know the title of our next game ? D:

Well, it's really fantastic that you're personally talking to your main internet fan base so often, there aren't too many game developers that speak on a one to one with their fans.

The thought of a game developer actually listening to our input terrifies me.

You talking to us like this, and in such a down to earth manner makes me like you even more than I already do. :D

I suggest a new thread for dumb things we should try and get them to put into a game.

Yep, Sligs should totally be pink. And they should sound like ducks.

fuck that abe thing put almight rasen to main character!!

And spull it lok that ^

Der shud also be a level wer u have to kill as many screbs as posseble in 3 minutes and then u get mosar monee so you can by better wepuns.

*writing everything down in a big book marked "Serious Ideas for making Serious Money"* please continue.

an i wud leik ther 2 b lvl were u can do ninja moves and u wud be teh koolest almitghy risin it wud be so kool! :D an i want 2 be abel to choos waht i look liek scrabe ,parmite ,modokun ec.t.

pls put my in ur book!!

People, please. You're embarrasing the professionals with your superior ideas. Stop it.

Since your here Glitch, can you estimate what month Strangers Wrath HD will likely be released on PSN? Since the Summer release looks unlikely.

Cheers

The developers actually want our input and the first thing you guys do is attempt to waste that priviledge by spouting bullshit. How nice.

I just have one request for Abe HD and that is to keep the dark industrial look we're used to from the original games. No comical bull like in MO. I want a meat grinder to be a thing of terror and death. Not some weirdly shaped thing with red on it :P

Yeah, how dare they enjoy themselves because the focal point of being a member of this site is now relevant again. Though I can't rightly say you're in any position to judge what qualifies as 'bullshit', so the point's moot.

Anyway, annoying animal humpers aside,


I would like to see a bit more of Scrabania and Paramonia. Certainly leave a nice chunk of them up to the imagination, but maybe have the journey in through the Wells a series of quick puzzles before the actual introductory FMV to the area. Like, seeing the land gradually progress into rough desert before being transported directly to where you started in the original AO.

According to this page on the wiki, Paramonia is directly in the way of Scrabania coming from Rupture Farms/Mosnaic lines, so maybe have some quick reference to where everything is situated.

This applies mostly to scrabania, I thought Paramonia was near-perfect.


Additionally, diversify what Sligs carry/look like a bit. Give them different shades of skin and such, nothing drastic, just everything you can manage between Earwax Yellow and Snot green. Give them passive animations when slogs are present, without altering their pattern for any puzzle.

I'd also like to see more of the technology inside Rupture farms. Not as a key component to gameplay, more as an ambient thing. As you progress, you learn more about how the Animals are processed, kept, transported etc... I want to see the man become the meat. I mean the Animal become the meat.

Mmm, perhaps since it's 2.5D, you really have the power to unleash just how huge Rupture Farms is, while there is potential for cramped corridors and such things, there is also a lot of possibility for huge whopping screens that show you the packaging floors and monstrous drops into the black depths below you.

Glitch is incredibly brave to want to listen to us IMO - Pos rep for him.

Agreed with this - After studying whatever AO can tell me about Rupture Farms in order to build my Minecraft version, the level actually suffers from the same thing that many other game levels do - It's simply a themed level focused around gameplay rather than with the thought of it being a feasible, functioning meat plant. But that's not a bad thing - After all, games aren't fun if they're too realistic. (And besides, Glukkons like to be as wasteful as possible for the sake of being such, so there's an in-universe explanation for the enormous amount of catwalks seen in AO)

From what you see of Rupture Farms though, apart from falling bits of meat and moving carcasses and barrels, and the barrel storage area in the first parts of the game, you don't actually see much in the way of a functioning production line - Especially during the later Zulag levels. If it's not too much work, perhaps some of the generic industrial-themed backgrounds could be changed to reflect this.

This is precisely what I'm thinking. Soulstorm Brewery was great because you got to see first hand the extent of The Glukkon's cruelty, literally building machines to make their slaves cry, and cashing in. So weird little nods at how the Animals are kept, undersized cages, maybe have a sort of furnace where it's clear the animals are particularly agitated because of the heat, etc... Make you feel really bad about them, despite the fact that they spend a large part of the game murderizing you themselves.

I love Oddworld for its magnificent backgrounds. They're a focal point of how great the games themselves are.

If possible, have some kind of Graffiti or other markings the first time you leave Rupture Farms saying 'rise mudokons' or whatever. Rebellious stuff. Or any instructions on how to escape to/from the Stockyards covered with Wanted posters and warning signs.

Also I would really like at least one room with a chandelier, and the oppurtunity to kill myself/an enemy with said chandelier.

I'd like to see a return of how level backgrounds appeared. That's one of the things I loved about AO and AE. So much was happening in the background, it gave it so much depth in comparison to other 2D platformers, and more depth than even some 3D games. You could see so much, especially in Rupture farms, with the huge piles of barrels, the conveyor belts. It made it so real. That, as well as Mac and DH's ideas will make this game perfect for me.

EDIT: Damn you Mac, you beat me to it!

I'd like some passive Slig dialogue. Nothing that would directly effect Gamespeak, but just to drive the point home that they're individuals.
There were a few areas of AO where it wasn't explicitly necessary for you to kill Sligs, right? Maybe have a small hint of dissention in areas like that. Sligs that don't beat the Mudokons as much. Just to make it clear they're individuals.

And have them smoking. I always thought it was odd that they never actually smoked. Not all, but a few smoking Sligs here and there. Hell, maybe even have an achievement for NOT killing all the Smoking Sligs. Like "If you don't get 'em..."

Again, I don't want to affect the core gameplay, just to have a nice ambience to the game.

This, effing this! ^

It would work so well in the Stockyards!

I'm definitely with Mac on everything slig-related. Even in Munch's Oddysee, their AI left a lot to be desired.

- They should definitely banter with each other if there are multiple sligs present, even if it's just that kind of idle nonsense chatter you heard in MO, that was a nice touch. If they hear a noise, the standard "what?" is an appropriate response, then after a few beats of caution they return to their patrolling and idle chitchat.

Also cigarettes! Sligs were supposed to smoke in MO as well but that was cut. I'd love to see a few Sligs lighting up when there's nothing going on around them.

I have a few non-slig related suggestions, of course ;)

- When Abe goes Shrykull, it should definitely be more epic. The little bastard is turning into a living god, after all. The screen should go dark and lighting should roar down from the sky. I also think the transformation animation should be a little more involved. Maybe have Abe drop to his knees and come alive with static electricity as his musculature morphs and changes into the vengeful god. I doubt a sequence as involved as I should like is really realistic within your limitations, but I'd love a little more emphasis on Shrykull's powerful presence. :)

- Sherry will hate me for this, but more blood and guts. Though I know you can only include so much gore without drifting into M-rated territory. I guess when Abe or other creatures hit the dirt after a long fall, a little gratuitous gore would be appreciated.

- Similarly to sligs, a little more variation between the Mudokons besides just their voices would be a plus. As Mac suggested, a slight pigmentation and/or size change would do wonders. The kind of subtle thing you'd only notice when you have several Muds standing next to each other.

-More dynamic Gamespeak. Munch's Oddysee had the right idea giving Abe and the other Mudokons multiple prompts and responses. Maybe four or five variations of each Gamespeak command and matching responses.

- Atmospheric fx. I'm pretty certain you guys are already going to do this, but definitely enhanced lighting/atmosphere in the environments. A putrid haze rising from the decaying stockyards, dynamic fog and dust particles that move around the environment templates, moving clouds and wind-whipped flora, and small insects crawling and flying around. Immerse us into Oddworld!

I'll think of more later. I'm out the door. Hope that you guys take at least some of my suggestions seriously. :p

I'm gonna have another chip in. You know how there was no "All'ya" in AO? That was understandable because Abe wasn't that well known among Mudokons and guiding groups of them at once would have been a big thing for him... well how about allowing Abe to become more 'confident' as it were throughout the game, such as gaining more ways of helping Muds along? This is most likely too much for a HD remake and would probably change how the game works too drastically, but it could give the player an idea how much Abe develops over the game, a little like in AE where his tone of voices changes depending on the amount of Mudokons killed/saved. There'd probably need to be more Muds to save in order for this to work too.

I think when the Shrykull animation finishes Abe should explode out of him. Meatily, and then chuckle. Maybe even drop useable meat chunks here and there for effect. Maybe even have any room Shrykull is activated in suffer from a lot of (cosmetic) damage. Crumpled metal, blackened walls, etc...

Yes, we're a bunch of bloodthirsty sick puppies. And we LOVE it.

When a slig dies, I hope they go black and sizzle like they used to, I know there's not realism behind it but hell I loved that.

This is exactly what I was going to say. Particle effects and rolling fog. Haze. Every point. I was dead set against changing anything for Abe HD except resolution until I imagined this. I think the technology is available to look very realistic. Of course, on Oddworld, real is definitely not brown.

I think Finding Nemo is a great reference for this. I imagine that at its best, Oddworld would resemble like Finding Nemo if the Angler Fish was recast as every character.

http://mrbarlow.files.wordpress.com/...anglerfish.jpg

When Abe possesses a slig, perhaps tint the slig's eyes blue. Assuming you're going with the mask with the individual eyes.

Keep the mad explosions? The Body parts of a Slig bouncing off the screen is just to funny!

I LOVE that idea. Why don't we have two Sligs talking to each other when they crosspaths?

Heres a few idea I came up with on impulse

In the later levels in Rupture Farms
Slig 1-"Have you notice that there are fewier Mudokons around here?"

Slig 2-"Yeah! Wazzup with that?"

And

Slig 1-"Did you ever try Meech?"

Slig 2-"I did, It was horriable! Its a good job there extinct"

Now that's an idea for if you really wanted to involve the community - Have a competition for who can come up with the best "Idle" lines. :)

YES! Now that is a idea :D

The only comment I really want to add to this thread is: Please don't fuck up the atmosphere.

The eerie silence of Necrum, the oppressive smoke rising from factories, the tense midnight escape through No-Man's Land, the serene-yet-unnerving silence of the empty wilderness, the menacing machinery dominating factory environments.

Everything is built up beautifully in these games. It comes from the sublime art direction, the uncompromising attention to detail, the intertwining of gameplay and storytelling, the vast landscapes briefly glimpsed in the far distance, but most of all the excellent worldbuilding.

And then we had Munch's Oddysee.

Don't be like Munch's Oddysee.

I do not need too many fancy things, just more of what we were used to in AO and AE.

Needs more flying sligs. I love to control and hear those.
And slogs to contol with sligs.

Bigger groups of Mudokons to follow you, and that you can slap them, and they start to riot. Oh I had so much fun with Exoddus. but those groups were so small :(.

Just make sure the game gets a 16+ or better rating for the amount of cruelty and gore. Do not like the kiddy style of Munch. Humps of flesh should be thrown towards the screen (would be awesome if that would be in 3d on a 3d tv).

I'd recomend spending your efforts on the visuals, to get the realtime graphics as close as possible to that of a pre-rendered environment. Don't change the game too much from the original, but do add things that would have appeared in the original if it had been technically possible at the time.

More animations for actions. Like, when Abe runs and jumps up a ledge, you expect his body to swing a lot more as he grabs onto the ledge; you could have him run and jump to grap a ledge, and his momentum swings his body into the side of the ledge and he grunts as he slams against it. The animation should vary depending on the height of the ledge. For example, if the ledge is about shoulder height, then Abe should be able to jump up, and not so much have to grab the ledge rather he thrusts himself up with his hands with relative ease.

When bombs explode, Abe's knock down should be a reaction to the direction from which the explosion happens. Sligs should attempt to throw bombs back. Sligs should see the bomb land infront of them and go 'huh?' or they should panick, some should scream/cry, some should be cocky and just laugh to themselves. i agree with Mac Sirloin that the sligs should appear to have their own personalities, maybe portrayed using different attitudes towards events (some show fear, some laugh, some cry, some are clumbsy, some are less intelligent, some are bossy, some are bullies, some are push overs), and their mental states. The bombs should glow red a second before exploding. Abe should be seen to activate the bomb. Abe should shield himself with his arms when bombs explode at a distance that isnt near enough to cause a knock-down.

The classic gameplay and visuals of the original with these sorts of dynamic animations would make for a great remake I think. I like (Mac Sirloin's?) suggestion for letting the sligs communicate with one another, have some banter amongst themselves, which could relate to the story. Like, Abe could walk past a slig who is on the phone listening to orders to start a search for Abe, near the beginning of the game.

This. Several times, in fact, for emphasis:

Maybe they could also add some unlockable bonus rounds to test your skill at the game. Like a level where you take a slig and see how many muds you can kill in a minute. Or take a grenade and see how many orbs you can explode in a minute. Short little games like that would be cool to add. Add a timer in there to record your time with some trophies to go along with it and that'd be pretty sweet.

An unlockable theater instead of one that needs a code would be pretty sweet too, and remastered of course.

I guess that's it for my ideas : )

The achievement about not killing smoking sligs is a great idea. Inversely, you could have an achievement for killing all the smoking sligs called something like "Beat the Habit" or "Cold Turkey".

Also, when you get cacked by a scrab or paramite and they start to eat your fresh carcass, amp up the gore. Connect the animations. Have the scrab pulling out abe's intestines only to have them snap back like elastic bands. Have paramites scrape all the meat off abe's face and plucking out his eyeballs with their fingers like cocktail olives.

Same here. Exploit us :D

I disagree with every point about talking Sligs. For one thing, giving them intelligible conversation humanises and de-creepifies them. Also, the slig dialogue in MO was so corny and crap. And unless JAW hire a full-time writer only for the incidental dialogue, it's going to start repeating incredibly quickly, which immediately breaks the atmosphere and destroys suspension of disbelief.