TzF: Three or four fingers?
 

Hey guys,
should Abe keep all of his fingers in the remake of AE or is the fourth finger lost forever?

I always preferred the four-fingered-version. Just wanted to know what you think about it.

You do realize New n Tasty uses the four finger version, right? They're sticking with it this time.

He has 3 fingers on one hand. He lost one on a drill in Necrum Mines.

That's canon.

Are you serious ?

He's being facetious, it's like this forum's trademark by now. Although a friend once convinced me it was the lightning from the Big Face that removed his fourth finger. I believed that for about a year.

Abe will have four fingers for the remainder of the series. The updated Mudokon model in Munch also has four fingers—although the moon irksomely still has only three. All that rubbish with the Japanese culture being offended, unless they get some sweet, sweet moolah, is long gone with the advent of digital publishing.

Good that they're sticking with it. That continuity error made me mad back on the ol' PS1

When I was in like second grade, the friend who introduced me to Oddworld was convinced (and also convinced me) that the Glukkons lost their arms because Abe pushed them into the meat grinders.

The rubbish isn't gone. Just that it's a non-issue when there isn't a local publisher for them to sue.

Obviously they're going to stick with the four fingers from now on. But I kinda wish they'd stuck with the three. I actually prefer the design of the three-fingered paw.

The infallible head-canon of children is a very entertaining thing.

Abe has never had four fingers, you charlatans.

You mean he's never had three right? I totally definitely never ever saw Abe with less than four fingers.

No manco's right. He's had 3 fingers and then 2, and now 3 again. The other part is a thumb.

The fourth finger should be DLC*.

not avaliable in Japan.

Because a thumb is obviously not a finger.

Weeeeeeeellll, the thumb is a digit, and finger can either mean one of the five digits or one of the four digits with three phalanges. So the thumb can not be a finger if you really, really want it not to be.

You caught my edit. Goddammit

Also no. I tried to make a funny.

Don't you just adore the internet's unhealthy fascination with semantics?

Although I would like to point out that the 2009 Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus (Australian Edition) cites "thumb" as a synonym for "finger".

On-topic, please. Semanticks are smelly creatures that suck the life out of threads.

Is there even a topic? I'm pretty sure they confirmed they're sticking with the 4 fingers version, when they first announced Munch HD. Like, they specifically said Abe never had less than four fingers.

4 fingers is canon. Always has been. Only reason we ever saw three is because of the 4 fingered mafia in Japan.

Ah, I was under the impression that you were always serious with Oddworld.

Doesn't mean I can't make terrible jokes. :)

I still find it irksome that the cutscenes in Munch HD have three fingers for the muds and the moon. Surely they could have added the extra digit in post. They removed one for the backstory scenes, and while it was the most unappealing snip-job you could fathom, it still tried to emulate the change. Did they update the in-game models and just forget to edit the FMVs, or did they think no one would notice/care?

That was suppose to be the twist of Munch's Exoddus : at the end you learn there were two Abe since AO.

True story: Munch's Exoddus was supposed to be directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

And yet I hoped it was Tommy Wiseau. That would mean first funny Munch's game. Even if unintentionally.

Back on topic guys...

They were reworking the in games models for MO anyway so it made sense to add the fourth finger at that time. There was no need to touch the cut scenes for the Munch HD update so I don't blame them not going trough the pain of adding a pair of fingers to each Mudokon. There a better ways for OWI to invest their money.

The editing of four finger to three fingers was done because the back story cut scene was going to be present on the AE disc. If they wanted it to be published in Japan it had to be done.

Oops, I’m sorry for opening an useless thread.

I didn’t notice that this has already been discussed or that the four-fingers in TzF are clear. (Maybe someone has a reference or something were I can look it up? That would be great.)

After an almost 10-years-Oddworld-break I’m trying to get into it again the last weeks and I need (and want) to catch up on some stuff that were discussed and happened in the past. And it's anything but easy.

To get back on „topic“: My thought behind it was (Whether most people like the four-fingered paw): If TzF is the remake of AE: why should he have four fingers when he has three in the original?

I think you're underestimating how much effort would have gone into editing and re-rendering those cutscenes with new models. It was just an HD retexture for the most part, re-rendering a 3D cutscene would have swallowed up the entire budget more than likely.

I thought TzF should have twice of everything, so there should either be 6 or 8 fingers

My knowledge of digital rendering could probably fit into a thimble, so I'm going to have to take this evidence at face-value and nod vacuously.

It still irks me though. I would have rathered them keep the three fingers for the models, at least so the in-game graphics would be consistent.

Was it JAW that did the re-texture, or did they outsource it to another company?

Wikipedia says JAW did the HD version. I think it was the PC port of the original that was outsourced and subsequently screwed up.

Because TzF is not a remake, just like NnT wasn't, and I'm pretty sure Lorne stressed that multiple times. They're modern reimaginings, which gives them complete artistic freedom.

And since they never wanted Abe to have three fingers, why would they give him three fingers in a context where they have complete freedom to do whatever they want?

Because remake doesn't.

Well no it doesn't. People who still think it's a remake are still complaining after all this time that it's not similar enough to the original. Imagine if they called it a remake, but kept NnT as it is now. The outrage would've been much, much worse.

Wikipedia doesn't agree with that...

Definition
A remake offers a newer interpretation of an older work, characterized by updated or changed assets. --check--

A remake typically maintains the same story, genre, and fundamental gameplay ideas of the original work. --check--

The intent of a remake is usually to take an older game that has become outdated and update it for a new platform and audience.--check--

A remake may also include expanded stories, often to conform to the conventions of contemporary games or later titles in the same series in order to make a game marketable to a new audience. For example, Sierra's 1991 remake of Space Quest, the developers used the engine, point-and-click interface, and graphical style of Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and The Time Rippers, replacing the dated graphics and text parser interface of the original. However, elements that had not become dated, like the narrative, puzzles, and sets, were largely preserved. Another example is Black Mesa, a Half-Life 2 mod that improves in-game textures, assets and models, and facial animations, while taking place in the events of the original Half-Life game.


Hate me for this, but I would call it a remake...

Things are even worse : if we trust Holy Sock, then Nnt is suppose to be the real AO (if Lorne had the money and everything in 1997). AO was a "happy mistake".

Interesting how we're back at semantics. Remake, remaster, re-imagining. Same shit different word.