Inspirations...
 

(Don't be discoraged by this first bit, I will get to the oddworld part soon)
In many of the Discworld books, Terry Pratchet (The author) describes inspiratin as particles that race around the universe, all going for a target. Some people never get hit by one, while others are constantly bombarded by them. Worse yet, they sometimes miss ( Imagine what it would be like to suddenly get an idea for a clean, efficient and perfectly safe power source - if you were a duck.)
Anyway, the point is that I beleive one hit me just a couple of moments ago. Sorry if this has already been mentioned, or that there is already a thread for puting this into.
It has been repeated that the main character of the next oddword game is Steef. It was later revealed that "Steef" is, in fact, a species. How could this be? The inspiration told me that maybe, Steef (The character) is also the species. He could be the only one.

Possibly. Presumably you mean as in the only Elum in AO was called Elum, and that the Steef will be the only one of his species to appear in OW4. Maybe we'll learn that this is indeed the case, but then again maybe it's that the Steef is an outcast from the rest of the Steef species, as some have speculated, meaning again we wouldn't be likely to see any other Steefs. Maybe this won't actually be referred to at all in the game.

Now, Lorne did mention that the Steef is inspired by Sergio Leoni (sp?) and the Man with no name, so maybe, just maybe, the Steef in the game has no real name, or is never mentioned by name (a la Kill Bill, which I haven't actually seen, but I've heard the 'protaganist' is never called by name), and hence there would only be one way of describing him - as 'the Steef'.

Or maybe we'll find out his name later.

However, I think it's important to note that in the X-Factor video, Raymond Swanland and Ed Fries usually refer to him as 'the Steef', while Lorne very clearly and broadly uses the term 'Steef' on its own, without the definitive article. Now, to me this means that either he's trying to mislead us, and given OWI's current secrecy settings that wouldn't surprise me, or that the Steef doesn't have a name and that he's been so wound up in development, where they would probably drop the 'the' to make communication between Inhabitants faster, as they do in most game productions, I believe. Ed also uses the term 'the Steef' in the Green Light meeting. I'm not sure if Lorne would ask Ed to keep in mind how secret they wanted things to be while in the meeting - maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't.

Anyway, just some thoughts as I'm waiting for off-games.

No, what I meant was that maybe, in that world, there is and was and, possibly, will be only one Steef, not just the game.

I really doubt they'd do that, since they just did that with the gabbits and Munch in MO.

I think he'll just be called The Stranger, as that "name" has been mentioned numerous times.

No, it's not the same with Munch because there was a whole species of gabbits before him, and has a can of gabbiar that also ensures the future of the species.

'Steef' is the species name - you can't have a species of solely one creature in all of existence, because, well, they would be silly. It would be the same as Munch, him being the only one of his kind about. I'd also require some serious explaining if they tried to pull off an 'only one ever' story.

Where has 'The Stranger' been used Mac?

Re: Inspirations...
 

There are 3 T's in Partchett.

So you'll need to update your sig as well.

As for inspiration, wait until the game is out before working out the deatils. Things change!

Also, what species is Munch?

I wouldn't call this 'working out the details'. It's more speculation. I've made my fair share of speculation and such, mostly regarding the sectors of society that appear to be appearing in Oddworld 4.

And Munch is a Gabbit.

I've heard it used many times, mostly by Alf in the Dear Alf section. Capitalized and everything.

Mac, you're a genious and I love you very much!

ALF CAN STILL BE SUBTLE! WOO! I LOVE YOU ALF!

Yeah, I get that a lot :p

I hate it when this happens, I get an Idea I think i good, I hand it out to other people, they continuously prove me wrong until even I don't beleive it anymore and I wish I had never shared it.
But then, that's part of how we learn.

Stranger? intreting, I should read Dear Alf better
so the theory about The Steef being a travler sound possible

Oh, well. This thread wasn't a compleat loss.

Not to worry Seargentbig, this topic is not a complete waste..yet. *insert Mononical laughter*

Anyways, I actually belive this topic has been very usefull to bringing back the life to this place while wait all wait. As for "The Stranger", well I doubt this will count for anything but in alot of Old Western Movies (which is the main theme this game appears to be takking.) they always have somebody thats a "Stranger" or called "Stranger", usally the main hero and during the beggining of most of the films.

Mabye Lorne got his insperation from alot of these old movies and wants to give this new game that same kinda feel with a twisted side?

My dad happened to be watching a Western on TCM last night, and when I saw one particular character, I thought, "Oh my god, it's the Steef!" and, surprise surprise, it turned out to be Clint Eastwood. They called him Preacher, but you got the impression that Stranger would have sounded just as good.

This would obviously explain how for the purposes of the game on its own, or the start of the game at least, the Steef would be the only one of his kind known to the inhabitants of this new region we'll be seeing.

I'm beginning to get worried that OWI are more concerned about making a Western than they are an Oddworld game. Not to worry, I do trust them to deliver something that is undeniably Oddworldian. :)

Yeah. Wouldn't it be cool to have a oddworld-style western? Imagine the creatures you would see. maybe there would be plenty more elums.
Or then again, maybe it's something else altogether.

All signs point to you only having to wait 5 months to find out what a Western set on Oddworld would be like. It's not difficult to picture what sort of creatures there would be, since we've seen a plethora of potentially includable new characters on the X-Factor show. You can see screenshots on Atusi's brilliant page or Hayley's equally brilliant Steef page. Notice the chicken hillbillies, hunter, warthog and salamanders. I've attached an image of the toad blob.

Well I gotta say I think Steef isnt the only one of him cause that would be just like MO ya know so maybe his 'dillema' is that he um..well actually I have no clue but im sure it wont be as close to MO as that. Or maybe it is supposed to be, and this new game will be a game to sorda make up for MO

I think he is a travler...
and like Lorne said: "Oddworld is so big that diferent inhabitants can look like aliens to each other".
I think the Stranger is far far away form home and discovering Mudos where no one else allready saw a Steef.

That's a good theory, Xav. Would fit in nicely with the horns/antlers-hunting/poaching theory, too. I imagine him having a run in when he first arrives, then somehow discovering he can disguise himself, possibly with the help of the Vykker we see in the Chop Shop, then, um, I'm not sure. I just hope together we haven't spoiled the game in the same way the Tear Extraction 'secret' spoiler ruined the Big Shock of Abe's Exoddus.

sounds very exciting... discovering Mudos with a guy who don't know anything about it! I'm sure we will learn lots of things about Mudos due to the Stranger

so it takes place in mudos...kudos! but where?
i'd imagined it would take place somewhere in the scrabanian quadrant due to the western feel-deserts and such
but seeing those jungles, the sun shone on them as if they were in necrum....

http://www.inhousemedia.net/mf/steefs%20travels.jpg

the areas with question marks are the places he may be in the next game. possibly?

with all that boat story I expect it's near the water :fuzwink:

Yeah, with all the screenshots of the river in Oddworld 4, it could potentially take place on the river that Abe and Munch ended up near at the end of Munch's Oddysee, which would make it easier for the effects of this game to be felt in the Quintology, which would make sense in the 'running concurrent with the evolution of' phrase.

However, that would place it far away from both Necrum and Scrabania. And SS, it's difficult to tell with that map, but I'm pretty sure that the bottom of your two question marks is actually outside the boundaries of Mudos - if Mudos is the highlighted green land, it is, at least.

by the way it's laid out, id say the whole continent is Mudos

anywho, from what we saw on the discovery channel clips of OW4, the rivers were more like large streams, big enough for only one or two boats across, but ideal for small shipping barges, so maybe the rivers are thin and cannot be seen at the height. we shall see.

So it really does seem Mudos has transformed from being a small country the size of Nigeria to being a main continent. That's incredibly sad, I'd always loved the comparison between Earth LEDCs and the primary industry/slavery theme running through Mudos. Not to mention, of course, the early History text, which states clearly that the terms of 'country' and 'continent' on Oddworld are not as clearly defined as on Earth. Personally I hope for all 100% official material, such as in the games and films, the original will be restored.