The River

[Volsung]

I always imagined the mudflubs to be little more than aquatic Slurgs.

I think we're still currently using the "Stranger has two forms" Idea. One, the disguise we see him in usually, and the other the four legged creature of concept art fame.

And what's the evidence for pollution? I realize its been a mainstay of the Oddworld universe, but I haven't seen that much evidence for it in the traditional sense. If that is a factor to the "Slamanders" (Salamanders?) unhappiness, then I can only think of the following things: Those boats (Or Wolvarks, or whatever) put out streams of gasoline and oil; Riverside facilities of one kind or another dump waste into the river, or possibly there will be dynamiting in order to create the dam: flooding the water with silt and asphyxiating the fish.

As opposed to pollution I would suggest this game is more concerned with the effects of habitat loss. The Dam, the growing city; Stranger's dependence upon live ammo means he requires the kind of extensive habitat needed to keep his arsenal healthy.

But whatever. It also doesn't really seem to matter if there are Mudokons in the game, as whatever role they play will be confined most likely to bit pieces during fmvs. That's just my opinion.

[Xavier]

I doubt there will be a "Mud" part in the rivire name... I hope it will havea deep mistycal name, and it has to sound cool too

but I'll trust OWI for that!

[oddguy]

I prefer the 'water bottling plant' theme better than the polution one.

-oddguy

[Oddish]

To much polution can be a bad thing.

[Xavier]

maybe both, oddworld is much more complex then handeling only one issue you know

[oddguy]

maybe both, oddworld is much more complex then handeling only one issue you know

They sure are, I just finished playing "Super Mario Sunshine" though, so I'm sick of polution themes. Anyway, I didn't say the polution idea wasn't possible, just that I liked the watter bottling plant idea much better. But like you said, OWI is capable of handling both storylines and maybe even more that we don't expect.

-oddguy

[Sekto Springs]

The polluted river theory sounds reasonable, that would explain the rock art image of the salamanders dancing over dead fish bones. Wolvark looks like an awesome vehicle, maybe the creatures are called Wolvs (surprising that it's not Wolvz).

Edit: sorry I've been gone so long, it's just that nothing seems to have changed so I left for a while, and look at all the neat stuff I missed!

[Nate]

Maybe the problem is the dam itself. The industrials are building it and the water level is slowly rising, destroying the natural habitat of the Salamaders et al. This sort of thing has happened all over the world, most famously in China right now.

BTW regarding whether this is a spoiler, I think the problem is a matter of definition. I've always thought that anything OWI tells us is public knowledge while anything you have to play the game to know is officially a spoiler.

ps what's the deal with 'Stangs'? Where did you find out about these thingos?

[paramiteabe]

I think there are going to be several plot twist in this game regarding the dam.

Kind of like the Gold Rush only Oddworld styal.

[Oddish]

I thought there will be two industral sides. We have the little town with Clakkerz, the entrance with a big gate from the river. Then we have wanted outlaws waiting to be captured, and whats the big mountain, a base?
(You know the little pic thats on the background of my avater)

200 sexy posts!

[Wil]

About the dam: Dams are known to cause a multitude of problems. I once spotted an 'advert' in a political magazine describing their shortcomings in a style I thought was slightly similar to OWI's. I'd relate it to you all, but my carbon copy of it has decided to throw itself off the bridge of existence into whatever ethereal place pens and Lego end up in.

For being a spoiler, you can't deny that this information contains detailed information on an aspect of the game. It still leaves speculation, but reveals stuff some people might want kept secret. If it's going to spoil the game for some people, it comes in here (I had originally wanted for Sapph's description of the opening movie to come in here, but we were ill prepared for it - we saw this one coming for a few days), from OWI's mouth or not. You clearly don't mind either way, because you came in the Spoiler Forum in the first place.

Stangs were mentioned in a Powerpoint presentation about the design processes involved in making Oddworld, described simply as a shark-jellyfish combo that acted as enemies in water regions of Munch's Oddysee.

I can't wait to see the relationship between the Clakkerz and Outlaws, and hopefully the sectors of Oddworld society we've already seen. It's been said this game will reveal more about the Industrial structure of Oddworld, which is something I'm fascinated by; so here's to that!

[Xavier]

I can't wait to see the relationship between the Clakkerz and Outlaws, and hopefully the sectors of Oddworld society we've already seen. It's been said this game will reveal more about the Industrial structure of Oddworld, which is something I'm fascinated by; so here's to that!

I suspect the Outlaws to opprim the Clakkerz in some kind of way, terrorisying them. but the Clakkerz are week and arrogant, they don't dare to go temselves against Outlaws, that's why they hire Stranger

anyone more cliché?

[Majic]

I don't see the Outlaws as threats to the Clakkerz at all. My hope is that it's more of a "To each his own" sort of thing, where the ignorant townsfolk look away, and leave Stranger on his own.

[Sekto Springs]

Yes, but then what role would they play? We know the Clakkerz are involved with Stranger, they pay him to do their bidding such as killing off a hunter.

[Nate]

Yeah, its the clakkerz that pay the bounty to Stranger for Blisterz Booty so they must have something against the outlaws. Probably the outlaws terrorise and steal stuff from the them.

BTW there seems to be an assumption that whatever is happening to the natives is the result of some sort of big industry. Even I myself assumed that the dam was being built. But unless we have not been told something vital (which is possible and probable) I think we should note that the bad guys are called 'outlaws'. This means going against the establishment, which would include the Glukkons. They probably steal from natives and industrial people indiscriminatorally.

And we have all assumed that whatever is going on is affecting the salamanders as the natives, but the big picture of Blisterz Booty shows him sitting quite happily with the sals. In fact they seem more worried by something out of shot than the fact that they are with an outlaw.

[Xavier]

outlaws... then there is a law...
I wonder who decided the law and who uses it.
cause I doubt natives would use the same laws as the industrials

pretty complex

[Wil]

I think the Salamanders may be a lot less developed than Mudokons, and hence highly naive - if some creature comes charging through the land after Stranger (who Sapph said seemed to have some kind of unspoken relationship with the Sals), they're going to be concerned for Stranger, or at least concerned about whether Blisterz shoots him, but not place any connection between that and the Valley drying up.

And the fact that 'The Filthy Clan', if that is what these Outlaws are called, are outlawed by what we currently recognise as the Industrials is not particularly indicative of anything. Flint McGee runs a huge illegal mining operation, so what is there to stop a huge illegal dam being built? Since the only Mudos society present seems to be the Clakkerz, I doubt they'd have the resources to march up to this criminal group and issue fines and dates for court appearances. This is still assuming that the Outlaws aren't just outlawed by the rural Clakkerz.

And I was much suprised by there being Oddworld law which can be broken. The Vykkers had to work to have the law changed to allow their twisted practices, but that was probably a long time ago.

[Hobo]

Our Glorious Leader (Max) theory sounds good...

Unless these guys are outlawed by The Glukkons because they're taking the gluks resources that they need to use for stuff like factories.

[Volsung]

Are we now assuming that there are at least two distinct settlements? One the western-style town as a clakkerz specific area and the other at the river with the salamanders? Or are they all near the same location? Since Stranger has this riverboat to help go from place to place, it could be that The Town is placed upriver from the Salamanders. Thus a dam being created might be a boon for them and bad for the natives.

Along the same lines, it might be that the dam itself is not illegal but sanctioned by the law. In most of the games what we would consider the authority or "law-givers" are the industrialists, it might be that the clakkerz are simply upset with the Outlaws for not getting the correct form, or something of this boorish nature.

I feel that there is a good deal more gray area in this game. I would suggest that the Clakkerz are the sort of you're everyday people who do (Or sanction) bad things because they don't know any better. Likewise they do (or sanction) good things not because its right so much as because its the law. Of course, this is presuming that the Town is indeed a Clakkerz settlement, and that they are law-makers therein.

[Nate]

just noticed:

In order to communicate a subtle sense of history for the inhabitants of the river, Raymond is designing rock art that is scrawled on the walls of catacombs and canyons. This seemingly prehistoric graffiti describes the dark forces that, long ago, descended on the life of the river as perceived by the presumably superstitious natives

The river has been under the evil for some time. It is not a new thing caused by the outlaws

[Al the Glukkon]

Yay the Spoiler Forum is open!

Are the Octigi going to be in the game, because maybe they built that mountain structure and it's the huge and menacing facility mentioned in the first AIA.

[Wil]

Nate dog, it's only seemingly prehistoric. Coupled with the merely presumably superstitious natives, I think that there is hinting at some kind of twist. Not that there couldn't be an older force at work, I agree.

As for the Octigi, their inclusion in the game remains to be seen. It could be the castle-like mountain complex is the huge and menacing main facility. It doubt it would be McGee's mines, as most of those would be underground, obviously. "OMG! Look at the size of that entrance!"

[Nate]

??? Octigi? When did they become a part of this???

[Alcar]

In the following image, in the top right hand corner, you can see the concept art of an Octigi 0.1 and Octigi 0.2.

http://www.oddworlduniverse.com/feat...hreads-011.jpg

Alcar...

[Dipstikk]

Holy crap! That looks like my desk at home!
...Messy and disorganized.
Badum-bum.
I'll be here all night, ladies and geltlemen.

Oh, and is it me, or do the river folk have sort of a Chinese culture thing going? I mean the straw hats, the samurai-ish armor...
Does anyone else see this?

[Xavier]

true Dipstikk I can also see it
I wonder if those Octigi will have a big role in the next game...

[Nate]

Yeah I know what the Octigi are. I was asking since when has there been any evidence that one of them would be in O4?

[Wil]

Right there in that photo, as their renderings are together with production images of the other OW4 characters.

[Oddish]

I realy think the outlaws have some army that attacks the town, the town was in flames.

[Xavier]

it makes sense... especially whith the pic you found.
but why did the outlaws attacked the town?

revenge for something? for what?