New Changes @ OWI

***Wil*** · #1 03-30-2005, 06:46 AM

Curse OddBlog's CMS for never working any more. I swear I'm going to ditch them. I've now updated. The article of interest is by GameSpy's Raymond Padilla.

This is very interesting news. It seems that, even though Lorne was adamant he wanted full creative control over Oddworld's content for the movie, he's going to be giving plenty of work to non-OWI teams. Let's hope this is purely for technical reasons rather than actually liscensing his IPs out, as I'm sure I read the article. I'll be interesting to see what this can lead to, to say the least, and it's very exciting to hear of the possibility of Oddworld is many other media.

I'm a bit wary, but Mr Padilla says Lorne is full of confidence, so I'm happy to trust him that OWI are making a good move with this.

_GrubHunter_ · #2 03-30-2005, 07:15 AM

Omg.......

MojoMan220 · #3 03-30-2005, 08:39 AM

"he was quick to point out his positive experiences with Majesco."

"More Oddworld creations in less time"

I'm so relieved that the GI article was real. Thanks for the heads up, Max!

kao_kao · #4 03-30-2005, 09:19 AM

Great find Max!
I'm excited but at the same time I'm not shure what to think.
I hope it's going to work well with outside parties and businesses.

Oddish · #5 03-30-2005, 12:26 PM

Sometimes I get more worried about where oddworld inhabitants is heading, but this may be for the best.

Dualist · #6 03-30-2005, 12:46 PM

If there is going to be a movie made, I bet its going to be about Fangus...which will pretty much kick ass on screen.

I'm pretty much drooling at the thought of CG.

erwinraaben55 · #7 03-30-2005, 01:50 PM

hmmm, more oddworld in less time, how good can it be?

.

I think they are taking the right step. They do all the design stuff, and let other people do the technical stuff. The only thing they should be carefull with is that they don't loose site of that is going on at the technical stuff. But I am sure OWI will do a good thing with this.

***Nate*** · #8 03-30-2005, 05:56 PM

I wonder what this will mean for OWI's current employees? Will they be downsizing to keep the "relatively small team of core creators in Berkeley"

BTW since when are they moving to Berkeley? I thought they were going to Emeryville. Or is that the same thing?

***Alcar*** · #9 03-30-2005, 07:14 PM

Oddworld Inhabitants' employees have been culled, basically. As far as I'm aware, the majority are now looking for jobs.

Here are some of the things some of them have to say about it.

:

Oddworld has ceased game production operations. The official release is here . Now, I know you're all dying to send me job offers and condolences and such, but stop, I'm fine and I'm not really looking for jobs right now. If you'd like to offer jobs to the talented people at the company, please send mail to jobs@oddworld.com

I've been privileged to work with a great crew at Oddworld; I'm proud of the work we did. The games didn't ever work out quite the way we wanted, but at least we tried to do something creative and different, and mostly succeeded. It's a real tragedy that Stranger's Wrath is not getting any marketting at all; I think it's a pretty good game (and the reviews bear that out). It's also a shame that we aren't able to make another game on the XBox; I'm proud of the engine we made, and the pipeline and toolchain and process that we finally had set up for our new game (Fangus) was really smooth. Our overall development process is the best I've ever seen at a small developer; I feel like we just got the factory really humming, all ready to pump out widgets, and now we're closing the doors. It's a shame that the great team we have here is going to be broken up and spread around the industry. But, so goes the tide of the game industry.
Charles Bloom

:

OddWorld is shuting down their studio. So, I’m looking for a job again. I’m quite deceived by the game industry. I’ve worked on four different companies, but haven’t finished any game. That’s very frustrating. I’ve been thinking about changing my career direction. I think I will try to work for an IHV or for a tool development company like Alias/Discreet/SoftImage, but it seems that most of them are located in Canada. I enjoy SLO’s weather so much that I don’t really want to go north again. :-(
Ignacio Castaño

:

Today marks the end of Oddworld. I think I am more somber today, than I was when I resigned two months ago. My best wishes go out to the RT team(s) that broke their backs over the years to get Lorne's "Odd-vision" into tangible form.
Robert Brown

Alcar...

Kimon · #10 03-30-2005, 07:24 PM

The end of Oddworld?!?! How could this be?!

ConkerTribe · #11 03-30-2005, 07:31 PM

Excuse my language, and please note that I am EXTREMELY pissed, but WHAT THE F*CK??!?!?! This can't be happening!!! Please tell me this is all just a F*cking joke!!!! COME ON DAMNIT!!! I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO FANGUS AND NOW ODDWORLD IS DEAD?!?!?!??!? WHAT THE MOTHER LOVING F*CK?!?!?!?

Kimon · #12 03-30-2005, 07:34 PM

Wait, I just read the article on Oddblog, and the quelled my fears (somewhat). It's explaining that Oddworld is outsourcing, and Lorne says they're not going away, but rather expanding into different media and getting a bigger team. As an Oddworld fan, I am extremely worried right now.

ConkerTribe · #13 03-30-2005, 07:37 PM

As a Stranger fan, I am extremely PISSED RIGHT NOW. I'm going to console my energy though until we get anymore details, but if Alcar is right, Fangus has been scrapped and I am extremely pissed off. Did I mention how PISSED I am right now? Well, I'M DAMN PISSED.

Angalok · #14 03-30-2005, 07:49 PM

Is it just me, or is Lorne Lanning a very hard man to please? The man's brain must be like a thunderstorm, flashing from one idea to the next and god-damned be the consequences. While I like hearing that Oddworld will be expanding into movies, I shudder to think that he would scatter their talented team to the four winds. Lorne is the main creative power behind it all, though, and I doubt that Oddworld will lost the good writing and story-telling as long as he's at the helm. Perhaps this is a good thing; perhaps now instead of his ideas being cut short of stunted by technical limitations and deadlines (i.e. the Glukkon and Mudokon queen missing in action from Munch's Oddysee), we'll finally see Lorne Lanning and us as well fully pleased with a final product. Even if this is a good move for us fans, though, I can't help but think that Lorne can be cruel to his underlings in his determination...

***Alcar*** · #15 03-30-2005, 07:57 PM

Fangus has been scrapped from what it sounds like in the people's thoughts I quoted, however, like Hand of Odd, etc, it could still return some day in the future. As for Oddworld closing, it is not actually closing, it is merely shutting down its games development section.

Alcar...

Angalok · #16 03-30-2005, 08:02 PM

From what it sounds like to me, Oddworld is focusing on writing the stories for the games, creating the characters, deciding upon the gameplay mechanics, and then hiring other developers to actually flesh the ideas out, rather than making the games top to bottom themselves. Is that the jist of what your inside sources have told you, Alcar?

MojoMan220 · #17 03-30-2005, 08:26 PM

:

the people's thoughts I quoted

What does that mean? Is this a hunch you have, or is this definite?

ConkerTribe · #18 03-30-2005, 08:39 PM

Wow. I'd never guessed that you guys would be so lacadasical about the company in which you base your entire gaming lives on. I mean, if Rareware ever shut down, I'd just break down and cry. I mean, I'm sad because one game I heard about isn't coming out, but the whole company you guys praise is basically shutting down it's doors. I have mixed feelings at this point. Please, someone tell me that they're still making Fangus. I really can't handle two forms of bad news a day.

MojoMan220 · #19 03-30-2005, 08:52 PM

HOLY MOTHER OF ODD!!

I'm sorry, but I somehow skipped over the part about THE END OF ODDWORLD!! I don't know what the **** to think, I'm in denial! No more Oddworld games? I could give a shit about a stupid movie! I need more information, like who the hell is responsible, what exactly is going on, OH JESUS! I don't know what to think! First we hear about this great game coming in a year, now Oddworld is dead! This has got to be the cruelest april fools joke ever!

MojoMan220 · #20 03-30-2005, 09:21 PM

I know this has already been posted in other threads, but I think this deserves a full topic, because let's see... oh yes, ODDWORLD IS NO MORE! Considering this is an Oddworld forum, this may just be the most important thing ever to come up. It's practically dead according to the information Alcar has discovered (employees out of work expressing their anger). It seems a lot are scattered and looking for new work. This means no more Fangus or quintology, all game development at OWI has been shut down. I guess they are moving on to movies or something. I don't know if this means they will never be made, but it looks like this could mean the end. I thought we should have a proper place to discuss this tragedy (if it is one). Just to be clear, I really have no idea what is going on, so please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in an area (all areas). I'm an idiot, so mistakes are bound to happen... Alcar should really post his information here, because I don't know what I'm doing.

Dipstikk · #21 03-30-2005, 10:08 PM

I certainly hope this is all a trick.

Joe the Glukkon · #22 03-30-2005, 10:11 PM

Wha... What? I hope all of this is not true!

Angalok · #23 03-30-2005, 10:11 PM

Are you by any chance illiterate? Did you even read the Gamespy article, or are you just the grand champion of jumping to conclusions? Oddworld is not dead, they are just outsourcing the bulk programming elements of their games to other companies. I.E., they're still making video games but they won't be designing the entire code from top to bottom. I.E., read the actual article in question before you start a new and utterly misleading topic. The people that they've let go are programmers and game designers, Lorne and the character creation crew are still employed at Oddworld Inhabitants, and it is still a company. Stupid topic, sheesh...

The Big Cheese · #24 03-30-2005, 10:13 PM

thank you for clearing that up

ConkerTribe · #25 03-30-2005, 10:17 PM

:

Are you by any chance illiterate? Did you even read the Gamespy article, or are you just the grand champion of jumping to conclusions? Oddworld is not dead, they are just outsourcing the bulk programming elements of their games to other companies. I.E., they're still making video games but they won't be designing the entire code from top to bottom. I.E., read the actual article in question before you start a new and utterly misleading topic. The people that they've let go are programmers and game designers, Lorne and the character creation crew are still employed at Oddworld Inhabitants, and it is still a company. Stupid topic, sheesh...

Answer me this then: IS FANGUS STILL IN DEVELOPMENT?

If the answer is no, then they are as good as dead to me anyways.

Dipstikk · #26 03-30-2005, 10:21 PM

You'd give up an entire game series just because they're not producing a game with some...cat-faced, muscle bound meathead with freaky-as-shit sheep?

You'd give up Oddworld because of THAT?!

Wow. Yeah, you know what? You might as well pack your bags. Fangus has been dropped, and it's been confirmed by Alcar.

Sorry I'm being pissed, but seriously, man! Think about what you're doing!

Angalok · #27 03-30-2005, 10:23 PM

You join a forum to get some news before official sites update, and you end up having to wade through vast seas of twelve-year-olds and flat-out retards. ODDWORLD IS NOT SHUTTING DOWN. They're still going to be developing video games, but they're outsourcing the programming to other companies instead of developing the game from top to bottom in-house. It's like how they make The Simpsons; the writers and voice actors in America set up the script and plot, and then Korean slave laborers actually flesh out the animation. The staff of Oddworld that was let go are the programmers and coders that won't be needed in the new system. There will still be Oddworld video games, plus it looks like some movies as well. Change your underpants, quit jumping to conclusions, and start actually reading articles before you start entire misinformed threads about them. Jeez, I'm the most rabid Oddworld fan in the universe if anyone is, and you people freak out about every whisper of something going awry.

MojoMan220 · #28 03-30-2005, 10:26 PM

These quotes were originally posted by Alcar:

:

Oddworld has ceased game production operations. The official release is here . Now, I know you're all dying to send me job offers and condolences and such, but stop, I'm fine and I'm not really looking for jobs right now. If you'd like to offer jobs to the talented people at the company, please send mail to jobs@oddworld.com

I've been privileged to work with a great crew at Oddworld; I'm proud of the work we did. The games didn't ever work out quite the way we wanted, but at least we tried to do something creative and different, and mostly succeeded. It's a real tragedy that Stranger's Wrath is not getting any marketting at all; I think it's a pretty good game (and the reviews bear that out). It's also a shame that we aren't able to make another game on the XBox; I'm proud of the engine we made, and the pipeline and toolchain and process that we finally had set up for our new game (Fangus) was really smooth. Our overall development process is the best I've ever seen at a small developer; I feel like we just got the factory really humming, all ready to pump out widgets, and now we're closing the doors. It's a shame that the great team we have here is going to be broken up and spread around the industry. But, so goes the tide of the game industry.
Charles Bloom

:

OddWorld is shuting down their studio. So, I’m looking for a job again. I’m quite deceived by the game industry. I’ve worked on four different companies, but haven’t finished any game. That’s very frustrating. I’ve been thinking about changing my career direction. I think I will try to work for an IHV or for a tool development company like Alias/Discreet/SoftImage, but it seems that most of them are located in Canada. I enjoy SLO’s weather so much that I don’t really want to go north again. :-(

:

Today marks the end of Oddworld. I think I am more somber today, than I was when I resigned two months ago. My best wishes go out to the RT team(s) that broke their backs over the years to get Lorne's "Odd-vision" into tangible form.

Angalok · #29 03-30-2005, 10:26 PM

First of all, all the evidence we even had of Fangus was one magazine article and a concept art DRAWING. If you drop the whole Oddworld series over a scrapped project that we had ONE PARAGRAPH of info on... well, I'll just be amazed. That's like not having bought Stranger's Wrath because SligStorm was never made...

***Alcar*** · #30 03-30-2005, 10:28 PM

Oddworld has merely halted its games development. They will be doing more projects in the future, but whether or not they are games is yet to be seen. As for the Oddworld Forums, I can't say they'll be affected really. The Oddworld Forums have always thrived off of Off-Topic, and with the community we have built up, I think people would want us to stay open.

Besides, the previous Oddworld games still exist, so an Oddworld themed forum is still relevant.

Alcar...