AO/AE BG rips

FelixK · #1 03-30-2005, 01:17 PM

Hi! This is my first post here, so, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Felix and I am an extreme enthusiast of 2D games and was very disappointed to find out that MO would be a 3D game. If I recall correctly, wasn't MO originally going to be a 2D game as well? Perhaps I am just very confused, but I've been following the series since AO first came out, and I distinctly remember seeing a 2D sprite of a big-bro slig and a doozer very early in the development...?

Anyway, the main reason I joined these forums was because I was curious if anyone had ripped (extracted) the backgrounds from AO/AE? I find that the backgrounds and sprites for these games are some of the most intricate and beautiful I've ever seen in videogames before. If these BGs haven't been extracted before, does anyone know of any tools I could use to do it myself? I have the PC *and* PS1 version of AO, as well as PS1 AE. Perhaps these extremely high-quality BGs could be added as a part of TOGG if I (or someone else) gets around to extracting them? I've found many high-quality screenshots from AO and AE but I'm searching for a complete archive of all backgrounds in the game (without enemies/characters blocking parts) so these really aren't enough for me.

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, or has already been asked.

erwinraaben55 · #2 03-30-2005, 01:30 PM

First of all, I think it would be better to get the pc versions of the game.

Second: I also think it may be illegal.

Third: I don't think you can rip it, but if someone can try it, it would be cool

FelixK · #3 03-30-2005, 01:34 PM

I've studied copyright laws before, and if I recall correctly, extracting the BGs would not be illegal as long as you didn't attempt to make money off of them (which I'm not). I've been following the game sprite community for long enough to know a few of the basic rules and laws regarding copyright laws...

if ripping the BGs would be impossible, is there a site that has extremely high-quality (1:1, no jpeg compression) screenshots of the various environments?

EDIT: I just realized that AO and AE have been out-of-print for some time (at least, I haven't seen the games in stores for a loooong time), and unless these backgrounds appear in the Oddworld artbook (which right now I'm too poor to buy, I'm spending all my money on college tuition

) it may be the only way some of the 'newer-generation' fans (those who have only played MO, SW) can enjoy these beautiful (IMO) works of art.

Oddish · #4 03-30-2005, 01:34 PM

Fourth: MO was neverment to be 2d, it always ment be 3D. Not even the Abe games were ment be 2D.

Dualist · #5 03-30-2005, 01:37 PM

I don't think ripping backgrounds is illegal, or ripping sprites from a 2-D game. People have done this all the time on the net, so I'm assuming it is perfectly legal.

About the backgrounds you want, I may have a place to get those. Just give me some time!

FelixK · #6 03-30-2005, 01:39 PM

:

Fourth: MO was neverment to be 2d, it always ment be 3D. Not even the Abe games were ment be 2D.

Ahh, apologies...for some reason I thought MO was originally going to be 2D, I suppose I'm thinking of something else (after all it was years ago when I saw the promo pics of MO)

Dualist: I'm so excited

The people on these forums are so nice, for years I thought no one had the Oddworld soundtrack mp3s (aside from the few on the official site), but as soon as I got on these forums I found that someone had provided a link to the Abe-a-go-go OST for download...

It's so nice that OW attracts so many nice, intelligent people.

***Wil*** · #7 03-30-2005, 01:42 PM

If ripping fails, you could use the print screen key. Take several captures with characters in different places and you can cut and paste to get the background. You'd still end up with irremovable chant suppressors and the like, though.

Anyway, I'd love to see the games' background, and I'm sure Xav would love to have them on TOGG.

AWWW · #8 03-31-2005, 12:05 AM

Yep those backgrounds in the Oddworld games were always so cool, Oddworld should release a whole art book just devote to them, they'll be best as single page spread. The backgrounds that had movements should be in holographic.

I can dream, I can dream...

Just got the Oddworld art book, can't wait for the next decade for the next book.

Gretin · #9 03-31-2005, 01:10 AM

:

If ripping fails, you could use the print screen key. Take several captures with characters in different places and you can cut and paste to get the background. You'd still end up with irremovable chant suppressors and the like, though.

That's exactly what I was thinking! Except I might have a way to get rid of everything except the background...

***Xavier*** · #10 04-01-2005, 02:01 AM

:

Anyway, I'd love to see the games' background, and I'm sure Xav would love to have them on TOGG.

I would love to indeed...

Gretin · #11 04-05-2005, 01:46 AM

So, you mean stuff like below?

If so, I have about 17 more of them from the Mudomo Vault, and I can make more/tell you how I did them.
Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

***Xavier*** · #12 04-05-2005, 11:50 AM

yes that's exactly it.
contact me via MSN and I'll put them on togg
with a thank you message to you

mutileur@hotmail.com

Hunk of Steef · #13 04-05-2005, 02:34 PM

Woah! You actually ripped them. i didnt expect this to go anywhere.

Gretin · #14 04-05-2005, 09:39 PM

Not really. They weren't actually ripped (that is, assuming you mean "ripped" as in pulled out of the program), they were taken while playing the game. I just fiddled around until I got it about right, then used a little bit of external help (also known as MS Paint

)

:

yes that's exactly it.
contact me via MSN and I'll put them on togg
with a thank you message to you

mutileur@hotmail.com

Okay, I'll just need to find out your time-zone, mine is GMT+12. There's a few that I couldn't remove everything from them(e.g. the pull-rings, the pulleys for the platforms, etc), but most of them are fine.

***Xavier*** · #15 04-06-2005, 12:40 AM

mine is GMT +1
your way to do it is quite good

Drew the slig · #16 04-07-2005, 03:11 PM

You just have to take a few grabs of the same screen...

Characters will move around - take one screen and use a part of the screen from a later time that is not obscured and paste it into the same location on the original... like a composite.

Does that make sense? No.

***Xavier*** · #17 04-07-2005, 03:19 PM

that's what Gretin did...

tentacle_orgy · #18 04-07-2005, 03:30 PM

:

So, you mean stuff like below?

If so, I have about 17 more of them from the Mudomo Vault, and I can make more/tell you how I did them.
Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

Can you post the other ones that you have?...Or could you email them to me at tentacle_orgy@comcast.net ?

Hunk of Steef · #19 04-07-2005, 06:57 PM

Are they up on TOGG yet, I'm too lazy to check?

Gretin · #20 04-07-2005, 08:35 PM

No, they aren't on the TOGG yet, because I haven't been able to get online at the same time as Xavier yet. As for posting them, I'll post some of them, but it takes a while to upload them, so I'll only do a few for now. I'll use thumbnails for them this time.

Thread pic count 6:

URLs:

http://img96.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img96...vpoic140ps.png
http://img220.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img2...ep02c027mk.png
http://img98.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img98...ep02c014vl.png
http://img54.echo.cx/my.php?image=pvpoic057sc.png

***Xavier*** · #21 04-08-2005, 08:14 AM

Gretin and others... I wait to have a bunch of them before beginning to put them on TOGG.

It's so annoying to update the page each time for 1 or 2 pictures

Leto · #22 04-08-2005, 08:17 PM

I have a couple, just have to find them on old backup cds... They were pretty cheap- as in, one was from where you just escaped rupture farms, and I just hid Abe in a shadow.

Anyways, I try to make some more...

***Xavier*** · #23 04-09-2005, 12:06 PM

I would still be interested in some authentic rip/offs...
but I guess no one is able to do that

Leto · #24 04-10-2005, 01:39 AM

Actually, we may be able to, but it's really stupid...

Ok, once you exit or enter an area, nothing is in it for a flash before they all load. If you got the timing right, you've got yourself a screen rip.

Although the above theory sound very idiotic

I'll try it later on...

Gretin · #25 04-10-2005, 11:25 PM

That might work sometimes in Abe's Oddysee, but in Exoddus I don't think it works. I've been looking at trying to get the backgrounds directly, but it's no small task. Also, if they're embedded in the executable it would be nearly impossible for anyone but a hacker to get them out. This is what I'm trying to find out, whether they're in the exe or in the seperate files.

***Xavier*** · #26 04-11-2005, 12:31 PM

most of the backgrounds truely are artworks... that's why I'd like to have them in an unaltered form

Gretin · #27 04-13-2005, 11:47 PM

Not much luck so far - but I have found the screen codes in the .lvl files. It almost looks like it could be some sort of archive, because it has things like PVP01C01.CAM, so maybe .CAM files are the actual images?
Anyway, I've added two more thumbnails to my post above. And the address for if the thumbnails don't work.

***Xavier*** · #28 04-14-2005, 06:48 AM

well I can't realy help you, all I can do is to wish you good luck

Gretin · #29 05-12-2005, 10:51 PM

Sorry this is such an old thread, I was just bumping it up for two reasons:

1)The bad news, I've still had no luck getting a true rip from the games.

2)The good news, I've uploaded some more backgrounds, from now on I'll be putting them in the gallery in my signature.

***Xavier*** · #30 05-14-2005, 04:02 AM

looking very good...
I guess OWI protected them well