My thoughts

[WildScrab]

did Anyone else thing that enviroment for MO was a bit to cartoony in some places? please let me know on your thoughts,wondering if anyoe else out there would agree with me,Thanks

[Xavier]

I agree with you, and I think almots everybody on this forums do...
MO was a bit too cartoonich

[Abe16]

I agree, it's cartoonish, too cartoonish.

[Nepharski]

Indeed. It lost the atmosphere the the previous Abe games. Plus, the fact that every level was either a (1) forest, (2) factory, or (3)lab really bugged the whatsit out of me.

[WildScrab]

too be honest i prefered the platform they seemed more real? like your actualy there kinda thing,can't explain it but i know i prefered the platform,3D was too cartoony for my liking,good game,too cartoony,like what's up with those things that come from much/bae everytime he was hit? i know he had the bird things,but didnt it have lile little star things too?

[odd chick]

I'll admit that Munch's Oddysee and even Stranger's Wrath (In certain spots), felt way more cartoon-like than the two Oddworld games that came before them. However, that really didn't bother me too bad as I still enjoyed both games immencely. However, I do like the PS1/PC Oddworld games much better than both of the newer ones-AO and AE just feel more realistic story-wise and environment-wise.

[Nate]

Heck, even Lorne said that they looked too cartoony. But there were a couple of great environments as well; The Vykker's Lab operating room, the spot in the forest where Abe and Munch land and the final stretch of the game as you're approaching the munch with the great view out of the windows.

[The Marching Mudokon]

I also thought that a lot of the sounds in MO was cartoonish, like when you jump and hit the ground, it has that annoying springy sound. I also hate it when Munch is walking along and you hear his footsteps. At least Abe's wasn't too bad.

[WildScrab]

yeah i will agree,i enjoyed the games alot ,just not as much as i hoped i would,we can only hope for the next one to be less cartoony than the other too,some of the sound effect where to cartoony,made it feel like i was playing a game from the gamecube or something

[Nepharski]

Well for me, MO's environments were too bland. Yes, a few were decent, even one or two above average, but on the whole, it was bland. I mean, you compare a MO level like, say, Magog Motors. Small. Somewhat boxy. Slightly cartoony. Now, that said, look at FeeCo Depot from AE. Vast. Intricate. Elegant and sinister.

One should also consider that every factory in MO was essentially the same exact design, whilst in AE, every industrial location had it's own look and feel.

[Nate]

And compare the outside environments to the ones in Stranger. No comparison. MO is completely bare aside from a few cardboard cut-out trees.

[drakan90]

Hmm, its quite weird really.

The side scroller with the unreleastically built places
(ledges for Sligs with with no way up? :-P)
is actually more realistic and more accepted than the 3D one.
Its all to do with the mood I guess. (and spooce shrubs? Spooce Shrubs!?)

[Nate]

And the fact that it is less expensive (both financially and technologically) to produce a detailed and lifelike background image than a detailed and lifelike 3d world.

[Scrab Watcher]

Well, it is somewhat difficult to create a mood for an environment with the *phooop!* of a spooce shrub every so often. But the MO exteriors were so bland! So. Many. Cliffs. And. Cardbord. Trees. Where is the atmosphere? I tell ye, one of my most prized Stranger moments was leaving the wild west environments and seeing the beams of sun come through the leafy window in the cave. See that description? That's because I remember it. Because it had atmosphere. That's why I love AO so much. MO was far too cartoony and shapeles, no sense of self at all. AO was cocky, espesially for a platformer with a skinny blue guy as the main character. MO...it succeeded in some places, I mean, the Irwin and Humphry sequance at the start scared my 7-year-old brother it was so moody (even though he is a wuss...) but the environments really weren't that memorable. This weekend I saw a large pine tree, split into two leafless spines at the very top. My first thought? Paramonia. I wasn't thinking about Oddworld or related subjects, but that's the first thing my mind jumped to. The earlier games had character and showed it whenever they had the oppertunity. MO exchanged that for anonymous, cartoony plataus. Bleh.

[Oddish]

I kinda liked the cliff enviroments, miles of miles of flat land spread to different levels of cliff land. It's a big place, yet it's seems a good place to hide lost. And I like the way that's big and spread wide space with some native falicties over here and some idustral fatorys over there. It's like a giant playground filled with industrals and native architectures.

[OANST]

Recently I went back to the beginning of the GD threads and read my way forward. It is very amusing to see the joy in what we were saying about MO slowly turn into more and more disappointment.

[Nate]

Let's not forget the fact that almost every level in MO seemed to be set on an island with huge misty cliffs on every side. That's got to be the most unoriginal way of restricting player movement ever (almost as bad as the invisible wall and popup box in Stranger).

[Xavier]

even high cliffs are better...
but MO stays a nice game, still better then 60% of all platforms games

[Nate]

Agreed, it was a good game. It's just that Stranger showed how good OWI could do environments so MO looks pretty shoddy only by comparison.

[Al the Vykker]

My real complaint with MO (which I still like and think is still a great game) in this case for environments there was some variety but not enough, especially what was orginally invisioned in the first gameplay demonstrations and videos we saw. Something along the lines of what Hand of Odd was going to deliver I suppose which was more of a Star Wars Galaxies or World of Warcraft feel, where the environment was completely open and you could choose to take any path to complete your objectives and drive the story.

[Oddish]

Yeah. In the eary MO videos you could just walk in and out of buildings, a bit like an RPG the way I imagen it. Also in the early versions of MO you would to able to experience the same enviroments in different times of the day, night, sunset, day and a purprle one.

I've noticed in the first three levels, the shadow of your charatcer streches where ever the light position is. However later on the games it just stays the same no matter what light sorce is located. Dissapointing that.

[WildScrab]

yeah,the early pics of it looked really good,like hanging outside a cafe? an then u have that pic of a Slig climbing a ladder with that big wheel thing in the back!? What happened to that,Early Pic where much better than the final game i think:P

[monkeybait]

This like completely ruined the best element of the Oddworld series.... AO and AE were the best looking games for their time...