The Biology of Oddworld

[Gerard-Blaize]

Hello. Hopefully this hasn’t been done before, but this is a general discussion thread about The Biology of Oddworld. I’ll go first;

Why can mudokons run endlessly in AO and AE, yet in the opening cut scene in AE when they’re walking to Soulstorm or Necrum or whatever the first area is, they get tired in a few hours??

[Jordan]

Hm... Maybe you should ask these questions in the Oddworld Questions and Answers thread? OWI couldn't really make Muds tired, because that would slow gameplay down lots, and the player would easily get bored of it.

[Wil]

It wouldn’t have added anything to the gameplay; most Mudokons only need to travel a couple of screens. And if you’re just running Abe back and forth with Mudokons in tow for hours on end, I don’t think you’re playing the game properly.

/me looks forward to BM’s contribution.

[used:)]

Ugh, as if biology of oddworld in general hasn't been discussed enough...


JESUS

[skillya_glowi]

Aww, don't be such a meanie-butt.

Yes, it's been done before, but it's still interesting.
I guess OWI did it for gameplay reasons. It would't be fun playing the game if you had to stop all the time. And in the opening movie of AE, they've been walking the entire day, from morning to evening. Even though Mudokons are physically stronger and hardier than humans, they get tired too. Come on.

[Xavier]

I agree with most people here, It would have been bad game design to make mudokons tired after a long run.

And we have no clue how long the march in the desert was, only some indications.

[Slig 7665]

I agree everyone whould get bored if you had to stop for mud's to rest all the time.

And when they were walking across the desert they hadn't had any thing to eat so no food no energy.

[Goresplatter]

Maybe the fact that they were hanging on to the thought they would escape triggered adrenaline, enabling them to run endlessly? This pretty much happens in humans, no reason it shouldn't in Mudokons. They didn't get this in the desert because they weren't running for their lives, I guess.

[ziggy]

Well, Ya the mudokons wouldn't ge tired in the game because they don't have to travle very far. That seems like a good explanation, Goresplatter. Plus, weren't they in a hot desert? -But honestly I don't even know why you came up with this question, it seems really unimportant.

[Gerard-Blaize]

it was just something to get ye thinking of the Biology of oddworld creatures outside of gameplay context. to get ye asking mor questions

i think muds might be made up of cardiac musles. like heart musles, they nvr get tired.

heres another one: how can thier be so many native mudokons living free b4 abe came along if the only female mudokon (sam, originally meant to appear in mutchs oddysee) is held captive by glukkons??

[Jordan]

Either those Native Muds are very old and they were born before Sam was imprisoned, or they were previously saved/escaped before AO.

[ziggy]

A good question, My ideas are the same as Jordan's. They could have escaped. Although my first thought was that they were free before Sam was captured. But this doesn't exactly make sense because I read on OW's website that mudokons have a surprisingly (for me) short life span. It made more sense to me before when I didn't know there were even queens. Now the reason for natives, especially in AO, is hazy imo.

[Nate]

Muds live for 40 years, which would imply that the Industrials have only had control over Sam for less than that length of time. The actual period of mudokon slavery may well be longer, as the initial slaves were free, native muds tricked into becoming addicted to brew.

[Wil]

The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants says that Native Mudokons are those that have escaped from servitude or were never enslaved. It is possible that Sam has only been captured recently, so the oldest Native Mudokons have never been truely enslaved; but it seems more likely that villages are kept alive by escaped slaves and stolen Labour Eggs.

[Gerard-Blaize]

Muds live for 40 years, which would imply that the Industrials have only had control over Sam for less than that length of time. The actual period of mudokon slavery may well be longer, as the initial slaves were free, native muds tricked into becoming addicted to brew.

brew only came in in AE. but if Sam is a "queen mudokon" cud they have a bee hive like system?

[Nate]

Yes, the muds have a bee or ant-like system. Do a forum-search for "Sam" or "Queens" and you'll find out all about them.

As for the brew; it may not have been referenced in AO but brew had been used to enslave mudokons for long before that time, as seen in the flashback. Apart from anything, the two stories follow on from each other directly - Abe sets out for Necrum the day after escaping from RuptureFarms. There's no time for the brew backstory to have developed between the two games.

[Bullet Magnet]

Plus, there has been a lot of AO art centered around the Brew concept, such as the handing mudokon cage/quarters with the brew machine in each. Indeed, Abe's Oddysee's original title was SoulStorm.