Oddworld beyond Oddworld? (Am I the first to notice this?)

[wonderfulthirds]

Hi,

New member here, obviously. I've always been a fan of the original games, I stopped playing after AE. I initially made an account here because I wanted to check out that -ddcheat thing for AO. Anyway, I have a more interesting question that I've been thinking of.

So I stopped playing AO/AE when I was eight or however old I was. It was a great game, fun, creepy for a little kid, etc etc... Just recently, well, several years ago, I played Half Life 2 and made an interesting observation.

Don't the Antlions and Antlion guards look extremely similar to Paramites and Scrabs? I never considered checking out the developers of the game or whatnot but personally I believe that the aliens all look the same!

Pictures for people not wanting to search google. Needless to say, these are from Half Life 2.

Antlion


Antlion Guard


Do I really need to name these?






That's about it!
Edit: Well, after closer inspection I realized that the Scrab's larger "lip" is under while the Antlion guard's is on top. The Antlion also flies, but I guess that would yield some tricky gameplay if the Paramites could do that in AE/AO.

[OddjobAbe]

Most likely a coincidence. There are a lot of games with very strange creatures, and a lot have very similar features. There's a chance that Oddworld may have served as inspiration for these, but I doubt it.

[Zukan]

I always imagined the Antlion Guard as a Scrab. It moves and behaves in a similiar way too. It's pretty funny, think the art designers were a bit inspired by Oddworld?

[AlexFili]

The Sligs do share some similarities with the tentacled aliens like Dr.Zoidberg and Cthulu. The clash between nature and industry has been more and more explicit over the past few years. I think with better graphical technology the steampunk landscape is a lot more appealing (like Fallout 3).

The Oddworld series gave a little glimmer of hope to all the creative developers out there... not to mention somewhat revived the platform genre, in it's own little way.
Not to mention the kick ass FMVs (although thats mainly thanks to the PS1)

[Pilot]

I remember Lorne talking about being able to 'farm out' (not an EXACT quote) Oddworldian ideas for use in other games while retaining exclusive rights....

inspired, maybe. But I don't think this is 'officially connected' in any form.

[Xavier]

Antlions make me rather think of something that came out of Starship troopers...

I'd say coincidence, nothing more

[scrabinator]

Interesting to note is the fact that Gautam Babbar was one of the graphic designers on Half-Life 2 and Munch's Oddysee/Stranger's Wrath. Can't be bothered finding any sources right now but I'm sure someone can back me up on this?

[Xavier]

I don't think Gautam Babbar worked on half life 2, only on the rest of the orange box as
SW was released in 2005 and half life 2 in 2004

[Crashpunk]

Alexfili, I like sligs too but do have to put them into every thread?
Hes talking about Scrabs and paramites

[AlexFili]

I don't put them in EVERY thread. Besides, let's not forget how much Stranger's Wrath owes to the western-themed movies in general, especially the Clint Eastwood ones.

[Pilot]

Please. Let the man love his sligs!

[drag0nbane442]

I see similarities between Oddworld and Indiana Jones. Both have very good environments, and villains that are high on the social pyramid.

[Andrelvis]

I see similarities between Oddworld and Indiana Jones. Both have very good environments, and villains that are high on the social pyramid.

Damn, I knew it, Indiana is a ripoff of Oddworld!

[AlexFili]

Don't forget the boulder chase in Abe's Oddysee!
Also, the escape under timed conditions is a bit like the parts in Indiana Jones when everything goes mental and the place starts falling apart on you! Let's not forget the stupid guards/minions that run around with guns (Sorry Sliggies, but it's true!).

[Crashpunk]

Sliggies sound like baby Sligs, like Sloggies.

[mr.odd]

anybody noticed that the vortigaunts kind of look like sligs.

[OddjobAbe]

Damn, I knew it, Indiana is a ripoff of Oddworld!

Damn it, vice versa.

[wonderfulthirds]

anybody noticed that the vortigaunts kind of look like sligs.

sort of, except they have a humanoid body.

[Xavier]

The vortigaunts chant exactly the same way as mudokons do, that's probably the most obvious resemblance with anything coming from oddworld.

[Bullet Magnet]

I think the reality is that all are inspired by the same real-world sources.

[Mac Sirloin]

I think the reality is that all are inspired by the same real-world sources.

Probably.

Fun fact: The Half Life Creature design influenced the monsters that appeared in Stephen King's: The Mist.

[OddjobAbe]

The King plays Half Life? Notice that I don't emphasize "the".

[Mac Sirloin]

The King plays Half Life? Notice that I don't emphasize "the".

No, no I mean the movie. The thing that Grabs the guy with the revolver near the end looks a lot like an antlion guard.

[OddjobAbe]

I was thinking that it sounded a bit odd.

[alf's brother's mate]

It obviously wouldn't be the first time this has happened, games mimic ideas from movies as well - the creatures in Dead Space are similar to those in Naked Lunch.

ABM

[MeechMunchie]

Pretty much anything with four legs and pointy feet can be said to look like a Scrab.

[Xavier]

Pretty much anything with four legs and pointy feet can be said to look like a Scrab.

Even a Paramite?

[Crashpunk]

Scrabs aren't the only thing that has four pointy legs.

What about a Vykker or a Paramite?

[MeechMunchie]

Even a Paramite?

Yeah, and if you tilted one up, you'd see they have the exact same shaped torso too.

[Xavier]

Scrabs aren't the only thing that has four pointy legs.

What about a Vykker or a Paramite?

Except Vykkers have 3 stumpy legs...

Yeah, and if you tilted one up, you'd see they have the exact same shaped torso too.

Not exactly, as Paramite have forearms, and Scrab have all four legs attached to the base of their torso.