Oddworld at E3

[Nate]

I do enjoy both, but what are your opinions on the new/old voices.

My guess is that the new voices were done by Lorne just for the trailer and are probably not final. But that's just a guess.

By the way, Lorne has clarified the NnT on Xbox situation with Eurogamer:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ne-or-xbox-360

Can anyone (i.e. Wil) explain how Microsoft defines 'Publisher'? Surely JAW and OWI have a developer-publisher relationship? What rules OWI out from being a publisher?

[Bullet Magnet]

I think that MS doesn't trust developers to provide the proper support for their products post-release, and require a publisher so that said publisher can kick their ass if need be. If so, I suspect they'd see through that ploy.

[AlexFili]

That post made me laugh a lot. Although you may have a point with the face (except I think it doesn't look bad, it's just different from the original, which is why it's probably jarring to some), I want to point out:
You're getting that impression from a couple of seconds of low quality footage, without its soundtrack and context? Comparing it to the original FMV, his movements are just as goofy.

Wasn't there a moment in Munch's Oddysee where there were mudokons surrounding an injured Munch and Abe and they just run off really quick? (cartoon style)

[Varrok]

Wasn't there a moment in Munch's Oddysee where there were mudokons surrounding an injured Munch and Abe and they just run off really quick? (cartoon style)

MO was goofier than AO

[Sanssouci]

Can anyone (i.e. Wil) explain how Microsoft defines 'Publisher'? Surely JAW and OWI have a developer-publisher relationship? What rules OWI out from being a publisher?

It's arbitrarily decided by Microsoft, and one of the conditions seems to be selling boxed physical media in actual shops.

[JennyGenesis]

I'm really pissed that New N Tasty isn't coming to the 360, but then again I plan on getting a PS4 anyway so I will still get to play it.

[Manco]

I'm really pissed that New N Tasty isn't coming to the 360, but then again I plan on getting a PS4 anyway so I will still get to play it.

Don't you have a Mac? It's coming out for PC, Mac and Linux as well.

[JennyGenesis]

I do, but there's a couple of reasons why I won't buy it for the Mac. My Mac is 2 years old, which by Apple standards makes it as old as a dinosaur, so I probably won't be able to run the game as full performance, I plan on getting a PS4 anyway, not right away, goona wait a few months or possibly a year to let them iron out all the bugs and get some decent games out, but I'm willing to wait.

[SpAM_CAN]

I still wanna know when Munch HD Vita is happening. I think whoever runs the Oddworld Twitter account is getting bored of me asking. The last answer I got was "when the PS3 versions are out"...

[Nate]

Wait... I thought the PS3 version of Munch HD was out.

[Strike Witch]

Okay, so I watched a lot of the E3 footage again.

Here's what I think:

JAW, you've got the environments near perfect. The level design, the moving parts, the mood lighting, it's all looking great.

On the other hand I think that effect lights and explosions could use some work. Specifically, the blue electricity looks a bit dodgy, maybe you could make the individual strands a bit thinner?

Anyway it looks good so far.

[Nate]

I had an extra thought about the electricity. It looks more like there's a malfunctioning electrical device than that it has been specifically placed there as a security barrier. Was that your intention?

[Scrabaniac]

I like the idea of the malfunctioning device, environmental hazards would fit in perfectly to a grimey, neglected old meat grinding facility!

[Nepsotic]

Yes but on the other hand, security gates served a pretty important purpose, and they made sense to be there.

[Manco]

Are you saying malfunctioning machinery doesn’t make sense?

[Nepsotic]

I'm saying that it makes sense they would have security gates for security purposes. Malfuntioning machinery is unintentional. While still completely plausible, where did the security gates go?

[MeechMunchie]

They do have mechanical doors as well, you know. If anything, the E3 footage showed that they have more of them now. There isn't really any good reason why a factory with total surveillance would need electric doors and metal ones.

[Scrabaniac]

I'd love to see a malfunctioning meat saw, one that appears idle but when you get close it suddenly works, so you have to stop and wait for it to finish malfunctioning, just something to trick those who are in a rush in the game

[Jbot123]

Why?

[Strike Witch]

Concerning doors, I think the reason for the flickering electrical door is to help the player realize it'll kill you, since people tend to equate sparking, shaking jagged lightning with danger while seeing more solid, static beams as being safer.

In the original games, the electrical thing just looks like a single beam, but I always thought it was more of a row of them in 3D. Kind of like electric prison bars.

[AvengingGibbons]

I'd love to see some water areas.. maybe instead of having those big drops off screen, have water, and Abe can have a disturbing drowning animation where he cough, chokes, flails his arms around in a panick..

maybe have areas with hot ground that Abe can't stay standing on for too long or his feet burn and he falls over and cooks to death, meaning the player must not stop, but continue on.

[Vyrien]

That's a good idea if it can be made believable, random pools of water would be a bit out of place in the factory although I can sort of see them working in Monsaic Lines or Paramonia.

Still, the huge drops were something I liked in the native areas, they gave more of a sense of scale to the place than I can ever see water doing.

[Nepsotic]

The water idea could work well if executed correctly, but the idea of hot land seems entirely pointless. If certain areas are actua floors and plains instead of catwalks, I was thinking that the pits in Scrabania could be cracks in the floor, like what you get from earthquakes and stuff.

[Jordan]

I like the sound of the hot floor, it would add an extra dangerous mechanic in there. I could see it being in some of the Zulags, maybe if the catwalks become overheated and they would glow red to show they're too hot to stick around on.

[MeechMunchie]

New 'n' Tasty is now set inside Paramite Pie Oven #438

[Nepsotic]

I hope not.

[Scrabaniac]

I would like to see a catwalk over a hot vat...

[Auriel]

Having just watched the gameplay demo now, for the first time, I have to say that it does indeed look glossy, and improved upon the original in many areas but I also agree with a few of the criticisms I saw while skimming the pages of this thread.
Somehow Abe running from the scrab, for instance, seems a bit cartoony and not quite as menacing as in the original, although it may be just my memory being fuzzy.
In any case I have only watched the demo as of yet, so has it been confirmed whether this is an actual gameplay sample or simply a pre-rendition akin to all those Munch's Oddysee videos that never made it to the final version?

[Slog Bait]

I'd just like to point out that scrabs will always look hilarious while they're running. If it weren't for the music that played when a scrab was nearby/while you were being chased or the atmosphere of the game in general, being chased by the scrabs wouldn't have been nearly as intense as it was.

[STM]

Anything with the Scrabanian Nests music would be tense. Replace a scrab with a waddling fat kid and it'd still be pretty worrying.