JAW Interview: "I don’t want to release PC and Mac the same day as console"

[gishygleb]

A game, which was created not by Lorne Lanning is not Oddworld enough.

Oh, is our god (LL) involved there? Then there may be a reason to donate.


Really, I do not get that ominous spirit from the screenshots. Now it is like a bright and beautiful fairy tail.

[JennyGenesis]

Yeah because, you know, Lorne is totally capable in this day and age of creating a game all by himself, seriously, go be stupid elsewhere. Lorne has been directly involved with this from the very beginning. Games are developed these days mostly by teams, which not only delivers a better quality product because you have specialists working on a different areas, but it also shortens development time because aspects of the game are all being worked on simultaneously.

[Crashpunk]

Firstly Gishy. NnT is not just a simple remake of AO. SWHD and MOHD were simple remakes as they just increased the textures and revamped the models. NnT is a complete reboot made from the ground up. This is the newest Oddworld game since the original SW on Xbox.

A game, which was created not by Lorne Lanning is not Oddworld enough. Oh, is our god (LL) involved there? Then there may be a reason to donate.

Lorne has been overlooking NnT ever since it started production. He's in direct contact with JAW pretty much all the time. He's in the UK right now helping JAW finalizing the product.

Stew may be in charge of Just Add Water, but Lorne is in charge of Oddworld. He put his beloved franchise in the hands of Just Add Water because he trusts they'll revive Oddworld to it's original glory.

And if you were talking about Lorne actually making the game, Did he ever make the games? i.e. the coding, models and the level design? I know he came up with the world and did the art and voices.

[JennyGenesis]

I don't think he ever was directly involved with the coding of the games, the impression I get is that him and Sherry basicly gave their developers a brief on exactly what they were looking for, and of course the developers had to implement Lanning's art into the game. Like he said, he wanted to tell the story of Oddworld and felt that games were the best media to do that. I'm sure when the other games were developed though that they went through virtually the same process as he is going through with JAW now. Overseeing everything and making sure they are done to this satisfaction. It's not the most tradition form of game development but at the end of the day Lorne went out and got the investment to get it off the ground, so at the end of the day it's that basic notion of employment that you do what your superiors tell you.

[Xavier]

I'm not sure if it'll be a substantial difference but I'm guessing it'll run at 60 fps for the PS4 and 30 for the PS3. Hmm.

Reading this makes me hope there won't be any kind of console exclusive content bullshit. I would be very disapointed.

[Phylum]

One of the benefits of using Unity is that it (theoretically) exports seamlessly to several platforms. The differences will all be cosmetic, although the FPS change could effect some things. NTSC versions of certain PS2 games are better for speedrunning than the PAL releases, because certain things move a little bit faster at 60fps rather than 50. I don't know how much power Unity gives to its users about framerate-dependency, but it hopefully won't even be an issue.

[gishygleb]

I have no arguments to explain my feeling. I have just lost every wish to play it.

↓Spammer, explain your opinion by repdown and a message.↓

[Nate]

If you have no arguments, simply don't post anything.

[Manco]

One of the benefits of using Unity is that it (theoretically) exports seamlessly to several platforms. The differences will all be cosmetic, although the FPS change could effect some things. NTSC versions of certain PS2 games are better for speedrunning than the PAL releases, because certain things move a little bit faster at 60fps rather than 50. I don't know how much power Unity gives to its users about framerate-dependency, but it hopefully won't even be an issue.

Is the 50/60 split even an issue for the PS3? My understanding was HDTVs just do 60Hz by default no matter the territory.

Anyway, I’m guessing that the differences between the PS3 and PS4 version will be based around graphical fidelity – character and environment model detail, polygon counts, texture resolution, the amount of foliage in an area, etc.

They’ll probably be trying to push the PS4’s power as much as possible, so I reckon they’ll need to cut back on a few graphical things to keep performance. Judging by how much they pushed that SWHD was a 60fps game, I think they’ll want to continue that.

[JennyGenesis]

I have no arguments to explain my feeling. I have just lost every wish to play it.

Not sure how you came to that conclusion but if it mean's that you are no longer interested in Oddworld then I'm sure we would all be glad to hear that. That's all I'm saying on this, I'm not having a spam war and ruining this thread.

[V_O_T]

So I've been thinking, the thing that got me hooked on Abe's oddysee was it's original demo on the ps.

What if a demo could be released for Pc, Mac and Linux on the day of release of the console versions. That way the full game won't be pirate able and it'll build up hype / bring in the pre order crowd a bit.

That way everyone gets a slice of some odd pie in some respect upon release.

Yay or nay?

[MeechCrunchies]

It'll still probably be pirated, there's no doubt about that, but a demo beforehand sounds pretty awesome to me.
And why not put one together before it comes out?
I think it would be amazing if they gave us just the tip a few weeks or a month before it releases..

[Havoc]

No such thing as demos anymore these days. If you want a demo of a game you can obtain the game illegally and see if you like it, then buy it if you do. Of course, at that point why bother buying it if you already have it?

At some point the game industry thought this was a good idea and pretty much forced anyone's hand who wanted to demo a game before buying it. Not our fault.

That said, a demo would do very little for the hardcore Oddworld fans. We already know we want to get the game no matter what. Would probably generate quite a bit of sales from newcomers to the franchise though.

Still, screwing over a portion of your customer base is not the way to combat piracy. If anything you're causing more people to pirate because they don't like your business anymore. Someone who would gladly buy the game on a regular release day might decide to pirate it instead if the developer decides to screw them over like this *cough*. Just saying.

[V_O_T]

The demo would be free** correcting my previous post **

But we do have to take into account that JAW and OI are not the richest company out there right now and maximizing profits to kick start a franchise is needed. Regardless of piracy or not, they are minimizing risks by releasing the game a month later.

If an extra month is all it takes to bring a good game series and good hearted independent company some extra money, then I have no problem with it. I'd do the same if I was making a fresh product and wanted to minimize risks.

We are still getting the game. And they are the ones who took out a big deposit just to bring some life back into the oddworld universe. An extra month is not that long and saying I want it now daddy is just silly.


Overall I'd want the game to release on everything at the same time, but at that same time you gotta respect their decisions. I mean, from what we've seen it looks amazing.

[Crashpunk]

Steam still does Demos pretty well. Maybe PC users can get one?

[gishygleb]

No. That is out of question.

[Job McYossie]

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a demo that allowed for gameplay up to the end of the cutscene between rupture farms and the stockyards.

[Nate]

Steam still does Demos pretty well. Maybe PC users can get one?

Steam still does demos pretty well... in theory. Hardly any games seem to have them these days.

[Jordan]

I've not seen a demo for a game in quite a while. Or played one for that matter.

[MeechCrunchies]

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a demo that allowed for gameplay up to the end of the cutscene between rupture farms and the stockyards.

Just like the original PS1 demo..?

[Xavier]

A demo sounds like a good idea. The idea would not be too far fetched, especially seeing as JAW just released a demo for SW a couple of weeks ago. This means they were at least talking about the concept not too long ago.

[OANST]

An additional month wait......

It's been years, you little Nancys. Dry your eyes, and wait a few extra weeks.

[DarkHoodness]

Don't make me post the Guinness ad again.

I think Gilray is a little paranoid, although his concerns are also understandable - He'll probably lose more sales from piracy than he would by delaying the PC version of the game for a month behind the console versions. PC only people (like me) will either wait or not buy the game at all, so whatever.

The only thing I don't like about it is that you guys who've got it on console will be discussing N'n'T here on OWF before me and other PC only people can experience it for ourselves. I can bugger off for a month then catch up on the fan hype/nitpicking and arguments here later if I want, but it may be a problem for those who contribute here more than me who don't want the new features of N'n'T "spoiled" for them.

Anyway, Steam even list their demos... Some of them are surprisingly generous. Still wish more games would have them.

[V_O_T]

Abe shuts down rapture farms in a HD experience.

Sorry, man, had to spoil it.


But seriously, I won't be "that guy" when posting. Better yet, we'll just title threads with spoilers and put a big avoid sticker on it.

[Havoc]

The only thing I don't like about it is that you guys who've got it on console will be discussing N'n'T here on OWF before me and other PC only people can experience it for ourselves. I can bugger off for a month then catch up on the fan hype/nitpicking and arguments here later if I want, but it may be a problem for those who contribute here more than me who don't want the new features of N'n'T "spoiled" for them.

This would be one of my major disappointments as well. Here we are, hardcore fans of a franchise we've stayed with and supported for over 10 years after the last game and then an extra month is added because I happen to like it on PC.

Sure, I could get it on PS3. I have one handy right here. But that would mean getting it twice and basically paying for the privilege of playing it 'early'. I could actually see myself doing this, though, because I couldn't sit here and endure a month of spoilers and discussion on the release anyway. If it is going to be priced remotely reasonably then I would probably get it twice. I wouldn't be happy about it and JAW certainly won't score points but hey... it's Oddworld.

Having said that, what ever happened with that nifty Steam <> Playstation Network connection thing? You'd assume in this day and age that you could very easily facilitate cross platform purchases. Especially since Steam and PSN are already integrated. Will we be able to buy it on the Playstation and then get it added to Steam once it's released on PC?

[Nate]

Having said that, what ever happened with that nifty Steam <> Playstation Network connection thing? You'd assume in this day and age that you could very easily facilitate cross platform purchases. Especially since Steam and PSN are already integrated. Will we be able to buy it on the Playstation and then get it added to Steam once it's released on PC?

You mean the Steam <> Playstation Network connection thing that only exists for Valve games?

[Havoc]

You mean the Steam <> Playstation Network connection thing that only exists for Valve games?

I believe the current framework could support any game that's designed to use it. Portal 2 just happens to be the only one using it ATM.

According to Steam's website the link allows (DLC) content to be redeemed on either system once you bought it (if I'm reading it correctly).

Access redeemed downloadable content registered in Windows or Mac, and vice-versa [PSN]

Aside from talks with Valve and Sony it probably shouldn't be too hard to implement either.

1. Install Steam on PS3/4.
2. Buy game
3. Steam checks if you own the game
4. Game gets added on Steam if verified that you have a paid copy on your PSN account.

It's sad systems like these aren't actually utilized by major AAA titles. Of course the reasons for which are obvious. Money makes the world go round after all. Still I do hope that cross platform purchases will become a thing at some point.

[Nate]

It wouldn't be difficult to implement technologically. But it would probably require all sorts of negotiation and contracts with Sony and Valve that just aren't worth it for any small developer.

[MeechMunchie]

Well, there goes the first OWF community event in years.

I was expecting us all to be bouncing on our chairs in our pyjamas, waiting for the Steam clock to tick into launch. Then all post frantically to confirm that yes, the puffy bladder thing is beautiful in HD.

[Crashpunk]

1. Install Steam on PS3/4.
2. Buy game
3. Steam checks if you own the game
4. Game gets added on Steam if verified that you have a paid copy on your PSN account.

Can you imagine how much money JAW (or any other indie company) would lose?

I personally don't mind the idea of buying a game twice. Especially if it's by a developer or game franchise which I love. I do understand that people can't afford buying it twice, but surely then you'll just buy it on the platform you want it on.

If you have to wait a month or longer. So be it.

Well, there goes the first OWF community event in years.

I was expecting us all to be bouncing on our chairs in our pyjamas, waiting for the Steam clock to tick into launch. Then all post frantically to confirm that yes, the puffy bladder thing is beautiful in HD.

Aside from that fact I'm buying a PS4 just for Oddworld. We can still do all that. Just a month later