Lorne @ Eurogamer - Lorne Lanning explains his canned Stranger Arena multiplayer game

[Xavier]

This actually has some new stuff in it.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ltiplayer-game

The concept of Stranger Arena sounds like a game I would like to play. For some reason it would not surprise me if they decide to do something similar with Fangus if they sell enough NnT to produce it.

[OANST]

I'm pretty sure I broke this news a long time ago. Don't make me post that interview again.

[Xavier]

Yes, OANST, we know you have the behind the scenes scoop on why this project was really cancelled. I was actually thinking about it when reading the eurogamer article.

[Fuzzle Guy]

The concept of Stranger Arena sounds like a game I would like to play.

I'd play pretty much anything by Oddworld.

I played that Fuzzle Testing flash game for like, a whole day.

[Job McYossie]

I'd play pretty much anything by Oddworld.

I played that Fuzzle Testing flash game for like, a whole day.

That thing was terrible, but I spent a few hours on it.

[Nate]

Yes, OANST, we know you have the behind the scenes scoop on why this project was really cancelled. I was actually thinking about it when reading the eurogamer article.

Me too. If OANST hadn't already posted here, I would have mentioned it.

[JennyGenesis]

The concept it's self sounds excellent, not sure how Chipunks would actually work, I get the feeling they wouldn't affect the player, but probably just make them aware that somebody is about, just like in COD where if an enemy fires a bullet they appear on the radar. I wonder why this wasn't actually included in the original release of SW? By 2005 Xbox Live was already well established and functioning properly, but knowing Lorne there must have been a really good reason for it otherwise I'm sure he would have put multiplayer in SW.

[Nate]

I wonder why this wasn't actually included in the original release of SW? By 2005 Xbox Live was already well established and functioning properly, but knowing Lorne there must have been a really good reason for it otherwise I'm sure he would have put multiplayer in SW.

Budget and time, probably.

I can only imagine it working with a completely different set of live ammo. I don't think that the non-lethal ammo would be very effective in a vs match.

[JennyGenesis]

I don't think every live ammo needs to harm the other player, I'd imagine that Stunks would stun a player.

[GlukkonGluk]

I'm surprised the original Stranger sold so few units; critical reception for it was quite good as far as I remember. Not sure how I feel about this Arena game, though I approve of the Oddworld series spanning multiple genres- I don't think many other franchises can boast that.

[Holy Sock]

The concept it's self sounds excellent, not sure how Chipunks would actually work, I get the feeling they wouldn't affect the player, but probably just make them aware that somebody is about, just like in COD where if an enemy fires a bullet they appear on the radar. I wonder why this wasn't actually included in the original release of SW? By 2005 Xbox Live was already well established and functioning properly, but knowing Lorne there must have been a really good reason for it otherwise I'm sure he would have put multiplayer in SW.

Perhaps the Chipunks would work similar to "tagging" other players in modern first person shooters. If you hit an enemy with one their position is shown to other players/the rest of your team.

[Bullet Magnet]

Or maybe successfully stomping someone else's without being killed is worth a ton of points.

[JennyGenesis]

[Phylum]

Lorne makes a pretty big call about strategy in Quake there when he's clearly never played it for anything more than 5 minutes. Especially when talking about movement, which is one of the most important aspects of any Quake game.

OASNT is my hero.

[RoryF]

Also, he seems like he's focusing too much on people not "fast to the draw" and "spending hours playing the game", it would ruin the game if the developers tried making it so people were limited to only being of equal skill. It wouldn't work and that's the point when the game starts to suck.

[Nate]

I don't get what he means about being fast to the draw. Don't you always have your gun in your hands in a competitive FPS?

[Bullet Magnet]

I think he means twitch response. When you round a corner and see your foe, which of you will snap to the headshot first?

[Nate]

What does he mean by "a game about reptilian cowboys who are fast on the draw.", then? I thought it was a reference to the Outlaws.

[JennyGenesis]

I see what he's getting at, but I have mixed opinions, sometimes I think it's just luck and the skill of the players in the other room, I regularly Battlefield 4 online and there are days where I'm just getting insane kill streaks and other's where I just die constantly, it's frustrating, but strangely keeps you coming back for more. Having the stranger mechanics in a multiplayer is nothing new. I can't remember what it was called but there was some free to play multiplayer game where you can either use guns or be really agile and use swords to attack other players.

[MeechMunchie]

I don't get what he means about being fast to the draw. Don't you always have your gun in your hands in a competitive FPS?

Depends whether the game had Stranger's 3rd person combat or not.

[RoryF]

What does he mean by "a game about reptilian cowboys who are fast on the draw.", then? I thought it was a reference to the Outlaws.

Well he was talking about Quake before, I assume he's on about people who can spot someone instantly when they see them and score a railgun shot straight away. But to be honest, if the person is that good at the game, it seems unfair that rather than try getting good at it, they should be handicapped or limited.

[Phylum]

The thing with Quake (and most FPS games) is that you need to be in a strong position to make those consistent shots. There are people who can do crazy shit lots of the time, but at the end of the day the people that can lock down a map are the ones who know where to be rather than just having pr0 aim skillz.

Or maybe I'm just saying that because I have a bad aim in Quake.

Either way Lorne is talking out his arse.

[OANST]

I agree, and not just because I like to be contrary when it comes to Lorne. Those games take a great deal of strategy. And then you have games like Gears of War where you basically do exactly what he described. You can run, but you can't shoot at the same time.

I miss the first Gears of War's multiplayer. I was a beast in that game.

[RoryF]

To be honest, you could list loads of games which go against what he said, especially Gears of War since the whole wallbouncing and general movement of the game is essentially what he said minus the platforming (would platforming even work in a multiplayer shooter?)

[Job McYossie]

Platforming can be great in multiplayer shooters. Some costum maps for Counter-Strike make for great jumping tricks to make you harder to hit. As well as some other older FPSs as well, like Quake, or Unreal.

[Xavier]

I agree that platforming needs to come back in shooter games. Also keep in mind that Stranger's Wrath and Stranger Arena were developped before the first Gears of War was released.

[Phylum]

Relevant.

[OANST]

I agree that platforming needs to come back in shooter games. Also keep in mind that Stranger's Wrath and Stranger Arena were developped before the first Gears of War was released.

So he says......

And he's talking about it like it's this thing that no one has done yet, while not giving credit to the people who were actually able to create and release similar ideas in the time since he failed to do it.

[Xavier]

My understanding is that he was somehow going to include other game mechanics, such as an adapted form of live ammo, that were going to drastically change the way to play the game.

[RoryF]

The ironic thing is, the more focus anyone seems to have on making multiplayer different, it either ends up being crap, or being the same as most others that already exist.