Reboot

[Holy Sock]

I can agree that the use of said lines could be less. Simply because hearing the same few lines over and over again throughout a game can become a bit boring.

But I don't see why there have to be a lot more serious lines reduced.

Abe is the only, relatively, fleshed out serious character in these games (Munch & Molluck also).

From everything I've seen the world and themes of Oddworld are very dark. The situations they put the characters through are very dark. But most of the characters are not and don't need to be serious to preserve these themes.

[scorptatious]

I can somewhat agree that Abe's expressions were a bit too exaggerated in the intro to NNT. And I also agree the Sligs and the Mudokuns chatter a bit too much.

That being said, I don't mind the idea of the Sligs and Mudokuns occasionally spouting one liners every now and again. Just at a much less frequent rate.

[MeechMunchie]

This argument would work better if you didn't have shit like Crash Bandicoot, Croc, and Rayman coming out around the same time.

Those games weren't designed to appeal to adults.

And this one would work better if we weren't told the team was doing their best to capture the tone and feel of [Abe's Oddysee].

JAW said a lot of things, and not all of them were solemn promises. I think it's pretty obvious from what developers have said here, and the work they've done, that they've been trying to mould the game around Lorne's original designs and incorporate new technology.

I've seen JAW saying "look at this cool new stuff" far more than I've seen them saying "doesn't this take you back?"

[Oziah]

I personally *really* enjoyed NnT. It is a ridiculously good remake of such a classic game.

However, after completing it I played the first half of AO again to compare.

I agree with a fair bit of what Slog Bait said, though personally my main gripe doesn't come from the exaggerated and goofy characters, but rather the change in tone in certain environments.

It sounds silly but I thought that RuptureFarms (whilst still looking awesome) was too bright and colourful and futuristic. It has lost some of the dark and fearsome aspects of the factory's original appearance. All the levers and trapdoors have bright flashing lights all over them, the walls and floors seem to glisten with shiny cleanliness and there is just an overall lack of grit.

Really, the intro serves as the best example of this. Gamespot has a few comparison shots up and one of them shows the bit in the intro with the Mudokons pulling the levers to move the meat across the belt. I thought it looked amazing in NnT, but when comparing it back to the dark and, to be honest, terrifyingly grim look it had in AO I kind of realised that this was my main issue: the oppressive and distressing tone from AO has, in some respects, been dampened. For example the bright colourfulness within RF. When coupled with the exaggerated characters I sort of understand where Slog Bait is coming from in terms of his tone argument.

ANYWAY. That was a bit pointless but just my two cents and all that :P aside from that the game is truly wicked. It blew my mind with how good it was not only as a remake of a classic, but as a modern game in its own right.

Therefore, well done to JAW and OWI

Oz out.

[Holy Sock]

That would be the real time lighting using the in game engine at work whilst the cutscenes in Abe's oddysee were pre-rendered CG.

It would be silly to disagree that the original looks grimmer and darker than NnT. In some respects I like the look of AO better - it's hard to beat the mood of painted environments - but in other respects I really dig the NnT aesthetic.

For example I think Zulag 1 looks great in AO but I always thought the rest of the Zlugas look relatively generic. Only distinguished, really, by their respective colour schemes. So I think NnT improved there. I'm also very impressed with the natural environments and think they're the highlight of NnT's design. I mean the Monsaic Lines look fantastic.

Certainly, in the Exoddus remake, it would be cool if they spent some time designing more various dirty industrial textures to make the areas look grimmer (there's a *few* I noticed in Rupture Farms)

Although I absolutely love the flies around the meat barrels. It gave Rupture Farms another disgusting dimension that wasn't in the original.

In regards the the bright lights on levers etc that simply looks like visual cues to tell players which lever controls which device (red = trapdoor, blue = electrical fence). And I imagine they pulsate to catch the viewer's eye. It probably made things a lot less confusing for playtesters.

[Oziah]

I'm not saying NnT looks bad by any stretch. Quite the contrary, really, and I fully agree with your point about the Zulags being more distinguishable this time around. Plus, when I went back to Oddysee it felt somewhat lifeless due to the static pre-rendered screens after NnT's ridiculously detailed animated backgrounds.

The visual aids thing is correct (I think yellow = rope lifts as well), yeah. But even so these interactables have been made extremely obvious; I don't think it would necessarily be that hard to work out their functions without blinking or dancing lights all over the place :P but y'know, that's just me. It didn't make one bit of difference to my opinion of the game overall.

And finally, in terms of the in-game engine's lighting for the introductory cutscene...yeah I'm not arguing haha. But no matter the reason, the vivid yellow smog-filled factory from NnT was significantly less atmospheric than the shadow drenched, rusted interior from the AO intro scenes. It still looked awesome, just a little too bright I thought.

Of course, none of that stuff matters in the grand scheme of things. I will always love the original but NnT is definitely alongside it now, regardless of any aesthetic differences.

[OWI_Alex]

In regards the the bright lights on levers etc that simply looks like visual cues to tell players which lever controls which device (red = trapdoor, blue = electrical fence). And I imagine they pulsate to catch the viewer's eye. It probably made things a lot less confusing for playtesters.

This is exactly right. They were a fairly recent addition but even if you don't consciously connect the two (lever and trapdoor, for example) we found most people did so without really thinking about it.

Lorne (and JAW's art department) went for a slightly stylised, over-saturated look with New 'n' Tasty - it was never the intention to replicate AO completely as you well know - and we think visually it worked really well.

It's the same with the outdoor areas too - Scrabania's dusty, cloud-filled atmosphere and Paramonia's swaying trees: everything's amped up a little more than normal to give it that stylised aesthetic.

I'm not saying NnT looks bad by any stretch. Quite the contrary, really, and I fully agree with your point about the Zulags being more distinguishable this time around. Plus, when I went back to Oddysee it felt somewhat lifeless due to the static pre-rendered screens after NnT's ridiculously detailed animated backgrounds.

The visual aids thing is correct (I think yellow = rope lifts as well), yeah. But even so these interactables have been made extremely obvious; I don't think it would necessarily be that hard to work out their functions without blinking or dancing lights all over the place :P but y'know, that's just me. It didn't make one bit of difference to my opinion of the game overall.

You'd be surprised how much games hand-hold these days. The designers didn't want to go down that route, but there were some concessions to making things flow a little easier. The opening of Zulag 1 for example has switches closer to to electric gates; portals moved to the right hand side of the areas from the left to keep the player moving; big gaps in the geo to force people to learn to do a running jump - that sort of thing. A lot of things changed in that first level towards the end of development after tester/player feedback.

A few other ideas for communicating what to do in the early stages were dropped without too much development time allocated, I'd love to show some of these more contextual things a little down the line, if I can.

[STM]

Wo, random topic shift for one sec...I just realised Abe doesn't do his iconic 'ee dee dee' laugh any more! If I remember correctly he did that laugh before he got both the scars in AO?

[pupbenny]

Wo, random topic shift for one sec...I just realised Abe doesn't do his iconic 'ee dee dee' laugh any more! If I remember correctly he did that laugh before he got both the scars in AO?

SPOILERS!

[Holy Sock]

Wasn't the guy, in game, a different voice actor though? Or at least some of the sounds weren't Lorne's.

But I think it's because the NnT voice is closer to the AE or MO voice than AO.

[STM]

SPOILERS!

Oh for christ sake I haven't even played the game and I knew that, sorry for ruining the story for you.

And I believe it was a different VA, Holy Sock...or that Lorne did do all of Abe's commands?

[Oziah]

Just to clarify, I think the game is outstanding and certainly on the same par as AO at the very least. Just throwing out a few thoughts

A few other ideas for communicating what to do in the early stages were dropped without too much development time allocated, I'd love to show some of these more contextual things a little down the line, if I can.

Yeah that'd be cool, man.

[scorptatious]

Regarding the tone and atmosphere of both Rupture Farms, I can kinda agree that the original's did felt somewhat grimier and more atmospheric. However, with NNT, I really enjoyed seeing all the added details placed throughout Rupture Farms. Like the room with the Scrabs on conveyor belts going inside the machine to get slaughtered, and the pipes connected to that machine directing the carcasses to the grinders on the other side of the room. Overall, I feel JAW did a great job at recreating Rupture Farms.

[HOMINIX]

I feel like MO would do great if it was a GOOD 3D platformer. I'm imagining an Oddworld version of Psychonauts, or Jak.

I agree. If they lowered the amount of health of all of the NPCs and Abe and Munch, and maybe added a radar or minimap, it would make the game a little more "life or death" and a little less cartoony. Then, an over-the-shoulder hard aim for Sligs/Vykkers/Slackers to make shooting a bit more manageable. Maybe throw in some more stealth opportunities... Could be really fun for Munch's Exoddus, if they make one.

[Djwolf9000]

I think that they just need to advance the idea of Munch's oddysee,because I saw last night all the cutscenes of MO (thanks youtube) and I was very angry because the cutscenes where awesome,but the idea of 3D platformer was not good played,maybe because it was first game of Oddworld in 3D,but I think that they should forget about munch's oddysee and show the full power in Squeeks oddysee...But!They can make Munch's Exoddus (before squeek) and make the same big world like in AE.They can make the same idea of making a big spin off series,just to show us,that the squeek will be much bigger and better...
p.s. and again sorry for my English :P