cant get into first oddworld

[funnykoala]

i played abe's exodus and loved it, so i tried to play the first one. but it just feels so stiff and simple compared to the first one that i cant get into it. is there something im missing here?

[Varrok]

You know, sequels tend to have more gameplay mechanics, basically because they're sequels.

I'd say you should try to enjoy the better, darker atmosphere. The gameplay gets a bit more complicated later.

[Havoc]

I think there's a general consensus that Abe's Exoddus is the better game between the two for a number of reasons. Story, gameplay, music, length, locations. I can play Exoddus time and time again while cringing at the idea of playing Oddysee.

[Varrok]

Story and atmosphere were better in AO. Gameplay-wise AE was more complex, in a good way.

I replay AO more. Also, hated Quiksave.

[Vlam]

funnykoala, you should try AO's remake.

[Varrok]

No!

[Nepsotic]

funnykoala, you should try AO's remake.

AO's remake has all the same problems Exoddus does. Better, smoother gameplay, but sucks at the tone department.

[Job McYossie]

I would NOT say that's any general consensus at all. Are we on the same forum? It's a constant battle. I almost never play AE, but I play AO on occasion.

If you like AE man that's cool, you don't have to play AO to get a lot of the experiance, I reccomend watching an LP on it, it's nice hearing someone else talk about it and you still get the stellar atmosphere.

[Vlam]

After AO's remake, funnykoala should try MO. SW may be a little too dark for him.

[Varrok]

AO's remake has all the same problems Exoddus does. Better, smoother gameplay, but sucks at the tone department.

I'd call the gameplay anything but smooth

[Vlam]

I'd call the gameplay anything but smooth

How do you call it, then, compare to the others ?

[Varrok]

Not smooth. Chunky.

[Crashpunk]

New 'N' Tasty has Chunky Controls. Abe feels really fat.

I replay AO more. Also, hated Quiksave.

Fuck you. Quicksaving is my life.

[Vlam]

New 'N' Tasty has Chunky Controls. Abe feels really fat.

What happened to you ?

[Varrok]

New 'N' Tasty has Chunky Controls. Abe feels really fat.

Maybe chunky wasn't the best word.

Fuck you. Quicksaving is my life.

You seem to have a poor life.

[Nepsotic]

Fuck you. Quicksaving is my life.

lol you suck

[Job McYossie]

Fuck you. Quicksaving is my life.

Idk where I stand on quicksave. It's a massive difficulty drop.

[STM]

I preferred Oddworld Adventures.






One.

[Crashpunk]

lol you suck

Exactly!

To be honest. Oddworld was the only game I quicksaved the death out of. It's a habit now. Even games like Skyrim I don't save as often.

[Varrok]

It's a habit, but not a good habit.

[Crashpunk]

I never said it was a good habit.
I've quicksaved so many times just before I die putting me in a unwinnable loop.

Idk where I stand on quicksave. It's a massive difficulty drop.

Yeah I agree about the difficulty. It makes a game sometimes waaay to easy. So it's a good thing quicksaving is completely optional.

[Job McYossie]

it's only optional if you have self control

[Varrok]

Yeah, when being shown an easier way, a player will most likely choose it. And it's not his fault. It's the developer's fault

[Nepsotic]

It doesn't really make the game easier, it just makes it less frustrating and negates any sort of penalty for dying.

[Varrok]

That's what difficulty is, in a nutshell. If the game does not punish your for your mistakes, it's an easy game.

[Shade667]

The game wouldve been far less enjoyable (for me) without a quiksave option. NnT that is.

[Manco]

That's what difficulty is, in a nutshell. If the game does not punish your for your mistakes, it's an easy game.

Quicksave does not completely remove punishment, it just removes the unnecessary punishment.

Failure to complete a task means you don’t get to progress and must retry the task until you do it correctly. Without Quicksave you have to first progress from the last checkpoint back to where you were when you failed, adding in the challenge and frustration of traversing any obstacles you have already successfully navigated. With Quicksave it’s possible for the player to avoid redoing what they’ve already done and just focus on the task they’re currently trying to overcome.

In both scenarios there is challenge, but one scenario adds unnecessary challenge while the other focuses on a single challenge. The difficulty has not been changed, it is just spread out into smaller areas.

[Varrok]

There's no challenge if you quickload after each meat saw you went by. And AE is not THAT difficult

[Nepsotic]

Quicksave does not completely remove punishment, it just removes the unnecessary punishment.

Failure to complete a task means you don’t get to progress and must retry the task until you do it correctly. Without Quicksave you have to first progress from the last checkpoint back to where you were when you failed, adding in the challenge and frustration of traversing any obstacles you have already successfully navigated. With Quicksave it’s possible for the player to avoid redoing what they’ve already done and just focus on the task they’re currently trying to overcome.

In both scenarios there is challenge, but one scenario adds unnecessary challenge while the other focuses on a single challenge. The difficulty has not been changed, it is just spread out into smaller areas.

I agree with this, but you're forgetting that starting over from a checkpoint is a hefty penalty for death which increased the tension in the atmosphere by a tonne, something that was obviously lacking in AE.
Imagine if survival horror games had quicksave, that pretty much would negate the whole point of them.

I guess what I'm saying is you need to find an equilibrium. Something which, as an aspiring games developer, is a surprisingly difficult thing to do. I've noticed that a lot of developers don't put much thought into it and even give you the 'checkpoint' system or the 'quicksave' system.

[Holy Sock]

If you all weren't suckas you'd try to finish AE without Quiksave and leave it for n00bs.

But seriously perhaps they could tie Quiksave into difficulty somehow. Oddworld shouldn't completely alienate a part of its audience because it's too difficult. Particularly since it's a story driven series you want players of all skill levels to enjoy the game and have a chance at making it to the end. But perhaps they could give you a limited number of Quiksaves per stage depending on difficulty - similarly to how Quiksaves work in Hitman: Blood Money.

The hardest difficulty can completely disable Quiksaves altogether.

And AE has a great tone. AO has a novelty and atmosphere that's lacking in the sequel but AE still has a great balance of scare and humour for what Oddword seems to be - a dark/comedic allegorical tale. Since it's plot was just a rehash of the first it fails on that front but it actually had a script and some morsel of character depth. AO really feels like the bare minimum for the purpose of giving a videogame some general direction in comparison.