Abe HD Ideas

[Scrabaniac]

Oh yeah!! Then I suggest that instead of bats, bolamites descent from above via web string and/or climb the rock surfaces and wrap up abe suffocating and decomposing him inside a cocoon

[Slog Bait]

Well, there are bats too. Boombats. How about instead of eating you they just explode in your face if you get too close. That would be hilarious and just as frustrating and not a good solution at all except maybe you could get close enough to make them explode and then run and then HAH no more bats and everyone's happy the end?

[LIJI]

Please don't bring MO/SW species to Abe HD. They feel way too cartoony in comparison to the classic Oddworld species.

[Nepsotic]

I think keeping Stranger and Abe completely seperate is a good idea. Plus, they're in completely different enviroments.


EDIT: LIJI, you suck.

[skychase2rebirth]

Bolamites just look like normal spider to me but I agree for the other species. (especially chippunks, ridiculous)

[Slog Bait]

They can be a different species in the same family. Kind of like slogs vs. slegs. They're obviously related but look pretty different. Er, I'm trying to communicate the whole appearances may vary based on location thing but it's not working out so well.

Also, MO and SW creatures looking too cartoony compared to the original creatures? I'm sorry, but have you actually looked at a mudokon? They're pretty god damn cartoony if you ask me.

[LIJI]

EDIT: LIJI, you suck.

Compare this to this. Even the name sounds cartoony. I rest my case. :P

[Scrabaniac]

I much prefer AO/AE creatures to MO/SW. Just don't add fleeches to this remake, they've already drawn focus from scrabs and Paramites (majorly in their dedicated vaults!!) in AE, they were used too frequently.

[Slog Bait]

LIJI, again, have you even bothered looking at muds? Cartoony as hell. There's a good mixture of more "realistic" creatures vs. the more "cartoony" creatures. The thing that makes them look so cartoony are usually the eyes, because for some reason a majority of creatures on oddworld either have enormous eyes or no eyes at all.

Also taking into account that in Oddworld there isn't meant to be anything from Earth on the planet, those bats, bees, and birds are probably something like boombats (or something closely related that doesn't explode), stingbees (even though they seem more like wasps than bees), and I'm not sure what the birds could be. I don't believe we've been introduced to a bird like creature besides mudokons and clakkerz.

There's nothing wrong with "mixing" the creatures from the different games. They all live on oddworld, and the only reason for them not to be in there is because they're not compatible with the environment. Ratz are compatible with the environment. Have a few of them running around in Rupture Farms as ambient creatures, like the birds in the Monsaic Lines. Meeps? Not so much. There's no reason for meeps of all things to be in any of the levels because they aren't compatible with any of the environments. So on and so forth.

The only reason for anyone to object to other creatures being added in AO is purely nostalgia, and that's neither a good nor a valid reason.

[Nepsotic]

Compare this to this. Even the name sounds cartoony. I rest my case. :P

No, no. I agree with you. But I didn't refresh the page so I didn't see your post. We pretty much made the same point.
I was just calling you a speedy shit.

[Scrabaniac]

Ratz seem like a good idea, especially with their green eyes, I can imagine seeing their eyes in shadows and when you walk into them they scurry away, maybe you could get lucky and see one of them get blended by a meat saw

[Nepsotic]

I'd like to be able to interact with the environment more.

[LIJI]

Perhaps cartoony isn't the exact word. Most of them simply aren't remotely as good as the classic AO/AE ones, and the ones who are worthy won't fit in the game. I don't find Mudokons that cartoony, (at least in AO/AE, in MO everything is cartoony as hell). Some creations are ridiculously colorful and "cute" they almost feel like some 9th generation Pokemons.

[Scrabaniac]

I agree with nepsotic, even if the interaction is something like; if you chant at RuptureFarms, it makes lights flicker or interferes with machinery temporarily, that would add emphasis to the meaning of 'help!' from the sligs

[Slog Bait]

Perhaps cartoony isn't the exact word. Most of them simply aren't remotely as good as the classic AO/AE ones, and the ones who are worthy won't fit in the game. I don't find Mudokons that cartoony, (at least in AO/AE, in MO everything is cartoony as hell). Some creations are ridiculously colorful and "cute" they almost feel like some 9th generation Pokemons.

You don't find muds that cartoony or ridiculous because they've been around since the beginning. I was thinking of Pokemon when this whole conversation started as well mainly because of the constant "gen 1 is the best gen" debates. Yes, the originals had a much different feel. They were the first taste of Oddworld we've ever had. But, much like every world, there is a large variety of everything imaginable. Some creatures are going to look more ridiculous than others. Compare this to this, or even this to this, colourful and cute, if you need examples on our planet. Also, I don't know about you but sloggies and fleeches are fucking adorable.

The way the characters are modeled and textured can have a large impact on how cartoony/ridiculous they appear as well. Assuming OWI and JAW are going to be working away from the incredibly cartoony look MO had to it, we don't have to worry much about that in future games, much less Abe HD.

Also calling creatures from MO and SW not even remotely good compared to the originals is a bit rude. The biggest difference between AO and AE creatures and MO and SW creatures is that the latter have eyes. Most of them do. If they all were like AO and AE creatures, there would be no variety at all in the creatures and Oddworld's wildlife would be pretty damn boring, don't you think?

[Nepsotic]

"The two main forms of wildlife in AO had no eyes!" Shit! Make everything else the complete opposite and ruin oddworlds atmosphere completely! That'll work!"

[Slog Bait]

Seems like what happened. Slogs and fleeches didn't have eyes either, and glukkons, elums, sligs, and slurgs had very very small eyes in relation to their bodies.

[SpAM_CAN]

Alternative to temple mines: bear traps

[Scrabaniac]

You mean like ones that are hidden by leaves? i could also imagine foot-switch activated pendulum traps or spikes/spears set up in temples

[Michael]

To be completely honest I agree that SW and MO creatures weren't as consistent as the earlier ones. Some were fantastic whereas others in my opinion just didn't fit in.

I don't think it's so much about Oddworld not having variety, more about the atmosphere of the game. AO and (to a lesser extent AE) were comparatively darker than the newer games, and you expect the animals etc. to be more monstrous as a result.

I really loved the foreboding tension of the earlier games, and would personally prefer the creatures to be creepy as hell! Oddworld was described back then as a 'world where everything wants to eat you'. This in mind, I don't think chippunks or meeps really fit the bill Sure, there would be creatures like this on a varied planet, but they really don't add anything to the mood of the game. If anything, they detract from it.

I suppose it depends how they are handled. I always wished in SW that the dangerous live ammo creatures (especially fuzzles) would attack you in packs if you got too close, before zapping them. We're supposed to believe they are deadly, but they just hop around without any reaction!

[Sekto Springs]

I think that, from a creative standpoint, you could blame the furry, dewy-eyed, cartoony look on OWI's desire to take the series in a "different direction" and to make it more accessible. When you have an original product, the only way to go in a different direction is to either make it more unique, or more average. They went with the latter, unfortunately, and I think that's largely attributed to the loss of Olds and Farzad from the team.

Funnily enough, those two haven't made anything nearly as original since.

[Jordan]

I think abe on fire would be too comical, I would have suggested spiders that crawl on the face of the rocks but Paramites are already oddworld's spider like species

It depends on how it's done. I think it would be quite chilling to see Abe catch alight, scream then fall off the ledge.

[Nepsotic]

How do you know? What other work have they done since?

EDIT: why is everyone such speedy bastards today?

[Sekto Springs]

How do you know? What other work have they done since?

The last decent thing Farzad worked on was Darkwatch, which was pretty forgettable. Since then, I think his portfolio consists of the Predalien, the sterile alien/robot thing from Witch Mountain, and... that's about it.

Stephen Olds still does neat work, but he's fallen into obscurity, and his projects are few and far between.

[STM]

Farzard did some work on MtG as well, not sure how recently though.

It depends on how it's done. I think it would be quite chilling to see Abe catch alight, scream then fall off the ledge.

Really? You want to see that? That's not dark, it's bordering more on the lines of morbid. It's thin-ice territory, and the only thing underneath if you fall through it is thousands of angry sharks, in this instance, the sharks are angry fans with money.

[MeechCrunchies]

You act as if one morbid death animation is going to stop millions of Oddworld fans from buying the game that, by the time it releases, they will have waited 8 years for.

[STM]

No I don't. I'm saying that such an act would no doubt cause negative reception because it's an unnecessary addition. Did the game work well without that before? So why does it need it now? That's not the solution to everything, but in this instance I feel it is.

[Phylum]

if you chant at RuptureFarms, it makes lights flicker or interferes with machinery temporarily

Just in case you missed it. That could be really atmospheric and cool as long as it isn't overdone. That could also explain how chant suppressors work a bit.

[MeechCrunchies]

No I don't. I'm saying that such an act would no doubt cause negative reception because it's an unnecessary addition. Did the game work well without that before? So why does it need it now? That's not the solution to everything, but in this instance I feel it is.

Honestly, there are things that worked well before that will probably be taken out, and I don't see why new things can't be put in. Abe being set on fire by organisms from generations past that have been trapped there for ages seems very Indiana Jonesish, and I think it would add a new sense of tension to an other wise predictable formula.

[Nepsotic]

But its rather pointless, don't you agree?