Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee & Exoddus HD Lifting?

Bester · #1 03-17-2015, 10:29 AM

Firstly I don't mean to undermine the hard work that you guys have put into New 'n' Tasty, it's a fantastic remake and I'm enjoying it immensely but Munch and Stranger both got a HD Lift which now replaces the original versions.

So I'm wondering, have you guys considered the original Oddysee and Exoddus games for the same treatment in the future? Perhaps just as a side project...

Check out this artist working on the Hydra HD Lifting from Heroes of Might and Magic III:

Original discussion on Steam - Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty - General Discussions.

Varrok · #2 03-17-2015, 10:31 AM

It's impossible. Source code is lost forever. It fell off Lorne's pocket.

Crashpunk · #3 03-17-2015, 10:34 AM

Eh. I don't see that much of a noticeable difference "HD-ing" the sprites.

I think the 3D models in New 'N' Tasty were the best possible way to remake the game.

Bester · #4 03-17-2015, 10:35 AM

@Varrok - It must be somewhere? Why is source code forever being lost...

@Crashpunk - True, like I said it's a great game but a stand alone title, in my games library Oddysee and Exoddus are feeling neglected by comparison.

Varrok · #5 03-17-2015, 11:22 AM

:

@Varrok - It must be somewhere? Why is source code forever being lost...

No, it doesn't have to. It's not necessarily a material thing, it can be deleted. Plus, as I said before, it fell out of Lorne's back pocket.

Nepsotic · #6 03-17-2015, 12:09 PM

Is that true? How bad are OWI's organisation skills that they can't even keep hold of the most important part of a game? The source code. Really?

Varrok · #7 03-17-2015, 12:31 PM

OWI was pretty much non-existing at some point. Also, it's been like almost two decades and they didn't think they would need it anymore.

Jordan · #8 03-17-2015, 01:38 PM

I'd be pretty perplexed if JAW suddenly announced they'd be doing a HD lift for AO/AE considering they did a grounds up remake of AO already.

:

Is that true? How bad are OWI's organisation skills that they can't even keep hold of the most important part of a game? The source code. Really?

I'm sure this situation isn't exclusive to OWI. I bet lots of companies don't even have the original source code for games that are almost 20 years old.

Nepsotic · #9 03-17-2015, 02:00 PM

They're proud of their work, why would they just delete it? In most cases I'd assume even the creators of 30 year old games have the source code somewhere.

:

I'd be pretty perplexed if JAW suddenly announced they'd be doing a HD lift for AO/AE considering they did a grounds up remake of AO already.

Yeah, it wouldn't make any sense and would be entirely pointless.

Varrok · #10 03-17-2015, 02:06 PM

Well then go ask them, ask the remaining core-OWI guys. How many of them are still left, again?

Holy Sock · #11 03-17-2015, 02:52 PM

Last time I asked Gilrod he said they'd have to reverse engineer the game to even do a resolution patch.

***Nate*** · #12 03-17-2015, 08:19 PM

I believe that they didn't lose the source code. It's just incredibly outdated and it would take longer to put together a build system using tools that aren't available any more than it would to actually make any changes.

Shade667 · #13 03-17-2015, 09:06 PM

HD remakes are more for bringing the game to a brand new audience. NnT has already filled that position, and so will the exxodus remake.

Holy Sock · #14 03-18-2015, 03:03 AM

They've lost the PC code though, I believe.

***Xavier*** · #15 03-18-2015, 04:42 AM

Or it got corrupted...

***Nate*** · #16 03-18-2015, 07:31 PM

:

They've lost the PC code though, I believe.

[CITATION NEEDED]

Varrok · #17 03-18-2015, 09:48 PM

Somebody ask Lorne on FB.

Shade667 · #18 03-18-2015, 10:36 PM

Facebook's still a thing?

Varrok · #19 03-18-2015, 10:37 PM

Well, since Lorne failed making his own social network go mainstream...

Holy Sock · #20 03-19-2015, 07:02 AM

@HolySock we looked into it, but the final PC code for both titles was lost so other than reverse engineering it no
— Stewart Gilray (@stewartgilray) April 9, 2014

***Xavier*** · #21 03-19-2015, 07:56 AM

That settles it.

Thanks Holy Sock

Paul · #22 03-19-2015, 10:06 AM

The sprites where not hand drawn, upscaling using this method probably wouldn't work very well.

Also even if they did have the latest PC source the PC port was junk, it would need a lot of work. Probably easier to start again.

Varrok · #23 03-19-2015, 11:29 AM

I wouldn't call it junk. In fact, it still works on my new computer. Not every 1997 game can manage that.

Nepsotic · #24 03-19-2015, 11:42 AM

It was a pretty shitty port.

Holy Sock · #25 03-19-2015, 12:03 PM

Nep, that's just because you have weak little fingers and can't press the keys on your keyboard properly.

Varrok · #26 03-19-2015, 12:05 PM

I have never had a single issue with the PC port, ever.

Holy Sock · #27 03-19-2015, 12:39 PM

Neither have I. There's one puzzle where two Mudokons are about to be killed by bonesaws - and you have to very quickly say "All o' ya, Follow Me" - that gets me when I replay due to the speech delays. But I don't know whether this is th same on the PS1 version...

Varrok · #28 03-19-2015, 01:11 PM

I believe it's basically the same.

Manco · #29 03-19-2015, 01:18 PM

The only issue with the ports is the swapped speakers bug. That’s it.

Paul · #30 03-19-2015, 03:13 PM

No no no, guys the reason its junk is because we where totally short changed. Remember that "happy oddmas thing JAW did? THOSE are the sprites the "hi-res" PC version was supposed to be using. Native 640x480, not an upscaled PSX emulated 640x240 thing with even worse sound emulation.

I guess whoever was doing the port couldn't get it to run fast enough due to the cheap emulation - so the just used slightly higher res sprites instead.