The River

[Alcar]

This month's Alf's Anonymous reveals more about the river we have so far only been given tid bits of information about. After discussing it in depth with Max and hobo, we've come to the conclusion that the river depicted in many artworks is a central part of the next Oddworld game. Allow me to explain ourselves.

• Stranger rides in a boat, and what is a river good for? Rowing boats! The logic is phenomenal!
• On one of the trading cards handed out at this year's GDC, a certain outlaw boss had his favourite quote as: "Blood may be thicker than water, but water is where the money is at!". This leads us to believe that a "mission" (if we dare refer to them as that) would be to save the river from damming. The immediate effect on the environment and its inhabitants are a predictable dire situation.
• In this month's AIA, you'll also notice that the inhabitants living in Stranger are refered to as "the creatures of the river".
• Finally, the rock art on the cave walls depict beings that descended onto the river long ago, and caused some sort of havoc.
• A river dries up
• There is a water bottling plant

Alcar...

[oddguy]

Yay! The spoiler forum is open!

Okay, here's what I gathered...

Catacombs, caves and canyons are mentioned. I can't wait to see how that plays a role.

Also, "lots of webs in the catacombs" are mentioned...does this mean spiders? Like, a place to gather ammo, or a boss? Hmmmmmmm.

Da boys got their final schedules today and it's going to be tight getting everything done in the next month or two.

Could this mean the game is almost finished, and therefore will be out in a few months?

Rich is busy animating Townsfolk and the Natives enjoying their newly formed river.

Sounds like the "good ending" of Stranger.

And what is this "wolvark vehicle?" Like some kind of river vehicle?

Pictures!












-oddguy

[Al the Vykker]

This whole river thing reminds me of Huck Fin as the river played a central part in the story too and as a huge symbol too. Maybe the same except situations, etc. will be true with "Stranger."

[ClaireBear]

Balls! I just stumbled onto a spoiler... I didn't read the board name just saw the title....

Oh well! Make the best of ot I guess...

Wow! Wow! Wow! and Wow!... very excited!

I agree with the Mark Twain ref Al... I'm also getting a big "Water World" vibe... thats sad though innit?

Soooo excited!

*CB starts to dance wildly around the office as she doesn't know the code for a dancing smilie!*

If anyone could help me with a dancing smilie code that would be grand!

[Alcar]

My guess with the Wolvark vehicle is that it is a vehicle either pulled by a Wolvark, or a harness so you can ride on a Wolvark. I'm guessing Wolvark is a a creature, as "vark" actually means bush pig / hog.

Alcar...

[ClaireBear]

My guess with the Wolvark vehicle is that it is a vehicle either pulled by a Wolvark, or a harness so you can ride on a Wolvark. I'm guessing Wolvark is a a creature, as "vark" actually means bush pig / hog.

Alcar...

Yes! As its a River World I reckon it could be a similar thing to canal barges in Britain... where shire horses (or in this case "Varks") pull them along the water way from the bank!

Stupid idea though huh.

Obviously this was a really stooopid suggestion... Goodness I'm crap!

[Wil]

I wouldn't exclude the possibility Wolvarks are more 'intelligent' species who use the vehicles. Vykkers Pods aren't powered with Vykkers, after all. The orc creature on the Christmas Card had a W on its cap, so that may be it, and as PA pointed out in GD, that image does resemble a swamp glider with a character on board. I see what you mean with 'vark', Alcar. From boshvark? I was thinking aardvark until you mentioned the bush hog. Thing is, the GDC cards used the term 'Slegs,' which I had assumed were the hound-like creatures in the game.

Hmmm, those salamander sketches are cute. Do they still have fins coming from the backs of their heads? It suits them, and frankly makes them seem less phallic. *blasphemy*

Good spot with the webs/Bolomites link, oddguy. There were webs in the Almighty Raisin's cave level of Munch's Oddysee. Not totally relevent, but worth a mention, I suppose.

[Seargentbig]

Hmmm.... where else have we seen webs... I wonder... webs...

[paramiteabe]

In the other thread I described a Wolvark vehicle as being sort of a river assult vehicle. My guess is the Orcs are called Wolvarks. Another species reveled perhaps. They manufacture these boats and sell them for profit perhaps.

Now think Everglade Swamp gliders for these types of vehicles. They could be used for attack on the river or chase scenes. It makes a lot of sense since the game is suppose to host many battles. A water battle would be obvious in this case.

Paramiteabe...

[Nath]

I wonder what the name of the river will be. It's bound to be summing cheesey

[Xavier]

does anyone remember the first ever info we got about OW4?

the boat was supposed to transport things from one place to an other...
I still wonder what those "things" are... natives perhaps, but for what?

[Oddish]

I think he uses the boat to transport his captured Bounty's. We saw the river leading us to giant gate, into a town. Prehaps Clakkerz live in. At the end of the intro Blizzerz was in a cage and a clakkerz wing. Thats what Stranger dose he's a bounty hunter, captureing Outlaws.

But i wonder what water has to do with it. Draning water? We had that in MO.

[Nate]

This is so NOT a spoiler. Its like saying that any mention of Vykker's Labs when talking about MO is a spoiler. grrrrr.

But anyway, I suspect that the Wolvark is the boat and not a species - its a Wolv-ark, an ark for wolves (or some creature meant to be comparable to wolves). If you don't know what an ark is, go read about Noah.

[paramiteabe]

Guys this is a Wolvark Vehicle. Its called that. Any species can ride it and the Orcs may or may not be called Wolvarks. We don't know but if you look in AIA it mentions Wolvark Vehicle next to this picture.

[Oddsville]

I must admit, the excitment is finally starting to really pick up. Peter, Max and Hobo; good job putting that little list together. I had never really put all thoughs tiddbits together, although I knew it most likely was about the River that MO ended at but when it came to using it as a storyline..

I can only hope that this Wolvark vehicle is something like an airboat, I think that'd fit the Oddworld style just right. Thoughs new slog looking things (what were they called "Slegs"?) are looking even better than before. Can't wait for next month's AIA.

Edit- I belive the Wolvark is that creature with the giant backpack that was on the "Game" page at Oddoworld.com before they changed it to the other image of Stranger. I have it saved but don't have the time to get it hosted by a site. If someone else can do it then you'd see what I was talking about.

[oddguy]

-oddguy

[Wil]

Nate, I consider this a spoiler. We haven't mentioned that there's going to be a dam, we're saying that the connections between a dam, a water bottling plant, brew, and the river drying up are giving away a plot device. If, preceding Munch's Oddysee, we were told that Vykkers Labs kidnaps Munch, who then escapes with Abe, then return to destroy it, I would call that a spoiler.

True, that's pretty much what we were told. But as OWI are keeping so tight-lipped on this new game, there's no reason why we can't do the same. The other thing is, we've been told the way in which the indiginous cultures are related to what's happening. But I agree with Oddish, draining water was in MO.

A cheesey river name? What, like the River Odd?

[Oddish]

A river is a thing,so should have a good name, like Mudos. But names are getting more silly.

We still have'nt seen any wildlife cretures, except Live Ammo, but i geuss you can count them as wildlife creaures. Those fish mabey.

[Oddsville]

Well if this new story revolves around a river system then there's a chance that we might see Mudflubs or a referrence at least. But when it comes to draining water, I doubt it'll be something that simplistic. I'd picture it as a list of things that are being done to the river and Stranger somehow has to stop these problems as they come. That or he could just be worried he won't be able to use his boat..

[Wil]

Mudflubs might be used. During a GDC presentation Lorne gave (which was recently posted in GD) he described these, and even acted them out as though he'd just been stranded in the silty bottom of a river. Adorable and funny. Perhaps Stangs and Worry Fish make cameo appearances. We know there's another huge skeleton. Sea Rex, anyone?

[Oddish]

Rivers must be deep to have a Searex swinging inside, there probaly are. Don't forget live ammo creatures, i think there was this electric creature, they might be like eels.
What are Stangs??

EDIT:I know what a Stang is, a cross between a jellyfish and a shark.

[oddguy]

Mudflubs might be used. During a GDC presentation he gave (which was recently posted in GD) he described these, and even acted them out as though he'd just been stranded in the silty bottom of a river. Adorable and funny. Perhaps Stangs and Worry Fish make cameo appearances. We know there's another huge skeleton. Sea Rex, anyone?

He? You mean Lorne? Did Sapph tell ya about this, because I didn't hear about it.

-oddguy

[Xavier]

it was at a previous GDC...
the video was posted on the forums, not so long ago...
more then one hour of presentation

[oddguy]

Riiiiiight. I never looked at that.
*runs away*
Oh, but I've seen videos before when Lorne is giving presentations...I just love to see him do the voices and act things out.

-oddguy

[Xavier]

you should see it:
http://www.gamasutra.com/quicktime/o...ddworld_T1.mov

[paramiteabe]

How about this for the name of the river. "The Mudomic River!" Hehe oh well even though its made up by me I think it sounds like a nice place holder before we find out more information. But I dunno.

Wait a minute what if the Karati Blobs are Mudflubs? hmm they seem to match the description as being real fat creatures.

[Xavier]

don't know... scubas can be armed... mudflub were described as 100% harmless

[Oddish]

How about this for the name of the river. "The Mudomic River!" Hehe oh well even though its made up by me I think it sounds like a nice place holder before we find out more information. But I dunno.

It is in Mudos, wich comes from the word Mudokon. But there is no Muds in this game... or is there?? We have slamanders anyway, how about "The Slamonic River".

They might have polluted river, thats why they may seem sad, no fish, no food, and gravyards of Slamanders.

[paramiteabe]

No dude there are Mudokons in this game remember the X-Facter they were all fishing and one fell into a basket he was carrying. Plus there were Mudokon lookout towers the kind we saw in Munch. You know those huge wooden structures that are in the Mudokon villages? Well they were in the background in one X-Factor clips. Mudokons are most defenitly in this game. Abe isn't part of the game but other native Mudokons are.

[Oddish]

I think the replaced muds with Slamanders, some things are changed. Like Stranger has 2 legs, instead of 4 at the beging of the intro.