How will be the future of Oddworld ?

[Vlam]

I've been playing New and tasty recently. This is, in tone, like a mix between MO and AO. So the game is far more goofy than AO. Now, we all know that AE is more cartoony than AO. So the remake will be even more goofier (again, imagine a mix between MO and AE). The question is : if they - JAW - make real new games like Squeek's oddysee than do you think that it will be, at best, as "dark" as New and Tasty ? Can they really make a game more darker (even if they wanted to) ? What will be the future of Oddworld ?

[Varrok]

It'll be MO 2

[Nepsotic]

I think Oddworld has given up on trying to be dark, unfortunately.

[Varrok]

It's a probability. If that happens, I think it'll be the right time to return the favor and give up on Oddworld.

[Alf Shall Rise]

I can't really see Oddworld ever being as dark as the original AO was, either, or even AE. There just seems to be too big of a change in direction overall. Which is kind of a shame, but at the same time, I don't really mind the goofy aspects of New 'n' Tasty from what I can remember.

I get the impression that if any new Oddworld games are actually made eventually, ones that aren't remakes, then the atmosphere will remain similar. There's no way to know for sure, of course, but I just think it's more likely.

[Paul]

Maybe the AE remake will be really dark to mirror the originals. Anyway electrocuting the eyes to extract tears is always (pardon the pun) shocking.

Plus brew master is pretty evil HEY! HOW ARE WE DOING ON TEARS?

[Job McYossie]

I dream for dark oddworld again, I honestly don't enjoy the lack of grit and the goofiness. The honest only reason I ever play N'n'T is for the gameplay, and even then I liked the grid system more anyways so...
I was in love with AO's atmosphere, I found AE's comedy to be enjoyable without feeling overdone, and the atmosphere, while not nearly the breathtaking world it felt like in AO, was still very enjoyable. SW was another amazingly gorgeous part of the world to take in, things were dark, things were stylized, there was still tonnes of goofiness to be had without overstaying it's welcome or hurting the serious scenes. N'n'T just feels so different, like it's not even the same place as the others.

inb4 "N'n'T isn't supposed to be like the first game though" neither was stranger, but stranger was different so incredibly without feeling like it was too isolated.

[Crashpunk]

I don't think they'll ever completely remove the goofiness of the series. I feel it's too well established now. Even Abe's Oddysee had it's moments of silliness. I mean, everyone remembers Abe used to fart.

I would love to see a dark Oddworld game though. I've said this in the past but I really think, if done right. Oddworld could work as a horror game. Necrum for example would be a perfect setting.

[Job McYossie]

I'd never want a total removal of the goofiness, being silly =/= bad, but when it's so silly it hurts the serious moments is my issue.

[STM]

Stranger got it right I think, it was goofy at times, Joe Momma for instance, was pretty much there for comic appeal.

Then on the other hand the have the butchering of an entire species, the decimation of native homelands and the ever-present dumbing down of the multitudes by mass media.

[Nepsotic]

I think everyone here knows my biggest issue with NnT was the fact that it threw the original AO's atmosphere out the window and replaced it with MO's. The gameplay was good enough to keep me playing but I think if that begins to get stale in the future I won't be playing Oddworld anymore because there'll be nothing "Oddworld" about it.

[STM]

Confession time: I haven't even played past Scrabania. I haven't completed it once yet.

[Varrok]

NnT or AO?

[Nepsotic]

I'm gonna guess NnT.

[Varrok]

The truth is, STM has never played AO, AE and SW. Just Abe & Munch's Fun Adventures.

[STM]

What is an Abe?

[Vlam]

I will respond to your posts later. But now I have a "taboo" question : is JAW really Oddworld Inhabitants ? Clearly, no. SW isn't a JAW product. That is the problem with New n Tasty : it lacks of "soul" (whereas even a game in 3D like Rayman 2 seems darker). So the team maybe just don't really care about Oddworld (not more than Metal Gear Solid, if you see what I mean) but I don't mind, it's business. And even if they have the most hardcore fan (Will) it's just not OI. To be fair, even in MO the cutscenes have the "oddworld feeling". Now think at the cutscenes they add in NnT, it's just embarrassing. Ok, NnT is like a really good fan-game (with money) but JAW is suppose to make Squeek's oddysee. Do they really have what it takes ? Seriously, is it possible not to be worry ?

[Phylum]

OWI isn't the same studio it was though. They had a really fucking good team, and I can't remember the exact numbers but by the time they made MO and SW they had a lot more manpower than JAW has. Even if they could get some of the old team, or make a completely new larger team, I'm fairly sure money is still an issue.

[Job McYossie]

JAW worked ridiculously hard on N'n'T, that's why at first I tried not to say much bad against it, and part of why I left OWF for a while, all the talk about N'n'T and I had nothing to say because I didn't want people to get all upset. In the end though N'n'T falls so short on so much for me, I really hope that JAW get's a lot of money for this so they can have their next projects be much more in their target.

[RyuuFox]

Where did you hear JAW's making Squeeks Oddysee? Lorne announced they're making exoddus, though I'm not sure if JAW is making it...

Also this might be even more taboo than your comment, but I really want to see Exoddus remade using pre-rendered graphics rather than realtime 3D; or perhaps maybe a hybrid of the 2. Surely it would be less expensive than NNT and more ergonomically optimized for easy porting to an array of platforms and systems(something JAW has trouble with).

[Job McYossie]

N'n'T was originally planned for real-time cutscenes but in the end had pre-rendered. The animation still felt off and too fast, and I hope Twice ze Flavor gets the speed problem fixed. (we're still calling it that, right?)

[JennyGenesis]

I thought the new cutscenes for the game looked great. My only gripe is the bad ending where the grinder burps? Seriously? I know Oddworld has its silly moments but it just didn't make sense and went beyond the boundary in my opinion

[Varrok]

We know about the freaking grinder, no need to talk about it any more!

[Xavier]

I will respond to your posts later. But now I have a "taboo" question : is JAW really Oddworld Inhabitants ? Clearly, no. SW isn't a JAW product. That is the problem with New n Tasty : it lacks of "soul" (whereas even a game in 3D like Rayman 2 seems darker). So the team maybe just don't really care about Oddworld (not more than Metal Gear Solid, if you see what I mean) but I don't mind, it's business. And even if they have the most hardcore fan (Will) it's just not OI. To be fair, even in MO the cutscenes have the "oddworld feeling". Now think at the cutscenes they add in NnT, it's just embarrassing. Ok, NnT is like a really good fan-game (with money) but JAW is suppose to make Squeek's oddysee. Do they really have what it takes ? Seriously, is it possible not to be worry ?

JAW is not OWI. OWI still exists as a separate entity.

Here is how things work. OWI owns the Oddworld IP and all the Oddworld games. They are a small core team (less then 10 people I think) that work with developers such as JAW to make new games and ports. Recently OWI worked with Square One to have SW (and soon MO) ported on mobile platforms. For NnT OWI also commisionned work from previous Oddworld Inhabitants such as Raymond Swanland, Michael Bross and Monkey Brain Studios.

It's important to note the OWI still oversees the development and the quality of the end product, so they are still in control to determine the level of darkness and goofiness. For instance we know Lorne went over at JAW in the final weeks of the NnT crunch.

As for the community managers, Wil and Alex, they worked for JAW when they started being heavily involved with OWI projects but judging from their OWF profiles they now left JAW to work directly for OWI. Which make sense as OWI could be working with other developers than JAW in the future and the community managers need to be aware of all the Oddworld games/products being developed.

I hope this clears things up.

[Job McYossie]

We know about the freaking grinder, no need to talk about it any more!

I didn't! though having that sounds like it could have been funny if done right.

[JennyGenesis]

No it couldn't.

[Paul]

They say the old meat grinder did it, so its nothing new :P

[JennyGenesis]

I'm certain it didn't

[Varrok]

If it did, it was subtle, and somehow didn't strike as so oversaturated.

[Manco]

The old meat grinder made a “splotch” noise.