If you could make an Oddworld game, what would it be like?

Reese Charles · #1 05-05-2003, 07:44 AM

Hello all.

I am starting work on my own Oddworld title, as a reaction to the dissapointment I felt upon playing Munch's Oddysee. What I want to know is: If you could make an Oddworld game, what would it be? What platform would it be on? What new characters would you add? What gaming style would it be in (platformer, 2D, 3D etc.)? What environments would you make up? And most essentially what would the storyline (In brief please!) involve?

My own title sits between AE and MO, where Abe sets out on a trek to truly "find himself" within the sanctitude of the Scrabanian temple. Once again the spirits contact Abe, telling him about a new threat to Oddworlds wildlife, in the form of the Nest-Egg hungry glukkon: Molluck.

I want to add a few new vehicles, including a more practical train and a slig tank. New industrial characters involve floating robots, security guards and slave feeders. New natives involve the addition of gabbits and new native environments will include the origin of the glukkon.

All this in 2D just like the first 2 games, so the biggest challenge will be the backgrounds. Let me know what you think about this, I would appreciate feedback (although this isn't the whole storyline or game description).

Yours Interestedly; Reese

PS: No flames or negative comments, this is a constructive thread only.

***Alcar*** · #2 05-05-2003, 07:51 AM

I'd love to see another fan game!

I really don't have anything to add, except asking what language/program are you intending to program it in? Will it be free, or will we have to pay for it?

Alcar...

Reese Charles · #3 05-05-2003, 08:52 AM

Hi Alcar

I am actually going to use what is already there, and effectively "mod" the original game.

The parameters for AE and AO work on the following principle:

Example using slig:

Creature size:

width
hieght

Creature physics:

Max running speed
Point of gun muzzle
Max walking speed
Center

Creature Graphics:

Animation to be played when firing (plays from point of gun muzzle and ends at nearest solid object)
Animation to be played when walking
Animation to be played when turning
Animation to be played when running
Animation to be played when running and turning

With these parameters I can make the slig have the physics of a big bro, so that it walks, behaves and fires like a big bro.

So as you can imagine, I am basicly going to open up the game to see whats inside it, and see what animation sequences, graphics and parameters it refers to when it runs. Once I know what it does internally, I can start to build an extraction and replacement program that will allow me to change files within the game. I will piece by piece change the entire environment of the game, adding new graphics to fit on top of that.

It is effectively a mod, but thats only becuase I don't have the software that the Oddworld team used (nor do I have the time to make similar tools).

Another example of the physics of the game is with these dots, demonstrating the height, width and point of fire for a slig and a big bro:
. .
. .
. .
. . . .

slig big bro

the four points forming a box, symbolize the height and width, and the 5th point poking out symbolizes the muzzle of the gun. These can be configured in any way you would want them to be, you could make a giant, or you could make a shrimp, and they would all interact with their surroundings accordingly.

As for the price, well I think a free beta would have to be made available to get feedback on the game. And after that, who knows. I might just decide to put a price on it and then direct to profits to Oddworld Inhabitants. I am not particularly interested in earning money off this, I am doing it more as a fan than a businessman.

The program for extracting and changing the files inside the game exe will be made in either c++ or vb. I wan't to keep it simple, and therefore reduce bugs so I can distribute them with the game.

Reese

Seargentbig · #4 05-05-2003, 10:28 AM

It sounds dificult, and would it even be alowed?

If it is, and you can, then I would look forward to wild sligs. With something other than pants. A shell (like a hermit crabs) seems to fit. Oh, and something other than masks.

paramiteabe · #5 05-05-2003, 11:03 AM

That is some pretty cool stuff you got there. Its sounds pretty hard.

Reese Charles · #6 05-05-2003, 11:05 AM

unfortunately the dot diagram didn't show up as I quite planned, but oh well, I think you get the idea!

As far as wild sligs, this is one of the things I have had quite alot of feedback on. I dont know much about the body structure of the slig in its natural form, except that it is a relative of the glukkon. Sligs are born from a queen (like the glukkons), so I am assuming that they are quite close relatives.

I can only imagine black eyes without the mask, but keep those theories going!

Reese.

Oddipus · #7 05-05-2003, 04:36 PM

Sounds awesome!

do you think it's possible to add water area's? Not like a swimming munch probably, but more like creatures that move on top of the water. In that case the water is part of the "background".

Reese Charles · #8 05-05-2003, 11:32 PM

Unfortunately, water is something that is very hard to add. There will be water in the game, but not water you or munch can swim in. As this requires extra animation sequences, and also requires new environment physics (as you have to be able to float around in the water, and gradually sink if you stay still etc.).

But thanks for the idea!

Dont forget, this is also a thread for posting stuff about how YOU would make a game aswell, so I would appreciate some thoughts on that aswell (because that would help too)

Reese

Reese Charles · #9 05-06-2003, 12:10 AM

I think its about time I let you all know what the storyline is, just to get a bit of feedback on that. Download it and let me know what you think. Or let me know of any ideas you might have to add to the game.

Reese

***Alcar*** · #10 05-06-2003, 04:31 AM

Hmmm, the only problem I can see is that if you do decide to make the game cost any amount of money, that you'll be halted.

Oddworld would let you make it for no profit, but I doubt that they'll allow you to make money out of it. EVEN if it's directed to them.

"Xaltite crystal" my gosh, that sounds so much like something I would come up with!

Alcar...

***Cloverfield*** · #11 05-06-2003, 05:06 AM

I like your ideas, sounds really cool. But wouldn't you have to get permission from Oddworld Inhabitants for something like that. Because you'd basically be modifying their code, characters, intellectual property and all of that kind of thing. I do remember reading once that if the opportunity arose OWI would "licence" the use of their characters to other companies, etc. This looks like it would fit into this kind of category, as it's more than just a simple Flash or RPG maker game. I'm no expert in this kind of area however.

Abe Babe...

Reese Charles · #12 05-06-2003, 05:07 AM

Hehe, your probably right, they most likely would get a bit stroppy with me. The Xaltite name was the only thing that I could think of that combined "Oddness" with realism. Nice to know that it was a logical step though.

Xaltite forms as salt crystals mix with the alkalines and nitrates in the Paramonian jungle lakewater, swapping the carbon in the salt for solid oxides in the alkaline nitrate oxides. The resulting reaction extracts carbon from the salts and leaves behind a compound that bonds with the salt. In scientific terms, what happens is this: The alkaline nitrate oxides (named aNO for the purposes of this example) bump into the salt (sodium carbohydrate (Na)) and remove the carbon from the salt, forming hydrosodium (HNa), once this has happened, the HNa can take nitrogen from the alkaline, forming NitroSodium Hydrate (Or NNaH). The NNaH itself is actually black, but as it forms, it attracts a clear substance known as Strontium titanate, (SrT), this substance is completely see through, more see through than diamonds in fact. So, now we have NNaHSrT, a clear crystal with a black centre, very attractive!

The Strontium Titanate in the lakewater formed large Strontium Titanate crystals on the bottom of the lakebeds (which therefore makes this water sacred to the Mudokons.

Hope this bit of science makes you appreciate the depth of the game a bit more...

Reese

Oddipus · #13 05-06-2003, 05:16 AM

Comments on your storyline:

+

* Sounds like a long story, makes for a long game too?
* Different 'missions' like traveling, resqueing, infiltrating,...
* Inclusion of FMV
* Oddworldisch (sounds like it could actually be a story happening on Mudos)

-

* The role of munch: he's only there to guide because he knows the way? That means he's not neccecary (spelling?) since you can go and try to find the way yourself. Could you give him a misson also , combined with Abe?
* What ennemies would he encounter. (Re-use existing creatures, or creating your own?) I would like to see both.

The area's you describe sound like they smell awefull, can you include that too

Reese Charles · #14 05-06-2003, 05:45 AM

Hey Oddipus

In response to your questions:

Yes, a nice lengthy story line that helps keep the challenge going for weeks, just like AE did.

The travelling parts will mostly involve an FMV sequence and a little bit of walking before hand. But infiltration is the key to this game, to slip past the security systems. I hope, that the parts in the Paramonian Forests and Scrabanian Deserts will envolve survival aswell as infiltration, and therefore add two levels of challenge (land mines, sligs, lasers etc -and- paramites, scrabs and fleeches.).

Munch's addition to this game, gives a little insight into what munch was doing while he still had all his freinds. In the FMV where abe meets munch, munch tells abe about how he hid in the sumps to avoid being captured by sligs and sold on the gabbit lungs market. One of the main reasons why Munch is the only one who knows is way round the sumps is because he has had to move around the sumps quite alot to avoid capture, and for that reason can help abe find the route he is looking for. Munch refers to big "Iron Horses", and leads abe to them etc.

So Munch's part in the game is actually pretty important.

Also, thanks for your comment on how "oddworldish" the game sounds, I really appreciate that! The game was thought up using answers to a combination of the following questions: "where are raw materials etc. where being produced/mined/grown.?", "what sort of products do the glukkons use or require most?", and "In what way would the glukkons get these products so that it harms the environment the most?". With these answers, you get several possibilities: Suit Factories (IE GlukThreads etc). Tobacco Farms (IE ChimneyFace Industries.), or something to do with jewelry.

As far as smells go, most of the places in this game don't really smell of anything except wetness, water, damp, rust and engine fuel.
Unlike brew and animals, water and crystals don't really smell of anything. (unless the water is stagnant

)

And I would just like to say that this is turning out to be quite a successful thread, thankyou everyone for your continued feedback. Keep it coming!

Reese

Seargentbig · #15 05-06-2003, 07:04 AM

I thint this game idea is great. In responce to the slig thing, these pictures should help:

http--www.oddworld.com-universe-industrial-characters-sligs-worker_assets-prod_assets-pop_prod_left.jpg

http--www.oddworld.com-universe-industrial-characters-sligs-bigbro_assets-cg_assets-pop_left.jpg

Combine these two pictures, and you should figure out what a wild slig would look like.

Edit: they are not working. Copy the adress to the adress bar, and you should be able to see them.

Reese Charles · #16 05-06-2003, 07:08 AM

Hey

Ok, those pictures didn't work so just email them to me: XampleTwin@aol.com

Reese

***Alcar*** · #17 05-06-2003, 07:22 AM

Hmm, you've accidentally placed "-" instead of "/" in your URLs, thats all.

Here they are anyway:

Alcar...

Reese Charles · #18 05-06-2003, 07:24 AM

Yeah, that was strange, why did he do that?

FeeCoFreak · #19 05-06-2003, 10:45 AM

Hola!

Hmm, if I could make a game I think it would on XBox, but it would be in better graphics the Munch's Oddysee.

I think I would probably add stuff like more speech and more creatures that OWI promised...

Great game idea BTW Reese, looking forward to playing it!

FeeCoFreak

Impaler · #20 05-06-2003, 07:01 PM

I would love to try and create a RPG based on ODDWORLD. Don't ask me the story etc. but I think it would be cool.

Impaler...

P.S. I think your game ideas are GOOD and ODDWORLD-ish

SlogMe · #21 05-07-2003, 03:25 AM

cool

oh, and so that this post isn't counted as spam, i'm adding in this phrase which makes it more than one word. lmmfao

Reese Charles · #22 05-07-2003, 04:04 AM

As promised, here are some of the sound files that will be used in the game. Because the mp3s cannot be held on the oddworldforums.net server, they have been hosted elsewhere.

The first of these sound files is the FMV soundtrack for the FMV of abes exit from the crystal sumps by train. The horn you can hear at the start is a blast from the locomotive, signalling to guards up ahead that the train is on the move.

The second sound file is the background music to the slig outpost section of the gemstone faceting factory. This music was developed as a combination of inspiration from the Slig Barracks and the stockyards. Njoy.

Click this link to be taken to the website where you can play the music (please note that you may have to register to thisservice to be able to listen to this music, however you do not have to pay, its just a standard registration.). To the music!

Well, thats all for now. Concept sketches and model screenshots will be coming soon!

Enjoy!

Reese

PS: Welcome to the Oddworld forums SlogMe! Please note all of you, that one of the songs on the website is still going through the process of being certified as good to be up there, and may not be ready yet by the time you get there (I will keep checking the link and remove this message when its no longer helpful).

***Alcar*** · #23 05-07-2003, 05:01 AM

Wow! Is that original? How'd you do that?

(By the way I can only listen to the train one there is no listing of the other...)

Alcar...

***Cloverfield*** · #24 05-07-2003, 07:07 AM

I could only access the one of the train also. But I would like to say that it is an exellent piece of music!

You have captured the feel of Oddworld with just that small sample. I can see you are very talented with music there. Looking forward to hearing more.

Abe Babe...

P.S. If you ever want any .mp3s hosted on the OWF server, you can email them to me and I'll put them online for you, seeing that the vBulletin software does not allow you to upload this file type. Not sure if that's something you want to do though, as you'd have to wait for me to do it for you.

***Alcar*** · #25 05-07-2003, 07:43 AM

About mp3's, could we add that to the list of allowed attachment file types in Admin > Options? Or does vBulletin actually disable that for mp3's?

Because I know that most mp3's are illegal.

Alcar...

Reese Charles · #26 05-07-2003, 07:51 AM

Yes, it is an original. In answer to your query, here is how I did it: Every morning at my local station, a freight train pulls out of a siding with about 5 or 6 wagons. Before pulling out they have to sound their horn to let the linesmen know that a train is moving their way. Quite a simple process really, just record the sound of the real thing. The sounds for the FeeCo trains are taken from real life steam locomotives (they might be steam, although it is quite possible that it may be one of the older US EMD class trains (they have quite a "chug chug" sound to their engines), probably the pioneering Challenger (The mother of the Big Boy class, the worlds largest steam locomotive). The sound of the wagons on the real game are what freight cars sound like when they are moving past at really high speeds, it only makes that sound however, when the freight cars are quite small, so tanker wagons etc.

Once I had the recording of the train leaving the siding on my PC, it was simply a matter of producing some ambient music. This stuff is mostly a combination of echo filters and random gregorian chanting loops and some strange FX noises on top.

Anyway, I don't want to go on otherwise I would just be baffling you with producer talk (sequences, bars, beats, hits, loops, samples, dithering etc.).

By the way, I do know about the fact that there is only one song available to listen to on that site, I am in the process of finding out why the other one hasn't appeared yet.

Thanks for the feedback though, this stuff is only the tip of the iceburg, plenty more to come!

Reese.

***Cloverfield*** · #27 05-07-2003, 09:16 AM

:

Originally posted by Alcar
About mp3's, could we add that to the list of allowed attachment file types in Admin > Options? Or does vBulletin actually disable that for mp3's? Because I know that most mp3's are illegal.

Alcar...

Off-topic here, I'm sure we can, but I don't know if it would be a good idea, because people might abuse the system and upload "illegal" mp3s and also large files which would fill the DB up.

Abe Babe...

***Alcar*** · #28 05-07-2003, 09:24 AM

Yeah, that was one of the problems that concerned me. The attachment and customavatar tables are large enough as they are

Alcar...

Reese Charles · #29 05-07-2003, 09:26 AM

Yes, Abe babe is right, this is off topic now.

Its not a good idea to have people posting mp3 files onto your forum. As Abe babe said, it will clog up your DB and slow down the forum for all the 56k users.

Try to keep on topic though, I suggest that a topic on this subject be made in the admin/moderator forum for this debate to continue.

Reese

Oddipus · #30 05-07-2003, 10:32 AM

I'm curious how it sounds : I CANNOT HEAR IT

Eventhough I registered. Can you upload the mp3's somewhere else?