August 2004
Stranger trailer on Cinematech
The Oddworld Stranger Trailer ‘The Good, The Bad, And The Odd’ will be showing on G4techTV’s Cinematech at 10·30 p.m. EST (7·30 p.m. PST) on Tuesday 31st August. Credit goes to Oddworld Universe for finding this information.
Sources: Oddworld Universe
Art by Lorne Lanning
Two artworks by Lorne Lanning himself were added in the Ballistic Publishing’s “Call for Entries” gallery: Dino and Sketchbook Doodles. Be sure to read the comments, it’s worth it.
Oddworld FMVs go real‐time
VFXWorld has published an article covering OWI’s use of realtime game elements over more traditional pre‐rendered technology to create the cinematic sequences for Oddworld Stranger, and the implications of this technique on the gaming, movie and TV industries. The special is a featured article on the Animation World Network. Credit goes to the Forum member Scrubs for finding this article, along with two older articles looking at how Oddworld Inhabitants animators work, from a time when Munch’s Oddysee was scheduled for a 2000 release on the PlayStation 2, and the ten films Lorne would take with him to a desert island. As always, these can be discussed on the Oddworld Forums.
Sources: Scrubs
9 Copper Axiem Awards for Oddworld
Oddworld did win 9 Copper Awards at the Axiem Awards, 5 in the Interactive Category and 4 in the Animation Category, including the “BEST OF CLASS—ANIMATION”. Please note that Sherry McKenna, Oddworld Inhabitants CEO/Co‐founder, is member of this year Axiem’s Judging Advisory Board.
Stranger trailer on GamersHell
erwinraaben55 pointed on the forums that GamersHell is hosting a hi‐quality .mov version of the new trailer ‘the good, the bad, and the odd’. Much better then the IGN one and without any watermark logo on it.
Sources: erwinraaben55
Games Convention
And now, some news in German:
Game Zone reports that Oddworld Stranger was present at the Games Convention in Leipzig.
Oddworld is also present on the Official EA site of the event, there is an interview of David Ross (Executive Producer) in the “Special” section.
OddNet transcribes ‘Brave New World’
In a collaborative effort between Oddworld Universe and Oddworld‐Web, a full transcript and scans of Xbox Nation’s recent eight‐page cover story on Oddworld Stranger, ‘Brave New World’ by Evan Shamoon. The transcription and scanning is credited to oddguy, while the formatting and presentation are attributed to Alcar. Look out for the specially adapted images of Live Ammo in the transcript, courtesy of Alcar. You can comment of the article and the work done by Alcar and oddguy on the Oddworld Forums.
Dualist has also taken the time to remove the IGN watermarks from the five new screnshots posted along with Douglas Perry’s hands‐on preview of Stranger on IGN. You can find them here.
Sources: OddNet and Dualist
OXM handles Stranger
Esus has spotted another preview of Stranger, this time in the Official Xbox Magazine. Thoughtfully, there is a scan of the article on the Forums for those unable to find OXM in the stores.
Sources: Esus
IGN got hands on Stranger
The Oddworld.com Press Page has been updated with a hands‐on impression of Stranger by IGN’s Douglas C. Perry, credited as “Apache” in Voodoo Extreme’s single‐paragraph preview.
The preview comes with five brand new screenshots and a downloadable .wmv video of the “The Good, The Bad and The Odd” trailer, also available in QuickTime for IGN Insiders.
French website jeux‐europe has a small article on the video, as well as a link to the .wmv download.
Sources: Oddworld.com
gamesTM promises Stranger feature
September’s issue of gamesTM features a double page spread indicating that the October issue, due out 9th September, will have a full article on Oddworld Stranger straight from EA themselves in San Francisco.
Credit goes to Esus for finding this out.
Additionally Mac the Janitor has discovered a short article about Stranger in this month’s GMR Magazine.
You can discuss more on these articles on the Oddworld Forums.
Sources: Esus and Mac the Janitor
XBN Stranger exclusive
Oddworld.com points out that there will be exclusive Stranger images and a terrific story written by Evan Shamoon in the October issue of the Xbox Nation Magazine. Exclusive info is also expected.
Sources: Oddworld.com
G‐Phoria airs
Two members (at least) of the Oddworld Forums saw G4techTV’s G‐Phoria—The Award Show 4 Gamers and reported it. Dualist reported it on the Oddworld Forums, and oddguy reported it on Oddworld-Web, he also told us he was trying to upload a video of the event there. We’ll keep you informed.
IGN Insider video summarized
Two little forums reports.
First one, Max the Mug reported on the Oddworld Forums what syrusnakku told about the member exclusive IGN video, on the IGN Forums. It was Oddish who asked for more info on the IGN Forums, with the name Mortimer_Bang. Here is the quote:
- Oddworld: Stranger will attempt to ‘blur the line’ between movie and game
- The ‘western’ setting and feel is more of an initial setup; there will be other varied locations and the ending will be a surprise
- Whereas some games use things like ‘normal mapping’ to make little details look good in small areas, Stranger will focus more on vast environments and scale
- There are eight primary kinds of live ammo
- The game will utilize 3rd person and 1st person perspectives
- There will be elements of both stealth and action
- The game’s score will adapt and change depending upon your actions
Second one, Alf’s Assistant posted a bit on info about the limited edition of the upcoming Art Of Oddworld Book on the Forums. Here is the quote:
The limited Edition is a Leather bound version of the book.The contents and quality of the paper etc. is the same as the hardcover and softcover versions.
We hope you like it because it’s for the fans!
Alf’s Assistant
Sources: syrusnakku
Oddworld Forums back online
IGN Insiders have the opportunity to download yet another video featuring an interview with Lorne. No details of the content have been released yet.
Also, Forum members will be relieved that the Oddworld Forums are now back up at their permanent vBulletin location at http://www.oddworldforums.net/. You can read about the server issues and solutions on the Forums. This also means that the browser‐based applet for OddChat is once again up and running. Thanks to Abe Babe and Alcar for their work during this period of downtime.
Inhabitants address press
Several mentions of Inhabitants have shown up in the past few days:
Speaking to San Louis Obispo’s The Tribune, animator Rich McKain and human resources director Mike Reifers talk about the dress code at Oddworld Inhabitants in an article covering contemporary work clothes. Mr Reifers makes clear that the Studios have a comfortable and creative atmosphere.
Animator John Hood is set to deliver a talk alongside Brad Clark, formarly of Atari, at the 2004 Maya MasterClasses at the SIGGRAPH 2004 Conference, where it is already know that the Oddworld Stranger opening sequence will be shown at the Computer Animation Festival. Now in their fourth year, the series of 16 hour‐and‐a‐half talks discuss real‐life applications of Maya software, and this year take place from 9th to 12th August. Messieurs Clark and Hood will speak on the topic of ‘Maintaining Art Integrity through the Games Pipeline.’
Lorne Lanning is mentioned in an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, alongside Seamus Blackley, who are called luminaries who believe Miyamoto is reinforcing the sterotypical view of video games.
A press release has been publicised detailing the awards given out and celebrities who appeared in G4techTV’s G‐Phoria—The Award Show 4 Gamers. Remember to watch the televised event for a glimpse of Oddworld Stranger at 8·l00 p.m. ET/5·00 p.m. PT on Friday 6th August, on G4techTV.
Finally, Games Radar have posted their own short preview of Oddworld Stranger.
Official site updates, August 2004
Oddworld.com has been updated for the month of August, with a new edition of Alf’s Inhabitants Anonymous, the latest Inhabitant profile, this month spotlighting programmer Drew Card, and our regular dose of Dear Alf.
EuroGamer screens captured
For those unable to view Eurogamer’s footage of Lorne Lanning presenting Stranger, both Hayley and sligslinger have been kind enough to provide screen captures of the video, which can be seen at Depths Of Oddworld and the Temporary Oddworld Forums.
Sources: Hayley and sligslinger