December 2008
Abe’s Oddysee production retrospective
GOG.com, which recently added Abe’s Oddysee to its catalogue, has interviewed Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning about the game’s production, some eleven years after its initial release. Lorne divulges the inspirations behind possession, GameSpeak, HUDlessness, and multiple endings. GOG.com has also added some extra bonus downloads that are free to all who purchase Abe’s Oddysee through them.
Sources: GOG.com
Lorne praises digital distribution and Steam
Although Lorne Lanning has described his advocacy of digital distribution and Valve’s Steam in the past, he continues to praise the platform in Gamasutra’s latest interview with him, which is possibly inspired by the recent appearance of Abe’s Oddysee on GOG.com.
Lorne points out that the porting of the titles to Steam has required virtually zero investment while allowing them to explore the mechanisms of the digital distribution business as a channel to publish their upcoming releases—which he lists as Citizen Siege, something new for Oddworld
, and a third Hollywood meets gaming
project. Lorne also vaguely describes the style of their future gameplay:
We’re open to exploring how to best maximize our existing library, but haven’t been focused on creating huge story games with 40 hours of linear gameplay recently.
We’ve been focused on a slightly different chemistry that we believe will prove appealing to gamers and Oddworld fans alike, but it’s a big risk because it’s way outside the box.
And that excites us. In some ways it will be very alien to Western gaming, but it’s in this direction that we believe the excitement will be. Hopefully, not too much longer.
Sources: Gamasutra
Lorne judging fourth NVArt competition
Lorne Lanning is amongst the judges of the fourth NVArt art & design competition. For Surreal: In the Style of Jacek Yerka, candidates are asked to submit surrealist compositions in the style of Polish Jacek Yerka.
Sources: The CGSociety
Oddworld inhabits GOG.com
Digital distribution site GOG.com has today released Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee (compatible with Windows XP and Vista) for download, with Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus expected to follow shortly on 23 December. OddBlog has the full press release. Praising the Oddworld games, GOG.com Managing Director Adam Oldakowski had this to say:
Oddworld Inhabitants created an unbelievable world and fascinating characters that remind us about the pure joys of gaming. It’s amazing how the game holds up to today’s games and we’re not surprised that many consider these some of the best platform games of all time
Both Abe titles games were released on Steam earlier in the year, with the promise that the Xbox‐exclusive titles would be available on Steam ‘in the not too distant future.’ While there has been no word yet of Munch’s Oddysee or Stranger’s Wrath on Good Old Games, GOG.com does have two advantages over Steam.
Firstly, to download and run the games requires no special launcher application like Steam’s client software. Secondly, for the same price, GOG.com provides bonus materials that are listed on their website as follows:
- manual (28 pages)
- map (series)
- mp3 soundtrack
- hi‐res wallpaper
- hi‐res wallpapers pack (6)
- avatars
And thirdly, GOG.com comes with a reassuring statement by Oddworld Inhabitants’ new president, Larry Shapiro, who says:
We are happy to add the Oddworld series to the GOG.com catalogue. It’s a great chance for anyone who’s already played the games to remember why they were so much fun, and also to introduce Abe and his fellow Mudokons to a new generation of gamers. We believe that digital distribution is the future of gaming for both developers and gamers, making GOG.com an ideal fit for Oddworld.
Sources: GOG.com