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Published: 16 November 1998
Host: Videogames.com
Author: Paul O’Connor

The Designer Diary

Part 14: This Is the End

Wow. Six months have passed in a twinkle. With this 14th and final entry, the Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus Designer Diaries come to an end. I’d like to thank the fine folks at videogames.com for providing the web space for these updates. I hope you’ve found them entertaining and informative.

By the time you read this, Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus should be just days from release. The entire Oddworld studio, from top to bottom, has busted its hump on this project. We’ve worked nights; we’ve worked weekends. We’ve put our lives on hold to make Abe’s Exoddus the very best video game we can make. It is my sincere hope you’ll all rush right out and buy the game or at least rent a copy for the weekend. I’m betting that you’ll be hooked by the game if you give it a chance… but I’m probably preaching to the choir at this point. After all, if you’ve read this far, you’re probably sold on the game already!

What’s next for Oddworld Inhabitants? Hmm. This Thursday is our wrap party. Prior to the party the whole company will be attending a special screening of the Abe’s Exoddus game movies at the San Luis Obispo Film Festival. The film was recently screened in Los Angeles for Academy Award consideration, by the way…. The movies really are that good. The boss has generously provided us with a three-day weekend to recover from the wrap party (which we will need, judging from past experience with these things). About half of the studio still has vacation time scheduled between now and the end of the year.

But we won’t be in low gear for long. We’re already in preproduction for our next game, Munch’s Oddysee, about which I really can’t say anything, except that it will represent as much of a leap forward from where we are now as Abe’s Oddysee did over the games of its day. We’re taking the design into truly uncharted waters with this one. It’s exciting to be a part of it.

In the meantime, there's plenty to keep you busy in Abe’s Exoddus. Check out the emotional Mudokons. Line ’em up and start a slap fight. Possess a Flying Slig and explore secret screens. Possess Glukkons and round up a group of Sligs, then set them to shooting each other. Rescue all three hundred Mudokons (I dare ya!), ride the hellish trains waiting at the platform at FeeCo Depot, and discover the secret ingredient of SoulStorm Brew. Drink a brew and cut a fart… then possess it! There’s stuff in this game you’ve never seen before.

We Oddworlders will be monitoring the usual web spots for feedback, so if you have an impression of the game, go ahead and post it—we’re always interested in what gamers think of our work.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy. And keep an eye on Oddworld Inhabitants.

The best is yet to come.

— Paul O’Connor, Oddworld Inhabitants, 3 November 1998