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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 9</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
                in loonygames:</font></b></font></p>

<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">New!!</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> The Archives have been cleaned up, fead links fixed, and printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments <a href="../../../index.html">on the front page</a>!</font></p>
              
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../2.15/feat/index.html" target="">Livin' 
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              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="http://www.oddworld.com">Oddworld 
                Associates</a>:The developers of <b>Oddworld</b>.</font></p>
              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="http://www.gtgames.com">GTInteractive</a>:The 
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        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8">Gettin 
          Odd with the loonies!</font></p>
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          <b><font size="+1" color="#0022A8" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Miscellaneous 
          Oddyties</font></b></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>How was Oddworld 
          Inhabitants formed? Have you worked for other gaming companies in the 
          past?</b> The name Oddworld came from a moment of clarity between myself 
          and Sherry McKenna, the CEO. This happened in 1994. But the stories 
          for Oddworld had been started (in written form) back in 1986. I used 
          to write lots of stories that didn't seem to have any practical application 
          because they were so weird, yet ironically true. I couldn't help but 
          write them as they just seemed to haunt me. Eventually, many of these 
          stories came together to form the basis of Oddworld. </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Neither Sherry 
          McKenna nor myself have worked for any other game companies. We come 
          from Hollywood where we both specialized in Computer Graphics and Special 
          Effects.</font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>How many 
          people work at Oddworld?</b> 60. There are about 30 on the Production 
          team and 30 in other areas.</font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Are they 

          all working on one game at a time, or do you have separate teams of 
          people for each game?</b> All the members of the art team work on all 
          the projects all the time. This helps keep the consistent look of all 
          of Oddworld’s images. Including PR & marketing. The programmers and 
          designers are split up into teams.</font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Any chance 
          for a stuffed Abe doll? How bout an action figure? :)</b> Absolutely! 
          But we want to do it with a whole different twist. We have plans for 
          this, but a release date is not set. Possibly before the release of 
          <b>Munch's Oddysee </b>will we bring out the action figures. But we 
          don't want to just make dolls, we want them to have many more applications. 
          When the world finally gets to see how we have dealt with it, we believe 
          they will be very excited about it. </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Why do a 
          quintology of games to begin with?</b> That's how many it's going to 
          take to tell the whole story. It's very big and it's very complicated. 
          We're unfolding an entire new world for you. There is no way that the 
          entire quintology would ever fit into less story structures. When we 
          broke down the big story, it have five distinctive places for logical 
          separations to occur. Which means five places where we could clearly 
          find 'beginnings, middles, and ends'. This allowed us to clarify the 
          details over time, instead of rushing and cramming it in a way that 
          would result in watering it down. We believe that in the end, this will 
          have been one of the greatest stories ever told. Not just in video games, 
          but in all mediums. </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Do you ever 
          see an Oddworld game that is completely separated from the quintology 
          ever being made? Abe's Miniature Golf, or Munch's Racing, for example? 
          </b>Yes, we have already had talks about this with other developers. 
          In fact, there is already an <b>Oddworld Adventures</b> Gameboy game 
          that will be releasing this year.</font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>How planned 
          out is the quintology? Do you have five game layouts? </b>We have five 
          story layouts. As for game layouts, we cannot design the later games 
          yet as we know they will be utilizing newer technology. To design layouts 
          now would be a waste of time. However, we are designing higher level 
          AI and Social interactions that will effect these later games. We also 
          know that as we get closer and closer to the end of the quintology, 
          that we will be using more highly populated types of gameplay strategies. 
          Meaning, you will be seeing a lot more group/crowd behaviors. </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Any plans 
          for what you'll do<i> after</i> the quintology? </b>Absolutely. But 
          it's way too early to start letting that cat out of the bag. I will 
          say that in many ways I can't wait till we get past the quintology. 
          Which I have lived with for many years and will continue to live with 
          for many years. And even though the next series beyond the quintology 
          is years down the road, I already spend a significant amount of time 
          thinking writing about what happens after the quintology. </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Got any strange 
          tales of wacky Oddworld employees to share?</b> I could tell you... 
          but then we would probably get sued. That’s why they’re Inhabitants.</font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Where can 
          a guy get some Meech Munchies, anyway? </b>Talk to GT I think they have 
          a plan.</font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thanks, Lorne! 
          <b>Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus</b> is shipping soon...be sure to check it 
          out. And be sure to look in a few months to see if they get nominated 
          for an Oscar!</font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT">&nbsp;</p>
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    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
      Illustration &copy; 1998 Dan Zalkus. This interview is &copy; 1998 Jason 
      Bergman &amp; Lorne Lanning. All other content is &copy; 1998 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
      productions</a>. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited and totally 
      not cool.</font></i></td>
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