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The first adventure of Abe, that plucky Mudokon, is getting an update in Abe's Oddysee: New N' Tasty. The downloadable modernization of the classic 1997 puzzle platformer was unveiled this week at the Eurogamer Expo by Oddworld Inhabitants founder Lorne Lanning and developer Just Add Water's Stewart Gilray.
The game, expected to release autumn 2013 on PC, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and Xbox 360, will remain "80 to 90 percent" faithful to the original sidescrolling design, with the game's map updated to provide smooth, continuous levels instead of flipping between several individual screens.
Abe's Oddysee's pre-rendered cutscenes will now be generated in-engine and flow smoothly in and out of the game. Quick saves and a few modified, more player-friendly puzzles round out the remake.
Lanning also spoke to GamesIndustry International about transitioning his company from a smaller scale developer working for publishers to a micro-publisher of digital games.
"On the micro-publisher level it's very simple. We fund our own products," he says. "We weren't able to do that in the boxed product days, we're only able to do that in the digital distribution landscape."
Lanning said his company makes $7 per digital sale at a $10 price point. It made the same amount at a $60 price, thanks to substantially higher costs which he said do not serve to provide players with better games.
His company has survived because it has held onto its intellectual property and tried to treat Oddworld fans well, Lanning said.
"The only reason we're really able to get away with it and not be cogs in some enormous machine that does not care about us, is we're able to retain the ownership of the brand."
