Oni: Difference between revisions

Work on Oni began in 1997 when Bungie decided to found a second studio, Bungie West. The concept for their first project was devised by Brent Pease and Michael Evans, whose primary influence was the animé film ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]''.<ref>Pease discusses his role as Oni's creator and GitS' influence on the game [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html here].</ref> Pease and Evans had been working at Apple on game-related technology, and so their first step was to begin work on the engine, gradually hiring employees to produce concept art and author content for the game. The name "Oni" was originally intended only as a code name during development; Pease intended it to be a reference to their inspiration, believing its meaning to be "Ghost".<ref>The meaning of "oni" is usually given by those familiar with Japanese myths as either "demon" or "ogre". Pease explains the origin of the code name [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html here], and seems to still think the word means "ghost"; however, Hardy, his eventual replacement, indicates [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=19851 here] and [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=18292 here] that he understood "oni" to mean "demon" and had re-written the story with that in mind.</ref><ref>At one time during development, the name "Mnemonic Shadow" was considered according to the [http://marathon.bungie.org/story/newjan-feb01.html Marathon Story Page].</ref> The designs for [[Konoko]] and Commander [[Griffin]] can be seen to resemble the characters of [[wp:Motoko Kusanagi|Motoko Kusanagi]] and [[wp:Daisuke Aramaki|Daisuke Aramaki]]. Early development even presented Konoko as a [[wp:cyborg|cyborg]], which, together with the tech-crime-fighting setting, resembled the world of ''Ghost in the Shell''.

An additional influence came through Oni's concept artist Alex Okita, who was a big fan of ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]'' as well as ''Ghost in the Shell'', calling them "the two main influences at the time."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170705124855/http://www.glixel.com/interviews/oni-bungies-classic-inspired-by-ghost-in-the-shell-w474297 Glixel, "Flashback: 'Oni', Bungie's Cult Classic Inspired by 'Ghost in the Shell'"].</ref> He particularly cited Kenichi Sonoda, character designer of Bubblegum Crisis, as an influence on [[:Category:Art by Okita|his work]].<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20010118230100/http://www.onicore.com/interviews/alexokita.html OniCore, Interview with Alex Okita].</ref> Later, Lorraine also showed her familiarity with Sonoda's work [[:Image:Konoko_Variants.jpg|here]] with a sketch that looks the most like her [[:Image:Konoko Kneeling Pre-Beta.png|finalized design for Konoko]]. In August of 1999, Hardy LeBel was brought in as Design Lead, and revamped the story.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20010727151534/www.insidemacgames.com/features/00/lebel/ IMG interview with Hardy LeBel].</ref> The final version of Oni abandons the cyborg nature of the heroine and instead introduces original concepts such as the [[Daodan Chrysalis]] and [[SLD]]s.