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History of the Oni community: Difference between revisions

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noted that myth.b.o is down since it's been a few weeks
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{{Anchor|1999}}
{{Anchor|1999}}
Campbell took the dare and, together with Hamish Sinclair, Marathon superfans Gary Simmons and Claude Errera, and James Pillar and Nathan Kline (who helped with design), he opened the web site early in January 1999. In April, Bungie.org introduced its familiar subdomains devoted to each Bungie game: [http://pid.bungie.org pid.bungie.org], [http://marathon.bungie.org marathon.bungie.org], [http://myth.bungie.org myth.bungie.org], [http://oni.bungie.org oni.bungie.org], and blam.bungie.org (moved to [http://halo.bungie.org halo.bungie.org] once the game's name was revealed).
Campbell took the dare and, together with Hamish Sinclair, Marathon superfans Gary Simmons and Claude Errera, and James Pillar and Nathan Kline (who helped with design), he opened the web site early in January 1999. In April, Bungie.org introduced its familiar subdomains devoted to each Bungie game: [http://pid.bungie.org pid.bungie.org], [https://marathon.bungie.org marathon.bungie.org], [http://myth.bungie.org myth.bungie.org] (site down), [http://oni.bungie.org oni.bungie.org], and blam.bungie.org (moved to [http://halo.bungie.org halo.bungie.org] once the game's name was revealed).
   
   
Hamish Sinclair and Matt Smith handled Pathways into Darkness and the massive Marathon Story page, Campbell and Simmons handled the rest of the Marathon subdomain, Forrest Camaranesi handled Myth, Campbell handled Oni (which was still in development), and Errera eventually handled the Halo subdomain. Miguel Chavez handled [http://bs.bungie.org bs.bungie.org], the Bungie Sightings page. The bungie.org domain came to be known as B.org for short, or sometimes simply Borg.
Hamish Sinclair and Matt Smith handled Pathways into Darkness and the massive Marathon Story page, Campbell and Simmons handled the rest of the Marathon subdomain, Forrest Camaranesi handled Myth, Campbell handled Oni (which was still in development), and Errera eventually handled the Halo subdomain. Miguel Chavez handled [http://bs.bungie.org bs.bungie.org], the Bungie Sightings page. The bungie.org domain came to be known as B.org for short, or sometimes simply Borg.
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==The first heyday of the Oni fandom==
==The first heyday of the Oni fandom==
Oni Central reported the latest news from Bungie West, and covered the development by fans of early programs such as Oni Key Config and OniTools. Other fan sites sprang up over time, such as OniShots (focusing on screenshots taken by fans, and game tips and cheats, with a forum that accumulated 7000 posts), OniRes (focusing on game modification and also hosting a forum), and OniChars (a forum for discussion of Oni's characters). OniShots and OniRes were eventually hosted on Oni Central.
Oni Central reported the latest news from Bungie West, with contributions from Clem Freeman, Chris Camacho and Steve Campbell in addition to Harry himself. Besides updates on the game's progress, the site also covered the development by fans of early game utilities such as Oni Key Config and OniTools. Other fan sites sprang up over time, such as OniShots (focusing on screenshots taken by fans, and game tips and cheats, with a forum that accumulated 7000 posts), OniRes (focusing on game modification and also hosting a forum), and OniChars (a forum for discussion of Oni's characters). OniShots and OniRes were eventually hosted on Oni Central.
 
==The later years of Bungie.org==
==The later years of Bungie.org==
{{Anchor|2002|2003|2004}}
{{Anchor|2002|2003|2004}}
In time, the activity on the PID subdomain lessened, and the Marathon and Myth communities began to shift towards other domains, so the founders of b.org generally moved on. Steve Campbell went on to found forerunners.org in 2002, devoted to covering the Bungie fandom from a different angle by hosting personal fan sites and serving as a general portal to the rest of the community, and cortana.org in 2003, for hosting Halo maps and mods. Eventually Claude Errera was left in sole charge of the Borg domain and its servers. Today, most of the domain's traffic goes to the Halo subdomain and the [https://destiny.bungie.org/ subdomain for Destiny] (created in 2013). A [http://gnop.bungie.org/ subdomain for Gnop], arguably Bungie's oldest game, was also added in 2013, containing an emulator of the game.
In time, the activity on the PID subdomain lessened, and the [[Marathon]] and [[Myth]] communities began to shift towards other domains, so the founders of b.org generally moved on. Steve Campbell went on to found forerunners.org in 2002, devoted to covering the Bungie fandom from a different angle by hosting personal fan sites and serving as a general portal to the rest of the community, and cortana.org in 2003, for hosting Halo maps and mods. Eventually Claude Errera was left in sole charge of the Borg domain and its servers. Today, most of the domain's traffic goes to the Halo subdomain and the [https://destiny.bungie.org/ subdomain for Destiny] (created in 2013). A [http://gnop.bungie.org/ subdomain for Gnop], arguably Bungie's oldest game, was also added in 2013, containing an emulator of the game.


The original Oni Central Forum, now referred to as the Carnage board because it (and other B.org forums) ran on the carnage.bungie.org subdomain, was a threaded board running on simple software known as WebBBS. In March 2003, Harry decided to move to modern forum software, and OCF was restarted on the ikonBoard software, which presented the indexed, flat style of forum that is usually seen on the Internet today.
The original Oni Central Forum, now referred to as the Carnage board because it (and other B.org forums) ran on the carnage.bungie.org subdomain, was a threaded board running on simple software known as WebBBS. In March 2003, Harry decided to move to modern forum software, and OCF was restarted on the ikonBoard software, which presented the indexed, flat style of forum that is usually seen on the Internet today.
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|'''Other forums'''
|'''Other forums'''
|-
|-
|[http://carnage.bungie.org carnage.bungie.org] (WebBBS, 1999-2003)
|[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl carnage.bungie.org] (WebBBS, 1999-2003)
|[http://carnage.bungie.org/onishotsforum/os.archive.pl OniShots] (WebBBS, 2001-2002)
|[http://carnage.bungie.org/onishotsforum/os.archive.pl OniShots] (WebBBS, 2001-2002)
|-
|-
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{{Anchor|2006|2007|2008}}
{{Anchor|2006|2007|2008}}
Other important uses of the oni2.net domain included the [[Multiplayer#Fan-made multiplayer|OniPlayer]] project and the [http://edt.oni2.net subdomain] of user [[User:EdT|EdT]], which became the number-one source of information for Mac users on how to mod and run Oni on their machines. 2007 marked a high point in the community's reverse-engineering activity, leading to a near-complete understanding of the engine. With this increase in knowledge came an increase in the number of mods being made, and so in September of 2008 the [http://mods.oni2.net Oni Mod Depot] was opened by [[User:Iritscen|Iritscen]], in order to serve as a central location for the community's mods.
Other important uses of the oni2.net domain included the [[Multiplayer#Fan-made multiplayer|OniPlayer]] project and the [http://edt.oni2.net subdomain] of user [[User:EdT|EdT]], which became the number-one source of information for Mac users on how to mod and run Oni on their machines. 2007 marked a high point in the community's reverse-engineering activity, leading to a near-complete understanding of the engine. With this increase in knowledge came an increase in the number of mods being made, and so in September of 2008 the [http://mods.oni2.net Oni Mod Depot] was opened by [[User:Iritscen|Iritscen]] in order to serve as a central location for the community's mods.


==The community today==
==The community today==
The primary activity of the modern Oni community is producing mods, up to and including totally new levels. To see what the community has accomplished, see [[History of Oni modding]]. Fans have also speculated on possible [[Oni 2]]s, updated the game with [[Daodan DLL|patches]], and worked on [[multiplayer]] projects.
The primary activity of the modern Oni community has been producing mods, including totally new levels, developing new modding tools, and patching the game engine. The timeline of the community's achievements is recorded at [[History of Oni modding]]. To see the mods that have been produced, browse through the [[Anniversary Edition]] installer or visit the Mod Depot. To see the engine patching work, which now includes the production of new engine builds, see the [[:Category:Patches|Patches category]]. Fans have also speculated on possible [[Oni 2]]s and worked on [[multiplayer]] projects.
 
For links to the current fan sites for Bungie's other major classic titles, see [[Myth]] and [[Marathon]].


[[Category:Community history]]
[[Category:Community history]]