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Oni 2 (Angel Studios): Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Oni 2 - Title screen.jpg|right|300px]]
[[Image:Oni 2 - Title screen.jpg|right|300px]]
<div class="noexcerpt">
{{Hatnote|For instructions on how to run the game, see [[/Running|HERE]]. For information on each level in the game, as well as stills/video footage, see [[/Levels|HERE]]. For technical documentation of the game, see [[OBD:Oni2AS|HERE]].}}
:''For instructions on how to run the game, see [[/Running|HERE]].
'''Oni 2''' was a sequel to [[Oni]] which was in development from 2001-2002 before being cancelled. The game was being developed by Angel Studios for the PlayStation 2 under publisher Take-Two Interactive before Angel was acquired by Rockstar and renamed [[wp:Rockstar San Diego|Rockstar San Diego]]. An ISO of a late or final development build of the game leaked in 2016 and was promptly documented by the game preservation YouTube channel PtoPOnline [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZItobLIJJMY here]. The name of the game seen on the main menu, '''Oni&nbsp;2:&nbsp;Death&nbsp;&&nbsp;Taxes''', was likely a working title or a light-hearted placeholder; the game data internally uses the name '''Oni&nbsp;2:&nbsp;Rebirth''', and this title can also be seen in an unused menu screen.
:''For information on each level in the game, as well as stills/video footage, see [[/Levels|HERE]].''
:''For technical documentation of the game, see [[OBD:Oni2AS|HERE]].''</div>
'''Oni 2''' was a sequel to [[Oni]] which was in development from 2001-2002 before being cancelled. The game was being developed by Angel Studios for the PlayStation 2 under publisher Take-Two Interactive before Angel was acquired by Rockstar and renamed [[wikipedia:Rockstar_San_Diego|Rockstar San Diego]]. An ISO of a late or final development build of the game leaked in 2016 and was promptly documented by the game preservation YouTube channel PtoPOnline [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZItobLIJJMY here]. The name of the game seen on the main menu, '''Oni&nbsp;2:&nbsp;Death&nbsp;&&nbsp;Taxes''', was likely a working title or a light-hearted placeholder; the game data internally uses the name '''Oni&nbsp;2:&nbsp;Rebirth''', and this title can also be seen in an unused menu screen.


==Development==
==Development==
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At this time, interviews with former developers revealed that the game had started development at the beginning of 2001 or even late 2000, which might mean that its development overlapped with Oni's. Since the development build is dated Dec. 10, 2002, that means that the game was in development for as long as two years. After all that time, it was apparently not even close to completion. The project suffered from a lack of clear direction, and when Angel was acquired by Rockstar and renamed as Rockstar San Diego in 2002, Oni 2 was cancelled in favor of other projects.
At this time, interviews with former developers revealed that the game had started development at the beginning of 2001 or even late 2000, which might mean that its development overlapped with Oni's. Since the development build is dated Dec. 10, 2002, that means that the game was in development for as long as two years. After all that time, it was apparently not even close to completion. The project suffered from a lack of clear direction, and when Angel was acquired by Rockstar and renamed as Rockstar San Diego in 2002, Oni 2 was cancelled in favor of other projects.


The game binary contains various strings which demonstrate that it ran on the Angel Game Engine (AGE), the in-house engine used by Angel Studios. Since Angel almost exclusively developed racing games at the time Oni 2 was started, it's difficult to understand why T2 assigned them a third-person brawler with a heavy focus on bipedal animation. It seems likely that Angel had to do a tremendous amount of coding to add support for this type of game to their engine. Interestingly, Angel was apparently bought by Rockstar for their engine, and AGE became RAGE, the [[wikipedia:Rockstar_Advanced_Game_Engine|Rockstar Advanced Game Engine]], which Rockstar has used to power the Grand Theft Auto games from IV onward.
The game binary contains various strings which demonstrate that it ran on the Angel Game Engine (AGE), the in-house engine used by Angel Studios. Since Angel almost exclusively developed racing games at the time Oni 2 was started, it's difficult to understand why T2 assigned them a third-person brawler with a heavy focus on bipedal animation. It seems likely that Angel had to do a tremendous amount of coding to add support for this type of game to their engine. Interestingly, Angel was apparently bought by Rockstar for their engine, and AGE became RAGE, the [[wp:Rockstar Advanced Game Engine|Rockstar Advanced Game Engine]], which Rockstar has used to power the Grand Theft Auto games from IV onward.


A concept artist for Oni 2, Eric Lin, has done some original art in subsequent years that reflects his work on the game.  Click [https://www.deviantart.com/hinxlinx/gallery?catpath=/&edit=0&q=oni here] to search his gallery for Oni-related art.
A concept artist for Oni 2, Eric Lin, has done some original art in subsequent years that reflects his work on the game.  Click [https://www.deviantart.com/hinxlinx/gallery?catpath=/&edit=0&q=oni here] to search his gallery for Oni-related art.