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Oni 2 (Angel Studios): Difference between revisions
moved a little detail from the lede to the Download section; provided correct link for insider leak; restored EPForums link for posterity even though it's behind a reg wall
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(moved a little detail from the lede to the Download section; provided correct link for insider leak; restored EPForums link for posterity even though it's behind a reg wall) |
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[[Image:Oni 2 - Title screen.jpg|right|300px]] | [[Image:Oni 2 - Title screen.jpg|right|300px]] | ||
[[Image:Oni 2 - Unused Select Level menu.jpg|right|300px]] | [[Image:Oni 2 - Unused Select Level menu.jpg|right|300px]] | ||
'''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. Development stopped when Angel Studios was acquired by Rockstar and renamed [[wp:Rockstar San Diego|Rockstar San Diego]]. | '''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. Development stopped when Angel Studios was acquired by Rockstar and renamed [[wp:Rockstar San Diego|Rockstar San Diego]]. | ||
A 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 2: Death & Taxes''', was likely a working title or a light-hearted placeholder; the game data internally uses the name '''Oni 2: Rebirth''', and this title can also be seen in an unused menu screen (right). | |||
:''Subpages:'' | :''Subpages:'' | ||
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[[Image:Oni 2 - Konoko profile.jpg|right|220px]] | [[Image:Oni 2 - Konoko profile.jpg|right|220px]] | ||
[[Image:Oni 2 - Konoko three-quarters away combat.jpg|right|220px]] | [[Image:Oni 2 - Konoko three-quarters away combat.jpg|right|220px]] | ||
Shortly after Oni was released, it was [http://oni.bungie.org/newsarchives/2001/apr01.html rumored] that Take-Two had put Oni 2 into production; however, no sequel was ever officially announced. In 2007, the rumor of a cancelled sequel was bolstered by [ | Shortly after Oni was released, it was [http://oni.bungie.org/newsarchives/2001/apr01.html rumored] that Take-Two had put Oni 2 into production; however, no sequel was ever officially announced. In 2007, the rumor of a cancelled sequel was bolstered by [https://web.archive.org/web/20071019010454/https://sttnw.blogspot.com/2007/10/18-canceled-games-you-never-knew.html an insider leak] which asserted that Oni 2 had been under development by Angel Studios for the PS2. In 2016, the full story finally came out when an actual development build of the cancelled game was leaked, documented by PtoPOnline, and covered by [https://kotaku.com/bungie-s-cult-classic-oni-almost-had-a-sequel-1789693658 Kotaku]. | ||
At this time, interviews with former developers revealed that the game had started development at the beginning of 2001 or even late 2000, which | At this time, interviews with former developers revealed that the game had started development at the beginning of 2001 or even late 2000, which means that its development might have overlapped with Oni's. The development build is dated Dec. 10, 2002, telling us 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 [[wp: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. | 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. | ||
==Gameplay== | ==Gameplay== | ||
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==Download== | ==Download== | ||
An ISO of a development build of the game, presumably one of the last builds, leaked in 2016 on the EmuParadise forums. The forum post (<nowiki>https://www.epforums.org/showthread.php?107807-BETA-Oni-2-Death-and-Taxes-(Prototype)</nowiki>) is behind a registration wall, but it states that the ISO has been uploaded to [https://mega.nz/#!x9oHxaLZ!-bOo-wwdj1fh925DYv1Qc6ErDSRl2HEgtWC-i2FtxtY this MEGA page]. | |||
[[Category:Oni history]] | [[Category:Oni history]] | ||