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Oni: Difference between revisions
added some images; moved around some images and "further reading" links; reworked Reception to list more accurate reviewer complaints, to be less defensively worded, and to end with a somewhat positive note
m (actually I can't find a single notable Oni dev who left at the time of the MS merger) |
(added some images; moved around some images and "further reading" links; reworked Reception to list more accurate reviewer complaints, to be less defensively worded, and to end with a somewhat positive note) |
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--> At the same time, Bungie's HQ in Chicago had their own game under development; previously known only by its code name "Blam!", in 1999 it came to be known as "Halo" and slowly drew attention away from the oft-delayed Oni as images and trailers for it began to appear. | --> At the same time, Bungie's HQ in Chicago had their own game under development; previously known only by its code name "Blam!", in 1999 it came to be known as "Halo" and slowly drew attention away from the oft-delayed Oni as images and trailers for it began to appear. | ||
''Further reading:'' [[Trailers]], [[History of the Oni community]], [http://oni.bungie.org/special/ Oni Central interview with Bungie West | ''Further reading:'' [[Trailers]], [[History of the Oni community]], [http://oni.bungie.org/special/ Oni Central interview with Bungie West]. | ||
==Troubles== | ==Troubles== | ||
[[Image:Oni MP at MacWorld NY 1999 2.jpg|thumb|250px|The canceled multiplayer mode.]] | |||
[[Image:ManPlant12.jpg|thumb|250px|You can compare the lighting of the environment above to the [[:Image:Ch._2_dynamo_room.jpg|lighting it has now]].]] | |||
Oni was originally expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 1999,{{ref|name="advert"}} but as that time approached, the release date was pushed back to Q1 2000.{{ref|group=note|note=[[:Image:Info sheet.jpg|This info sheet]], while it's not clear where it was used, shows that Bungie thought the game was right around the corner. The date on the original document is Sep. 29, 1999, giving them no more than six months to finish the game….}} This occurred repeatedly, until finally the rumored release date was as late as March 2001.<!-- | Oni was originally expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 1999,{{ref|name="advert"}} but as that time approached, the release date was pushed back to Q1 2000.{{ref|group=note|note=[[:Image:Info sheet.jpg|This info sheet]], while it's not clear where it was used, shows that Bungie thought the game was right around the corner. The date on the original document is Sep. 29, 1999, giving them no more than six months to finish the game….}} This occurred repeatedly, until finally the rumored release date was as late as March 2001.<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|group=note|note=Discussions on Oni Central Forum of: a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=2533 fall 1999] release date, a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=1129 summer 2000] release date, a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4084 fall 2000] release date, and finally a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4699 spring 2001] release date. These "release dates" were generally rumors, ephemeral dates used by online stores for pre-orders, or vague estimates by Bungie PR, not official statements. Nevertheless, it was clear that Oni was taking longer than planned to finish, which was a cause of some concern among Bungie fans.}}<!-- | -->{{ref|group=note|note=Discussions on Oni Central Forum of: a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=2533 fall 1999] release date, a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=1129 summer 2000] release date, a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4084 fall 2000] release date, and finally a [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4699 spring 2001] release date. These "release dates" were generally rumors, ephemeral dates used by online stores for pre-orders, or vague estimates by Bungie PR, not official statements. Nevertheless, it was clear that Oni was taking longer than planned to finish, which was a cause of some concern among Bungie fans.}}<!-- | ||
--> Some of the uncertainty came from Bungie's typical reluctance to announce or adhere to fixed release dates. | --> Some of the uncertainty came from Bungie's typical reluctance to announce or adhere to fixed release dates; additional confusion came from the multitude of other parties involved in Oni's release: Take-Two, Gathering of Developers and Rockstar. | ||
However, unbeknownst to the public, development of Oni was troubled from the start. The team was young and inexperienced, and development suffered from a lack of direction. A great deal of code had been written and assets created without producing a story that was playable from start to finish. Transferring data from the professional software used for level modeling and animation into Oni wasn't even possible until the very end of 1997.<!-- | However, unbeknownst to the public, development of Oni was troubled from the start. The team was young and inexperienced, and development suffered from a lack of direction. A great deal of code had been written and assets created without producing a story that was playable from start to finish. Transferring data from the professional software used for level modeling and animation into Oni wasn't even possible until the very end of 1997.<!-- | ||
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In order to ship the game by year-end, the Bungie West staff worked massive overtime for several months straight.<!-- | In order to ship the game by year-end, the Bungie West staff worked massive overtime for several months straight.<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|group=note|note=Michael Evans said, "Most of us were working 14 hours a day 7 days a week" in [https://web.archive.org/web/20010128191200/http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/interviews/interview_oni.html this interview].}}<!-- | -->{{ref|group=note|note=Michael Evans said, "Most of us were working 14 hours a day 7 days a week" in [https://web.archive.org/web/20010128191200/http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/interviews/interview_oni.html this interview].}}<!-- | ||
--> During this "crunch" period, the unexpected departure of the graphics programmer led to his replacement and | --> During this "crunch" period, the unexpected departure of the graphics programmer led to his replacement and an overhaul of the graphics code to fix bugs with certain 3D cards and to improve performance.<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|group=note|note=Stefan Sinclair tells the story in the Description section of [https://archive.is/njEe3#:~:text=Fun%20fact this eBay auction] of how he was sent in by Bungie to pick up where the previous programmer left off in August 2000.<!--We know that he replaced the previous programmer in August 2000 because that's when Stefan started asking questions on the Khronos.org forum about OpenGL ^_^. It can be confirmed by looking at the dates on his source files in the Oni codebase.--> After having rewritten much of the core graphics routines, he alluded to the massive performance boost he gave the game in [https://community.khronos.org/t/how-expensive-are-redundant-state-changes/38974/4 this forum post].}}<!-- | -->{{ref|group=note|note=Stefan Sinclair tells the story in the Description section of [https://archive.is/njEe3#:~:text=Fun%20fact this eBay auction] of how he was sent in by Bungie to pick up where the previous programmer left off in August 2000.<!--We know that he replaced the previous programmer in August 2000 because that's when Stefan started asking questions on the Khronos.org forum about OpenGL ^_^. It can be confirmed by looking at the dates on his source files in the Oni codebase.--> After having rewritten much of the core graphics routines, he alluded to the massive performance boost he gave the game in [https://community.khronos.org/t/how-expensive-are-redundant-state-changes/38974/4 this forum post].}}<!-- | ||
--> Technical and/or gameplay issues required all 14 levels to have their geometry significantly altered over the course of 7 months.<!-- | --> Technical and/or gameplay issues required all 14 levels to have their geometry significantly altered over the course of 7 months.<!-- | ||
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-->{{ref|note=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbrPu15jjPs&t=960s mrixrt, "Bungie's Forgotten Franchise - Oni", Mar. 11, 2019], 16 minute mark.}}<!-- | -->{{ref|note=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbrPu15jjPs&t=960s mrixrt, "Bungie's Forgotten Franchise - Oni", Mar. 11, 2019], 16 minute mark.}}<!-- | ||
--> It is only due to this final push that a playable and enjoyable game was forged out of their years of prior work. | --> It is only due to this final push that a playable and enjoyable game was forged out of their years of prior work. | ||
''Further reading:'' [[Timeline of development]], [[Pre-beta content]], [[Pre-beta features]], [[Multiplayer]]. | |||
==Completion== | ==Completion== | ||
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==Release== | ==Release== | ||
[[Image:Mac (US) box art (holographic) - front (SDR).jpg|thumb|250px|The holographic gatefold box, seemingly only released in the United States.]] | |||
[[Image:Showcase screenshot 1.png|thumb|250px|Konoko hoists a Tanker into the air with one of her many throws.]] | |||
Oni was finally released, much later than originally expected, on January 29, 2001 in the United States.<!-- | Oni was finally released, much later than originally expected, on January 29, 2001 in the United States.<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|note=[http://oni.bungie.org/newsarchives/2001/jan01.html Oni Central News Archive, Jan. 2001].}}<!-- | -->{{ref|note=[http://oni.bungie.org/newsarchives/2001/jan01.html Oni Central News Archive, Jan. 2001].}}<!-- | ||
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Oni's storyline is fairly straightforward, although it has been called "understated". Because the story takes place over about a week and a half in the game's timeline, there is little room to develop the characters or setting, although large amounts of additional information are to be found in consoles scattered throughout the levels. | Oni's storyline is fairly straightforward, although it has been called "understated". Because the story takes place over about a week and a half in the game's timeline, there is little room to develop the characters or setting, although large amounts of additional information are to be found in consoles scattered throughout the levels. | ||
The developers achieved a unique blend of gunplay and hand-to-hand combat, with fluid controls and a camera that ensures that the action is always visible. The guns are a mix of ordinary ballistic and unconventional sci-fi weaponry, and weapon handling places some emphasis on realism: | The developers achieved a unique blend of gunplay and hand-to-hand combat, with fluid controls and a camera that ensures that the action is always visible. The guns are a mix of ordinary ballistic and unconventional sci-fi weaponry, and weapon handling places some emphasis on realism: Konoko only carries one weapon at a time, and a gun's ammo is tracked persistently whether it is being handled by the player or an enemy. Weapons and melee have some aim assist to compensate for the third-person camera making precise aim difficult. The melee component of the game is particularly complex, employing over 2000 animations, and is frequently the main element that fans point to when praising the uniqueness of the gameplay. | ||
Oni uses an in-house graphics engine developed from scratch for this game, and never used for any other game; it was optimized for handling levels with larger indoor environments than typical games of the time. The texturing in the game is minimalist, a style chosen to try to match the look of [[animé]]. The graphics are limited to basic texture mapping, pseudo-reflection mapping and pseudo-lightmaps (achieved through vertex shading). | Oni uses an in-house graphics engine developed from scratch for this game, and never used for any other game; it was optimized for handling levels with larger indoor environments than typical games of the time. The texturing in the game is minimalist, a style chosen to try to match the look of [[animé]]. The graphics are limited to basic texture mapping, pseudo-reflection mapping and pseudo-lightmaps (achieved through vertex shading). | ||
''Further reading:'' [[Localizations]], [[Releases | ''Further reading:'' [[Localizations]], [[Releases]], [[Gameplay]], [[Chapters|Plot summary]]. | ||
==Reception== | ==Reception== | ||
[[Image: | [[Image:Showcase screenshot 2.png|thumb|250px|An explosion goes off as Konoko runs through the Cargo Hangars.]] | ||
The overall consensus of the critical reviews was that the game was good, but not great; Oni has a [https://www.metacritic.com/game/oni-2001/ metascore] of 73/100 from critics, but an 8.4/10 from the website's voters. | The overall consensus of the critical reviews was that the game was good, but not great; Oni has a [https://www.metacritic.com/game/oni-2001/ metascore] of 73/100 from critics, but an 8.4/10 from the website's voters. | ||
Game reviewers often criticized the understated plot, or the lack of variety in mission objectives. Common additional complaints centered on the sparse environments, character models clipping through walls, a lack of interactivity with the environment, and a lack of mouth movements when characters speak during cutscenes. | |||
Many fans who'd followed the game's development were let down because the game did not deliver on all of its promises. The most notable shortcoming was the absence of LAN multiplayer, which had been featured in playable demos at expo booths in 1999 and 2000. Previously hyped features were missing, such as the AI characters being able to run for help and work together. This was attributed to the turnover in the AI engineering position after the original programmer was not able to complete all the tasks in the timeframe that she stated she would.<!-- | |||
-->{{ref | -->{{ref|note=[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=19661 Oni Central Forum, "Re: More questions... (mainly for chef...)", Jul. 7, 2002].}}<!-- | ||
--> | -->There was also disappointment at the cutting of some planned content, detailed under {{SectionLink||Troubles}}. | ||
Nevertheless many players enjoyed the game immensely, and a vibrant modding community was formed in the interest of polishing the game further, adding new content, and even recreating cut content that was seen during development. | |||
''Further reading:'' | ''Further reading:'' [[Reviews]], [[:Category:Screenshots|Screenshots]]. | ||
==Buyout== | ==Buyout== | ||