Mac beta 4: Difference between revisions

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Although no PC [[wiktionary:beta#Noun|betas]] are known to have been leaked, there are two known Mac betas which have shed some light on the development of Oni.
{{Hatnote|See [[History of Mac Oni]] for the story of the officially released builds of Oni for Mac.}}
[[Image:Mac beta 4 Oni Get Info window.png|thumb|The application's version number is 1.0, as opposed to [[:Image:Classic Mac Oni Get Info window.jpg|retail Mac Oni]]'s v1.1, and its creation date is 11/14/00, which corresponds to the period of time that Oni was in beta testing.]]
Over the course of Oni's development, a few [[wikt:beta#Noun|betas]] [https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.tombraider/c/vB9G_SbOrmU/m/i6D6zJQvNngJ?pli=1 apparently] [https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.tombraider/c/YTX7E3Y-fQI/m/_qxQnw37pvoJ leaked], though only one, a Mac beta, has been preserved. Also worth mentioning are the [[European Mac releases]], because they were found to contain some files not meant for the release version; the first of these releases examined, the German version, was once known as the "Big Blue Box beta", "BBBB", or "Mac beta 5", though it is now understood to not be a beta.


;Beta 4 (leaked during beta testing)
==Developer Mode==
Once cheat codes were unlocked by beating the beta (or hacking [[persist.dat]]), entering the code "thedayismine" would enable [[Developer Mode|Developer Access]]. Later on it would be discovered that the retail Mac (and PC) Oni also had Dev Mode, but it would need to be unlocked by [[History of Oni modding#Engine patching|engine patching]]; this is the only version of Oni observed to have Dev Mode freely accessible.
During Oni's beta testing period, specifically in November 2000, a copy of the entire Mac version of the game [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=6634 was leaked], identified as "beta 4". Also leaked was a list of cheats. After Oni was released, fans were intrigued by the "[[Developer Mode]]" cheat "thedayismine", but found it did not work in their retail versions of Oni. By contrast, Dev Mode was found to still be active in beta 4. It was initially assumed that the code for Dev Mode had been removed before the retail build was made. [[History of Oni modding/The tale of Dev Mode|Later on]] it would be discovered that the retail Mac (and Windows) Oni still had a partially-functional Dev Mode, but the cheat that enabled it would need to be unlocked by [[History of Oni modding#Engine patching|engine patching]]; beta 4 is the only version of Oni observed to have Dev Mode freely accessible.


Also, this beta still had all the BSL functionality of the PC version; it had previously been thought that about 40 functions and about 160 variables were stripped from Oni for the Mac (listed [[BSL:PC_vs._Mac_Comparison_(list)|here]]). Having seen that the code was once present in the Mac binary, the community set about searching for it in the retail Mac version, and found it. Through hex editing, pointers to current variables and functions that were not of much use were diverted to point to some of the hidden and more useful BSL abilities. Those efforts have brought the retail Mac release into effective near-parity with the retail PC version; the changes made are documented [[AE:OMNI|here]].
==BSL commands==
Additionally, this beta still had all the BSL functionality of the Windows version; it had previously been thought that about 40 functions and about 160 variables were stripped from the code used to build Oni for the Mac, since the Mac version was finalized a bit later than the Windows version. Having seen from beta 4 that these functions and variables were once present in the Mac binary, the community set about searching for them in the current Mac app at the time, The Omni Group's [[OMNI|Mac OS X port]], and found them. Through hex editing, pointers to active BSL variables and functions that were not of much use were diverted to point to some of the hidden and more useful ones. Those changes effectively brought the Omni app to near-parity with the retail Windows version.


;Beta 5 (sold in German online store)
[[Category:Oni history]]
At one time, beta 5 of the Mac Oni was actually being sold as if it were the retail version. It was part of a package of four games called the Big Blue Box, and sold only on a German website. It may no longer be available for purchase, but the product page is [http://www.macelite.de/product_info.php?language=en&info=p107_Big-Blue-Box--Mac-.html here]. By the time of beta 5, access to Developer Mode and many BSL functions had been removed, but this version had something new: a set of files called level0_Tools.
 
level0_Tools (in the traditional level file format of .dat/.raw/.sep) contains resources used during development. The beta does not actually seem able to use these tools in-game, but the function of the tools was determined from examining their resources. You can download level0_Tools [http://geyser.oni2.net/edition/plugins/level0_Tools.zip here].
 
:level0_Tools contains:
:*some furniture [[OFGA]]s (which are now baked into the environment of Oni's levels, as generic [[AKEV]] quads that are merely flagged as furniture);
:*some [[WMDD]]s that were used at some point to edit [[OBJC]] and other [[BINA]] (helpful in reverse-engineering the BINA formats)
:*textures that were used for debugging or for other, more obscure purposes (the most notable such texture is [[:Image:TXMPPOSTER3.png|Hapékat]], our mascot)
 
:[[OniSplit]] can be used to extract the data into individual resources, for the curious.
 
Finally, beta 5 contains a number of unique scripts in the IGMD folder, which apparently provided the logic for unreleased levels that were (mostly) used for testing during development. Since the actual level files for these scripts are not present, they are of little value beyond being historically interesting. Some of these scripts actually may have been used for levels intended for the final game, although they were far from completed. One script, for instance, is for a level that would have taken place in a building owned by [[BGI]], and there is code for a cutscene where Konoko sets off a bomb, and one where the late [[Iron Demon]] makes its appearance.

Latest revision as of 03:08, 10 December 2022

See History of Mac Oni for the story of the officially released builds of Oni for Mac.
The application's version number is 1.0, as opposed to retail Mac Oni's v1.1, and its creation date is 11/14/00, which corresponds to the period of time that Oni was in beta testing.

Over the course of Oni's development, a few betas apparently leaked, though only one, a Mac beta, has been preserved. Also worth mentioning are the European Mac releases, because they were found to contain some files not meant for the release version; the first of these releases examined, the German version, was once known as the "Big Blue Box beta", "BBBB", or "Mac beta 5", though it is now understood to not be a beta.

Developer Mode

During Oni's beta testing period, specifically in November 2000, a copy of the entire Mac version of the game was leaked, identified as "beta 4". Also leaked was a list of cheats. After Oni was released, fans were intrigued by the "Developer Mode" cheat "thedayismine", but found it did not work in their retail versions of Oni. By contrast, Dev Mode was found to still be active in beta 4. It was initially assumed that the code for Dev Mode had been removed before the retail build was made. Later on it would be discovered that the retail Mac (and Windows) Oni still had a partially-functional Dev Mode, but the cheat that enabled it would need to be unlocked by engine patching; beta 4 is the only version of Oni observed to have Dev Mode freely accessible.

BSL commands

Additionally, this beta still had all the BSL functionality of the Windows version; it had previously been thought that about 40 functions and about 160 variables were stripped from the code used to build Oni for the Mac, since the Mac version was finalized a bit later than the Windows version. Having seen from beta 4 that these functions and variables were once present in the Mac binary, the community set about searching for them in the current Mac app at the time, The Omni Group's Mac OS X port, and found them. Through hex editing, pointers to active BSL variables and functions that were not of much use were diverted to point to some of the hidden and more useful ones. Those changes effectively brought the Omni app to near-parity with the retail Windows version.

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