Talk:Oni/Early Story

The material on the article page tells us almost everything we need to know about the last iteration of the story before Hardy LeBel came onboard in the summer of 1999. Hardy was hired as Design Lead, and revamped the story to produce the version we know today. Let's analyze and contrast.

"Backstory"

• An inside source told us that the story document from Spring 1999 was written by a temp (either Jayson Mendoza or Alex Gray, who are in the credits). This is why he wrote, "BWest thinks the game is going to end with her stumbling out of the rubble", where the writer comments on Bungie West as if they're a separate entity from himself.

• It's interesting to note that all the bold names without asterisks in the story document were ultimately used in the final story, except that Konoko's father's name isn't stated at all. Here it's Shin (although that name is attached to "Takamatsu"), however in Konoko's Unit Viewer bio (see below), Hasegawa's first name is Kenichi.

• If you're wondering about the Orbital Mind Control lasers, it's just a cute reference to this card game. While Bungie no doubt had more serious intentions for the final version of the weapon at the center of the conflict, the key takeaway from this is that a level in the game still has satellites and a giant satellite dish for sending them a signal. Mountain Compound was apparently built with this plot point in mind.

• The mention of the "electric plant" is pretty interesting. Here's the shocking truth: the ACC level… it's still an electric plant. The arcing electricity, the giant electric pipes, the level names (AKEVpower and AKEVpower_II)…. One possible modification made after the story rewrite is the final giant tunnel with the fan at the end, which fits better with the concept of an atmospheric processor. Except that the fan's shaft is pulsing with electricity until you turn it off at a console. Makes a lot more sense now, doesn't it?

• Muro's reason for kidnapping Shinatama is less clear in Oni's final story than it is in this version, where Muro wants to know where his sister is and hacks into Shinatama's memories to find out.

• Konoko's crazed mission of revenge explains the look on her face in the intro movie after she drops from above. That's not the Konoko we know, and it's because the sequence was animated before the story rewrite. The "aic" folder on the first Oni press kit disc is dated June 30, 1999, and we've been told that mid-1999 is when the intro was animated; Hardy came onboard in August. Konoko's appearance is also different from any other art; that is partly because Alex Okita storyboarded the sequence that was sent to AIC. Alex originally designed Konoko but the final version of the character was designed by Lorraine McLees, who didn't start as Bungie's full-time art director until June. Any further deviations from Alex's usual character design may be due to AIC taking creative license.

• One gets the general impression, after comparing the early and final stories, and taking into account the possible plans for a final level ending with a big bang (see BGI § Syndicate HQ, that Oni was largely developed under the premise of this earlier story, or some roughly-sketched ideas predating this write-up. Bungie no doubt intended to create a final, detailed script from this temp-produced outline. Nevertheless, it seems that the game's content was mostly produced according to this understanding of the plot before Hardy came on and began reworking the story. The final versions of some levels, such the Atmospheric Conversion Center, were then essentially "re-dubbed" with the new story.

"aic" folder

Apparently Bungie West made a gallery in HTML of reference pictures for the animé studio AIC to work from while animating the intro movie.

• The "Kage Syndicate"? Interesting. "Kage" here probably means "shadow". "Kage" may have been no more than a placeholder, since the Unit Viewer pictures say "Blah Syndicate", as if the name was still unimportant to Bungie at that time. Eventually they would simply strike the "Kage/Blah" from the name and run with it.

• The ninja being called a bio-chemically enhanced kickboxer... pretty sure that's a copy-and-paste mistake that happened when they copied down the previous row (Tanker) in the HTML table.

"Unit Viewer" picture 1

• Konoko's vital stats can be found here. Although we could argue their canonicity in terms of this being the pre-Hardy era, at least these were her stats at the time:

Age: 23
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 125 lbs. 
Hair Color: Black / purple hilites
Eyes: Green
Proficiency: Firearms / Martial arts
Favorite color: Black
Favorite food: Shrimp and mango
Favorite quote: Eat lead, bitch!
Blood Type: A positive
IQ Level: 203 (is that bad?)

• Finally we find out Konoko's age. Most of us have guessed anywhere from 19 to 25, so this is not surprising. More interesting is that her birth year combined with her age means that Oni does indeed take place in 2032 (at least in this version of the story).
• The height and weight are nice to know, also not too surprising.
• Konoko's favorite quote is... memorable, but not very much in keeping with her personality in Oni.
• Blood type, eh? What is this, Japan? Incidentally, blood type A is supposed to be "reserved, patient and responsible", which are the exact opposite of the Konoko we all know and love.
• It appears that Bungie didn't intend Konoko to be a brawn-over-brain character, as witnessed by her super-genius IQ (which Konoko seems to be quasi-embarrassed about). While one could argue that this was before the rewrite and therefore Konoko's IQ could be anything now, it's worth noting that a similar smart-but-self-conscious note is struck in-game when Konoko recognizes atmospheric processing equipment and then wonders if that makes her a nerd. She is also quick enough to recognize that Musashi Manufacturing is just a stalling tactic for Muro, and figured out how to escape from an impossible situation in Science Prison moments after learning about her Chrysalis. Her 99.999 percentile IQ might just be intact in Oni's final story.

"Unit Viewer" picture 2

• Here is Konoko's Background text from the second picture:

Konoko Hasegawa was born in the year 2009 to Shin and Yuko Takamatsu, the First Family of the Blah Crime Syndicate of Blah City. In order to save her from a life of crime, her father put her up for adoption. She was adopted by Kenichi and Barbara Hasegawa as their only child. Konoko entered the police academy at age 18 and graduated at the top of her class. She is an excellent marksman and adept at four types of martial arts. Her petite size belies her strength and determination.

• Konoko Hasegawa was born to the Takamatsus? Confusing, but Hasegawa was her adoptive name in this version of the story, as seen above under "Backstory".
• Konoko was apparently all Japanese in this version, judging from her real parents' names, but her adoptive parents seem to be a Japanese man and Caucasian woman, which matches the final story.
• The names Kenichi and Barbara are a nod and wink at the placeholder names in "Backstory", Ken and Barbie.