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Oni: Difference between revisions
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--> Pease was working at Apple on the 3D engine [[wp:QuickDraw 3D|RAVE]], and was in contact with Bungie because he frequently provided support to developers. He began pitching his concept for an animé-styled game with a mix of gunplay and melee combat to Alexander Seropian and Jason Jones at Bungie. | --> Pease was working at Apple on the 3D engine [[wp:QuickDraw 3D|RAVE]], and was in contact with Bungie because he frequently provided support to developers. He began pitching his concept for an animé-styled game with a mix of gunplay and melee combat to Alexander Seropian and Jason Jones at Bungie. | ||
An appealing component of Pease's pitch was apparently that his work would provide Bungie with a fully 3D engine for cross-platform (Macintosh and Windows) development, something that Bungie did not possess yet (previous "3D" games used what | An appealing component of Pease's pitch was apparently that his work would provide Bungie with a fully 3D engine for cross-platform (Macintosh and Windows) development, something that Bungie did not possess yet (their previous "3D" games used what we now call 2.5D graphics). However a condition of Pease's pitch was that a new studio would be formed around him in California so that he didn't have to move to Bungie's hometown of Chicago. It took one year of conversation with Seropian before the project was greenlit.<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|name="OBO Brent interview"|note=[http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html Bungie.org, "Interview with Brent Pease", 1999].}} | -->{{ref|name="OBO Brent interview"|note=[http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html Bungie.org, "Interview with Brent Pease", 1999].}} | ||
Work on Oni finally began in April 1997 with the founding of Bungie West, with the initial employees being | Work on Oni finally began in April 1997 with the founding of Bungie West, with the initial employees being Pease and Michael Evans, who had also been working on game-related technology at Apple. Pease's and Evan's first step was to begin programming Oni's engine while gradually hiring employees to produce concept art and game content. The first of these hires was [[Alex Okita]] as concept artist (and eventually character modeler). | ||
"Oni" was meant to be a development code name that referenced the game's inspiration – Pease considered ''oni'' | "Oni" was meant to be a development code name that referenced the game's inspiration – Pease considered ''oni''{{apos}}s meaning to be "ghost".{{ref|name="OBO Brent interview"}}<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|group=note|note=However Hardy LeBel, the writer of the story, indicated [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=19851 here] and [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=18292 here] that he understood "oni" to mean "demon" and had written the final story with that in mind. The final story incorporates many elements of the mythical oni, as explored in {{SectionLink|Oni (myth)|Connections to the game}}.}}<!-- | -->{{ref|group=note|note=However Hardy LeBel, the writer of the story, indicated [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=19851 here] and [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=18292 here] that he understood "oni" to mean "demon" and had written the final story with that in mind. The final story incorporates many elements of the mythical oni, as explored in {{SectionLink|Oni (myth)|Connections to the game}}.}}<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|group=note|note=At one time during development, the name "Mnemonic Shadow" was considered according to the [https://marathon.bungie.org/story/newjan-feb01.html Marathon Story Page].}}<!-- | -->{{ref|group=note|note=At one time during development, the name "Mnemonic Shadow" was considered according to the [https://marathon.bungie.org/story/newjan-feb01.html Marathon Story Page].}}<!-- | ||
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The earliest online hype came from the existing Bungie community.<!-- | The earliest online hype came from the existing Bungie community.<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|group=note|note=[https://marathon.bungie.org/story/newmay-june98.html Oni discussion] on the Marathon Story Page. Bungie fans first started talking about the newly-announced Oni (and the E3 1998 trailer) back in May-June 1998, unaware that it would not release for another two and a half years.}}<!-- | -->{{ref|group=note|note=[https://marathon.bungie.org/story/newmay-june98.html Oni discussion] on the Marathon Story Page. Bungie fans first started talking about the newly-announced Oni (and the E3 1998 trailer) back in May-June 1998, unaware that it would not release for another two and a half years.}}<!-- | ||
--> As | --> As information began to come out about Oni, a dedicated sub-community of the Bungie fandom emerged in the form of Oni Central, a news site and forum. | ||
Bungie West [[:Image:Sell sheet - features.jpg|initially promised]] various ambitious features such as human-like AI, sophisticated melee combat, realistic level architecture, complex particle dynamics, battles with a large mech (the "Iron Demon") and multiplayer capability. Two trailers were made for Oni, one in 1998 and one in 1999, reflecting the visions for the game during its time in development. These trailers and various screenshots were analyzed eagerly for evidence of Oni's ground-breaking features. | Bungie West [[:Image:Sell sheet - features.jpg|initially promised]] various ambitious features such as human-like AI, sophisticated melee combat, realistic level architecture, complex particle dynamics, battles with a large mech (the "Iron Demon") and multiplayer capability. Two trailers were made for Oni, one in 1998 and one in 1999, reflecting the visions for the game during its time in development. These trailers and various screenshots were analyzed eagerly for evidence of Oni's ground-breaking features. | ||
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After an initial onslaught of advertising which saw Konoko appear on [[:Category:Advertisements and magazine covers|many gaming magazine covers]], Oni's development stalled (as discussed below), and Bungie suspended the advertising of the game so as not to expend their marketing budget before Oni was even released.<!-- | After an initial onslaught of advertising which saw Konoko appear on [[:Category:Advertisements and magazine covers|many gaming magazine covers]], Oni's development stalled (as discussed below), and Bungie suspended the advertising of the game so as not to expend their marketing budget before Oni was even released.<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|name="advert"|note=[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4570 Oni Central Forum, "Re: Matt- could you address this?", Aug. 29, 2000].}}<!-- | -->{{ref|name="advert"|note=[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=4570 Oni Central Forum, "Re: Matt- could you address this?", Aug. 29, 2000].}}<!-- | ||
--> At the same time, Bungie's | --> At the same time, Bungie's main office 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]. | ||
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--> The end of 1999 saw the departure of one of the level designers, and then Brent Pease himself (with his Project Lead title being passed to Michael Evans). | --> The end of 1999 saw the departure of one of the level designers, and then Brent Pease himself (with his Project Lead title being passed to Michael Evans). | ||
Evans, LeBel and the team began honing the gameplay, shaping the final story, and figuring out what features or content would have to be dropped in order to ship the game before it was too late; Bungie was secretly suffering from serious money problems (see {{SectionLink||Buyout}} | Evans, LeBel and the team began honing the gameplay, shaping the final story, and figuring out what features or content would have to be dropped in order to ship the game before it was too late; Bungie was secretly suffering from serious money problems (see {{SectionLink||Buyout}}). | ||
In June | In May 2000 it was announced that multiplayer was being removed from the game due to latency issues and lack of time to create suitable arena levels for network play. The mecha enemy known as the Iron Demon and an additional level of the game were also cut due to lack of time to complete them. In order to address performance issues, graphical niceties such as lightmaps and realtime shadows were replaced with simpler implementations and polygonal detail was removed from levels. | ||
In June 2000 it was announced publicly that Bungie had been acquired by Microsoft. This caused an upset among Bungie's fan base, which mostly consisted of Mac users. They considered Microsoft to be Apple's nemesis, and now the company behind the upcoming Xbox console had taken the most popular game developer from the Mac world and would be incorporating them into their office complex in order to turn Halo into an Xbox launch title. The effect of the acquisition on Oni's development was dire: it meant that Bungie West had a few short months to finish their work and join the rest of Bungie at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. | |||
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.<!-- | ||
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-->{{ref|note=[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=6634 Oni Central Forum, "Leakage?", Nov. 27, 2000].}}<!-- | -->{{ref|note=[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=6634 Oni Central Forum, "Leakage?", Nov. 27, 2000].}}<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|note=[https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.tombraider/c/vB9G_SbOrmU/m/i6D6zJQvNngJ Usenet alt.games.tombraider thread, "ok wtf!", Nov. 5, 2000].}}<!-- | -->{{ref|note=[https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.tombraider/c/vB9G_SbOrmU/m/i6D6zJQvNngJ Usenet alt.games.tombraider thread, "ok wtf!", Nov. 5, 2000].}}<!-- | ||
--> As Bungie West reached the end of development, Oni's publisher, Take-Two Interactive, granted them an extra month to polish the game, even though it would mean missing the holiday season.<!--No official citation for this because it's in the private full interview video with Hardy, but see 33:48 in that video.--> This final period of asset development | --> As Bungie West reached the end of development, Oni's publisher, Take-Two Interactive, granted them an extra month to polish the game, even though it would mean missing the holiday season.<!--No official citation for this because it's in the private full interview video with Hardy, but see 33:48 in that video.--> This final period of asset development spanned October 2000, during which time the training level was added.<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|note=[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=5646 Oni Central Forum, "Re: is the "new' movie really the old trailer", Oct. 30, 2000]. Also, a gold master candidate produced on Oct. 30, 2000 already contained the training level. The timestamp on the Windows retail game data is Nov. 3, 2000, so all assets were done by that point.}} | -->{{ref|note=[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=5646 Oni Central Forum, "Re: is the "new' movie really the old trailer", Oct. 30, 2000]. Also, a gold master candidate produced on Oct. 30, 2000 already contained the training level. The timestamp on the Windows retail game data is Nov. 3, 2000, so all assets were done by that point.}} | ||
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-->{{ref|name="Mac GM"|note=See [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=7653 Oni Central Forum, "Re: It's coming... soon", Dec. 18, 2000], which showed that the Mac demo would not be ready until the Mac version of the game reached Gold Master status, and [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=8412 Oni Central Forum, "MAC DEMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", Dec. 22, 2000], celebrating the release of the demo. However, the official confirmation of Mac GM status didn't come [http://oni.bungie.org/newsarchives/2001/jan01.html#gold until Jan. 3, 2001].}}<!-- | -->{{ref|name="Mac GM"|note=See [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=7653 Oni Central Forum, "Re: It's coming... soon", Dec. 18, 2000], which showed that the Mac demo would not be ready until the Mac version of the game reached Gold Master status, and [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=8412 Oni Central Forum, "MAC DEMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", Dec. 22, 2000], celebrating the release of the demo. However, the official confirmation of Mac GM status didn't come [http://oni.bungie.org/newsarchives/2001/jan01.html#gold until Jan. 3, 2001].}}<!-- | ||
--> The PlayStation 2 version did not reach gold status until January 22, 2001, one week before the release date that had been announced in November 2000, indicating additional difficulties with the port's engine code.<!-- | --> The PlayStation 2 version did not reach gold status until January 22, 2001, one week before the release date that had been announced in November 2000, indicating additional difficulties with the port's engine code.<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|note=[https://web.archive.org/web/20010128150200/http://www.dailyradar.com/news/game_news_6691.html Daily Radar, "Oni Gets SCEA's Approval ", Jan. 22, 2001].}}<!-- | -->{{ref|note=[https://web.archive.org/web/20001213051800/http://www.imgmagazine.com/news/story.php?ArticleID=1400 IMG News, "Oni Release Date", Nov. 8, 2000].}}<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|note=[https://web.archive.org/web/20010128150200/http://www.dailyradar.com/news/game_news_6691.html Daily Radar, "Oni Gets SCEA's Approval", Jan. 22, 2001].}}<!-- | |||
--> The Windows demo, released in mid-December,<!-- | --> The Windows demo, released in mid-December,<!-- | ||
-->{{ref|note=[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=7479 Oni Central Forum, "ONI DEMO!", Dec. 17, 2000].}}<!-- | -->{{ref|note=[http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=7479 Oni Central Forum, "ONI DEMO!", Dec. 17, 2000].}}<!-- | ||
--> contained [[CHAPTER_01_._TRIAL_RUN|Chapter 1]] and [[CHAPTER 04 . TIGER BY THE TAIL|Chapter 4]]. A | --> contained [[CHAPTER_01_._TRIAL_RUN|Chapter 1]] and [[CHAPTER 04 . TIGER BY THE TAIL|Chapter 4]]. A second demo was released in late December with Chapter 1 and [[CHAPTER 02 . ENGINES OF EVIL|Chapter 2]] instead. The Mac demo, released a few days after the original Windows demo,{{ref|name="Mac GM"}} only ever contained Chapters 1 and 4. | ||
As Oni finally neared completion, Bungie resumed their advertising, now partnered with Take-Two, who were in the process of taking over the Oni [[wp:Intellectual property|IP]] as Bungie prepared to join Microsoft (see {{SectionLink||Buyout}} below). Promotional artwork was produced by Lorraine McLees as well as artists commissioned by Take-Two, and a four-issue comic book was produced under Take-Two's supervision and published by Dark Horse. Take-Two's PR efforts, however, seem to have been focused mainly on the PlayStation 2 version of the game. | As Oni finally neared completion, Bungie resumed their advertising, now partnered with Take-Two, who were in the process of taking over the Oni [[wp:Intellectual property|IP]] as Bungie prepared to join Microsoft (see {{SectionLink||Buyout}} below). Promotional artwork was produced by Lorraine McLees as well as artists commissioned by Take-Two, and a four-issue comic book was produced under Take-Two's supervision and published by Dark Horse. Take-Two's PR efforts, however, seem to have been focused mainly on the PlayStation 2 version of the game. | ||