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Oni: Difference between revisions
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Work on Oni began in 1997 when Bungie decided to found a second studio, Bungie West. The concept for their first project was devised by Brent Pease and Michael Evans, whose primary influence was the animé film [[wikipedia:Ghost in the Shell (film)|''Ghost in the Shell'']]<ref>Pease discusses his role as Oni's creator and GitS' influence on the game [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html here].</ref> (adapted from [[wikipedia:Masamune Shirow|Masamune Shirow]]'s [[wikipedia:Ghost_in_the_Shell_(manga)|manga series]]). Pease and Evans had been working at Apple on 3D game technology, and so their first step was to begin work on the engine, gradually hiring employes to produce concept art and author content for the game. The name "Oni" was originally intended only as a codename during development; Pease used it in homage to their source of inspiration, believing its meaning to be "Ghost"<ref>The meaning of "oni" is usually given by those familiar with Japanese myths as either "demon" or "ogre". See the [[Oni (demon)]] page for an exploration of the word and possible connections to the game's content. Pease explains the origin of the name [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html here], and seems to still think the word means "ghost"; however, Hardy, his eventual replacement, indicates [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 re-written the story with that in mind.</ref><ref>At one time during development, the name "Mnemonic Shadow" was considered. (http://marathon.bungie.org/story/newjan-feb01.html)</ref>. | Work on Oni began in 1997 when Bungie decided to found a second studio, Bungie West. The concept for their first project was devised by Brent Pease and Michael Evans, whose primary influence was the animé film [[wikipedia:Ghost in the Shell (film)|''Ghost in the Shell'']]<ref>Pease discusses his role as Oni's creator and GitS' influence on the game [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html here].</ref> (adapted from [[wikipedia:Masamune Shirow|Masamune Shirow]]'s [[wikipedia:Ghost_in_the_Shell_(manga)|manga series]]). Pease and Evans had been working at Apple on 3D game technology, and so their first step was to begin work on the engine, gradually hiring employes to produce concept art and author content for the game. The name "Oni" was originally intended only as a codename during development; Pease used it in homage to their source of inspiration, believing its meaning to be "Ghost"<ref>The meaning of "oni" is usually given by those familiar with Japanese myths as either "demon" or "ogre". See the [[Oni (demon)]] page for an exploration of the word and possible connections to the game's content. Pease explains the origin of the name [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html here], and seems to still think the word means "ghost"; however, Hardy, his eventual replacement, indicates [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 re-written the story with that in mind.</ref><ref>At one time during development, the name "Mnemonic Shadow" was considered. (http://marathon.bungie.org/story/newjan-feb01.html)</ref>. | ||
The designs for [[Konoko]] and Commander [[Griffin]] can be seen to resemble the characters of [[wikipedia:Motoko Kusanagi|Motoko Kusanagi]] and [[wikipedia:Daisuke Aramaki|Daisuke Aramaki]]. Early development even presented Konoko as a [[wikipedia:cyborg|cyborg]], which, together with the tech-crime-fighting setting, resembled the world of ''Ghost in the Shell''. | The designs for [[Konoko]] and Commander [[Griffin]] can be seen to resemble the characters of [[wikipedia:Motoko Kusanagi|Motoko Kusanagi]] and [[wikipedia:Daisuke Aramaki|Daisuke Aramaki]]. Early development even presented Konoko as a [[wikipedia:cyborg|cyborg]], which, together with the tech-crime-fighting setting, resembled the world of ''Ghost in the Shell''. In August of 1999, Hardy LeBel was brought in as Design Lead, and revamped the story<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20010727151534/www.insidemacgames.com/features/00/lebel/ IMG interview with Hardy LeBel].</ref>. The final version of Oni abandons the cyborg heroine and instead introduces original concepts such as [[Daodan]] and [[SLD]]s. | ||
Oni was [ | Oni was [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=2533 originally expected] to be released in the fourth quarter of 1999, but as that date approached, the release date was pushed back. This occurred repeatedly, until finally the rumored release date was as late as March 2001. Much of the uncertainty over Oni's status came from Bungie's well-known reluctance to disclose or adhere to fixed release dates. Some of the delay may have come from staff turnover and development issues; a Design Lead position was created in the summer of 1999 for newcomer Hardy LeBel, who immediately began rewriting the story. Pease left at the end of 1999 (with his Project Lead title being passed to Michael Evans) and Bungie West also lost one of their two level designers and replaced the AI programmer in the same six-month period between the summer and the end of 1999. | ||
Possible additional factors were the introduction of a PS2 port to be released in tandem with Oni for Windows/Mac, part of a deal struck with [http://www.take2games.com/ Take-Two Interactive] in August of 1999, and the acquisition of Bungie by Microsoft, which was announced in June of 2000. It is also possible that the acquisition of the Oni IP by Take Two in 2000 interfered with plans for a more timely release. The details of the MS/T2 situation are explained in the "Post-release" section below. | Possible additional factors were the introduction of a PS2 port to be released in tandem with Oni for Windows/Mac, part of a deal struck with [http://www.take2games.com/ Take-Two Interactive] (T2) in August of 1999, and the acquisition of Bungie by Microsoft, which was announced in June of 2000. It is also possible that the acquisition of the Oni IP by Take Two in 2000 interfered with plans for a more timely release. The details of the MS/T2 situation are explained in the "Post-release" section below. | ||
''Further reading:'' [[Oni/Early Story]], [[Oni/Positioning]]. | |||
==Hype== | ==Hype== | ||