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Multiplayer: Difference between revisions
→Original multiplayer: moving video links below firsthand fan accounts, putting a pic at top of this section again to be more visual
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==Original multiplayer== | ==Original multiplayer== | ||
[[Image:Filming of Oni MP at Macworld SF 2000.jpg|thumb|right]] | |||
When Oni was first being shown publicly, multiplayer (MP) was promised, at least over LAN. Some words from the Oni staff on multiplayer (back when it was in development) can be found in interviews with [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/kevin.html Kevin Armstrong] (networking programmer) and [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part2/steve.html Steve Abeyta] (3D animator), as well as with Brent Pease himself (see video link below). Eventually, in May of 2000, [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=3185 it was announced] that there would be no multiplayer feature in Oni due to issues with latency (though the decision [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=10354 may have been made] as early as December 1999). | When Oni was first being shown publicly, multiplayer (MP) was promised, at least over LAN. Some words from the Oni staff on multiplayer (back when it was in development) can be found in interviews with [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/kevin.html Kevin Armstrong] (networking programmer) and [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part2/steve.html Steve Abeyta] (3D animator), as well as with Brent Pease himself (see video link below). Eventually, in May of 2000, [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=3185 it was announced] that there would be no multiplayer feature in Oni due to issues with latency (though the decision [http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=10354 may have been made] as early as December 1999). | ||
The lack of multiplayer in the final product may have been the biggest blow to Oni's reception. Combined with complaints about the AI, players wanted to be able to play against other humans. The public viewed this as another sign of the game's incompletion, comparing Oni to FPS titles with multiplayer such as Unreal and Quake, and failing to recognize that melee combat over the Internet was nearly impossible at that time (a notable exception from Oni's time period seems to be [[State of Emergency]], a melee-oriented game that apparently had reasonably fluid online multiplayer). | The lack of multiplayer in the final product may have been the biggest blow to Oni's reception. Combined with complaints about the AI, players wanted to be able to play against other humans. The public viewed this as another sign of the game's incompletion, comparing Oni to FPS titles with multiplayer such as Unreal and Quake, and failing to recognize that melee combat over the Internet was nearly impossible at that time (a notable exception from Oni's time period seems to be [[State of Emergency]], a melee-oriented game that apparently had reasonably fluid online multiplayer). | ||
Some questioned why Bungie did not at least include LAN play functionality, since visitors to Bungie's booths were able to play LAN games | Some questioned why Bungie did not at least include LAN play functionality, since visitors to Bungie's booths were able to play LAN games at the [[wikipedia:Electronic_Entertainment_Expo|E3]] of May 1999 in Los Angeles, the New York City [[wikipedia:Macworld_Conference_%26_Expo|Macworld Expo]] of July 1999 and the San Francisco Macworld Expo of January 2000. However, multiplayer seems to have had latency issues even on LAN; Hardy LeBel [http://web.archive.org/web/20010816164220/http://www.insidemacgames.com/features/00/lebel/ stated], "The biggest factor in the decision to remove multiplayer support was the technological hurdle. We had been playing Oni over our office LAN and consistently experienced serious problems synching up the characters in multiplayer battles." Additionally, without more time to develop content for MP mode, the developers did not want to frustrate players with an incomplete netplay feature. | ||
For a period of time, starting from the announcement that MP had been cut (on day 3 of E3, May 13, 2000), until some months after Oni's release, it was hoped that an update to Oni would add in multiplayer. However, as Bungie no longer owned the code, it would have fallen on Take-Two to perform this work. Whether due to the difficulty of learning and building on Bungie's code, or lack of financial motivation, no patches were made to Oni. | For a period of time, starting from the announcement that MP had been cut (on day 3 of E3, May 13, 2000), until some months after Oni's release, it was hoped that an update to Oni would add in multiplayer. However, as Bungie no longer owned the code, it would have fallen on Take-Two to perform this work. Whether due to the difficulty of learning and building on Bungie's code, or lack of financial motivation, no patches were made to Oni. | ||
'''Firsthand fan accounts of MP.''' The first four are negative even about the promise of decent LAN performance, and the fifth post is more optimistic. | '''Firsthand fan accounts of MP.''' The first four are negative even about the promise of decent LAN performance, and the fifth post is more optimistic. | ||
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*http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=10207 | *http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=10207 | ||
*http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=3226 | *http://carnage.bungie.org/oniforum/oni.forum.pl?read=3226 | ||
'''Video evidence:''' | |||
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZEUGmn88d8&t=1m15s E3, May 1999]. GameSpot's brief coverage of Oni at E3 shows more MP gameplay; though brief, this is maybe the clearest footage. Are there 9 players in that game!? | |||
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiBE8N1auuo Macworld NY, July 1999]. In a one-minute interview, Project Lead Brent Pease talks about Oni, and some footage of attendees playing MP is shown. | |||
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOmKXhZJ3b8 Macworld SF, Jan. 6, 2000]. In this excerpt from the Day 2 broadcast of BungieTV, Oni's animator, Steve Abeyta, works with one other player (Jim Ruiz?) to give us the longest look at MP. | |||
<gallery caption="Photo evidence:" mode="packed"> | <gallery caption="Photo evidence:" mode="packed"> | ||
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Image:Oni MP at MacWorld NY 1999 5.jpg | Image:Oni MP at MacWorld NY 1999 5.jpg | ||
Image:Oni MP at MacWorld NY 1999 6.jpg | Image:Oni MP at MacWorld NY 1999 6.jpg | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||