Oni 2 (Angel Studios)/Running: Difference between revisions

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Once you have an ISO of the developer build, the following instructions will allow you to see all the playable content on the disc.
__NOTOC__
==Running the game==
==Running the game==
The ISO can be found on epforums.org (registration required) and is playable on a modded PS2 or in an emulator. The only mature PS2 emulator is PCSX2. Although PCSX2 is available for both Windows and macOS, the Mac version has poor performance and exhibits graphical glitches with this particular game. (Lighting problems occur even when playing on a PS2, so it's likely that graphics code was being worked on when this game build was produced.) Thus, if you are on a Mac, you will ideally want to use Boot Camp to run the game in PCSX2 for Windows. PCSX2 has also been reported to work on Macs running Windows within Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion; it does not seem to run in Oracle VM VirtualBox, which has problems with 3D acceleration as of v5.1.
[[Image:Oni 2 - Shadow glitch.jpg|left|thumb|x220px|You will see issues like this with shadows unless you run PCSX2's renderer in Software mode.]]
[[Image:Oni 2 - Initial Attack.jpg|right|thumb|x220px|Characters will often be "blacked out" due to an issue with the lighting code. This is normal.]]
The dev build is playable on a modded PS2 or in an emulator. The only mature PS2 emulator is [https://pcsx2.net/ PCSX2]. Regular releases are made for Windows and Linux; support for macOS has been restored but is currently only available in the form of nightly builds (scroll down their Downloads page to find them).


To prevent glitched shadows when playing Oni 2 in PCSX2, you need to switch the GSdx plugin to Software mode and turn on the "Edge anti-aliasing" setting; this will severely cut performance compared to rendering in Hardware mode.
To prevent glitched shadows when playing Oni 2 in PCSX2, you need to switch the GSdx plugin to Software mode; this will severely cut performance compared to rendering in Hardware mode. A separate issue with the lighting in this dev build will cause characters to become silhouettes in many settings; this cannot be corrected.
{{Clearall}}


==Playing the levels==
==Playing the levels==
Once Oni 2 is running, there is only one level available by choosing New Game. Additional levels, however, can be chosen from the Load Game menu. These are documented on [[../#Story and levels|the main page]]. Levels can take a couple minutes to load, and some do not have loading screens, instead displaying a gray screen until they're done loading. The only levels that could be considered traditionally "game-like" are levels 1 (The Blast Chambers), 6 (Initial Attack), and 8 (The Rooftops). These were the primary levels used to prototype the game. The other levels were used by the developers to test features or scripting, but some are rather substantial, like level 14 (AI Abilities Test).
Once Oni 2 is running, there is only one level available by choosing New Game. Fourteen additional levels, however, can be chosen from the Load Game menu. Beyond this, an additional 80 layouts can be made available by patching the game disc ISO with the tool [http://mods.oni2.net/node/387 HERE]. "Layout" is the engine's term for what we would call a level or a room; some layouts are quite small, and others are large and complex. This makes a total of 95 layouts in the game (1 + 14 + 80). However, many of these (24, by one count) are nonfunctional. All the layouts are documented in their current functional or nonfunctional state on the [[../Levels|Levels]] page. Levels can take a couple minutes to load, and some do not have loading screens, instead displaying a gray screen until they're done loading.
 
==Debug features==
Only one debug-related feature is known at the moment (discovered by Punk7890 of [https://tcrf.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor TCRF]), which is a display at the top of the screen that can be enabled by placing a plain-text file called FE063258.pnach in the PCSX2 cheats directory which contains the following:
patch=1,EE,204D5D50,word,00000001 # debug readout
The display will show the following readouts in milliseconds: "host" delay, "VU/GS" delay (rendering time?), and the delay between frames, which always seems to be 16.67ms (meaning 60fps).


==Launch arguments==
==Launch arguments==
Oni 2 accepts various launch arguments. To pass arguments to the game, you must use the package [http://websvn.chrilly.net/listing.php?repname=Oni2&path=%2Fps2launchargs%2F HERE]. The syntax for arguments which require a parameter, such as "-layout", is "-argument=parameter". The descriptions given below are taken verbatim from the game, and the effects are based on our testing.
Oni 2 accepts various launch arguments. To pass arguments to the game, you must use PCSX2 1.6.0 or later. Calling PCSX2 on the command line, pass it the argument <tt>--gameargs="-arg1 -arg2 -etc."</tt>, e.g.:
 
pcsx2.exe "C:\path\to\oni2dev_ps2.iso" --gameargs="-noui"
 
Note that the patch tool provided in the previous section will allow you to play any level without using launch arguments.
 
The syntax for arguments which require a parameter, such as "-layout", is "-argument=parameter". The descriptions given below are taken verbatim from the game, and the effects are based on our testing.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!Argument
!style="width:130px"|Argument
!Description
!Description
!Effect
!Effect
Line 19: Line 35:
|Lists all the following arguments.
|Lists all the following arguments.
|-
|-
| style="width:130px" | -ui
| -ui
|use the frontend
|use the frontend
|No effect.
|No effect.
Line 37: Line 53:
| -nogame
| -nogame
|Never go into the game shell.  Useful for testing frontend.
|Never go into the game shell.  Useful for testing frontend.
|
|No effect.
|-
|-
| -mission
| -mission
|The "mission" to load.
|The "mission" to load.
|
|Seems to have no effect, though the format of the parameter supplied to this argument is not known.
|-
|-
| -level
| -level
|The level to load
|The level to load
|
|Seems to have no effect, though the format of the parameter supplied to this argument is not known.
|-
|-
| -players
| -players
|The number of human players in game.
|The number of human players in game.
|
|No effect from "-players=2".
|-
|-
| -vsplit
| -vsplit
|Want vertical split for 2 player mode instead of default horizontal split.
|Want vertical split for 2 player mode instead of default horizontal split.
|
|No effect is to be expected unless multiplayer co-op mode is activated.
|-
|-
| -sharevp
| -sharevp
|All players share the same viewport.
|All players share the same viewport.
|
|No effect is to be expected unless multiplayer co-op mode is activated.
|-
|-
| -diff
| -diff
|Difficulty to use.
|Difficulty to use.
|
|Enemies may deal more damage with "-diff=high" than "-diff=low".
|-
|-
| -musicvol
| -musicvol
|Music volume to use for playback.
|Music volume to use for playback.
|
|As there is no music in Oni 2, this has no effect.
|-
|-
| -sfxvol
| -sfxvol
|Sound FX volume to use for playback.
|Sound FX volume to use for playback.
|
|Seems to have no effect, though the format of the parameter supplied to this argument is not known.
|-
|-
| -voicevol
| -voicevol
|Voiceover volume to use for playback.
|Voiceover volume to use for playback.
|
|As there are no voiceovers in Oni 2, this has no effect.
|-
|-
| -nocutscenes
| -nocutscenes
|Disables in-game cinematics.
|Disables in-game cinematics.
|No effect?
|No effect.
|-
|-
| -noattacking
| -noattacking
|Prevents AI from attacking player.
|Prevents AI from attacking player.
|
|The AI will not use melee moves against you, only guarding; however, they will shoot normally at you.
|-
|-
| -layout
| -layout
|Specify which level to load.
|Specify which level to load.
|Game starts by loading the layout that you name (layouts are actually what we would call levels). Names of layouts are found in the uncompressed RB.DAT archive, which is downloadable from the [[OBD:Oni2AS]] page.
|Game starts by loading the layout (level) that you name. Names of layouts are found on the [[../Levels|Levels]] page. To add layouts to the Load Game menu so that you don't need to use the "-layout" argument, see the patch tool in the "Playing the levels" section above.
|-
|-
| -testloadsave
| -testloadsave
|Use test save file to run game.
|Use test save file to run game.
|
|There appears to be a test save file in RB.DAT which contains savepoint info for the "Initial Attack" level, but it does not seem to have any effect on that level.
|-
|-
| -oldcam
| -oldcam
|Start with the old camera system in the game.
|Start with the old camera system in the game.
|
|No effect.
|-
|-
| -noactorreload
| -noactorreload
|Don't reload actor XML files when doing the "quick" restart.
|Don't reload actor XML files when doing the "quick" restart.
|
|Do not know how to perform a "quick" restart.
|-
|-
| -defaultcampack
| -defaultcampack
|Use the default camera package instead of the campack in the layout directory.
|Use the default camera package instead of the campack in the layout directory.
|
|Removes specially-programmed camera behaviors from a level, like turning the camera to face an approaching attacker.
|-
|-
| -nocamcollision
| -nocamcollision
|No camera collision.
|No camera collision.
|
|Allows camera to pass through floor. When camera passes through wall, it will not relocate itself to remove the obstruction to your view, as it does normally.
|-
|-
| -norumble
| -norumble
|No pad rumbling.
|No pad rumbling.
|
|Cannot have any effect in Oni 2, as there is normally no rumble effect anyway.
|-
|-
| -noparticles
| -noparticles
|No particle effects.
|No particle effects.
|
|No observed effect. Weapons fire looks normal.
|-
|-
| -unbreakable
| -unbreakable
|Player is unbreakable
|Player is unbreakable
|
|Game launches with "Invincibility" in Options menu already turned on.
|-
|-
| -polar
| -polar
|Use polar camera by default.
|Use polar camera by default.
|
|This argument starts the game in polar camera mode. The polar camera is normally the one accessed by pressing both thumbsticks at once. It stays closer to Konoko and does not turn with her when she changes direction. Switching to the normal camera mode results in a broken camera, but the free-flying developer camera still works.
|-
|-
| -nohud
| -nohud
|Don't draw the HUD.
|Don't draw the HUD.
|
|The footring which shows Konoko's health and other information is disabled, and cannot be toggled as usual by pressing Select.
|-
|-
| -recompile
| -recompile
|Recompile all used scripts.
|Recompile all used scripts.
|
|Scripts cannot be recompiled when running Oni 2 from an ISO, as this would require write access to the disc.
|-
|-
| -noai
| -noai
|Disables NPC movement/actions.
|Disables NPC movement/actions.
|
|Works as described.
|-
|-
| -notemplates
| -notemplates
|Don't preload the actor templates.
|Don't preload the actor templates.
|
|No observed effect.
|-
|-
| -nopausemenu
| -nopausemenu
|Do not show the pause menu when you press start, just freeze the frame.
|Do not show the pause menu when you press start, just freeze the frame.
|Pressing "Start" button removes HUD, brightens image, and pauses the game.
|Pressing "Start" button removes HUD and brightens the image when pausing the game.
|-
|-
| -playerNN
| -playerNN
|(Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's name.
|(Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's name.
|
|Since player name is not normally displayed anywhere, there may be no effect unless multiplayer co-op mode is activated.
|-
|-
| -modelNN
| -modelNN
|(Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's model to use.
|(Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's model to use.
|
|Seems to have no effect, though the format of the parameter supplied to this argument is not known. Argument may be ignored unless multiplayer co-op mode is activated.
|-
|-
| -controlcfgNN
| -controlcfgNN
|(Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's control configuration.
|(Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's control configuration.
|
|Seems to have no effect, though the format of the parameter supplied to this argument is not known. Argument may be ignored unless multiplayer co-op mode is activated.
|-
|-
| -controlmapNN
| -controlmapNN
|(Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's control mapping (i.e. Player 1 is using controller in port 3).
|(Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's control mapping (i.e. Player 1 is using controller in port 3).
|
|Seems to have no effect, unless multiplayer co-op mode must be activated first.
|-
|-
|}
|}


[[Category:Oni Support]]
[[Category:Oni history]]

Latest revision as of 13:25, 22 June 2022

Once you have an ISO of the developer build, the following instructions will allow you to see all the playable content on the disc.

Running the game

You will see issues like this with shadows unless you run PCSX2's renderer in Software mode.
Characters will often be "blacked out" due to an issue with the lighting code. This is normal.

The dev build is playable on a modded PS2 or in an emulator. The only mature PS2 emulator is PCSX2. Regular releases are made for Windows and Linux; support for macOS has been restored but is currently only available in the form of nightly builds (scroll down their Downloads page to find them).

To prevent glitched shadows when playing Oni 2 in PCSX2, you need to switch the GSdx plugin to Software mode; this will severely cut performance compared to rendering in Hardware mode. A separate issue with the lighting in this dev build will cause characters to become silhouettes in many settings; this cannot be corrected.

Playing the levels

Once Oni 2 is running, there is only one level available by choosing New Game. Fourteen additional levels, however, can be chosen from the Load Game menu. Beyond this, an additional 80 layouts can be made available by patching the game disc ISO with the tool HERE. "Layout" is the engine's term for what we would call a level or a room; some layouts are quite small, and others are large and complex. This makes a total of 95 layouts in the game (1 + 14 + 80). However, many of these (24, by one count) are nonfunctional. All the layouts are documented in their current functional or nonfunctional state on the Levels page. Levels can take a couple minutes to load, and some do not have loading screens, instead displaying a gray screen until they're done loading.

Debug features

Only one debug-related feature is known at the moment (discovered by Punk7890 of TCRF), which is a display at the top of the screen that can be enabled by placing a plain-text file called FE063258.pnach in the PCSX2 cheats directory which contains the following:

patch=1,EE,204D5D50,word,00000001 # debug readout

The display will show the following readouts in milliseconds: "host" delay, "VU/GS" delay (rendering time?), and the delay between frames, which always seems to be 16.67ms (meaning 60fps).

Launch arguments

Oni 2 accepts various launch arguments. To pass arguments to the game, you must use PCSX2 1.6.0 or later. Calling PCSX2 on the command line, pass it the argument --gameargs="-arg1 -arg2 -etc.", e.g.:

pcsx2.exe "C:\path\to\oni2dev_ps2.iso" --gameargs="-noui"

Note that the patch tool provided in the previous section will allow you to play any level without using launch arguments.

The syntax for arguments which require a parameter, such as "-layout", is "-argument=parameter". The descriptions given below are taken verbatim from the game, and the effects are based on our testing.

Argument Description Effect
-help -- Lists all the following arguments.
-ui use the frontend No effect.
-noui Bypass the frontend and go to game. Game starts by loading first level.
-devui use the dev frontend No effect.
-fullui use the full frontend Same UI for main menu, but game crashes when choosing "Load Game".
-nogame Never go into the game shell. Useful for testing frontend. No effect.
-mission The "mission" to load. Seems to have no effect, though the format of the parameter supplied to this argument is not known.
-level The level to load Seems to have no effect, though the format of the parameter supplied to this argument is not known.
-players The number of human players in game. No effect from "-players=2".
-vsplit Want vertical split for 2 player mode instead of default horizontal split. No effect is to be expected unless multiplayer co-op mode is activated.
-sharevp All players share the same viewport. No effect is to be expected unless multiplayer co-op mode is activated.
-diff Difficulty to use. Enemies may deal more damage with "-diff=high" than "-diff=low".
-musicvol Music volume to use for playback. As there is no music in Oni 2, this has no effect.
-sfxvol Sound FX volume to use for playback. Seems to have no effect, though the format of the parameter supplied to this argument is not known.
-voicevol Voiceover volume to use for playback. As there are no voiceovers in Oni 2, this has no effect.
-nocutscenes Disables in-game cinematics. No effect.
-noattacking Prevents AI from attacking player. The AI will not use melee moves against you, only guarding; however, they will shoot normally at you.
-layout Specify which level to load. Game starts by loading the layout (level) that you name. Names of layouts are found on the Levels page. To add layouts to the Load Game menu so that you don't need to use the "-layout" argument, see the patch tool in the "Playing the levels" section above.
-testloadsave Use test save file to run game. There appears to be a test save file in RB.DAT which contains savepoint info for the "Initial Attack" level, but it does not seem to have any effect on that level.
-oldcam Start with the old camera system in the game. No effect.
-noactorreload Don't reload actor XML files when doing the "quick" restart. Do not know how to perform a "quick" restart.
-defaultcampack Use the default camera package instead of the campack in the layout directory. Removes specially-programmed camera behaviors from a level, like turning the camera to face an approaching attacker.
-nocamcollision No camera collision. Allows camera to pass through floor. When camera passes through wall, it will not relocate itself to remove the obstruction to your view, as it does normally.
-norumble No pad rumbling. Cannot have any effect in Oni 2, as there is normally no rumble effect anyway.
-noparticles No particle effects. No observed effect. Weapons fire looks normal.
-unbreakable Player is unbreakable Game launches with "Invincibility" in Options menu already turned on.
-polar Use polar camera by default. This argument starts the game in polar camera mode. The polar camera is normally the one accessed by pressing both thumbsticks at once. It stays closer to Konoko and does not turn with her when she changes direction. Switching to the normal camera mode results in a broken camera, but the free-flying developer camera still works.
-nohud Don't draw the HUD. The footring which shows Konoko's health and other information is disabled, and cannot be toggled as usual by pressing Select.
-recompile Recompile all used scripts. Scripts cannot be recompiled when running Oni 2 from an ISO, as this would require write access to the disc.
-noai Disables NPC movement/actions. Works as described.
-notemplates Don't preload the actor templates. No observed effect.
-nopausemenu Do not show the pause menu when you press start, just freeze the frame. Pressing "Start" button removes HUD and brightens the image when pausing the game.
-playerNN (Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's name. Since player name is not normally displayed anywhere, there may be no effect unless multiplayer co-op mode is activated.
-modelNN (Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's model to use. Seems to have no effect, though the format of the parameter supplied to this argument is not known. Argument may be ignored unless multiplayer co-op mode is activated.
-controlcfgNN (Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's control configuration. Seems to have no effect, though the format of the parameter supplied to this argument is not known. Argument may be ignored unless multiplayer co-op mode is activated.
-controlmapNN (Where NN is 0->Max players) Sets the specified player's control mapping (i.e. Player 1 is using controller in port 3). Seems to have no effect, unless multiplayer co-op mode must be activated first.