PLEASE NOTE: This is an old document and may present you with out of date information
Oni Central's Oni FAQ
Answers to frequently asked questions
Written by Harry Al-Shakarchi | Version 1.0 (March 28, 2001)
Introduction

I wrote this FAQ so that people with lingering questions about Oni can get their answers quickly without having to post at the forum or sending e-mail. I have included questions I get asked often or that appear the most on the forum.


Version History

1.0 [03/28/01] - Added developer mode question.
0.9.9 [03/25/01] - Removed outdated question.
0.9.8 [03/10/01] - Added question about Iron Demon.
0.9.7 [02/13/01] - Removed outdated items.
0.9.3 [01/29/01] - Modified requirements, recording, release answer.
0.9.3 [01/28/01] - Added new question.
0.9.1 [01/26/01] - Added to and slightly modified multiplayer answer.
0.9.1 [01/06/01] - Modified requirements answer. Addition to mod answer. Changes to HTML and look of FAQ. Other additions made to FAQ.
0.9 [12/30/00] - Added two new questions with answers; gamepads and control changes.
0.8 [12/22/00] - Demo answer changed. Requirements answer changed. Modifications answer modified. Flashes answer modifed. 0.7.9 [12/19/00] - Demo answer changed.
0.7.8 [12/2/00] - Made additions/amendments to aiming answer and changed developer question. Additions made to controls question.
0.7.5 [12/2/00] - Addition made to requirements answer.
0.7 [11/24/00] - Lack of blood explanation added.
0.6.6 [11/8/00] - Release date answer changed.
0.6.5 [10/25/00] - Release date answer changed.
0.6.1 [10/10/00] - Platform answer modified.
0.6 [10/5/00] - Film answer changed.
0.5.1 [10/3/00] - Demo answer modified.
0.5 [9/29/00] - Release date answer modified.
0.4.1 [8/2/00] - Answer to vehicle driving question changed.
0.4 [7/27/00] - Two new questions and answers added.
0.3.2 [7/15/00] - Link to "My visit to Bungie West" added, Version History moved up.
0.3.1 [7/14/00] - Small update to controls question.
0.2 [7/13/00] - Corrections made, other stuff added.
0.1 [7/12/00] - First version written and uploaded.


The Questions

1. I have a [computer type], will I be able to play Oni?
2. Will I be able to make mods, levels etc. for Oni?
3. What happened to multiplayer?
4. Will I be able to drive any vehicles like the motorbike or forklift?
5. What's up with this "pulled trailer" I keep hearing about?
6. I saw some Oni footage/screenshots. What are those flashes?
7. How will I aim in Oni?
8. Will I be able to save movies of me performing some smart ass kicking?
9. Why did Brent Pease and Quinn Dunki leave Bungie West?
10. Who developed Oni?
11. What are the controls for Oni?
12. Where can I get a demo of Oni?
13. Why is there no blood in Oni?
14. Can I use a gamepad in Oni?
15. How do I change the controls in Oni?
15a. How do I configure the keys?
16. Where's that big robot gone?
17. Why can't I use the "Developer Mode" cheat?


1. I have a [computer type], will I be able to play Oni?

PC System Requirements:

  • Windows 98/ME (with Service Pack 3 or higher)/2000.
  • 266 MHz Pentium III processor or higher.
  • 64MB of RAM.
  • 800MB free hard disk space.
  • Hardware accelerated 3D graphics card (OpenGL compatible).
  • Video Modes Supported: Voodoo 2+, TNT2+, Rage Pro+, Intel i890.
  • Supported graphics: 3DFX Voodoo 2, ATI Rage Pro, ATI Rage 128.
  • Only OpenGL, Glide and Software Rendering supported on WindowsNT.

Mac OS System Requirements:

  • System 8 or higher.
  • 300MHz PowerPC or higher.
  • 64MB of RAM.
  • 800MB free hard disk space.
  • Supported graphics, 3DFX Voodoo 2, ATI Rage Pro, ATI Rage 128 (All G4 based Macs, some non-beige G3 Macs) and CD-ROM.

2. Will I be able to make mods, levels etc. for Oni?

Due to the fact that Oni's levels are made with professional (and expensive) architectural software, not everyone will be able to create a level for Oni. Bungie West did hint towards releasing converter tools for the formats they use when developing the game, but nothing more is known.

Scripts included in the game can be edited with a simple text editor to achieve interesting effects. Visit Oni Res for more.

3. What happened to multiplayer?

Multiplayer gaming was taken off Oni a while ago (approx. late 1999), and announced at MacWorld San Francisco 2000. The reasons for this were that making levels for net games would delay Oni even more and due to latency issues TCP/IP multiplayer was not going to be in Oni anyway.LAN multiplayer also reportedly caused problems. There may be an add-on released by Gathering of Developers (who acquired rights to Oni via Take 2 Interactive as a result of Microsoft buying Bungie in June 2000) that could at least enable LAN multiplayer and possibly internet gameplay.

4. Will I be able to drive any vehicles like the motorbike or forklift?

Konoko driving vehicles, such as the motorbike, will only be seen in cutscenes. In-game vehicle controlling will not be in the game, Matt Soell of Bungie confirmed this at the forum.

5. What's up with this "pulled trailer" I keep hearing about?

This was the first trailer for Oni, not showing in-game footage though. It was a scripted and rendered trailer made by Alex Okita, Steve Abeyta and Chris Hughes. Bungie probably wants it off the web because it isn't true to the current models in the game.

6. I saw some Oni footage/screenshots. What are those flashes?

The flashes are in the game to let you know if you're actually hitting your enemy or not. A lot of people dislike the flashes, but I found them pretty useful, especially in a game like Oni (you'll really want those flashes in there once you've played the game :).

The flashes will also tell you how much damage you are giving/taking. Green is light damage, yellow is medium damage and red is heavy damage meaning you are nearly dead/knocking an enemy out. A blue flash means an attack was blocked

7. How will I aim in Oni?

"Aiming" will probably only refer to the use of weapons. When engaging into hand-to-hand combat there will be no aiming. If you've played games like Tekken you probably know how it's going to be in Oni.

When using weapons, you will have a crosshair and a red line with which you can almost accurately aim. The crosshair seems to "lock on" to an enemy, but only for a short while as recoil in the weapons seems to disturb this.

8. Will I be able to save movies of me performing some smart ass kicking?

No, sadly this feature will not be in Oni. Matt confirmed this on the forum. There is, however, an internal recording option. But you cannot save the recordings as movie files etc.

9. Why did Brent Pease and Quinn Dunki leave Bungie West?

Nothing really is known about their departure.

10. Who developed Oni?

Programming
Michael Evans - Project Lead/Lead Programmer
Kevin Armstrong - Programmer (tools, UI, sound, input, various)
Chris Butcher - Programmer (AI, particle system, various)
Jason Duncan - Programmer (sky, game mechanics, various)

Art
Steve Abeyta - Art Lead/Character Animator
Chris Hughes - Character/Environmental Modeller/Environmental Animator
Alex Okita - Concept Artist/2D Art/Particles

Design
Hardy LeBel - Lead Designer
David Dunn - Architect
Michael Wu - Level Designer

Project Management
Hamilton Chu - Producer

11. What are the controls for Oni?

You will have directional controls (WASD), and you are able to look around using the mouse (or keyboard, but not recommendable) and 2 mouse buttons for punch and kick. A 2 button mouse is recommendable but not compulsory as you can control punch/kick via the keyboard too.

Combining other keys with the movement keys you will be able to perform flips, cartwheels etc.

12. Where can I get a demo of Oni?

Check out this handy Oni demo page here at Oni Central for more info on the whereabouts of a PC/Macintosh demo.

13. Why is there no blood in Oni?

A member of Bungie West explained on the forum:

Two things "killed" blood: First is the fact that the blood sprays tended to conflict/overlap the hit flashes (which as everyone knows by now are an integrated part of the fighting system ;^>) and second it was decided that Oni should be accessible to a broader audience. Graphic sprays of blood probably would have pushed the game to a higher consumer rating.

14. Can I use a gamepad in Oni?

It seems that you can't with the current Oni demo although I myself have been able to play Oni with the MacAlly iShock gamepad on the Macintosh. What I did is use the MacAlly iShock Utility to assign keys to the buttons of the gamepad, thus enabling me to play with the iShock.

This was not really a fun experience and I had no way to control the mouselook feature. Playing with mouse and keyboard is the way to go. Please do not e-mail me with questions about how to get the iShock to work with Oni, it's not worthwhile.

15. How do I change the controls in Oni?

Look for the key_config.txt file inside the Oni folder, or if you're on a Macintosh hold shift as you launch Oni.

15a. How do I configure the keys?

Check out this handy guide I wrote.

You can also use this very cool Key Configurator to bind your own keys quickly and easily.

Or, as another alternative, you could check out Sniper Geoff's Key Config application for Windows and Macintosh.

16. Where's that big robot gone?

The large white mech known as the Iron Demon was removed from the game before it went beta due to AI and animation problems. Matt Soell from Bungie supplied this information.

17. Why can't I use the "Developer Mode" cheat?

That cheat was only meant to be used by beta testers, but someone leaked out the codes and thus it became known. The Developer Mode activation code "thedayismine" is nonfunctional in the demo and full game.


Credits

Written by Harry Al-Shakarchi

Thanks to

Nathan Schneider
Hardy LeBel
Dan Rudolph
rampancy.net
James
Phaethon
Elbert Wall


For any other questions or comments about Oni, or to simply discuss the game, be sure to head over to the Oni Central Forum!

Another good source of information are the exclusive interviews I held with the Bungie West team.

If you are in need of technical help, please consult the publisher's support page for Oni, or check out this page.

Oni Central's Oni FAQ is (c) Oni Central 2001.
No part of this FAQ may be reproduced anywhere. This FAQ should be found at http://oni.bungie.org/faq.html