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#1 02/16/09 16:02

Charles
Member
Registered: 02/16/09

Oni for Xbox 360

Hi all. I was part of the old forum for a while. Still can't forget about Oni after all these years.

I sent a message to Take 2 Interactive through their interactive support page and asked them to release 1080p version of Oni for the Xbox 360. I received a very swift reply, saying that they would pass the message along.

It seems like a real possibility. There are all kinds of retro games on Xbox Live Arcade, including another one from Bungie's pre-Microsoft days, Marathon: Durandal. I'd have to think that someone at the newly independent Bungie would like to work with Take 2 on updating Oni with smooth frame rates and maybe even multiplayer. 1080p is already there.

Why not send a short message to Take 2 and let them know you want it too? Be polite and not too greedy. smile

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#2 02/16/09 16:02

Gumby
Member
From: Seattle, WA, USA
Registered: 08/30/07

Re: Oni for Xbox 360

One thing at at time. smile

Take Two is hard to get through to. We have been trying for a while. I'm surprised you got any real reply at all. tongue

Oni's engine needs serious optimization for using larger screens. I played it on my HDTV a while ago and the frame rate was playable, but could be better.

Mulitplayer is iffy. We don't know the state of the code that is leftover from the pre-beta stages. Even if it is fully intact, it might not be compatible. Either way, I would rather it be released on the PC where we can mod new levels in and such.

Another thing: we don't know how much work it takes to port from PC (old PC!) to 360. Bungie\T2 might not want to spend time on a game that they don't even know will make profit.


Not that I don't want this to happen (though I don't have a 360 myself, more publicity is always good), I just want to make sure you see the whole picture. smile


Iritscen: roll
Iritscen: it's amazing this program even works
Gumby: i know
Iritscen: and that statement applies to my code, not just yours

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#3 02/16/09 17:02

Charles
Member
Registered: 02/16/09

Re: Oni for Xbox 360

Yeah, the frame rate could definitely be better, but it's not terrible. How hard could it be to optimize on modern hardware?

Freeverse was able to port Marathon Durandal with hi-res textures with a minimal team. It runs beautifully and never skips a beat. There is a large installed base of Bungie fans on Xbox Live. So many Halo fans have downloaded Marathon just because they wanted another Bungie game. They're excited that Bungie is an independent company again and are loyal customers. The profitability is there.

Consider that there are around 54,000 single player high scores for Marathon on XBL, meaning this is the minimum number of copies sold. At $10 a copy, that's $540,000. There was also plenty of downloadable content, so I think a conservative estimate would be that Marathon brought in $600,000. I don't know how much Microsoft takes in for publishing, but I'd say that's a success, particularly for a game that was once a Mac exclusive now running on a Microsoft console.

The Xbox 360 is the perfect console for Oni. Not only are Bungie fans there, but it's the console to use for FPS and fighting games, of which Oni is a blend. Even if I wasn't a fan, if I were an executive at T2, I'd want to put Oni on Xbox Live to seize an opportunity to get some money out of that IP.

Last edited by Charles (02/16/09 17:02)

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#4 02/16/09 17:02

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: Oni for Xbox 360

Charles wrote:

How hard could it be to optimize on modern hardware?

The answer is, however hard it would be to rewrite the entire OpenGL system smile  Apparently it's quite out-of-date and never made full use of the graphics card.  It currently taxes the CPU a good bit more than it should as a result.

Freeverse was able to port Marathon Durandal with hi-res textures with a minimal team.

Which is impressive, since I always thought they were a small company, but one of the devs there later said about the experience, "Overhauling systems not suitable for use on a different platform can involve a great deal of work, and console platforms with certification processes may require the creation of large swaths of brand-new code and content."

The profitability is there.

Your numbers were pretty convincing; one can only hope someone at T2 will listen to reason.

I'd say that's a success, particularly for a game that was once a Mac exclusive now running on a Microsoft console.

Not to nitpick, but it was Marathon 2 that was released on XBLA, which had been released for Windows alongside Mac back in '95.  The original Marathon was the Mac-exclusive one, although Aleph One has since changed that.


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#5 02/16/09 18:02

Charles
Member
Registered: 02/16/09

Re: Oni for Xbox 360

Iritscen wrote:
Charles wrote:

How hard could it be to optimize on modern hardware?

The answer is, however hard it would be to rewrite the entire OpenGL system smile  Apparently it's quite out-of-date and never made full use of the graphics card.  It currently taxes the CPU a good bit more than it should as a result.

Hmm, I see. The X360 doesn't support OpenGL anyway, but neither did the PS2, AFAIK. Wouldn't Bungie have written some middleware that sits between the game and the rendering API, since Oni was cross-platform from the beginning?

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#6 02/16/09 18:02

Iritscen
Moderator
From: NC, USA
Registered: 10/22/07

Re: Oni for Xbox 360

Yes, I guess the middleware would be the BungieFrameWork.  I don't know much of anything about console development, but I suppose the BFW would help anyone who wanted to port the game to Xbox.


Check out the Anniversary Edition Seven at ae.oni2.net!

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#7 02/23/09 03:02

Bad Religion
Member
Registered: 01/27/08

Re: Oni for Xbox 360

Gumby wrote:

Mulitplayer is iffy. We don't know the state of the code that is leftover from the pre-beta stages. Even if it is fully intact, it might not be compatible. Either way, I would rather it be released on the PC where we can mod new levels in and such.

Why would multiplayer be necessary for this to be released on XBLA? Sure, it might be fun, but it didn't ship with original retail version. I'd rather just get this out on XBLA and save the multiplayer for a sequel if it does well enough.


Never insult seven people when you only have a six-shooter.

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#8 02/23/09 09:02

Gumby
Member
From: Seattle, WA, USA
Registered: 08/30/07

Re: Oni for Xbox 360

Bad Religion wrote:
Gumby wrote:

Mulitplayer is iffy. We don't know the state of the code that is leftover from the pre-beta stages. Even if it is fully intact, it might not be compatible. Either way, I would rather it be released on the PC where we can mod new levels in and such.

Why would multiplayer be necessary for this to be released on XBLA? Sure, it might be fun, but it didn't ship with original retail version. I'd rather just get this out on XBLA and save the multiplayer for a sequel if it does well enough.

I was responding to:

I'd have to think that someone at the newly independent Bungie would like to work with Take 2 on updating Oni with smooth frame rates and maybe even multiplayer


Iritscen: roll
Iritscen: it's amazing this program even works
Gumby: i know
Iritscen: and that statement applies to my code, not just yours

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#9 02/24/09 08:02

Bad Religion
Member
Registered: 01/27/08

Re: Oni for Xbox 360

Ah, gotcha.


Never insult seven people when you only have a six-shooter.

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#10 04/29/09 01:04

Jon God
Member
Registered: 01/17/07

Re: Oni for Xbox 360

Why stop at 360? Oni for 360, PS3 and PC/Mac. A lot of developers are going this rout these days, even for small downloadable games.


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PSN: Jon_God
XBL: Ernie The Bear

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