games.macnn.com posts new shots

games.macnn.com posted 13 new screenshots, including a chapter screen and a shot of the main menu in Oni.

The shots all seem to be from Oni's training level, where we can see how one will be able to learn the basic moves of Oni including escape moves, using a weapon, kicks, punches, throws and slides.

Flashes are also explained in this screenshot.

There is also a comparison in image quality between a ATI Rage 128 Pro and 3dfx Interactive Voodoo4 4500 with 2x Full Scene Anti-Aliasing (FSAA) Enabled available.

Lack of blood explained

The lack of blood, along with lack of multiplayer, has been a point of criticism with a lot of people lately, and many have wondered why it was removed. A member of Bungie West made a forum post explaining why blood was removed:

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.

It's good to see that this was cleared up.
 

Chris Butcher confirms: you can play more than 50 characters

In a post to the forum, programmer Chris Butcher confirms that you will indeed be able to play Oni using one of more than fifty characters:

very true, and there are more than 50 characters that you can play as, however not every character has their own unique set of moves (but many do).

Sounds like fun to me, and sure helps the replayability factor of Oni which a lot of people are worried about.

(Thanks to Nijhazer for reminding me about this post, d'oh)

16 brand new screenshots!

I got my hands on 16 brand new shots of Oni for you to feast your eyes on! They're a bunch of shots from Konoko beating (or getting beaten) by Strikers and Thugs. Head over to the Exclusive Images section of the Archives to take a look! Just so you know, the new images go from god01.jpg to god16.jpg.

Many thanks to Gathering of Developers for these!
 

An Interview with Lorraine Reyes

I decided to get an interview with Lorraine Reyes just to get an insight on herself and the work she's done for Oni, plus some nice background info and other tidbits. Check it out!
 

Gamespy previews Oni, new shots included

Gamespy posted their own preview of Oni, with a brief look at the anime intro we will see when the full game is out:

Konoko also stars in her own anime introduction - an epic assault on the senses (read: characters leaping at each other in the air in slow motion against an undulating star field, but no tentacles in sight) crafted by AIC, those cartoon engineers responsible for The Bubblegum Crisis. Once the epilepsy-inducing beginning has closed, and the game itself begins, you begin to realize what Bungie are seeking to attempt with this game.

Another snippet:

Konoko can aim all of the game's nine weapons with precision, courtesy of a target that appears and also indicates the weapon's range without impeding the constant action of the gameplay.

I noticed in the movies that Daily Radar posted that there is a slight auto-aiming going on. But Konoko doesn't lock onto the enemy, rather the targeting reticle seems to lock onto the enemy for a second or so then comes loose again.

The new enemy we saw in shots and in movies now has a name: Add to this some lunatic boss encounters (including the old "back alley combat" with a skeleton-headed carapace-armored regenerating freak named Barabus and his grenade launcher), and you have a recipe for an all-out action extravaganza.

Regenerating? Oh dear, seems like he will either come back often in the game or he won't die as easily.

On the first page of the preview, we get to see Konoko performing a move that seems to knock out two Elite Strikers out nicely. Wonderful contrails there.

On the second page, we see Konoko battling Barabus amongst a lot of paricle effects, avoiding automatic defences and a nice shot of an environment Konoko is in, fighting off some pesky Strikers.

On the last page of the preview, we see a Striker make use of a weapon that fires a rather large rocket, whilst next to him is another Striker using shielding. Lastly, another shot from the fight with Barabus, particle effects galore.

Gamespot posts hands-on preview

Gamespot has posted a hands-on preview of Oni which has some interesting details like:

[Hardy] Lebel said that Take-Two Interactive is holding onto the PC version of the game until the Mac and PS2 versions are completed, since it's easier to ship all three simultaneously than it is to do so individually.

So it seems that Oni for PC may have indeed gone gold, as Daily Radar reported, and the Mac version is still in beta/final candidate stages, even though Matt, in his update yesterday, mentioned that the Mac version is "almost ready to go."

Matt's Oni update for November 17

Another update from, Matt, short but sweet:
--
Matt's Oni Update - November 17, 2000

First off, a heads-up: there will be no Oni status update next Friday, owing to the holiday. The way things are going, there may be no need for any more updates by the time I get back in town.

Almost nothing at all to report this week. Word from the team is that the Mac version is almost ready to go. This is it folks...looks like we're getting ready to lock and load.
 

Daily Radar posts preview, additional movie

Daily Radar has posted a new preview of Oni on the PC. A snippet:

The story, as we've seen so far, about seven chapters into the game, is a chase. Konoko is trying to hunt down the head of a terrorist organization, who is, in turn, making life difficult for her. It's pretty straightforward; within the first two chapters, the player knows who is causing the problems, and the chase begins. We can see trouble in the future for Konoko, though, because someone close to her gets kidnapped.

A bit more plot revealed there, and the preview goes on about weapons and equipment:

Getting down to business with said asses breaks down into using guns or fists and feet. Guns come in two types, energy and ballistic. Magazines can be picked up off dead enemies, along with other equipment like force shields, hypo spray and phase cloaks. Basically the more powerful the weapon, the quicker it will go through a magazine. The terrorist Hughes Black Adder SMG gets 30 rounds to a clip and will knock someone down only after unloading on them at point-blank range. The Mercury Bow only gets two rounds per magazine but can shoot across a level and kill almost anyone in one shot. We've seen about nine different weapons at this point and the Mercury Bow is our favorite. It shoots a sliver of frozen mercury at high velocity, so the enemy gets damaged by the kinetic force and then by the mercury poisoning. It shoots pretty slowly, but it's nasty as hell.

Force shields and phase cloaks sound very interesting, as does the Mercury bow which sounds like it could be annoying if an enemy is pointing that at you.

New screens accompany this preview too (not the same ones ps2.ign.com or Gamespot posted), some nice shots in there.

Daily Radar also added a new movie to the 10 we got two days ago, this one seems to show trouble in the TCTF HQ (an invasion by the Syndicate?), and whilst fellow TCTF members are firing at the intruders you can run around and help fend off the enemies. Konoko is also shielded throughout this movie, or maybe has that phase cloak mentioned in the preview. You also hear the sounds of an ongoing fire fight. We finally get to see a disarm move in action as she relieves a Striker of a beam weapon. Konoko is then helped by a TCTF tactical who fires at the Striker, yet Konoko seems to manage just fine. She then proceeds up some stairs and takes down an Elite Striker from afar with a beam weapon she has, then moves up the stairs a bit more and fights the Elite Striker, who really sounds like he is behind a helmet! And while this is happening, it's raining bullets from someone's gun, but you don't get hit. Check out the cracked floor and the burning machinery in this scene!
 

Gathering of Developers denies X-Box version, PC version goes gold

Daily Radar has this small news blurb:

Reports began to circulate earlier today that Oni, Bungie's new anime-inspired action title, would be heading to the Xbox. But Jeff Smith, Gathering of Developer's Director of Public Relations, flatly denied that the game would appear on the Microsoft's new console. Although the game is already gone gold for the PC, the Macintosh and PS2 version will be completed very soon. However when asked if the game would appear on the Xbox, Smith told Daily Radar that "there are no plans to bring Oni to the Xbox at this time."

(Thanks, Nijhazer)

Gamespot UK posted Oni screenshots earlier today adding:

Rockstar Games has released several new screenshots of Oni for the PlayStation2. Developed by Bungie Software, Oni puts the player in the role of Konoko, a police officer for the Tech Crimes Task Force. Its action-oriented gameplay focuses heavily on martial-arts moves and science-fiction themes. Oni will be released simultaneously for the PS2, Mac, and PC platforms in January. The game is also being developed for the Microsoft Xbox.

Was it worth the wait?

In this past week, we've seen a ton of new Oni stuff hitting the web, and it's excellent stuff. After weeks, nay, months of recycled material and sporadic finds we are finally treated with new shots, previews and movies which truly kick ass (no matter what pundits say about "lack of blood" etc.).

Today a new poll is up asking if what we are now getting in terms of Oni stuff was worth the long wait, or not. So go vote!

New preview at ps2.ign.com

ps2.ign.com posted their own new preview of Oni, which is very positive:

To be honest with you, Oni has up until this point looked uninteresting. Early on, the game showed off some big, nicely designed buildings and some rather average beat-'em-up gameplay, but it sagged in the most obvious ways. The framerate was slow, the animation was awkward, and the AI, action sequences and transitions were simply not there. I guess it just goes to show you how much a game can change in a few months.

Today, I was quite impressed with how much Oni has improved.

Another snippet:

Additionally, the health meters, radar, and weapon indicators, all shown on the left-bottom side and bottom right side of the screen help Konoko complete her multiple tasks within a level.

And:

Last but not least, Oni's in-game menu appears to be a well-organized set of visual folders that players can quickly flip through. Players can review their objectives, items, Konoko's diary, click through the various weapons she's collected (she can only hold two at a time, and not simultaneously), and use the help button to solve any problems gamers might have in control or whatnot.

A diary. Interesting...

There are also a bunch of new shots included, down at the bottom (the first set of images).

• Here we see lots of sparks and flashes whilst Konokoruns through a hallway
• A boss fight is shown in this screenshot. Also here, here, here, here, here and here.
• Combat scenes here and here.
• Konoko encounters some sort of elite security guard character here, here and here.
• Particle system action. Cool!

(Thanks for the heads up, Kalis!)
 

Movie bonanza!

Daily Radar has posted 10 new short movie files of Oni in action! Head over to this page to check them out! They weigh in at about 3 to 13 megs.

• The first movie shows a battle scene, most probably with a type of boss. This is a new character who is holding a rather large beam weapon. It's obvious that while this weapon is quite powerful, it's also slow in firing. Konoko's hands seem to start glowing after a while, I assume this is a build up in power with which she can use a special move of some type (you see this type of thing a lot in fighting games; when you get hit or kicked a lot your "POW" increases until it reaches a maximum level. You then can perform a special move which consists of a lot of combos or a very powerful burst of energy). We also get to hear a voice at the beginning, later we find out this is Shinatama, helping Konoko.

• The second movie is a mix between cutscene and "puzzle". You see that this giant computer is "attempting to crash the public newsnet, something about the glory of instant celebrity". The Shinatama exclaims that it's releasing digital images of itself. The Computer then seems to grumble in satisfaction. I don't know about you, but I found this pretty funny. So from this movie it seem like you have to go around the computer, avoiding the laser beams which probably trigger a defense system, and go to a console to turn something off.

• The next movie shows what happens when you are done with this task. The computer's laser beams shoot about in a helpless frenzy, the fade away along with the holograms that hovered around the computer. We then see Griffin and an unknown scientist (?) discussing Konoko. Interesting, we seem to get to see discussions about Konoko which are behind Konoko's back. From this discussion, where the scientist says that her "deode latency is cranked up to 29 but her bio-plasmic waveforms are holding." Now, how much does THAT reveal about what Konoko is? :)

• The fourth movie has Konoko speaking! We see that she discoveres someone (as part of a mission objective), and she picks up a "datapad" which has an entry that says "MUSASHI is bad men. very bad men." Konoko is then discovered by a Striker, and they engange in a fight.

• The fifth movie shows Konoko sneaking up on a Thug. I think there is a way to land softly, as seen in this movie, but I could be wrong. The Thug discovers her, but suffers from a beating. Konoko then uses a console, runs into another room, and Shinatama chimes in with "Incoming compass data", meaning a new information. A screen with text appears, talking about the compass. This movie is of a training mission so it seems. The screen says: "The flashing yellow arc on your lower-left tactical display indicates that you have a NEW OBJECTIVE (F1) and corresponding compass point. You are heading toward it when the arc is at the top of the display. As you approach it, the compass arc will widen. The ARROW indicator inside the compass ring tells you whether the objective is above or below you. Obstacles may be in your way, so a direct path is not always possible." Oooh, a compass to help you get around. Say goodbye to aimless wanderings! :)

• Another "puzzle" in movie six; you need to get pass the laser traps or the autodefence system enganges (a laser). I think the person playing this intentionally messed up :) Konoko, as you can see, is very agile, and dodging doesn't seem to be a big problem.

• In movie seven we start off with a level screen which shows off one of many huge environments we will see in Oni. Here we see a fight, Konoko versus two strikers. A TCTF Tactical is shot and kicked out of action for a few seconds, so it's up to Konoko to deal with them. Konoko has an interesting move; she slides down behind an enemy and grabs his ankles to make him fall flat on his face. One Striker akes a taunt and then attacks Konoko. The TCTF Tactical got back up but was knocked out again. A third Striker joins the party and Konoko proceeds to whupping their asses. It's very nice how she does her neckbreaker and kicks two other strikers.

• In the eighth movie, Konoko enters a room and is met by shots from an automatic gun. Of course Konoko doesn't like this and decides to shoot back. After the Strikers are dead, she is confronted with a Thug. The Thug gets a nice dose of a 4 hot combo.

• In the ninth movie (titled red ninja intro, yet these are Red Strikers), we see a very cool cutscene where Konoko seems to lock something. We then see two Red Strikers enter the hangar holding a type of beam weapon. This cutscene is very nicely done, by the way. We then see Konoko fighting the two Strikers. Kind of unfair, two-with-beam-weapons to one-without. But Konoko can knock them out. :) We see that the beam weapon fires four shots before needing a reload, seems like the best time to attack. Hitting or kicking an enemy knocks the weapon out of his hands. Interestingly, the Strikers prefer to stick to the weapon, as they keep picking it back up and firing at Konoko. Check out the contrail effects on the Stiker 48 seconds into the movie; looks like a special move.

• Lastly, the tenth movie, shows Konoko being royally beaten down by two Strikers. Konoko starts out all right, but when the other Striker sees her and comes to attack, and the one she was beating on dodges her, all goes bad. She gets a ton of jabs, then is kicked down where both Strikers "hit" on her (heh). As one of the Strikers delivers a combo of jabs, we see a warning that health is low and pressing TAB uses a "Hypo Spray." Obviously it's being uses because her energy level rises again, and she finishes off the last Striker by suplexing him.

(Thanks for the heads up, Grendel)
 

Inside Mac Games has 10 new screenshots

Inside Mac Games acquired 10 new screenshots from Oni, all different than the ones Adrenaline Vault posted two days ago.

• In this shot we can see that you can receive objectives even while you're in the middle of a game, and not only before starting a new mission. F1 seems to be some sort of menu item that shows info on new moves (as noted from the shots at Adrenaline Vault) and objectives for the particular mission.

• Particle and contrail effects galore!

• More cutscene shots can be seen here and here.

• This image kind of confuses me, the Striker in the foreground seems to be getting hit in the back by a laser beam. The TCTF Tactical looks confused too ;)

• Scenery, beautiful scenery.

• I see a targeting reticle in this shot; is the red line a laser point?

• General Oni whup-ass going on right here, here and here (whilst Konoko beats up a thug, the TCTF Tactical looks away, cross-armed ;).

 

Oni Central presents: How to draw Konoko

Bungie has blessed Oni Central with an extra-special and exclusive feature which couldn't come at a better time, as Gathering of Developers is holding their fan art contest. Oni Central is proud to bring you a guide for drawing our beloved Konoko by Lorraine Reyes!

This feature has all you need to learn how to draw Konoko, the heroine of Oni, with tips and tricks from Lorraine in a very nice presentation done by Bungie's new interface designer, David Candland.

So go check it out and brushen up your drawing skills, and who knows, you might be a winner in Gathering of Developer's contest!

Alex Okita leaves Bungie West

I've heard this from other sources, and it seems like MacGamer's Ledge has confirmed it: Alex Okita, one of the old-school members of Bungie West, has left the team. MGL contacted Matt Soell, and he had to say the following:

He was one of the artists on the team, but he was so deeply involved for so long that calling him just an artist doesn't seem to do him justice. He did a lot of character design, storyboarded cutscenes, designed the cool particle effects that are in Oni now, created textures...he was just all over the place.

Alex was indeed doing a lot of things for Oni, he was real fun to talk to when I interviewed him back in August. I wish Alex the best of luck with his new job and cannot wait to see his efforts in Oni this January!

15 new screenshots at Avault!

We have all been finally blessed with brand new screenshots at a 1024x768 resolution from the PC/Mac version of Oni. You can find them all at The Adrenaline Vault.

• In this shot we can see Konoko performing her spinning neckbreaker, and below you can see that she's learned a new move and pressing F1 will possibly tell you what the move is etc.

• Check out the beautiful flares when Konoko is punching enemies here, here, here and here, where she is using some large type of weapon.

• Here we see a shot from a cutscene where Konoko is communicating with Griffin. It seems Konoko is in some corporate building or factory and is trying to find evidence. Note that communication includes anime portraits which most probably are animated and may change due to the moods of the characters.

• Right over here we see something that Konoko can pick up for her health, a "Hypo Spray".

• In this image we see Konoko with a civilian NPC, and that you can press the CTRL key to speak with the NPC.

• Another amazing level design can be found here, where Konoko is looking at some sort of large machine.

• Konoko is between two enemies here, looks like she's about to do a move to get them both knocked out.

• In Oni you don't only have to beat up people, you also have to avoid security, like is shown here where Konoko is sidestepping to avoid a laser above the door ahead of her from zapping her, and here where she slides to avoid the alarm. If she touches the red beam she probably activate the lasers found in both images.

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me and told me about these shots.

Matt's Oni update for November 10

Oops, a day late, but I had an early night yesterday so I'm excused ;)
--
Matt's Oni Report - November 10, 2000

Man, I really wish I had more to say this time around. On the other hand, it's a good feeling to know that Oni is almost finished. Years of work are finally bearing fruit...and it's tasty!

The Oni team is currently working to bring the Mac version of the game up to speed with the PC version. Only a little more bug-stomping and tweaking to go, and then we'll hand this game over to the Gathering of Developers folks and begin the process of moving the Oni guys up north (they'll actually be the first Bungie team in our new building) and getting them situated so they can start work on their next project.

That's it, really. Can't think of anything else to say. Except that we're starting to plan our next FanFest and Oni is very much in our thoughts. :-)
--

The shorter they get, the more exciting they are.

Another box design pops up

Nate made the discovery and let us know on the forum:

I like the first one better though. :)

Rockstar Games' Oni site goes live

Yesterday evening Rockstar made their very own Oni site go live. Not much there, but there is a new movie showing cutscenes and action scenes including sound. You need the Flash plugin to be able to see the site. Here's a link to the movie file (the movie is about 1.7 MB). The site will "officially" launch December 2000.

Update: a member of Rockstar posted to the forum stating that there will be "another addition to the splash site coming within the next week or so", and that he will notify us of that update. So keep watching the forum!

What's interesting to see in the movie is the new interface, two circular graphics on the left and right. The right circle seems to cover her energy whilst the left seems to be some sort of compass/level related thing which also shows what weapon is in Konoko's hand.

The flashes, which caused controversy among fans, have been greatly improved, the characters now have shadows but there is a lack of blood, there are a few new weapons in this movie including a taser that will blind an enemy momentarily. Oh yeah, the movie also has sound effects!

Here's what happens in the movie: it starts with a cinematic cutscene sequence that shows Konoko standing in front of a building. It then cuts to Konoko dropping from the sky, in a very anime way I must say. :)

Then we see Konoko on a motorbike as she storms down a road, and before a garage gate is closed she slides underneath it with the bike. She stands up and the game goes from cutscene to action.

The movie then moves on to show off fights and other things Konoko does. We first see Konoko punching a Striker, then running down an energy field jumping over electricity. Then it cuts to another fight with another striker who gets punched but blocks Konoko's kick at the end of her small combo. The striker then delivers a huge blow to Konoko which knocks her over.

Next we see Konoko having a fire fight with what looks to be a previously unseen character. Konoko has a semi-automatic gun in her hand whilst the other character carries a rather large weapon that looks to be something like a gattling gun but is firing single laser shots.

Konoko then is seen knocked over by a Tanker, then we see her dodging enemy fire (a beam weapon). Konoko then is using a beam weapon herself, notice how she glows in this scene. We then see Konoko grab a striker (who screams out in pain) and breaks his back with one kick.

Konoko then is seen avoid 10 rockets fired at her, then jump-kicking the striker who shot them. The next scene shows that Konoko can temporarily blind an enemy with a taser, then move in to beat the enemy up.

Lastly, Konoko performs a neck snapping move by jumping up towards the striker whilst turning 180 degrees, grabbing his neck with her legs then flipping backwards onto her hands to throw him. Ouch.
 

Scans of new Oni ad

Nathan Boever sent in scans of a new Oni ad he discovered in the Game Informer magazine. No new shots, but it's pretty nicely done, with logos of Rockstar, Gathering of Developers, Dark Horse, Bungie on the bottom of page 2.

Also, an ESRB rating is on the ad, T for Teen. Could this be the final rating?

Oni will be out January 29, 2001!

Inside Mac Games contacted Gathering of Developers for a release date of Oni, a representative told them "Simultaneous release for all 3 platforms on January 29th, 2001."

Check out IMG's news post here.

Enter Gathering of Developer's Oni fan art contest!

Shane, a member of Gathering of Developer's "Internet Street Team" has announced their Oni fan art contest on the forum.

First prize is a copy of Oni and your choice of two other Gathering of Developers titles, second prize is a copy Oni and "all other entrants will receive the warm fuzzy feeling of having participated."

The rules are:

• No tracing
• No use of Photoshop filters on already published art
• Must be 600dpi
• No nudity

All entries and/or questions go to shane@godgames.com or ben@godgames.com

The deadline is January 8th, winners will be announced January 12th. Keep checking the forum to see updates on rules or other interesting items.

Is this the cover art for Oni?

Foo discovered it at Amazon.com and posted a url to the forum:

Pretty cool, eh? This might be the cover of the box for the Macintosh/PC version of Oni.
 

What do you think about Oni anime?

A few weeks ago it became public that there will be an Oni comic. Now the question remains, what would you think about an Oni anime? Do you think it would be a good idea? Vote at the new poll and let's see what people think!

Matt's Oni update for November 3

It's Friday, and another update on Oni by Matt:
--
Matt's Oni Report

November 3, 2000

Another pulse-poundingly brief update. Who knows how many more there will be?

- PC version is at Final Candidate 13, and by the time you read this we'll probably be at FC 14. The Mac version is at Beta 2. Those of you curious about the disparity must understand that the current Mac beta uses the same data files as FC 12 on the PC. The mood of the Oni team is jubilant. The game looks and plays great.

- Right now the team is focused on details, adding and tweaking little things. They found two bugs in FC 13, which should give you an idea of how things are moving along.

- What are the Fists of Legend?
--

Short but good, eh?
 

More on the Oni comic

Allan Libunao sent me an e-mail directing me to this page (scroll down a little) at Comics Continuum that has some info on the upcoming Oni comic. Thanks Allan!

New original fan art

Bachus created 3 original pieces of fan art showing Konoko dressing up and kicking some ass, please check 'em out, Bachus did a great job! Thanks Bachus, and sorry for the lag in posting them!