I've heard there are files in VNOG?

[TommyG]

I've heard there are files in Voya-Nui Online Game of things like a prototype Barraki. Is this true?

[2Tie]

There is a prototype Hahli in some of the special attack files:
http://biomediaproject.com/bmp/files/gms/online/RPGextras/VoyaNuiOnlineGame/Unused/Extra7.swf

She appears to be holding a squid launcher, and she has tubes like her mahri counterpart, however if you compare her (especially the head) to this prototype Hahli Inika image:

I think we can agree it's actually prototype hahli inika.

as for any barraki, they aren't declared with the rest of the enemies in the code, nor have i seen any graphics related to them, and trust me, i've searched.
There IS, however, an image of Mahri Nui in the final cutscene... completely hidden underneath all of the final graphics:

 

Hope that clears up stuff. I've been compiling all the unused stuff/debug stuff in VNOG for about a month now, the article for it should be up soon.

[Banana Gunz]

Oh man, that prototype Hahli mask and animation just looks so cool...

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

Having just beat VNOG for the first time, I have to say this game needed some huge improvements to actually be good... it was pretty tough to get through even with cheats. But still, it's a working system and I would have liked to see a sequel. Seems like they were setting it up, especially with the presence of these hidden files.

 

-NotS

[Banana Gunz]

Having just beat VNOG for the first time, I have to say this game needed some huge improvements to actually be good... it was pretty tough to get through even with cheats. But still, it's a working system and I would have liked to see a sequel. Seems like they were setting it up, especially with the presence of these hidden files.

 

-NotS

 

I agree, the game is very difficult and stops becoming fun at that. It doesn't explore Voya-Nui like the MNOG's did because it focused too much on fighting, and so other than the physical locations, it just became dangerous and uninteresting. I do like the art of the characters/setting though. I just feel the game play and mechanics were better.

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

I agree, the game is very difficult and stops becoming fun at that. It doesn't explore Voya-Nui like the MNOG's did because it focused too much on fighting, and so other than the physical locations, it just became dangerous and uninteresting. I do like the art of the characters/setting though. I just feel the game play and mechanics were better.

 

Not only is it difficult, but the backtracking is RIDICULOUS. Even worse than MNOG II.

 

-NotS

[fishers64]

 

I agree, the game is very difficult and stops becoming fun at that. It doesn't explore Voya-Nui like the MNOG's did because it focused too much on fighting, and so other than the physical locations, it just became dangerous and uninteresting. I do like the art of the characters/setting though. I just feel the game play and mechanics were better.

 

Not only is it difficult, but the backtracking is RIDICULOUS. Even worse than MNOG II.

 

-NotS

 

I think there is a cheat teleportation function. That was rather difficult to use though - it involved numbers/map cooridinates, I think - which was also a pain. 

 

I liked the combat of VNOG - I thought it was fun...until you tried to beat Hakann. Or Vezon. Then you really wanted to pull out the Nui blaster...

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

I think there is a cheat teleportation function. That was rather difficult to use though - it involved numbers/map cooridinates, I think - which was also a pain. 

 

 

I liked the combat of VNOG - I thought it was fun...until you tried to beat Hakann. Or Vezon. Then you really wanted to pull out the Nui blaster...

 

Yep, that's how I beat it. Used it for the last 5 chapters. Just got so tired of going back to Garan all the time. Thankfully BioMedia project has a nice text file with a useful locations list on there. Also used the "nextstep" cheat multiple times - some of those quests are so boring (collect 10 burnak metal 5 times throughout the game on the other side of the map, yeah no thanks)

 

-NotS

Edited November 17, 2014 by Nidhiki of the Shadows

[Rider Of Spiders]

All hail the clearly superior prototype Elda

[Adventurer]

 

I agree, the game is very difficult and stops becoming fun at that. It doesn't explore Voya-Nui like the MNOG's did because it focused too much on fighting, and so other than the physical locations, it just became dangerous and uninteresting. I do like the art of the characters/setting though. I just feel the game play and mechanics were better.

 

Not only is it difficult, but the backtracking is RIDICULOUS. Even worse than MNOG II.

 

-NotS

 

Coming from someone who really liked VNOG (minus some flaws) I was mostly fine with the difficulty - however I agree more depth should have been added to the island. That way the backtracking would have been more of a "free world" kind of feeling where you could explore new things as you went from one are to the other. Either that or just have a more non-linear structure. All in all I'd really like to see another Bionicle RPG like it again with some more story/MNOG like exploration.

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

All hail the clearly superior prototype Elda

None of the prototype Inika masks looked any good IMO, but they were kitbashed from other masks (Elda is pretty much Nokama Hordika with a tube). 

 

Makes me wonder when they decided to make the Inika have the more organic rubbery masks though. 

 

 

Coming from someone who really liked VNOG (minus some flaws) I was mostly fine with the difficulty - however I agree more depth should have been added to the island. That way the backtracking would have been more of a "free world" kind of feeling where you could explore new things as you went from one are to the other. Either that or just have a more non-linear structure. All in all I'd really like to see another Bionicle RPG like it again with some more story/MNOG like exploration.

 

Actually, I don't think the backtracking was super offensive in its intentions - it was pretty obvious that VNOG was supposed to have episodic releases. In that regard, if there was a new chapter per month then it would make sense to try and lengthen out the missions as much as possible, providing the most gameplay for that certain time frame. Of course, all in one go made the game tedious to tackle and you could tell the ending was rushed by the strange power fluctuations (what was up with Hakann?) and the grammatical errors that weren't present before. I think with more time, yes, this could have been an amazing game.

 

The combat works. The exploration concept is present. But the end result was a pretty empty game with frustratingly little-depth. But as I said before, if they improved it for a sequel I would have been more than pleased. We never really did get another game like this for the remaining 4 years of G1.

 

-NotS

Edited November 17, 2014 by Nidhiki of the Shadows

[TommyG]

There is a prototype Hahli in some of the special attack files:

http://biomediaproject.com/bmp/files/gms/online/RPGextras/VoyaNuiOnlineGame/Unused/Extra7.swf

 

She appears to be holding a squid launcher, and she has tubes like her mahri counterpart, however if you compare her (especially the head) to this prototype Hahli Inika image:

I think we can agree it's actually prototype hahli inika.

 

as for any barraki, they aren't declared with the rest of the enemies in the code, nor have i seen any graphics related to them, and trust me, i've searched.

There IS, however, an image of Mahri Nui in the final cutscene... completely hidden underneath all of the final graphics:

 

Hope that clears up stuff. I've been compiling all the unused stuff/debug stuff in VNOG for about a month now, the article for it should be up soon.

That's quite interesting. Thanks for submitting that information on Hahli! Makes me wonder if they went back to these Inika prototypes when designing the Mahri. Just look at prototpye Inika and Mahri Jaller. Also, I think that might be a prototype squid launcher.

And was this game supposed to be released in 2005, meaning we'd have 2007 things that early?

Edited November 17, 2014 by TomRoid

[Zeb]

 

There is a prototype Hahli in some of the special attack files:

http://biomediaproject.com/bmp/files/gms/online/RPGextras/VoyaNuiOnlineGame/Unused/Extra7.swf

 

She appears to be holding a squid launcher, and she has tubes like her mahri counterpart, however if you compare her (especially the head) to this prototype Hahli Inika image:

I think we can agree it's actually prototype hahli inika.

 

as for any barraki, they aren't declared with the rest of the enemies in the code, nor have i seen any graphics related to them, and trust me, i've searched.

There IS, however, an image of Mahri Nui in the final cutscene... completely hidden underneath all of the final graphics:

 

Hope that clears up stuff. I've been compiling all the unused stuff/debug stuff in VNOG for about a month now, the article for it should be up soon.

That's quite interesting. Thanks for submitting that information on Hahli! Makes me wonder if they went back to these Inika prototypes when designing the Mahri. Just look at prototpye Inika and Mahri Jaller. Also, I think that might be a prototype squid launcher.

And was this game supposed to be released in 2005, meaning we'd have 2007 things that early?

 

Since, according to Chirstian Faber, they had already planned out the basic storyline of 2006-2008, perhaps so. I would think that Mahri Nui image would have been added during the game's later development, possibly original planned for use in a teaser for 2007 at the end of the game or something.

[TommyG]

The prototype also gives you a perfect idea where Hahli's "tubes mustache" came from.

[2Tie]

And was this game supposed to be released in 2005, meaning we'd have 2007 things that early?

Well, VNOG (like the previous games) was very likely made in parts like the MNOGs's updates, with the first chapter hopefully being ready early enough for 2005, and the next chapters being released later (though admittedly, the only support i have for this claim is the OneMoreNight cheat to increment the Chapters variable). No idea why they decided to wait until the whole thing is finished. Dunno if relevant, but the only other games the devs had made at this point were Flash MMORPGs (does that explain fetch-quest simulator 2006? ) so they likely were experienced with releasing their games in chunks. One thing I *do* know is that there were 23 pre-release versions of the game.

More close to the quote, the content in later chapters was developed later (game released in fall 2006 right?), and that mahri nui image came from the very last cutscene. By then, that's probably when Lego started to give them concept material for 2007. So no, if anything the most we'd know about 2007 at the end of VNOG if it were released early would be that the Mask of Life somehow found its way into the ocean, which is pretty much the only thing the final game reveals anyway.

Edited November 17, 2014 by 2Tie

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Huh, so that's where those images came from. Good to know I guess.