So yeah. Reality on the Norm is fast approaching its 5th birthday. Quite a funky landmark, in my opinion. I'm hoping there's gonna be some new submissions to the site to commemorate this event.
My question however is this - how does the AGS community view RON? I'm relativly new to both communities (only been around for a year or so), but I can tell that RON hasn't been as active as it once was. I'm wondering why that is. Is it because the standard of fanmade adventures has left RON behind? Or is it some other reason?
I'm hoping this dry season doesn't cause RON to completly disappear. Its a unique concept that's showcased some very talented AGSer's (Grundislav, Dave Gilbert, Yahtzee) beginnings. It would be a shame for it to die due to lack of interest.
Just you wait 'till Eric's 'Time out' ron game. THAT will liven things up for sure! :D
As you know, there are a bunch of interesting looking RON games in production - Dave's Without a Prayer, Eric's Time Out, another Kittens from Creed, perhaps ElaineMc's The More Things Change, err...
I am definetly still working on my game, if I'll make the Feb. anniversary I dunno.
I told myself this is the final year I'll work on the game so it has to be out by the end of the year, not that that is a release date of any kind but it's been going on too long now... maybe I'll release something for the RELEASE SOMETHING! thingie...
I don't think RON will die since there's no reason to take it off the internet it will always be there waiting for someone to work on.
Eric
Not to mention my musical "BalaRONy":
What's the Story in BalaRONy, wouldn't you like to know?
What's the Story in BalaRONy, wouldn't you like to know?
Raising the dead, including himself, with Davy we should go... Ba La RON y
Or up to the Castle inventing with Van Ess, he's ever to naughty and ever so nefarious
Based on Balamory (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/balamory/josie/balamorykaraoke/theme.swf), of course :=
I'd pay money to listen to it in a moderately sized venue.
I've got a little RON entry planned too. I really like the series and the concept of it too, I hope it will last a while.
I'm working on something... ¬¬
... involving RON. ¬¬
It's secret. ¬¬
And it's... erotic. ¬¬
Nah, it's not erotic. Just secret. ¬¬
The good thing about time out is Eric will finish it in about 10 years, and travel back in time to tomorrow and release it ^_^
I may attempt to make a RON gam for fun.
Also there is Steve McCrea's 3D I-Spy 4 game coming out in a while (guessing next year at least)
Nothing gives me more disappointment than to see the state RON is in right now. Two years ago, when I was an admin for RON, I did everything in my power to try and generate publicity for the site. I contacted various webzines and managed to get us a write-up on adventuregamers.com. I posted on every game and adventure usenet group I could find, encouraging folks to check it out. I came up with games and activities for folks in the RON community to partake in (polls, art contests, even a round-robin short story) in the hopes of generating enthusiasm, but nobody was very interested. I kept this up for a year and a half, yet the number of released games dwindled and the overall quality dropped like a stone. Eventually, even *I* had so much trouble maintaining my enthusiasm that I gave up my status as admin.
I remember, back when RON was in its infancy (you know, a whole 4 years ago), folks would refer to RON as a "newbie training ground." At the time, I didn't like the term as it implied that the games were amateurish. But, in a way, it's very accurate. RON games ARE a newbie training ground, but that doesn't mean they should be bad. If anything, it should be an ideal place for new game-makers learn the lay of the land in terms of proper game making. Look at "Treasures of RON," "III Spy", "Cabbages and Kings" - these games were written by three well-known members of this community (Grundislav, Creed, and Steve McCrea), but they were virtually unknown at the time of their release.
I wish I could come up with a clear-cut explanation as to why this happened. RON had some great characters, a mythos that was slowly building, a large number of resources folks could use, and then pffff. Nothing. This community certainly has a steady stream of newbies coming in. I wish there was a way to direct them towards RON and give it a try.
Twice did I tried to make a game using RPG maker sprites and twice did did I stop working on the games because of the lack of creative freedom. I searched everwhere, but couldn't find the right sprites I wanted AND that had the same artistic style.
The same goes for RON, but in that case you also need to take the episode storyline in consideration (read: played and finished every RON game to date).
Quote from: jet on Sun 16/10/2005 15:13:48
The same goes for RON, but in that case you also need to take the episode storyline in consideration (read: played and finished every RON game to date).
That's a good point, although there are plot summaries, character bios, etc on the site. I don't think anyone is going to make a RON game without at least playing a couple of the games but there's no need to play them all...
I see RON as a newbie training ground. And that's not a bad thing. You've got all the backgrounds, sprites and backstory you need to make a pretty decent game without straining for original inspiration. Had I dived in with one of my many planned projects (like I had done before with KNP) I would most likely had dived a slow painful death. As it is, my RON project has taught me pretty much everything about AGS I need.
However, when you've done an excellent RON game and got the confidence and skills you need, the temptation is to carry on with an original project. When that happens, you leave RON behind, and more often than not, you don't have time anymore to drop into the community. Pretty much all RON contributors are now members of the AGS forums, and they rarely pop into RON as regularly as they did.
But the place will always be around. It has no intention of just collapsing and dying overnight. As long as the site is still around, and at least one dude is around as an admin, they'll always be people willing to add to it.
There may be tons (50+ ?) of RoN games, but you can still play through them all in a day. Having to get to know the universe before creating your own game isn't much of an excuse...
One Problem I've started to notice with the RON ga,es is that the old AGS windows engine goes crazy on my computer with my GeForce 6600 GT. Sometimes I get a black screen and I have to guess where to click... it's painful. :'(
Quote from: Dave Gilbert on Sun 16/10/2005 14:50:07
I see RON as a newbie training ground. And that's not a bad thing. You've got all the backgrounds, sprites and backstory you need to make a pretty decent game without straining for original inspiration.
That's exactly what I always thought RON was.
Quote from: Dave Gilbert on Sun 16/10/2005 14:50:07
Nothing.Ã, This community certainly has a steady stream of newbies coming in.Ã, I wish there was a way to direct them towards RON and give it a try.
Funny, sometimes I get PMed by newbies asking if I'm interested in making a game (I got PMed today, in fact). I always point out the RON website to them. And then I mention how it all started there for some of the better-known AGS game authors (like Dave Gilbert, Grundislav or Yatzhee).
I don't know, perhaps there should be a conscious push to make RON a bit more prominent in the AGS page. I've always found the whole wackiness of the RON concept attractive, and I'm sure a lot of newbies would. But I don't think new people joining this community even know about it.
True. The only way I discovered RON was through a link from 'Yahtzee Takes on the World', his old webcomic featuring Davy Jones from RON. Much more could be done to feature it more prominently on AGS, maybe suggesting it for New Makers.
well, this thread spurred me into announcing my secretest project, ive been hiding it for a while, but feel free to go to GiP to check it out!
Well, Ron turns 5 years old this friday the 17th. So, anyone releasing some goodies this month?
I'm looking on the direction of Time out, Mini RON, and Without a Prayer. It's about time they're released! >:(
Quote from: Edmundo on Sat 11/02/2006 22:13:05
I'm looking on the direction of Time out, Mini RON, and Without a Prayer. It's about time they're released! >:(
And Cattus Migrus. :D
Let's see if the release of all those highly anticipated RotN games liven things up. Here's hoping! Personally, I love the idea of RotN but I have never got around finishing a RotN game yet. I have quite a few positive memories of playing RotN games in my days as a newbie.
I've had some ideas for a long time for a RON game I want to make. However, it'll be quite a while before I actually make it, because before I do I want to:
- Play all the RON games that have been made previously (going in order, so far I'm only up to "Cabbages and Kings"), and
- Finish another game that I'm working on first, about which more on Tuesday. (Yes, that's right; I'm going in reverse order and creating a game with original characters and setting before doing a RON game. I have my reasons. Not necessarily good ones, mind, you, but...)
Still, eventually...and I mean probably around mid-to-late 2007-type eventually, at the earliest--you can look forward to "Death Clucks at Midnight"...(assuming, of course, that the RON games I haven't played yet (or that come out in the interim) don't end up introducing events and details that invalidate my entire concept...)
Ron was not started as a newbie training ground. It was supposed to be an episodic universe game thingy. Sort of like a soap opera. Many of the original game makers couldnt be called newbies, and the ideas men (and lady) who created the concept were all pretty well established members.
Saying this it reminded me that i've been floating on these forums on and off for 5 years, and only gorthor and dickboy to show of it. Har.
You're right. Though, think about the time it was created.... the quality of the best AGS games was that of Rob Blanc and Larry Vales (not that it was/is bad in any way, it was just a good style for the first proper ags games) and every episode of RON is based on that look/quality. So many people have released much better and greater things made with AGS, but RON remains the same sort of style, because it's easy to make. Most of the original creators (who were they? Bionic Bill, Yahtzee...?) have left, and there was no set plan on how to deal with the future of it.
It's indeed a good experiment of what can things become when they're left very open ended.
Lets not forget RI's concluding part of the 'Tapestry Trilogy'!
Quote from: MrColossal on Thu 13/10/2005 06:21:41
I am definetly still working on my game, if I'll make the Feb. anniversary I dunno.
Eric, you're still working on that! Sweet! I thought you had given up on it long ago. I still have the demo of the intro that you released god only knows how long ago. You will finish it, you want to finish it. :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY REALITY-ON-THE-NORM!!!
That was an awesome trailer (on the RON site), DC.
Right, the RON site has been updated:
http://ron.the-underdogs.org/
Now, where's time out? (hounding reference to bj5, of course.)
Hey, I have a question for the most wisest and noblest and elsdest members of the AGS forums:
How exactly did RON get started? Who was involved? Etc, etc.
I don't think the majority of us know, because most of the original regulars of this forum are long gone. Why did you have to scare them away, CJ?
Some guy came up with an idea for a soap opera style episodic game series. Yahtzee suggested it should be an open community project. Lots of random people contributed with many ideas and thats about it.
I believe it was Gravityyy that originated the idea. Yahtzee and others contributed to the concept (there was, as usual, some disagreement between Yahtzee and others on how the game should be organized, then Yahtzee made the first game and it was pretty-much resolved).
Uninterestingly, my idea was to name it "Reality" for some 4th wall bending situations. Yahtzee added "On-the-norm" which I didn't get, being outside of England.
Spoiler
I think I made like the 10th game or something, a large unfinished demo of Edge of Reality, which, after like 5 years of not working on it much is actually nearing completion.
EDITED THE MATHMATICAL/MEMORY ERROR.
Ps : It's more that such and such "on the" such is not really a construction for place names over here, so it just didn't make sense. To me. At the time. I like cake.
Also, it's got considerably more content now. Sorry. :P
Heh, Dave Gilbert and I betaed that game about 3 years ago now. It's probably got more content than the rest of the RotN games combined, and that's only a slight exaggeration.
Quote from: bspeers on Tue 21/02/2006 17:01:45
Yahtzee added "On-the-norm" which I didn't get, being outside of England.
RotN = RotteN.
Yahtzee is a genius!
My girlfriend pointed this out to me a few days ago. I've been calling it Ron all these years.
It's funny, when Dave Gilbert and I first met for dinner he called it Rotten and I called it RON
It was most awkward, as it usually is, when 2 people have a different way of saying the same thing... So I skipped out on the check and left him there.
As ettiquette dictates. ;D
Seriously. It's like a tradition, or an old charter, or something.