Messages

Okay, I'll just bring this topic a bit further to the top of the forums...

I just wanted to give my compliments to the Ron page admins that the site is up and working again. Today I could even register for the forums, so I may post my game plot there, as suggested. Last week I repeatedly tried registering and got errors all the time, so it's great that the problem was only temporary.

I checked out the Ron-wiki, and yes, the characters are all jumbled into one article, with the minor characters happily mixed with the more important ones. I'd really like to register and redo that, so we really have the funniest, shapliest characters (the bum, Mika, Max, Davy...) up front. I have some time off next week so I might as well be doing that. Is the wiki in any way to be expanded, and tied into the Ron page, or should I rather try to write my stuff in html and post it to someone or something? Hope bumblearse or whoever's in charge may read my reply soon.

At the moment things are looking up for me putting up the game for beta-testing by June. This thread has really helped me to get back to work, and I enjoy scripting and painting some of the last few bits a lot these days, so keep my optimism going!

Unrealistic greetings!

So I also went through the process of answering questions just to have my go... hope my views are of any help.

Valentijn got me into Ron 2 1/2 years ago and I do admit I found it hard to really see the point of it when I played the first couple of games. I think what made me go on, though, was that I knew that Tijn had similar tastes to myself when it comes to games, so I just trusted his opinion. So I guess to get interested in Ron, and play the games that are important since they introduce essential characters and plotlines, but don't feature interesting puzzles or good graphics you really need some one to tell you: get through this, and you get to some really great games.

I've been interested in adventure games pretty much since I knew about the existence of computers, and I'd always dreamed of making a game of my own. Getting to know AGS was great, and it appealed to me that using the Ron template, characters and rooms I would be able to release something without drawing for ages. Still, I felt a bit disappointed when I first got into Ron. It seemed more as a corset to me to have to work within this world, which however grew on me with every game I played. The characters all seemed a bit flat to me at first. For one thing, I didn't like Davy that much. He has really great appearances in later games, though, but it's also great to have a character that is essential, but that you may or may not want to include, and if you don't, you can continue a nice running gag of not stating where he is and whether he is alive.

Much of the charm and power of Ron for me really comes from the amazing way that weak games and characters have been handled. For instance, the way Knoffel was used by Dave Gilbert was just amazing, it wasn't clear as to whether he was subtly taking the piss, or whether he really thought the character was - with its "alien" bad English - part of the Ron continuity. Weak games have kept the Ron community going in some ways, it seems.

At the same time, it would be very helpful not to have to play all the weak games to get the references. Maybe a wiki wouldn't be such a bad idea (since the work involved would just be too much for just one person), one where you can look up, say, "Purity on the Surf", and then get a link to an article about Knoffel, that explains shortly what the character is about. Of course there should be a chance for people who don't want the spoilers for other games to check out those games, but for people who just want to play one of the games deemed "canon" there should be a way of quickly getting into all there is to know about the characters used. That is colossal work, though, and I'm not sure I could do it (for one thing, I never cared to play "Paranormal Investigation", but I always enjoyed the Jhon appearances, mainly because I had somebody (i.e. Tijn) telling me how the character came accross in its first appearance). So a quick run-through all the weaker games, possibly with screenshots, would be a really nice resource. I'd also be willing to help, as far as I played the games, if more people think that this would be a good course of action.

Apart from that, the character pages should be arranged differently indeed, with minor characters being in a different section. However, it's always nice to see the minor characters. I often searched through them to see which one looked like I would imagine a minor character in my game, and then I could just modify the sprites in question a little. It also wouldn't be out of the question to have an "all-purpose" sprite who assumes loads of different roles, sort of a reverse to the bum. I felt forced to modify the sprite enough so you wouldn't confuse him too much with a minor character from a game I didn't play, so it would be good to know that there is one character which you can fit into every role if you want to.

Different games folders is another good approach. Much has been said on that matter, I don't have anything vital to add, I think.

As to quality control... indeed Dan had a point in saying that stricter rules may not necessarily be attractive to new members. Overworking the Ron page and stating "all the games have to pass a quality test before they will be released" is clearly not the desirable course of action. I suggest that new games should be in a section for "new games" for half a year or so, not regarding whether the older Ron-ners think it's a good game or not. In this stage the game should be open for discussion. I think that some authors may even not react completely insulted if you suggest some things that would make the next effort better, as an adventure and as a Ron game. If an author really doesn't want to do anything else than that exact game and it's not what most of the members of the Ron community are looking for, well, then it's moved to the "other" folder (or however it's labeled), but it should still count as a vital approach, and might even spark of some nice references.

One should avoid giving the impression that there's an all-knowing jury who either pat you on the back or grade your game as substandard. I think what separates the weaker games from the better games is mainly the experiences the authors have had with games, and their ambition. Imagine someone who never played a Lucasarts or similar quality adventure. It wouldn't be surprising if their game didn't have much of a story, or any interesting puzzles. Then it would be up to the community to suggest good games that handle some problems in a better way, hopefully leading new members to great new (retro) game discoveries, and maybe sparking off new ideas.

Phew, I was already afraid this was going to be a rather long post, so thank you for bearing with me. As a final thing - I've been working on my own game now for months (while it rested most of the time), and posts pronouncing Ron dead really make me uneasy. It's great that it seems to be consensus to try and keep it alive. The thread really motivated me to put some more work in it, though, so it's great to have some anxiety, to still want to have it released before Ron is shut down. Which I don't want to happen.

I never announced my game on the Ron forum because I didn't want to pressurise myself by such an announcement. I did consider checking my plot ideas, but since my plot is closed in itself and doesn't change any of the major characters I thought I better keep quiet, so as not to spoil anything, or to raise hopes for something which is never released.

However, I'm about 85% finished now, and I can say with some safety that I will release it by summer, which can mean either July, if my current phase of motivation lasts enough to make me work alongside uni, or September, if I should feel I'm too busy after all and wait for the vacations to do the rest. And yes, I'm a newbie, and yes, it's gonna be in German and very surrealist. Okay, kidding on the last two points. So much for "f*** release something": I'm about to. Really. And I can't wait to see the reactions to my efforts, so I hope at least the people involved in this thread will believe enough in Ron to play my game when it's finished.