Topics

So one of my ideas for future RON projects down the line is the introduction to the series of one of my RP characters, Jules. Recently I've been trying to kickstart the writing side of my brain, and in doing so I've commenced a Myst/Uru style journal broken up with Homestuck-esque chatlogs, set in RON.

Timeframe is present day, with gaps to allow references for new games set around their respective times. I'm hoping to go back and do entries for earlier dates at some point to transcribe events set in (hopeful) new games.

Link.

[Project:]

Project:
Lunchtime of the Damned - A reconstruction of the first game in the Reality on the Norm series.

Details:
Recently there's been a bit of a push to get a number of the older RON games upgraded with the new assets to work on modern comps. I'm currently tackling the first game in the series, originally created by Yahtzee back in 2001. The game currently stands at about 90% complete and is playable from start to finish.

Positions Available:
I'm looking for a sprite animator to do several unique animations for the game. 320 x 200 resolution, all based on currently existing RON sprites and backgrounds. Looking at maybe 2-3 short sequences overall.

Deadline:
None, although it would be cool to get the game out sometime in January.

Comments:
Interested parties can respond to this thread or PM.

[GAMES]

This is a collection of articles on the RON wiki that currently exist in a "reasonably done" state. That's not to suggest there isn't more that can be added to them and if you are so inclined then please do so, but it's possible to read these particular entries and get a more-or-less informed idea of whatever it is they are all about.

GAMES

Lunchtime of the Damned
Vengeance of the Chicken
I Spy
Reality Check
Reality Check 2
Reality Check 3

OTHER

Timeline

(This list will be updated as we go on. If you work on or come across an article you feel can be added to the above list, post below.)

Thought it would be helpful to put a list of music resources together for people wanting to make use of the most recent RON arrangements. I'll be updating this as we go along, so feel free to post anything you want included below and I'll add a link.

RON INTROS/THEMES (composed by Mark "Mods" Lovegrove, arranged by Andrew "Snowcat" Kenny)
RON Intro #1
RON Intro #2
RON Theme 2003
RON Theme 2004
RON Theme - Apocalypse Meow
RON Theme 2004 - Beach Party (Purity of the Surf)
RON Theme 2004 - Piano Arrangement

RON INCIDENTAL MUSIC (composed by Mark "Mods" Lovegrove)
Track #1
Track #2
Track #3
Track #4
Track #5
Track #6
Track #7
Track #8

RON "POINTS" SOUNDS (composed by Mark "Mods" Lovegrove)
Sound #1
Sound #2
Sound #3
Sound #4

[A FULL DIRECTORY OF ONLINE RESOURCES FOR REALITY ON THE NORM]

A FULL DIRECTORY OF ONLINE RESOURCES FOR REALITY ON THE NORM

Wiki Site - NEEDS FLESHING OUT IN A BIG WAY
Official Facebook Page
Official Tumblr Page
TV Tropes

(updatable upon request, suggestion or nonsensical threats involving walruses)

Was browsing TV tropes today when I came across an entry for RON. For those unfamiliar with the site, TV tropes documents and analyses all the different conventions in creative endeavours, how often they occur, and how they are applied/subverted. It's a genuinely fascinating website that is very easy to get sucked into for hours on end.

A nice start has been made for the RON entry, but I'm pretty sure there's a few more that can be added. For fans of TVT interested in a little project, I'll just leave this here.

Frank Malone returns to RON after three years in a Mexican state prison, and plans to pick up exactly where he left off - by becoming the king of Reality's dark underworld. To do that, Frank's going to have to start afresh - find a business, assemble a gang, get the law off his back, and grind anyone who gets in his way beneath his fine italian feetwear. All in a day's work for a wannabe crime lord...

Because I'm in the mood to get a smallish game out soon, albiet one that uses mostly existing resources and only one or two new locations, I've dusted off one of my older projects and completly overhauled the story. This was actually one of the very first RON games I planned, but fell by the wayside when my desire to make it the first part of a GRAND MULTI PART EPIC ZOMG caused it to become crushed under the weight of my own noobish overambition. I've gotten a few things under my belt since then, and with the new attention RON is now getting, it seems a good time to give it another try.

The game is deliberatly set a good number of years after the original Underworld, which was set in 2002. Since the most recent (chronologically that is) RON game is set in 2003-04, there is the benefit of having something of a Time Skip - this gives writers an opportunity to show some growth in the characters (Davy and Elandra going to university, results of Gower's mayorship, etc), but mainly it can serve as a potential new starting point to re-establish the characters without having to play through all of the series up to this point.

ETA is when its done. If there's one thing I am hilariously bad at, its predicting when I will get stuff finished. Could be two weeks, could be two months. But I'll post when significant stages have been completed.

[Virtual Reality]

Based on comments from the recap thread, now seems a good time to let everyone take a look at what myself and RI have been working on for the last month or so.

WARNING!!! This is nowhere near a finished piece of work - far from it. As of now, all you can do is wander around the town and surrounding areas, with a non-animated Roger sprite. Rough edges abound, such as missing walk-behinds, misplaced regions, and so on, all things that will be sorted in subsequent builds. However, what is assembled so far is rapidly approaching the most definitive and coherant iteration of the town to date, with almost every location from the existing games put together in a way that makes sense. Future builds will see dialogue for the background and characters, the characters themselves, and ultimatly some means of depicting a recap of the main events from the 'canon games'. Once we're sufficiently happy that a 'version 1.0' has been reached (all basic features implemented, sufficiently playable, no gamestoppers and accessible for RON noobs), then this will make its way to the 'In production' and ultimatly 'Completed games' threads.


BACKGROUND

For those who haven't been following the recap ideas thread, Virtual Reality is one of several ideas to come out of the need to provide potential RON developers with some help in bringing them up to speed on RON's locations/characters/story without having to play through all of the games in meticulous detail to find a background to printscreen, or a particular character's traits, or the order of key events. Ultimately, VR has the potential to act as an interactive map, a collection of character bios, and a recap of the current ongoing story all in one, as well as being constantly updated with new and updated artwork as the town continues to grow and evolve, along with changes to the dialogue to mirror events in future games.


HELP WANTED!

Although Renegade Implementor and myself have made a start, this isn't something we can do on our own. VR needs dialogue for each location detailing its backstory and key events. It also needs characters (preferably based on the newer sprites) and similar accompanying dialogue - who they are, their personality, key events from their lives, significant relationships with others, etc. Finally, we need a way to distill the important elements of the current RON story down into what any new developer would need to know and which respective game it comes from. An idea of a slideshow was bought up - if this is an idea that's followed through, it will also need animation and dialogue. In short, the chance of this project being a success will be hugely increased by community submissions.

This is the main reason why I'm posting what has been done so far now - rather than just having a select few decide what form this should take, this is something that, like RON itself, should grow and evolve based on input from the community as a whole. Plus I think this is a project that will really benefit from being something that we all can get involved with. If all goes to plan, I think this has the potential for solving many of the problems that caused the pipeline of new games to dry up following 2004.


DOWNLOAD

Virtual Reality v 0.5 (uploaded 9/4/14).

(NOTE - you start the game with two maps in your inventory, a 'town' one and a 'world' one. Use these to get to areas not otherwise joined to an adjacent background.)

I felt that now would be a good time to take soundings on a two parter I've been brainstorming for some time. The Reality Underground has been an interesting concept that has sadly remained untouched for a while, outside of oblique references to it in Defender of RON and a full on (albeit sadly brief) exploration in Everything Begins with an M. As of now, we have a more or less blank canvas of tunnels, hidden rooms, passageways, caverns, chambers, tombs and crypts. I'd like to do a couple of shortish games that might ultimatly precipitate the Underground getting used more and more, and hopefully resulting in an ever expanding mapping out.

Anyway - the plot centres around Thakbor, who discovers a rather familiar looking house while lost in the middle of Reality Forest. Exploring the house, he comes across the entranceway to Reality's vast network of underground pasages, offering almost limtless possibilities for adventure and riches. But what starts out as one of his standard 'pick up anything shiny' jaunts soon becomes something far more noble as he and his companions find the house's occupier in the tunnels below - and learn of his exile from the Magical Inquisition of the Great Empire of Quendor...

The two parter (one on the surface, the other in the underground) will feature a number of Zork references with regards to spells, themes and story (the latter having links to certain events from Grand Inquisitor), but it's more a case of the classic Zork text adventure tone I'm trying to shoot for - that whole 'spirit of exploration' malarky that was so good about the original trilogy. It certainly won't be a case of dropping characters and locations from established games into RON, the focus will be solely on the RON underground as opposed to doing something hackneyed like taking characters and dumping them into the Zork universe. Plus I think it's about time that Thakbor had a good old fashioned quest type romp.

I've got a rough design doc for the first game, along with an outline of the backstory planned out. I'll probably be developing this idea a lot more in the coming days, so keep checking back. I leave with some artwork done by Mr Flibble of a landmark I'm sure we are all familiar with:

It was mentioned in a previous thread that a very good way to help newcomers get up to speed on The Story so Far would be have some kind of recap, allowing significant story events and character developments to be handily summarised outside of the games themselves. Based on some of the key postings, here are some possible ideas that could be worth looking into further:

- Text based recap - This was actually started a while back by Creed Malay as A Brief History of RON. Could be very handy if it were continued, albiet focusing on the 'Canon' games. It would also be very quick and easy to add to, seeing as each game could be condensed into a couple of paragraphs worth?

- Game based recap - A suggestion from another topic, this would be an interactive primer, featuring many of the RON characters and locations. This would be a slightly more engaging experience visually than the text based recap, and would be very handy in terms of showing off the newest backgrounds/sprites and nailing down a consistent map.

- Movie based recap - A collection of scenes from the games, compiled together in the style of a 'Previously on' sequence from television dramas. They can either be straight rips from the games or redone scenes with the newest backgrounds/sprites.

Possible factors when considering the above:
- Time it would take to make.
- Effectiveness as a recap.
- The ability to keep it up to date.
- General presentation/interest/ability to engage.

Thoughts? One of these? All of these? A combination ie a game that occasionally features redone cutscenes? None at all, something different?

So, along with a restructuring of the current games, there seems to be a strong consensus for having a centralised hub of information pertaining to the games, current stories and characters.

Well, there so happens to be a RON wiki. Problem is, it hasn't been touched in donkey's years, and what is there is either non existant or is about as far from thorough as is humanly possible to be, being mostly copypasta from the old site. The current system for listing the games is also outdated in comparison to what has been discussed on other threads. So, I think along with the new forums, future new site and the sudden interest, now would be a perfect time to finally make something of this.

A possible idea to kick something off - for game pages, I propose a format similar to individual Doctor Who serials on Wikipedia - 2 sentence intro, Synopsis, detailed recounting of plot, continuity (past and present), Production notes (where applicable), and links.

EDIT - posted the wrong link, will re-edit this post when the new site comes up.

[Canon Games]

So, before the forums went down, there was a very interesting discussion going on about how the games were to be re-organised. This sprung up from a recurring part of the feedback which said that as it stands right now, there was no way of telling the better games from the slightly more dubious in quality, and in particular which ones were relevant to the ongoing story and which were standalone.

So, I present the following suggestions, drawn up in emails between Renegade Implementor and myself, with explainations for the sections crossposted from the other RON topics. Please bear in mind that nothing is set in stone right now, these are but suggestions. Take a look and see what you think.

Canon Games
Games that are crucial in understanding both the RoN universe and the characters that inhabit it. The games in this section are considered canonical and part of the RoN universe timeline. The events in these games are set in stone. Anyone new to RoN and wants to know the timeline and crucial events should go to this section.

Lunchtime Of The Damned
Vengeance of the Chicken
I Spy
Return of Die Vie Ess
The Repossessor
The First Stitch
The Postman Only Dies Once
The Lost Treasure of RON
Dead Man's Political Party
Hooky McPegleg, Pirate Postman
The Underworld
The Phantom Inheritance
I Spy 2
The Unraveling
Paranormal Investigation
Rend
Cabbages and Kings
Kittens and Cacti
Apocalypse Meow (Chapter One)
Defender of RON
Purity of the Surf
The Spoons
III Spy
Rock - A True Story


Stand-alone Games
Games that make use of established characters and events in self-contained stories. While these games do not significantly impact ongoing story or character arcs, they are still considered to have happened and can be referred to in other canon or stand-alone games.

Fowl Play
The Soviet Union Strikes Back
Blastoff!
Nightwatch
Monty on the Norm
Your Bum is Talking
The Punk Allen Trilogy
Strange Days
The Sorceror's Appraisal
The Chef
A Better Mouse Trap
Shadows of RON
MI5 Bob
Disappearance Time
The Petshop Incident
Major Bummer Dude: Lassi Quest RON
Stuck at Home
Simon's Journey
The Crazed Chicken
Cold Storage
Sixteen
Witch!
The Murder of Adrian Elkwood
Root of all Evil


Experimental/Non Canon games
Games in this section are not considered to exist in the RoN universe at all. Events and characters in this section should generally not be referred to in canon or (to a lesser extent) stand-along games. As games in this section are isolated from an official canon, character death is permitted.

Nihilism
Davy Jones C'est Mort
The Universal Equalizer
Davy Jones is Back
Invasion of the Space Aliens...
Commander Keen Enters RON
The Lost Dollar
Before the Legacy
Surreality
That Crazy World
I'm Only Sleeping
RON 13:13 Retaliation
Ron 13:13^2 The Thickening
Yet Another Death of Davy Jones Scenario
Au Naturel
Edge of Reality


Non-Adventure Games
A section for games that are non-adventure: quiz, rpg, action, platform, strategy, etc.

Ron Quiz Part 1
ROTN Quiz game 2
Men of War
Davy Jones's Spellbook
Easter in RON
Pre-RON MI5 Bob
Michael Gower's Zombie Hill


Trailers/Demos
A section for game trailers, game demos, and technical demos

Edge of Reality (demo)
Scoop Da Poop � move to demos � not a game per se, it functions more like a demo
Time Out
Everything that Begins with an M
Drunk Punk Allen Episode 1


My personal take on this layout is that in the case of stand-alone or non-canon games, there can be some change over time. For example, the one thing that really stops Au Naturel being a Canon game is the small fact that Davy Jones is a character in it during a time he was meant to be dead. If this were altered, then it could become a canon game. Essentially, this is a small start with helping people know which events in the series so far warrent referencing or can be happily ignored.

Thoughts?

Huge thanks indeed to rumoured son of God, Chris Jones, for making this subforum for us RON developers to gallivant around in. It really does mean a lot for those of us who hold this little town close.

Right gentlemen. Let's get to work.

Courtesy of the mighty Dave Gilbert.

[REALITY ON THE NORM: The Underworld (Remastered)]

REALITY ON THE NORM: The Underworld (Remastered)

Synopsis

Up and coming crime lord Frank Malone thinks he's struck it big when Michael Gower, recently elected mayor of Reality-on-the-Norm, hires him as his bodyguard - after all, what could go wrong with a job where you are effectivly paid to do nothing? But things take a nasty turn when his brother Fred turns up out of the blue with one thing on his mind: revenge. Suddenly, Frank has to actually get out from behind his desk and do something if he wants to keep his demented sibling from turning the Mayor into something resembling a fresh meat counter.

Notes

This game is based on the original Underworld released several years ago by Kunafits. It has been recompiled to work on modern machines and also features updated backgrounds and character designs, as well as new dialogue, music and sound effects, and a clearer ending.

Screenshot:



Download: http://ron.the-underdogs.info/downloads/games/underworld.zip

Just a quickie - Reality-on-the-Norm is in the middle of it's own 'Release Something' period, where people post tiny snippets from their WIPs.

If you're working on a RON project and want to show it off, no matter how big or small it is, now is the perfect oppertunity to do so along with the rest of us.

Head on over, it can be found HERE.

Oy oy folks. Here are the rules:

- Participants will write a story not limited by length unless specified by the month's rules;
- It's impossible for a judge to be impartial in this kind of competition where, for instance, great writing can save a meager plot. So the voting will be public, and go on for at least a week after the deadline, when the winner will be announced.
- The competition should last a month. Therefore, this particular one will run until the 29th of December - though some slack may given. Don't abuse it, though. Five days after the "oficcial" deadline no further entries are allowed and voting begins, but this tolerance is not mandatory, rather left to the thread-starter's description.
- The actual posts must NOT contain the story, but a link to it. The story MUST be hosted somewhere, even if temporarily.
- The object of this is to write a story. It can be a short story with 10 lines, it can be a whooper with 20 pages. It can have no characters, or a myriad of them. It can be in first person, or third; present or past of future tense. Your ONLY limitations are the ones the rules state, if any.
- The winner provides the theme and rules for the next comp.
- The comp-starter may participate. It's happened already, and this voting system should elliminate unfairness. Of course, out of fairness, the comp starter should start it without already forming an idea of the story he may write.

Now then now then now then. Here's the theme.

Crime.

This I feel is a suitably wide open subject for a story, as it can involve pretty much anything. It could be a piratical jinx on the High Seas in the 17th century, it could be about a high tech bank heist in some Orweliian nightmare of a future. It could deal with the tension of preparation, the dirty deed itself, or events after as you try to lie low.

It could be an action story, depecting a crime taking place, or it could be a psychological monologue, dealing with someone's thoughts as they witnessed something downright illegal (or were subjected to it.)

With this one, the only restriction I will impose is that something illegal has to feature as the subject in some way. That's it. This is a subject you are free to take and run with.

Enjoy!

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.

[The Return of Frank Malone]

System Crash Studios proudly presents The Return of Frank Malone.

Overview
A new chapter in the ongoing online series Reality on the Norm that sees the return of the town's finest wannabe crime boss - Frank Malone. This game takes place two years after the events of 'The Underworld.'

Story
Busted out of Santiego de Concertina, the infamous Mexican State prison he has spent the last two years languishing in, Franky is given the offer of a lifetime - in exchange for a few 'jobs' every few months or so, he is free to rebuild his crime empire, free from the interference of a certain zombie mayor and trigger happy evil twin...

Two weeks later, Frank receives his first assignment - he's got two days to track down a leather case that has vanished alongside it's courier somewhere in the crazy town of Reality on the Norm. Even for a member of the notorious Reality Underworld, it's gonna be one tricky job to pull off. Other people are taking an interest in his activities, and of those of his mysterious employers. Just who exactly are the 'bosses'? And what are they planning for Gower and his town?

The Return of Frank Malone features updated RotN graphics, crazy characters both old and new, and a complex and involving story set against the gritty underworld of dealers, racketeers, murderers and Airfix Kit druggies...

Development Progress
Story - 80%
Coding - 35%
Artwork - 45%
Testing - 0%

Screenshots


Melt proposes a plan for the evening's entertainment.


Elandra tries to fathom what is wrong with the Realiser's latest purchases...

Development Diary

September 05
-Ã,  3/4's of Day 1 morning done.
-Ã,  Work begins on Day 1 evening.
-Ã,  First draft of accompanying short story 'Back to Reality'
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, 
November 05
- Chapter 1 & 2 of 'Back to Reality' released