Proto:Normality

This page details one or more prototype versions of Normality.

The March 1996 PC Zone Magazine cover CD included a playable demo of Normality that exhibits several changes from the final game.

The only area featured in the demo is Kent's apartment. As soon as you work out how to leave, the demo restarts from the beginning.

Version Information

3D/ADV Kernel Real-Time Module
(c) Gremlin Interactive Ltd.
Normality. (Graeme Ing)
Compilation: 16241195 Friday 24-11-1995 16:22.
Adventure: 14241195

Interface Differences

The "voodoo doll" control system was bigger and more prominent in the demo, showing more detail on the doll and also more of Kent's hand holding it.

Voodoo Doll

Demo	Final

Note the scaled-down final version has a few graphical glitches like broken pixel-lines, and the boot at the bottom is mostly cropped out.

Item Differences

Two items in Kent's apartment—a Can of Food in the fridge, and a Can of Yellow Paint on a nearby shelf—were removed in the final game. (The pool of spilled paint dripping down under the bucket remains, however.) Also, the Little Box appears high on top of the microwave, instead of down on the oven cooker.

I suppose I could carry one can, just in case of
emergency... for when there's nothing else to
eat... and I've eaten all my clothing... and both
legs.

Bright stuff! There isn't enough
naturally-occuring yellow in this city for my
liking.

Not a good idea considering the only thing
keeping the paint inside is the dried up mulch
around the bottom. Maybe I should find
something else to put it in.

There are various minor changes to how items appear or are described.

Cardboard Box

Demo	Final

T-Shirt

Demo	Final
It's an old T-shirt with "I AM FAT AND PROUD" on the front and "HONEST, REALLY" on the back.	It's an old T-shirt with "I AM FAT" on the front and "HONEST, REALLY" on the back.

Towel

Demo	Final (U.K.)
I stole it from a hotel down the road. It has great insulation properties.	This towel's good for keeping things hot or cool. Terrific insulation properties.

Note

Demo	Final (U.K.)
Want to meet some people who share the same interests? Then don't just sit being bored at home, get down to the third dumpster in the dingy alley behind the Plush-Rest Furniture Factory. An Empathiser...	Frustrated? Want to meet some like-minded individuals? Want to do something about the state of the city? Get a job and snoop around Plush-Rest. You'll find a group in one of the dumpsters around the back. An Empathiser...

(Note: The U.S. version has the same note text as the demo.)

Freeing the Rat

It's not actually possible to free the rat in the demo, but the unused resources are present and different to the final version.

Rat in Smashed Washing Machine

Demo	Final

Take Rat

Demo (Unused)	Final (U.K.)
Not with my bare hands! They're not God's most hygenic creatures!	I need something small to put him in first.

Graphical Changes

When Kent tears the scissors away from the sticky floor, the discolored outline it leaves on the carpet is different.

Floor Texture

Demo	Final

The wall of a building outside Kent's apartment window has a different poster in the demo. It makes reference to another Gremlin Interactive game, Actua Soccer (a.k.a. V.R. Soccer '96 in the U.S.)

Wall Texture

Demo	Final

Promo Video

The playable demo also includes a short promotional video, extolling the game's design, "True-3D" engine, and use of motion-capture technology.

Music

The demo does not use the same music the final game does for Kent's apartment. Instead, it uses a track that was eventually used for the rebels' dumpster hideout.

Unused Tracks

There are a couple of music tracks which do not seem to be used in the demo version, and do not appear in the final game's files at all:

NORMUSIC.HMP:

XSAUL.HMP:

Unreachable Messages

Even though the demo only covers Kent's apartment, the data includes messages/dialog from the entire game.

Dead Rat

Unrecorded as voice lines, and removed completely in the final game data, there are a set of messages that suggest Kent kills a rat in a trap.

I haven't the heart to set it again.

Yuk! Not with that dead rat hanging off!

They fall for it every time!