Your Demo Sucks
- Thread starter Shamus Young
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It's been so long since I've played a demo to make me want to buy a game. I'd say Star Wars Battlefront. While it didn't give any story info supposedly because the devs thought everyone knew, it introduced the mechanics well and showed the players it was a class based capture point style game.
Anyway, Shamus, I always enjoy your writing.
Anyway, Shamus, I always enjoy your writing.
The last good demo I played was probably Warcraft 3. It had extra levels just for the demo (which were later released in The Frozen Throne).
Or maybe it was Audiosurf, but that's not exactly a demo. Just 10 songs of the actual game.
Or maybe it was Audiosurf, but that's not exactly a demo. Just 10 songs of the actual game.
Yah, I miss the good old days of the demo. You'd think they'd at least make the level the first level because that'll be the one that trains you how to work everything, but no. Nowadays, demos are just the most attractive sections of the game.
The last demo I played that made me want to buy a game was the Company of Heroes demo. It's one small cluttered map that causes the game to end really quickly and leave you wanting more.
I noticed that a couple of years ago there was some evidence towards "trial" versions of the game, where you'd play the full game for a preset amount of time (i.e. 1 hour) and then it would lock up and suggest you fork over $40. Then it seemed to fade away. I don't know if I like them, but they're certainly better than this "Let's just give them 1/2 of the middle-most level of the game" idea. I actually just saw a better version of this in an indie game: Cortex Command which allowed you to play the tutorial for an unlimited amount of time, and all the other levels for six minutes.
The last demo I played that made me want to buy a game was the Company of Heroes demo. It's one small cluttered map that causes the game to end really quickly and leave you wanting more.
I noticed that a couple of years ago there was some evidence towards "trial" versions of the game, where you'd play the full game for a preset amount of time (i.e. 1 hour) and then it would lock up and suggest you fork over $40. Then it seemed to fade away. I don't know if I like them, but they're certainly better than this "Let's just give them 1/2 of the middle-most level of the game" idea. I actually just saw a better version of this in an indie game: Cortex Command which allowed you to play the tutorial for an unlimited amount of time, and all the other levels for six minutes.
The best way to have a demo would be to give the player the game but only get to like, say, an hour into it.
That way you start from the beginning, understand what is happening, and learn the basic mechanics of the game play. Then the demo ends further into the game, leaving you at a point where you want to know what's happens next.
Basically, a good demo is one that doesn't feel like a demo. One that feels like your playing the actual game, including the foibles the game may have.
The last demo that got me to a buy a game was the one for Plants vs. Zombies. It gives you the actual game, let's you play it for an hour, then tells you to buy it. As soon as the demo ended, I bought the game.
That way you start from the beginning, understand what is happening, and learn the basic mechanics of the game play. Then the demo ends further into the game, leaving you at a point where you want to know what's happens next.
Basically, a good demo is one that doesn't feel like a demo. One that feels like your playing the actual game, including the foibles the game may have.
The last demo that got me to a buy a game was the one for Plants vs. Zombies. It gives you the actual game, let's you play it for an hour, then tells you to buy it. As soon as the demo ended, I bought the game.
Aquaria´, bought it 3 hours later. And thats pretty much it as far as I can remember in my whole gaming career. Other then that, most demos are only useful for hardware benchmarks and even in this aspect they try to cheat recently.
So I came to the point where I wait until a game is available as rental or a friend got it, because the demos are less then useful most of the time and I don't want to get post from lawyers because I downloaded a potentially bad game. And since games usually come at a low price at this point, it's the publishers loss.
So I came to the point where I wait until a game is available as rental or a friend got it, because the demos are less then useful most of the time and I don't want to get post from lawyers because I downloaded a potentially bad game. And since games usually come at a low price at this point, it's the publishers loss.
Interestingly, the Wolfenstein 3D "demo" (ok shareware episode) was much more entertaining (especially at the time) and did the trick than most of the modern demos combined.
As for the last demo -> purchase story, that would be FEAR2. Although it was awfully short, when i played it i was "i want it now, i want it NOW!". Of course *any* demo that makes you want the game badly would feel short. But most demos are criminally short nonetheless
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The previous one was Aquaria. That was actually a two hours demo(!). At some point i was wondering if they distributed the full game by accident.
As for the last demo -> purchase story, that would be FEAR2. Although it was awfully short, when i played it i was "i want it now, i want it NOW!". Of course *any* demo that makes you want the game badly would feel short. But most demos are criminally short nonetheless
.The previous one was Aquaria. That was actually a two hours demo(!). At some point i was wondering if they distributed the full game by accident
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Well, I've yet to play a demo that has changed my perception of the game so much that I will buy it, although Bioshock had a demo that got pretty darn close. Sure, it's just the first level or so, but isn't that quite fitting for a demo? As mentioned in the article, the start of any game always presents a bunch of elements that will be important for the rest of it, such as characters, setting etc.
So why not just use the first level as the game's demo? It might be the easy way out, but then you almost definently will get some sort of story explanation as well as some gameplay demonstration.
P.S. The one reason for not getting Bioshock despite the demo is that my friend already has it on PC, and that I'll simply play it at his house...
P.P.S
So why not just use the first level as the game's demo? It might be the easy way out, but then you almost definently will get some sort of story explanation as well as some gameplay demonstration.
P.S. The one reason for not getting Bioshock despite the demo is that my friend already has it on PC, and that I'll simply play it at his house...
P.P.S
Maybe this also, but somehow I got the demo in french, so I didn't understand what was happening except for "they're hurting you, hurt them". Actually took away some of my will to buy it right away...Ambarato said:
That's more than you would think. Recalling, I bought World of Goo and Overlord on grounds of the demo (they actually made we WANT to have it in the first place). I was pleasantly surprised especially with the latter, because when I played the full version, I realized the demo had given me opportunities you actually don't have that early in the game, so that was really well done. Plus it came with the opening "cut scene" AND a tutorial. That's a lot for no bucks, other than that it made me pay twenty to get it.
Other than that, you're dead on, I've long lost count on the demos I played only to find out that they sucked and can't be trusted. Which is, essentially, why I pirate - DISCLAIMER: I buy the games if I like them, I relly do. Even if it means getting a worse version of the same, like with Mass Effect, which I bought after beating my pirated version.
Other than that, you're dead on, I've long lost count on the demos I played only to find out that they sucked and can't be trusted. Which is, essentially, why I pirate - DISCLAIMER: I buy the games if I like them, I relly do. Even if it means getting a worse version of the same, like with Mass Effect, which I bought after beating my pirated version.
King's Bounty is the last game where the demo sold me. The demo is the entire tutorial plus the first 'map' - you could probably get several hours of play out of it. In fact, there was so much content in the demo that I didn't even finish it - but I got more than enough information about the game to let me know I wanted to play the real one.
Also, the latest demo for Wolverine on the Xbox 360 was also quite good. It didn't motivate me enough to buy the game, but it impressed me enough to make take notice, and I might pick it up in the future. Again, it's the entire first level (ending on a cliffhanger before the boss fight)
Also, the latest demo for Wolverine on the Xbox 360 was also quite good. It didn't motivate me enough to buy the game, but it impressed me enough to make take notice, and I might pick it up in the future. Again, it's the entire first level (ending on a cliffhanger before the boss fight)
You weren't interested when lightning was involved!?Ambarato said:
O.O
Culture shock. Where we live, we worship lightning!
XD
