Doing a demo

The pros and cons

from GalCiv2 Forums

I hate doing demos. There, I've said it.

The reason I hate it is that you usually have to pick between a demo that people like and a demo that actually sells the game.  It's tough to find that balance.

The best game demo we ever did was The Corporate Machine. In that demo, it was fully playable but you had to play on-line against other people. It was great because people got to see what the game was like and played people on-line.  Of course, it required them to find people on-line which was a little inconvenient at times but it worked out pretty well.

So now that I've poo-pooed making the demo. I do think it's a good demo.

Here's what it consists of:

  • Players play as humans
  • Galaxy size set to small galaxy
  • 3 opponents
  • 150 turns (probably enough to finish the game).

Otherwise players can go nuts with it. It should be enough to show off the game and see what they can expect while not giving away so much that there's no reason to get the full game.

It goes into QA tomorrow and will probably be in there for a week or two.

21,864 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I wish I could play the demo now lmao , i'm still waiting for my pre ordered copy to come in at my local EB games store. Thanks alot mate for putting so much work into this game though, it just reasures me that this game is going to be amazing.

I've never even heard of Stardock before but from what i've read it seems like you guys are going to have a pretty loyal fan base. I'm sure if people could play a demo of the game first it would greatly boost sales because they won't be scared of buying the game and not liking it.

Any chance you can tell me when it's going to be released in Sydney, Australia? The bloke at the store said it was due out 5 days ago but it should be coming out by this friday.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think you should limit SOME of the techs and features. Just so you don't give away everything, and yet keep the demo filesize small.
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I understand that demos are more work for developers, Brad, but anymore I have to see a demo before I buy a game. Everytime I have broken that rule, I've gotten burned. Videogames are too expensive and too much can go wrong for me to buy a game sight unseen anymore.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Personally, I think that the first mission of the campaign would make a good demo...
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
WTG CariElf Good work on getting it finished
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Personally, I think that the first mission of the campaign would make a good demo...


Agree, maybe couple of the missions should be on the demo, as well as some of the ship design function, maybe limit them to weapons and defense.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think the sandbox game is a lot more fun than the campaign. You want to put your best foot forward with the demo so the player can see just how good the game is but leave them wanting more. I would give them the entire game (minus the videos to keep the size down) but limit the number of turns to 100. That is enough to satisfy their curiousity but ensure they will want to upgrade to the full game.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
pleasse add a small part of the ship desin IM BEGGING YOU please addsome ship dsin and also is it 150 trns per game or 150 turns in the intire downlod if it is the second one i will hate you also willthe demo be playable on 98 cause some games for 98/2000/me/xp demos only play on xp (stubbs the zombie) dont do that PLEASE dont do that
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
In this case, I think it was a good idea that you held off on the demo.

What kind of reviews would you gotten if the whole 'Overheating-video-card' and 'Must-have-updated-video-drivers' problems hadn't been fleshed out?
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
W00t! I'm so happy! At long last I can finally try it! I'm still waiting for my EB order for the game to arrive!