I've not bought into the early access game yet, but I'm very tempted. As with many other people I'm concerned about recent 4x release history and getting my fingers burned. Even the 'good' 4x games that have come out haven't really entertained - Endless space for example bores me to tears, although I know many enjoy it.
Anyway what I'd really like to see is a demo of this game before making a decision. I realise however that it may be impossible to spare the time to release one, so it occurred to me that, when the game goes beta you could simply release the alpha as a demo, maybe even an early alpha build if you don't want to release the later ones. Other developers have done this for their games and it seems to be a simple solution to having a demo....
Release the Aplha as a demo
Re: Release the Aplha as a demo
You are "very tempted" but you want a freebie ? Are you so poor than you cannot afford a measly $ 20 for an early-access alpha ?Atoning Unifex wrote:
I've not bought into the early access game yet, but I'm very tempted.
If you are so "tempted" why don't you support an indie developer with a measly $ 20 ?
(We are very far here from Planetary Annihilation and its $ 2 million Kickstarter pre-alpha support, and its $ 90 alpha-participation deal.)
Just asking.
(You and I do not share the same conception of Temptation.)
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Atoning Unifex
- Voyager
- Posts: 3
Re: Release the Aplha as a demo
Ouch! Not sure I deserved that sort of response! I made a perfectly reasonable suggestion that is used by other indie developers. A snarky resonse like that doesn't help much!
I'm not looking for a freebie, I'm looking for a demo, a taster of what the game is actually like before I commit to more, try-before-you-buy - it's not a new concept! An early alpha release when the game is in beta seems to me a good compromise between the need for a demo and having to spend the time to make one.
I've watched the videos, read some comments on here and Steam and, whilst there's a lot of encouraging remarks, I'm still uncertain the game matches the sort of thing I'd like. Whilst £15 isn't very much money I think it's perfectly reasonable for me to not want to pay that for a game I don't like. I will happily buy into the game if I like what I see, and from the comments I've seen on steam and here, many other people - also concerned about the poor 4x reputation - would be similarly encouraged to buy into something they can actually try out. Surely this would be a good thing?
I bought into Endless Space early and largely found all the good suggestions were ignored and the game was released, in my opinion, as a very flat boring experience. I think I've played it twice since.
Stardrive I've bought as well and, whilst that is better than endless space, I still don't find the experience very engaging.
I'm hoping this is better than these but I can't know unless I gamble on it... or I get to try a demo.
I'm not looking for a freebie, I'm looking for a demo, a taster of what the game is actually like before I commit to more, try-before-you-buy - it's not a new concept! An early alpha release when the game is in beta seems to me a good compromise between the need for a demo and having to spend the time to make one.
I've watched the videos, read some comments on here and Steam and, whilst there's a lot of encouraging remarks, I'm still uncertain the game matches the sort of thing I'd like. Whilst £15 isn't very much money I think it's perfectly reasonable for me to not want to pay that for a game I don't like. I will happily buy into the game if I like what I see, and from the comments I've seen on steam and here, many other people - also concerned about the poor 4x reputation - would be similarly encouraged to buy into something they can actually try out. Surely this would be a good thing?
I bought into Endless Space early and largely found all the good suggestions were ignored and the game was released, in my opinion, as a very flat boring experience. I think I've played it twice since.
Stardrive I've bought as well and, whilst that is better than endless space, I still don't find the experience very engaging.
I'm hoping this is better than these but I can't know unless I gamble on it... or I get to try a demo.
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crimsonsun
- Explorer
- Posts: 15
Re: Release the Aplha as a demo
while I understand and agree with what Cyber mage is saying I feel he may have been somewhat heavy handed in his delivery. A better way of putting it is that as a small Indie developer, they are highly unlikely to have the resources spare to develop a Trial Demo at this stage. All the developers are frantically working on the game and going though feedback and this is going to be the case even after the main release. But I have always been of the opinion if you dont ask you dont get, now while I consider it totally unreasonable to expect a Demo when the game is still in Alpha, maybe once its been released a Demo could be available.
I am just a gamer though like yourself so I have no control over the final outcome, but I feel that is a far more sensible way of looking at the situation....
crimsonsun
I am just a gamer though like yourself so I have no control over the final outcome, but I feel that is a far more sensible way of looking at the situation....
crimsonsun
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Atoning Unifex
- Voyager
- Posts: 3
Re: Release the Aplha as a demo
Yes I agree totally with what you say. I think you may have missed my point though:
Currently the game is in alpha and is, by all accounts, very playable. Rather than the developers having to spend the time making a trial can they not release the alpha, as is, as a demo. Obviously they won't want to release their latest version though, so my thought was that once the game goes into beta then they can release the alpha (maybe an early alpha) to tempt people in.
So I get my trial (even if it's an early build with missing stuff), the buyers get their latest builds and hopefully the developers attract in many of the uncertain people out there scared because of the 4x reputation.
It's something I've seen quite a lot of other indie developers doing.
Currently the game is in alpha and is, by all accounts, very playable. Rather than the developers having to spend the time making a trial can they not release the alpha, as is, as a demo. Obviously they won't want to release their latest version though, so my thought was that once the game goes into beta then they can release the alpha (maybe an early alpha) to tempt people in.
So I get my trial (even if it's an early build with missing stuff), the buyers get their latest builds and hopefully the developers attract in many of the uncertain people out there scared because of the 4x reputation.
It's something I've seen quite a lot of other indie developers doing.