I spent several days deciding "to buy or not to buy". Coz I don't work and hate spending other people's money. And coz I also wanted to buy Celestial Command very much, coz I played pirated version and wanted to support the project. And also because USD is almost twice the old price it was now. Yes, in the end I bought both, but it cost me a lot of nerves.
I like your game very much, it was worth the money and nerves, but dang it! If there was a demo, it would be so much faster and easier to decide!
Attention. Demo version should be last (6.x) version with some limitations. Not 5.x or 3.x, coz a new player should see all the content, to become interested. For example you could cut everything but singleplayer combat, and limit it to standart ships?
another thing that you could do is watch youtube videos about the game. I like demos but sometimes watching let's plays can work just as well.
EDIT: another thing that I can see that would be a risk with a demo, (and Zark can correct me on this) is that people may take the demo and trick people into buying it from them at full price.
ahahah))) that's so funny) yeah, world is full of idiots) oh, they can)) but what stops me from selling unprotected versions (Zark was so kind to let me have 'em all) to those idiots? Biggy, what u proposed is so...
Well, I would call you stupid, but I forgot about the utube myself, 1-1 it will be) [sorry, I'm ill and in a bad mood coz can't go out with one nice girl]
Yes tubes is ok, but I never buy the game just because the videos are good. Did it once, and still never played that game coz none of my PC's video cards can handle it. Demo serves a great purpose. It tells wether or not can your PC let you play this game.
P.S. Don't worry, Z, I don't think I will commit any piracy uppon your files. I dpn't betray people who trust me.
A demo sounds like a good idea but with the content and how the game works it worries me that it will either not really represent the game (from too many limitations) or it will turn out like the Gratuitous Tank Battles demo where there was no need to buy the real version of the game (too little limitations). I have seen a few games do the ladder and im worried that Airships could do the same..
I know that comment kinda makes me sound like a crazy person for being all like "free? that's terrible!" but airships is not a free game for a reason and if it was it probably would not be as high quality (on a side note Zarkonnen, in 72 hours of playtime i have not encountered a single bug so far, amazing work!).
-Edit- I do suppose however that a demo is better than nothing at all since you will at least know what you are throwing your money at!
I'm currently at a game festival, which is why I'm taking a while to reply. :)
So between you you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. Currently, there is no demo, and there's no immediate plans for a demo, because:
From everything I see, the standard way people now decide to buy a game is via YouTube. Game demos have become really rare. I find this a bit weird, because I prefer demos myself, and because I'm really bad at paying attention to videos. But it's what the numbers and the blog posts from more experienced devs say.
Fear of piracy is indeed not the reason for the lack of a demo. The game's available completely DRM-free anyway, so there's nothing stopping anyone from just uploading/seeding the game. This hasn't happened yet, but I'm certain it will at some point. And I won't care when it happens. It's not that I want people to pirate the game, but don't really want to spend a lot of pointless effort trying to prevent piracy, making players' game experience worse, and siphoning off effort from actually making the game better.
And finally, yes, I'm still not really sure where to make the cut, what to include in the demo. As Firebird mentioned with the GTB demo, if you make the demo too big, people will reasonably go "this is pretty much the whole game, why bother buying it". And if you make the demo too limited, you're not showing off why it's such a cool game.
So there's unlikely to be a demo before the final release, though I am very much up to changing my mind on that topic. Hope this summary makes sense, and let me know what you think.
I think your priorities are really good Zarkonnenn and i don't really have much else to say on this topic right now other than what will you do if piracy becomes a major concern (due to having little restriction)?
I really can't say how much i love this game but if piracy gets really bad (not saying that it will in the foreseeable future/ever since i have never seen that happen to a game before but) how might that affect the quality of future versions of Airships and what might you do if it does happen to be a major concern?
Also i realize piracy is a bothersome subject to discuss since its pretty much about robbing someone over the internet so i think this is where i will end that thought.
Videos... Oh dear.. I at 90% occasions skip them even on steam. Prefer pictures. Videos always are cool, usually much better than the actual game. Pictures are still. You have to put some cool designer to work to make them better than they are. Plus my PCs are so slow than all that new HD resulution just don't fit me xD
That's a good attitude. I respect words like that. Well, there is no honour in pirating a DRM-free indie game.
What to cut? Is your game sandbox? Leave sandbox. Is your game about battles? Leave some battles. Dang, as I said - leave combat with only default ships. Do what you think is right anyway =D
@Firebird Don't forsee? Ask Zark to send you a DRM-free copy and upload it anywhere. That easy. Quite fast.
How can it affect? I suppose 10-20% loss in sales. Why?
1) Not all people are smart enough to understand that without material support the developement of the game they play will be harder.
2) Not all people have money for the game they want to play a bit and forget.
3) Piracy is the best demo version (as we say in Russia). Smart people here download pirated versions, and if like the game, buy it.
So even though the losses are large, promotion also takes place.
Robbing?! Come on! Robberry is a game worth half of my friend's month budget! All those corporations always talk about their million dollar losses and froget to meniton billion dollar income. Robbing he says... I feel offended...
I suppose your right, i just don't know much on the subject since i don't really dabble in trying to take things for free that are made/meant to be sold (unless you count discounts and sales!).
That could work, yeah. Thing is, conventional gamedev wisdom these days very much says that demos are actually bad for your game. Which conflicts pretty heavily with my feeling that demos are very good things.
I do plan to do a free weekend on Steam pretty soon.
¡Hey! IMO demos can be bad if the final result isn't what the game promises, but this isn't your case, a few battles with some premade ships and one designed by the new player with a limit of 5k, would make them want to fix the ship's flaws or maybe trying new designs, in which case they would have to buy the game :D
I'm sad the demos are losing ground, to try most games you have to play them pirated before, because a lot of times, the gameplays (Youtube) experiences differs from reality or it doesn't show the new "shiny" functions the game already has...
PD: Happend something similar with this game, videos didn't convince me at all, but after buying the game I have to say it was a good buy
Commander
Meow.
Zark, will you please make some demo version?
I spent several days deciding "to buy or not to buy". Coz I don't work and hate spending other people's money. And coz I also wanted to buy Celestial Command very much, coz I played pirated version and wanted to support the project. And also because USD is almost twice the old price it was now. Yes, in the end I bought both, but it cost me a lot of nerves.
I like your game very much, it was worth the money and nerves, but dang it! If there was a demo, it would be so much faster and easier to decide!
Attention. Demo version should be last (6.x) version with some limitations. Not 5.x or 3.x, coz a new player should see all the content, to become interested. For example you could cut everything but singleplayer combat, and limit it to standart ships?
If I'm not right, tell me why?
Captain
another thing that you could do is watch youtube videos about the game. I like demos but sometimes watching let's plays can work just as well.
EDIT: another thing that I can see that would be a risk with a demo, (and Zark can correct me on this) is that people may take the demo and trick people into buying it from them at full price.
Commander
ahahah))) that's so funny) yeah, world is full of idiots) oh, they can)) but what stops me from selling unprotected versions (Zark was so kind to let me have 'em all) to those idiots? Biggy, what u proposed is so...
Well, I would call you stupid, but I forgot about the utube myself, 1-1 it will be) [sorry, I'm ill and in a bad mood coz can't go out with one nice girl]
Yes tubes is ok, but I never buy the game just because the videos are good. Did it once, and still never played that game coz none of my PC's video cards can handle it. Demo serves a great purpose. It tells wether or not can your PC let you play this game.
P.S. Don't worry, Z, I don't think I will commit any piracy uppon your files. I dpn't betray people who trust me.
Air Lord, Engineering Corps
A demo sounds like a good idea but with the content and how the game works it worries me that it will either not really represent the game (from too many limitations) or it will turn out like the Gratuitous Tank Battles demo where there was no need to buy the real version of the game (too little limitations). I have seen a few games do the ladder and im worried that Airships could do the same..
I know that comment kinda makes me sound like a crazy person for being all like "free? that's terrible!" but airships is not a free game for a reason and if it was it probably would not be as high quality (on a side note Zarkonnen, in 72 hours of playtime i have not encountered a single bug so far, amazing work!).
-Edit- I do suppose however that a demo is better than nothing at all since you will at least know what you are throwing your money at!
Commander
I was interested in Zark's thoughts about it. Only. It's his decision. After his reply we can discuss it.
Aerial Emperor
I'm currently at a game festival, which is why I'm taking a while to reply. :)
So between you you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. Currently, there is no demo, and there's no immediate plans for a demo, because:
So there's unlikely to be a demo before the final release, though I am very much up to changing my mind on that topic. Hope this summary makes sense, and let me know what you think.
Air Lord, Engineering Corps
I think your priorities are really good Zarkonnenn and i don't really have much else to say on this topic right now other than what will you do if piracy becomes a major concern (due to having little restriction)?
I really can't say how much i love this game but if piracy gets really bad (not saying that it will in the foreseeable future/ever since i have never seen that happen to a game before but) how might that affect the quality of future versions of Airships and what might you do if it does happen to be a major concern?
Also i realize piracy is a bothersome subject to discuss since its pretty much about robbing someone over the internet so i think this is where i will end that thought.
Commander
@Z Any news from festival?))
Videos... Oh dear.. I at 90% occasions skip them even on steam. Prefer pictures. Videos always are cool, usually much better than the actual game. Pictures are still. You have to put some cool designer to work to make them better than they are. Plus my PCs are so slow than all that new HD resulution just don't fit me xD
That's a good attitude. I respect words like that. Well, there is no honour in pirating a DRM-free indie game.
What to cut? Is your game sandbox? Leave sandbox. Is your game about battles? Leave some battles. Dang, as I said - leave combat with only default ships. Do what you think is right anyway =D
@Firebird Don't forsee? Ask Zark to send you a DRM-free copy and upload it anywhere. That easy. Quite fast.
How can it affect? I suppose 10-20% loss in sales. Why? 1) Not all people are smart enough to understand that without material support the developement of the game they play will be harder. 2) Not all people have money for the game they want to play a bit and forget. 3) Piracy is the best demo version (as we say in Russia). Smart people here download pirated versions, and if like the game, buy it.
So even though the losses are large, promotion also takes place.
Robbing?! Come on! Robberry is a game worth half of my friend's month budget! All those corporations always talk about their million dollar losses and froget to meniton billion dollar income. Robbing he says... I feel offended...
Air Lord, Engineering Corps
I suppose your right, i just don't know much on the subject since i don't really dabble in trying to take things for free that are made/meant to be sold (unless you count discounts and sales!).
Air Admiral
Makes think... Perhaps a demo in the future could be the Airships Academy tutorial mode alone?
Aerial Emperor
That could work, yeah. Thing is, conventional gamedev wisdom these days very much says that demos are actually bad for your game. Which conflicts pretty heavily with my feeling that demos are very good things.
I do plan to do a free weekend on Steam pretty soon.
Air Admiral
Well that sounds quite neat! Hopefully it goes well.
Able Airman
¡Hey! IMO demos can be bad if the final result isn't what the game promises, but this isn't your case, a few battles with some premade ships and one designed by the new player with a limit of 5k, would make them want to fix the ship's flaws or maybe trying new designs, in which case they would have to buy the game :D
I'm sad the demos are losing ground, to try most games you have to play them pirated before, because a lot of times, the gameplays (Youtube) experiences differs from reality or it doesn't show the new "shiny" functions the game already has... PD: Happend something similar with this game, videos didn't convince me at all, but after buying the game I have to say it was a good buy