Beta Demo etc?

[ukcivfan]

Well, it really isn't that long till Civ 5 is released (12 weeks) are we likely to get a demo anytime soon, say 50 turns or whatever, so we can see it going ourselves? Did they release a demo for civ 4, I can't remember.

Enough talk, I wanna PLAY!!!

 

[AriochIV]

I don't expect it, as I don't believe they have ever done this for Civilization.

 

[Gre_Magus]

They did put out a demo for Civ 4, but I'm pretty sure it was after the game's release. I'd be surprised if we got a demo before release for Civ 5.

 

[The_J]

There was a demo for Civ4, only 1 map, 4 preset civs and a limit of 100 rounds, so a demo is possible.

No idea about civ5.
I guess with all this steam stuff in it, it will be a problem to create a stand alone demo.

 

[AriochIV]

If memory serves, the Civ IV demo was released more than a month after the game launched.

 

[Duuk]

I hate to say it... but I probably need a demo to buy C5. There are so many changes that I'm not sure I want to buy the game.

 

[Snoopy]

No such thing as a "Beta Demo", that's just silly. The game is too complex to release a demo before release date; Unless Firaxis has the manpower and have finalized the game already (see how unlikely that sounds?). You'll have to wait a month or so after release.

Imagine if they did release a demo before release, and you didn't like the game, they just lost you as a customer. It's all too risky.

 

[migkillertwo]

No such thing as a "Beta Demo", that's just silly. The game is too complex to release a demo before release date; Unless Firaxis has the manpower and have finalized the game already (see how unlikely that sounds?). You'll have to wait a month or so after release.

Imagine if they did release a demo before release, and you didn't like the game, they just lost you as a customer. It's all too risky.

and what if they release a demo and the game is so good that it gets a previously disinterested gamer to buy Civ V?

This happens in real life. For instance, I downloaded the Ps3 demo for Battlefield Bad Company 2, and I loved it so much that I payed full retail price for it. I can guarantee you that I would not have bought BF:BC2 were it not for the demo.

 

[Snoopy]

What I was trying to say is that Demo's kill hype. Releasing a demo afterwards makes more sense.

 

[AriochIV]

Some developers do indeed release "beta demo's", to build exposure for an unknown product, but don't expect one from Firaxis, particularly for the highly-anticipated Civilization series.

 

[trineas]

I guess with all this steam stuff in it, it will be a problem to create a stand alone demo.

Wasn't a problem for Empire: Total War, Dawn of War 2, Just Cause 2 and plenty of other Steamworks games.

 

[Schuesseled]

They also did a demo for civ rev, it wouldn't suprise me, it also wouldn't suprise me if itwas only available to the americans for the first week of the demo.

 

[Johnny Be]

Imagine if they did release a demo before release, and you didn't like the game, they just lost you as a customer. It's all too risky.

and what if they release a demo and the game is so good that it gets a previously disinterested gamer to buy Civ V?

I think you are both right

They will have a Demo, but after the game is launched. It's was the case in Civ IV and, if memory serves me correctly, Civ III also. Can't remember the Civ1 and 2... It was a long time ago

The common sense reasons I can remember are:

1. All the team is currently going for a last push so that the game ships with a minimal bug list. Afterwards they will have some guys free to allow for a demo (except if very disrupting issues are found with the game after lunch.)

2. The hype guys and fan base will buy by default, so Snoopy is right in not giving them a demo from a marketing point of view.

3. As migkillertwo said, they will eventually need a Demo to allow people who were in doubt to take the plunge.

JB

 

[Tylerryan79]

I was looking on steam and was looking for Bioshock 2, and searched Bioshock. They all came up, (Bioshock and Bioshock 2) including the Bioshock 1 demo. It was released on steam the day before Bioshock was, and it is a 2k game (atleast Bioshock 2 was, I know that for sure). Hopefully 2k does something similar for Civ.

 

[deanej]

The problem with releasing the demo after the game is that those of us in doubt won't be able to get the map pack, because you can only get it if you pre-order from steam.

 

[12agnar0k]

who needs to see the demo before they buy anyway, that is reserved for annoying games that dont release enough information or videos on actual game play, the first gameplay footage I saw of ciV was enough for me to say, yup im defintely getting it, tbh I was already defintely getting it before I saw it

 

[deanej]

It's not enough for those of us who aren't excited by the combat changes. Since that's the only feature we have extensive information on so far, we need to wait for more. At least now we have a little information on social policies and did for modding before the article got pulled.

 

[Zhahz]

Unless Firaxis has the manpower and have finalized the game already (see how unlikely that sounds?). You'll have to wait a month or so after release.

Imagine if they did release a demo before release, and you didn't like the game, they just lost you as a customer. It's all too risky.

I'd have to totally disagree. For any potential customer that doesn't like the demo and doesn't buy there's at least one potential customer on the fence who ends up buying it after trying the demo.

If you make a good product and you believe in it, there's no reason not to have a demo.

Except, that it takes manpower to make the demo version, it takes manpower/resources to distribute, and when you KNOW you have a hit on your hands, like civ5 of course will be, there's less reason to put out a demo, because you know you're going to sell copies.

I'd much rather they polish the game and take care of last minute details than worry about a demo.

That's why they put out a demo after, to pull in even more sales when the game is out, they've had some time to chill/take vacations, the inevitable first patch is out, and so on.

Companies like blizzard and firaxis, who put out killer game after killer game, have no reason to rush to create demos or trials. They will sell tons of copies regardless.

I just wish firaxis shared blizzard's stance on info. Blizzard KNOWS they kill. They know WoW slays universes (as does WC, SC, and Diablo series). They drop their NDAs months ahead of release because they KNOW they will sell and all the info that gets out just makes fans even more rabid for their products. It's like free advertising to them to drop their NDAs months before release. When you KNOW you deliver, there's no reason to be stingy with info.

 

[deanej]

Except it doesn't take a lot of effort to make a demo. Here, I'll make the demo for civ5 in five seconds:
To prevent save games:

void saveGame() {
    cout << "This is the demo, so save games are disabled.";
    return;
}

To limit the game:

if(iGameTurn == 100)
    kickPlayerOut();

There, complete demo! That's really all there is to it - just put a few hacks in the code to disable the features you wish to disable. All it takes is a few return statements.

 

[bjbrains]

Except it doesn't take a lot of effort to make a demo. Here, I'll make the demo for civ5 in five seconds:
To prevent save games:

void saveGame() {
    cout << "This is the demo, so save games are disabled.";
    return;
}

To limit the game:

if(iGameTurn == 100)
    kickPlayerOut();

There, complete demo! That's really all there is to it - just put a few hacks in the code to disable the features you wish to disable. All it takes is a few return statements.

Come on now, that's not true at all. For a demo, they'd have to rework the menu (Don't want too many disabled options), remove unused data (for security and file size reasons), and actually code in a proper shutdown sequence (that couldn't be easily disabled). That's not even mentioning the dev time needed to decide on what a proper demo should be, the last thing they'd want to do would be to release a bad demo.