Civilization V Demo Release Date: 21st of september

[Niniux]

So, I have a tough decision to make. Do I bite the bullet and prepress it but possibly be wasting the money as I meet just the minimum requirements?

I wanted the demo really only to test performance on my machine.

 

[Emstinson]

I doubt legal mumbo jumbo has anything to do with it. I can only speculate, but it seems more reasonable that they don't want to give the people who pre-ordered the game a chance to cancel their orders (after seeing what happened to the pre-orders when they released the Mafia II demo).

I can agree with you on that, I watched my buddy playing the demo for Marfia II on his xbox and just laughed as his description was "The only thing I like about this is going directly from paved "white" neighborhoods to dirt "non-white" suburbs." You have enlightened me Tremonti, I now see the connection between games not ready for public consumption and early demos... +3 commerce in the tiles of 2k and steam

 

[Iberian]

The demo is mainly intended for people who haven't decided whether or not they want the game. It's not an "early access to the game" sort of thing. Well, we hoped it would be both, but sadly we just couldn't get it finalized in time.



A demo doesn't just magically make itself; it has to be developed just like a regular game does.

Couple problems with that statement. First the game had to have gone gold a while ago to get all the DVD's pressed and into boxes and shipped world wide. During that time I am positive the Firaxis team could have made a demo. Even if it was the full game with 100 turn timer on it.

How is it that the demo magically makes itself on Sept 21? Don't kid yourself it didn't. Tell me are there programmers working overtime to crank this out by Sept. 21? I doubt it but if they are I bet there are 100's of people on these forums who could have modded a demo with whatever limitations will be on it in the time from the date Civ V went gold till Sept. 7.

You can either keep your job and tell us a story or be honest. There are not programmers working overtime to complete this demo. It could have been done had someone cared to make it happen. Not releasing the demo 2 weeks before launch will make 2k more money.

Lastly I am almost positive that 100's would have stepped up to help with the demo for free to make a demo so everyone could try it before the release date because that is how much the Civ community cares.

 

[Diplomat32]

So, I have a tough decision to make. Do I bite the bullet and prepress it but possibly be wasting the money as I meet just the minimum requirements?

I wanted the demo really only to test performance on my machine.

What's the tough decision? Get the demo and if it works, get the game later.

 

[Zhahz]

Ouch, what a kick in the nuts. Why are people saying "thank you?" More like, "thank you sir, may I have another!" /cry

Obviously this is not Greg's fault so no ill will towards him, but it doesn't make this suck any less.

All these off the wall game sites and all the people at gamescom essentially got access to a demo and now this?

I can see the reasoning but it doesn't lessen the pain.

So.

For lack of a demo so we can experience the glory for ourselves before having retail (because of course I'm buying the game and hardly need a demo to make that determination)...

...could you (2k/firaxis) at least drop the NDA so that beta testers with a clue can post some decent gameplay examples (Sulla-style from IV) and/or answer burning questions? Half the previewers from off the wall game sites talking about playing weekends of the preview often seem to have no clue. It's like pouring salt in the wound.

Throw us a bone. Civ 5 is going to own. It's obvious. Any info you allow to be released now is just free advertising. IMO anyone posting here saying there's any doubt about purchasing Civ 5 based on what we've seen so far have to be kidding.

You have to expect that some folks from this site are in beta and could provide some good info or gameplay examples if they were allowed to.

 

[Lyoncet]

Ouch, what a kick in the nuts. Why are people saying "thank you?" More like, "thank you sir, may I have another!" /cry

Obviously this is not Greg's fault so no ill will towards him, but it doesn't make this suck any less.

You answered your on question there. Saying "Thanks for letting us know, Greg," isn't the same as "I'm happy the demo will be released Sept. 21." You shouldn't need me to tell you that.

 

[MajorDisaster84]

...could you (2k/firaxis) at least drop the NDA so that beta testers with a clue can post some decent gameplay examples (Sulla-style from IV) and/or answer burning questions? Half the previewers from off the wall game sites talking about playing weekends of the preview often seem to have no clue. It's like pouring salt in the wound.

Throw us a bone. Civ 5 is going to own. It's obvious. Any info you allow to be released now is just free advertising. IMO anyone posting here saying there's any doubt about purchasing Civ 5 based on what we've seen so far have to be kidding.

You have to expect that some folks from this site are in beta and could provide some good info or gameplay examples if they were allowed to.

In lieu of a demo, this it best thing we can have. I have to say that though I realize this was not Greg's decision, it was highly unwise to state to a hungry fan-base that the demo would be ready before the 21st when in fact there was no certainty, perhaps not even a high probability, that this would be the case. Poor marketing in my book.

 

[Diplomat32]

Couple problems with that statement. First the game had to have gone gold a while ago to get all the DVD's pressed and into boxes and shipped world wide. During that time I am positive the Firaxis team could have made a demo. Even if it was the full game with 100 turn timer on it.

How is it that the demo magically makes itself on Sept 21? Don't kid yourself it didn't. Tell me are there programmers working overtime to crank this out by Sept. 21? I doubt it but if they are I bet there are 100's of people on these forums who could have modded a demo with whatever limitations will be on it in the time from the date Civ V went gold till Sept. 7.

You can either keep your job and tell us a story or be honest. There are not programmers working overtime to complete this demo. It could have been done had someone cared to make it happen. Not releasing the demo 2 weeks before launch will make 2k more money.

Lastly I am almost positive that 100's would have stepped up to help with the demo for free to make a demo so everyone could try it before the release date because that is how much the Civ community cares.

Of course, the programmers could release the demo sooner. We all know that it would not take much work on the part of the expert programmers at Firaxis to mod the game with a 100 turn cap. It's obvious to me that the real reason the demo is coming out on Sept 21 is because 2K had some legal reason that the demo could not be released before the full game. Greg is just the messenger. Firaxis has to comply with what their publisher tells them. Maybe 2K is worried that some modder would find a way to crack the demo and make the full game available to people for free.

 

[Mercade]

Excellent news. Thanks, Greg. Three days before the release date is well within the margin, too. I'll use that demo exactly what it's intended for, to see whether it'll run smoothly enough on my machine to preorder or whether I can wait a little and do a slight upgrade first. or

 

[The_J]

I guess they are too busy producing DLC .
Maybe they could release the demo 2 weeks earlier, but then the final civ version would only have 14 civs and the MP modus would need another month longer .
I smell missmanagement .


Sorry, i'm sarcastic today.

But thanks for letting us know this .

 

[Emstinson]

Excellent news. Thanks, Greg. Three days before the release date is well within the margin, too. I'll use that demo exactly what it's intended for, to see whether it'll run smoothly enough on my machine to preorder or whether I can wait a little and do a slight upgrade first. or

Never have I wished more that my ancestors stayed in Europe... just kidding, but still Good perspective Mercade! Yeah we'll be okay people, the people who can't do a pre-order without knowing if they can play it on their system are the ones with the rightful gripe. I myself will be glad to skip the demo if the game is indeed playable on release one way or the other. Or.... perhaps the demo will be quicker to download and play it while the full game downloads from Steam if it's not pre downloaded... hmmm.. maybe I'll skip the pre-download...

 

[Falcan]

At least with steam you can quickly download the demo, then when your done with it download the full game without having to even stand up.

 

[Geek113377]

I was hoping for a demo at least a week before the game came out, so that i could see whether my computer could run it and then still get the pre-order bonuses

 

[Venereus]

In lieu of a demo, this it best thing we can have. I have to say that though I realize this was not Greg's decision, it was highly unwise to state to a hungry fan-base that the demo would be ready before the 21st when in fact there was no certainty, perhaps not even a high probability, that this would be the case. Poor marketing in my book.

Unfortunately with poor marketing and all, they'll still make tons of money, no penalty means they'll keep screwing ppl over.

 

[Sullla]

Disappointing, but expected. This is clearly a marketing decision - no offense, but the technical argument is pretty bogus, given that print magazines are already writing reviews based on the supposed final version of the game. This is the way the gaming industry works today, build up as much hype as possible and try to get as many people as possible to buy the game with pre-orders before it's actually released, so that bad word of mouth can't affect sales.

I agree with so many other people here: Civ5 will be a good game. The constant secrecy and poor marketing are unnecessary, and are only hurting sales. An early demo would encourage sales, not drive them away.

 

[Niniux]

What's the tough decision? Get the demo and if it works, get the game later.

I miss out on the pre-order bonuses.

 

[Mannu]

You shouldn't have implied it would be released earlier than the game itself if that wasn't set in stone.

 

[Le Sage]

OK. I'm going for the full game straight away, instead of even trying out the demo then.

 

[mjs0]

You shouldn't have implied it would be released earlier than the game itself if that wasn't set in stone.

I disagree completely, I would far prefer to hear the latest estimate and then get updated later if necessary.
Even something that is 'set in stone' can move due to unforeseen events, so the alternative is even less information than we get at the moment.

 

[The_J]

This is clearly a marketing decision - no offense, but the technical argument is pretty bogus, given that print magazines are already writing reviews based on the supposed final version of the game.

Saw today a screenie in a mag...the pyramids, the oracle and the hanging gardens in a city...all standing in the sea.
...you don't need any "final versions" anymore, steam will automatically update everything, if you hav a 0 day patch.
...nice, new world.