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[aheydeck]

Hey,

So, i'm nearing the point where i can release my game. But i'm thinking of maybe putting up a playable demo of it on my website in an attempt to promote it further before i actually release it.

Have any of you done it, and what are your experiences of it?
Any do's and dont's?

Also, what would be a good demo model?
* Time limit 30/60 minutes?
* Restrictions in the game?

I'm thinking of having a page on my site where you'd enter your email to get to the download, to be able to inform demo downloaders when it's released.

What are your opinions on the matter?

[Chaotic Kitten]

It's hard to tell you what is best without knowing more about the game. 

I can tell you that during Legend of Dungeon's kickstarter we offered a free demo of the full unfinished game, and it got lots of attention.   If your game is playable on a browser, offering it for free for a weekend or something might be a very good boost.  it would certainly be press worthy if the game is interesting. 

[RudyTheDev]

See also http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=23770.0 and http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=22203.0.

My bottomline: Demo is always good as long as it's solid and there's either enough interest to make sure the user returns or they can buy straight away. Restriction-wise, in-game time works best, imho. So like 5 in-game days, or 2 missions. But not game restrictions, that feels cheap to me; although I don't know if that is offset by sales from user who just want to see it.

[aheydeck]

The game is Smooth Operators, it's a manegement strategy sim. I'm putting out a demo in a few hours, and ive restricted it to 25 minutes. I dont know if thats too much, but you wont get very far in that time.

[Muz]

Be careful not to give away too much in the demo. I really hate it when I buy a game having played the demo and then realize that the game has only about half an hour of gameplay after the demo.

Demo should be, at most, about 20% of the game. Unless it's a really cheap game.

[aheydeck]

I would say that if you are going to unlock everything and acieve all the objectives, it's going to take you at least 5 hours. And then i'll be very impressed.
A more realistic amount of time is more like 10 to 15 hours.

[PompiPompi]

I think putting a demo before releasing is a bad idea.
Imagine someone who plays your game want to buy the full game, he then discovers he can't. This guy might not come back later as his excitement from the demo wears off.

Put a demo the day you release the game. I think that is the a better approach for smaller indies.
Of course if you are some very known indie it change the pictures and you can do a lot of publicity stunts.

[Mister Dave]

Putting up a demo at all is a tough call. On one site we're published on they rather insist on it and on another they go out of their way to discourage it.

I like the idea of people being able to verify that there are no performance issues on their machine before buying (outdoor 3D games can have that issue on older systems) but sometimes I wonder (given the short attention span of some) if the demo actually shunts or prevents sales we might have had.

[Muz]

Why would a demo be a bad thing? (aside from possible security holes)

[Gregg Williams]

Why would a demo be a bad thing? (aside from possible security holes)

I remember reading an article about this, but can't find it again. Basically it came down to a demo has a lot more chances of making someone not purchase your game, than it does to actually make them purchase it. I guess there is sales data that also back this up.

[Gregg Williams]

Theres also this PA episode that kinda sums it up http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/demo-daze

[Mittens]

I demo shouldn't be the full game with restrictions on play time or abilities, the experience that players get from the demo should be something that will inspire a sale, if it's anything less than that, it shouldn't exist.

To achieve this your demo should probably consist of the something like;
-half of the best level/mission in your game (like half-life 2's demo)
-a really intriguing cliffhanger (crysis 1)

If you aren't totally sure your demo will inspire people to buy then it can only possible have the other effect, of letting people believe they've got everything there is out of your game and they aren't interested in investing dosh.

[Mittens]

I think putting a demo before releasing is a bad idea.
Imagine someone who plays your game want to buy the full game, he then discovers he can't. This guy might not come back later as his excitement from the demo wears off.

Put a demo the day you release the game. I think that is the a better approach for smaller indies.
Of course if you are some very known indie it change the pictures and you can do a lot of publicity stunts.

This is also true, don't get people hyped to buy your game before it's even possible for them to buy your game.
Their excitement will turn to disappointment and all interest and enthusiasm for giving you money will quickly wear off and never be re-captured

[Mister Dave]

I think putting a demo before releasing is a bad idea.
Imagine someone who plays your game want to buy the full game, he then discovers he can't. This guy might not come back later as his excitement from the demo wears off.

Put a demo the day you release the game. I think that is the a better approach for smaller indies.
Of course if you are some very known indie it change the pictures and you can do a lot of publicity stunts.

This is also true, don't get people hyped to buy your game before it's even possible for them to buy your game.
Their excitement will turn to disappointment and all interest and enthusiasm for giving you money will quickly wear off and never be re-captured

Brandon Sheffield wrote an editorial on this in GD Mag a few months ago. It was related not just to demos, but the general PR push. He contends that indies should have the game ready to play when they go to get people's attention on it.