Demo version

Anything related to Wolfire Games and/or its products
akist
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:55 am

Demo version

Post by akist » Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:57 am

Hi guys

Is there a reason there is no demo version out before paying for the alpha version?

Thanks

User avatar
last
Posts: 2154
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:02 am
Location: Estonia

Re: Demo version

Post by last » Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:21 am

Yes there is a perfect reason why.
Overgrowth don't have real gameplay right now. I mean shure you can jump around and do some fighting and map editing and if you are good with some 3d or2d programs you can make your own custom objects and place them into your map or make custom terrain or if you are good with html and know something about scripting or c or c++ you can make mods,
but it's not that fare into development right now to release Overgrowth demo.
I belive they sayed there will be demo but right now they need to put more stuff into Overgrowth.

There is so much stuff to add right now.
Nobody haven't seen dogs or rats and how they live (Environments)
Right now there isn't eny type of armor system and there are onley few weapons.
Also there will be new fighting moves both for hand to hand and weapon fights
I can go on and on with that list

IF you want to feel something like Overgrowth you can download free Lugaru demo http://www.wolfire.com/lugaru

User avatar
Ragdollmaster
Posts: 2343
Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:49 am
Location: Island of Lugaru

Re: Demo version

Post by Ragdollmaster » Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:24 am

Yes, demos are meant to be a small taste of the full experience that give you a general idea of how gameplay feels and how well you can run the game. For a demo to come out, the game has to be completed. Alphas are just small playable builds of the game as it progresses further towards completion. Also, you don't "pay" for the alpha builds- they are a free bonus for preordering the game, meant to give you something to do with the money you've invested and show you that the developers are actually working on the title. Hope this answers your question :)

akist
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:55 am

Re: Demo version

Post by akist » Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:37 pm

If the alpha version is as unfinished as you have described, then I would say that "preorder" is actually more like "investment", you are not paying to receive a product in the near future. Rather you are investing into the development of a product and you are taking a big risk that it might never be completed. At least with your "preorder" investment you should become a partner since you are funding its development and also taking the risk of losing all your investment, ie receiving nothing in return, since you said that the alpha version is not even fit for a demo. So if it all goes belly up you will end up with nothing to show for it. "Preorder" would make more sense if the product was in its final development stages, for example CDs being pressed and distributed around warehouses, and backed up by a big company.

User avatar
Jacktheawesome
Posts: 2406
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 1:06 am
Location: In Zulway's foot palace.
Contact:

Re: Demo version

Post by Jacktheawesome » Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:05 pm

Except this is not some off-the-cuff whim that they started last month. They have put a couple years of their own time, money and energy into this. They have a huge fanbase, many of which are preorderers. They have gone through 162 builds of the game. While it's probably not enough for me to say "I trust these guys, therefore you should too" I think by this point they are way too far in to just drop it. They would all go broke from the thousands and thousands of dollars they would have to refund. I think it's not so much that the game isn't fit for an alpha as a demo of an alpha is a bit redundant. Preorder the game. If you enjoy it, $30 well spent. If you don't, send an email to [email protected]. They'll be more than happy to refund you. If you have a problem with the game, there are tons of smart preorderers on the Secret Preorder Forum that have been dealing with all of the known bugs for years. The game will be finished in 1-2 years, and until then there's a lot to do right now with the editor, fighting, Parkour, modding, or just messing around. A new update comes every week, and there's usually a big cool update every 2-3 weeks.

User avatar
Endoperez
Posts: 5668
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:41 am
Location: cold and dark and lovely Finland

Re: Demo version

Post by Endoperez » Sat Dec 31, 2011 7:45 am

akist wrote:If the alpha version is as unfinished as you have described, then I would say that "preorder" is actually more like "investment", you are not paying to receive a product in the near future. Rather you are investing into the development of a product and you are taking a big risk that it might never be completed. At least with your "preorder" investment you should become a partner since you are funding its development and also taking the risk of losing all your investment, ie receiving nothing in return, since you said that the alpha version is not even fit for a demo. So if it all goes belly up you will end up with nothing to show for it. "Preorder" would make more sense if the product was in its final development stages, for example CDs being pressed and distributed around warehouses, and backed up by a big company.
Pre-orders are, for this game, used to finance the development, so that the development is possible without the backing of a big company. So they are an investment of sorts, but "investment" as a word carries wrong meanings with it. Investors have a say in the development direction. Pre-orderers don't.

I don't think there's another word with as good marketability as "pre-order" for this kind of thing right now. "Crowdsourcing" might come close, but "pre-order" is both close enough, and has already been used in this sense in several successful games. At least Mount & Blade and Minecraft, and probably more.

User avatar
Korban3
Posts: 4146
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:14 pm
Location: 42nd St E, Hell

Re: Demo version

Post by Korban3 » Sat Dec 31, 2011 8:38 pm

I dunno, pre-orderers do have quite a lot of influence over the game. Remember how many people were telling Ninjas his cat looked bad? And have we seen the finished ones in an Alpha yet. Nope. I thought the cat looked good and was a good placeholder until the game sees more development, but some folks were all "Hur derp, early place holder must be perfect, hur". I dunno if Ninjas kept working on them, but we really do have quite a bit of influence.
Also:
[*] That time that some people said Ninjas's cat city looked too much like Assassin's Creed, so he changed it some. But people say that about all Babylonian architecture they see now, so invalid complaint is invalid.

No time to continue examples. Haz to go to store. goodbyez

User avatar
Endoperez
Posts: 5668
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:41 am
Location: cold and dark and lovely Finland

Re: Demo version

Post by Endoperez » Sun Jan 01, 2012 10:32 am

That's feedback, and normal. I mean something like, say, a majority of the people wishing Wolfire scrapped the furry graphics and made the main characters human. That's memetic enough to possibly gather a huge following. The problems it would cause are pretty clear.

User avatar
Korban3
Posts: 4146
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:14 pm
Location: 42nd St E, Hell

Re: Demo version

Post by Korban3 » Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:30 pm

But... I like the ninja bunnehs. And yeah, it would cause a good number of issues. I would start with saying that the characters would look worse. We see humans every day, so we know how they look and when we see something that isn't what we expect, it looks bad to our mind. How many people were walking to the hardware store yesterday, and saw an anthropomorphic cat looking at ceiling lamps? What no one else? So I'm the only one who dropped some acid?
Although seeing human characters isn't bad. Konoko has been modded in and she's cool.

User avatar
Endoperez
Posts: 5668
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:41 am
Location: cold and dark and lovely Finland

Re: Demo version

Post by Endoperez » Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:35 pm

I used it as an example of an unwanted outcome, you don't need to tell me it's a bad idea.

User avatar
Korban3
Posts: 4146
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:14 pm
Location: 42nd St E, Hell

Re: Demo version

Post by Korban3 » Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:53 pm

Well maybe I do. Maybe I think you're such an old member in the community that you're getting Forum Senility. Maybe I think you need to be reminded of what you think and why you think it. Maybe I think you should go wear your Endoface on another forum. Hm? Hm?

Nah, we love ya!

User avatar
Endoperez
Posts: 5668
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:41 am
Location: cold and dark and lovely Finland

Re: Demo version

Post by Endoperez » Sun Jan 01, 2012 7:02 pm

Korban3 wrote:Well maybe I do. Maybe I think you're such an old member in the community that you're getting Forum Senility.
Are you saying I'm old? Why, that's ridiculous, you've got no reason to assume I'm not a young lad of twenty or something! I only had to start using glasses a decade ago! Hmph! If I hadn't caught an arrow to the knee in '39 when Pereyaslav fell to the invading Mongols I'd chase you off my lawn!

Egan
Posts: 64
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:59 pm

Re: Demo version

Post by Egan » Sun Jan 01, 2012 8:31 pm

Endoperez wrote:arrow to the knee
This needs to be a endoface!

User avatar
Count Roland
Posts: 2937
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2007 11:15 pm
Location: Galapagos Islands, rodeoin some turtles.
Contact:

Re: Demo version

Post by Count Roland » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:53 pm

I used to post endofaces, but then I took an arrow to the knee. 'sides that he's not that old, he joined in like 2009.

User avatar
Jacktheawesome
Posts: 2406
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 1:06 am
Location: In Zulway's foot palace.
Contact:

Re: Demo version

Post by Jacktheawesome » Mon Jan 02, 2012 5:18 am

Roland no! Not teh avatar... :cry:

Post Reply