10 Minute Demos?

[MyForumName]

Was interested in checking out a demo from Shrapnelgames, I often play demos thoroughly before I buy (or not buy if the game is bad)...Shrapnelgames - are you guys on crack? A demo with a time limit is one thing (like 30 days) but 10 MINUTES?

Thanks for making it easy for me to NOT give you my next software purchase.

Since I don't want this to be just a complain/whining post I'll give you some constructive criticism...

-I'm what you could call a hard core PC-Gamer, I make about 12-14 game purchases per year, PC gaming has been my single longest running hobby (over 20 years now)

-I work hard for my money, so I don't like just tossing money at a game with out THOROUGH review on it.

-Setting a 10 minute time limit on your demo tells me you don't care about me as a customer, you are just greedy and want to make a sale - therefore as a consumer I find it a bit degrading and insulting.

Other than that - I've got no problem with you guys.

[ August 09, 2002, 22:02: Message edited by: MyForumName ]

[Richard]

You must be talking about Air Command 3? If that is the case then it gives you a good idea of what the gameplay is like in those 10 minues, it is not a very long game (30 minutes or so per game). We have no standard with our demos, but all of them give a good idea of what to expect in the finished product.

[Argh]

Erm, not to join a flame bandwagon, but have you tried out any of the other products? Many of them offer whole scenarios, and SE:IVG lets you play enough turns to get a good feel for what the engine can do. With RuneSword, you can even download the entire RuneSword 1 engine and play it for free, in all its(buggy) glory!

I think that Shrapnel's demos are pretty fair representations of their products. I guess what I keep hearing when you emphasize "thorough" is that you'd like the whole sandwich, for 30 days.

That's not in anybody's interest- if I read your post right, then if everybody handed out a fully-functional, but time-expiring game, you'd have a free game every month, instead of buying one That means that the devs who made the game wouldn't get paid. And that's bad, because most of Shrapnel's devs aren't getting rich and like to eat

If you're really that interested in thoroughness, then you should probably visit the 'Boards here and visit with other owners of the software. See if they're impressed. Shrapnel's 'Boards are some of the nicest around- people are unusually polite and informative- and you'd probably find out more than you ever wanted to about whatever features you didn't glimpse during the demo

[foxtrot]

I agree with Argh. I downloaded the demo for Combat Command 2 : Desert Rats, and tried it out only to find that it quit after allowing me only a few turns.

At first I thought that was strange, as I wasn't able to get any kind of offensive going or anything. But then I realized that in those few turns, all the game mechanics were there in those few turns. So I replayed those few turns several times to get a handle on the game mechanics.

When I did order the game I knew what I would be getting, and since I had spent enough time on the basics, it was easy for me to learn the whole game once it arrived.

All in all it was a pleasant transition from demo to full game. And I haven't been disappointed this game.

[disabled]

I think shrapnel has also been more than excellent with the demos. All the games I've tried out (even the ones in beta) I was left with the sensation of wanting more.

I had a taste, and it tasted good....