Comments on: Black Isle’s Fallout 3 Demo

By: LionsPhil

LionsPhil — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:58:05 +0000

No demo, no sale.

But I bet they’ll blame piracy when people refuse to fork out upfront for a game that’s on very shakey ground.

By: sigma83

sigma83 — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:28:38 +0000

I should clarify my standpoint on the issue.

Demos being released BEFORE the game comes out is a Bad Idea because of all the detractors to the actual development of said game.

AFTER the game has shipped? Release a demo ASAP.

By: Briosafreak

Briosafreak — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:15:23 +0000

There’s a guide on how to operate/hack the demo at NMA.

Bringing this to the world was one of the hardest things we ever did. No one knows the original source, but involved CD’s being flown across the States, files being sent to Serbia and distributed through several places in Europe, trying to learn how to operate what is in fact a pre-alpha that doesn’t have a lot of features of the final game.

Inside that code there are other maps, notes, some cool stuff for those more tech inclined.

Again being able to bring that to the fans was an incredibly hard operation, strange watching SI getting the credit, when they had nothing to do with it.

By: Evangel

Evangel — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 05:03:53 +0000

Weylund, Fallout 1 had a demo aswell :P

It still smacks of laziness. They don’t need to make a new area or NPCs, they don’t need to put voices in, it can just be an example of what the gameplay is like.

By: Weylund

Weylund — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:27:20 +0000

@Colthor: Good job on finding it! I tend not to finish games; Terra Nova was one that I finished several times. The gameplay was engrossing. Games where your character goes through an entire campaign (or several, if you’ve played EA’s SEAL Team) just make me happy.

@Evangel: Hmm. Perhaps I should have said “RPGs that sold well”. Kidding. At any rate, you’re right. As I think about it, plenty of RPGs have demos. I wish F3 were going to get one. As a dev, though, I can think of a thousand reasons NOT to release a demo, most of them including the words “extra work”.

By: SixStringSamurai

SixStringSamurai — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:43:13 +0000

did someone say that they WEREN’T going to get fallout3?! blasphemy!

but honestly, demo or no demo, it’s going to be great, i’m sure, esp after all the gameplay vids, and then people will tell people how great it is and there won’t have had a need for a demo. go fallout!

By: Colthor

Colthor — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:41:59 +0000

@Weylund:
Eventually got it for a few quid in a bargain bin, and it was brilliant. Been a little wary of demos since.

By: Erlam

Erlam — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:40:04 +0000

“Oblivion could have had a demo because the opening level was a sewer. ”

You don’t just ‘take an opening level’ to make a demo, it doesn’t work that way. You have to realise that games aren’t built like: You build the engine, it’s playable but buggy -> you add all the levels -> you tweak all the settings -> you polish the game -> done.

If you want to use, say, your opening level as a demo, all mechanics needed have to be in place. The game can’t have any TRC violations. There can be no legal issues. If it’s international, there cannot be any unlocalised text. The game has to lock out the later levels. This has to all be tested. It has to be authorised by the producers. It has to.. etc.

A game isn’t a loaf of bread you can just slice off the front of and show it around. It’s like an airplane or something. You get the idea.

By: Evangel

Evangel — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:24:39 +0000

Weyland, the Arcanum demo by Troika. First 4 areas, all quests intact, gives you a very good idea of what the game is gonna be like.

Not having a demo for Fallout 3 when they can just cut out a town, make sure it has all the elements of the game and ship that as the demo is just lazy.

By: Real Horrorshow

Real Horrorshow — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:20:55 +0000

The Bethesda F3 looks much more interesting than this.

I’ll be waiting for the Fallout lynchmob on my porch in a rocking chair with a double-barreled shotgun. Bring it >:(

By: danarchy

danarchy — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:52:32 +0000

All commentary on the original flame trolls statement aside….I wonder if their is going to be a demo for the new Fallout3? At the very least it will give me a chance to put my fears aside that another rpg will get ruined by trying to draw in the twitch fanbois (ala Shadowrun)

By: Kadayi

Kadayi — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:04:44 +0000

@cHeal

You are aware of places like http://www.Gametrailers.com
or http://www.metacritic.com ? Places which show game media and list review scores? Which allow you to get a handle on what’s upcoming in the gaming scene and how good/bad a game might be?