Is there going to be a demo?

[GlobalExplorer]

This game got me very interested, but I can't find any information about a demo. These are tough times, and there is no way I will spend 50$ for a pig in a poke.

I couldn't find no demo for Forge Of Freedom either.

[Franck]

I don't think there is going to be demos. I believe you'll ether have to pass this gem of a game or buy on of the two anyways

[Gil R.]

No demo, but we are planning promotional videos. (These would have been released when the game was, but our narrator got sick, and then working on the patch became a priority.)

Regarding demos, I've explained this in more depth before, but in a nutshell: producing a playable demo for a game as complex as COG:EE or FOF takes an enormous amount of programming time (at least a month, is our programmer's estimate), so doing so would hold up work on other projects -- and, at the same time, there is no reason to think that doing so would lead to a gain in sales. (I used to be pro-demo, but have come around to the anti-demo position. If we were ever to do a simpler game, though, I think we'd consider it.)

[Mr. Z]

There are also the video tutorials, which we hope give a feel for the game:

http://www.matrixgames.com/products/366 ... %20Edition

[GlobalExplorer]

and, at the same time, there is no reason to think that doing so would lead to a gain in sales.

What makes you think that? I already said that I never buy games blind. If I don't find a friend to show me (which will be kind of impossible as no one will have it), I'll have to pass.

And is making a demo really so hard? Delete scenarios , remove menu entries, hit compile .. ?

Anyway, nuff said. You won't do it.

I will go elsewhere.

[JudgeDredd]

I was going to retorte, but it seems he's gone elsewhere

[Hard Sarge]

'If we were ever to do a simpler game, though, I think we'd consider it."

not gonna happen,at least as long as I am in the stable

[Gil R.]

GlobalExplorer (if you're still around),

Yes, it would be that difficult. Making a good playable demo is more than just deleting a few files. For a game this complex there's a lot of work involved to ensure that we're not giving away for free the full game, and yet are providing a good example of what the game is like.

If you decide not to buy the game because there's no demo, that's regrettable but acceptable to us: we have made a business decision based on our belief that a demo can lose as many (or more?) customers as it gains. What I mean by this is not that people will discover what an awful game COG:EE or FOF is by playing the demo and wisely not fall into our trap, but rather that when people download a free demo they have no investment in the game, and if their first impression of the game is bad they'll delete the demo and not buy it. And a game as complex as this one too often takes some time to learn appreciate. The FOF and COG/COG:EE forums are filled with posts from players saying essentially "The first time I played this game I couldn't figure it out and regretted my purchase but now that I've spent time with it I love it." My guess is that a good number of those people would never have bought the game if that had been their initial experience with the demo. So, overall, when people research a game like this one carefully and decide to buy it that means they've made an investment in it and will try to learn it, but when people just download a demo they're more likely to make a snap decision about the game. And games like FOF and COG:EE simply can't be judged that quickly by most players. As you can see, then, we're prepared to lose potential sales by not providing a demo, knowing that through videos and this forum we provide more than enough information for people to make an informed decision regarding whether our games are for them... and a decision arguably more informed than if someone played around with the demo for a short while.

Hard Sarge,
You know that project from which I posted the screenshot of my work in the developers' forum? I'm thinking that a demo might be a good thing for that game, since it's less complex and easier to learn right away than COG:EE.

[ShaiHulud]

It has been years since I bothered to dl a demo. If there are AARs, that's where I go to see how a game works.

The forums, if they are active, are the final proving grounds. If the forum is dead, the game is likely not a plum. As one can easily see, between CoG and CoG:EE, there is an enthusiastic crowd of both grognards and tyros here.

Anyway, good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun, er, game