Demo ?

[Akachaki]

I sent a mail to Malfador Machination asking the same question. I got answered that the demo should be out in the begining of august.

Justin

[Targas]

I think we all areeagerly waiting for the upcoming demo of Starfury.
Can some kind soul give us an appoximately release date for the demo ?

Greetings from Germany, Targas

[Ragnarok]

Originally posted by Akachaki:
I sent a mail to Malfador Machination asking the same question. I got answered that the demo should be out in the begining of august.

Justin<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sweet. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif We're 2 days in now...so it should be soon. Hopefully. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[narf poit chez BOOM]

hello. demo demo demo demo demo demo demo demo demo demo demo demo demo

[Targas]

Did they say august or august 2003 ? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
Still waiting...

[narf poit chez BOOM]

august is 1/3 over. comeon, malfador! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[Fyron]

August is just beginning. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Targas]

August is beginning to end soon. Is this the time for the demo to be released (eagerly waiting) ?

[Richard]

We don't release demos until at least when the game goes Gold. You have to have the game finished to release a demo.

[Wydraz]

Someone should tell Shrapnel that August 22 has passed. According to their blurb on Starfury that is the estimated release date. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

[Akachaki]

This is the old release date, the Gold status is currently projected as September 1st and the release date is delayed until the early autumn. You can read the whole information here (http://www.shrapnelgames.com/pressreleases.htm).

Justin

[Wydraz]

Oh, wait. It says September 22, doesn't it? I'm a bit dislexic. 9/22, not 8/22. Oh well. I guess I'm confused and disappointed because of the dealy, and the fact that the Malfador website has only a few screenshots and no other info at all. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[ September 01, 2003, 21:23: Message edited by: Wydraz ]

[Akachaki]

The same thing hapenned to dungeon odyssey. I doubt they will break the traditon http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[gregebowman]

Originally posted by Richard:
We don't release demos until at least when the game goes Gold. You have to have the game finished to release a demo.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That seems strange, because when you read PC Gamer and the other gaming mags, they get demos of games sometimes months ahead of the release date. NOw, that may be the policy at Malfador, but I can't see releasing a demo after the game comes out as sensible in a business sort of way. You want to entice people to buy the game by teasing them with the demo. That's why I bought SE4 Gold, but that was only after I found out about the game by reading a review in a magazine.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

so, the demo's septemper 22? i was thinking 1st, because that's when the gold Version is. oh, well.

[Richard]

That's because those companies have to release demos early because of the retail angle. And not all companies do that. In fact some do the opposite and force you to buy it first before putting out a demo several months lately.

Our philosiphy is we want the demo to be code-wise just like the final game so you get a 100% guarantee that the game will play like the demo does. Major publishers can't always publish it.

Also we have a much longer shelf life cycle. Major publishers have to sell their games in the first few months or they loose their shirt. In our case our sales don't even start to peak until at least 6 months in a release. Sometimes longer.

Originally posted by gregebowman:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Richard:
We don't release demos until at least when the game goes Gold. You have to have the game finished to release a demo.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That seems strange, because when you read PC Gamer and the other gaming mags, they get demos of games sometimes months ahead of the release date. NOw, that may be the policy at Malfador, but I can't see releasing a demo after the game comes out as sensible in a business sort of way. You want to entice people to buy the game by teasing them with the demo. That's why I bought SE4 Gold, but that was only after I found out about the game by reading a review in a magazine.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[Iansidious]

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
so, the demo's septemper 22? i was thinking 1st, because that's when the gold Version is. oh, well.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">My friend emailed malfador and Aaron replied that the demo would be out the 1st or 2nd week of septemper

[gregebowman]

Originally posted by Richard:
[QB]That's because those companies have to release demos early because of the retail angle. And not all companies do that. In fact some do the opposite and force you to buy it first before putting out a demo several months lately.

Our philosiphy is we want the demo to be code-wise just like the final game so you get a 100% guarantee that the game will play like the demo does. Major publishers can't always publish it.

Also we have a much longer shelf life cycle. Major publishers have to sell their games in the first few months or they loose their shirt. In our case our sales don't even start to peak until at least 6 months in a release. Sometimes longer.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Since you put it like that, it does make sense. It did seem that SEIV Gold became more and more popular as time went by, just from what I was able to tell from the forum Boards. Let's hope that PC Gamer or some other company does an early review so more people will find out about it as soon as possible.

[General Woundwort]

demo,
demo,
Demo,
DEMO!,
DEMO!...

(feel free to join in the chant until MM relents and releases the demo...)

[Iansidious]

Originally posted by General Woundwort:
demo,
demo,
Demo,
DEMO!,
DEMO!...

(feel free to join in the chant until MM relents and releases the demo...)<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">good idea!
demo,
demo,
Dmeo!,
DEMO!,
DEMO!...

[Captain Kwok]

The demo has just been recieved by us testers, so it shouldn't be much longer for you guys. Aaron just wants to make sure any little bugs and errors are squished! After all, he did make a new mini-campaign for the demo!

[Iansidious]

This was a song I sang with the late Johnny Cash some time ago...
*guitar srings*

"I hurt myself today to see if I still feel
I focus on the pain that the demo not quite here
The Abbidon tears a hole in a old familiar ship
try to kill them away what have I become?
my sweetest friend Aaron I know goes away in the end
give me a demo before my empire turns to dirt
Don't let me down
Don't make me hurt
I wear this crown of pain on my captain's chair
Full of broken hearts I cannot repair
beneath the stain of armor the love dissappears
I am still right here where is my demo?
Don't let me down
Don't make me hurt" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Thank you Johnny Cash 1932-2003 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[ September 15, 2003, 04:33: Message edited by: Iansidious ]

[Ed Kolis]

Oh no, Space Empires song parodies... Last time people got so bored waiting for a game they did that sort of thing it was with MOO3 and look what happened http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[gregebowman]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by gregebowman:
. NOw, that may be the policy at Malfador, but I can't see releasing a demo after the game comes out as sensible in a business sort of way. You want to entice people to buy the game by teasing them with the demo. That's why I bought SE4 Gold, but that was only after I found out about the game by reading a review in a magazine.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">IIRC the Se4 Gold demo came out a week or two after the game itself became available for purchase. Of course the Original Se4 demo was still around, so you could have already had an idea of how the game would play.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That may be true, but I had never heard of Space Empires in any Version until I read the review of SE4 Gold in PC Gamer. Then I had to check it out, since I do like the 4X type of games. I wonder how many more games are like this; if it doesn't get mentioned in a magazine, then no one knows it exists. Maybe Malfador should budget some of their money towards advertising in the games magazines.

[Richard]

Originally posted by gregebowman:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by geoschmo:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by gregebowman:
. NOw, that may be the policy at Malfador, but I can't see releasing a demo after the game comes out as sensible in a business sort of way. You want to entice people to buy the game by teasing them with the demo. That's why I bought SE4 Gold, but that was only after I found out about the game by reading a review in a magazine.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">IIRC the Se4 Gold demo came out a week or two after the game itself became available for purchase. Of course the Original Se4 demo was still around, so you could have already had an idea of how the game would play.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That may be true, but I had never heard of Space Empires in any Version until I read the review of SE4 Gold in PC Gamer. Then I had to check it out, since I do like the 4X type of games. I wonder how many more games are like this; if it doesn't get mentioned in a magazine, then no one knows it exists. Maybe Malfador should budget some of their money towards advertising in the games magazines.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That's whata review is. A one page color advertisment in a magazine. And a ad that has official endorsement by a paid reviewer http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

We did magazine advertising and it is an utter waste of money. One of the reason the PC game market is dying is because publishers spend WAY too much money on advertising that doesn't work.

And don't get me started about demo CD's. They work less than magazine advertising does.

[Jake Monroe]

I learned about Space Empires from a disc I bought with supposedly 300 Shareware games on it. Space Empires 2 was one of the games on the disc, but when I first played it, I never bothered to search for it only. It wasn't untill later that I did and found Space Empires IV and then bought it.

[Instar]

Just a quick FYI (if I am allowed to say it):
The demo is expected to be about ~60 megs, so you dial up folks might want to get ready for one of those all day download things (I had to do it before). Or if you have a lot of downloads to do all at once, just get a disc burned with everything (some sites do it for you, for a fee).
Us broadband types will yawn in the ~40 secs it will take... Mwhahahahaha

[Fyron]

Originally posted by Richard:
That's whata review is. A one page color advertisment in a magazine. And a ad that has official endorsement by a paid reviewer http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

We did magazine advertising and it is an utter waste of money. One of the reason the PC game market is dying is because publishers spend WAY too much money on advertising that doesn't work.

And don't get me started about demo CD's. They work less than magazine advertising does.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Oh really. I first found SE3 on a demo CD. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by gregebowman:
. NOw, that may be the policy at Malfador, but I can't see releasing a demo after the game comes out as sensible in a business sort of way. You want to entice people to buy the game by teasing them with the demo. That's why I bought SE4 Gold, but that was only after I found out about the game by reading a review in a magazine.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">IIRC the Se4 Gold demo came out a week or two after the game itself became available for purchase. Of course the Original Se4 demo was still around, so you could have already had an idea of how the game would play.

[Richard]

Just ask Aaron about his experience with DO and PC Gamer.

Seriously demo CD's are an utter waste of money in a magazine. Especially when they cost, at a minimum, 5000 dollars to put on a cover CD.

[Wydraz]

demo,
demo,
Demo,
DEMO!,
DEMO!

tap, tap, tap...

[narf poit chez BOOM]

it wouldn't be financially sound to release it buggy.

SO GET OUT OF THE DEMO, TAERA!

[Fyron]

SE4 had a lot of bugs when it came out... still managed to become Shrapnel's top seller by far...

[General Woundwort]

demo,
demo,
Demo,
DEMO!,
DEMO!

[Iansidious]

demo
demo
Demo
DEMO! OHHHH wait rats carry disease lets not make narf to mad http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

[narf poit chez BOOM]

MaD? I'M nOt MaD!

[General Woundwort]

demo,
demo,
Demo,
DEMO!,
DEMO!

[Jake Monroe]

,omeD
,omeD
,OMED
,!OMED
!!OMED

[Renegade 13]

Hey, wasn't the demo supposed to come out sometime this week? Or have I just lost my mind? (again...thats the third time this week. Anybody know where I can buy myself a new brain? I'll have to think about that one... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif )

[narf poit chez BOOM]

yep.

[Renegade 13]

I thought so.

[Wydraz]

Posted on Malfador's news page on 9/5:

"Keep your eye out for a demo coming next week."

I guess they underestimated the schedule...

Go on, get our hopes up! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

[Instar]

Soon... soon...

[Renegade 13]

Originally posted by Instar:
Soon... soon...<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">How soon is soon???? A day soon, a week soon.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif Come on, give us SOMETHING!!

[Jake Monroe]

(Since Instar's reply reminded me of Space Balls, I feel I should stick it in here. If it wasn't for my laziness, I'd do a Version of this about the demo.)

HELMET What happened to then?

SANDURZ We passed then?

HELMET When?

SANDURZ Just now. We're at now, now.

HELMET Go back to then.

SANDURZ When?

HELMET Now.

SANDURZ Now?

HELMET Now.

SANDURZ I can't.

HELMET Why?

SANDURZ We missed it.

HELMET When?

SANDURZ Just now.

HELMET When will then be now?

CORPORAL rewinds the tape. He stops at the point when LONE STARR, BARF, VESPA, and DOT are walking through the desert.

SANDURZ Soon.

HELMET How soon?

[General Woundwort]

According to the "schedule", the full game is due to be released today...

[sucks in breath and holds it... don't try this at home...]
http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung0903/traurig/sad-smiley-049.gif

[General Woundwort]

[OK, close enough. EXHALE!]

They must have just posted the link. Give them an hour or two to get the files set up. If they don't have it ready by then, mobilize the Angry Mob[tm].

[Richard]

It's fixed.

[Instar]

Originally posted by Renegade 13:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Instar:
Soon... soon...<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">How soon is soon???? A day soon, a week soon.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif Come on, give us SOMETHING!!</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Told you it was soon!

[narf poit chez BOOM]

malfador doesn't list the demo yet. must be real soon past.

[Makinus]

i'm having problems downloading the demo, can anyone help me? When i try to download it it asks my Login and Password, i put my login and password of the Intel Forums and it don't accept.... What i'm doing wrong?