Demo Content

knucracker · September 17, 2016, 02:21:55 PM

Whether you have the preview version of the game or not, what would you like to see in the demo? As a starting spot, let's say the first 5 story missions.
Should it be 6? Should 1 or 2 inception missions be included? Which ones (if you have the preview version)? If none of the current Inception missions should be included (because they are too hard), should I make a new mission that is intermediate in difficulty?

I don't plan to include the simulacrum or exchange... that would be a bridge too far. So I'm mostly focused on story and inception.

Note too that the purpose of the demo is to allow a potential customer to determine if the game will work on their system, if they like the style and game play, and to also provide them enough content to both make a purchase decision, and to want to purchase the game. Keep in mind that all of this takes place in an environment where there are plenty of game play recordings on youtube, as well as many reviews on steam and other places. (Current game sales culture is to not even make a demo, but I like the idea of letting people at least try the game on their system to see if it works to their satisfaction.... at the very least).

jaworeq · September 17, 2016, 03:00:47 PM

It seems that Inception missions are not that trivial. But I guess it'd be nice to put an easy map and a harder one.
So for easy I'd say archipelago.
For harder, I'd say daisy chain or warp one. Both show pretty cool things you can do in the game (either bounce your particles through whole map, or just straight up teleport them).
Story, I don't know, still didnt touch it :s Sorry!

Karsten75 · September 17, 2016, 03:03:44 PM

Include a few of the easier exchange missions. With apologies to PF, but some of his Exchange maps are not for beginners

TheWife · September 17, 2016, 03:16:55 PM

In all honesty, I'd be sold if I had 1 or 2 missions and I could craft my own ships right from the beginning. :P So the ship creator.. not sure if that's possible.

knucracker · September 17, 2016, 03:28:27 PM

Hmmm. Forgot about the ship editor in regards to the demo. It isn't much good without missions to play in, so having the ship editor (maybe with some of the fancier modules restricted) is a good idea.

The mission editor won't be in the demo, but a slightly restricted ship editor could be. That gives some extra legs to whatever missions are included since a person can replay them with custom ships. Not having the fighter base, MK7, reactor, and shield in the demo (off the top of my head) might be a good preview and purchase incentive all at the same time.

Viewed in that light, there just needs to be one more inception mission that is just intermediate in difficulty and doesn't use any fancy modules. It would be the main play space for playing with custom ships in the demo.

mzimmer74 · September 17, 2016, 03:32:02 PM

I would say if you gave the first 4-5 story missions a person would have a fairly good idea what the game plays like. Adding 2 inception missions would be nice as well to show some of the more complicated stuff. I really like the idea of daisy chain. That's a rough mission but also quite fun. Haven't played any "easy" inception missions yet! :)

As far as the ship creator...that would be cool but if you were to add that I'd say disable the ability to upload the ships to others.

Tjgalon · September 17, 2016, 03:58:00 PM

I not sure atm, what should or should not, but I do belive at least one of the hard inception mission are important. To help showcase the game, how skill level and playstyle be put in.

Karsten75 · September 17, 2016, 04:04:24 PM

Quote from: virgilw on September 17, 2016, 03:28:27 PM
Hmmm. Forgot about the ship editor in regards to the demo. It isn't much good without missions to play in, so having the ship editor (maybe with some of the fancier modules restricted) is a good idea.

The mission editor won't be in the demo, but a slightly restricted ship editor could be. That gives some extra legs to whatever missions are included since a person can replay them with custom ships. Not having the fighter base, MK7, reactor, and shield in the demo (off the top of my head) might be a good preview and purchase incentive all at the same time.

Viewed in that light, there just needs to be one more inception mission that is just intermediate in difficulty and doesn't use any fancy modules. It would be the main play space for playing with custom ships in the demo.

You could permit only those modules that have been disclosed in the story missions included in the demo. That's a clear cut-off point.

cooltv27 · September 17, 2016, 04:07:24 PM

as someone who doesnt have the game (not that I want it right now) I think the first few missions sound good, and an easy, medium, and hard map (so missions and 3 extra) so that people can see just how hard the game can be. there should also be different play styles in the different missions as well (one map that allows you to turtle, one that forces you to rush) so that people know whats possible

jaworeq · September 17, 2016, 04:19:31 PM

I started story. Gameplay wise, mission 5th is a must, since it's the first one with blue particles. Story wise...you know KC games aren't really about story..or writing in particular. But we still love you, you know ;)

The_Mell · September 17, 2016, 05:17:54 PM

Number of story missions:
What bother me a little bit is wether or not i'll have to replay those or if savegame carries over to full version.
Number of 5 sounds fine to me.

Inception, Exchange & Simulacrum:
I would like to see at least 1-2 handcraft and 1 computer generated mission to showcase the possibilities.
I don't know how you cut parts out and if you add in screenshots or animations with descriptions or even small videos, but it would be good in my opinion if people could find at least something behind those menu options to do.
So maybe 1 Inception map and in a pseudo Exchange menu a handcrafted Exchange map and a Simulacrum one which is referenced from Simulacrum menu, too.

Ship editor:
That would be a cool thing.
Something i haven't expected to be included nor that i would demand - but icing on the cake. :)

GoodMorning · September 17, 2016, 07:40:51 PM

I hate to spoil anything, but before the demo...
Shift for multi select as a default will prevent frustration. So will knowing how much a ship will cost to build in-mission. And I find myself missing the CW energy readout, showing how much of production you are actually using, before you go into deficit.

Otherwise, it seems well-considered. Perhaps a slightly shallower difficulty curve in some areas, for those who haven't played before.

jaworeq · September 18, 2016, 01:34:20 PM

Quote from: jaworeq on September 17, 2016, 04:19:31 PM
Story wise...you know KC games aren't really about story..or writing in particular.

Well, I'm on mission 9 now and I want to take back above sentence. Story's getting interesting, but I guess 9 missions would be too much for a demo anyway. And first 5 (tutorial) missions have just a lot of handholding.

Sorrontis · September 18, 2016, 04:25:28 PM

If my opinion matters: First 5 missions, + Limited Ship Editor + A couple extra maps :D

chwooly · September 18, 2016, 04:33:01 PM

Mission maps should be decided by how many total maps are planned for story line. If only 20 maps are planned then including 25% would be overkill. I would cut that back to about 10-15% of the story line which would be in enough with a limited ship editor and a few other user created maps. I would label the maps starter, middle and "Are you (insert expletive here) kidding me", so that you could include at least 1 of PH's more benign maps.

And I would include a link to a video of someone using the map creator. maybe a quick 5-10 min vid and the actual map in the demo.