Previous winners of "Best Demo" at the AGS Awards

[LTGiants2000]

Interesting thread we've got here....I do CERTAINLY prefer to play a demo before the release of most COMMERCIAL games however if the game is freeware, often times I will wait until the full version is released (as to not get myself too excited and then have to wait till (if ever) the game is done).

[Ghost]

Actually I am a bit wary of demos, especially adventure game demos. I tend to try demos for casual games or the odd tactic/strategy game IF I already am interested in purchasing them. The former usually has no plot to speak of, so I just check out the game flow a bit. The latter usually creates special maps for the demo, so I can try out the game without spoiling it should I make the purchase. But adventure games are linear and usually a "play it once" affair, so a demo will either have a disconnected piece of plot or showcase a really impressive scene from the final game that allows me to cold-read the plot ("Ah, that dude there wants to shoot Indy! But in the intro he's all friendly! I smell a face heel turn!) I'd rather risk buying an adventure that looks interesting without ever trying a demo. Adventures seldom disappoint me.
Usually, when a game sounds interesting, I ask around if someone already played it, and if he'd recommend it. Or check out the Youtubes.

As a side note, there appears to be a noticeable percentage of people who PIRATE a full game and later, after finding it enjoyable, purchase it to calm their mind. Not that this is proper behaviour. But a fact: Selfmade "demos".

[Stupot]

most demos I know of don't end up in the demo section of the database (My own demo of the TSP included).

Is there a recent demo, Andail? Or can we expect a new one soon? I somehow neglected to download the old one. 

Well, I don't think there'll be a new demo until the full game is released. And the old one doesn't reflect all the major changes the game has gone through since then. Feel free to playtest the next playable build, though

I'd love to, thanks man. Just let me know

I'm not that much of a demo guy.  If I do play a demo, I have probably already decided I will play/buy the game and I'm just playing the demo out of impatience, and possibly also to check that it will actually run on my laptop (which isn't usually a problem for most adventures).

[Igor Hardy]

Well, my own demo was anything but an ad for the full game.

Initially it was meant to be a short game that just has the appearances of an excerpt from an epic story - abrupt intro, huge backstories, cliffhanger ending and all (and it's basically what it still is). However, during the production I grew both very fond of the title character, as well as unhappy with the limitations I've put upon myself within this game (a single 3-background location, a rather silly but complex quest put upon the player) compared to the larger backstory and The Quest of the main character. So I decided this will be only the first piece of a larger game.

If I fail with the epic version, I'll at least modify the demo, so there's more of Franko's world to see.

[CaptainD]

I'd been thinking along the same lines as Ghost myself, adventure games are probably more difficult to do a demo for because of plot involvement.  With CD I suppose I was a bit lucky in that regard because we started off with the idea of doing a very small game, it got bigger and became a concept demo, but was something that would fit in with the overall plot without revealing many real details of that plot at all.  I'm not sure that I'd consider a disconnected plot with the same characters as being a demo, just a separate and smaller game.

I'm just trying to remember how many adventure game demos I've played... can't remember many at all, I do remember playing Lost Horizon (which was essentially the relatively small first part of the game), and that definitely did persuade me to buy it.  I'm not really representative of the average buyer though - from running gaming blogs I get sent a lot of games for review, so I'm rarely actually looking for a new game to buy.

Eric - the influx of episodic games may be related to this, but my gut feeling is that it's more to do with workflow/cashflow.  I considered doing this for CD but I really want it to be a traditional game experience including being a "big" game that people will hopefully remember for years.  The Book of Lost Tales really reawakened my love of proper EPIC adventure games, much as I enjoyed TellTales's Tales of Monkey Island and Sam & Max, there's nothing quite like getting really involved with the plot and characters of a game that takes you 15-20 hours to complete.  (Daedalic's "A New Beginning" game close to capturing the same feeling, but unfortunately it was too buggy and that spoiled the atmosphere a bit.)

[bush_monkey]

I thought I'd jump in here and say that Valis is still very much in development!!! 6 years and counting. I hadn't touched it in 6 months but I'm on holiday this week and have spent pretty much every waking hour on it.

Edit: It's actually 8 years in development! I should rename Valis to Duke nukem RPG.

[CaptainD]

I thought I'd jump in here and say that Valis is still very much in development!!!

Hey, good to hear! I'll have to get round to actually playing that demo... 

[bush_monkey]

I'd wait. I'm planning to release the first chapter of Valis as a standalone game within the next few months