Should I release a demo??

[Minimi]

Should I release a demo now, of my game Sam&Moos or should I work further on the game and release it when it's all finished?

The thing is : I first told you people that I would release it very soon, but I got slown down, and now I'm working again on the game. I have right now 7 of 21 rooms finished. I'm working on this for some long time, and I figure that's it's going to take some time untill I finish the full game.

So is it worth to release a demo of only 7 rooms? Won't that screw up the gameplay of the whole game, when it IS finished? Please give your opinion on this.

[Mats Berglinn]

The real question isn't why should I release a demo but rather why I should not releasing a demo?

In any event I think it would be good if you really do. Who said that you must be half away through before making a demo? At least not me. Myself I'm going to release a demo before the end of the year and it will only be about 5-10 rooms of over 50 rooms (it's a big game). If you like me doing games in parts not like Book of spells but having the game splited in parts like the MI series then it would easier to make a demo especially if you have an intro part or the first part is short (like in Curse of Monkey Island). I say, go ahead and make your demo.  

[Paranoia]

I wouldn't bother with a demo if you are sure the game is what you want and people will play it, if you are not sure and want feed back do one.
my next game will have a demo, well a walk through, because i want to see if an idea will work on computers of different speeds, which would be a waste of time if it runs slow, when i did my MAGS it was done on two different machines and it shows
if you rush out a demo, and its buggy it'll put people off, the "friend" you had in your MAGS zip sure put me off!(its ok now BTW, shit happens)

[Gemmalah]

it is a good idea if your not sure if the interface is an easy one to use or the style of the game doesn't fit. you could say that it is a test run and get a few mates to play. careful of bugs though. make it a bi that makes sence by itself.  

[GorgonJim]

Jimmstein's General Theory of Demotivity:
e = (c(g/2)i)/o
that is,
enjoyability = (characters x 1/2graphics x interface) divided by obscurity
so if you have a game with an easy to understand but original interface, well developed characters and fairly good graphics, and has puzzles which make sense, the game will be good.
if the obscurity is high and everything else is low, eg Captain Mostly, you dont release a demo anyway
This is because in demos the most important things are to have a good interface and well-developed characters in order to get a well-developed feel for the game. Graphics are probably the least important thing in the game, as some of the best games ever have incredibly poor graphics, hence the 1/2.


Jimmstein's Special Theory of Demotivity:

Who cares, only 5 people can understand it.

[LGM]

I think you should just work on the game and forget about a demo until you are sure it is top quality.. It seems you are always eager to work on a project and release it, but you never end up doing that.

You just think up new game ideas every now and then and so on..

Just stick with one thing and work with it..

There's my two cents