Alpha free release

[christopher1006]

Thirty dollars is a fair bit of money for a game I'm not able to even try to see if I like the basic gameplay of it. Possibly when IV updates the prison architect alpha I'd like to see V1 as a free demo so not everyone who dosn't want to pay has to wait until the game releases or head out to the pirate bay to try it but risk someone uploading viruses to their computer. Of course this would be temporary, when the full game releases they'd make a normal demo like the rest of their games but right now this might be helpful as a way to make people want to buy it.

[XmAkiNA]

If you could play it, you would understand that the current build would make an awful demo.

Perhaps maybe they can take a leaf out of Kerbal Space Program and choose a stable build to be the demo rather than building one specifically, but a game like this probably needs a properly & separately designed demo to be appreciated fully.

[Illanair]

No - A demo should never intentionally show off unimplemented or buggy features. A demonstration should be limited in scope for but all intents and purposes be fully functional within said scope.

Why? You'd be surprised how harshly people judge demos - even alphas/betas.

[a__gun]

A demo would need to be finished game standard with regards to stability and bug fixes - this is a LONG way off

[Kalrirr]

A demo wouldn't only be bad publicity at this stage. By making it 30$ they are more certain that those that buy it, UNDERSTAND that it's an alpha and will help with the further development of the game through bug support.
These forums would be very very different if it were free and maybe you and your friends when playing a demo of the current build will understand that it's just alpha and will still get better, there's alot of people out there who won't and will simply label it as buggy , bad and unfinished. We've entered a new age of gamers. People aren't as understanding as they were back when minecraft and such went into alpha...

[ronanc]

I kind of love how the poll has only one Yes vote... nice try OP

[christopher1006]

Actually I never voted, someone else did. And to the comments before, I noticed in playthrough videos there was a tutorial. Perhaps use that as a basic demo?

[annoyingwolf]

Actually I never voted, someone else did. And to the comments before, I noticed in playthrough videos there was a tutorial. Perhaps use that as a basic demo?

But that really infuriates me in games when they give me a hand holding demo and then when I think I'm going to get gameplay it gives me a trailer. Where it might as well just be a trailer or a really boring cutscene. Maybe like Tropico 3's style of Demo- sandbox but limit the better items and without saves.

P.S: I think a trailer showcasing some of the really funny bugs would get a couple people interested, that part in the trailer about prisoners eating while the room is on fire made me laugh. A lot.

[Vice]

I voted no for this. Simply because at this stage a demo isn't really needed while the game is in alpha testing mode. I think a free demo would be more suitable after the release of the game when it is more finished.

There are plenty of "lets play's", tutorials and reviews of the game on yourtube so if anyone is interested at this point that would probably be their first port of call anyway. If demo's are for a marketing perspective to get some pre-release sales then some game review websites already provide that for people who go actively searching for new games to try out.

Well... that's my view on it anyway

[Gmarcott42]

I think that it should be a cheaper demo, like you only have to pay $10 for it, and if you want to buy the rest of the game, you pay $20. Because, even though I love this game, can you imagine what it would be like if you end up hating this game? You just blew $30! I know i'd be pretty upset.

[Matthew6655]

Thirty dollars is a fair bit of money for a game I'm not able to even try to see if I like the basic gameplay of it. Possibly when IV updates the prison architect alpha I'd like to see V1 as a free demo so not everyone who dosn't want to pay has to wait until the game releases or head out to the pirate bay to try it but risk someone uploading viruses to their computer. Of course this would be temporary, when the full game releases they'd make a normal demo like the rest of their games but right now this might be helpful as a way to make people want to buy it.

Hes got a point!

[lunaticneko]

One tutorial level that shows some concepts of the game should be enough for a demo, but that should be done when the game is out of the alpha.

[koshensky]

That might be true if this were a complete unknown. If I - a completely untested game producer - suddenly decided to release Prison Architect for $30, I would fully expect to need to provide a huge amount of assurances that I could even make the thing, regardless of what the game would be at the end of the day. Introversion have not only proved themselves as a company over the past 12 years, but proved themselves as a long-standing provider of some of the best games in the business.

You're not just paying $30 for a game, you're buying into a philosophy and you're receiving a promise in return. We don't know what Prison Architect will be in 12 months time, not even Introversion know that, but we can be sure it's going to be good, and it's going to be a hell of a fun ride on the journey to get there.

For your 30 bucks, you're going to get more hours spent discussing, thinking about and playing this game than you could replaying your entire game library top to bottom. You don't just get to play it once and forget about it, you get to shape it, you get to talk about it, and you get to make it better than it could ever be if Introversion just did it on their own.

I've already got my $30 worth, and we've only just begun.

[alexgs12345]

I think IV should wait a bit before they relese a demo. perhaps when Alpha 10 is out