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General discussion (archive)Game demo's(17 posts)(17 posts)
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Posted November 23, 2014
How come gog doesn't have game demo's? some people like to try the game before buying it and demo's are usually perfect for that.
some games already have demo's even, "I have no mouth and I must scream" I remember quite clearly having a demo but I only found it on accident while searching for the full game, long before gog had it.
Posted November 23, 2014
There was a demo for Defender's Quest here on GOG here: http://www.gog.com/news/online_demo_defenders_quest . Other than that, I think you're reliant on older demos or videos.

Anyway, demos are problematic. While they might be great for the customer, they either require support and maintenance by the devs (which would have to be done "for free"), or they become outdated when the main game (or software in genereal) gets updated (which then might not be a fair representation of the game). As well, they would have to be prepared alongside the main game which takes away resources from the devs. Then there's the problem of Bad Demo, Good Game which might dissuade people from buying the game. Or the opposite Good Demo, Bad Game being misleading and making angry customers. Or, hell, Great Demo, Don't Need to Buy the Game (I did this as a kid and couldn't buy games).

P.S.: I find it interesting you use "on accident".
Posted November 23, 2014
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Grilledfish: There was a demo for Defender's Quest here on GOG here: http://www.gog.com/news/online_demo_defenders_quest . Other than that, I think you're reliant on older demos or videos.

Anyway, demos are problematic. While they might be great for the customer, they either require support and maintenance by the devs (which would have to be done "for free"), or they become outdated when the main game (or software in genereal) gets updated (which then might not be a fair representation of the game). As well, they would have to be prepared alongside the main game which takes away resources from the devs. Then there's the problem of Bad Demo, Good Game which might dissuade people from buying the game. Or the opposite Good Demo, Bad Game being misleading and making angry customers. Or, hell, Great Demo, Don't Need to Buy the Game (I did this as a kid and couldn't buy games).

P.S.: I find it interesting you use "on accident".
true those are all problems but not having a demo means the customer only have screen shots and videos to judge.
Unless you decide to pirate the game of course but that is illegal and I am sure gog don't want people pirating the game.
Demo's aren't perfect but it is better than just buying blindly.

Plus even if you do decide to go entirely on screen shots and videos the game might not work on your machine, A demo could help you know if the game would even run on your machine.

Also I guess I didn't find it on accident but it was the only thing I could find when I searched for it.
Posted November 24, 2014
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felbot: Plus even if you do decide to go entirely on screen shots and videos the game might not work on your machine, A demo could help you know if the game would even run on your machine.
True, but the same goes for demos - you can never be a 100% sure about whether the actual game will work just because the demo works or doesn't work, especially with old games. GOG would have to invest a lot of time and work into making old demos compatible to new systems, too. As for new games that have demos elsewhere, sure, GOG could host them, if they thought it would help their business. I think we once had a thread linking to downloadable demos for GOG games once, but I can't find it right now. :(
Post edited November 24, 2014 by Leroux
Posted November 24, 2014
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Leroux: I think we once had a thread linking to downloadable demos for GOG games once, but I can't find it right now. :(
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/demo_links_for_current_gog_games/post1

There are many demos there, but since the last post was added in March 2013, and the list itself was updated in November 2009, there are likely many demos not posted in the thread.
Post edited November 24, 2014 by Maighstir
Posted November 24, 2014
Dosbox, it is what it is.

One dosbox thing is really been stuff, it is vsync, which does not work for me.
Posted November 24, 2014
You would think they would have those especially for the games they have in their library that were published 5-6 years ago
Posted November 24, 2014
It’s not exactly a pressing concern for old games. Worst case scenario, you waste 5 bucks and lament you didn't spend it on a Big Mac.

Of course if you had, you would've regretted that too about 30 minutes later.
Posted November 24, 2014
Can't find a demo? Look for a "Let's Play" video on YouTube...should be close enough.
Posted November 24, 2014
For all of the above reasons and more, demos are kind of, for the most part, dead.

They seem to only exist these days for always online games where tehy can make the demo and the game exactly the same but with a flag on your account.

If you feel strongly about playing a demo before you buy, you're going to miss out on almost all modern games, and as for the games on GOG, it's enough of a technical struggle to keep the library working on increasingly modern versions of osx, windows, and Linux.

So while I in theory agree with this idea, in practice I've given up caring for a significant number of sectors of the gaming market. Sometimes I'm practical. Rare, but it happens.
Posted November 24, 2014
Adding demos would create more work for the GOG team. They would have to create and maintain two separate distribution packages for each game -- the demo and the full game. It would also significantly increase their bandwidth requirements since anyone could download any demo -- including people who haven't bought any games at all and are just downloading one demo after another.

Many game demos are still available through other sources. Between that and Let's Play type videos, you should be able to get a pretty good idea of what a game is like before purchasing. And if you do run into compatibility problems, GOG has their money-back guarantee.
Posted November 24, 2014
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felbot: How come gog doesn't have game demo's? some people like to try the game before buying it and demo's are usually perfect for that.
some games already have demo's even, "I have no mouth and I must scream" I remember quite clearly having a demo but I only found it on accident while searching for the full game, long before gog had it.
Seems like demos ( not demo's :P ) are mostly dead these days, not just on GOG but almost anywhere. If you want a demo for a new game ( in particular for Indies ) your best bet is to check the official website of the developer. Some still offer them. Sometimes you can even get an older version of the same game for free.

And for demos of older games, just go to your preferred search engine -- if a demo used to exist, then you can probably still find it.

On the plus side, if a game doesn't work properly on your PC, at least GOG will refund your money.
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ChaunceyK: Can't find a demo? Look for a "Let's Play" video on YouTube...should be close enough.
There's that, too.
Post edited November 24, 2014 by CharlesGrey
Posted November 24, 2014
I agree with the OP and would like to see demos on GOG for games which already had demos back in the day. Since you can't rent PC games, demos are the next best way to try before you buy.
Post edited November 24, 2014 by RoloTony
Posted November 24, 2014
Demos for games that had them can be found all over the web. For games where the developers didn't create a demo there is nothing GOG could do.
Posted November 24, 2014
I like demos there usually just isn't so many. It seems that actual game makers are you know "I hate this game.. other, we already delayed it so shut up and get your paycheck and keep your voice down"

"but the game is horrible and not really bug tested.. What a horrible job to release stuff when you don't like it. =P
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General discussion (archive)Game demo's(17 posts)(17 posts)
(17 posts)