Between Quality and Quantity

[Phi-Bi]

Just got a thought and I think it'd be interesting to discuss it. I have noticed that fan-game developers have different approach about releasing a demo for their game.

Some developers want the demo to be as perfect as possible to the point that a release took forever and even worse--the project got cancelled without a demo. Some however released a demo with decent quality but still not great but this approach allow the developer to get feedback sooner and improve as they work on later demo.

So what kind of developer you are in this regard? How do you balance the quality and quantity of your game? Also which one is better for you, release multiple demos or doing full release game at once instead, and why is that the case? I think both quality and quantity are important but I still haven't figured out a precise approach to balance the two so knowing all of your opinion about this issue would be great! Well, let the discussion begins then~

 

[Keileon]

Sardonyx releases demos based on story progress, and we give ourselves tentative deadlines, but we do make an effort to make sure the demo is as good as possible.Generally we're mostly done before the deadline anyway and spend the rest of that time fine-tuning, and then we release interim patches to fix bugs before the next core comes out.

(In this context, a demo/core is a release with story progression and a patch is additional features/bugfixes without new story)

 

[Dragonite]

I've yet to work on a "serious" project but I like to think I edge towards quality over quantity. Obviously there should be SOMEthing there—who's going to get engrossed in a story after only playing fifteen minutes of it?—but I think a four-hour demo that's polished and "complete" in its own right—that is to say, ends at an appropriate point in the story—would make a better impression on someone than an eight hour demo that just cuts off without explanation.

I, of course, chose to do the latter for tesv: pokémon.

As for multiple demos . . . it's up to you? I don't really have a strong opinion on this. I guess it's a good way to keep your own production schedule on track?

 

[Anuran]

I will go with Quality. Projects that got significant audience support always seems to have quality and There are many projects that are as good as that or even better then the famous one gets very poor audience support. it is because those project doesnt get us hyped. It just comes out with a small demo from no where followed by several more demos. Its like we have never heard of them (in Work on Progress thread ) and seems to come out of no where with a small demo with lots of bugs mainly inn mapping.

 

[Mewleon]

Quality obviously, but really in all fairness, the GP (General Public) should stop pressuring devs to putting their demo out for a game people are very willing to play just to kill time. Quality is what makes a game what it is and putting quantity, well it would put some5hing out there unattended. Basically game development is the same as a real life standpoint, no matter how you look at it. ^^

 

[Aki]

For me, it depends on the type of game and how many demos have already been released. Both quantity and quality are important goals for me as a dev, but when I'm deciding when to release a demo I try to think more like a player. That's one reason I like keeping a changelog as I develop!

For my game that focuses on mechanics and player exploration, I want each new demo release to show an improvement in quality; fixing as many bugs as I know of, and adding small tweaks to add a bit more choice to the gameply. Then even if the player plays the same bits again, it'll be a new and better experience.

When I'm releasing a demo for my narrative heavy game, I want quantity. I don't think returning players will want to play through my same story they already know just to experience small mapping changes and tweaks to the wild encounters. But they'll totally want to pick up the game for another demo if I include more of that narrative the game is built around.

So yeah, the type of game I'm making does dictate how long I keep developing before releasing the next demo. I might actually get distracted and end up doing way more quality improvements before getting to the quantity, but if quantity is what I think players need to justify downloading a new demo then I'm not releasing until I'm satisfied with the quantity of my work.