Can't they just spawn you in a dungeon, remove the exit, and tack on the CC? If they did something like this I don't see how it would take longer than a week or two for one guy to put it all together. But then again I could just be ignorant. It's about the only thing that could really hold be over till 11-11-11. All my other games seem dull now, no real games I want come out till around sept, so I'm left to pine over this one. Come on Beth, put out a demo! I'd settle for vid walkthrough of a dungeon...please?

They say making a demo wouldn't make justice to the game, would be just a tiny little part of the whole experience.

They could do that, but the demo would be 8 gigabytes. Then someone would find a way to hack it and give you the full game.

The other way is to sever the coding which takes up a large amount of time. IF there was going to be a demo they'd have to have a separate team working on it. Those people could've been working on the actual game instead.

A dungeon would hardly be a good representation for the game as a whole. Not everyone who would get the demo would know as much about the game as people on here.

Yeah, I can't really say I want a demo at all. It would ruin the experience. I don't like the idea of demos for any game, especially not one like Skyrim where there's just SO MUCH involved in the game, it couldn't be properly represented in a demo.

No demos is just the way gamesas seems to roll. From what I've gathered, they're squeamish a bit about "incomplete" materials and designs possibly giving expectations of the final product, when they prefer to leave as many options open for them to change right up to the game going gold. This is ALSO why we've tended to get (often frustratingly) little information about games up until the release date: fewer promises means fewer promises that could be broken.

As far as a demo goes, it would actually be relatively easy to do one: just get a stable compiled build (the hard part) and pair it with a set of "demo content." The problem for gamesas, of course, is that "demo content;" they don't want to be pinned down with whatever they show. The closest thing, that MIGHT work, is if they instead decide to make a demo out of intentionally scrapped areas: ones that they'd note would not be appearing in the final game.


Code != content. The code (excepting the shaders) for Oblivion is stored entirely in Oblivion.EXE: only a few megabytes. It's surprisingly compact once you compile the stuff into binary.

The content itself can be readily adjusted, IF one has the time to do it. Mods have been made for MW/OB that outright replace the main quest and land, placing the character in what is effectively in ENTIRELY different game. The only question is gamesas's willingness to put the time and exposure into assembling some of this content into a demo. Another issue is, of course, the fact that the "great outdoors" is PART of the whole game experience... And hard to capture in a restricted demo. You'd need to make a lot of detailed scenery with nothing in it just to make sure there's places to look at when outside, or not have it at all.

That can't be a reason, no. A demo is not meant to show you everything that can be done in the game. It is a piece of the game that let's the player see the basics of the game: movement, animations, combat, UI, how smooth it runs on one's hardware. It's a tool meant to show the product to those who are not fans, the fans will buy it anyway.

Bethesda is to demos what genghis kahn is to lace panties.

sixy?

One thing I always supposed about a demo in these sorts of games is that it could just give you a small area and console control allowing you to summon creatures, get equipment, and test out the combat. All of these rather limited of course, but I think a lot of people buy based on the combat gameplay and just getting a feel for it goes a long way. Besides, it'd help modders get a head start on textures and animations.

Yes, a demo would be wasted resources when they could instead continue to crank out all their energy on the game.

The thing us laymen need to understand is that resoursces are scarce: programmers, designers, time, money. Allocating any to a demo *MEANS* depriving game development.

That's not really a dilemma, is it?

I suppose if they'd be working on a more standard game, they'd be able to pull it off more easily. I also think it's not a very Demo-able game, in my opinion.
Nah.

making a skyrim demo would be as pointless as teaching a bear to use a knife and fork

I laughed hard bro. Thanks for that!

It's true it seems impossible to create a good demo that does the game justice. Arma2 had a demo. Very limited amount of landscape, units, vehicles, and missions. But (imho) it failed, not because of lack of content (I believe that part can be done, but depends on the engine), but because it was riddled with bugs and slow performance.

But I would still love to have a character creator to play with, pre 11.11.11.

I've heard that sort of thing as an excuse a reason for not making a demo. Whilst I didn't really enjoy Oblivion as much as Morrowind or Daggerfall, I'll likely make an exception to my standard rule of 'no demo, no buy' for Skyrim.

Those who wait and hold the line will be well rewarded.

I think it really depends on the context. Demos aren't full games, remember that. It comes down to how easily a fine example of what the bulk of the game will be like can be shown, but expressed in a compact package with a short timeframe (under an hour of gameplay). To use Oblivion a example, it could have had a really good demo if the demo ended at the sewer exit. In the starting dungeon, you have the ability to get a feel for the game, try out different tactics, and you have a small amount of customization to mess with including the entire character creation process. Ending at the end of the sewers is also good because it allows you to have a taste for the game without letting you access the pièce de résistance, the open world outside.

Recently, I've only tried the Dragon Age II demo. It did essentially the same thing, but ended in a later segment of the game so you can see where things are at when the story picks up a little. It fast forwards to there when the first part of the game is done. But it's effective because it actually starts you off playing your character at the highest level (as part of a legend being recalled), then sends you down to level 1 land so you can actually see where you start off. You can see nearly all parts of how the game works without actually having the full game.

If Skyrim has an easy to use creation kit and a starting experience comparable to Oblivion's, then a demo could be made for it. It's more of a decision to be made by the publisher though. Demos help attract sales (if they're good).



Not really. Demos are a helpful tool for gauging the capabilities of a game before you shell out 50-60 bucks for it (USD). I know a few games that I looked forward to, but bad reviews and a hands-on with the demos helped me save some good money. I don't think Skyrim has any worry of being a bad game, but a demo would really help with the outreach to players who may not know what the games are like. Try before you buy is a much better business practice than rushing in blind.

This. I'd hate for someone to try some demo of an immense game like Skryim and then totally miss out on the experience because they didn't know any better and weren't impressed.

It's hard for me to believe there are some people that don't realize how Bethesda's games are the best around.... But I'm sure they're out there.

Man...That is an awesome response!!! King's to you!!!

I disagree as I for one, am utterly appalled by Bear's lack of table manners!

A demo would do absolutely nothing but make me want the game more.... or ... it could make me want the game less. (dragon age 2).
Either way a demo seems like a bad idea. Lets say they released a demo now. What the heck are you going to do? play it over and over and over and over. .. no .. you'd eventually just get sick of it and either be left with having to still wait or not caring anymore about the game because you know all the basics.
There will be playable demo's closer to the games release though. It'll be at gaming conventions and given to gaming magazine writers to play with so they can write reviews and hype the game.

would not want a demo of skyrim.
we'd get the most un interesting area in the entire game with only a few of the 4 side quests in that part to deal with...