pouët.net

ps: exactly, stuff gets spread through word of mouth, not by tv.

yeah but interest in something is also stimulated by TV.

@yesso's idea
There are many demo sceners working in the gamedev industry. Why not create demos and include them inside your commercial games? Either as regular intros or in hidden parts, for example.

But AFAIK kb_ has announced in another thread not long ago that he's planning to do so already.

because most of the time I assume publishers have something against it... ?

But if it's in a hidden part...?

AFAIK, demos as "end of game" reward would work quite well, and there are already games including those. at least some demo background fx and scroller. But it's such a small part of a game's development..

adok: you apparently don't play many games, because i've found quite a lot whose intro/menu/credits parts are already so demoish :)

Zest: You're right. These days I play only Civilization IV and some old console games.

adok: for a start, all that stuff has to get through QA the same as every other part of the game - which is a pain in the ass. would you really want some hidden part demo to fuck up your game release and get you in serious trouble? :)

smash: better sell it as an intro-sequence then :D worked for unreal 2 :D

I think demoscene should be underground subculture just as it always has been... some media exposure is good, like in computer mags etc, where it belong so to speak, becuase in many cases, you're simply not aware of its existance.

smash: Well, actually I hope demos are also engineered in such a way that the highest possible compatibility is ensured and they're free of bugs. Of course that's an ideal, but at least demo groups who have some reputation ought to do some QA.

adok: lend us your testing suite of around 100 pcs of different specs, will you? oh, and pay us a salary for the work required, while you're at it.

adok, you're kinda missing the point.. then again, what else is new? you dont 'experiment' with a (usually) multimillion gameproject.

Adok: I have to agree with Smash and Forrest on this one. I've gotten to know a lot of devs over the last 8 years in the games industry (I'm a journalist focused on the industry), and we're currently talking about an average budget of 15 million dollars for a next-gen (pc, ps3, xbox360) project. Considering the punishments for developers that come into action when missing a development milestone, there's no way in hell that any developer is going to risk it, particularly since many devs are depending on a single project. If they screw up, they don't get milestone payments, they can't pay the staff salaries, they go bust etc. Been there, done that.

And I'm not talking major stuff here. Even tiny "secret" elements can cause trouble. Let's say you include a hidden part, and you greet a group with a dubious name, write a text, the word "fuck" appears in some way.. someone posts on the web how to reach the hidden part... game was approved for kids aged 3+ ... then the publisher is in HUGE trouble (check Hot Coffee affair on GTA/Take2, not that it was approved for 3+ but it spawned huge political problems).. meaning, if you were the programmer, project lead, managing director of the development company, or the producer on the side of the publisher, you can look for a new job, because you'll get sacked, simple as that.

Adok:
Did you see all the different 'loaders' for Darwinia? The software raytracer, game of life, and esp. the fake cracktro with sin-text scroller where they greet 'all the demosceners for showing people what computers are really for' ?

You can get your company sued if you don't declare EVERYTHING to the ESRB. So the boss would have to know. You'd need someone like Will Wright for a boss in order to do it. Still, not all games are $10000000 endeavors, including a 4k intro or something in a downloadable shareware game isn't unreasonable.

GbND, i think that this tvdoc explains it really well:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wVQk1V6aM9M

Guybrush: No.

Axel: Thanks for the long explanation.

some former demosceners had the idea to advertise and sell their demos as the ultimate 3D card benchmarks ;)



too bad the latest 3DMark version have lost the demo spirit :/

and i'm a bit dishonest, some fairy landscapes and realistic effects are outstanding.

we must think firstly about WHY do we need to show our demos to the outside world. It is all about to get new fresh brains to our scene or it is only simply vanity?

ham: I'd have thought it's in order to convince the masses that they've been missing an important part of life so far. ;-)

(Yesterday I watched some demos and thought: "If these demos didn't exist, my life wouldn't be as beautiful!")