What makes a demo when you finish it make you say "I'll definitely play the final game" and "I don't care about the final game"?
Have you tried demos of story-driven games? Like adventure games, pseudo rpg's or visual novels.
I'm considering grabbing a slice of the beginning of my visual novel and putting it as a demo, so the answers would help me know what to do.
Narrative heavy games aren't really my cup of tea, I prefer books and movies for that, so take my advice with a grain of salt. But the main thing that gets me invested in a story is getting the main characters established as early as possible, ie getting a good sense of their personality and motivations as well as how those two might create conflict between them. Of course, this needs to follow the rule of show, don't tell, because exposition dumps are too dry to spark interest. So it's a bit tricky to balance between speed and manner of character introductions.
(I played your game by the way, it was really cool!)
"But the main thing that gets me invested in a story is getting the main characters established as early as possible, ie getting a good sense of their personality and motivations as well as how those two might create conflict between them. Of course, this needs to follow the rule of show, don't tell, because exposition dumps are too dry to spark interest."
I totally agree!
Good character is often portrayed through action/reaction, as I have seen (as you said with the "show don't tell"). Instead of someone straight up telling you what it is, the player/viewer/reader will see it for themselves when they experience the natural and habitual mannerisms of said character.
Example off the top of my head: Say that the main characters are three kids, and in the opening scene they are interacting with a butterfly.
- Kid #1 is running around and gleefully playing with the butterfly. But when they get too close to the beautiful creature, they "trip" and fall flat on their face. They get back up as if they never fell. They look at Kid #3, and start to cry.
- Kid #2 is walking slowly behind, keeping their distance from the insect. They immediately ask if Kid #1 is okay when they fall, and they comfort the poor kid when they start crying. Kid #2 grows angry with Kid #3.
- Kid #3 is hurling rocks at the bug and is trying to clap it out of the air. They laugh when Kid #1, who was in their way, "trips". With a big grin on their face, they immediately kill the pest while the wimp is on the ground.
Now, I could have just said this:
- Kid #1 is a happy and cheerful child. They are used to being pushed around by other kids so they are oblivious to most physical bullying. They get upset when when things are remorselessly killed.
- Kid #2 is sensitive and caring toward other kids. They know right from wrong and dislike senseless bullying.
- Kid #3 is selfish, violent, and a little sadistic. They are not above hurting others for personal gain and/or amusement.
I try to observe this in stories, to learn how to utilize the plot to highlight character in my own work. How things can work as plot devices (butterfly), how different characters interact with these devices in the plot, and what these interactions say about the characters' traits.
Also, how words can convey certain feelings to further highlight character ("butterfly" went from "beautiful creature" to "insect" to "bug" to "pest", for instance. Also, Kid #1 is called a "poor kid" when associated with Kid #2, then a "wimp" when with Kid #3).
Well! This was fun.
Have you tried demos of story-driven games? Like adventure games, pseudo rpg's or visual novels.
I have, it was called Sage Fusion couple years ago. I've completed the demo which as you've guessed ended in cliffhanger. I have to buy the sequel to get the complete the story.
I was curious of the story of course HOWEVER there are couple things about the demo which put me off from getting the sequel.
1. I'm not fond of gameplay the demo offers. It's mash up of point n click and turn based RPG BTW. Neither element are deep enough IMO; point n click is kinda shallow and the RPG doesn't have what I'd expect from an RPG.
2. The final ... part of the demo is too linear for me which gives me doubts of the ... game's quality.
3. The maximum party size is 3 which is below my minimum limit for party size which is 4. To make matters worse, due to story, most of the time in the demo, I only have 2 people in the team :P.
Okay, maybe you could call that demo as prequel or something but for me it's a demo :).
That reminds me, I have also played a demo of another RPG and demos of some point n click games. Neither of them make me want to get the complete game.
when you finish it make you say "I'll definitely play the final game" and "I don't care about the final game"?
Regardless of genre, the demo must show the basic gameplay of the complete game. The gameplay has to be impressive to convince demo players to play the complete game. Doesn't matter if the game is story driven or not.
"I'm not fond of gameplay the demo offers. It's mash up of point n click and turn based RPG BTW. Neither element are deep enough IMO; point n click is kinda shallow and the RPG doesn't have what I'd expect from an RPG."
Dude... a "mash up of point n click and turn based RPG" is exactly the battle system my game has!
Now I kinda want you to try my game lol. I want to see how different mine is from your previous experience, out of curiosity about how different games with similar mechanics can potentially change a player's experience. Both the story and mechanics are in early stages of development (especially the story), so some things may not be perfectly clear.
Game link: https://wasabiiii.itch.io/grass-elemental-demo-demo
I'm up for the challenge!
"I'm considering grabbing a slice of the beginning of my visual novel and putting it as a demo, so the answers would help me know what to do."
Please do this. I'd love to see what Harmful Heaven has to offer in demo form!
Personally, I think a "hook" approach works when the player is presented early on with a good impression, and are thus left wondering what will come next, without it always being a cliffhanger. If the basics of a project are presented clearly and interestingly, a player/reader will end up asking themselves how these basics will be expanded upon in the future. Charming characters, engaging mechanics, and intriguing writing/dialogue are good ways to do this as well, but maybe that's obvious.
