DEMO Era

[zane94s]

Hi Eric! Great game

The demo of gearcity limits us to 30 years of gameplay (which is logical). But, why did you choose the 1900-1929 as the era? There's nothing much happening in that era. Population is very small, car ratings are extremely hard (even in the easy mode)...

Why not make the demo in a different era instead? From 1950s to 1979 for instance? it's the SAME limit for the demo (29 years of gameplay).

OR, make the player select an year and let the game end after (29 years of gameplay).

I know this is far from your consideration but I hope that your think about it for a bit. Thanks

[Eric.B]

Mostly because it's the start of the game. And it's also roughly the order in which we got artwork. One has to remember the Demo/Open beta has been around for roughly 3 years now.

The reason why I maintain it on this time period is because:
1) The artwork and files are already out there.
2) Adding in a time period such as 1950-1970 would mean I'd have to include all artwork from 1900-1970. Making the file much bigger and exposing more of the game to potential easy pricey (Granted eventually the full Steam build will be cracked, but so far we've been able to fly under the radar!!!) But you wouldn't even have to "crack" the game if I included the 1900-1970 artwork. You would just need to edit a few text files and the db to get 70 years of gameplay.
3) It's the most heavily tested version of the game since it's been around for so long. Other parts of the game still have balancing issues.
4) It offers a taste of everything, war, depressions, etc. Without the harder to get through great depression and ww2 1930-1960 would give you.
5) It's been traditionally that way.

The problem is with picking a year is how city sizes are calculated, we used a fixed file for the starting years. Thus you can't even do it in the paid for version of the game! It's on my todo list, but it'll be a while. Still such an idea for the demo would get trouble with 2,3, and 5.

[zane94s]

If you really think about it:

1) You don't have to add all the files of from 1900-1970 at all... since it's a demo, the game will need the Mechanical inventions that dominated the certain era (let's say from 1950-1979), but it won't need the car models of the early years.

2) It's an opportunity for you to test the other eras before the public release.

3) Just for the demo sake, you can eliminate the ww2 since the game virtually happens at 1950s not the 1930s.

4) The market of the years between 1950-1979 was very active and demanding continuous car updates, unlike the era of 1900-1929.

It's just a suggestion, of course you know best Thanks! Keep up the good work!

[Eric.B]

1) You don't have to add all the files of from 1900-1970 at all... since it's a demo, the game will need the Mechanical inventions that dominated the certain era (let's say from 1950-1979), but it won't need the car models of the early years.

But I would have to include map files, office files, all the accessories up to 1970 and a number of other things. Which would mean roughly 60% of the artwork would be out there for free. (Just missing 1930-1950 office/cars and 1980< stuff.)

2) It's an opportunity for you to test the other eras before the public release.

The open beta has died down quite a lot. Maybe 100-200 downloads per month where as roughly 1000 people play the full early access game over a 2 weeks period. (Note that is unique people playing, not sales, and not people playing at the same time.) So we're getting a lot of later game testing done as it is now.

3) Just for the demo sake, you can eliminate the ww2 since the game virtually happens at 1950s not the 1930s.

Well see the point of the OpenBeta was to test all the features of the game, and later as a demo to allow players to play all features of the game. By playing 1950-1970 a player would not experience military contracting. Thus they would miss a huge chunk of the game. 1900-1930 is perfect for that because WW1 is right smack in the middle. It's not as big and destructive of a war as WW2, and only about half the world partakes in it.

Where as a 1950-1970 demo would have no wars outside of Vietnam and Korea, which are not really places you can play the game in until later years anyway.

It's just a suggestion, of course you know best Thanks! Keep up the good work!

I understand. And if it gains a lot of traction I may consider it. But I'm just saying it's very unlikely to change.

Another reason is this. Most people want to play the later game years. 1900-1930 is a teaser. If they enjoy the game play, they'll be more than happy to pay for the time period they want to play in. Thus they buy the game, which goes to funding me for another 6 months. Case in point, you really want to play 1950-1970...