Demo/Tiered Payment System

['KeithFromCanada' Olson]

If I may make a suggestion, a relatively easy-to-implement system whereby players who are just curious or on a low budget can enjoy your game could be as simple as 'Player can only place a block within a cube X wide that is centered on the flag.' Trying to place a block outside of that space would trigger an error message and a suggestion that the player upgrade their game by buying the appropriate DLC. You could also limit the number of colonists. For example:

• Free/Demo: 50 blocks / 5 colonists
  
• $5: 250 blocks / 25 colonists
  
• $10: 1000 blocks / 100 colonists
  
• $20: unlimited blocks / unlimited colonists

That would allow anyone to get an idea of how the game works for free or while staying within their budget. It would also be fairly easy to code, as it would require only an X, Y, Z check when placing something, a popup, and a DLC system (...which would be a great idea anyhow). Until it is out of alpha, I would suggest sticking with the demo/$20 options, as they are already part of the Steam Store system without requiring you to figure out DLC, and thus easy to implement.

As there are more and more Free-To-Play games coming along that you are directly competing with (like Unturned), I strongly suggest thinking seriously about this.

[Koutetsusteel]

Originally posted by 'DeadlyDad' Olson:

If I may make a suggestion, a relatively easy-to-implement system whereby players who are just curious or on a low budget can enjoy your game could be as simple as 'Player can only place a block within a cube X wide that is centered on the flag.' Trying to place a block outside of that space would trigger an error message and a suggestion that the player upgrade their game by buying the appropriate DLC. You could also limit the number of colonists. For example:

• Free/Demo: 50 blocks / 5 colonists
  
• $5: 250 blocks / 25 colonists
  
• $10: 1000 blocks / 100 colonists
  
• $20: unlimited blocks / unlimited colonists

That would allow anyone to get an idea of how the game works for free or while staying within their budget. It would also be fairly easy to code, as it would require only an X, Y, Z check when placing something, a popup, and a DLC system (...which would be a great idea anyhow). Until it is out of alpha, I would suggest sticking with the demo/$20 options, as they are already part of the Steam Store system without requiring you to figure out DLC, and thus easy to implement.

As there are more and more Free-To-Play games coming along that you are directly competing with (like Unturned), I strongly suggest thinking seriously about this.

I don't think this is as easy to implement as you try to make it seem... It means splitting the game into 4 different versions of itself, imposing limits (that could probably easily be hacked/cracked), uploading it 4 times, and then every time they push an update they would have to update, test, and upload all 4 versions of the game.

Sounds like a huge headache for next to no benefit.

[Firstborn-_-Unicorn]

Originally posted by Koutetsusteel:

Originally posted by 'DeadlyDad' Olson:

If I may make a suggestion, a relatively easy-to-implement system whereby players who are just curious or on a low budget can enjoy your game could be as simple as 'Player can only place a block within a cube X wide that is centered on the flag.' Trying to place a block outside of that space would trigger an error message and a suggestion that the player upgrade their game by buying the appropriate DLC. You could also limit the number of colonists. For example:

• Free/Demo: 50 blocks / 5 colonists
  
• $5: 250 blocks / 25 colonists
  
• $10: 1000 blocks / 100 colonists
  
• $20: unlimited blocks / unlimited colonists

That would allow anyone to get an idea of how the game works for free or while staying within their budget. It would also be fairly easy to code, as it would require only an X, Y, Z check when placing something, a popup, and a DLC system (...which would be a great idea anyhow). Until it is out of alpha, I would suggest sticking with the demo/$20 options, as they are already part of the Steam Store system without requiring you to figure out DLC, and thus easy to implement.

As there are more and more Free-To-Play games coming along that you are directly competing with (like Unturned), I strongly suggest thinking seriously about this.

I don't think this is as easy to implement as you try to make it seem... It means splitting the game into 4 different versions of itself, imposing limits (that could probably easily be hacked/cracked), uploading it 4 times, and then every time they push an update they would have to update, test, and upload all 4 versions of the game.

Sounds like a huge headache for next to no benefit.

I have to agree. If they decided to do ANYTHING, just adding a time based demo would be much more sufficient. i.e... 1 hour of gameplay.

['KeithFromCanada' Olson]

1. It doesn't have to be incredibly difficult to implement at all. The 'DLC' could be as simple as a key attached to your Steam ID that increments the tier. There is no need for multiple uploads, though for now, the full and demo version should be hard coded. If the player downloaded the free demo, he would only have to buy the $20 DLC to have the full game. This is [b}exactly[/b] how Unturned did it[en.wikipedia.org], and It seems to be working out well for Nelson Sexton, its creator.
   
   
2. Hackers are always going to be around, and that is something that has to be dealt with anyway, even if it just means saying 'Not going to worry about it.'
   
   
3. Time limited demos are a four-letter word to most players. This is a game that needs some time to learn how to play it. A scope limit is reasonable and allows players to spend as much time as they like until they get frustrated with the limitations and either quit or put their money down.

[Koutetsusteel]

Originally posted by 'DeadlyDad' Olson:

1. It doesn't have to be incredibly difficult to implement at all. The 'DLC' could be as simple as a key attached to your Steam ID that increments the tier. There is no need for multiple uploads, though for now, the full and demo version should be hard coded. If the player downloaded the free demo, he would only have to buy the $20 DLC to have the full game. This is [b}exactly[/b] how Unturned did it[en.wikipedia.org], and It seems to be working out well for Nelson Sexton, its creator.
   
   
2. Hackers are always going to be around, and that is something that has to be dealt with anyway, even if it just means saying 'Not going to worry about it.'
   
   
3. Time limited demos are a four-letter word to most players. This is a game that needs some time to learn how to play it. A scope limit is reasonable and allows players to spend as much time as they like until they get frustrated with the limitations and either quit or put their money down.

Unturned's DLC package is for cosmetic items and access to specific servers. That's different than what you've suggested. If this game used dedicated servers, it could potentially control specifics on each server easier... but again, since everything is local and on the player's machine, they would be required to create 4 versions of the game and then continuously update them every single time they do a new update.

It's not as easy as you make it sound. You're comparing apples to oranges.

Even if they were to eventually do such a thing, I'd much rather them do it much later down the road and have them focus on core gameplay mechanics, animations, new items, etc.

Why focus on new payment methods/systems instead of gameplay?

Also, just because "hackers are going to be around" doesn't mean we should make it easier for them...

['KeithFromCanada' Olson]

Originally posted by Koutetsusteel:

Unturned's DLC package is for cosmetic items and access to specific servers. That's different than what you've suggested. If this game used dedicated servers, it could potentially control specifics on each server easier... but again, since everything is local and on the player's machine, they would be required to create 4 versions of the game and then continuously update them every single time they do a new update.

It's not as easy as you make it sound. You're comparing apples to oranges.

Even if they were to eventually do such a thing, I'd much rather they do it much later down the road and have them focus on core gameplay mechanics, animations, new items, etc.

Why focus on new payment methods/systems instead of gameplay?

Also, just because "hackers are going to be around" doesn't mean we should make it easier for them...

1. I'm talking about the system, not what it implements. All Unturned's DLC has to do is flip a single bit, if the items are already included in the original package. Capcom already does this with Street Fighter and Resident Evil. I'm saying that CS could do the same thing.
   
2. Creating a space-limited demo doesn't have to be difficult at all, nor does maintaining it. A single compiler-directive #ISDEMO set to TRUE can swap in the small extra code to limit block placement without having to create a separate branch of the code. Not hard at all.
   
3. Offering a demo and different tiers will drastically increase player base and revenue without costing much at all. (Consider that, of the top 200 grossing iOS games[appshopper.com], only four aren't free-to-play.) The devs making more money can only help them and the players.
   
4. Yes, you can download 'DLC unlockers' for many games, but 1) What are the chances of an unlocker being created for a niche game like CS, 2) How many players would ever hear of such a hack, and 3) Of those who know about it, how many would take the chance of using it, knowing that they could end up with their Steam account suspended? That... would probably be a very small number indeed. Given how many other games have DLC, there are obviously a lot of companies that don't see DLC piracy as enough of a problem to stop using it.