This is not a Demo

[_onyx_]

I would call it an impression. There is not much to do. Just a few dialogs and a bit of walking arround without the option to go back. To little to have a real opinion about.

When will there be a real demo?

[jeticks]

Yep. That's too short.

[Jehuty]

And it takes 18 gb while taking 10 or 15 minutes to finish (while taking 18 gb of storage).

[joridiculous]

it ended rather abruptly indeed. But you can play longer if you don't click the persons, also clicking Continue loads you at the start of the excavation site.
Played it 3 times now, found more thing around the excavation site. A journal, a noisy drill, a landmark ...

[Jehuty]

The book is way more fun.

[Vegasskill]

You are not a serious man. What did you expect? A 2-hour demo? Forget it.
You should really appreciate that they gave us a demo. Most developers don't do that.
This short demonstration gives us enough to see and feel what the game will look like and play.

[Vegasskill]

Originally posted by Jehuty:

The book is way more fun.

What you just wrote makes no sense. The game is still in development. You know that, right?
Demo =/= full game.
You seriously compare a 15 min. demo to a 300+ pages novel?
Maybe you should wait and play the full game first.

[Jehuty]

Originally posted by Vegasskill:

You seriously compare a 15 min. demo to a 300+ pages novel?

The novel keeps you interested from the very first page at least.


The purpose of demo is make people interested in the game and buy it (I guess).

Visiting 3 points on the empty map isn't interesting much.

They don't show any outstanding visuals or effects as well (as demo uses unreal engine 4 while game is being advertised to be ue 5 based, which is really strange).


There are no outstanding audio effects or music either.

Originally posted by Vegasskill:

You should really appreciate that they gave us a demo. Most developers don't do that.

I would if demo was interesting.

And btw we have Steam refunds here so we can turn any game into a free demo after release.


I hope the final game will be more interesting than the demo at least (though judging by gameplay trailelrs it will be just the same).

[Firepaw]

Very underwhelming "demo" in every regard, indeed.

[Vegasskill]

Originally posted by Jehuty:

Originally posted by Vegasskill:

You seriously compare a 15 min. demo to a 300+ pages novel?

The novel keeps you interested from the very first page at least.


The purpose of demo is make people interested in the game and buy it (I guess).

Visiting 3 points on the empty map isn't interesting much.

They don't show any outstanding visuals or effects as well (as demo uses unreal engine 4 while game is being advertised to be ue 5 based, which is really strange).


There are no outstanding audio effects or music either.

Originally posted by Vegasskill:

You should really appreciate that they gave us a demo. Most developers don't do that.

I would if demo was interesting.

And btw we have Steam refunds here so we can turn any game into a free demo after release.


I hope the final game will be more interesting than the demo at least (though judging by gameplay trailelrs it will be just the same).

Key arguments from your post:

1. *the demo is not outstanding - no amazing audio and graphics*
2. *the demo was not interesting - too short, etc.*
3. *demo uses unreal engine 4 while game is being advertised to be ue 5 based*

Ok, so lets address them.

1.
So the game must look amazing. If not you won't buy it, correct? That's a pretty shallow approach to games. So you rather play amazing looking but a boring games, huh?
The demo doesn't look mindblowing. It looks good and that's good enough for me.

2.
Ok, You want something totally unrealistic a very long demo. How long? An hour? Two hours? You realize that's unfeasible, right?
Yes, technically STEAM policy allows you to turn every game into a demo for 2 hours. If you don't like it you can always refund if the play time is less than 2 hours. Right, but to do that you have to wait months for the game premiere. These guys gave you a sample now, right now. You can play it now not in many months.

I liked the demo. I liked what I saw. It was not perfect but at the same time, it was not bad.
I will buy the game. Not pre-order, not day 1. I don't do such things any more thanks to the Cyberpunk affair. I learned my lesson back then. But I will buy the game for sure sometime later.
btw: the developer stated that the game will not be a 1:1 copy of Lem's novel. They will add things, story elements, etc. from themselves. The game will be based on the book not the close copy of the book.

3.
So.... Unreal Engine 5. Can show me the links when they explicitly stated that the game will use UE 5? I mean official links to official press release texts - their Twitter etc.

Because I found only this:
a)
Some YT channel called "ENFANT TERRIBLE" posted videos of this game with titles

"THE INVINCIBLE First Gameplay Demo | New Retro Futuristic Body Cam in Unreal Engine 5 4K RTX 4090"
or
"NEW GAMEPLAY The Invincible | Trailer Unreal Engine 5 HD 4K 2022"
or
"NEW TRAILER The Invincible | Gameplay in Unreal Engine 5 HD 4K 2023"

Do you understand that this is some third-party unofficial YT channel? That they are doing this for clicks and views. That they don't say the truth. You aren't that naive, are you?

b) I found this interview with two game developers it's quite old (almost 3 years)
here: https://wccftech.com/the-invincible-interview-bringing-stanislaw-lems-sci-fi-to-life-with-unreal-engine-5/

and let's look what they said...and they said this, quote:
________________________________
"You've mentioned that you're planning to upgrade to Unreal Engine 5. However, UE5 is only scheduled to hit preview in early 2021, and The Invincible is currently targeting a release in the second half of 2021. Are you really going to make this change only a few months before release?

Daniel: That’s right, the window will be rather small but with that in mind, we’ve been developing the project in a way to facilitate both a quick upgrade and multiplatform releases. At this point, it looks good, so despite planning for contingency, we remain excited."
________________________________

Did you even read it, or did you just read the headline?

He clearly says that "they plan to switch from 4 to 5". That they plan to do it not that they will do it 100%.
Then he says "We remain excited" What this tells you? You know...some people really don't know how to read between the words.

They never said that they will use ue5 100%. They had plans but looks like the plans changed. That's it.
Their official website clearly shows ue4, look
https://www.starwardindustries.com

Please don't look at some random YT channels where they blatantly say things. Always go to the source.
The developer had never officially stated that the game WILL USE UE 5!!!

Planning something =/= doing something! Plans can always change due to different circumstances.

[BOXman]

Originally posted by Vegasskill:

Originally posted by Jehuty:

The novel keeps you interested from the very first page at least.


The purpose of demo is make people interested in the game and buy it (I guess).

Visiting 3 points on the empty map isn't interesting much.

They don't show any outstanding visuals or effects as well (as demo uses unreal engine 4 while game is being advertised to be ue 5 based, which is really strange).


There are no outstanding audio effects or music either.





I would if demo was interesting.

And btw we have Steam refunds here so we can turn any game into a free demo after release.


I hope the final game will be more interesting than the demo at least (though judging by gameplay trailelrs it will be just the same).

Key arguments from your post:

1. *the demo is not outstanding - no amazing audio and graphics*
2. *the demo was not interesting - too short, etc.*
3. *demo uses unreal engine 4 while game is being advertised to be ue 5 based*

Ok, so lets address them.

1.
So the game must look amazing. If not you won't buy it, correct? That's a pretty shallow approach to games. So you rather play amazing looking but a boring games, huh?
The demo doesn't look mindblowing. It looks good and that's good enough for me.

2.
Ok, You want something totally unrealistic a very long demo. How long? An hour? Two hours? You realize that's unfeasible, right?
Yes, technically STEAM policy allows you to turn every game into a demo for 2 hours. If you don't like it you can always refund if the play time is less than 2 hours. Right, but to do that you have to wait months for the game premiere. These guys gave you a sample now, right now. You can play it now not in many months.

I liked the demo. I liked what I saw. It was not perfect but at the same time, it was not bad.
I will buy the game. Not pre-order, not day 1. I don't do such things any more thanks to the Cyberpunk affair. I learned my lesson back then. But I will buy the game for sure sometime later.
btw: the developer stated that the game will not be a 1:1 copy of Lem's novel. They will add things, story elements, etc. from themselves. The game will be based on the book not the close copy of the book.

3.
So.... Unreal Engine 5. Can show me the links when they explicitly stated that the game will use UE 5? I mean official links to official press release texts - their Twitter etc.

Because I found only this:
a)
Some YT channel called "ENFANT TERRIBLE" posted videos of this game with titles

"THE INVINCIBLE First Gameplay Demo | New Retro Futuristic Body Cam in Unreal Engine 5 4K RTX 4090"
or
"NEW GAMEPLAY The Invincible | Trailer Unreal Engine 5 HD 4K 2022"
or
"NEW TRAILER The Invincible | Gameplay in Unreal Engine 5 HD 4K 2023"

Do you understand that this is some third-party unofficial YT channel? That they are doing this for clicks and views. That they don't say the truth. You aren't that naive, are you?

b) I found this interview with two game developers it's quite old (almost 3 years)
here: https://wccftech.com/the-invincible-interview-bringing-stanislaw-lems-sci-fi-to-life-with-unreal-engine-5/

and let's look what they said...and they said this, quote:

"You've mentioned that you're planning to upgrade to Unreal Engine 5. However, UE5 is only scheduled to hit preview in early 2021, and The Invincible is currently targeting a release in the second half of 2021. Are you really going to make this change only a few months before release?

Daniel: That’s right, the window will be rather small but with that in mind, we’ve been developing the project in a way to facilitate both a quick upgrade and multiplatform releases. At this point, it looks good, so despite planning for contingency, we remain excited."

Did you even read it, or did you just read the headline?

He clearly says that "they plan to switch from 4 to 5". That they plan to do it not that they will do it 100%.
Then he says "We remain excited" What this tells you? You know...some people really don't know how to read between the words.

They never said that they will use ue5 100%. They had plans but looks like the plans changed. That's it.
Their official website clearly shows ue4, look
https://www.starwardindustries.com

Please don't look at some random YT channels where they blatantly say things. Always go to the source.
The developer had never officially stated that the game WILL USE UE 5!!!

Planning something =/= doing something! Plans can always change due to different circumstances.

Dunno if you know, but there are plenty of games that offer longer demos with a specific part of the game in order to grow interest in the game. He's not talkng about graphics.

And from his points he explains there was no set pieces or a big event. You just walk around in a very handholding experience and then it abruptly ends. I agree with that, I really want to see this game be amazing but the demo isn't filling me with hope.

A demo should definitely showcase one of the better parts of the game. And not a basic corridor. Which is technically what we got.

[Vegasskill]

Originally posted by BOXman:

Dunno if you know, but there are plenty of games that offer longer demos with a specific part of the game in order to grow interest in the game. He's not talkng about graphics.

Maybe I am blind or demented like Joe Biden but he clearly said, quote:
_____________
"They don't show any outstanding visuals or effects..."
_____________

If the word "visuals" is not a close synonym for the word "graphics" then I am an alien from the Zeta Reticuli star system.

[Jehuty]

Originally posted by Vegasskill:

1.
So the game must look amazing. If not you won't buy it, correct? That's a pretty shallow approach to games. So you rather play amazing looking but a boring games, huh?
The demo doesn't look mindblowing. It looks good and that's good enough for me.

The demo should have at least one attractive aspect or more. What is exactly shown in this demo:


1. Interesting story / characters - not present, just few lines of audio chatter

2. Engaging gameplay - not present as well, it just "visit 3 points on a empty map"

3. Outstanding / interesting visuals - nope again, just empty red desert / rocks.

4. Interesting audio effects / music - nope again.

5. Interesting art style - nope , their "50-60's sci-fi style" is barely shown.

6. Interesting world - still no, just empty red desert and rocks.



They could let us play with these gadgets more.

Or show some more gameplay than just walking / picking up things, etc.

Originally posted by Vegasskill:

2.
Ok, You want something totally unrealistic a very long demo. How long? An hour? Two hours? You realize that's unfeasible, right?

Usually demos (even for smaller projects) offer at least like half a hour (or more) of gameplay (without speedrunning), so potential customer could have a proper taste of a game.

This one feels like a demo of a demo actually.


Nobody stops you from liking it (I wanted to like it as well).

[Morgan]

What if the whole game is like this? Maybe it's just not for you

[Jehuty]

It's fine if it's a walking simulator.

The demo is just too short and fails to represent anything sufficient (possibly because of being too short).

[BOXman]

Originally posted by Vegasskill:

Originally posted by BOXman:

Dunno if you know, but there are plenty of games that offer longer demos with a specific part of the game in order to grow interest in the game. He's not talkng about graphics.

Maybe I am blind or demented like Joe Biden but he clearly said, quote:
_____________
"They don't show any outstanding visuals or effects..."
_____________

If the word "visuals" is not a close synonym for the word "graphics" then I am an alien from the Zeta Reticuli star system.

Thanks for agreeing.