It’s finally here, the last freely available update to the game before the commercial launch. This will be a short article with a bit of a different format, focused mostly on the demo and less on the happenings of the past week. It seems appropriate to switch focus a bit here.
Fitting that the room that started it all would make it into the final release in some form.
Why a demo?
I’ve been releasing updates pretty consistently since the game entered beta, and sporadically before that. I’m not shy about sharing my work to the public, but I am attempting to actually sell this game. At some point I was going to have to stop releasing everything for free and start working on the stuff that would be exclusively part of the commercial version. I hit that point last week, but I still wanted to get one last update out there. I also knew that I would need something going forward for people to play with that I could hand out for free without having to worry about potential sales. It’s a fine line to tread and I have absolutely no idea if it will work the way I want it to, but it seems like a good idea.
This room is tucked away in a corner behind a tricky door to get past. I wish there was a better reward than posters, but there isn’t.
So how is it different?
The demo for the game has a modified map that shows off the different aspects of the game in a much shorter fashion. One of the things I struggled with on this was the fact that the demo map is actually completely unique. It exists nowhere in the commercial version of the game, and it never will. I was hesitant to do this because it seems a bit disingenuous. If you enjoy the demo, the full game might be too big and confusing for you, and conversely if you feel cramped by the demo, the full game might be perfect for you, but you’d never know. I think I made the right decision here, because with the full-sized map it would take far too long to actually get through and find all of the parts of the game that I wanted to show off. At that point you are basically just playing the full version of the game anyway.
What can we expect?
Where the aliens sleep, pass time between guard shifts, and shoot at the idiot player who wanders in.
The demo has all of the main features of the game. Seven of the eleven upgrades are on the map that you can pick up and use. There are a few aliens scattered about to interact with, and there are plenty of alien documents to read through. If you know exactly where to go, you can beat the demo in just a few minutes, but the exploration and puzzle solving make that a much longer experience. I would expect around an hour to find a way to beat the game, maybe 3-4 hours if you want to try and find everything. There is plenty of map to explore, plenty of strategies to try, and a lot of the core mechanic of the game, spiraling out to greater distances as you upgrade your character and learn how to navigate the alien ship. While the progress won’t transfer between the demo and the full version, and the experiences will be unique, it’s a safe bet that if you like the demo, you will like the full version, and you won’t spoil the story or ruin anything by playing the demo first.
The deck of the ship on the demo map. It’s pretty cozy, though the walls are a bit bare.
If you are interested, check out the demo right here, and let me know what you think.
demo has no full screen - please check that because its too small
and also in start room the sink blocks the fuse box means i can't cut it
You are absolutely correct on both counts. I have added fullscreen support and fixed the bug that prevented you from reaching over counters. There are a few other minor things I'm going to change before I update the demo, but those changes will be in that update.
thamks
i have contacted you even your website has comment system locked means i couldn't not contact you directly
there is bad design in demo - very very veru hard to past the alien - alarm sounds even doors won't open
The website comments are locked because when they were open I was getting 100+ comments a day from spammers. I don't really know what to do about that.
For the demo, the aliens don't prevent doors from opening, the only thing that happens is the ones with guns will shoot you if they see you, and if there is an armed alien nearby and other aliens can see you, they will call him over.
If the door has power (you can tell because it will emit a soft purple glow on the ground around it) and you have the upgrade to use them, then they will always open. Is there a particular spot in the map that you are running into this issue?
the doors should be openable because there was power on at starting room and when power is off the doors can't be forced open - that's why i was disspointed with Demo at moment - i suggest more updates till its all happy
Did you get the upgrade that turns your hands blue? You can't actually use the door switches until you get that upgrade. As for being able to force the doors open, as long as the power is off to the door, you can use any prying tool to get the doors open. The hammer, screwdriver, or crowbar will all do the trick.
All of this information is actually in the game, too. When you are in memory mode (the one with the purple clouds), you can walk around and inspect the various parts of the ship to get an understanding of how all of the pieces fit together. It is supposed to be a puzzle game, and I personally made sure to beat the map that is packaged with the demo, so I know it can be done.
i did try get the blue thing but its didn't work because the glass cabient still couldn't not open because i had use knife to force open the vent (that was problem)
Between the room you start in and the room with the upgrade, there is something that will let you open that glass cabinet, just keep looking.
hmm i tried alot of times - no other way around - i suggest that you need tweak bit