What Is Demo Mode?


If you've ever been hesitant to buy a product, you might have been offered an opportunity to "try before you buy," which allows you to try out a product before you spend any money on it. This sales technique is particularly useful in the automotive industry, where it is virtually impossible to justify purchasing a car without taking it for a test drive. In the early days of video games, it was important to convince game players that a game was worthy of spending a quarter for a play, so demo mode was invented. Demo mode is sort of like "try before you buy" applied to video games ”you get to see how a game plays before you invest any time or money playing it. In regard to computer games, "try before you buy" now typically involves downloading a limited version of the game that you really can play. However, demo mode is still a useful and worthwhile feature to consider adding to your games .

The main idea behind demo mode is that it goes beyond a splash screen by showing more than just a title or stationary game graphics. Demo mode attempts to show the game actually being played , or at least show some of the main characters in the game going through the motions as you'll see them in the game. Demo mode can be as simple or as complex as you choose, but the idea is to provide a hook to convince someone to play the game. In other words, you're attempting to sell the game so that it looks fun and inviting . Demo mode can also be informative, similar to a splash screen. In fact, it's not a bad idea to design demo mode so that it serves as a more interesting splash screen.

Unlike a splash screen, demo mode is not something that appears at the beginning of the game, never to be seen again once the game starts. Instead, demo mode is displayed in between every game, and helps fill the space between games with interesting animations from the game. So, when a game ends, there should be a brief pause while the player is able to take in that the game is actually over, and then the game should return to demo mode. Of course, the game also starts in demo mode. In this way, demo mode replaces the splash screen for a game, and also goes a few steps beyond the role of a splash screen.



Sams Teach Yourself Game Programming in 24 Hours
Sams Teach Yourself Game Programming in 24 Hours
ISBN: 067232461X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 271

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