Quote:
Originally Posted by Dinonykos
I think I have now finished 50-75% (incl. quests/events etc.) of a DC adventure. Now I am wondering if I shall put a demo online - or perhaps only send one to those who would like to test it. One question is: What does anybody expect from a demo? One Level? 10 Levels? 10 events? 100 events?
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I personally feel that one should make their demo just big enough to hook potential players.
I would say that this could be done with anywhere from 1% to 10% of your final design, and it should always be the first 1% to 10%.
I also have two other ideas along these lines.
1- The demo is not part of the game at all, but is a small, quick, mini-adventure in the same setting. I mean the kind of thing that can be played in 5 to 10 minutes. You can show off some of your graphics without giving away anything as far as the plot. Perhaps this mini-adventure/demo would contain back-story or what happens the day before the adventure begins or what happens the first day but told from the perspective of a shopkeep or farmer or some other 'mundane' character.
2- This is the method I plan on using when I get to the stage of thinking about demos. It is the kind of demo used in the GoldBox games. It is tightly controlled by the designer and only give away exactly what you want to give away.
Here's a link to a short article explaining what I'm talking about and how to do it.
http://frua.rosedragon.org/pc/uanews/nlhtm03/demo.htm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dinonykos
Another thing I am still thinking about is to include speech in the adventure. Would anybody be interested in helping me dubbing - e.g. by recording some sentences I would send to him/her in written form? I think it could be a lot of fun. On the other hand, since I naturally do not want to reveal too much of the story, I am not sure if this can work... |
I think voice would be great.
But, I also appreciate wanting to maintain plot secrecy...
Here are 3 options that I can think of off the top of my head.
1- Voice artists would be the playtesters, or more precisely, the playtesters would be the voice artists.
2- Voice artists would only receive their lines, in small chunks (one or two sentences at a time) and not necessarily in order. (This doesn't seem too practical.)
3- Solicit the help of another community than DC. A couple of years ago, I was involved with a project doing an Animé RPG. There were plenty of people in the community willing to do voice work, but not nearly enough, so someone connected us with a couple of different groups who do voice work for games.
Some people wanted money, but most people were willing to help for just the price of having their names in the credits and something to put on their résumés. I've long lost the links, but I'm sure a google search will yield lots of results.
4- (of 3) Contact a local theater group and see if they can help you - they may not have the time, but may know someone who does.
5- (of 3) You could do all the voices.
I know in my DMing experience I've done many a silly voice (silly in how I felt, not necessarily how they sounded).
6- (of 3) Use snippets from online resources such as movies, lectures, sound clips, other games, etc.
