@saimo
Saimo wrote:
I have been thinking about a demo, both before and after I got requests, and the conclusion is this: unfortunately, it cannot be done. I will try to explain why.
Two of the main design choices of BOH are these:
* it can be expanded by just adding data files to the missions/themes/translations directories;
* at any time, the player can freely choose any mission among those that he has installed - i.e. the game is non-linear (although some missions are subdivided in phases, so the player can access the later phases only if he manages to complete the previous ones).
This means that distributing a full-working demo would be a sort of self-piracy (as the distribution of data files would be trivial), also if one looks at the future: when expansions will be released (by me or third parties), the "demo" version will allow to enjoy them without problems.
On the other hand, if I distribute a feature-wise crippled version, the game would not be really enjoyable, and maybe make a bad impression.
I fully see your point, that distributing the full version of the game engine with a demo data file may not be an attractive prospect. However, look how well it worked for Doom. In fact, Id Software even released the source code for the engine. This has been so successful that Id are even still selling the original Doom games on their web site for people who want to pay for the full version of the data files. So distributing the full engine for free and charging for data files can work well. I believe in Doom that you needed the full WAD file in order to use 3rd party expansion WADs, so users of the shareware WAD could only play the shareware levels. If they wanted to play the full game or 3rd party episodes, they had to register. In my opinion, it is no more difficult to pirate the data files with the engine than just the data file by itself. But of course, it is your decision. I do not intend to criticise - I'm just making a suggestion. You could even distribute a demo version of the engine which is crippled in only one way - that it only works with the demo data files and nothing more.
Saimo wrote:
Perfectly spot on!!! Some of the AIs are precisely coded to work that way 
...
believe me, when one, surrounded by darkness, does not really know whether to turn left or right, the tension gets high
Sounds brilliant! This is *exactly* what I loved (and still love) about Doom. It sounds like BOH will be a really atmospheric game. Lots of missions too means that even once completed players can keep coming back again and again. I can't wait to try this game out! :-D
