No demo is a bad idea. You're worried about piracy - do you think that the people that can't find your demo won't be able to find the full version torrent instead?
I just won't buy a game like that. If the demo doesn't inspire me to play it all at least twice... *shrug* And not having a demo feels like there's a possibility of there being a great big gotcha in there somewhere.
BOH updated and ported to MacOS X Hi all, I'd like to inform you that, as promised, BOH just got better and now it even runs natively on MacOS X! Specifically, this update: * makes the game run natively on MacOS X Tiger/Leopard machines; * adds zooming to full screen modes; * allows the choice of the screen mode among those notified by the system; * replaces zooming routines with more optimized ones (especially 3x and 4x); * adds the possibility of disabling interpolation (for slow computers); * adds the possibility of disabling the rendering of barriers; * improves a bit the original themes; * enriches slightly the Evil Masters AI; * adds timer ticking during time-limited missions; * adds map zooming; * adds the option of sorting missions by difficulty; * allows the use of joypads/joysticks with just 1 button; * fixes the following bugs: bad joypad handling (detection was inhibited by a '2' in place of a '1'; sometimes up/down movement could stick); [PAGE UP/DOWN] handling (repeat delay handling was missing); a bad optimization of ray-tracing routine (which had no practical effects thanks to the way maps and themes were made); * improves and extends the user's manual; * links the AmigaOS 4 version to libSDL 1.2.13; * applies some other minor changes. BOH owners can enjoy the update by downloading it for free from the DOWNLOADS page of the official website at www.bohthegame.com.
Actually i like the idea of not using demos. It means less competition for those who do. Please make sure your no-demo mentality is spread more
This might be the worst game trailier I've ever seen: http://dailymotion.virgilio.it/video/x8w5x3_boh-trailer_videogames I had to stop 1:00 into it. Sorry.
Yep, that is a terrible video. I tried to review BOH for indiegamemag btw - but there's no demo. So I didn't. Cas
The quality is admittedly low :/ Anyway, the trailer begins that way to show the viewer some of the game elements one by one. If you want directly to see the game in action without wasting any time, please consider having a look at the game session shown in this video: http://dailymotion.virgilio.it/user/saimobvq/video/x8w9yp_boh-game-session_videogames. If you have any comments/questions, I'll be glad to answer you saimo
indiegamemag? Do you refer to this indiegamemag, perhaps? I submitted the full version, but I didn't hear back from them, so I assumed that they weren't interested. If you work for them and you are still interested in reviewing the game, please contact me. saimo
Aha - I'll ask the powers that be and see where it got to. Though really I'm only supposed to be reviewing demos, not full versions (as part of my scoring system relies on me buying the game!) Cas
It's not the quality of the video, which is on a par with all the other game trailers out there - it's the content! You've got about 30 seconds to totally blow me away with your video. I want to see 30 seconds of sheer excitement, maybe over about 10 scenes, with a little tiny intro and a little tiny outtro detailing the title, the URLs to visit, and some strapline or other. Cas
I see and understand the phylosophy. But I could not do just that because BOH is very hard to understand/appreciate without any preliminary explanation. So, the initial part of the trailer was meant to show the basics of one of the main elements (namely, the view system), so that the viewer is not totally disoriented when looking at the second part (the actual action). That's one of the reasons why I provided also the game session video, which directly and entirely shows the game action. saimo
BOH - demo released Hello, I'm here to inform you that I have just released the demo version of BOH. Both the AmigaOS and Windows versions can be freely downloaded from the DOWNLOADS page of the website at www.bohthegame.com (the MacOS version will follow shortly). saimo
Great, I'm waiting for the Mac version as I already considered buying your game. Anyway, very inspiring to see enthusiastic people supporting AmigaOS!
It's just a matter of getting hold of a Mac - unfortunately, I don't have one. But it's likely that the demo will be out tomorrow or on sunday. Glad to hear that It's my system of choice, so it couldn't have been otherwise saimo
Saimo, I'd just like to say, thanks for listening to us. If the game is good, a demo should really help people decide to buy. I'm going to go ahead and do a review of the demo on June 2nd (first free day I have really). Keith
It's never been a matter of accepting/refusing the advice. As I tried to explain, there were real problems that made it impossible to me to release a demo, namely (in short): lack of time and choice of what to include in the demo. The former was solved automatically once the updates and the MacOS version got finished (but I also because I decided to postpone the additional themes); the latter was solved thanks to an idea that struck me only lately - specifically, the idea of providing a multi-phase mission where phases are sorted in increasing degree of difficulty, so that the impact isn't too hard and still the mission allows to really appreciate all the aspects of the game. Hadn't I had such an idea, there would still be no demo. Actually, the demo has also a bad side-effect: people start it up without even having a quick look at the documentation and expecting it to be and to work like the games they are used to and so they find themselves disoriented. The end result is that they discard the game before even having understood it. I can't stress enough that BOH is quite weird, out-of-this world, so it must be faced with open mind, taking into account that it's been made according to a certain philosophy (completely opposed to the mainstream, as described on the website) and possibly after reading the documentation - or, at least, with the patience of referring to it when things seem hopeless. Just think that somebody complained that the game is claustrophobic: that's precisely one of the main intentional characteristics of the game; or somebody else complained that the resolution is too low: that's exactly one of the radical stylistic choices; and so on... That would be great, thanks saimo
If your game isn't playable without reading the docs first, then you've failed. Prepare for commercial damnation. Go back and make a tutorial, or an intro campaign that makes it clear so they don't have to read the docs. See you in a few months when you've realized, despite all the excuses you're about to offer, that you need to do that.
I've included in the demo 2 missions: the easiest one in absolute, that allows the understanding of the basic mechanisms, and the multi-phase one that starts from a very easy degree of difficulty and ends with a complex experience that allows to really see what the game offers. It couldn't have been made simpler and friendlier than that. The game mechanics, moreover, are really basic (this is also reflected by the controls): the difficulty depends only on the design of missions (that's why, in the commercial version, there are 5 missions for each of the 5 levels of difficulty). Still, appreciating the game requires open mind and the knowledge that the product is heavily inspired to a gaming culture which is a lot different from today's. Reading the manual (which has been written and is printed on paper for a reason) definitely helps a lot and is strongly recommended both because it makes it easier to approach the game with the right mentality and also because it reveals details that may not be so evident during the actual action - and, by the way, the manual is certainly not a space-shuttle pilot handbook saimo
If your game isn't playable without reading the docs first, then you've failed. No need to say more. JC