All game components are complete for release now, everything just needs some final testing. I’ll be sending out game keys to Scraps Kickstarter backers in the next couple of days, which should provide some interesting real-world use. Then press, then full release.

Demo Update

I have one last trick up my sleeve. The demo has been upgraded* – it’s now a demo and LAN joiner. That’s right:

Only one person needs to own the game to play on LAN.

Someone who owns the full version hosts a game, and the demo can then be used to join it.

I haven’t heard of any other game going this route before, though a few games had “multiplayer spawn” installs in the late 90s which were similar. Marketing departments may freak out at the “lost sales”, but how many people are going to actually buy like 8 copies of some random indie game to play on a LAN? More likely they’ll just play some old game they can copy with impunity instead.

With the Scraps Demo & LAN Joiner, they can play Scraps, and maybe even go home after the LAN wanting to play more Scraps instead! So maybe they’ll buy it too! It’s the perfect solution for everyone! Of course considering that I’ve never seen this done before, there’s probably some factor that makes it a terrible idea that I haven’t thought of yet…

* The new demo version isn’t entirely an upgrade: There are less parts available in the demo than in the previous version (although you can unlock a few more), and it’s Windows-only until Mac and Linux multiplayer are tested and stable, so if you have the older v0.3.1.1 demo you may like to hold onto the older version as well.