Make the Gamescom demo public

[surreal valley]

To be honest, I find it very strange that the demo is supposed to be exclusive to Gamescom.

Wouldn't it make more sense to release this combat demo after Gamescom so that we can all give feedback based on it?
There's a big difference between just watching something in a stream and actually playing it yourself.
This way, we could give you more specific feedback on the current state of development in terms of combat, magic, and advanced combat skills (at least I assume that the demo contains the current state of combat and magic).

Edit: Some have suggested that the demo could also be made available only on Discord (via a password for private betas on Steam) if the demo is really not to be released to everyone.

[keen rune]

Yeah, the demo has much more content than Nyras demo. With expected number of ppl at Gamescom and time limit of 15 mins we cannot expect that anyone will be able to go into any depth of this. Yeah... really unfortunate. Especially with the forced darkness in the last 5 mins out of those 15.

[still chasm]

Will the public gain anything from this?
It doesn't really bring much more than the Nyras demo apart from a new area.
They could release it once it is more functional, but by then they might as well release the game.

[surreal valley]

Alkimia would benefit from further feedback, and in the end, we would all benefit from that, because we all want a good remake. They even included a survey in this demo, and Gamescom is unfortunately not the best testing environment.
Furthermore, I can't agree with your point that this demo is the same as the Nyras demo. Here we get significantly more advanced combat skills and the magic system. For that reason alone, this demo is completely different from the Nyras demo. There are new monster types than in the old demo, too.

[still chasm]

They are more combat styles but the behavior is the same.
Many of the critics were the same, and other critics (torch light, sprinting with weapon out) don't require to play it.
Already if we tell them what we like and don't like they'll have a ton a feedback to go through.
I wouldn't mind having a new map to explore but I can wait for the game.

[surreal valley]

I'm not concerned about the new area (which isn't fully accessible anyway), nor am I impatient.
The point is to provide feedback on these combat styles that we haven't been able to experience yet. And in my opinion, it would be better to try it out for ourselves.
But I also see your point that there are still issues that were the same in the Nyras demo (hitboxes).

[scenic mango]

Yes, we need to have this demo or at least another demo in like 5 days before the early 2026 release to let us judge if the game is worth it's price (for our own personal preferences)

[neat turret]

Yes, without another demo being released this year, the chances of people who are skeptical about the game after the Nyras Demo purchasing the game before its release are significantly reduced.

[mellow snow]

würde mich auch extrem freuen weil es auch sehr sehr viele leute es einfach net geschafft haben, und man durch die leute über steam nhal neues feedback bekommen könnte fände es sehr schade , muss auch nix gepolishd werden für steam meiner meinung nach . ihr macht eine klasse arbeit und ich freue mich riesig aufs remake

[rain dawn]

bitte bitte bitte bitte

[mellow snow]

Is ja auch das
Bei der gamescom hat man ja glaub nur 15 min
Die Welt is relativ groß und viel zz erkunden
Wenn die Demo bei steam wäre, gibs bestimmt Leute die 2 Stunden aufwärts da reinstecken um alles zu erforschen und alles auszuprobieren und vielleicht noch kleine Fehler zu entdecken, die dann im hauptspiel wären, und so vielleicht vorher noch mal gefixt werden könnten

Einzige wäre stadt wiederbeleben speicher einzufügen ( weiß net wie zeit intensiv das is )

Lasst ganz viel liebe da für das großartige team

[forest gale]

Sure make it public ||But don't postpone the game for the sake of gathering new feedbackIt has to release in some state at one point. ||

[languid monolith]

Die 15min reichen absolut nicht aus, um auch nur ansatzweise alles zu entdecken.
Ich bin da quasi "durchgehastet" um möglichst viele Mechaniken auszuprobieren.

Das Ding einfach rausreleasen wäre der richtige Weg. Bugs sind da erstmal unwichtig, es geht aktiv darum sich mal in die Steuerung reinzunerden.
Wenn ich in 15min lerne wie die Dodge-Mechanik läuft, wie Magie funktioniert und wie ich Zielen muss, bleibt absolut keine Zeit dafür, mal mehr als 1 Spell gut auszuprobieren.
Und es sind soooo viele Möglichkeiten in diesem Battleground drin.

[plucky orbit]

I think a good compromise between a full release of the combat Demo and not doing it at all could be to have an Open Demo Weekend. That way people who are interested get to play and Alkimia doesn’t have to worry about newcomers getting the wrong impression of the game

[languid monolith]

it does have to come out at one point, right. But I'll tell you right now, if this is the combat system on release, the only people who will play it more than 1hour are the ones, that played the originals anyway.

[humble crystal]

Make this demo available to everyone so we can provide a much more detailed feedback!

[hollow badge]

Zum Thema, wie man den playground veröffentlicht könnte. Man könnte es als Beta Version der Nyras Demo bei Steam launchen, mit Passwort, welches man hier im Discord erhalten kann. Wo noch erläutert wird, das es nicht repräsentativ ist sondern nur für Feedback Zwecke da ist.

[willow sundial]

Genau. Closed Beta wär top

[soft sand]

It is only natural to continue the trend. Nyras was playable, no real reason to not make this new Demo available for all. Especially as a broad teaser for new players, and old fans alike.

[scenic mango]

Especially since the other areas of the game are not accessible because of invisible walls

[rotund stirrup]

A limited Closed Beta would be the only meaningful option. The developers already know what needs improvement in the combat system, so further feedback there isn’t necessary. Keeping a demo available (for an extended period) would consume resources they should instead dedicate to polishing the final game (release in March, anyone?).

If we assume we could provide feedback that’s genuinely new, useful, and still feasible to implement before release, then a demo with limited access time-wise would make sense — and it would need to happen soon. Otherwise, releasing a demo serves little purpose beyond fan service: something to pass the time while waiting for launch, while costing the team time and resources without much return, aside from the occasional Discord complaint about how and why the combat system or NPC AI suck.

[humble crystal]

What resources would they consume to keep this demo on steam?

They don't have to update the demo or do anything else to run it.

The only reason to not release this demo is because it has the whole game in it and it would be painful and risky to release it at this state.

[plucky orbit]

If they leave it open for the public, people will use it to judge the game. This means Alkimia has to spend time to make sure it is of the same quality as the final game. But since it won’t be part of the final game, it is just extra work

[humble crystal]

Won't people judge the game already based on nyras demo?

If we play the demos side by side there is very little difference between them

Plus you can judge it over videos as well

[surreal valley]

Today, I asked Kai Rosenkranz directly whether they could publish the demo (see here, if you understand German #gothic-remake-de message) .

His statement translated was: "Unfortunately, that's not planned at the moment. Our main quest right now is to finish the main game. Another public demo would be a pretty complex side quest that we can't manage right now.
Maybe that will change, but at the moment, I hear Reinhard saying that it's not really planned.“

Unfortunately, I can't say exactly what would need to be done to publish the demo. Until now, I always assumed that it wouldn't be too much effort.

[plucky orbit]

Sure, but you can’t force or expect people to do that. Also, how are people supposed to know what it’s actually like? Like the Nyras Demo, or like the combat demo?

[scenic mango]

People are already judging the game based on Nyras demo. A new demo will only improve the visibility of the game.

[neat turret]

The fact that Alkimia hasn't released this demo is causing people to have a negative reaction because they think the studio is hiding some issues with the game and they are afraid to show them.

[grand pelican]

Hey

For now there are no plans to release it on Steam, but **maybe **we will provide a full playthrough in a good quality on YouTube.

[surreal valley]

Thanks for your reply.
Can you tell us exactly why it's too complex and would take too much effort for you to publish the demo, as Kai Rosenkranz said? The answer can be technical.
I don't really understand this, as I always thought you would just have to upload the demo to Steam and publish it. I'd just like to understand this.

[wanton stream]

I'm concerned about the fights as transformed beasts, I only saw a wolf fight, I don't know what it would be like as a bloodsucker, for example

[hasty totem]

A full playthrough would be good. Unfortunately there is currently not a single video where someone has completed the demo.

[grand pelican]

Well technically I don't think it is hard, the issue is also that if you want to make the Demo public, you need to take care, that there is no content left outside the Demo playing zone for example. You need to cut content from there, you need to delete many things in the game files, so it doesnt leak etc. You need to do a lot of preparations before you make the demo public and it takes so much time to do that.

Also I dont know any cases when a game has 2 playable demos, its not common

[grand pelican]

Well it is not necessary, because in the end you just come to the Old mine, talk to Ian and that's it

[hasty totem]

And that’s exactly why it is necessary. Specifically about the voice actor for Ian.

[surreal valley]

Thanks for the clarification. So potential leaks are the problem.
Even though I had hoped for a different answer (to my question about making the demo public), I can understand that your resources are limited and should be used to complete the remake.

[grand pelican]

I think it is one of them, yes and making everything public requires more time. Because one thing when it is offline at gamescom and another one when it is available for everyone in the internet

[grand pelican]

Well, I think that in the ppublic playthrough it would make more sense to publish the English version

[hasty totem]

Why not both?
You could let two streamers play it.