10 – Tech Demos

• Understand the importance of tech demos in presenting new projects.
• Advance your presentation skills
• Apply your critical analysis skills to a range of games

Last lesson, you…

• Learned about beta testing and how it influences development.
• Tested and reviewed another game before improving your own.
• Made further independent progress on your project.

Today, you will…

• Finalise the progress on your games project.
• Produce a presentation of your project that you will give to the class.
• Present your project to the class as a tech demo.

A key part of any game launch is telling all your future players about it. Big games studios announce their upcoming games at conferences, like E3, Gamescom, and the Games Developer Conference. These are typically landmark events, and companies want to showcase the best of their work, as well as any upcoming concepts.

Such launches are called technology demonstrations, or for short, tech demos. For many companies, these are big budget events, comparable to a band headlining a major festival, or a film premiere. It’s a chance to show off what they have been working on, alongside every other games developer there. A slick, appealing presentation that makes their game stand out is key. Very often, the game won’t be finished at this stage, so a presentation may use concept art or provide promises of the finished product. A word of warning though – players aren’t happy when the finished product isn’t as good as the demo!

Some companies go all out, building huge sets and getting cameos from big stars: twitch streamers, musicians, and actors. Some studios are fronted by personalities well known enough in the gaming world to be stars in their own right, like Hideo Kojima, Todd Howard, Markus Persson (Notch), Brendan Greene (PlayerUnknown) or Gabe Newell.

With your group, you need to put together a tech demo to showcase your game and the features you have worked hard on. You may consider doing so via a number of presentation formats, and creative or imaginative presentations are welcomed.

Your presentation should last no more than five minutes and should show off the best parts of your project.

Groups will take it in turns to present their project to the class.

In this lesson, you…

• Finalised the progress on your games project.
• Produced a presentation of your project.
• Presented your project to the class as a tech demo.

In the next lesson, you will…

• Learn about beta testing and how it influences development.
• Finish off any presentations that have not happened yet.
• Reflect and evaluate on this unit.

• A basic presentation that briefly outlines your project’s features.

• A good presentation that showcases your project well, in a timely manner, with clear points made.

• An outstanding presentation that highlights all the key features of your project in a creative or original style.