The demo now ends with a golden parachute

The Bandwidth Barons demo is about three times longer now. It used to stop right before DSL. Now it runs all the way to the moment the owner grabs the money and leaves. Here’s what changed.

The demo now goes all the way to the cash-out

The demo used to end when the phone company offered you collocation, about 10 minutes in. Now it’s the whole first era: DSL, street cabinets, every fee package, and the owner’s cut. That’s an offshore account, a few toys (the Gold-Plated Modem: still 56k), a golden parachute and a Cash Out button.

It runs about 30 minutes at normal speed, and you can finish a game now, by cashing out or by going bankrupt trying. Your saves still carry over to the full game.

A word before every new thing

A longer game means more things arriving, so every purchase now opens a short note from one of your advisors that says what’s new and where to find it. Marge Inns, CFO: “The years now go by faster, on paper. The taskbar has a 4× button.”

Setup dialogs, new projects and these notes also pause the game while they’re open, so reading one doesn’t cost you days at 4×.

The clutter stays, though. Too much to watch and too little time is what running an ISP feels like. At least now nothing arrives without a word.

Rivals with personalities

The last post said your rival changes its price. Depending on the city, there are one to three of them, and each sets its prices its own way:

• The cheap one stays the cheapest in town. Cut under it and it cuts under you.
• The posh one opens only in rich districts, sells DSL, and raises its price whenever it’s doing well. Demand is a sign of quality.
• The copycat charges five cents less than you, about a month after every change you make.

New York gets all three, London gets the cheap one and the posh one, and Istanbul makes do with one. Every price change is an ad in the Feed, in the rival’s own voice. My favorite, from the copycat: “Our new price, $20.90, is an original idea we had about a month ago.”

What’s next

Near the end of the demo, a project called the Holding Company shows up, with a button that says “In the full game.” Behind it is the second era. Your home city goes to a manager, Otto Pilot, who does what you’d do without the coffee breaks. Then you expand into the real cities around it on a regional map and run fiber between them. I’m building it now, and the Steam page is coming soon.

Tell me how the longer demo feels, especially the pacing and the price wars. The comments are open, and there’s no hold music.