Shareware: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"Suddenly, the Shareware Demon appears! It says, 'Ahem. To the west is a horrendous chasm, which can only be passed by those who have paid their shareware fee. To find out how to perform this blessed act, select 'Shareware Info' on the title screen.' It waves and disappears in a puff of sulphurous smoke."''|''[[Exile|Exile: Escape from the Pit]]''}}
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The degree to which shareware can be played prior to purchase varies:
* '''Honorware:''' Some games have no limits whatsoever prior to purchase, merely relying on anything from a line of text reading “registered to: {{color|red|u}}” in the corner of the opening splash screen to increasingly strident, sometimes unskippable admonitions of shame (thus the occasional pejorative of '''Nagware''') in order to remind receptive players to pay for the game…[[Good Feels Good|and the warm, fuzzy feeling of supporting independent game development]].
* '''Crippleware:''' One or more features are inactive until the game is purchased. This might mean that you can't exit a certain area, level up beyond a certain point, obtain certain powerups, create or use [[Game Mod
* '''Trialware:''' You can only play the game for a certain span of time (typically about a month,) a certain number of times, or something similar. After that, it can't be played any more until it's purchased. In the early days, this could often be circumvented by [[Good Bad Bugs|setting your system clock forward several years before installing it; on reverting to the normal time, you would be told that you are on day -3467 of your 30-day trial]].
[[Shareware]] is intended to get distribution by way of [[Exactly What It Says
Buying shareware is often referred to as “registration,” because all that's usually included with one's purchase is a code (consisting of one or more special strings of letters and numbers.) This allows sales to take place via postal mail, telephone conversation, or (even over a decade before the web) online communication. When typed into the program, this code “registers” the copy installed on your machine as belonging to you and removes whatever restrictions existed in its unregistered state. This is all the [[Copy Protection]]/[[DRM]] typical shareware games have, and—most shareware authors and customers feel—[[The Power of Trust|all that they need]].
Some games, most notably early Apogee and [[Id Software]] titles (''[[
Arguably, the slow rise of [[Episodic Game|Episodic Gaming]] shows a return to the concept of Shareware, at least in series which release their first episode for free.
For games that are misleading about their trial status and/or [[Bribing Your Way to Victory|keep asking for more money even after you "buy" them]], see [[Allegedly Free Game]].
Do be aware that despite the excessive preoccupation with ''games'' above, [[Shareware]] can actually be any kind of program, and usually is.
{{examples}}
== Companies and Creators
* [http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/ Spiderweb Software] still operates on the classic shareware model, releasing 20%-40% playable versions of ''Nethergate'' and the ''[[Exile]]''/''[[Avernum]]'' and ''[[Geneforge]]'' series.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120415025210/http://www.ambrosiasw.com/ Ambrosia Software] also operates on the shareware model for all the titles it develops and publishes, such as ''[[Escape Velocity]]'' and ''[[Aquaria (Video Game)|Aquaria]]''.
** ''[[Escape Velocity]]'' was notable because the shareware release contained the full game plus Cap'n Hector, a friendly in-game character who would remind you to register the game. The "friendly" part only lasted until the game's trial period expired, at which point Cap'n Hector would hunt you down and ''murder'' you. And this was a game where your character could easily get [[Killed Off for Real]].
* [[Id Software]] was arguably the most famous company for using shareware. ''[[Doom]]'' only allowed the first 9 levels for free, leaving one to mail-order for the last 18 levels. ''[[
* Nearly everything Apogee Software (aka 3D Realms) released from the late 1980s to the late 1990s had a shareware version.
* [http://www.mikesedore.com/ Mike Sedore] has "light" versions of all three of his games: ''Mike's Cards'', ''Mike's Marbles'' and ''Mike's Arcade''. Registering "Mike's 3-Pack" allows one to unlock all three games for the price of two.
== Games and Series
* ''Bio Menace''
* ''[[Blake Stone]]: Aliens of Gold''
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** ''[[Mount and Blade (Video Game)|Mount and Blade]]'' had a similar set up during its development - one could download it for free, and play for one in-game month, or pay to get full access to the game as it was, and all future versions (including the completed game). The price steadily increased as the game neared completion, so the earlier in development one bought the game the cheaper it was.
* ''[[Crystal Caves (Video Game)|Crystal Caves]]''
* ''[[Doom]]''
* The ''[[
* ''[[Heretic]]''
* ''[[Immortal Defense]]'' allows you to play through the first third of the game for free, downloadable from their website.
* ''[[Jazz Jackrabbit (Video Game)|Jazz Jackrabbit]]''
* ''[[Jill of the Jungle (Video Game)|Jill of the Jungle]]''
* ''[[Laxius Force]]''
* ''[[Monster Bash]]''
* ''[[Quake (
** Nine if you count the Hub Level "start". Which is also a cool deathmatch level.
* ''[[Real Space]] 3: Apocolypse Returns''
* ''[[Rise of the Triad]]''
* ''[[Secret Agent (Video Game)|Secret Agent]]''
* ''[[Shadow Warrior]]''
* ''[[Traffic Department 2192]]''
* ''[[
* ''[[Xargon (Video Game)|Xargon]]''
* ''[[Halloween Harry]]'' (otherwise known as ''[[Alien Carnage]]'') is an interesting case. First it was released as ''[[Halloween Harry]]'' (with the first episode as shareware), but some thought the name would [[Viewers Are Morons|make people think]] it was a holiday game. So they renamed it to ''[[Alien Carnage]]'' and swapped the first and third episodes. Gamers could get the (formerly) third part for free now. That leaves only the second and fourth episodes that you had to pay for. It's all been released as freeware now, but it makes you scratch your head, doesn't it?
* ''[[
* ''[[Dungeons of the Unforgiven]]'' by Moraffware. The free section contained 20 large levels and 4 bosses. Any attempt to enter a non-free area triggered a pop-up telling the player to 'phone the publisher to buy the full version (price on application).
== Other Shareware ==
* ''[[As-Easy-As]]'', a spreadsheet designed to rival the then-dominant ''Lotus 1-2-3''.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]
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[[Category:Software]]
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