[MrFlibble]

Originally Posted by Tracker

Siege of Avalon was released in six downloadable episodes back in the early 2000s.

Thanks for mentioning this, I didn't know about it

Also, I totally forgot that Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project was also released via the Apogee model (which is kind of obvious, not? ), complete with episode titles.

Originally Posted by Tracker

I think shareware did not disappear but transformed into the DLC system - you can get additional content if you buy them. Actually, I was wondering where did the expansion packs go? Well, fusioned with shareware releasing, they became one and are now called DownLoadable Content.

I don't think that "shareware" and DLC are related directly - rather, they are based off the same concept that you may download a programme (game or other software) and pay for it online, rather than go to a shop and purchase a physical medium with it.

DLC as I understand it does follow the essence of expansion packs. But the Apogee/Scott Miller shareware model was eventually replaced by the more limited demo versions we know today.

The major difference here is that shareware episodes feel like complete games, because they have all the essential features of a full game, up to a boss battle (if such is allowed by game mechanics), and of course a more or less complete story, ending in a cliffhanger.

Sure, as download speeds became higher in the 2000s it was possible to put a more or less substantial portion of the game into a demo, and many demo versions do allow to play the game from the start into the story a bit (much like a "first episode" of the shareware model), but very often they lack the feel of completeness that you have in the classic episodic games from the nineties.