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Types Of Testing Part Three: Alpha Testing | Video Game Testing
Game testing’s first stage is the Alpha phase, which I’m sure doesn’t shock most of you. Alpha, named after the first letter of the Greek alphabet, is the first stage of software or game testing.
Alpha testing occurs during the initial programming process of software or video games. Before all stages, or levels, of the video game are complete the game goes through this process for initial product research as well as glaring glitches and errors in the game levels.
Usually the Alpha game testing process takes place “in house” by company personnel, meaning that generally video game testers that are hired on a contract basis miss this part of the testing process.
Alpha testing will also determine which game concepts are scrapped.
Types of Testing Part Two: Regression Testing.
An important aspect of testing games, or software in general, is whats commonly called “Regression Testing.”
During the testing process of video games there are many glitches that are found by game testers. When the programmers go back to fix the glaring mistake that the testers found they must resubmit the level where the error occurred for another round of testing.
The aim of regression testing is to find out whether the newly patched game has developed any glitches that had previously been patched.
To put it more simply:
Tester A finds an initial glitch. The game is patched.
Tester B finds a new glitch in the same level. The game is patched.
Tester C now plays the same level in the game after the game has been patched to fix the glitch that Tester B found to see if the glitch that Tester A found has re-emerged.
Now obviously this is on a bigger scale because in all likely hood Tester C is going to be looking to test for more than one glitch after the game is patched.
Essentially what you’ll be asked to do is try to duplicate any known errors that had occurred and been patched already after every patch.
It will get redundant.
Types of Testng Part One: Beta Testing
Video game testing is a broad term. What it actually means depends on what your employer needs accomplished.
The most common level of video game or software testing is the beta stage testing. Beta testing is the ground floor of research, as it is the level that helps determine if the software or video game might be suffering from any glitches or errors in coding.
The Beta Stage.
The beta stage in development is named after the second letter of the Greek alphabet and is often the version of the software that is complete. What I mean by complete is that most features, or in the case of video games, levels are already designed and programmed, however not thoroughly tested. Despite most of the functionality being implemented in the software or game it is not perceived as launch ready.
Typically what developers will have testers do in game testing is evaluate each stage or level in the game. What you’ll notice in a lot of the first beta releases is the game crashing at certain intervals in the game. Whether it’s when you hit pause, or if you’re entering a different stage of the game. It’s common for a developer to assign you a specific level of the game they want you to continuously replay. Though this is repetitive, the information is invaluable.
Behind the scenes of a video game are a series of scripts and coding. All this coding works together to form images from files, and direct the functionality of the games. The coding is very detailed so in any 3D environment there multiple variables coded into the game in order for the end user to play the game. Going left triggers one set of codes, and then turning right triggers another.
What most commonly happens in beta versions of games is errors in the variable coding. You might walk a little too far on the map and the game will freeze, or the character you’re using will spin uncontrollably.
That’s the reason why the developers will have you play a single stage over and over. To move your character all over the map and jot down any mistakes or errors in all the variable coding. It becomes pretty tedious if the map you have available is as big as the ones in Call of Duty, or the Arkum Asylum map in the latest Batman game.
In fact sometimes it becomes impossible to find all the glitches, and thats why we see a lot of YouTube postings on exploits and other funny game glitches.
To sum it up, beta testing often requires the tester to play a single stage multiple times moving your character to every crevice on the map in order to determine if anything unusual happens. This is so critical to game development because a missed glitch can mean the game becoming a laughing stock to the whole world.
Source: http://www.gametestingfaq.com
So you’re thinking about becoming a video game tester.
One of the biggest misconceptions about testing video games is that it’s an easy job. Gamers assume that because of their affinity for video games that they will be an ideal candidate for doing some game field research.
Over the years I’ve beta tested numerous amounts of video game titles, and software. Believe, it’s not that easy of a job. In fact it could down right frustrate the living hell out of you.
Most of the titles you test are going to be buggy. Some glitches can be unbearable. You hear stories sometimes about programmers purposefully putting glitches in games to cause a character to end up in a different room for the sole purpose of putting their stamp on the video game. Even Microsoft’s excel has a glitch in it that will allow you to play a video game if you execute it properly.
Unfortunately most of the glitches you’ll encounter won’t be neat little surprises, but instead frustrating annoyances. You won’t be getting the final product, and what you’ll have is something in between. Once you start finishing levels and the game crashes erasing all your data it could make an avid gamer pretty mad.
But, give it a shot. It’s nice being able to play games before they’re released. Although make sure to invest in some new controllers, as you’ll probably be smashing quite a few. (Just don’t throw any at the TV.)
Source: http://www.gametestingfaq.com
Video Game Testing
The game industry is a highly profitable one. It brings in more thant 18,000,000,000, yes that’s BILLION, dollars in revenue on average with over 260 million games being sold on consoles like the PlayStation 3, X-box 360, Nintendo’s Wii, and the PC platform.
Those numbers sound awfully good to me, and probably to you. Which is why you’re probably interested in tapping this market and getting some cash flow coming your way. I have some good news for you (and me). That good news is, despite these companies making billions a year, the only reason that’s ever possible is because they need beta testers.
Beta testers?
Yes, the job is real and it pays pretty good considering you’ll already be doing the things that you love.
In every business that sells any consumer prodcts, whether it’s food, drinks, games, etc., they always have something called field research. These are quality controls measures to ensure that everything is perfected for whatever product launch a company is persuing. You often hear of taste testing panels, and in a sense, the game industry is no different.
Before Call of Duty or Madden, or NBA 2k whatever, hits the market it has to go through a series of testing to ensure all glitches are worked out and most importantly that the game is fun to play, challenging, and that the graphics are appealing to gamers.
Speaking of game testing.
Did you know when the original Grand Theft Auto was being programmed it was originally a racing game? The game had a feature that made the cops chase after you and when the game was being tested the testing panel manipulated a game glitch to cause the cops to continuously chase you and allowed them to cause the cops to crash. The beta testers found the game to be boring before exploiting this glitch, and ultimately the developers took that knowledge and developed Grand Theft Auto to be the game we know it is today. From a run of the mill racing game to one of the most popular titles in gaming all because of the testing panels. It allowed them to make millions, and so game testing is incredibly valuable to these companies and they know it.
For more information check out our Frequently Asked Questions section.
Source: http://www.gametestingfaq.com
