Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

Building Game Worlds
172
U L T I M A T E G A M E D E S I G N
A Three-Stage Completion Process
As a game title or software product reaches completion, it passes through three critical
development stages, commonly called alpha, beta, and final or “gold.” The exact
definition of each stage for any single game is somewhat nebulous. In general, the
alpha stage is defined as a game that is essentially feature-complete, but remains
extremely buggy with many fixes left to perform. The beta stage is reached when all
of the considerable alpha bugs are fixed and only relatively minor bugs now remain.
As each minor bug is fixed and settled, the game approaches its final or “gold” status.
Gold refers to the final CD or cartridge burn of the game now ready for production
mastering and replication. The amount of time between each of these stages often
depends on your production schedule and how far your deliverable dates have
slipped. It can be several months or a matter of weeks.
Writing a Test Plan
Each substantial new submission to the QA department should be accompanied by a
test plan. The test plan should specify, in as much detail as possible, exactly which
parts of game functionality testers should be watching for in the version of the game
submitted for testing. In early submission to QA, the test plan can be somewhat open,
since you’re testing for any and every kind of problem imaginable. As the QA phase
progresses and many bug fixes are made, you want to focus the test team on those areas of
the game that have undergone considerable change. These are usually the areas where
new bugs pop up as a result of the changes made. Your test plan should detail exactly
which parts of the game to focus on (for example, specific multiplay features or clientserver
connection issues, inventory features, character ability changes, and so forth).
The more information you are able to provide about where potential new problems
may arise, the more focused testers can be in providing valuable and time-saving
functionality feedback.
Once a test plan has been followed (it’s essential when games are really buggy), there
are several more informal and ongoing kinds of testing that regularly take place:
� “Just play!” Testers play the game as normal players would, noting whether
they find it difficult or easy, fun or boring. They record how long it takes them
to complete each level or area, what they liked or disliked in the level or area,
how the pacing and balancing of the game felt in play, and how long it took to
play the entire game.
� “See if you can break it!” Testers try to play the game in ways that the
designers never intended, to see if they can create a situation that impairs the
game-playing experience, such as being trapped in a room or level section