Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

C H A P T E R 7
with no chance of escape. They might also try firing multiple weapons at
once, using crazy button combinations, and attempting other unusual moves
in an attempt to break the game with an overload of input data.
� “See if you can get out of this!” Testers are given a particularly unusual
and often difficult saved-game position and are challenged to see if they
can “get out of it.”
PLAY-TEST FEEDBACK
Play-test feedback will be directed at your design team from a number of sources. It’s
important to begin to understand how this feedback is digested, relayed back to the
design team, and used in game development. Among other possible sources, play-test
feedback will come from the following:
� A licensor’s representatives
� A publisher’s producer and play-test team
� Marketing representatives conducting focus groups
� Development team members
� Art directors and other designers
� Magazine and web site previews
� Your own independent test team
Note that a licensor’s representatives are those who are responsible for protecting
the image and quality of a work owned by an intellectual property rights holder
(IPRH); in other words, the owner of any content in your game. For example, if
you’re creating a game starring The Simpsons, expect Fox and Matt Groening to be
very particular about how the characters are portrayed.
As you can see, play-test feedback comes from a number of sources. How do you
manage all of this play-test data? Well, from a practical standpoint, it’s important to
be able to track each important issue and respond accordingly. Of course, ultimately
the only kind of play-test feedback that is really valuable is the kind that actually
improves the play of your game. You have to guard your game like a protective
mother. If the feedback does not look likely to improve the game, it is often more
harmful than helpful. This is why, at all times, you need to maintain that clear mental
vision of your game’s heartbeat (the shared team vision established at the onset of
production, which should stay true to its origins as it evolves).
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Quality Assurance and Play-Test Feedback