Game Testing All in One (Game Development Series)

The test team can be very dynamic during the course of the game project. In many instances, there is little or no testing at the beginning of the project, and a massive army of testers plugging away at the very end.

"Test" is often used interchangeably with "Quality Assurance" (QA). This is especially true on the publishing side, where testing is the main tool publishers use to make certain their investment is being protected. To some people this gives the misleading notion that testing is responsible for the quality of the game. Testing can identify how good (or bad) the game is, but it's up to the programmers, artists , and sound engineers to make a quality product.

Test Lead

The test lead will sometimes be identified by other titles such as QA lead or lead game tester. Her functions are in many ways parallel to those of the development lead. The difference is that the test lead plans and orchestrates testing activities performed over the course of the game development project.

The test lead is responsible for the on-time delivery of test development and test execution results. Test activities and individual assignments are identified, planned, and adjusted as necessary during the course of the project.

The test lead also establishes test procedures and standards. This includes selecting the right test tools and technologies to use for testing the game code. In many cases, test tools need to be supported or otherwise compatible with certain details of the game code. The test lead defines these "testability" requirements for the game and works with the programmers to see that they get properly implemented.

During the project, the test lead provides technical direction and assistance to testers when needed, and represents the test team in planning and status meetings, including participation on the project's Change Control Board.

On smaller game development teams , the test lead is also responsible for doing some of the game testing.

Test Engineers

Many aspects of the tester's work have been described in earlier chapters of this book. However, within the context of the overall game team, there is a paradoxical relationship between programmers and testers that is based on the fact that they both want the same outcome ‚ producing a superb game ‚ but have opposing roles in making that happen.

Test engineers will sometimes be identified by other tiles such as game tester, QA game tester, or QA engineer. Their job is to break stuff while the programmers are trying to make them work. Testers focus on what is wrong with the game and programmers are looking to make things right. Both should approach their job with passion and fervor. However, both can also work with each other to be better at what they do. A tester can do her job better by gaining insight into how the code is designed and produced, and then exploiting that in the way the game tests are written and executed. The developer can continue to improve his code and write better code to begin with by learning from what kinds of problems the testers are finding.

One way to tell if this relationship is healthy ‚ either at the individual or the team level ‚ is to see how the two groups interact when the time comes to verify a bug. In a healthy relationship, testers will work closely with programmers and together they will experiment and collaborate to track down a particularly difficult bug. Unhealthy behavior includes finger-pointing, shouting, and bad-mouthing their counterparts.

Beta Testers

Beta testers are a very special component of the game team. They provide a "volunteer army" of testers made up of game players who sign up to donate their time to playing pre-release "Beta" versions of a game. The size of the Beta testing team can range from several dozen to several hundred or more. They can expect to endure severe game problems and frequent downloads of new game releases or patches. To get this privilege, Beta testers commit to documenting any problems they find so the game programmers can have the opportunity to fix those defects prior to the official release of the game. Beta bug reporting is typically done by emailing problem forms or posting to special Beta tester message forums set up by the game company.

For their efforts, Beta testers can be rewarded in various ways, such as:

Becoming a Beta tester is a good way for someone who does not have formal training or game industry experience to build a resume of accomplishments. One way to draw attention to your work is to find important defects and report them in a professional manner, as described earlier in this book. You can go to www.betawatcher.com as well as game company Web sites to check for the most recent Beta test news and opportunities.

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