Game Cheat & Hint: Testing

The video game industry has witnessed an upsurge like never before over the past few years. The recent recession of 2008-2009 saw the $50 billion gaming industry remain completely unaffected.

Every cell phone company in the world is making an attempt to incorporate fresh and original gaming in its products. Similarly, laptops and home computers are being manufactured to support various gaming features. Not to mention, high-tech gaming consoles are increasingly becoming a rage. Playing games has become no less than an obsession for many people.

To err is human; it is natural that certain slip-ups or miscalculations will be made by the game developers. When you play a newly launched game or one that has had an important update, more often than not, you will come across a few hiccups or malfunctions. One unpleasant criticism (in print, blogs, forums, etc.) about the glitch will result in huge losses to the game product companies.

A decade ago, when the gaming arena was still very new and the scope of play was restricted, it was either just the developer, or one or two testers, that were responsible for all the testing. However, as gaming become more and more intricate and multifaceted, a substantial group of QA resources, called Quality Assurance engineers, became crucial. The responsibilities of the game testers are no less than those of the game developers or designers. Were it not for the testers to find errors, the gaming releasing into the market may disappoint the gamers if they fail to run properly, plummeting the sales of the industry.

There are many preconceived notions about the job of a game tester, like:-

"Testing video gaming can be very exciting!" True: Although the testing appearance drops short of many people's initial expectations, the job can be a lot of fun. Testers work long tedious hours, but it is in a relaxed environment with people who have similar interests. For those who revel in reconnaissance and dismantling things to find out their workings, are able to cope up with extensive working hours and enjoy an informal atmosphere, the job of a game tester can be very rewarding as an entry-level career.

"Gaming testers play video gaming the entire day!" False: If you seriously want to build a career in the gaming industry, then have a clear vision about this job; game testing job is not just about playing. The focus of this job is to test a game comprehensively in both technical and graphical ways to provide better experience to the customer. Everyone thinks that a game testing job is exciting, but game testers have to constantly replay same level of the same game frequently to verify a bug or certain issues. Therefore, it could prove to be rather monotonous to play a game in such conditions.

"Video Game Tester profile does not require any skill!" False: Gaming testing profile also needs a particular set of skills such as good concentration, analytical mind, good report writing skill, communication skill, passion for gaming etc.

Following jobs are offered by the gaming industry:

Video gaming programming jobs (designing video plays)
Video gaming testing jobs
Art Director
Concept Artists
Level Artists
3-D Artists
Animator

The key qualification to be a successful game tester is to have the obsession and avid interest in playing computer gaming. Since gaming industries are providing full time testing jobs, the opportunity for a stable and successful career in game industry has become possible.
Game testing is also similar to a product or web application testing. In this testing, the following things have to be kept in mind:-

First we analyze the game rules and its behavior as we study and analyze requirements in application testing. We have to gain full knowledge of the game so that we can identify exceptional behavior.

We have to test whether the game is working properly as it is supposed to. In testing terminology, we say that we have to perform functional testing.

We have to test the compatibility of the game on different OS/Browser combinations, devices as the end user could use a varied set of devices to play the game on.

If a game is online, then the game testers must verify whether the game can smoothly handle the customers' load. In other words, game testers must perform performance testing on game sites.

In a multi-player game, game tester needs to verify that all players are managed according to game functionality and a fair distribution of game resources is done to all the players.

Bug reporting is also a significant aspect in game testing, like in any other type of testing. In game testing, also, bug reports need to be created and submitted through a bug reporting system.

After the bug is fixed, it needs to be verified by the testers to ensure that it has no more impact on the functionality of the game.

Game testing along with quality of software has now become a sought-after career with emphasis on gaining knowledge. Game testing jobs are considered good options for today's younger generation who are enthusiastic and keen to put in long hours in a career of their interest, which includes good money, too.

Given how gaming can hold an end user's attention for a long period of time, gaming are beginning to be used not just for entertainment, but also for other areas such as education (a brief on this has been blogged at: http://www.qainfotech.com/blog/2011/08/gaming-technology-in-education-%e2%80%93-a-new-career-option-in-software-testing/ ). A lot of research is currently ongoing to see how gaming can be successfully leveraged in such areas. Thus the potential in this domain is unlimited and we are sure to see some revolutionary changes in this industry this coming decade offering good career options for various disciplines including software quality testing.

Shobhit Goyal is an experienced QA Testing Engineer and working with QA InfoTech. For more details on software quality testing visit us at http://www.qainfotech.com/

As a subset of 'game development', testing is a software testing process that is used in the quality control and regulation of video games. The main purpose of game testing is to uncover and document software defects that may have slipped past the programming process. A game needs to be tried and tested before it is launched in the market in order to win customer satisfaction and maintain a high quality gaming experience for its audience.

During the earlier stages of design and development, the developer was usually the one who did all the testing. A maximum of 2 testers were allowed for every game and there were also cases where programmers did all the testing.

Quality assurance has always been an integral part of every programming process. As video games became more sophisticated, quality assurance became a necessity and this is where "on- the-spot" game testers came in.

Game testing usually begins as soon as the initial code is created and goes on until the game reaches completion. The primary QA team usually monitors the fame starting from its initial submission to the establishment of a test plan. The testing team usually focuses on new codes at the early stage of game development.

Alpha Testing. This form of game testing is done to make sure that the initial foundations of the game actually work. Alpha testing is the initial testing performed during the game's earliest stages, and the procedure is usually executed by staff in the development studio or individuals hired directly by the publishers. These alpha testers are usually required to work in the game development studio and are asked to go through the entire course of the game until it is fully operational.

Beta Game Design. Beta testing can be performed at home or by other outsourcers. In special cases, it can also be done by unpaid volunteers just like in online games where basic technology and stress tests between servers is done. Paid Game Testers are much more involved in this stage because of all the necessary details needed to determine how well the game is functioning.

Quality Assurance. When a video game reaches its finished state, testers are integral in quality assurance. This is where many testers obtain their initial jobs and run the same levels over and over again to check for even the most minute bugs and glitches of the game.

Console Hardware. Console testing is usually done on a consumer system and a special test facility is often provided for publishers and developers. Among the most popular tools being used includes "devkits" (software development kits) and debug/test kits. Devkits are commonly used by programmers for lower level game testing, and usually display higher hardware specs and increased memory. This allows programmers to estimate a game's performance without focusing too much on optimizations.

Test kits frequently have similar hardware specs and an appearance similar to that of a consumer unit but with added connectors and ports for testing.

Gina Kraft wrote the article for Game Shastra. Gina is a supporter of Game Shastra especially, their Game Design, game programming, and game development areas.