Game Testing: All in One. 4 Ed

Front Cover....1

Half-Title Page....2

LICENSE, DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY, AND LIMITED WARRANTY....3

Title Page....4

Copyright Page....5

Contents....6

Foreword....16

Preface to the Fourth Edition....20

Acknowledgments....24

Chapter 1: Your Role on the Game Development Team....26

“You Get Paid to Play Games?”....26

Elements of a Game Development Team....27

Programmers....27

Artists....28

Animators....28

Level Designers....29

Sound Designers....29

Game Designers....30

Producers....30

Testers....31

Putting It All Together....32

The Game Production Cycle....33

Concept Development....33

Development....39

Alpha....40

Beta....40

Code Lock....42

Gold....42

Patches....42

Updates....42

Ready, Tester One?....43

Exercises....43

Reference....43

Chapter 2: The Basics of Game Testing....44

Not All Players Are Alike....45

Black Box Testing....46

White Box Testing....47

Your First Test Suite....49

Writing Test Cases and Test Suites....53

The Life Cycle of a Build....55

The Testing Feedback Loop....57

The Essence of a Bug Report....57

Testing “Around” a Bug....57

Not All Testers Are Alike....59

Exercises....61

References....61

Chapter 3: Bug Report Writing and Defect Tracking....62

How to Write a Bug Report....62

Just the Facts, Please....63

The Brief Description....64

The Full Description....65

Great Expectations....67

Habits to Avoid....69

Using the Bug Database....70

Category....71

Summary....71

(Full) Description....71

Severity....72

Priority....72

Attachments and Recordings....73

Other Database Fields....73

Exercises....76

References....76

Chapter 4: How Bugs Happen....78

Who Cares?....79

Defect Types....79

Functions....81

Assignments....83

Checking....85

Timing....86

Build/Package/Merge....87

Algorithms....91

Documentation....94

Interfaces....96

Testing Happens....98

Exercises....99

References....101

Chapter 5: The Phases of Game Quality Assurance....102

Pre-Production....103

Planning Tasks....103

Determine the Scope of Testing the Project Will Require....104

Assign a Lead Tester....106

Establish Milestone Acceptance Criteria....106

Participate in Game Design Reviews....107

Set Up the Defect Tracking Database....108

Draft Test Plans and Design Tests....110

Testing Before Testing Begins....111

Test Kickoffs....112

Configuration Preparation....119

Smoke Testing....121

Alpha Testing....121

Alpha Phase Entry Criteria....122

Regression Testing....123

Beta Testing....125

Beta Phase Entry Criteria....125

Design Lock....126

Living with Bugs (For Now)....127

“The Swing Set of Death”....128

Patches, Updates, and Hotfixes....129

Gold Testing....130

Last-Minute Defects....131

Release Certification....132

Post-Release Testing....132

Live Teams....133

Exercises....135

Reference....135

Chapter 6: Exploratory Testing and Gameplay Testing....136

Ad Hoc Testing....136

Free Testing Comes from the Right Side of Your Brain....137

“Fresh Eyes”....137

Directed Testing Makes Order Out of Chaos....139

If You Are Not Recording, You Are Not Testing....140

Avoid Groupthink....142

Testing as Detective Work....143

The Benefits of Reproduction....144

The Scientific Method....146

Gameplay Testing....147

A Balancing Act....147

“It’s Just a Suggestion”....150

Making a Game Easy is Hard Work....151

External Testing....152

Who Decides?....155

Exercises....155

References....156

Chapter 7: The Two Rules of Test Management....158

Rule One: Do Not Panic....158

Unfamiliar....159

Unprepared....159

Under Pressure....160

Unrested....161

“Nearsighted”....163

Rule Two: Trust No One....163

Balancing Act....164

Word Games....164

Last Chance....165

Trust Fund....166

Managing Crunch Time....166

Give and Take....168

The Rest of the Story....169

Exercises....170

Reference....170

Chapter 8: Combinatorial Testing....172

Parameters....172

Values....173

Defaults....173

Enumerations....174

Ranges....174

Boundaries....175

Constructing Tables....177

Combinatorial Templates....197

Combinatorial Test Generation....200

Combinatorial Economics....204

Exercises....205

Chapter 9: Test Flow Diagrams....206

TFD Elements....206

Events....207

Actions....207

States....208

Primitives....208

Terminators....208

TFD Design Activities....208

Preparation....209

Allocation....209

Construction....209

A TFD Example....211

Data Dictionary....217

Data Dictionary Application....217

Data Dictionary Reuse....217

Data Dictionary Example....218

TFD Paths....222

Minimum Path Generation....222

Baseline Path Method....223

Expert Constructed Paths....225

Combining Path Strategies....227

Producing Test Cases from Paths....228

TFD Templates....232

When Should You Create a TFD?....233

Exercises....234

Chapter 10: Cleanroom Testing....236

Usage Probabilities....237

Mode-Based Usage....237

Player-Type Usage....238

Real-Life Usage....240

Cleanroom Test Generation....240

Cleanroom Combinatorial Tables....241

Cleanroom Combinatorial Examples....243

TFD Cleanroom Paths....249

TFD Cleanroom Path Example....250

Flow Usage Maintenance....253

Flow Usage Profiles....254

Inverted Usage....256

Calculating Inverted Usage....257

Combinatorial Table Usage Inversion....258

TFD Flow Usage Inversion....259

Exercises....263

References....263

Chapter 11: Test Trees....264

Test Case Trees....264

Tree Feature Tests....267

Test Tree Designs....272

Exercises....280

Chapter 12: Defect Triggers....282

Operating Regions....282

Pre-Game Operating Region....282

Game Start Operating Region....283

In-Game Operating Region....283

Post-Game Operating Region....284

The Triggers....284

The Configuration Trigger....284

The Startup Trigger....286

The Exception Trigger....287

The Stress Trigger....288

The Normal Trigger....288

The Restart Trigger....289

Classifying Defects....289

Defect Triggers and Test Designs....292

Combinatorial Design Trigger Examples....293

TFD Trigger Examples....299

Exercises....306

Reference....307

Chapter 13: Regression Testing and Test Reuse....308

Regression Testing....308

The A-B-C Method....308

Defect Modeling....311

Time Keeps on Ticking....314

Expanding Possibilities....316

Test Reuse....317

TFD Design Patterns....318

Looking Back and Forth....322

Combinatorial Expansion....323

Exercises....331

Reference....331

Chapter 14: Testing by the Numbers....332

Testing Progress....332

Testing Effectiveness....336

Tester Performance....339

Exercises....342

Chapter 15: Software Quality....344

Game Quality Factors....345

Game Quality Appraisal....346

Walkthroughs....347

Reviews....349

Checklist-based Reviews....349

Inspections....350

Game Standards....352

User Interface Standards....353

Coding Standards....354

Game Quality Measurements....356

Six Sigma Software....356

Phase Containment....358

Quality Plans....362

QA Personnel....362

Standards....363

Reviews and Audits....363

Feedback and Reports....364

Problem Reporting and Corrective Action....365

Tools, Techniques, and Methods....365

Supplier Control....368

Training....369

Risk Management....369

Exercises....370

References....370

Appendix A: Odd-Numbered Answers to Exercises....372

Chapter 1 — Your Role on the Game Development Team....372

Chapter 2 — The Basics of Game Testing....372

Chapter 3 — Bug Report Writing and Defect Tracking....373

Chapter 4 — How Bugs Happen....373

Chapter 5 — The Phases of Game Quality Assurance....373

Chapter 6 — Exploratory Testing and Gameplay Testing....374

Chapter 7 — The Two Rules of Test Management....374

Chapter 8 — Combinatorial Testing....374

Chapter 9 — Test Flow Diagrams....377

Chapter 10 — Cleanroom Testing....378

Chapter 11 — Test Trees....379

Chapter 12 — Defect Triggers....380

Chapter 13 — Regression Testing and Test Reuse....381

Chapter 14 — Testing by the Numbers....383

Chapter 15 — Software Quality....384

Appendix B: Sample Test Suite: RTS Building Checklist....386

Appendix C: Basic Test Plan Template....396

Section I: QA Team (and areas of responsibility)....396

Section II: Testing Procedures....397

Section III: How Testing Requirements are Generated....401

Section IV: Bug Tracking Software....401

Section V: Bug Classifications....401

Section VI: Bug Tracking....401

Section VII: Scheduling and Loading....402

Section VIII: Equipment Budget and Costs....402

Appendix D: Combinatorial Test Templates....404

Tables of Parameters with Two Test Values....404

Tables of Parameters with Three Test Values....407

Appendix E: Test Flow Diagram (TFD) Templates....414

Power-Ups....414

Craft Item....415

Heal Character....416

Create/Save....416

Unlock and Buy Item....417

Update Song List....418

Complete a Mission or Quest....419

Get Weapon and Ammo....420

Glossary....422

Index....426

An updated version of the bestselling, Game Testing All In One Third Edition, this fourth edition serves as your comprehensive handbook to video game testing, guiding you through the essential skills needed to succeed in this exciting field. Whether you are a student seeking to enter the video game industry or a working professional aiming to refine your skills, this new edition gives you the basic skills of testing, demonstrates how game testing and testers fit into the game development process, and includes practical knowledge of tools, roles, responsibilities, and the metrics used to determine game quality and test progress. The reader is taken step-by-step through test design and other QA methods, using real game situations, and featuring interviews with veteran game developers. The book includes companion files for downloading with templates and tutorials for creating both combinatorial tables and test flow diagrams, which form the basis of a robust video game QA plan. Each chapter includes questions and exercises, making the book suitable for classroom use as well as a personal study or reference tool.

FEATURES:

• Features test methodology tutorials based on actual games, plus examples and tools that readers can usefor personal or professional development
• Explores documented methods and tools for tracking and managing game testing progress and game quality
• Provides companion files available for digital download, including classroom support files, templates, resources, and projects from the book