Understanding The Game Testing Process Better

Have you ever wondered what the best websites are where a person can learn more about game development? There is no shortage of lists and articles out there, but one that's been getting lots of attention lately is Game Design Theory. Game Design Theory is a website that gives valuable information on the fundamentals of game design. They cover topics like narrative, gameplay mechanics, and player motivation in their blog posts. Suppose you are interested in learning more about the theory behind games or how to create an exciting and addictive experience for your players. In that case, this website will be beneficial to you. What's also nice about this site is that it provides additional resources like links to other sites with additional information on these topics. Game testing services are a big part of this industry, and there are many different options out there that can help you.

Steps of the primary game testing process

Step 1: Plan and design the test.

This is the first step of game testing. The game testers need to know the test's purpose to plan it out effectively. Therefore, before starting to plan the test, the tester needs to think of what kind of gameplay aspect they want to focus on in the test session. Does it have too many gameplay mechanics, or could it be simplified a little? These are some things that the tester might want to consider before starting any testing session.

Step 2: Get ready for the test.

Before anything, the tester needs to consider the testing requirements. What do they need to do or prepare for? Some things that the tester needs to figure out are how many testers they need and what they are going to use for recording. The number of testers required depends on the number of people who will play during the test, so it's up in the air. Recording a video while people play allows testers to see where they get stuck in the game and why they get stuck there. It also allows them to see what feedback players give while playing.

Step 3: Do The Test

This is the core of the game testing process. This step is a lot more complicated. The tester has to know how to properly conduct a test and the process that needs to be followed to take advantage of all crucial factors while performing the test. All testers must remember what they need to look for and what they will record so they can look at it later.

Step 4: Analyze and Report

After doing a test, it's time for analyzing and reporting. Here, testers need to compare recorded and metrics data with other players regarding feedback or thoughts about certain gameplay parts, etc. Here comes the tricky part. Often, people need to pay more attention to some critical information in data or even misread it and come up with a false conclusion. Therefore, testers need to know the exact reporting format for certain things so it will be easy for them to get the most out of all the data collected during the testing phase.

When learning how to create your games (for non-coders), you can attend a few specialized schools to hone your skills in this field. These schools are not just the regular universities that teach theory and the basics of game development. They go into more detail about how to make games and give extensive experience in hands-on training.

Step 5: Repair the bug

Some bugs that come up during testing need to be fixed. This is the final step. After reporting, developers will think about what to do and if anything can be done. Developers may also need testers to provide more information on the bug, test a new fix, etc.

Step 6: Repeat

Testing for games continues even after a game has been published. Many details still need to be taken care of, such as releasing DLCs. For example, testers will have to do their job again if a game has many bugs and flaws that need to be fixed by an update or something else.

There are two main ways to test a game using a mobile device. In these tests, the tester should report what went well and what didn't. If there was any problem, it should be described as to why. Game QA outsourcing is one of how a game can be tested. In this case, the tester needs to explain what they think needs to be improved and why. Most importantly, the tester should make sure that the change is implemented as it should be.

• The first way is by using an emulator or box for testing. This is an excellent way to test because bugs will appear when you're developing your game, so if it's done on an emulated platform, it will help you immensely. The other reason this way is better is that it makes testing more straightforward and less time-consuming. It's also less expensive than having someone play your game on a physical platform because the emulator method has no shipping expenses or shipping costs.
• The second way is by actually having someone play the game on a physical device and record the gameplay footage to watch how it went. The more time you spend watching the gameplay footage, recording your notes and then making a video report of all the bugs you found in that game will ultimately make your game better. Good programmers will write their code with maximum efficiency with bugs in mind. They may not know everything in their game that can cause bugs, but they will know all of them very quickly when playing through parts of your game, and after hours of testing multiple versions, all they are looking for are significant issues. This advice applies to mobile games just as much as consoles or PC.

Testing is a crucial part of game development. Without testing, there would be no finished games. There are two significant parts of game development testing; gameplay tests involving actual players and technical difficulties involving the programmer's work. Video game testing companies are a great way to test games on different platforms.

Summing Up

When testing a game, many aspects must be included in a report. The most crucial factor is the gameplay quality, followed by the visual and sound quality. Other than that, there should also be special attention to bugs. These tests are generally done by product managers who act as computer technicians. Video game companies pay for these tests, and the testers do not get a salary but remuneration for the testing tasks they do. This makes video game testing companies profitable because they hire part-time testers and pay them hourly rates when they work on their own time.

There are two types of testing; user testing and usability testing. The difference between the two is that one involves nonprofessional testers, and the other involves professional testers who are paid to test a product for its usability. Usability testing is more complicated than gameplay which non-professionals can do. Still, it has benefits, such as greater insight into the design process and real-time user feedback, which can lead to better conversion rates (defined as how well a user takes action).

One of the most important reasons for doing gameplay testing is to identify, narrow, and eliminate potential design flaws before they are implemented into the project. To do this, the game being tested needs to be prepared beforehand so that tester can observe and provide instant feedback as they play. Testing should be done in one of three ways:

You can also use paper-and-pencil tests in addition to video form if needed. The paper test should display all the basic problems in a game that a player could experience, and the pencil test should ask players for specific information about their experience during gameplay.