game testing

[panther_base]

I've spent the last 2 years searching the web for ANY information on game testing. So far I've found only 2 things that have been true so far. 1. It is a real job. and 2. There are some who do test from home.

What I want to know is if anyone knows anything more, like,

What type of education is needed, where education can be obtained.
Most likely places to find good information on it.

[saphalline]

Ugh! Why would you want to be a game tester!?

They're the sludge of the game companies. The bottom of the bottom. The ones who pull down, bend over, and say, "Please, sir, can I have some more?"!

It's the most common way to get into the industry, but not necessarily the most practical. Plus, you have to be a whiz-banger at every game known to geekdom! From Pong to CoD5, you have to know it all and be able to beat it all. Every power-up, secret, and Easter Egg. Every bug, glitch, and exploit. Every platform, every day - perfectly. Your job is to bring it down, and bring it down hard. Test, test, and more test. What happens when your score is a multiple of 7 and you kill the boss on level 7 with 7 rockets? Does it crash the game? Does it erroneously double your score? Does it only happen 1 in 7 times??

There are legions of testers around the world. It's a big pool. You still interested?

[mjc]

Translation: It ain't glamorous.

[panther_base]

thanks for the advice, I still want to do something in the gaming industry, but I don't think that's likely since I'm nowhere near any of the production companies, and not in a position to move closer to one

[Ajmukon]

thanks for the advice, I still want to do something in the gaming industry, but I don't think that's likely since I'm nowhere near any of the production companies, and not in a position to move closer to one

you could start up an independent video game company

--thats what "the Logic Factory" is
( www.logicfactory.com )

and, thats what one of my friends wants to do...

there are enough independent publishers that will publish simple games, or even go the "buy and download" route...

[saphalline]

since I'm nowhere near any of the production companiesAs Ajmukon has suggested, this is not even close to being a barrier to getting into the games industry these days!

First of all, even among the big power pushers of the industry such as Activision-Blizzard, the headquarters is not the only site owned by any company that wants to stay in business! Testing sites are numerous, as well as the fact that independent testing sites exist - they are essentially "rented" by whatever company needs some on-demand modularized testing added to a project or projects.

Secondly, playing games does not always lead to making games! More often than not, it merely leads to becoming a customer. :p Design degrees are the best way to get onboard with a development studio these days. And development studios are where you need to be. Publishers - blah! They're just the commercial front-ends! But developers... they are the real designers of games.

Thirdly, you have to prove that you have what it takes to not only make something enjoyable (ie, be a good designer) but also that you can go the distance. Most of the small-time-to-big-time success stories lately focus around small modding teams that made something good enough and original enough to be considered an expansion pack. Get modding!

Granted you probably will NOT be delving into making the next CoD or Gears or WoW2 right away. You will have to pay your dues like everyone else. But you cannot give up just because of what you see on a map! There are more avenues into gaming than ever before! And certainly more so than most other industries right now.

[mjc]

And designers are everywhere. Unlike the publishers, designers don't need to be located anywhere in particular. Just like you don't have to live in NYC to write a book...it may end up being published by a publisher in NYC, but you can live in Podunk and write it.

[panther_base]

you have to prove that you have what it takes to not only make something enjoyable, but also that you can go the distance.

that's part of the problem, I really don't have the patience for programming (either that or I'm going about learning it all wrong) I'm halfway decent with drawing, though not great.

As far as designing a game, I have quite a few of those in mind and partially planned out (lots of AD&D time playing as a DM). This also becomes a problem since bringing a game idea to completion isn't something I don't know how to do.

[saphalline]

that's part of the problem, I really don't have the patience for programmingWho said anything about programming??

When gaming went 3D, the design of the game as a whole necessarily became more modular. And with the introduction of multi-threaded hardware, games have had to become more multi-threaded as well, exacerbating the modularity of any given game. The main executable for a game these days is very tiny in size, having little control over how the game actually runs. The .ini file, or similar initialization data (some games have multiple .ini files, actually) give initial parameters to the main executable, such as the path & name of the sound file, 3D mesh data, cabinet data, etc. The only job of the main executable, therefore, is to accept alterable options and bring everything together in order to "run" the game. This leaves a ton of wiggle room for modding!

3D mesh data, for instance, can be altered for the game (or more often simply added to) so that new in-game objects and visuals can be added or replaced within the game. Textures are another great example of moddable content, as with the famous his-res texture mod for the first Half-Life game. Other game data, such as attributes for weapons, enemies, physics, etc, can be parsed out of cabinet files quite easily if one knows the developer's conventions. Parsing tools are often available for cabinet data for popular games within weeks of the release date.

Now, it's all very simple once you get embedded into the culture of modding. ;) 3D mesh data can be changed with inexpensive tools like Blender (http://www.blender.org/) (the OSS version of 3ds Max (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5659302), which is quite expensive! :eek:). Texture data can be changed with any decent image editor - although I would strongly suggest one capable of handling vector graphics (I am certain you can think of a few free ones for this ;)). Initialization data from .ini files is often straight-up text or sometimes XML formatted data. And gaining access to all of this data can be obtained by parsing the cabinet files, which is usually a community effort if not "leaked" by developers these days.

Not that modding a game is as simple as installing or playing it, but it is VERY accessible today compared to even 5 years ago. The online communities rival Linux communities in terms of usefulness. And the tools required for making changes big and small are merely a Google search away. If you can think of a recent game you'd like to mod, and if that game sold at least 100,000 units, you can bet a modding community exists for it! Try doing a little research on a somewhat mature game, like CoD4 and you'll see what I mean. Or for a real overload on modding, check out HL2 and CS:S! :p

Or you can try a little game I picked up a few months ago called Fallout 3. :D

[Ajmukon]

Who said anything about programming??

When gaming went 3D, the design of the game as a whole necessarily became more modular. And with the introduction of multi-threaded hardware, games have had to become more multi-threaded as well, exacerbating the modularity of any given game. The main executable for a game these days is very tiny in size, having little control over how the game actually runs. The .ini file, or similar initialization data (some games have multiple .ini files, actually) give initial parameters to the main executable, such as the path & name of the sound file, 3D mesh data, cabinet data, etc. The only job of the main executable, therefore, is to accept alterable options and bring everything together in order to "run" the game. This leaves a ton of wiggle room for modding!

3D mesh data, for instance, can be altered for the game (or more often simply added to) so that new in-game objects and visuals can be added or replaced within the game. Textures are another great example of moddable content, as with the famous his-res texture mod for the first Half-Life game. Other game data, such as attributes for weapons, enemies, physics, etc, can be parsed out of cabinet files quite easily if one knows the developer's conventions. Parsing tools are often available for cabinet data for popular games within weeks of the release date.

Now, it's all very simple once you get embedded into the culture of modding. ;) 3D mesh data can be changed with inexpensive tools like Blender (http://www.blender.org/) (the OSS version of 3ds Max (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5659302), which is quite expensive! :eek:). Texture data can be changed with any decent image editor - although I would strongly suggest one capable of handling vector graphics (I am certain you can think of a few free ones for this ;)). Initialization data from .ini files is often straight-up text or sometimes XML formatted data. And gaining access to all of this data can be obtained by parsing the cabinet files, which is usually a community effort if not "leaked" by developers these days.

Not that modding a game is as simple as installing or playing it, but it is VERY accessible today compared to even 5 years ago. The online communities rival Linux communities in terms of usefulness. And the tools required for making changes big and small are merely a Google search away. If you can think of a recent game you'd like to mod, and if that game sold at least 100,000 units, you can bet a modding community exists for it! Try doing a little research on a somewhat mature game, like CoD4 and you'll see what I mean. Or for a real overload on modding, check out HL2 and CS:S! :p

Or you can try a little game I picked up a few months ago called Fallout 3. :D
And then there are programs that are specifically made for video game creation:

RPGmaker is one of them

or, a more "in-depth" protocol:
3DSMAX- http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=5659302&siteID=123112

yeah... it 3990.00 last i checked.
if you are s student, you would be able to get a student version for 300.. but you CAN NOT make any money off of it..

and i am sure there are "free" programs that do something similar, but i have never been able to find them..

[saphalline]

or, a more "in-depth" protocol:
3DSMAX- http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=5659302&siteID=123112

yeah... it 3990.00 last i checked.
if you are s student, you would be able to get a student version for 300.. but you CAN NOT make any money off of it..

and i am sure there are "free" programs that do something similar, but i have never been able to find them..Ummm...

Did you actually READ my post?? Third paragraph, second sentence; try again.

[Ajmukon]

Ummm...

Did you actually READ my post?? Third paragraph, second sentence; try again.

yeah. i only read (in depth) the first paragraph.

i read the rest after i posted. my bad.

[saphalline]

Ok, just checking. :p