I am going to be a game tester

They use Wideboys on the ol' N64 so you can videotape it. As you test you have a VCR recording what you're doing, so say if you get a bug that happens once out of 100 tries they can make an .avi out of it to show the developer. You'd think they'd just use the GC instead, but whatever.

But all bugs found on a wideboy have to be verified on a plain GBA, becasue the wideboy doesn't emulate it 100%. I asked them if I could bring my SP in but they said no, because if it got stolen or something they could be held responsible if it was being used for testing purposes.

GBA games are also tested in those large flash carts, so they just get one copy of the rev and flash it. But this has to be tested too becasue you might have a faulty unit.

What seems to be more of a pain in the ass are all the naming conventions and standards each company has. For example, Sony does not allow any Sony logos in a game anywhere (like say a building has a Sony billboard in the background, or in video trailers, like a "making of" video you might see it on a screen.") One exception to this is on a digitized image of the Ps2 controller or console, that can only be there if it's used to explain how the game is played. But no artist renditions of a controller or console can have a Sony logo on it. So say there's a video trailer where you see a Ps2 console on a programmer's desk, that has to be edited out.

Also each company has thier own unique naming conventions when referring to any hard ware. So Nintendo says you have to say " A BUTTON" while X Box says "B Button." But, these naming conventions are case sensitive and space sensitive. So you can only refer to a Ps2 memory card as " memory card (8MB)(for Playstation(r)2)" not " memory card (8MB) (for Playstation(r)2) " Notice the space in the middle there? Sony will kick a game for small shit like that.

* the "(r)" of course is the restricted symbol.

Also Sony Computer entertainment of America (SCEA) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) have different naming conventions. So in Europe you have to have " Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStation(r)2) " and it all has to be case sensitive and space sensitive. They have teams that just go through games and find naming conventions. Sorry to go off but I was just tested on all this shit yesterday and it's still banging around my head.

I actually wouldn't mind being on a PC team as those get the coolest hardware and the methodology seems more logical. Like you test different configurations, install options, etc. Getting paid to make a computer crash sounds like a lot of fun.

I predict a lot of long nights ahead of myself. But this beats making coffee.

 

One more thing, when you write a bug you have to word it in a positive way, else the programmer gets pissed off at you. Reason being these people worked on the game for months or years before you ever got it and if you write "This game sucks ass" they get mad.

So an example of a Bug I found, you find a part where the music cuts out if you press the Y button 70 times. You can't write "The game does not play music after the Y button is pressed 70 times." You have to word it positively, or at least ambiguously enoguh as to not be negative. So "The game should have consistant music throughout" would be acceptable.

Like there's a part in a kiddy game where the boss battle is too hard for a 5 year old. You don't write "Boss is too hard for little kids to beat," you write it like "Boss battle is inappropiate for the skill level of the intended audience."

This is going to be fun shit. I'm looking foward to it. For real I am.

 

Oh man, I would last about three days doing that. I'd tell the devvies "well, the controls are pretty bad, I just went through a solid wall, and some character fucking disappeared while I was trying to kill him" and --> out.

The funny thing is, if/when I become a developer, I'd prefer if people let me know if my game sucked ass or not. Seriously, being critical is the best way to improve something.

 

Awesome dude, glad you got the job.

One thing I would like to know is how do you go about finding bugs? Obviously you don;t just play the game and stumble across them - did you get something saying 'try pressing each button x amount of times'? or have a checklist you have to tick off ect ect?

 

yeah instead of sucking up to them(it feels like that too) but i think it has something to do with using your vocabulary instead of pissing them off although i would definitely (if i could program ) understand if something i got an error so damn big that i had to see it with my own eyes instead of getting the information about the bug as "gift" wrapped in words instead of paper

 

Well, it's my second official day, and I found six bugs. They want us to find at least five a day, but all the people in my room say if you find five a week that's ok.

BTW, I'm working on Destroy All Humans for PS2 and Xbox, and it's fucking rad.

Anyway, what I did today is try to play through the whole game. Since the build is somewhere in the middle I've only completed about 20% of the game (mind you not all of the features have been implimented yet, at this time each level all have identical side missions, which is going to be changed.) So there's some obvious things, like when the sound doesn't match up to a FMV scene, or when you shoot a cow and it screams like a human, etc.

But some things are not so obvious. After you complete each main mission in a level you're given free regin to get in your flying saucer and destroy everything. So there's this level where you're at a fairgrounds with a big ferris wheel. So I shot the ferris wheel down, then towed it over to the landing spot (you have an "abduction beam," with which you can pick up people, cars, tanks, etc, then like drop them in water or just spin around to build up momentem and fling them into buildings and stuff. This game is rad.) I put the wheel right over the landing spot, then attempted to land on the wheel- and the game froze. So that was my first major bug that I've ever found.

*Major meaning the game would get kicked if Sony or Microsoft's testers found that.

So most of the shit is obvious, like trees that aren't touching the ground and graphical glitches like that, but some of the stuff you have to think like someone who's beaten the game and is just playing around would do.

When I left today I was attempting to overload the game by stacking too many cars and dead people in one place (you aslo have a telekenitic ability to levitate people and objects. So if you run out of ammo all you have to do is grab the guy and throw him up into the air, then he bites the dust when he hits the ground. You can also pick up a car or army truck and carry it infront of you while you run and it will bulldoze right through crowds of peole. Did I mention this game kicks ass?)

 

So THQ actually make interesting games? Wow. Then again I must confess i played the first WWF Smackdown game too much when it came out - I did about 25 years in the season mode!

Cool job by the way! Better than my job any day - mainly because you actually have a job! :-D

 

With a name like "Destroy All Humans", it is BOUND to kick ass.