Finding a New Balance Between AI and Beneficial Bugs
Game Developer
JUNE 12, 2024
'Bugs are an integral part of games culture and the social networks that games build around themselves.'
How Splitting Point caught 80% more bugs with real-time data
Game Analytics
DECEMBER 9, 2022
Catching 80% of their bugs. One of the main reasons that Splitting Point integrated GameAnalytics was because of our bug-tracking capabilities through our error reporting dashboard. Soon, Splitting Point realized that they could find more than just bugs. Quite simply, there was no time for quality control.
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Ascent of Ashes dev switches to Godot halfway development “Not as chaotic as Unity”
PreMortem.Games
DECEMBER 16, 2024
RimWorld is balanced around sitting on a single map, with everything easily accessible. This also meant we had less dev time to fix bugs or optimize performance. In the end we’d rather tone down some of our more ambitious features to get acceptable performance, and deliver a bug-free and polished release to our players.
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Unit Testing Games
Grumpy Gamer
JANUARY 3, 2018
Unit testing texture or asset loading can be useful, as is unit testing many other backend engine routines like memory managers, but that’s just not where most (and by that I mean 99%) of the bugs comes from. But we encounter a lot of bugs where the game works fine, but something is just visually wrong.
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Star Nomad 2 Update 2.22.08 (Beta @Android)
Half Geek
SEPTEMBER 2, 2022
Some bug fixes and re-balancing. Fixed bug with new player Drone AI sometimes flying off into the void. Fixed a bug with Merchant NPC during random encounters, if the player is busy in conversation, and Pirates or Zerkers interrupt, it will now resume normal flight. Thank you to players who have provided feedback!
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Scaling Multiplayer Games: The Hidden Challenges and Testing Solutions for Peak Performance
iXie gaming
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
Balancing these protocols is essential for managing the rapid transfer of player actions without creating excessive strain on the network. However, accurate prediction becomes exponentially more difficult at scale, demanding rigorous, data-driven testing to perfect the balancing act between real-time responsiveness and server-side accuracy.
Unit Testing Games
Grumpy Gamer
JANUARY 4, 2018
Unit testing texture or asset loading can be useful, as is unit testing many other backend engine routines like memory managers, but that's just not where most (and by that I mean 99%) of the bugs comes from. But we encounter a lot of bugs where the game works fine, but something is just visually wrong.
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Feral Cat Den is pushing the audio-visual boundaries of games with Nirvana Noir
PreMortem.Games
JULY 1, 2024
Intricate things Reflecting on the development of Nirvana Noir , Anthony admits that it’s quite the challenge to develop a game free of bugs. Our first game, Genesis Noir, released with its fair share of bugs. We felt awful whenever we got a bug report and it was exhausting to fix them all. he says.
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Three Minutes to Eight developer Chaosmonger Studio “Multiple stories moving parallel”
PreMortem.Games
OCTOBER 27, 2023
The game is balanced on a multitude of variables, events, triggers, put together like a house of cards. A little mistake, a little bug, and everything can fall down.” “All Piovesan candidly shared the challenges he faced, saying, “Handling the programming of all of that was a real nightmare!
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Guaranteeing First-Time Console Submission Success: Myth or Possibility?
iXie gaming
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
Functional Testing Beyond Basics: Ensuring Core Game Mechanics Perform as Expected Functional testing goes beyond identifying bugs; it verifies that every game feature aligns with the console’s performance standards. Common failure points include issues with frame rates, UI compliance, save data management, and connectivity bugs.
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Star Nomad 2 Patch Notes (v 2.22.07)
Half Geek
JULY 28, 2022
It will be rolled out at the end of July, or early August, after I’ve tested for bugs. On the PC version, they correctly deploy their torpedo, a bug prevented their use on the mobile build. Ship re-balancing: The goal is to make lighter ships more viable longer towards the mid & late-game, by improving firepower.
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James Bendon’s 5-year journey to create Dinkum “To be honest, I really like working alone”
PreMortem.Games
MAY 29, 2024
Since then, I feel like I’ve learned how to balance work and life a bit better.” Maybe it was the stress of releasing the game, trying to message everyone that contacted me back, or fix every bug I read about. Since then, I feel like I’ve learnt how to balance work and life a bit better.” Why did you become a solo developer?
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The Art and Science of Exploratory Testing in Game QA
iXie gaming
AUGUST 11, 2024
Traditional QA (quality assurance) methods can sometimes miss small bugs and unexpected player actions. We’ll discuss how to balance intuition with structure, share real-world success stories, and provide best practices for overcoming challenges. This creative approach can uncover hidden bugs that are not easily found.
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Ascent of Ashes dev switches to Godot halfway development “Not as chaotic as Unity”
PreMortem.Games
NOVEMBER 15, 2023
RimWorld is balanced around sitting on a single map, with everything easily accessible. This also meant we had less dev time to fix bugs or optimize performance. We had to work around some of these bugs and limitations, but they were minor issues overall.” Interacting with the wider world is entirely optional.
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new Quake map: Breakfast Under The Balloons
Radiator Blog
AUGUST 12, 2022
Modern Quake tools have much better lighting controls than 25 years ago, including alpha masked texture-based shadows and some nice ambient light configs, but it's still pretty primitive by today's standards and I had to iterate a lot to balance the shadowing vs. the self-illumination for a natural look.
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Unique blend of genres in haunting fishing adventure Dredge by Black Salt Games
PreMortem.Games
MARCH 30, 2023
Delightfully eerie world Development on Dredge began shortly after and took roughly two years to complete, with the last six months mostly focused on balancing, bug fixing and other tweaks. We realised that it was a really interesting game and we could see where we’d take it in terms of scope and gameplay.”
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Unique blend of genres in haunting fishing adventure Dredge by Black Salt Games
PreMortem.Games
MARCH 20, 2023
Delightfully eerie world Development on Dredge began shortly after and took roughly two years to complete, with the last six months mostly focused on balancing, bug fixing and other tweaks. We realised that it was a really interesting game and we could see where we’d take it in terms of scope and gameplay.”
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Is Game Automation the Next Generation of Testing?
iXie gaming
SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
Game automation tools can also collect data, generate reports, and identify bugs or issues that need to be addressed by game developers. This efficiency enables game developers to identify and fix bugs promptly, saving valuable time during the development cycle. Benefits of Game Automation Testing: I.
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Importance of playtesting in game design
Logic Simplified
AUGUST 14, 2023
They play an unfinished version of the game to identify issues like bugs, glitches and unclear objectives. These insights can help to fine-tune numerous game elements like flow, pacing, UI, difficulty balance, etc. A playtest is a method to see what works in terms of gameplay mechanics.
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The Importance of User Experience Testing in Game QA
iXie gaming
MAY 24, 2024
Unlike traditional game QA testing, which primarily focuses on detecting bugs and technical glitches, user experience testing focuses on the subjective experiences of players. Bugs and Glitches Bugs and glitches can significantly affect end-user experience. How can UX testing improve game balance? Low player engagement.
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Double Fine PsychOdyssey recaps / viewing guide, episodes 01-17
Radiator Blog
MARCH 16, 2023
It shows the everyday work of medium-scale commercial game dev in unprecedented detail: the creative high of successful collaboration as well as the ugly prototypes, grueling bug fixes, and painful miscommunication. They still need to balance this pre-production with finishing the studio's other projects too. What's the balance?
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The Importance of Beta Testing in Game Development
iXie gaming
MARCH 24, 2024
It allows you to detect technical problems in your game and assess gameplay and balance. Developers use closed betas to discover major game balance issues or bugs that must be addressed before releasing the game to the public. Beta testing is a critical game quality assurance (QA) process. The outcome?
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From Manual to Automated: Transitioning your Game Testing Strategy
iXie gaming
APRIL 16, 2024
They would play the game carefully to identify and report glitches, bugs, and other gameplay issues. These tools are powerful enough to simulate player interactions, check for bugs and glitches, and validate game mechanics. In fact, it allows for accurate tracking of bugs. Why Transition from Manual to Automated Game Testing?
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AI-Driven Automated Game Testing
iXie gaming
AUGUST 12, 2024
Modern games are very complex, and with tight deadlines and limited resources, even the best QA teams can miss important bugs and glitches. Mimic the human brain to recognize patterns in visuals, audio, and gameplay, uncovering subtle bugs that might go unnoticed. Enhanced Bug Detection. Neural Networks. Sentiment Analysis.
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The Fast Life and Fiery Death of Vampire Survivors Games.
The Bottom Feeder
AUGUST 9, 2023
However, the weapons aren't balanced well. The newer games try much harder to balance the weapons against each other, providing a better variety of builds. It has dozens of characters that play very differently, though some balance tweaks would be to the good.) Brotato is VERY interesting for this. Don't get me wrong.
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Dev snapshot: Godot 4.0 alpha 3
Mircosoft Game Dev
FEBRUARY 22, 2022
Rendering: Various bug fixes to both shaders and the Vulkan setup (including updating to Vulkan SDK 1.3.204 ). Rendering: Various tweaks to default environment and lighting config to balance quality and performance. See the GitHub issue tracker for a list of known bugs in the 4.0 Bug reports.
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Patreon October Updates
Sirlin
OCTOBER 20, 2015
Though you might as well wait until next week because there will be a balance update within a week. Within a couple days, I plan to post a big update to the Codex print-and-play version (for $25+ patrons) that has dozens of balance changes based on the last month of playtesting.
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What Is Functionality Testing and Why Is it Crucial for the Success of Your Game?
iXie gaming
OCTOBER 3, 2023
Also, developers can use the testing to minimize bugs and errors in the game and improve its quality, driving toward an end product that delivers higher user satisfaction. Its main purpose is to detect potential glitches and bugs affecting the end-user’s satisfaction. And that’s where functional testing comes into play.
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7 Odd Roadblocks Rookies Face In The Stages Of Game Development
Big Games
DECEMBER 5, 2023
Play testers explore the game, checking for bugs, rendering issues, and exploitable features. After months of bug fixing and polishing, the game is ready for distribution. Post-launch involves identifying and fixing minor bugs reported by players. Balancing creativity with project constraints is tricky.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Pc Game Development
iXie gaming
MAY 26, 2023
Create intuitive, fun, and rewarding mechanics that are balanced and challenging enough to keep players engaged. Test Your Game Extensively and Frequently Regular testing is vital in game development to detect bugs and other problems early. Remember that player enjoyment is the key to success.
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5 Major Stages of Game Testing
iXie gaming
JUNE 28, 2024
Testing is crucial in game developmen t because even a small bug can lead to negative reviews, lost sales, and a damaged reputation. Our aim is to ensure the game runs smoothly without any major bugs or crashes. Final Bug Verification With most of the testing done earlier, GM testing checks that all known bugs are fixed.
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Ensuring Game Quality with Black Box and Grey Box Testing in Automation
iXie gaming
SEPTEMBER 17, 2024
Players expect a seamless experience, free from bugs and glitches that could disrupt their enjoyment. This approach is particularly useful in regression testing, where the goal is to verify that previously fixed bugs do not reappear. In the highly competitive gaming industry, ensuring game quality is crucial for success.
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The Impact of Early Access Testing on PC Game Development
iXie gaming
JUNE 7, 2024
Players can provide valuable feedback, report bugs, and suggest improvements. This iterative approach enables developers to fine-tune gameplay mechanics, content, and balance over time. And that’s where early access testing comes in handy! Early access enables developers to involve their community in PC game development.
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How Generative AI is Changing the Gaming Landscape
iXie gaming
NOVEMBER 30, 2023
Game Testing and Bug Detection Testing your game is crucial to ensuring its success once it is launched. It helps you detect bugs and glitches that may negatively impact the players’ gaming experience. Generative AI can help during game testing by simulating player behavior and identifying bugs in real time.
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Gamer Deep Lore, Exhibit #3. The Tomb of Horrors.
The Bottom Feeder
MAY 15, 2024
The Tomb of Horrors was an early attempt to solve a very difficult problem: How to balance a turn-based RPG once characters get very powerful. This has been bugging me for 40 years. To see why this isn't a good module, note: The scenes in the cover art are NOT IN THE ADVENTURE. But how do you damage Acererack?
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Running an Effective Closed Beta Test for Your Game
iXie gaming
JULY 12, 2024
Give detailed instructions about how beta testers can access your game, report bugs, and provide feedback. This way, you can ensure the game delivers optimal balance, performance, and satisfaction. This process helps improve gameplay, fix bugs, and enhance the overall game quality. Why is closed beta testing important?
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The Last Pile of Thoughts About Elden Ring, Promise
The Bottom Feeder
MAY 11, 2022
Balancing One Game Is Hard. Balancing Two Games At a Time Is Impossible Allegedly, Elden Ring doesn't have different difficulty levels. In Elden Ring, this is very difficult, because the encounters are balanced to be tough when you have a friend. No matter who you are, Elden Ring is balanced to be unsatisfying.
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How to Improve Alan Wake 2 Low FPS for Smoother Gaming
Game Errors
OCTOBER 27, 2023
It’s a delicate balance! I found that by lowering some of the graphics options, I could strike a perfect balance between visual quality and performance, resulting in a significant FPS boost. Stay Updated: Regularly check for game updates, driver updates, and Windows updates to benefit from performance improvements and bug fixes.
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8 Key Factors to Ensure Flawless Nintendo Testing
iXie gaming
NOVEMBER 30, 2023
Nintendo depends on quality assurance to ensure their games are bug-free, polished, and ready to excite gamers globally. Nintendo game testers play an integral role in detecting and eliminating glitches, bugs, and other game-breaking issues that may frustrate the gaming experience for passionate Nintendo fans.
PlayStation Game Testing: Insider Tips from iXie
iXie gaming
FEBRUARY 2, 2024
Here are some common responsibilities of a PlayStation game tester: Detecting bugs and glitches : PlayStation game testers have a hawk-eye for details and can identify even the smallest problems in a PlayStation game. Pay close attention to uncommon and common player actions to unearth potential bugs or glitches. Replicating issues.
Mobile gaming loyalty is key to lasting revenues
Game Daily
NOVEMBER 28, 2023
Bugs and technical issues come next, at 56 percent, closely followed by a feeling that the player is no longer making progress, and annoyance at too many in-game ads. 38 percent enjoy a regular roll-out of new features and content updates. Loyalty extends to the companies making games. ” You can read the full report here.
Total War PHARAOH Low FPS: How to Boost Your Performance
Game Errors
OCTOBER 11, 2023
In-game bugs or unoptimized patches. It’s always a balancing act, ensuring you get the best visuals without compromising performance. Settings Test: Periodically test different in-game settings to find the optimal balance for performance. Background applications consuming system resources. Overheating hardware components.
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Returnal Crashing on PC: How to Fix It
Game Errors
APRIL 24, 2023
Still, if you want to preserve nice details, we strongly suggest you experiment and find a good balance between the level of detail, performance, and stability. Once again, if this solves your issue, set the preset to Custom and find a balance that works for you. Launch Returnal and navigate to Settings. Navigate to the Graphics tab.
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The life of a Test Lead through the eyes of Sankar Pandiyaraj
iXie gaming
SEPTEMBER 22, 2023
I can’t even imagine what I would be doing other than gaming” When asked what he likes about iXie, Sankar answered that one was the chance to play games and the other was the ability to adjust work-life balance based on his needs. “I I like the fact that there is a clear distinction between work and personal life.
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