Introduction

In this book you will learn about the roles and responsibilities of a game tester, including how to best apply software test engineer methodologies to the game industry. This knowledge can be applied by testers to help create staffing plans and schedule test tasks , as well as generate thorough and effective test cases for games. Topics include how games are made, how testing fits into the production cycle of a game, testing fundamentals, test automation, and how to test different game genres.

References to many different game types and titles are spread out among the topics and methods taught in this book. It's okay if you haven't played all of these games yet. In each case the games and features illustrate specific concepts which will be explained to you in the text and illustrated in examples. Please don't get angry if one or more of your favorite games are not mentioned. It's up to you to go and test them using what you learn from this book.

How the Book is Organized

This book is divided into five parts, each consisting of multiple chapters. The parts and chapters are organized to provide a logical progression to increase your knowledge and develop new skills. As the book title indicates, all aspects of game testing are pulled together into this one volume. However, if you want to target one or more specific parts or chapters to address an immediate need in your job, you will find that each one stands on its own to provide the full range of information for its topic. Furthermore, each chapter concludes with a summary and exercises, making it possible to use this book as a college level textbook in a Computer Science or Game Development curriculum. While it provides all the topics you need for a stand-alone course on game testing, it can also supplement game software development, game development process, and game development practicum classes. Even if you are not a classroom student, do the exercises and check your answers with those provided in the appendices to cement and expand your understanding of this subject matter.

Part I "About Game Testing" introduces the reader to game testing in terms of culture, philosophies, and the contribution testing makes to the final game release that everyone (hopefully!) rushes out to buy. If all goes well, the users will let you know.

Part II "Making Games" reveals how an individual contributes to the overall game project. This includes the different kinds of roles and responsibilities that are required of testers through various stages of the development and production of game software.

Part III "Testing Fundamentals" introduces testing concepts and practices from a formal software engineering approach. These practices will boost your testing IQ. Tools and files included on the book's CD will help you quickly produce useful test documents, capture important data, and analyze the measurements described in this section.

Part IV "Testing Techniques" is a set of tutorials on different methodologies for producing tests for your game. Each can be used by itself, or in combination with the others. They are good for testing any portion of your game at any stage of development. A portion of Chapter 12, "Cleanroom Testing," relies on the techniques taught in the two chapters preceding it, so keep that in mind if you try to flip over to read that one on its own.

Links to test tools are included on the book's CD to help you learn and practice these methods. In addition to the tools, there are some template files that will make it easier for you to produce your tests by "filling in the blanks" rather than starting from an empty sheet. Information about how to use the templates is provided in the chapters and appendices.

Part V "More Effective Testing" addresses ways to make the most out of your limited time and resources to reach new heights in the quantity and quality of the test you can produce and run. Again, tool links are included on the CD for this book to help you learn and practice the methods described in this section.

The appendices contain answers to chapter questions, details about the CD contents, and supplemental information for the testing techniques covered in Part IV.