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Train2Game student advice from Trion Worlds on QA reports: write for an alien

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Train2Game Games QA Testing students should find this blog interesting, as it features some interesting advice from a Trion Worlds Senior QA Tester on how to write a great QA Report.

Trion Worlds are the developer behind MMO Rift and the upcoming strategy title End of Nations.

And in a soon to be published interview with the Train2Game blog, Karl Tars, Senior QA Tester at the Austin Studio has some great advice for Train2Game QA Testers about producing bug reports.

“Imagine you have an alien, they understand the language in some respects, but they don’t necessarily know a lot of the noun, they wouldn’t know what a fork this, they wouldn’t know what a knife is.”

“Now try and tell them how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when they don’t know what any of those things are.” Tars told the Train2Game blog.

The Trion Worlds Senior QA Tester argued that a well written, easy to follow bug report written by a QA Tester means that the developers can easily fix any issue that’s been found.

“You have to describe them being very descriptive and giving a good guide of exact steps and also including things like ‘it doesn’t work if you do this,” he said.

“So when the developer gets it they can just immediately go click, click, click, straight through your steps and ‘Oh there’s the issue, I can see it now, and now that I can see it on my machine I can fix it really easily.” Tars added.

The full interview with Trion Worlds Senior QA Tester Karl Tars, featuring an extensive insight into QA Testing and a look at upcoming title End of Nations, will be published on the Train2Game blog in the near future.

In the meantime, feel free to check out this post from earlier this week in which Valve discuss the importance of playtesting to game development.

Full details on the Train2Game Game QA Tester course are available here on the official Train2Game website.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Tars advice for writing bug reports? Will you take it on board?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Team Fortress 2 community makes $2m from created items

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Train2Game blog readers will have previously read that since the introduction item store to Team Fortress 2, community item creators have been earning money for their work.

Now a year on since the Mann. Co store was introduced, Valve has revealed that community item creators have collectively earned over $2 million from selling the items in the virtual store.

They’ve also introduced an update called ‘Steam Workshop’ that’ll make it easier for community item creators to test, share and get feedback on their weapons, hats and items.

“The ‘Mann Co. Store’ represents an important new direction for games and game makers,” said Valve co-founder and president Gabe Newell.

“By leveraging and extending the platform features of Steam, Team Fortress 2 has enabled a viable marketplace for independent content creators and significantly extended the gameplay experience in an incredibly short amount of time.”

Of course, this being Team Fortress 2, the Manniversary Update also sees the introduction of plenty of new hats. Train2Game students can find out about the modelling process behind Team Fortress 2 hats here on the Train2Game blog.

Team Fortress 2’s community tools could potentially allow Train2Game students to submit items to the game, make money and earn a reputation from their creation.

Valve have a reputation of being supportive of their community, and activity encourage modding using the Source SDK.

And in an interview with the Train2Game blog last month, Valve’s Chet Faliszek told us that modding is a really good way to get into the games industry.

“It’s a really good way for someone to get noticed because it shows that you’re able” he said.

“Normally modders have to work as a team and that’s important, and they also have to be able to finish something and that’s really important. So those two things together are a really good way to demonstrate that you’re ready to work in the industry.”

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the Mann Co. Store? Is it a good way for game developers to get noticed?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: EA Sports – RPG elements have a place in sports games

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Train2Game students may have noticed RPG elements appearing in shooters, in recent years, with id Software’s RAGE being a very recent example. (See the Train2Game blog interview with RAGE Creative Director  Tim Willits here)

And while traditional RPG’s used to be a niche market, elements of the genre are appearing all over the place. EA Sports Vice-President Andrew Wilson believes that RPG elements could even invade sport simulation titles such as FIFA.

“I think it’s a part of it, certainly.” he said when asked by The Guardian if RPG is the future of sports games.

“I think the future of the sports sim is the fact that you can choose how you want to play it. That we allow you to play on any platform, at any time, at any price, anyway you want”.

Wilson emphasised the importance of choice when playing games.

“Some players are all about the manager mode. Some players want the online head-to-head. The future for us lies in not compartmentalising any of the experiences, but to build a world where players can add value to their gaming experiences however they like.”

Of course, as reported by the Train2Game blog, even without RPG elements, the latest instalment of the FIFA franchise has been incredibly successful and currently sits at the top of the charts.

But Wilson believes that the market is still very much open, with consumers much more willing to play a variety of games than they used to.

“There was a time where gamers either played sports games or they played RPGs.” said the EA Sports Vice-President.

“Now there’s a lot more crossover in the industry; there are plenty of FiFA players who are playing games such as Dragon Age as well.”

We’ve been listening to the feedback from our audience and they say they want more compelling experiences in their sports games.” Wilson added.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Wilson’s comments? Are RPG elements beginning to feature in more games? Do they need to be in sports titles?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: The Guardian]

Train2Game news: Gabe Newell – Apple will make consoles ‘disappear’

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Train2Game students will be well aware of the impact Apple has had on the games industry, but they won’t stop with mobiles, they’ll make a move for the home console market too.

That’s according to Valve co-founder Gabe Newell, who made the comments to The Seattle Times.

“I suspect Apple will launch a living-room product that redefines people’s expectations really strongly and the notion of a separate console platform will disappear,” he said.

Newell’s comments echo those of owner of cloud gaming service Gaikai Dave Perry, who as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, believes the main threat to traditional consoles is actually Apple.

Newell however was critical of Apple, and other gaming platforms, accusing them of being too closed and stifling innovation.

I’m worried that the things that traditionally have been the source of a lot of innovation are going,” he said.

“There’s going to be an attempt to close those off so somebody will say, ‘I’m tired of competing with Google, I’m tired of competing with Facebook, I’ll apply a console model and exclude the competitors I don’t like from my world.’

“I consider Apple to be very closed,” Newell added

“Let’s say you have a book business and you are charging 5 to 7 percent gross margins. You can’t exist in an Apple world because they want 30 percent and they don’t care that you only have 7 percent to play with.” he said.

Valve are currently working on CS:GO, and you can find out more about its development in an interview with writer Chet Faliszek here on the Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, is Apple a threat to consoles? And what do you make of Newell’s comments about closed systems?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Seattle Times via Industry Gamers]

Train2Game news: League of Legends Game Director on Game Design – don’t be ‘too awesome’

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Train2Game Game Designers should definitely be interested in this; League of Legends design director Tom Cadwell has been discussing the common pitfalls of game design.

“Even though we know how to do good design, we still make mistakes a lot, you can set up processes that facilitate good decisions,” he said at his GDC Online talk in Texas.

“Once you know what the right behaviours are, it’s very possible to coach your peers or subordinates. Some of these pitfalls are human flaws, and it is possible that some people don’t manage those flaws well enough even though they’re great designers.”

Cadwell discussed something Train2Game Game Designers may be particularly interested, that is the concept that an idea is ‘too awesome’ to cut from a game and how this can damage development.

“We probably shouldn’t do it, but man, it’s too awesome,” is a dangerous thought said the League of Legends Game Director.

“Now you have a problem because you’re bending over backwards to do this thing that doesn’t fit.”

But he said that even if they know the feature doesn’t work, game designers won’t want to say so in order to avoid being ‘that guy’

“Now you’re all excited… And you don’t want to be the guy who’s being a buzzkill” said Cadwell

In order to prevent this from happening, he suggests “decisions are reviewed by peers or supervisors who are not interested parties, who weren’t at the kick-off.”

Cadwell added that if something costs a lot to do, is it really worth it?

“Structure process to assess cost to risk — it takes six times the engineering resources. Is it worth it?” he added.

The talk provides interesting reading for Train2Game Game Designers, with excerpts available on Gamasutra.

Reports of GDC Online have provided Train2Game students of all disciplines with a lot of fascinating information. Just yesterday the Train2Game blog revealed what Valve had to say about the importance of testing games.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Cadwell’s comments? Do you agree that things can be ‘too awesome’ to go in a game? Have you experienced it when producing games?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: Valve on playtesting

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Train2Game students, especially the QA Testers, will be aware of the importance of testing games in development.

In an interview with the Train2Game blog last month, Valve’s Chet Faliszek revealed that testingto be an important part Counter-Strike: Global Offensive development. Now other leading Valve developers have given further insight into how testing works at the studio.

Gamasutra report that speaking at GDC Online in Texas, Valve writer Erik Wolpaw said they take it very seriously. They start testing internally during game’s early development before bringing in testers from outside the studio.

“We definitely do playtest. We’ll ask people after they play to recount the story to us and gauge their comprehension of their experience…” he said.

Of course, Valve fans among the Train2Game community will know the developer like to put humour in their games. However, Wolpaw added that testing this aspect of game design can be difficult.

“Comedy stuff is tougher [to evaluate] because it’s more subjective and it’s really hard to gauge peoples’ reaction,” he said.

“Pretty much no one that played Portal 2 cracked a smile, but testers still said the game was funny. It’s hard to tell if a joke is failing or not.” Walpaw added.

Nonetheless, the testing process is useful to Valve and they’re happy to make changes if something isn’t working.

“We fail all the time, we just don’t advertise it too much,” said studio writer Marc Laidlaw.

Excerpts of the GDC Online Valve Q&A session can be found on Gamasutra and it should make interesting reading for Train2Game students, especially those on the Game Design course.

Of course, Valve aren’t the only game developers who value playtesting, with the Train2Game blog recently reporting that Bioware see it as a key part of developing Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Flower and Journey developers Thatgamecompany have also stated that testing is a crucial part of the game design process.

Find out more about the Train2Game QA Tester course here!

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the testing process at Valve? How important is it to get both an internal and external opinion on games in development?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: The making of a Team Fortress 2 hat

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Train2Game Art & Animation students should find this interesting; a post on the Team Fortress 2 blog reveals the step by step process of building a hat.

For those unfamiliar with Team Fortress 2, players can customise their characters with hats and other accessories. And as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, many community created hats have made it into Team Fortress 2, with the creators earning money from the sales!

But anyway, The Making of a Skull Hat details the creation process from just a concept, to modelling, to adding a polygon mesh and texturing. It makes an interesting read for Train2Game Art & Animation students.

Valve are extremely open to community contributions in Team Fortress 2, and have keenly supported modders over the years, with many joining the development studio.

Indeed, speaking to the Train2Game blog last month, Valve’s Chet Faliszek told us that modding is a really good way to get into the games industry.

“It’s a really good way for someone to get noticed because it shows that you’re able” he said.

“Normally modders have to work as a team and that’s important, and they also have to be able to finish something and that’s really important. So those two things together are a really good way to demonstrate that you’re ready to work in the industry.”

So Train2Game, what do you think about the process behind making a Team Fortress 2 hat? Would you consider making a submission?

Leave your comment here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Team Fortress 2 blog]

Train2Game news: Zynga building own social games site

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Train2Game students will no doubt be aware that Zynga’s games are heavily tied to Facebook, with the Train2Game blog previously reporting that at its peak Cityville had over 100 million users.

Allies & Empires also reached over 50 million users within weeks of launching, thanks to the Facebook platform.

Now however, Zynga wants to reduce their reliance on the social network, after the introduction of Facebook Credits saw a 95% drop in profits during the last financial quarter, and will start delivering games directly to consumers online or on mobile phones.

The social game developer has therefore revealed ‘Project Z,’ on Zynga.com, a gaming hub that’ll allow players to connect to games such as Farmville through their own portal rather than Facebook.

Games can be played across Project Z and Facebook as players will be allowed to use the same username and will feature familiar social features.

“Project Z is a Facebook connect platform that leverages your Facebook friends to play in an environment tailored with just your friends,” said Zynga COO John Schappert said at the Zynga Unleashed event in San Francisco.

“We learn a lot more about our players, not just from stats but from talking to them, and this is what they wanted.”

“It’s a platform for a direct relationship with consumers, whether on the web or on mobile, to give you a whole sandbox and create socialness about the games and not just within the games,” Zynga chief executive Mark Pincus added.

The news comes the day after Facebook launched its iPad App, and as reported by the Train2Game blog, it means Facebook games can now be played on mobile devices.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Zynga’s move? What does it say about Facebook gaming? And what is the future of social media games?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum

[Source:  WSJ]

Train2Game students chance to join Crusader Kings II closed beta

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Train2Game students have an opportunity to be involved with the closed beta for Paradox Interactive’s upcoming Medieval strategy RPG Crusader Kings II.

The development team behind Crusader Kings II are the creative force behind Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron and Victoria.

Do you believe you have what it takes to be a Crusader King? Interested Train2Game students can apply to be a part of the Crusader Kings II closed beta here on the Paradox website.

Applications are open through to 17th October, with those chosen for the closed beta receiving confirmation the following week.

Beta testing is an excellent way for Train2Game students, especially those on the Games QA Tester course to practice their bug hunting skills.

SomeTrain2Game students were involved in last week’s Battlefield 3 beta, with developer DICE stating the open test was aiding with game development.

However, while many understood that one of the purposes of a beta is to find bugs, some players were unhappy about finding them. As reported by the Train2Game blog, DICE’s Patrick Liu said that these players had his understood the meaning of beta testing.

So Train2Game, will you attempt to take the opportunity to beta test Crusader Kings II? How often do you get involved with these events?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Facebook iPad App launches, a reminder of social media gaming’s impact

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Train2Game students will be aware that the iPad has opened doors for game developers, and now it’ll be even easier to use the Apple device for gaming.

Now, the official Facebook iPad app has finally launched which will being tighter integration of social media games and applications.

The app allows Facebook games to be played in a full screen mode, and allows access to various games available to Facebook users on laptop and desktop computers.

The growth of social media gaming means that there’s a whole new platform for game developers to publish games on.

Indeed, as reported by the Train2Game blog, Civilization creator Sid Meier believes this means it’s a great time for the industry.

“I think now is one of the most exciting times to be a Game Designer” he said earlier this year.

“With the rapid growth of social network games there are new opportunities for smaller indie developers to make and distribute games, so we’re seeing a wider variety of games on all kinds of cool devices than ever before. That’s great for the whole industry.”

Meanwhile, Zynga Game Designer Brian Reynolds – who previously worked on Civilization II means the growth of social gaming is a good thing for game designers

“A Game Designer is actually more important on a social game than on a triple-A game because on a triple-A game you spend a lot of time making technology and tools and gigabytes worth of animations and things like that.” said Reynolds earlier this year.

“I can remember whole months going by where they didn’t need me to do any game design whereas on social games it’s a game designer’s paradise.”

The official Facebook iPad app is therefore surely a good thing for aspiring game developers as it makes playing social media games more accessible to more people.

Of course, the new Facebook app means that iPad users can also stay in touch with the Official Train2Game Facebook page even when they’re out!

What are your thoughts on the Facebook App for iPad and the growth of social media gaming?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.