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Urban Terror
The 27 Days of Terror: Day 11 - Quality Assurance Commentary
It was prior to the release of Urban Terror Beta 2 we actually searched out and enrolled the services of community gamers to represent the masses as part of our Quality Assurance Team. While it was not without its share of problems, such as non-QA gamers getting the files, we stuck it out and made the best out of a bad situation.
Since those early QA days we have made many changes as to how we beta test with QA. Some QA gamers have been with us for a few years. While we dont actively pursue gamers to join, we feel those we currently have, do make up a good cross-section of the Urban Terror Community. They take their testing position seriously. Its not all fun and playing around, it does take a special kind of person to be an effective QA tester.
Prior to Beta 2, the development team [that numbered 12 people] were the testers, obviously NOT a true cross-section of the community and that oversight did lead to problems before the first popular version of Urban Terror, 1.27. Development and personnel changes prior to Beta 2 gave the game a very different feel to it, but that version was one of the cleanest releases to date. It was then followed up by a few releases, such as 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3, which was another great release, thanks in part to the QA testers. Compared to previous development cycles, woekele feels there is, not much different, except that it has taken much longer until the release and in my experience more European players have joined the QA-team.
When asked, many gamers feel they could do the job. A day does not go by we receive an e-mail, IRC private message or some sort of contact asking if we need any more help. While we love to see the enthusiasm and the desire to help better the game, it is just not possible to accept everyone who asks to join the testing pool. While we had a good base of testers, we did include more Euopean gamers this time around.
Since those early QA days we have made many changes as to how we beta test with QA. Some QA gamers have been with us for a few years. While we dont actively pursue gamers to join, we feel those we currently have, do make up a good cross-section of the Urban Terror Community. They take their testing position seriously. Its not all fun and playing around, it does take a special kind of person to be an effective QA tester.
Prior to Beta 2, the development team [that numbered 12 people] were the testers, obviously NOT a true cross-section of the community and that oversight did lead to problems before the first popular version of Urban Terror, 1.27. Development and personnel changes prior to Beta 2 gave the game a very different feel to it, but that version was one of the cleanest releases to date. It was then followed up by a few releases, such as 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3, which was another great release, thanks in part to the QA testers. Compared to previous development cycles, woekele feels there is, not much different, except that it has taken much longer until the release and in my experience more European players have joined the QA-team.
When asked, many gamers feel they could do the job. A day does not go by we receive an e-mail, IRC private message or some sort of contact asking if we need any more help. While we love to see the enthusiasm and the desire to help better the game, it is just not possible to accept everyone who asks to join the testing pool. While we had a good base of testers, we did include more Euopean gamers this time around.
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