Playtesting, Discord, and More
Added 2018-11-19 00:13:43 +0000 UTCGreetings!
I've mostly been working on writing and the dungeon this week. The renders are still rendering; I expect that'll continue for a few days. Going over the finished ones, I already think I'll end up tweaking and redoing a couple more, but I'll wait until they're all done before making a final decision.
Testing
Up to this point, the only testing I've done on releases is a brief playthrough - usually using the game editor's built-in playtest feature. This makes it quick and easy for me to fix the bugs I catch, but can lead to me missing problems (like many of the 'file not found' crashes that plague my initial releases). This approach has worked fairly well up to this point, but I think it's time to start implementing honest-to-goodness playtesting and bug testing. I have a few reasons for this:
- It will allow most patrons to play bug-free releases, giving them a more enjoyable experience and keeping them from wasting time on unintended problems
- Now that I 'm writing custom plugins for TPE, there is a greater potential for game-crashing bugs
- It would be helpful for me to get feedback - particularly on gameplay - before finalizing releases
The upshot is that I'm going to try to get a group of playtesters together. Hopefully some of you will be interested! If not, I might have to expand my search beyond patrons, but I'm sure I'll be able to find a group somehow.
As I was thinking about the logistics of how to implement this, I realized that Discord would actually be perfect. So I will be making a Discord server after all! At least initially, its main purpose will be to facilitate testing, but depending on the level of interest I may expand the number of channels.
This isn't a promise, but I hope to have a trial version of the dungeon up for testing by this time next week. I'll probably have info about the server up a few days before.
Thank you for your support, and I hope some of you are interested in testing!
Comments
My Discord ID is Haseo#8645. Send me a PM/Friend Request when you want to get started. I have Discord on my phone so I am always there to see messages.
Haseo
2018-11-20 15:28:56 +0000 UTCThanks! I might take you up on that!
Proxxie
2018-11-19 23:24:24 +0000 UTCHey there Proxxie, long time Patron. If you need help starting up the Discord let me know. I have experience in moderating and creating Discord servers from scratch alongside adding bots so that Patrons can link their accounts and such. I am happy to help in any way so let me know if you need help.
Haseo
2018-11-19 19:13:41 +0000 UTC90% of the games i play are Alpha/Beta so I don't let bugs discourage me. I'm Sure most of your patrons feel the same.
Mystery
2018-11-19 17:09:34 +0000 UTCI bet you guys didn't even try using a rock.
PaddyOFurniture
2018-11-19 07:53:23 +0000 UTCYeah, Windows 10 is notorious for resetting settings, especially on major updates. It's gotten a little better, but it's still a good idea to check all the settings you care about most after a version upgrade (e.g. 1803 -> 1809, the update they're rolling out now). Major updates like that also nuke your GPU drivers, so I always follow them by running DDU and installing the latest drivers again manually.
Ver Greeneyes
2018-11-19 07:42:11 +0000 UTCMagic box no work? Hit with rock. If that no work call Gary from IT.
PaddyOFurniture
2018-11-19 02:42:05 +0000 UTCI might do something like that, I've been meaning to set up stretch goals anyway. There are several pieces of equipment I can think of off the top of my head that would make life easier, particularly on the art side of things. I already use a 1500VA UPS, so I'm protected from short power outages, but I forgot about that windows update thing. I went in earlier this year and fixed stuff so that Windows wouldn't automatically restart, but updates often seem to revert that sort of thing >_
Proxxie
2018-11-19 01:56:51 +0000 UTCIs there hardware that would make rendering go quicker? If so, maybe add a stretch goal to fund it? Just a thought since they take so long to render and having something happen right in the middle of them processing would really suck (power outage, random Windows Update, etc.).
Renagede77
2018-11-19 01:43:52 +0000 UTCI'd be happy to test. And a Discord channel would be nice.
Retromancer
2018-11-19 01:32:12 +0000 UTC
