Squashing Those Nasty Bugs! - Sitting Down with the Senior Game Tester
[h3]1. Please introduce yourself and describe your role in Prison City's development.[/h3]
Christian: My name is Christian "Siz" Czmar. I've been on the QA team since the start of Prison City's development. I've since been promoted to Senior Game Tester and I'm the person responsible for finding and squashing all the bugs with Programancer, the lead developer.
[h3]2. What's it like, having played so many versions of Prison City, going from the earliest builds to the finished product now? And can you list a few memorable bugs that stood out to you across the builds you tested?[/h3]
Christian: It's pretty crazy to have spent so much time with a game like this. I have more hours with the Steam release than anyone on the planet, and that doesn't even take into account every build before we were up on Steam, and all the testing done on every version of the game for every console.
As for bugs, some of the most memorable would have to be Hal not respawning in boss rooms and just watching the boss hang out alone in the room. Another one that comes to mind is: If you fell from the highest areas of the second to last level and respawned, the game would do this slow crawl up on the side of the tower, until it finally reached Hal--the player character. It was pretty cinematic if you put the right music behind it.
[h3]3. Lots of people tend to think QA testing is just about playing games, nothing more. How would you describe the nature of your work and why QA testing is important in the development process as a whole?[/h3]
Christian: I mean, it is a lot of playing games--that isn't wrong, but you're only playing the game normally a few times. Once I've learned how to play a game at a high level, I spend the next several weeks of work acting like I have no idea what I'm doing. Every hole needs to be fallen into, and every wall needs to be run into. That's the simplest part, honestly; bugging and reporting is the trickier part. Once I find a problem, I need to tell Programancer what the exact conditions are that caused it. You'd be shocked how many problems only happen when you fall at the right speed and angle. The actual hardest part is knowing we won't find everything; there is always another obscure thing around the corner.
[h3]4. What's it like communicating with Programancer as you went through multiple builds of Prison City?[/h3]
Christian: Yo, I love Programancer. I was nervous at first reaching out to him. It's always hard to go to someone and say, "Hey, you did something wrong." Programancer always takes news well and he's always a pleasure to work through issues with, or just talk about the game. One of my favorite people to work with.
[h3]5. How do you think QA testing blends together with other game disciplines, like art, design, marketing, and writing?[/h3]
Christian: You need to be trying to keep in mind all the other disciplines in QA. If something is wrong with the art, game design, or even the writing, it's a part of my job to note something down and keep the relevant party aware of it. That's not just bugs and errors. If something is just not made well or coming across right in-game, that needs to be heard as well. The position blends in as the safety net for everything else.
[h3]6. Bonus: What are some recommendations you'd suggest to anyone thinking about getting into QA testing for a game studio? What might someone expect jumping into QA testing for the first time?[/h3]
Christian: I would highly suggest that you think about if you're someone who can self-motivate. Most times, there isn't one big thing you need to test; you are usually going out of your way to make up problems and then seeing if the issue has any truth to it. What if I pause here? What if I let this enemy live and continue moving? Does the respawn work in this situation? You need to be okay with the fact that some days you have nothing to show for your work, and that's a good thing. If it's hard to find problems, it means the team has been doing a good job.
Take on the Techno-Terrorists in Prison City--available NOW!
Follow the Retroware publisher page to stay up-to-date with all our games, news, and more!
https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/retroware
Christian: My name is Christian "Siz" Czmar. I've been on the QA team since the start of Prison City's development. I've since been promoted to Senior Game Tester and I'm the person responsible for finding and squashing all the bugs with Programancer, the lead developer.
[h3]2. What's it like, having played so many versions of Prison City, going from the earliest builds to the finished product now? And can you list a few memorable bugs that stood out to you across the builds you tested?[/h3]
Christian: It's pretty crazy to have spent so much time with a game like this. I have more hours with the Steam release than anyone on the planet, and that doesn't even take into account every build before we were up on Steam, and all the testing done on every version of the game for every console.
As for bugs, some of the most memorable would have to be Hal not respawning in boss rooms and just watching the boss hang out alone in the room. Another one that comes to mind is: If you fell from the highest areas of the second to last level and respawned, the game would do this slow crawl up on the side of the tower, until it finally reached Hal--the player character. It was pretty cinematic if you put the right music behind it.
[h3]3. Lots of people tend to think QA testing is just about playing games, nothing more. How would you describe the nature of your work and why QA testing is important in the development process as a whole?[/h3]
Christian: I mean, it is a lot of playing games--that isn't wrong, but you're only playing the game normally a few times. Once I've learned how to play a game at a high level, I spend the next several weeks of work acting like I have no idea what I'm doing. Every hole needs to be fallen into, and every wall needs to be run into. That's the simplest part, honestly; bugging and reporting is the trickier part. Once I find a problem, I need to tell Programancer what the exact conditions are that caused it. You'd be shocked how many problems only happen when you fall at the right speed and angle. The actual hardest part is knowing we won't find everything; there is always another obscure thing around the corner.
[h3]4. What's it like communicating with Programancer as you went through multiple builds of Prison City?[/h3]
Christian: Yo, I love Programancer. I was nervous at first reaching out to him. It's always hard to go to someone and say, "Hey, you did something wrong." Programancer always takes news well and he's always a pleasure to work through issues with, or just talk about the game. One of my favorite people to work with.
[h3]5. How do you think QA testing blends together with other game disciplines, like art, design, marketing, and writing?[/h3]
Christian: You need to be trying to keep in mind all the other disciplines in QA. If something is wrong with the art, game design, or even the writing, it's a part of my job to note something down and keep the relevant party aware of it. That's not just bugs and errors. If something is just not made well or coming across right in-game, that needs to be heard as well. The position blends in as the safety net for everything else.
[h3]6. Bonus: What are some recommendations you'd suggest to anyone thinking about getting into QA testing for a game studio? What might someone expect jumping into QA testing for the first time?[/h3]
Christian: I would highly suggest that you think about if you're someone who can self-motivate. Most times, there isn't one big thing you need to test; you are usually going out of your way to make up problems and then seeing if the issue has any truth to it. What if I pause here? What if I let this enemy live and continue moving? Does the respawn work in this situation? You need to be okay with the fact that some days you have nothing to show for your work, and that's a good thing. If it's hard to find problems, it means the team has been doing a good job.
Take on the Techno-Terrorists in Prison City--available NOW!
Follow the Retroware publisher page to stay up-to-date with all our games, news, and more!
https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/retroware