What are different aspects of Game Testing?

Today’s world is fantasized with games. Children and youth both are addicted to games. With the cutting edge technology, gaming technology has reached new heights. Now games have become so exciting with their real world technologies. With the growing demand for games, there always a tough competition between the games developing companies. They struggle with technology to deliver the best quality games. So like software programs and applications, games also have to be tested for quality and performance.

Therefore, game testing is considered to be an important part of game development.

OBJECTIVE OF GAME TESTING
1. Game testing can thought of as a kind of software testing which aims at testing the quality of the games.
2. The main objective of game testing is to find all the errors and bugs in the gaming software and preparing their documentation.
3. Games require very high technology and thus call for the need of analytic competence.
4. It is developed using computer expertise and endurance.
5. There are some critical evaluation skills on which it is based.

WHY GAME TESTING BECAME NECESSARY?

1. In the era of early video games, all the development and testing process was carried out by the developer of the game only since the games were small and primitive technology was used.
2. But, today the games are becoming very lengthy and complex due to the advent of high technologies.
3. So, there is a need for qualitative and quantitative assessment of the games which can be achieved by game testing.
4. Today’s game companies have separate expert game testers.
5. The main aim of game testers is to find note any problems that they discover in the documentations and reports.
6. They should have the skills to finish the games at the most difficult level. Game testing is carried out on the program before releasing its alpha version.

HOW GAME TESTING IS PERFORMED?
A critical component of a game is quality even though there are no standard methodologies to judge the video quality.

1. Different testers and developers have their own methodologies.
2. There is a separate quality assurance staff in game companies to judge the quality of the game.
3. Starting is commenced as soon as the first code of the game is written and it continues till the whole program is completed.
4. The progress of the game is monitored by the QA staff.
5. When the whole program is completed, a test plan is written and test cases are prepared and the testing is carried out accordingly.
6. This is done before alpha stage.
7. As the beta stage approaches, one of the aspects of the game is daily testing according to the plan.
8. List of the features is prepared which are to be included and which are to be excluded.
9. Beta stage testing includes contribution from volunteer testers.
10.The game is played and tested.
11.The discovered glitches are noted down.
12.The game play should be creative since then only most of the bugs will be discovered.
13.There is a time period before the deadline which is termed as crunch time.
14.In this period the features that were added later are tested.
15.The bugs discovered are ranked according to the severity they can cause:

- Critical bugs/ A bugs: that can cause the game to crash.
- Essential problems/ B bugs: bugs that require attention even though the game runs well.
- Obscure problems/ C bugs: these bugs are small but require to be corrected.

The following people are involved in testing of a game:
- Game producer
The person sets the deadlines for testing based upon quality assurance and marketing.
- Lead tester
The person manages list of bugs and most responsible for the quality of game.
- Testers
The person checks the working of the game.
- Software development engineer in test
The person builds automated frame works and test cases.

What are different characteristics of alpha testing?

For alpha testing, it won’t be wrong if we say that it is another name for acceptance testing. Alpha testing is very much similar to the acceptance testing. Alpha testing is performed in the front of the customer or the client for their satisfaction and acceptance.

The client or the customer needs to verify or check whether the software artifact has been developed according to their:
- Service level agreement or SLA as it is abbreviated.
- Requirements
- Specifications
- Defect rate efficiency or DRE as it is known in short form.

If during the alpha testing the client or the manufacturer missed something, and discovers it later, then the software system has to again undergo a second alpha testing before giving the software product another green signal. But, client or customer revision is required mostly in beta testing.

Alpha testing can be formally defined as an actual operation or simulation testing before the launch of the software system and it does not involves software developers.

It is the testing of software on the site of the software developer by the customer or the client after the completion and finishing of the software system or the application.

- Alpha testing can also be called a kind of user acceptance testing or UAT a sit is known in short form.
- Alpha testing is carried out at the site of the software development. It is done by the clients or the customers. When the project is the development phase, it is said to be under alpha testing.
- Alpha testing allows the software tester to make some minor changes or modifications during the testing or at the end of it.
- It is carried out in the front of the developers, so that they can now what is the error or the bug and what it is and how it can be fixed efficiently.

- Alpha testing can be thought of as a stage of software prototype at which it may be discovered that the software system does not have all the required functionalities and specifications. But, one thing is definitely sure that the software system will have all the core functionalities and operational abilities and it will efficiently accept the input data values and generate the proper output as expected.
- Alpha testing is carried out on any system other than the system on which the software system was developed in the office of the developer.
- Client or the customer carries out the alpha testing under the leadership of the software developer.
- These days the alpha testing is being done by both the end users and the software developers.
- Alpha testing is the complete testing as it contains most of the functionality and specifications.
- Sometimes a group of clients or users are selected to perform alpha testing for the software system.
- Mostly the alpha testing is performed in-house or sometimes is performed by an external testing firm which in close terms or cooperation with the concerned software development corporation or the company.
- Sometimes it may also happen that the software developers may test the software system in front of the end users present within the development environment.
- This kind of testing is popularly known as off site testing. The end user side or the testing side is also called the development end.

In alpha testing it is necessary to determine whether the the software system is delivering the service as it was expected by the client or the customer. The environment in which the alpha testing is performed is called the client environment.

Software Testing - Validation Phase - Alpha Testing

A software prototype stage when the software is first available for run. The software has the core functionalities in it but complete functionality is not aimed at. It would be able to accept inputs and give outputs. Usually, the most used functionalities are developed more. This test is conducted at the developer's site only. In a software development life cycle, depending on the functionalities, the number of alpha phases required are laid down in the project plan itself.

During this, the testing is not a through one since only the prototype of the software is available. The basic installation and un-installation tests and the completed core functionalities are tested.

The aim of alpha testing is :
- to identify any serious errors.
- to judge if the intended functionalities are implemented.
- to provide to the customer the feel of the software.

A thorough understanding of the product is done now. During this phase, the test plan and test cases for the beta phase which is the next stage is created. The errors reported are documented internally for the testers and developers reference. No issues are usually reported and recorded in any of the defect management or bug trackers.

The role of the test lead is to understand the system requirements completely and to initiate the preparation of test plan for the beta phase. The role of the tester is to provide input while there is still time to make significant changes as the design evolves and to report errors to developers.

Overview of User Acceptance testing - what does it mean and what are its forms.

User Acceptance Testing is often the final step before rolling out the application. Usually the end users who will be using the applications test the application before ‘accepting’ the application.
A formal product evaluation performed by a customer as a condition of purchase. The testing can be based upon the User Requirements Specification to which the system should conform. Use Acceptance testing is black box testing.

USER : System developers cannot do it, as although they are expert in writing software, they are unlikely to know anything about the realities of running the organisation, other then what they have acquired from requirements specifications, and similar documents.

Acceptance : The acceptance of a system means you are confident it will give benefit to the organisation. It does not mean that it only meets the original specification as requested.

Testing : Whenever people are asked what testing is, many of them say it is to prove the system works.
The point of UAT is for business users to try and make a system fail, taking into account the real organisation it will be working in.

User Acceptance testing can be in the form of :
Alpha Testing - Tests are conducted at the development site by the end users. Environment can be controlled a little bit in this case.
Beta Testing - Tests are conducted at customer site and development team do not have any control on the test environment.

What are different types of black box testing ?

The base of the Black box testing strategy lies in the selection of appropriate data as per functionality and testing it against the functional specifications in order to check for normal and abnormal behavior of the system. These testing types are again divided in two groups:

Testing in which user plays a role of tester.

- Functional Testing : The testing of the software is done against the functional requirements.
- Load testing : It is the process of subjecting a computer, peripheral, server, network or application to a work level approaching the limits of its specifications.
- Stress Testing : The process of determining the ability of a computer, network, program or device to maintain a certain level of effectiveness under unfavorable conditions.
- Ad-hoc testing : Testing carried out informally; no formal test preparation takes place, no recognized test design technique is used, there are no expectations for results and randomness guides the test execution activity.
- Smoke Testing : It is done in order to check if the application is ready for further major testing and is working properly without failing up to least expected level.
- Recovery Testing : Testing aimed at verifying the system's ability to recover from varying degrees of failure.
- Volume Testing : Huge amount of data is processed through the application in order to check the extreme limitations of the system.
- Usability Testing : This testing is done if User Interface of the application stands an important consideration and needs to be specific for the specific type of user.

User is not required.

- Alpha Testing : Testing of a software product or system conducted at the developer's site by the end user.
- Beta Testing : The pre-testing of hardware or software products with selected typical customers to discover inadequate features or possible product enhancements before it is released to the general public. Testing of a rerelease of a software product conducted by customers.
- User Acceptance Testing : The end users who will be using the applications test the application before ‘accepting’ the application. This type of testing gives the end users the confidence that the application being delivered to them meets their requirements.