Oh there's a pre-beta, then a beta testing? I have no idea how this works. Any way to tell if testing has moved from pre beta, to beta when actually occurs?
Pre-beta testing is simply alpha testing. This is where the creators have finished the game and are playing it through just to squash the most obvious bugs and to see if there are stuff that should be improved upon.
Beta testing is when you gather a larger group of volunteers to play through the game and find as many as the still existing bugs as possible and report them.
The creators then try to fix all these bugs while beta testing is still going and/or for a while after. Some games then go back into a new cycle of betatesting and this can go on and on for a long while. Don't know how long or how many times they intend to betatest dragonspear, but at least one cycle is confirmed (otherwise they wouldn't have asked for volunteers to sign up).
The traditional game development release goals were: Alpha: All functionality and features implemented. Game is playable, usually you can play through the "A" path (main story or theme) completely. Usually lots of bugs.
Beta: A phase of finding and fixing bugs, polishing things up so they are the best they can be with the resources available.
Gold: The game is out in the wild for sale and is "done".
In the age of digital download and online games, these phases have expanded and changed meaning a lot, but mostly still the same ideas.
Beta is usually split up into a few phases now, such as Internal/Private Beta (invite only, usually the developers and close friends/family/peers), Closed Beta (Invite only, but open to all applicants. Game information is still restricted, usually has an NDA, can't talk about the game to anyone etc), Public Beta ( usually invite only still, but you can talk about the game, take screenshots, stream video of it etc) and Open Beta (open to everyone, no restrictions, help stress test game servers etc).
Gold now typically means the game is in a state to sell, but no longer necessarily means the game is "finished" - DLC and patches can continue to be released indefinitely.
OK, after a secret and unanimous vote in the forum we decided it is time for some new year info on the project. Obey the democratic community, release the info!
How about now? 25 hours long, should have had more than enough time for several play throughs to work out the bugs...Seriously, I don't want to die waiting for this game.
Excuse my ignorance but is there an ETA for Siege of Dragonspear? This forum confuses me lately
Cheers
No. The latest Oster twitter says something to the effect of 'when the game tells us it's done'. And while it is important to complain about this, @TrentOster is unlikely to change. My guess -- based on consulting tea leaves and nothing else -- would be the end of March.
While that prediction and $19.99 will get you a latte at Starbucks it is based on chatter about beta testing, absence of promo materials and the fact that the Beamdogs have only been back at work for 9 days or so. They need to expand the current beta pool, go to public beta and promote the game. So, March.
Technically there is no official ETA aside from "When it's done". But the expansion is content complete, which means that everything we do from now until release is polish.
Despite the agonizing wait, I'd rather this release go as smoothly as the IWD:EE release went, rather than like the initial releases of BG:EE and BG2:EE. I'm glad Beamdog has learned from past mistakes, and the devs are taking their time to do everything they can to make sure the game is good to go at release, rather than succumbing to pressure to "get it out the door" in an unpolished, buggy state the way so many companies do nowadays.
@Dee so to answer the original thread question...almost?
I'm in the delay until everything is perfect camp, I'd prefer a title that had a little bit of spit and shine compared to near-finished titles that we are worryingly seeing more off these days from the AAA releases.
Just know that my girlfriend got me a IOS voucher as a Christmas gift to purchase SoD and with each passing day I'm reminded that you have ruined My Christmas and our relationship further strained. No pressure.
Technically there is no official ETA aside from "When it's done". But the expansion is content complete, which means that everything we do from now until release is polish.
Technically there is no official ETA aside from "When it's done". But the expansion is content complete, which means that everything we do from now until release is polish.
so maybe that means that you can revealing some things like price and or localizations, maybe new trailer?
Comments
Beta testing is when you gather a larger group of volunteers to play through the game and find as many as the still existing bugs as possible and report them.
The creators then try to fix all these bugs while beta testing is still going and/or for a while after. Some games then go back into a new cycle of betatesting and this can go on and on for a long while. Don't know how long or how many times they intend to betatest dragonspear, but at least one cycle is confirmed (otherwise they wouldn't have asked for volunteers to sign up).
Alpha: All functionality and features implemented. Game is playable, usually you can play through the "A" path (main story or theme) completely. Usually lots of bugs.
Beta: A phase of finding and fixing bugs, polishing things up so they are the best they can be with the resources available.
Gold: The game is out in the wild for sale and is "done".
In the age of digital download and online games, these phases have expanded and changed meaning a lot, but mostly still the same ideas.
Beta is usually split up into a few phases now, such as Internal/Private Beta (invite only, usually the developers and close friends/family/peers), Closed Beta (Invite only, but open to all applicants. Game information is still restricted, usually has an NDA, can't talk about the game to anyone etc), Public Beta ( usually invite only still, but you can talk about the game, take screenshots, stream video of it etc) and Open Beta (open to everyone, no restrictions, help stress test game servers etc).
Gold now typically means the game is in a state to sell, but no longer necessarily means the game is "finished" - DLC and patches can continue to be released indefinitely.
(at least that is what I tell myself when trying to spell Nizidramanii'yt )
Nizidramanii'yt and Thaxllssillyia are really good names to name your children.
Cheers
While that prediction and $19.99 will get you a latte at Starbucks it is based on chatter about beta testing, absence of promo materials and the fact that the Beamdogs have only been back at work for 9 days or so. They need to expand the current beta pool, go to public beta and promote the game. So, March.
I'm in the delay until everything is perfect camp, I'd prefer a title that had a little bit of spit and shine compared to near-finished titles that we are worryingly seeing more off these days from the AAA releases.
Just know that my girlfriend got me a IOS voucher as a Christmas gift to purchase SoD and with each passing day I'm reminded that you have ruined My Christmas and our relationship further strained. No pressure.