There
are three different kinds of test phases, they are Alpha, Beta and
Gold. Each stage has its own little things that it needs to work out
before the game can move onto the next stage.
The
alpha stage is then the game is purely a testng phase, it can mainly
consist of white boxing and could cause loss of of data or crashes.
Alpha stages are often closed to the public, unless the game is one in
which is crowd or independently funded in which case the alpha will
often be available to buy or test as the developers will not be able to
get a large test team as easily as a triple a title developer. Alpha
stage will often end with a “feature freeze” in which mean no more
features will be added into the game.
The
beta stage is the second phase of a games life, after the alpha. The
beta phase may also have some data loss or crashes, much like in the
alpha. The beta will often focus around the players usability. Beta
testing often isn't public, although recently public beta testing has
become a lot more popular among developers. Beta versions are often used
to play test/how off the game before it gets released, a technical
preview. There are two different types of beta, closed and open, closed
means that it is closed to the public and will either be emailed out to a
few select people in the public or a small in house team, open means
that the beta is open to the public, it is for everyone to use and try
free of charge.
The
gold stage is also known as the release phase, this is when the game if
fully complete with all of the bugs found during the alpha and beta
stages worked out. In this phase the game can be either released
digitally or physically. The gold stage is when the master version of
the game is to be mass produced. The game will not get into the gold
phase until the software has met a defines quality level. An
abbreviation is used in the gold phase RTM (Release to Manufacturing).
No comments:
Post a Comment