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开发者该如何选择有效方法去测试游戏

发布时间:2016-11-16 17:19:47 Tags:,,,,

作者:Daniel Doan

游戏测试真的是一个被过度使用的术语。它拥有许多不同含义,但最终归结起来就是你尝试着想要实现的目标。让我们快速着眼于不同游戏测试类型以及它们是如何融入整体框架的。

专注测试。这种测试类型是关于调整你的目标用户。在这种测试中,你将使用目标用户群体作为测试对象并了解他们是否喜欢你的游戏。你必须足够明确。有时候在这种测试中你还需要邀请其他设计师为游戏创造出更优秀的整体体验。外部设计师也许能够帮助你创造出更适合你的目标用户的游戏,并且对于你来说获得来自专家的补充性意见也不是什么坏事。

质量保证测试。这是大多数人在听到测试这一词会想到的。不过这同时也是最无聊且最单调的测试形式。这种测试的目的是测试游戏设计中的错误和漏洞。即包含反复玩游戏中的某一部分去找出那些未被察觉到的故障或无用的“功能”。

可用性测试。为了了解玩家对于游戏的理解和看法,开发者通常都会使用这种测试。在这类型测试中,开发者会提供给玩家特定的目标或说明去了解他们对游戏的理解以及会如何在游戏中使用这些规则。如果你担心游戏的特定部分是否会让玩家感到困惑,这种测试便是你的最佳选择。在此你的目标便是确保在游戏发行前将用户体验和游戏界面有效整合在一起。

平衡测试。如果游戏中存在一些会导致玩家错过大多数有趣选择的内容,那么一款本来有趣的游戏将迅速变得无趣。如果游戏中只存在一个获胜策略,并且遵循该策略的玩家将更有优势,这将不如拥有多条获胜路径的游戏有趣。同样地,如果游戏中的一个角色拥有相对于其他人的明显优势,开发者最好能够尽早意识到这点以避免玩家感觉游戏不公平。对于这种测试,你最好使用那些了解游戏机制设计的资深玩家。

乐趣测试。从属性来看乐趣是一种主观感受,但作为游戏开发者,你的工作便是为玩家创造乐趣体验。所以你便会希望你的大部分游戏是有趣的,而不只是部分游戏。乐趣测试是确保游戏从整体上让玩家感到有趣的一种有效方式。当开发者在使用这种测试形式时必须确保能够向测试者咨询质量和数量问题。

经验教训:根据我的经验,开发者在进行测试时最常犯的一个错误便是缺少侧重点。每种类型的测试都拥有不同目标,所以开发者必须在选择测试前明确每种测试的目标。并在使用测试这一词时清楚这些测试的不同定义,不要只是为了测试而去测试。

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转发,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

GameDev Protips: How To Playtest Your Indie Game The Right Way

by Daniel Doan

Playtesting is a vastly overused term. It can mean many different things, but will ultimately boil down to what you are trying to accomplish. Let’s take a quick look at the different types of playtests and how they fit into the whole picture.

Focus Testing. This type of testing is all about suiting your demographic. In this type of testing, you’ll test using your targeted demographic and see how they like the game. Make sure to be super specific. Sometimes, in this type of setting you will also bring in other designers to make the game an overall better experience. External designers may help you with helping to make the game a better fit for your target player, and having a second opinion from a professional won’t hurt.

Quality Assurance Testing. This is what most people think about when they hear the word testing. Arguable the most boring and monotonous form of testing. The purpose of this type of testing to test for errors and bugs in the game’s design. This consists of playing a particular section of a game over and over again trying to discover glitches or unexpected “features” of a game that weren’t intended.

Usability Testing. These tests are frequently conducted in order to see how players understand and view the game. In this type of setting usually very specific goals or instructions are given to a player to see how they understand and apply those rules to the game. If you’re worried about a specific section of your game that you think may be particularly confusing, usability testing is your best bet. The goal is to make sure that the user experience and interface is as well put together as possible prior to the game’s release.

Balance Testing. A fun game can quickly become a snoozefest if some kind of play exploit exists that lets a player bypass most of the interesting choices in the game. If only one strategy can win and it is just a matter of which player follows that strategy the best, it’s not nearly as interesting as if there are a multitude of paths to victory. Likewise, if one character in the game has a clear advantage over the others, it is important to identify this as soon as possible that so that players do not feel the game is being unfair. For this kind of testing, it’s imperative that you employ seasoned or veteran gamers with a deep knowledge of game mechanics design.

Fun Testing. Fun is pretty subjective in nature, but as a game developer, your entire career hinges on crafting fun experiences for players. On top of that, you want the overwhelming majority of your game to be fun, not just parts of it. Fun testing is a good way to ensure that your game as a whole register as fun in the player’s mind. Make sure to ask both qualitative and quantitative questions when surveying testers when dealing with this particular form of testing.

Actionable Takeaways: From my experience, one of the most common mistakes that developers make regarding testing is a lack of focus. Each type of testing has different goals in mind, so remember to make the goal of each testing session crystal clear before diving in. Remember these different definitions of testing when the word playtesting is used, and don’t just test for testing’s sake. Make sure that all five points are properly addressed and given enough attention when your game is ready to be tested.

If you’ve found this article helpful, don’t forget to share it with your friends on social media!

Thank you so much for reading my article! I’m Daniel Doan, the Co-Founder of Black Shell Media. We’re a publishing and marketing firm dedicated to helping indie developers succeed.(source:gamasutra

 


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