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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 39</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
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        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0022A8"><b><a target="" href="../../corner/index.html"><font size="-1">Beaker's 
          Bent</font></a><font size="-1">:</font></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"><br>
          Test Early, Test Often</font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          Rich &quot;<a target="_self" href="mailto:rich@loonygames.com">Beaker</a>&quot; 
          Wyckoff</font></b></font></p>
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        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Our game has gone through 
          two kid tests already. Between those tests, we have reworked such things 
          as our keyboard controls, on-screen interface, and the approach we use 
          to building levels. Even if at first it seems frustrating to have to 
          rework elements which we have already spent countless hours designing 
          and implementing, every change we have made has improved that almost 
          indefinable "feel" that will make the difference between a game and 
          a good game. We are doing this early enough in the project (our ship 
          date is a long, long way off) that we can afford to make large changes 
          without feeling that we will miss our ship date or compromise a large 
          bulk of existing work which was based on the old system.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">What we are doing can basically 
          be defined as prototyping – every successive revision we make on our 
          systems and data is closer to something we consider final, and the desire 
          on entering each test is that if it passes the test, we will keep it, 
          or at least use the approach we used for the prototype to make the real 
          data. The difference between what we have been doing and what I have 

          seen on other games I have participated in is that we have put functionality 
          and gameplay ahead of graphics and all other glitzy touches. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In my time in the industry, 
          I have seen project teams produce demo after demo which focuses on the 
          look and other graphical features, saying to themselves "we'll get the 
          gameplay in later." Beyond just certain disastrous dinosaur games, even 
          well-run projects with the best of intentions have followed this plan. 
          I never understood then how anyone could put gameplay after any other 
          feature. How can you expect to produce tons of art and levels before 
          you even know if your game is fun? Perhaps some of this is the mistaken 
          impression that fun can be pictured and written down ahead of time, 
          and that whenever the programmers get around to writing the code which 
          supports that gameplay that it will just spring into being, polished 
          and perfectly formed.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I am here to say now that 
          this does not work. It was the lack of early gameplay implementation 
          and testing which doomed aforementioned dinosaur game, and it was the 
          lack of early implementation and testing which kept the games of my 
          first employer from being polished enough to attract any more than the 
          limited and tolerant hardcore audience.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The question which remains 
          is that when creating with new technology, how do you manage to implement 
          and test early enough? I do not have an answer to this question yet, 
          because in my experience I only have new technology projects which delayed 
          or ignored testing and thus shipped less-than-perfect gameplay and my 
          current existing technology project which is making a point of testing 
          early. All I can say for now is that the number one priority of any 
          project, new technology or not, should be to create great gameplay, 
          and if any other part of the implementation is being prioritized ahead 
          of this, it is a mistake.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">There is even more to making 
          a truly great game than gameplay testing. As I pointed out in the beginning 
          of the article there can be many parts of a game which can just feel 
          wrong. Again, testing is the key here – no matter how juicy a feature 
          sounds in the initial design spec, if it turns out to be slow, or ugly, 
          or too hard to utilize, it should be revised or replaced. These decisions 
          almost never get made if the feature is never seen beyond the engineer 
          who wrote it and the designers who are trying to use it. However, a 
          test with some groups which resembles the target audience can provide 
          a big enough stick to shake a team out of its complacency and into action.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">To conclude, let me repeat 
          this column's title: test early, test often. To be fair, there is such 
          a thing as over-testing, or following a test group's feedback too blindly, 
          but it would double the size of this column to explain how to best handle 
          tests. I can only say that it is a mistake to not test at all, and now 
          that I am finally involved with early testing myself, I can see how 
          it has improved my design work more dramatically and more quickly than 
          I ever could have on my own.</font></p>
        <p align="right"><i><font size="-1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- 
          Rich Wyckoff is a professional game designer.</font></i><br>
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    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
      Beaker's Bent logo illustrated by and is &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. Beaker's 
      Bent is &copy; 1999 Rich Wyckoff. All other content is &copy; 1998 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
      productions</a>. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited, so don't 
      do it. We have ways of making you talk.</font></i></td>
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