<html>

<head>
<title>loonygames presents: Pad Happy - Sega, Playstation, Nintendo Ranting</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<style type="text/css">
a { text-decoration: none; }
a:hover { color:000000;  text-decoration: underline; }


</style>
</head>

<body bgcolor="#FFF4D0" link="#3333FF" vlink="#000000" alink="#000000">
<center>
</center>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="58">
  <tr> 
    <td height="69" width="29%" align="left" valign="top"> 
      <div align="left"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><b><i><img src="../../images/logo_new.jpg" width="182" height="63" border="0" usemap="#logoa"> 
        </i></b></font></div>
    </td>
    <td height="69" width="29%" align="center" valign="top"> <center>
<script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2373963192914918";
/* 468x60 */
google_ad_slot = "3417104156";
google_ad_width = 468;
google_ad_height = 60;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script>
</center>
 
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="29">
  <tr> 
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../about.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><b><font size="2">about</font></b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../feedback.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>feedback</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../archives/index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>archives</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <b><a href="../../../submissions/index.html"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">submissions</font></a></b></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<div align="center"> <br>
</div>
<table width="100%" border="0">
  <tr> 
    <td width="72%"> 
      <h5><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">//<a href="../../../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">loonygames</font></a>://<a href="../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">issue 
        2.7</font></a>://<a href="index.html"><font color="#7C420E">pad happy</font></a>://<a href="index.php"><font color="#7C420E">1</font></a>, 
        <a href="index2.php"><font color="#7C420E">2</font></a>, 3</font></b></h5>
    </td>
    <td align="right" valign="middle" width="28%"> 
      <div align="right"> 
        <h5><a href="http://www.loonygames.com/includes/printme.pl?url=/2.7/ph/"><img src="../../images/icons/print01.gif" width="27" height="27" align="baseline" border="0" alt="switch to printer-friendly version"></a></h5>
      </div>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<br>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
  <tr> 
    <td align="center" valign="top" width="25%"> 
      <table border="0" width="99%" bgcolor="#D7B582" align="center" bordercolor="#E0E0E0">
        <tr> 
          <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> 
            <!--#exec
cgi="/includes/rand_quot.cgi"--> </font> <p><webdog><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0022A8"><b><font color="#693A0C">What's 
           new today:</font></b></font> 
          
<p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../../index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">New!!!</font></b></a><br></b>
  The archives have been cleaned up, dead links fixed, and the printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments on the main page!</font></p>

 
<p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../2.15/feat/index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">Livin' 
  With The Sims</font></b></a><br></b>
  theAntiELVIS explores the wild and wacky world that is Will Wright's <b>The Sims</b>, 
  asking the inevitable quesiton, &quot;is <b>The Sims</b> the first step toward a virtual 
  life where everyone is Swedish?&quot;</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../2.15/pixel/index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">Pixel 
  Obscura </font></b></a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br>
  Josh Vasquez on <b>Omikron: The Nomad Soul</b>.</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../rl/index.html" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">Real 
  Life </font></b></a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br>
  Check out our newest comic strip, <b>Real Life</b>! Updated daily!</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="../../uf.1" target=""><b><font color="#00025E">User 
  Friendly</font></b></a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br>
  Updated daily!</font></p>
<p></webdog> </p>
 
            <p></p>
            <p> </p>
            <p></p>
            <!--#include virtual="/includes/includes/commerce_ssi.htm" --> 
            <!--#include virtual="/includes/includes/art_ssi.htm" --></td>
        </tr>
      </table>
      <br>
      <table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#D7B582">
        <tr bgcolor="#D7B582"> 
          <td> 
            <div align="center"> 
              <p align="left"><font size="-1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0022A8"><b><font color="#00025E">Random 
                Feature:</font></b></font> </font> </p>
              <p><!--#exec
cgi="/includes/rand_thumb.cgi"--><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"> 
                </font> </i></p>
            </div>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
      <br>
      <table width="99%" border="0" bgcolor="#D7B582">
        <tr> 
          <td> 
            <div align="center"> 
              <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" name="">
                <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b><font color="#339900">Search 
                the Archives!</font></b></font> 
               
                 <INPUT TYPE=text name=q size=12 maxlength=255 value="">
 <INPUT type=submit name=sa VALUE="Google Search">
 <INPUT type=hidden name=cof 
VALUE="LW:216;L:http:/home/loonygames/loony.timedoctor.org/content/images/logo1.jpg;LH:55;AH:center;S:http://www.loonygames.com;AWFID:13a298c7abe84fd0;">
<input type=hidden name=domains value="loonygames.com"> 
<input type=hidden name=sitesearch value="loonygames.com">               
</div>
              </form>

              <p align="left"><i> </i></p>
            </div>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </td>
    <td width="75%" align="center" valign="top"> 
      <table width="90%" border="0" cellpadding="0" align="center">
        <tr> 
          <td width="50%" valign="top"> 
            <div align="center"> 
              <table width="98%" border="0">
                <tr> 
                  <td width="55%"> 
                    <div align="left"> 
                      <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="2">Pad 
                        Happy: </font><font color="#904C10" size="4"><br>
                        <font size="3">Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About 
                        Game Testing</font></font></i></font></b><br>
                      
                      <div align="right"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">By 
                        <a href="mailto:nickf@writeme.com">Nick Ferguson</a></font></div>
                    </div>
                  </td>
                  <td width="45%" align="right" valign="top"> 
                    <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E">Vol. 
                      2, Issue 7<br>
                      December 23, 1999&nbsp; </font></b></h5>
                  </td>
                </tr>
              </table>
              <h5 align="right">&nbsp; </h5>
              <div align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><loonystart></font></div>
              <h3 align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">&#147;Testing 
                is a good place to start in the industry&#148;</font></h3>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
                I would never claim that my experience of testing was definitive 
                &#150; there are as many types of &#147;testing&#148; as there 
                are programming (well, almost). I had the good fortune to work 
                for a developer with substantial in-house resources which made 
                things a lot more interesting for a mere tester (i.e. designers 
                looking for design feedback from testing, personal contact with 
                the development team) than working for a publisher. I would say, 
                though, that this summary of the utility of a testing job is one 
                generally accepted by my peers: if you can&#146;t code, can&#146;t 
                do art and have no development experience whatsoever, testing 
                is your best shot at that oh-so-valuable &#147;foot in the door&#148;. 
                Plus, if you play your cards right, it can lead to some interesting 
                places (junior designers are often recruited from testing departments). 
                Some people may get a boost from work they do in the pubic domain 
                (i.e. the guys who did the original Team Fortress now work for 
                Valve) but testing is the place to be if your killer mod isn&#146;t 
                going beta anytime soon...</font></p>
              <h3 align="left"></h3>
              <h3 align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">&#147;Games 
                testers work crappy hours and get lousy pay&#148;</font></h3>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
                With most jobs in game development the hours get pretty hellish 
                towards the end of a project, and testing is no exception. Playing 
                games &#147;all day&#148; may turn into &#147;all night&#148; 
                during the frantic final weeks, with testing departments often 
                getting the shitty end of the stick when it comes to late nights 
                at the office. As for crappy pay, that&#146;s definitely true 
                if you&#146;re comparing testers&#146; pay to that of programmers 
                and artists (especially of the &#145;senior&#146; variety). However, 
                in comparison to the many other non-game related jobs you could 
                be doing for the same money, testing has to look good in comparison 
                (i.e. cinema usher - another job I did that everyone else seemed 
                to think must be non-stop fun). The long hours can add insult 
                to injury as it is unusual for testers to get &#147;overtime&#148; 
                as such, but some companies will pay a share of the royalties 
                or completion bonus which can make up for the otherwise exploitative 
                wage scale! Alas, whereas newbie programmers and artists can see 
                comparatively rapid rises in their pay the same doesn't really 
                hold true for testers (which is why nobody really wants to be 
                a tester for more than a couple of years if they can help it).</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I realise 
                the above is a fairly abridged guide to testing If anyone has 
                any questions about testing that I&#146;ve left unanswered or 
                is looking for advice, I&#146;m be happy to help. I&#146;d also 
                love to hear from those of you that are testers. For those interested, 
                the following is a quick rundown of the things propping up my 
                CV when I was hunting for testing interviews: aside from my impending 
                Psychology degree, I had taught myself C over the last year and 
                written a (fairly poor) Net Yaroze PlayStation game which was 
                of sub-NES quality but did teach me a ton about the basic structures 
                of game development. I&#146;d been writing for loonygames for 
                about 6 months, and had previously written for a number of other 
                gaming websites (including the now-defunct-but-much-beloved N64 
                Gazetta, of which I was Associate Editor) over the last 3 years. 
                I also let the interviewers know that I had owned just about every 
                console (and a fair number of computer systems) released since 
                the mid-80&#146;s, and I guess my pathological love of games seemed 
                to shine through automatically. That&#146;s the strongest thing 
                on my side at the end of the day: I love games and I really enjoy 
                being able to make them for a living with a bunch of other like-minded 
                folk. It&#146;s a cool job, and a cool thing to be part of. Merry 
                Christmas, everyone, and Happy New Year - see you on the other 
                side of Y2K!<br>
                <br>
                </font></p>
              <p align="right"></p>
              <p align="right"><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- 
                Nick Ferguson is looking forward to &#147;testing&#148; his Xmas 
                pressies this year. Yeah, baby!</font></i></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></loonystart></font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font></p>
              <p align="left"> 
            </DIV>
            <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </font> 
            <table width="100%" border="0">
                <tr> 
                  
                <td width="50%"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="index2.php"><font color="#7C420E"><b><font size="+1">&lt;&lt;Prev</font></b></font> 
                  </a></font></td>
                  <td width="50%"> 
                    <div align="center"> 
                      
                    <p align="left"></p>
                  </div>
                    </td>
                </tr>
              </table>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<br>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="29">
  <tr> 
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../about.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>about</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../feedback.1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>feedback</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <a href="../../../archives/index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b>archives</b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="25%" align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#86531A"> 
      <b><a href="../../../submissions/index.html"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">submissions</font></a></b></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<table width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#3596B3" height="29">
  <tr> 
    <td height="20" width="35%"><a href="../../../index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><b><i>loonygames</i></b></font></a></td>
    <td height="20" width="65%"> 
      <div align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#FFFFFF"><!--#exec
cgi="/includes/rand_bot.cgi"--></font></div>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. Pad Happy is &copy; 1999 Niick Ferguson. All other content 
  is &copy; 1999 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited, 
  so watch it - we know kung fu, gaijin.</font></i></p>
 <map name="logoa">
  <area shape="rect" coords="52,47,112,59" href="http://www.bluesnews.com">
  <area shape="rect" coords="3,3,179,46" href="../../../index.html">
</map>
</body>
</html>
