To be a game tester has been a desire of mine for some time, like 20+ years. Two months ago I was awarded the honor of being included in the test group for the initial Exode away team development step 1. This has been an enlightening experience and with the exposure to the game play I am sure I will be able to maximize the fun level while playing. The number of refinements and fixes during this phase has been impressive. The interface became more and more useful and consistent, with many nice additions as testers made suggestions and gave feedback.
Software testing is my real life job, so being able to participate and see how others do testing is refreshing. I can think of all kinds of ways to automate testing through random generation, but that always has the problem of results collection and analysis. When you have live testers, they give live feedback which no other testing system can provide. I know now why the current player testing is important and enhances the testing process.
For those new players:
Pick your crew.
The main thing that I learned is that your crew selection and equipment is critical to their success. In my opinion your crew should consist of:
Some good useful passengers as well. As many as you can carry / have.
Spend points at the start of Evac:
When you start a new game / Evac, you will go through a phase where you get to assign bonus skill points (?) to crew members. Remember who you hope will do what job and skill those up further in the needed skills. This step can really help focus your team skill sets further.
NOTE: The "start of Evac" points assignment is a one directional sequence. You can not go back. Be sure to be ready for this sequence to get the maximum results.
Now, at the time of this post, one week after the release of the Step 2 Challenge signup, the first sequence of the testing phase is available.
The landing sequence.
I'm really looking forward to see this all come out. I will report on this next big phase once it is complete.
Sckoarn
