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Post subject: Beta Testing Guidelines
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:04 pm 
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Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2009 6:55 pm
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(NOTE: Please don't quote this post so I can edit it later if needed be)

This is a small set of recommendations drawn from what I accumulated in experience
while beta testing Mystic Ark. It was an all new and gigantic endeavor to me and
as such, I saw myself in the contingency of creating a sort of organizational model
for my work files, so I wouldn't get utterly lost.

1) Emulators

The emulator of choice for usage should be
concurred before beta testing begins if possible.
Doing so will save time as migration can be tedious
and confusing even.

The emulator used for mainstream testing should
focus on accuracy if possible to avoid rendundancy
when testing issues, although isolated testing
can and should be performed in more than one
emulator when trying to determine the origin
of a problem.

2) Save Files

Most emulators function with two kinds
of data backup:

SRAM: This is the file used by the real
SNES to retrieve data, its fetched from
a circuit in the cartridge.
The file is very small (8 KB) and any emulator
can recognize it.

Save-State: This is a much larger file (size varies depending on emulator)
and represents the exact spot at which it was made (hence its also
called freeze file or snapshot).

This is important when testing and bug fixing because
it traps not only the game location but also the state of memory at
that point, so it can be viewed in a debugger to detect a problem.
The reason why a common emulator should be chosen for mainstream
testing is exactly this - most emulators do not have save-state
interchangeability.

3) Organization

Once an emulator is chosen and test ensues, one should be mindful
as they organize their progress.
I'd like to suggest folders and sub folders are to be made for that purpose
and that they are named sensibly to represent what they contain.

Copies of save-states regarding to that part should be copied
to the folders for safe keeping. Note that renaming the save
states themselves is counter-productive, as the emulator associates
the ROM name to the save-state name to perform the loading, that's
why folders are preferrable.

Example: Consider I'm beta-testing Slayers and I just fell into the
Goblin Pit. I then save a state. What I do now to make sure this
point will be avaliable for later testing is create a separate folder
called Goblin Pit and copy/paste the state to there. With that
point secured, I can continue to play as normal.

Again, make sure to leave the state file name as is, use the
folders to discriminate what each represents. If your file name
is called Slayers-E.smc, all save states will have that name, that is fine,
just make sure each save state is in a folder that explains what it is.

4) Reporting

When reporting use a file format that can be easily read and is
as universal as possible, RTF for example since it allows a degree of formatting.
Also, number your issues and give a brief explanation on what is observed
and how and when it occurred, also making sure to provide screenshots for
each issue (number them accordingly) and make them as small as possible
to facilitate transmission (in other words, avoid bitmap at all costs).

Last but not least, make sure your reports themselves are numbered
and dated (two digits for each part is fine, let's set the format as
DD-MM-YY unless someone objects).

That should cover the basics, if any of the beta testers or admins
have a problem or doubt with these guidelines, let me know
so I can change them.


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