A day in the life of QA in Frozenbyte
This is the first article from the future cycle of "A Day in the Life .." and we will begin with an internal look at how Quality Control works in Frozenbyte! In this article we will answer the most frequent questions, but first I will introduce you to the team.
')
So, the usual working day ... Find 5 differences?)
By the way, looking ahead, in the future we will tell about the Designers team, they are engaged in a huge number of things, ranging from level design, interfaces and the game itself to such things as plot writing , user testing or technical focus of game levels .
Who are the QA?
QA - Quality Assurance , well, or in our opinion - Quality Control / Testers (but continue to call them QA). This is one of the largest departments of our office. Many of the current employees started here, and then got into other departments, however, there are also those who like QA, and they become a kind of experts in this field. Quality is a very important detail for us, because we want players to get the best gaming experience. There are a lot of interns in this department, but we don’t consider him to be a “trainee”, it just happened.
QA is responsible for the absence of bugs in games, that is, in fact, they are the main source of feedback from developers. QA are testers, testers ... and one more time - testers . It is important to check every detail several times, there are bugs and problems that reveal themselves only in some unusual situation, and additional time and effort may be required to create this very situation, this is what QA is for. It is not so easy, in fact, for such an occupation a certain mindset is needed, and at least patience, because work can be both fun and annoying, repetitive and simply irritable.
QA in native habitat.
Gaming experience is an important feature for those who want to work in QA, so they all play a lot in their free time. The more you play, the easier it is for you to notice what does not work as it should, or vice versa - to do what was not intended, thereby causing unusual situations. In short, this is the very thing that is quite difficult to teach, such is the built-in human feature.
In addition to their work, QA performs a huge number of small office functions , many of which have nothing to do with testing or games in principle. For example, changing light bulbs or hammering balls , helping someone from the office canteen to close the windows, because some people haven’t come out of stature or filling pools with plush balls ... the list of these small office classes can go on and on.
Now the questions, yes, are the most frequently asked, right. They were answered by Henry - the head of the department (QA Lead) and 4 more people from the department itself , but their names will remain hidden (they themselves wished it).
What usually starts your day?
Henry: Sometimes I start with playing some of the projects under development, sometimes they bring some kind of toys, like new pieces of iron or something. Usually, I look at the changes in the code of the projects for yesterday, or, more precisely, how it affected the game. As the head, I am responsible for a bunch of all sorts of office things like cleaning, etc., so sometimes I start by saying that I just carry all kinds of tables / chairs and other home furnishings in places. I communicate closely with other teams (Art, Design, Managers, Programmers, Marketing) and there are days when I don’t return to my desk at all (almost always, honestly), I just move around the office, discussing projects with different teams, deadlines, scheduling tasks, etc., etc. And most importantly, as soon as a new project / game comes to the stage of the slightest playability - I make a plan for testing it, which is a list of everything that can be done in the game, and already we add some crazy items like “ check for the possibility of an explosion "and such items after each of our games becomes more and more.
QA1: I come to work at 8 in the morning, sit down at my working PC and look at what I could do. If there is nothing specifically for my specialty, then we will always find something that needs to be driven once more. (Well, if everything is completely deaf, then you can find the head of the department and he will certainly find you a lesson, and not one). For example, it is quite common for us to help technical support in solving problems and verifying these very solutions.
QA3: I declare early and for the first half hour I spend on launching all the software that I may need. But further ... further in different ways. You can do specific testing of something, you can go to help tech support with tickets, like how. 3 days a week I do QA, and 2 more practice creating animation.
QA works very closely with Technical Support and helps them in finding solutions to various problems encountered by players.
What did you do specifically today? Was there anything special about this day?
Henry : Yes, no, but it was not such a long time ago. I installed 4 new virgins. whale for developers (PS4 and Wii U), and compiled test documents on the characteristics of each platform. He also introduced one intern.
QA3 : Almost all day I did nothing but test one game for iOS, checking that everything works as it should. Day as day.
QA2 : And I finished the manual for one of our games. I worked on it last month, so this day can be considered special. I don’t usually do this kind of thing, so a new experience is always pleasant, especially if it ends with a result that you are pleased with.
What do you like most about your job?
We often play board games and spend time after working together in the office.
Henry : I work with a large number of platforms, I manage to play in many different projects. I like QA because I love games, and work gives me this opportunity, and it's great. The worst thing that can happen is when you will play the same thing for two weeks in a row, but because of the number of projects we are working on, there is always the opportunity to change.
QA1 : The main thing for me is the people I work with. But if we talk specifically about the profession itself, then this is an opportunity to learn something new. In the beginning, I had no idea that I would have to work with Linux, but now it is taken for granted.
QA3 : The very fact that I work with what I like (games) is like your childhood dream come true. To work in QA means to be in the very center of events, to see the game at all stages of development, not all departments are so involved in this matter, because usually each of them has clearly defined tasks. The working conditions are wonderful, the people are wonderful and we have fun, what else could be needed?
Is there anything that you don't like about your job, annoying?
Henry : Yeah, there is, of course, but I can't call it out loud, or I will have problems. Okay, I’ll call one if I come across a game build in too good condition (when we don’t find any funny bugs), I’m starting to feel sad; <This means that we don’t have any funny videos (we often record game video during tests , and we love moments with bugs like no other).
An example of an old video, since the development of Trine 2.
QA4 : Somehow not.
QA1 : Mostly this repetition. When you have to drive the same situation over and over again in order to reproduce the bug. This is annoying, yes. But such things can not be considered a mistake by the player, because we overlooked this, but still we really do not like when users have bugs that we can not reproduce.
Repeated testing and really such a splinter in ...?
Henry : Not really, I kind of answered about this above, but I will say it again. Replaying the same game on the PC is not very annoying, many people have a couple of games in which you spent 1000 hours or more, and I also have. For example, in the first and second Trine on Steam, I played around 850 and 900 hours, respectively. Plus, a local co-op in the office, on PS4, Wii U, Android, and just test builds. And I'm still not tired, just because playing the same game on different platforms is not the same thing, different platforms are different bugs, and you just merge into this business, so to speak.
QA2 : Well, maybe a little boring, but such moments do not happen so often to worry about it.
QA3 : Sometimes, yes. Especially when you need to repeat exactly the same thing many times, such trifles begin to really enrage. In all other cases - testing is fun.
Neither the iPad, nor the characters of Splots, nor any of our testers was hurt during the creation of this gif.
Does your work (games all day) influence how you treat them in your free time? Do you play less of this, or look at games from a different angle?
Henry : Not at all. I have loved games since childhood, and still treat them the same way. I have a whole bunch of games, in each of which I spent 500 hours, and I still sit down to play something when I get home. I did not look at the games somehow differently, the maximum that I do - inadvertently looking for bugs in what I play. Therefore, I love all sorts of beta testing and try to participate in them, and of course to report bugs.
QA2 : Maybe quite a bit. Maybe I notice all sorts of little things or specific moments in games, but no more. Just playing the game and playing, looking for bugs and bugs are two different things. Although looking for some kind of exploits in the most ordinary games is sometimes even fun.
QA4 : In my case, I got into game dev as a game designer, and even then I began to look at the games a little differently, analyze them, trying to understand how things are arranged. But I still love to just play, despite the work.
Do people often use work in QA as a starting point in the gaming industry? How viable is this path?
Henry : During the time I spent in Frozenbyte, I counted 7 people who moved from QA to other departments (Art, Code, Design, Tech Support, etc.). Yes, and before I came, there were such cases. This is normal.
QA4 : I heard that so often. Viable this option can be called, at least because you are going through all the stages of the game development process.
QA2 : True, QA is the very place where a lot of people start, before moving to other departments, most often art and level design. Here you can learn a lot and understand a lot.
Do you feel your contribution to the game?
Henry : Actually, yes, I’m someone like the keeper of the keys to the gates, who should make sure that everything is as it should be, and should not miss the evil (bugs, etc.). After all, there is nothing more irritating, as when, for example, your save or achievements simply take and disappear after many hours of play.
QA1 : That's for sure, we help designers and coders do their work by testing all their innovations, thereby saving them a lot of time. This is good, because we can focus only on testing and find something that you can’t find with a regular glance.
QA4 : Yes, I think I consider myself an integral part of the development process.
The two sides of our Henry; from above - at work, from below - at rest (in the Sima mug - non-alcoholic Finnish drink, of course).
Does the core team get more work due to QA? Do they agree that the game should be perfect or ready to compromise for the sake of time?
Henry : Haha, you tell me! This question must be asked by the developers themselves, and yes, I demand that all errors be corrected, and they usually agree with me. The most terrible thing for them, probably, is when I come in and say that the fix that they have been doing for the whole week, not only did not work, but also broke a whole bunch in addition.
QA3 : The developers always have the last word, so we cannot force them to do or not do anything, and they should not. We are a source of feedback, but how it is perceived is not our concern, they can either agree with something or reject our advice, depending on the amount of time and work. We usually have a tense relationship with programmers, because when the game crashes, or gives out some obvious errors (and not graphic bugs, etc.), then we tell them all of this. It is impossible to fix everything at all, there is always something left.
QA4 : I don’t think that QA adds some special trouble to developers, but they may have another point of view on this.
Sometimes in a fight with QA, programmers have a hard time.
This is a production, they did not scoff at any programmer in the process of this photo.
That's all. Thank you for reading and I hope that this text has shed a little light on how we live and work in QA.
The next will be designers. Ask questions in the comments on the original Frozenbyte blog post .
')
So, the usual working day ... Find 5 differences?)
By the way, looking ahead, in the future we will tell about the Designers team, they are engaged in a huge number of things, ranging from level design, interfaces and the game itself to such things as plot writing , user testing or technical focus of game levels .
Who are the QA?
QA - Quality Assurance , well, or in our opinion - Quality Control / Testers (but continue to call them QA). This is one of the largest departments of our office. Many of the current employees started here, and then got into other departments, however, there are also those who like QA, and they become a kind of experts in this field. Quality is a very important detail for us, because we want players to get the best gaming experience. There are a lot of interns in this department, but we don’t consider him to be a “trainee”, it just happened.
QA is responsible for the absence of bugs in games, that is, in fact, they are the main source of feedback from developers. QA are testers, testers ... and one more time - testers . It is important to check every detail several times, there are bugs and problems that reveal themselves only in some unusual situation, and additional time and effort may be required to create this very situation, this is what QA is for. It is not so easy, in fact, for such an occupation a certain mindset is needed, and at least patience, because work can be both fun and annoying, repetitive and simply irritable.
QA in native habitat.
Gaming experience is an important feature for those who want to work in QA, so they all play a lot in their free time. The more you play, the easier it is for you to notice what does not work as it should, or vice versa - to do what was not intended, thereby causing unusual situations. In short, this is the very thing that is quite difficult to teach, such is the built-in human feature.
In addition to their work, QA performs a huge number of small office functions , many of which have nothing to do with testing or games in principle. For example, changing light bulbs or hammering balls , helping someone from the office canteen to close the windows, because some people haven’t come out of stature or filling pools with plush balls ... the list of these small office classes can go on and on.
Now the questions, yes, are the most frequently asked, right. They were answered by Henry - the head of the department (QA Lead) and 4 more people from the department itself , but their names will remain hidden (they themselves wished it).
What usually starts your day?
Henry: Sometimes I start with playing some of the projects under development, sometimes they bring some kind of toys, like new pieces of iron or something. Usually, I look at the changes in the code of the projects for yesterday, or, more precisely, how it affected the game. As the head, I am responsible for a bunch of all sorts of office things like cleaning, etc., so sometimes I start by saying that I just carry all kinds of tables / chairs and other home furnishings in places. I communicate closely with other teams (Art, Design, Managers, Programmers, Marketing) and there are days when I don’t return to my desk at all (almost always, honestly), I just move around the office, discussing projects with different teams, deadlines, scheduling tasks, etc., etc. And most importantly, as soon as a new project / game comes to the stage of the slightest playability - I make a plan for testing it, which is a list of everything that can be done in the game, and already we add some crazy items like “ check for the possibility of an explosion "and such items after each of our games becomes more and more.
QA1: I come to work at 8 in the morning, sit down at my working PC and look at what I could do. If there is nothing specifically for my specialty, then we will always find something that needs to be driven once more. (Well, if everything is completely deaf, then you can find the head of the department and he will certainly find you a lesson, and not one). For example, it is quite common for us to help technical support in solving problems and verifying these very solutions.
QA3: I declare early and for the first half hour I spend on launching all the software that I may need. But further ... further in different ways. You can do specific testing of something, you can go to help tech support with tickets, like how. 3 days a week I do QA, and 2 more practice creating animation.
QA works very closely with Technical Support and helps them in finding solutions to various problems encountered by players.
What did you do specifically today? Was there anything special about this day?
Henry : Yes, no, but it was not such a long time ago. I installed 4 new virgins. whale for developers (PS4 and Wii U), and compiled test documents on the characteristics of each platform. He also introduced one intern.
QA3 : Almost all day I did nothing but test one game for iOS, checking that everything works as it should. Day as day.
QA2 : And I finished the manual for one of our games. I worked on it last month, so this day can be considered special. I don’t usually do this kind of thing, so a new experience is always pleasant, especially if it ends with a result that you are pleased with.
What do you like most about your job?
We often play board games and spend time after working together in the office.
Henry : I work with a large number of platforms, I manage to play in many different projects. I like QA because I love games, and work gives me this opportunity, and it's great. The worst thing that can happen is when you will play the same thing for two weeks in a row, but because of the number of projects we are working on, there is always the opportunity to change.
QA1 : The main thing for me is the people I work with. But if we talk specifically about the profession itself, then this is an opportunity to learn something new. In the beginning, I had no idea that I would have to work with Linux, but now it is taken for granted.
QA3 : The very fact that I work with what I like (games) is like your childhood dream come true. To work in QA means to be in the very center of events, to see the game at all stages of development, not all departments are so involved in this matter, because usually each of them has clearly defined tasks. The working conditions are wonderful, the people are wonderful and we have fun, what else could be needed?
Is there anything that you don't like about your job, annoying?
Henry : Yeah, there is, of course, but I can't call it out loud, or I will have problems. Okay, I’ll call one if I come across a game build in too good condition (when we don’t find any funny bugs), I’m starting to feel sad; <This means that we don’t have any funny videos (we often record game video during tests , and we love moments with bugs like no other).
An example of an old video, since the development of Trine 2.
QA4 : Somehow not.
QA1 : Mostly this repetition. When you have to drive the same situation over and over again in order to reproduce the bug. This is annoying, yes. But such things can not be considered a mistake by the player, because we overlooked this, but still we really do not like when users have bugs that we can not reproduce.
Repeated testing and really such a splinter in ...?
Henry : Not really, I kind of answered about this above, but I will say it again. Replaying the same game on the PC is not very annoying, many people have a couple of games in which you spent 1000 hours or more, and I also have. For example, in the first and second Trine on Steam, I played around 850 and 900 hours, respectively. Plus, a local co-op in the office, on PS4, Wii U, Android, and just test builds. And I'm still not tired, just because playing the same game on different platforms is not the same thing, different platforms are different bugs, and you just merge into this business, so to speak.
QA2 : Well, maybe a little boring, but such moments do not happen so often to worry about it.
QA3 : Sometimes, yes. Especially when you need to repeat exactly the same thing many times, such trifles begin to really enrage. In all other cases - testing is fun.
Neither the iPad, nor the characters of Splots, nor any of our testers was hurt during the creation of this gif.
Does your work (games all day) influence how you treat them in your free time? Do you play less of this, or look at games from a different angle?
Henry : Not at all. I have loved games since childhood, and still treat them the same way. I have a whole bunch of games, in each of which I spent 500 hours, and I still sit down to play something when I get home. I did not look at the games somehow differently, the maximum that I do - inadvertently looking for bugs in what I play. Therefore, I love all sorts of beta testing and try to participate in them, and of course to report bugs.
QA2 : Maybe quite a bit. Maybe I notice all sorts of little things or specific moments in games, but no more. Just playing the game and playing, looking for bugs and bugs are two different things. Although looking for some kind of exploits in the most ordinary games is sometimes even fun.
QA4 : In my case, I got into game dev as a game designer, and even then I began to look at the games a little differently, analyze them, trying to understand how things are arranged. But I still love to just play, despite the work.
Do people often use work in QA as a starting point in the gaming industry? How viable is this path?
Henry : During the time I spent in Frozenbyte, I counted 7 people who moved from QA to other departments (Art, Code, Design, Tech Support, etc.). Yes, and before I came, there were such cases. This is normal.
QA4 : I heard that so often. Viable this option can be called, at least because you are going through all the stages of the game development process.
QA2 : True, QA is the very place where a lot of people start, before moving to other departments, most often art and level design. Here you can learn a lot and understand a lot.
Do you feel your contribution to the game?
Henry : Actually, yes, I’m someone like the keeper of the keys to the gates, who should make sure that everything is as it should be, and should not miss the evil (bugs, etc.). After all, there is nothing more irritating, as when, for example, your save or achievements simply take and disappear after many hours of play.
QA1 : That's for sure, we help designers and coders do their work by testing all their innovations, thereby saving them a lot of time. This is good, because we can focus only on testing and find something that you can’t find with a regular glance.
QA4 : Yes, I think I consider myself an integral part of the development process.
The two sides of our Henry; from above - at work, from below - at rest (in the Sima mug - non-alcoholic Finnish drink, of course).
Does the core team get more work due to QA? Do they agree that the game should be perfect or ready to compromise for the sake of time?
Henry : Haha, you tell me! This question must be asked by the developers themselves, and yes, I demand that all errors be corrected, and they usually agree with me. The most terrible thing for them, probably, is when I come in and say that the fix that they have been doing for the whole week, not only did not work, but also broke a whole bunch in addition.
QA3 : The developers always have the last word, so we cannot force them to do or not do anything, and they should not. We are a source of feedback, but how it is perceived is not our concern, they can either agree with something or reject our advice, depending on the amount of time and work. We usually have a tense relationship with programmers, because when the game crashes, or gives out some obvious errors (and not graphic bugs, etc.), then we tell them all of this. It is impossible to fix everything at all, there is always something left.
QA4 : I don’t think that QA adds some special trouble to developers, but they may have another point of view on this.
Sometimes in a fight with QA, programmers have a hard time.
This is a production, they did not scoff at any programmer in the process of this photo.
That's all. Thank you for reading and I hope that this text has shed a little light on how we live and work in QA.
The next will be designers. Ask questions in the comments on the original Frozenbyte blog post .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/362317/
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