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Gothmog · Post by **Gothmog** » August 24th, 2007, 11:22 am

Same goes for me. Think i skip the beta. I want to enjoy Book I like a good glass of wine!

soccerfan5 · Post by **soccerfan5** » August 25th, 2007, 6:02 pm

Speaking of betas will there be a Mac beta available or will it sticking to the discussed Windows-first, Mac-second (a few weeks later) schedule?

BTW
Thanks for creating such a cool looking game, I'm looking forward to playing once the Mac (PPC!) version is out... and sorry to lurk so long, but it took a while to read this whole thread since the trailer hit GameBanshee

YouTube · Post by **BasiliskWrangler** » August 25th, 2007, 7:33 pm

Welcome soccerfan5,

Yes, the Windows version comes first, both beta and final.

Right now the Intel-Mac version runs perfect fine side-by-side with the Windows version. Any bugs squashed when we do the Windows beta means those bug will get squashed in the Mac version as well since the code base is essentially identical.

We have not yet done a PPC compile of the game yet, but we expect few if any problems when we do. We should have a Mac Universal Binary ready to test with Mac beta testers within 6 weeks of the Windows version being complete.

gragnak · Post by **gragnak** » September 5th, 2007, 2:05 am

mmmmm.....
I roamed this forum for some day....
No life signs.
Any news about beta testing?
I wont take part. I'll wait for the complete game to be buyable and playable, but it could be really nice to have an idea of how much time we have to wait (at least for the demo...).

Anyway, keep working hard for us all!
... and thanks for doing it

YouTube · September 5th, 2007, 5:57 am

We're just busy finishing things up! We are planning to post a sign-up page for beta testing next week.

The Beta Test phase is scheduled to last two weeks. Depending on what we need to fix after the game gets thoroughly abused, we should have a release candidate soon after that testing phase is over.

Not much longer now, kids! I think an October release date is very possible as long as beta testing goes well. If not, November is more likely.

gragnak · Post by **gragnak** » September 5th, 2007, 8:12 am

Only one or two months to wait.....
I like this idea.

Thanks for fast answer!

Dragonlady · Post by **Dragonlady** » September 5th, 2007, 9:44 am

Wonderful! Stupendous! Woot! Great news!

Thanks, and I'd like to try for a beta test, I'm so curious I can't wait! Yes, I'll wait till the sign ups. I'm already beta testing a Mac game called Dinky Dungeon but it doesn't take up much of my time as it is just a little 50 level hack and slash game. An updated version will be coming out next week. I just knew if I posted something here last night, this morning we'd find out something good and new!

GSV3MiaC · Post by **GSV3MiaC** » September 5th, 2007, 9:45 am

You are dreaming if you think 2 weeks beta testing is going to be adequate. The average Spiderweb game, which I venture to suggest is simpler than yours, runs out at 6-8 weeks, with 4-6 beta patches in that period, and then a couple of release candidates at the end. And that's on the PC, after Mac testing has already been done.

YouTube · September 5th, 2007, 9:57 am

GSV3MiaC: Perhaps. The difference is we have internal testers who have been playing it quite a bit since the earliest builds, so we have been able to stay on top of major bugs and glaring balance issues. I don't know if Vogal has on-going play testers for his games or not...if not, a longer beta period would certainly be required. Hence, our semi-public beta test is not about hunting down a mountain of bugs, but rather mopping up the remaining glitches, giving opinions, and commenting on balance.

Also, we are staggering the beta test so that some pre-screened, pre-approved testers are getting a "first-beta" copy and will have a week or two on it before the second-tier of outside testers run through it. The second-tier testers will get an updated version from what the first-tier testers play.

Two weeks [for the second-tier testing] was really just a time table thrown out there. It very well may run longer, but we are being optimistic.

Baelthazar · Post by **Baelthazar** » September 5th, 2007, 12:51 pm

Good news, I'm anxious to see the finished product (on my desktop)!

Bael

GSV3MiaC · Post by **GSV3MiaC** » September 5th, 2007, 2:17 pm

BasiliskWrangler wrote:GSV3MiaC: Perhaps. The difference is we have internal testers who have been playing it quite a bit since the earliest builds, so we have been able to stay on top of major bugs and glaring balance issues. I don't know if Vogal has on-going play testers for his games or not...if not, a longer beta period would certainly be required. Hence, our semi-public beta test is not about hunting down a mountain of bugs, but rather mopping up the remaining glitches, giving opinions, and commenting on balance.

Also, we are staggering the beta test so that some pre-screened, pre-approved testers are getting a "first-beta" copy and will have a week or two on it before the second-tier of outside testers run through it. The second-tier testers will get an updated version from what the first-tier testers play.

Two weeks [for the second-tier testing] was really just a time table thrown out there. It very well may run longer, but we are being optimistic.

OK so it's more like 4 weeks altogether - that might be closer to working. No, afaik Jeff Vogel (E, now A) doesn't have any in-house testers, although as I mentioned the Mac guys get the worst of the bugs.

However, don't forget the first rule of engineering (it takes longer and costs more) .. even just getting the installer, or unlock code generator, or whatever, right can be a challenge. 8>.

mytgroo · Post by **mytgroo** » September 5th, 2007, 3:00 pm

Hmm, I am sure you could say the same about Spiderweb Software, I did their beta-testing for Geneforge 4, it took about five weeks, they have plenty of people to do internal testing. Two weeks is awful short. How long does it take to finish the game if it is 40 hours long, it would take at least two weeks for someone to finish the game, then you would have to double the time because they are also writing comments.

Dragonlady · Post by **Dragonlady** » September 5th, 2007, 4:21 pm

OK so it's more like 4 weeks altogether - that might be closer to working. No, afaik Jeff Vogel (E, now A) doesn't have any in-house testers, although as I mentioned the Mac guys get the worst of the bugs.

Yes, true. I've had to listen to my son cuss and swear and laugh with glee as he has beta tested for Spiderweb. Avernum and Geneforge series.

(he isn't working on Avernum 5 this time around though)

YouTube · September 5th, 2007, 4:32 pm

Okay, okay... two weeks is perhaps a foolishly optimistic estimate and we probably shouldn't have thrown a time frame out there. When developing a game, missing release dates or overestimating development time is the ultimate sin.

The point is we won't shorten the test to fit that schedule...if testing and fixing takes six months, so be it. We are just hoping the beta test process goes much quicker than that.

GSV3MiaC · Post by **GSV3MiaC** » September 5th, 2007, 5:08 pm

mytgroo wrote:Hmm, I am sure you could say the same about Spiderweb Software, I did their beta-testing for Geneforge 4, it took about five weeks, they have plenty of people to do internal testing. Two weeks is awful short. How long does it take to finish the game if it is 40 hours long, it would take at least two weeks for someone to finish the game, then you would have to double the time because they are also writing comments.

On the ones I've tested (for the PC) it has been 4-6-8 weeks. And that was back when I would put in an 80 hour week sometimes. Yes, the game was maybe 40 hours to finish, but to test it properly you may have to finish it several times (and some patches may cause you to have to start over).

It really doesn't matter if the developer/publisher are not starving. It's really dumb to have a game in development for 2-3-4 years and then screw up because of trying to save a week or two on the testing and repair phase. I could mention Gothic 3 at this point, except I think the repair there was/is a hopeless task.

The Drunken Lizard Pub

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mac beta?