Yes, another thread devoted to what is now a Boomer Tradition ...…

“Outing GB members who are mild mannered posters by day, super beta testers by night” this time for the game, Culpa Innata.

So-o-o-o You’ve just finished your “1st” game of Culpa. (you do realize, Culpa has lots of replayability – right?)

….Then you sit back and think...

Not a problem, here’s the list! With much further ado… [I could sing their praises a long long time]

BrownEyedTigre
Loony4Labs (thanks also to her fellow tester & other half)
Jenny100
Mordack
LenG


Among others… Mattsie

Just so you know how HARD they had to work, they played without any aid or WT, since in addition to the search for bugs and glitches – they also were testing to locate areas/game events/challenges that might need a few extra bread crumbs for players. So they had to play this very long and relatively non-linear game -- free flying. [Grrs and gnashing of tester teeth in the background]

Best crew ever!

and Momentum to you guys.

Laura, I'm incredibly psyched for this game!! (And yes, I've already preordered it).

I'm dying to know what the beta testers thought of this game, but I guess I will have to exercise restraint.

I'm counting the days!!!

Hi

Well Done You Gameboomers !!

Such courage in the face of possible adventuring adversity

[I know I definitely am not up to such a task ]

Cheers.

Mad

Those Guys always have all the Fun

Great work..

Thanks gatorlaw

Thanks Laura, it was fun! Now we have to see what changed from the beta version to the released one.

Thanks Marion!

Mad and Darleen, these guys REALLY worked hard AND fast. Worst part is likely having to sit quietly all this time, NDA and all.

They still can't get into specifics .... just yet. But it was high time to announce them and let everyone know how grand they are.

So "uber" testers, take your bows, wait for the release
[13 days, but who's counting... ]

THEN let the chatting commence

psst Looney - didn"t see ya there, Uhm we DID have to take out the ever spawning horde of leaping Labs, Only so much the ESRB would let us skate by with. Sorry 'bout that


Hey Ana! Pleasure was all mine

It seems like forever ago that we tested it. I can't wait for a run through again to refresh my memories.

It's really a shame that the labbies had to be removed though.

It was a great pleasure working with you Laura. I can't wait to see your next project after you catch up on rest.

Ana

I am so impressed! Congrats to all you GB Beta Testers for taking the time yo test games for those of us who enjoy playing. Your efforts are much appreciated.

~~ Thanks Laura ~~

Excited to know that "Culpa Innata" will be released in a mere 12 days from now.

Without mentioning any details whatsoever, I'm sure that I can say that it stands every chance of being a real knock-out and one of the best Quest/Adventures to appear for some years.

Beta testing is a difficult task. Thanks for all your work, and here's hoping the game is a great success!

Thanks for the thanks!

Although frustrating at times, overall it was an interesting experience testing Culpa. Since I study politics the whole Culpa world and story was like a trip to the candy shop for me. Seems like ages ago though, so it'll be nice to have a look at the final product soon.

Take care people!

Mattsie!

to GameBoomers Mattsius!

Ana

You couldn't be more correct !

In some cases it can take weeks of intensive accurate work.
Out of very many examples, I remember one extreme case which took 4 continuous months with 13 successive builds and 4 patches !

"Culpa Innata" was not as 'difficult' as that, but not over-easy either !
I feel confident that the game will justify everything put into it by the Development team, Laura, and any/all others.

Hehe, thanks! And out from the shadows he comes!

Sorry to say it won't become a habit though, too busy to post at any forums these days.

Thanks everyone--we're all looking forward to this!!

~~ Hi Matthius… haven’t met you before!! ~~


Yes… when you’re young and very busy with studies, work & life in general, time is of tremendous importance.
This is particularly so for the extremely laborious (and often terribly repetitive & boring, and sometimes also very lengthy) work of alpha & beta testing Quest-Adventures!

I personally am VERY fortunate in being nearly 83 y.o. and fully pensioned off for the past 15 years, with all family set... Thank Goodness!
Due to this I’ve had the time and energy to beta-test somewhere around 40 games (and write walkthroughs for about the same number), and have 4 beta’s in test at present.

Culpa Innata is hopefully going to be one of the most outstanding for a long time, with (at least) one of the abovementioned four being a block-buster as well!

I just ordered the game. With this impressive lot of testers I know that I can look forward to a bug free game.

Hiya Mikael ~~ Cheers
I wouldn’t go quite as far as that !

As an excellent game developer and programmer (I stopped computer programming several years ago) you know much better than I do that it is scientifically/mathematically impossible to ensure with 100% certainty that there is no possible bug in ANY piece of software…computer games most certainly not excluded (actually being in the quite high risk category)!

The permutations and combinations of possible player’s key-strokes (to say nothing of the huge number of different computer specs) tends to infinity.

Beta testers, can most definitely spot a definite bug (large or small), but however experienced, can never test with absolute certainty that there is NO possible bug.
This is one of the basic facts of programming (in any/every programming language) which I know you are extremely aware of.

Nevertheless, the more testing that is performed and the more experienced the testers, the less the chances of bugs... and particularly the lethal strains (crashes, dead-ends, serious logic flaws, etc.).

AFAIK, “Culpa Innata” has been tested very thoroughly over an extended period and hence I certainly agree with your sentiments that it will be as bug free as possible and a superb game !!

OK, let me rephrase: I now who to blame when I find a bug.

Luckily, I know extremely well your marvellous sense of humour.

I’ve seen here & there, only a few times, malicious remarks when a game contains one or more bugs… of the sort “What were the beta-testers of that game messing around at”!

It’s possible that such a remark may be ‘justified’, but generally a bug which has been missed by testers is one that no “normal” person would run into !

****** A theoretical slightly exaggerated example :-
Our hero is starving hungry and says so repeatedly, and makes it plain to the player that if he doesn’t get something to eat fairly quickly, he will die pronto.

He moves right to the next scene which contains mid screen a very large and obvious table loaded with a huge plate containing very appetizing looking food, and also 2 or 3 small insignificant objects including a nondescript withered looking potted plant.
Our hero eats some food, takes the potted plant (turns out he needs only the pot and not the plant!) and all’s well.

All (good & experienced) beta-testers perform the above ………… no comment and certainly no report to the Developer(s).

The game is released and 99 people have no problems. But the 100th person, for no logical (but completely permissible) reason goes to the plant BEFORE the food --->> CCRRAASSHH!

Incidentally, I’ve seen a non-fatal but invidious ‘scoring-bug' in at least two games and another 3 very prestigious ones (after professional in-house testing), e.g. Shivers-1 and Shivers-2.
I have even saved & kept for posterity my final save of the Tex Murphy Under a Killing Moon that reads :-
“Congratulations.
You have finished the game with 1019 points out of a maximum of 1000”.