So I've been looking around on byond and a lot of games say, "Beta" and seem to skip alpha completely. Ok, this is just my idea of what an Alpha, Beta and Release state for a game is. Also, this should be for each release; so version 1.0.1, 1.0.2, etc would all go through these stages.
Alpha
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We have something playable, although functions, addons, new features, etc may be added later on. There are definitely known bugs in the system, and we're working hard to get them out
Beta
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The game is playable and no new functionality or features are being added. All new development has stopped and we're just working on getting out the bugs.
Release
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Most, if not all major bugs are fixed. The game is release so we can begin on the next release.
After a game is release it increments the version number and goes back through the Alpha, Beta, Release cycle again.
Btw, this is just me ranting. It's just that I've seen so many Betas out there and I'm not sure if people really know what it means to be in Beta.
Oct 3 2007, 2:21 pm
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Masterdan
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Meh, thats how GOA has done its Alpha Beta Cycle. We just went into Beta once we got significant portions of gameplay content implemented. Now its been a huge uphill battle against bugs just like you said, and incremental content after that.
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Depends. You can be in Beta without significant content, so long as all of the core features are implemented and are not being added to further. Beta is the stage where, in addition to fixing bugs, you also root out balance issues and implement features that allow the game to be fairer for everyone, as well as provide the actual meat of the gameplay instead of the skeleton. I would also say that a lot of the user interface design comes during beta testing and not alpha testing.
Of course, you're also right: some people genuinely don't know what beta means and just assume that a game that is unfinished is a beta. This is probably just a matter of publicity: very few industry projects have open alpha testing, but many projects have open beta testing. Thus, they see "beta test" and infer from there. | |
Hmmm, perhaps when people create a new game entry on the hub there should be a better explanation on what each state means.
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