Quick guide on beta testing Sins

from Sins Forums

This won't really be new for those who know how software testing goes or who've beta tested Sins, but for everyone else I figured I'd write up a quick rundown on how Sins testing works so that Ironclad can get stuff done :)

The main principle to remember is that when you're reporting a bug or issue, you want to provide as much information is possible. In the case of bugs, if you can find a fix it usually helps quite a bit to determine the cause.

To post a bug:

Please create a new thread. In the past, Ironclad liked a separate thread for each specific bug, as they go through them and comment/edit the thread title with "Resolved" for issues they identified and fixed. It makes it easier for them than having to keep track of a single thread with many reports.

 

Basic game bugs:

Try to duplicate it. Try to figure out exactly how it happens, and you might just stumble on a "fix" yourself. This will pin it down for Ironclad so they know exactly where to look.

Example - There was once a bug where the colony/scouts "Capture neutral mine" ability had a bugged auto-cast. You could jump the ship in, turn on auto-cast and it wouldn't do anything. It turns out, the auto-cast was trying to look in the "local area" engagement range, even though the ship was set to "gravity well". This is how the bug was reported, and IC knew exactly where to look. If it was reported just as "Auto-cast of the capture neutral mine doesn't work", they would've had to try to discover it themselves, and would've wasted a lot more time.

Ship/AI behaviors:

This is the trickiest one because it's usually not easy to duplicate. When you see something funky happening with the AI or your ships: SAVE YOUR GAME. This is very important. When you write up your report post, host the save game on something like Rapidshare and include a link. Being able to see what you're talking about right away helps Ironclad a ton, because they can analyze exactly what the AI is trying to do at that moment.

Example - One of the most difficult bugs to squash for Sins was that ships would sometimes try to fly out of gravity well one normal drives instead of phase jumping. There was no sure-fire way to cause it, so you basically had to get lucky and see it. Ironclad could not track it down until we started submitting save games while it was happening, and they could see it in the act and analyze the code.

If you can't get a save game (forgot to save it, or whatnot), post the replay and indicate what time index to look at and where. They can't fast-forward replays either, so they have to look at 'em from the beginning, so knowing the when and where to look speeds up the process. Replays aren't usually as good as saves, but definitely better than nothing.

Graphics glitches:

Perhaps the easiest - just take a screenshot, and post it with your system specs :) Self explanatory here.

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Beta testing is a cooperation between the testers and the developers. The more we dig in and figure out, the faster they can fix it. So, dig away! When the beta patch rolls out and if you start encountering issues, try to make your reports as detailed as possible, and let's not make the test phase take 2 months :)

 

faq support
107,878 views 37 replies | Pinned
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Excellent post.

Don't forget auto-saves.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
It's so excellent that I have stickied it. :)
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

How about I just PM you with any bugs Anny? Your "phrasing" is so much better than mine..hehe ;p 
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
On a somewhat related note I have definately seen this happen in v1.05 with strike craft. I'd jump to the next planet and the strike craft would try to go back and attack what they were attacking before.

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Example - One of the most difficult bugs to squash for Sins was that ships would sometimes try to fly out of gravity well one normal drives instead of phase jumping. There was no sure-fire way to cause it, so you basically had to get lucky and see it. Ironclad could not track it down until we started submitting save games while it was happening, and they could see it in the act and analyze the code.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Added another section about posting bugs. Please create new threads for each bug. Try to look through to see if your bug was already mentioned so you don't create duplicate reports.

Ironclad has always liked each thread to be dedicated to a specific issue - easier to keep track of and comment.

How about I just PM you with any bugs Anny? Your "phrasing" is so much better than mine..hehe


I charge by the letter :)
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
I think we were also supposed to only post beta bugs in this forum

https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/forum/440

That way we dont clutter up the regular forums
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Yep, definitely. All the beta discussion should be kept to Beta Feedback.. bugs, suggestions, etc. ;)
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Example - One of the most difficult bugs to squash for Sins was that ships would sometimes try to fly out of gravity well one normal drives instead of phase jumping. There was no sure-fire way to cause it, so you basically had to get lucky and see it. Ironclad could not track it down until we started submitting save games while it was happening, and they could see it in the act and analyze the code.


My favorite was when I proved Blair was a monkey's uncle by sending in a save of fighters attacking capitol ships (and they solved it because it turned out to be a problem with the "defensive" AI which put ships with bombing capacity at the top of the priority list...)

Ah, those were the days!

*save really do help people!*
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
I remember that


Hey, I just like that I proved that Blair is a monkey's uncle!
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
Where do i find the screenshots?

I found a bug where one of the derby is pink in colour.Probably textures missing.
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
Depending on your OS -

Vista:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\

XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\

The path is hidden by default so make sure you have "Show hidden" enabled in Explorer. Also note if you're using Vista, sometimes the screenshot key doesn't work for some reason, and you have to re-bind it to some other key.
Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top
Great,i didnt get the screenshot.

It was missing mysteriously.Gonna rebind the key.
Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
I figured that might have been the case, because when you successfully take the screenshot it tells you in-game that it was saved and shows the path ;)
Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top
Ah,that means the button isnt working.

Im gonna blow more TEC ships to get back that piece of pink derby of doom.
Reply #16 from Sins Forums Top
did they ever fix the bug when a ship is built, goes into a fleet, and then whenever you jump to another planet it tries to jump back to the planet it was built on? this bug happens to me a lot. but i haven't tried v1.1, did they fix it in 1.1?
Reply #17 from Sins Forums Top
I couldn't tell you. It hasn't been reported so far, and I've never seen it in the previous patches and haven't seen it in the beta yet.
Reply #18 from Sins Forums Top
Havent seen that bug in 1.09 so far.

It's pretty annoying.
Reply #19 from Sins Forums Top
when will the full version come out, anyone know?
:NOTSURE:
Reply #20 from Sins Forums Top

I believe it was stated by the devs in another thread that they're looking at beta-ing this patch for a month or two.
Reply #21 from Sins Forums Top
well, a month, thats a bit of time
Reply #22 from Sins Forums Top
I'm actually a bit surprised we don't have an updated build yet, but I guess they want to get everything in at once.
Reply #23 from Sins Forums Top

Example - One of the most difficult bugs to squash for Sins was that ships would sometimes try to fly out of gravity well one normal drives instead of phase jumping. There was no sure-fire way to cause it, so you basically had to get lucky and see it. Ironclad could not track it down until we started submitting save games while it was happening, and they could see it in the act and analyze the code.

I just had this problem in entrenchment, couldn't find the original thread, should I start a new one?

Reply #24 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting edomas714, reply 23
Example - One of the most difficult bugs to squash for Sins was that ships would sometimes try to fly out of gravity well one normal drives instead of phase jumping. There was no sure-fire way to cause it, so you basically had to get lucky and see it. Ironclad could not track it down until we started submitting save games while it was happening, and they could see it in the act and analyze the code.

I just had this problem in entrenchment, couldn't find the original thread, should I start a new one?

I'd say so. but are you sure they are totally outside and not just beyond the inner boundardy, yet still inside the outer one? try to have a save game or recording and a description of what you were doing. the more information you can give them, the easier the dev work becomes.

Reply #25 from Sins Forums Top

I just had this problem in entrenchment, couldn't find the original thread, should I start a new one?

As Shadowhal said, please do. Be sure to post a screenshot so we/the devs can see if it really is something very weird, and be sure to include the save file when it's happening :)

Thanks!