The Game Team - Game Testing All in One - page 81

Table 4.2 Screen Layout Test Checklist
Check that each defined region appears on the screen
Check that text within each region is correct
Check that graphics within each region are correct
Check that the full range of values within each region are used and displayed properly
Check that you can navigate from each region to any other region
Check that control buttons in each region work properly
Check that values or graphics in each region do not change or disappear except when
defined to do so
Organizing the Teams
It's not enough to have someone around to fill the various roles described in the pre-
vious sections. Each person knows their relationship to one another in their company.
Likewise, they should know and understand their relationship to the other team
members of the specific game they are working on.
One way to organize teams is to appoint a single person in charge of the game, which
could be the project manager or the designer, for example, and let them form a team
that will stay together from one project to another. This is a good way to maintain
continuity and efficiency between multiple releases or patches in the same series.
Although this may create problems for people who don't feel their role or contribu-
tions are sufficiently appreciated by their boss, it does make it easy to resolve conflicts
and make decisions within the team since everyone is accountable to the same person.
Another way to create game teams is to have a matrix organization, where the team
members have a person who they work for—usually one of the senior or lead people
in their discipline, but when they are on a game project, they are also accountable to
the person in charge of that game. Staffing each game is like choosing sides for a soft-
ball game. Once the team roster is filled, the remaining people go back to their current
assignments or stand ready to be picked for the next team that gets formed. At any
given time the choices may be limited by who is already committed to working on a
different game, and any people who are designated as “off-limits�? for one reason or
another.