Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
new technologies may affect QA preparation as well, such as requiring new audit
checklists to be created or new record types to be defined in the audit entry and
reporting system.
The QA training should be planned and delivered in time for QA to conduct any
activities related to work products or processes using the new technology. If the team
is already having an in-house course delivered, then add some seats for QA. If the team
is inventing something internally, try to get a briefing from one of the inventors. Some
tools and development environments come with their own tutorials, so get some QA
licenses and allocate time to go through the tutorial.
New tools or techniques identified for QA-specific functions should be accompanied
with appropriate training. Identify these, document them in the SQAP, and get your
training funded.
Risk Management
Risk management is a science all unto itself. In addition to all of the risks involved
with developing a game, there are also risks that could hamper your team's QA efforts.
Some typical SQA risks are
Project deliverables go out of sync with planned audits
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QA personnel diverted to other activities such as testing
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Lack of independent QA reporting structure
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Lack of organization commitment to take corrective actions and/or close out
issues raised by QA
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Insufficient funding for new QA technologies
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Insufficient funding for training in new development and/or QA technologies
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It's not enough to list your risks in the SQAP. You also need to identify the potential
impact of each risk and any action plans you can conceive to describe how you would
proceed if the risk occurs and/or persists.
Software quality is certainly affected by testing, but there are other activities that can
impact quality sooner and less expensively. Various forms of peer reviews can find
faults before they escape to other phases of the project. Standards can be defined and
enforced as a way to prevent defects from being introduced into the game, many of
which are difficult to detect by testing. Measures such as sigma value and phase con-
tainment provide stakes in the ground from which you can set improvement goals.
