Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
chapter 9
Testing by
Product metrics, such as the number of defects found per line of code, tell you how fit the
game code is for release. Test metrics can tell you about the effectiveness and efficiency of
your testing activities and results. A few pieces of basic test data can be combined in ways
that reveal important information you can use to keep testing on track while getting the
most out of your tests and testers.
Collecting data is important to understanding where the test team is and where they
are headed in terms of meeting the needs and expectations of the overall game pro-
ject. Data and charts can be collected by the test lead or the individual testers. Take
responsibility for knowing how well you're doing. For example, in order to estimate
the duration of the test execution for any portion of the game project, estimate the
total number of tests to be performed. This number is combined with data on how
many tests can be completed per staff-day of effort, how much of a tester's calendar
time is actually spent on testing activities, and how many tests you expect to be
redone.
Figure 9.1 provides a set of data for a test team starting to run tests against a new code
release. The project manager worked with the test lead to use an estimate of 12 tests
per day as the basis for projecting how long it would take to complete the testing for
this release. Thirteen days into the testing, the progress lagged what had been project-
ed, as shown in Figure 9.2. It looks like progress started to slip on the fifth day, but the
team was optimistic that they could catch up. By the tenth day they seemed to have
managed to steer back toward the goal, but during the last three days the team lost
ground again, despite the re-assignment of some people on to and off of the team.
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