Wacky Video Game Testing Stories from QA Pros

A presentation by Petr Nohejl, a devops programmer for Warhorse Studios, sparked a collection of unusual game testing stories. The talk took place at the Games Industry Conference (GIC) in Poznań, Wielkopolska. Nohejl discussed the challenges of debugging Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, specifically mentioning the use of simple rotation tests to check game stability.

Following this presentation, a request was made for Quality Assurance (QA) professionals to submit their most ridiculous testing stories. The response provided a variety of anecdotes covering major titles and indie games alike. These stories reveal the creative and sometimes tedious methods used to identify bugs and ensure quality.

The collection of stories began after a talk at the Games Industry Conference (GIC). Petr Nohejl of Warhorse Studios spoke about the technical side of game development, specifically regarding Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. He detailed the process of setting up repeatable scenarios for automated testing.

One specific example involved rotation tests. Nohejl explained that the team spawns the player and forces them to rotate in place. This process is repeated at thousands of locations across the game map to load assets and check for crashes. A heat map is then generated from the data. While this is a standard, often boring procedure for QA professionals, it inspired a wider discussion on the "silliness" of game testing.

Many of the submitted stories involved testing weapons and character abilities. Ben Kosmina recounted a persistent crash in Unreal II for the Xbox. He stated, "While testing Unreal II for Xbox, if we angled our gun upwards by 45 degrees and shot the assault rifle at the bridge strut as we walked across it, the game would consistently crash. We tested that stupid bridge for weeks."

In Overwatch, testers had to ensure that shooting different surfaces produced the correct audio and visual effects. Andrew Buczacki created a custom testing hero to streamline this process. He modified Widowmaker to have rapid-fire capabilities and increased movement speed. Buczacki noted, "Then I proceeded to methodically run around every map shooting every unique material surface to make sure they were making the right noises."

Testing often involves specific requirements for regional rating boards. Ruairí Rodinson, studio head at Rho Labyrinths, described testing for the USK rating board on Anno 2070. He said, "[On] Anno 2070, I had to do a series of tests and videos for the USK rating board. Spent several days dropping nukes over and over, zooming in to the little people showing that it wasnt graphic. Had a whole video & Images folder of a mother with a baby buggy no-selling a direct nuke at different angles."

Other stories highlighted the use of placeholder assets. Elizabeth Zelle mentioned a debug NPC on Saints Row named Skinballs. She explained, "On Saints Row we had a debug npc named Skinballs (lol) that was literally just four spheres wrapped in different shades of skin texture so we could test lighting for different skin tones during development…"

Physics and collision detection often lead to strange testing requirements. Aleksander Gozdzicki, an FQA Tester at QLOC, investigated a collision issue with a urinating NPC in The Outer Worlds 2. He initially thought the invisible wall was intentional, but later discovered it was a bug. He reported, "I dutifully reported the excessive collision on the mentally refreshed subject and now the User can peacefully watch him do his business from up close."

Tim Aidley shared a creative solution for testing Kinect code. To simulate different body types, he had to modify his clothing. He recalled, "I had some code that was meant to detect someone making air guitar motions, and I had to shove my hoodie up my T-shirt in order to check that it would work with pregnant people."