Chapter 115 Seeking Testers

Generally speaking, the work progress of a game company's R&D team is one or even two versions ahead of what players actually experience.

For example, if players are playing version 1.01, the test server should already be testing version 1.02, the development team should be working on version 1.03, and the development plan for 1.04 should already be on the agenda.

Of course, this applies to games with frequent version updates.

But even for games with less frequent updates, the development team's plan should be at least one version ahead of the content players are currently enjoying.

After a game is completed, the team naturally needs to quickly move on to the next stage of development; otherwise, wouldn't the project team be idle?

So, based on his previous work experience, Huang Sibo felt that it was time to determine the next stage of the R&D plan. This was his duty as the executive main planner.

He couldn't wait until President Pei urged him to develop the next version before starting to arrange it; that would be a serious dereliction of duty.

Bao Xu had no objections to this and fully supported it.

"But the problem is... I don't know what to plan, I don't even know how to modify it, I have no direction," Huang Sibo said, expressing his concerns.

A new version consists of two parts: fixing and improving.

On the one hand, it involves fixing existing bugs, loopholes, and unreasonable aspects of the game; on the other hand, it involves developing new gameplay, new maps, and new content to improve and expand the game itself.

But the problem Huang Sibo was facing was that *Fortress at Sea* was already, in his and Bao Xu's opinion, in a perfect form. There seemed to be no bugs or design flaws that needed fixing!

As for developing new content...

Honestly, there was already enough content.

There was a story mode, a versus mode, and within the versus mode, there were various sub-modes such as zombie mode, ghost mode, and demolition mode.

There was nothing new to add for the time being!

Before players got tired of the current game content, wasn't it a waste of effort to create new gameplay and maps?

Bao Xu was also a bit troubled; this matter was beyond his capabilities.

Bao Xu was good at playing games.

But he was completely incapable of planning the game itself.

"I don't understand this either. Brother Huang, you decide what to do. What do you think should be done?" Bao Xu asked.

Huang Sibo considered it for a moment: "I think we should find some core players to experience the game and give us some feedback and suggestions."

"Don't get me wrong, Brother Bao, it's not that your suggestions aren't useful, but we need to find as many other players as possible. The larger the sample, the more accurate the data."

Bao Xu didn't mind; instead, he nodded and felt that Huang Sibo made a lot of sense.

Previously, the game's balance and feel were all handled by Bao Xu alone.

If Bao Xu felt that the trajectory of a certain gun needed to be changed or that the feel of a certain action was not good, Huang Sibo would immediately arrange for the design team to change it.

But after all, Bao Xu was just one person; no matter how good he was, he could only represent himself.

The game was aimed at hundreds of thousands of players. Who could guarantee that their tastes would definitely represent the tastes of most players?

Therefore, Huang Sibo felt that it was necessary to find a group of players to experience the game.

By identifying problems, they could be incorporated into the next stage of the version plan to continuously optimize the game.

In this way, Huang Sibo would have a clue as to how to formulate the next step of the work plan.

"I agree, but which players are you planning to find? Are they willing to help us test the game for no reason? Do we have to pay them a fee?" Bao Xu asked.

"Hmm... that's a problem." Huang Sibo frowned slightly. "Let me think about where to get some guinea pigs."

...

Back at his workstation, Huang Sibo was also a bit worried.

Indeed, they should find some guinea pigs, or rather, a large group of guinea pigs, to test the game.

In fact, normal games should have a public beta phase before going live.

Often, even the most capable testing team can't compare to those players with a knack for finding bugs.

But on the one hand, with the popularization of game editors and faster esro reviews, the R&D process for many games has become increasingly compressed, making the public beta phase optional. On the other hand, President Pei had never instructed him to arrange a public beta; he directly asked Huang Sibo to submit the game for review.

Therefore, *Fortress at Sea* was directly uploaded to the internet without any public beta.

Now, Huang Sibo felt that it was necessary to grab a few guinea pigs to give feedback on the game, but where to find these guinea pigs became a big problem.

No connections, no leads!

Should he... ask President Pei?

No, that wouldn't do.

He couldn't ask President Pei about such a simple matter; he couldn't afford to lose face!

Huang Sibo repeatedly reminded himself: You are now the executive main planner!

President Pei has entrusted you with an important task, not expecting you to ask him about every little detail like an elementary school student, but hoping that you can stand on your own and properly complete your work!

It's best to handle some small matters yourself and not always bother President Pei.

Besides, President Pei may not have a solution for catching guinea pigs. Although President Pei is all-powerful, he can't personally roll up his sleeves and find players to try out the game, right?

Therefore, Huang Sibo suppressed the idea of asking Pei Qian and decided that it was better to do this dirty work himself.

After trying to seek help from Baidu without success, Huang Sibo sent a message within the design team.

"I want to find a group of players to test the game... Who has any leads? It would be best to find some fan groups that like to play FPS games, and py with the group owner to help pull a group of guinea pigs over."

"Of course, we have to give them something in return. Giving money is out of the question, but we can give them some limited-edition weapons in the game."

It was certainly possible to find people by spending money.

But if he spent money, President Pei would have to know.

Huang Sibo felt that it wasn't necessary to trouble President Pei with this matter, and he couldn't possibly pay out of his own pocket, so he could only give some in-game benefits.

Although it wasn't very attractive to the players... it was better than nothing.

Soon, everyone responded.

Most people, like Huang Sibo, had no leads, didn't know anyone like that, and didn't have similar player groups.

Xiao Lu suggested that he could search for some *Terrorist Counterattack Project* player groups to see if he could successfully infiltrate them and py with the group owner.

But the success rate of this plan was not high.

Advertising in other people's player groups to get them to play other FPS games without giving them enough benefits would probably get him kicked out by the group owner on the spot.

Just then, Lin Wan spoke up.

"Uh... I happen to have the contact information of several FPS game enthusiast group owners. They basically have one or two player groups each, and there should be hundreds or thousands of players in each group."

Huang Sibo quickly asked, "Can you py with them?... Oh, I'm sorry, I mean, can you ask them to help us out?"

Huang Sibo realized that he shouldn't be so reckless in front of a cute girl and quickly corrected his wording.

Lin Wan didn't mind: "No problem, I'm familiar with them, it's just a matter of a word."

Huang Sibo was a little curious: "How do you know so many FPS game enthusiast group owners?"

This didn't make sense.

Lin Wan wasn't an FPS game enthusiast, and even if she was, there was no reason for her to know so many FPS game group owners at the same time.

Lin Wan explained: "Oh, it's because when I was interning at Tianhuo Studio, the project team specifically found a group of FPS game core players to be testers for *Bullet Marks*, and I was responsible for contacting and liaising with them."