Update log
Full World of Warships update
The complete published notes, normalized for clean reading and source attribution.
Extracted changes
- Server
- Performance
- Gameplay
- Compatibility
Anyone who plays video games encounters program errors sooner or later.
These types of errors have hindered players since the emergence of the gaming industry. We are used to them and not-so-affectionately nickname them "bugs." Bugs can be found everywhere, and World of Warships is no exception. Our project comprises millions of constantly updated lines of code, a huge amount of content, and a complex system of interactions between players' computers and our servers. All this creates a multitude of relationships in which mistakes can occur. Today, you will learn about how we reduce the number of bugs that reach the main server and how we fix those that are overlooked.
| What Is a Bug? How Is Testing Performed? Occurrence of Bugs Fixing How to Report a Bug |
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What Is a Bug?
The term "bug" is probably familiar to most gamers.
A bug is an error that causes the actual result of a program's operation to differ from the expected one.
In the early days of the game, we divided bugs into two main types: bugs in the game content and bugs in the code. Now, there are many more types. [hr]
How Is Testing Performed?
Quality assurance (QA) teams are responsible for finding and fixing bugs in World of Warships.
QA departments exist in most World of Warships development teams. For example:
Content: Checking models, sounds, visuals, and more.
Game logic: Checking the correct operation of the game mechanics.
Server core: Checking the correct operation of the game servers.
QA's job is to understand how certain things are implemented in the game. To do this, they study the documentation and communicate with developers. After that, they develop testing processes and schemes that are used to check the program's compliance with its expected behavior.
Both negative and positive tests are carried out when testing the program:
Positive testing uses scenarios that match the normal, expected behavior of the program. For example, checking that a user can enter the game client upon entering the correct password.
Negative testing involves performing "incorrect" actions deliberately (abnormal scenarios). For example, checking if it is possible to log in to the game client by entering an incorrect password or leaving the password input field blank.
Other types of checks are carried out if deemed necessary: performance tests, user friendliness tests, and others.
In World of Warships, testing can be simplified into several main stages.
Internal testing:
Various types of functionality testing at all stages of functionality creation, such as:
Ideation
Design
Development
Integration testing, or checking that all the individual parts of the game work correctly when put together and added to the main game code. Testing an assembled build for obvious defects before an external test.
A build is a specific version of the game client that can also be used for testing.
Tracking absolutely all relationships and their results in various elements of such a large project as World of Warships is not possible even for the largest QA teams.
Therefore, external testing begins in parallel with the final stages of internal tests:
Testing of a pre-release build of the game by a small group of volunteers (Supertest and Clan Test).
Public testing, which is open to everyone.
External testing also allows us to check the operation of the game on a wide variety of computer and software configurations.
The World of Warships development team is also involved in external testing. We have a mechanism called "Traffic lights" in
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