Project Background

Information from Wikipedia:

Dead Island is a 2011 action role-playing game developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver. Released for Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the game is centered on the challenge of surviving a zombie-infested open world with a major emphasis on melee combat. The plot focuses on four playable survivors trying to survive and escape off the fictional island of Banoi.

My Role in This Project

I joined Techland's Quality Assurance team when Dead Island was in the advanced production phase. Daily testing of this game's new builds was the main focus of our work. Every day through our QA Leader, we received information about new implementations or changes in the project to be tested on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Challenges

Playstation 3

Console from Sony was not only more challenging for developers but also for testers. Nightly builds sometimes didn't build correctly, so in the morning, no one was sure if it would work. The initial verification of the build was time-consuming and did not ensure success. In addition, new accounts had to be created daily (local and network) so the console did not accidentally keep some outdated settings.

Our PS3 Devkits had very limited debug options. Primary tools like video capturing were unavailable, and we had to do this in a 'primitive way' with a smartphone or camera. Playstation 3 has always been treated as a necessary evil.

Semi-Open Worlds

Dead Island consists of several acts in which players navigate through semi-open worlds. It means there were many places on the game map which players could accidentally visit and encounter a bug, i.e., textures of the environment were missing, or sometimes there were even holes through which it was possible to fall out of the map. In addition, because of this large area, it was possible to drive vehicles all over the island, giving even more problems. Efficient management of such semi-open worlds and bug-watching is much more complex than dividing the game into corridor stages.

Escort Missions

Multiplayer Cooperation

Biggest Lessons Learned

Summary