Hi, Public testing is good since it lets you test the game on a wide range of configurations. I've seen the best results when a build is privately tested first, and then when considered stable, released for public evaluation. This is the practice I employ and it has worked well. As far as the element of surprise, you don't have to release the entire game as public testing software; just lock it to the demo. Your goal is to make sure that the overall framework runs on your general target audience's computers.
As for releasing successive patches, that's up to you. The best thing to do is wait. If there's a bug, don't fix it right away and release a patch because this will just annoy people; every time they turn around there's another update. This is what you have to be careful with in public testing. It's okay for private testing since that's their job, but remember that public testers are your future customers as well as your unofficial testers--they're trying the game because they're interested in it, not solely for the purpose of testing it. Munawar A. Bijani blog: http://munawar0009.blogspot.com http://www.bpcprograms.com Follow on Twitter for blog updates: http://www.twitter.com/munawar0009 -------------------------------------------------- --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
