[MUD-Dev] Re: Analysis and specification - the dirty words of mud development?

[Travis S. Casey]

On Fri, 19 Jun 1998, J C Lawrence wrote:
> Mike Sellers<mike at bignetwork.com> wrote:
> 
> > Testing is a lot less onerous if you've done solid design work in
> > advance.  :-)
> 
> Key questions:
> 
>   Does anyone here have a base of regression tests for even any
> portion of their server or game code?

If I understand what you mean by "regression test" correctly, then I have
done regression tests on portions of my game mechanics.

>   Does anyone here have a test plan for their server or game base?

Yes.  I've been actively testing ideas about how to design an RPG for
almost sixteen years now.  Of course, that's been in pencil-and-paper
RPGs, but much of what I've learned is applicable to online RPGs as 
well.

>   Does anyone here have actually do any structured or automated
> testing of their MUD or game code?

Structured, yes.  Automated, no.  I test my game system ideas with
pencil, paper, a calculator, and sometimes with a spreadsheet or
MathCAD.  That, though, is just preliminary testing to weed out ideas
that sound good, but may have weird behavior that isn't obvious.  The
real testing is playtesting.

In my experience, the same is true with muds -- some ideas that work on
paper wind up having unforeseen holes/interactions when real players are 
thrown into the mix.  If/when I get to implement my ideas for a mud, I
plan on doing extensive playtesting.

> I wouldn't be surprised if the answers to all three were a resournding
> "No!" on all counts (I'm an exception BTW Yes across the board, but
> that's expected).

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