Howdy guys. This is Lars, and if you're here that means you're part of Super Energy Apocalypse's ongoing open beta test. Again, if you're here from Kongregate, please use Kongregate's integrated feedback and bug-reporting system. If not, please continue reading...
If you want to test for me, READ this message CAREFULLY and COMPLETELY. I look forward to hearing from you all!
Here's how this works:
I get:
-Helpful, friendly beta testers to help me root out the bugs and test balance
You get:
-An advance look at the next version of the game BEFORE Anybody else!
-The chance to offer input and shape the next version of the game
-A listing in the credits page!*
-The next version of the game, because I can't do this properly without you guys!
*With each release I review all the bug/balance/feature requests and those that provide the game with the most value are noted. The authors who provide the most valuable feedback are then eligible for inclusion in that version's credits.
Please note that the version of the game you are testing when reporting bugs. Note that if you test an old version of the game, I have likely already fixed those bugs. The game should say which version it is on the title screen. The absolute latest version of the game will always have "BETA" in green text after the version number. This version is never released to portals and only stays on my site. When I release the game to portals, I always take off the "BETA" text before releasing that version.
There are three things I'm looking for here:
- Bugs
- Balance issues
- Feature requests
A Bug is something that breaks or mars the game's experience, a fault that shouldn't be there. The infamous green-spinny fractal box of doom that causes people's computers to crash is a bug.
Balance issues are things about the game that work, but could be better. They're not coding errors, just things that need value tweaking. An example is fossil fuels being too powerful, or ethanol not using enough corn, etc. There's only so much I can do on this front, because the education value is lost if I just make numbers up - I want them to reflect real-world ratios as well as I can. But there is a little room for fudge factoring for fun's sake because this thing is very very abstract already. (ie, time doesn't have to be accurately modeled, or ALL power plants can be scaled up or down by a constant factor as long as their relative ratios are the same).
Feature requests are things that aren't in the game that you think would make it better, like flame turrets, or extra enemy types, or more levels.
Bugs are my top priority, then balance issues, then features. We fix problems before we add new things to the game, which could cause it to break. So what I need from you guys most is bug reports. Balance issues and feature requests are important too, but bugs are just the most important right now.
1. Bugs
To report a bug:
Send an email to this email address (lars (dot) doucet (at) gmail (dot) com) with this format:
************************************
To : Lars Doucet
Subject : SEA BUG : [short description of bug here]
To reproduce:
[describe]
What should have happened:
[describe]
What actually happened:
[describe]
Sincerely,
Your Full Name (so I can put it in the credits!)
************************************
Just in case you were wondering, the SEA in the title stands for "super energy apocalypse."
PLEASE USE THIS FORMAT - it allows me to automatically sort the reports with gmail as they come in and makes it much more likely that I will receive and see your email, otherwise it might go into my spam.
Now, that above format might be a little abstract all by itself, so here's an example:
************************************
To : Lars Doucet
Subject : SEA BUG : Green spinny fractal box of doom
To reproduce:
Play sandbox mode for a couple of nights. Build up your base and build some turrets. Eventually, if you kill enough zombies in the same spot in rapid succession, a lot of garbage will pile up. Then, you will start getting garbage alerts about it.
What should have happened:
A single garbage alert should show up telling you about the garbage and then go away.
What actually happened:
A whole lot of garbage alerts show up and a bunch of green spinny boxes from the garbage alert appear, and the game slows down to the point that it is unplayable.
Sincerely,
Bobby McTester
************************************
The more specific you can be, the better. Also, list some stats about your system, as that generally helps. Furthermore, let me know if you are on mac, windows, or linux and what flash player version you have (right click and it should tell you). And be as specific as possible as to how to reproduce the bug. If you say, "Hey it lags for some reason and that sucks" that's not very helpful. If I can't reproduce the bug, I can't determine what is causing it, and if I can't do that, I can't fix it.
2. Balance
Now, as for balance issues, the format is much simpler:
************************************
To : Lars Doucet
Subject : SEA BALANCE : [description]
[the issue]
Sincerely,
Your Full Name
************************************
An example:
************************************
To : Lars Doucet
Subject : SEA BALANCE : Ethanol doesn't use enough food
Hey Lars, I was doing some research, and it looks like ethanol fuel should use more food than it does in your
current build of the game. Here's a link to the research: [some link]
Sincerely,
Bobby McTester
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3. Feature Requests
For feature requests, do the same thing:
************************************
To : Lars Doucet
Subject : SEA FEATURE REQUEST : [description]
[request ]
Sincerely,
Your Full Name
************************************
When you make feature requests, keep the following things in mind:
- By giving me ideas, you are literally "giving" me the idea. You're letting me use the ideas in the game and agreeing that being listed in the credits is adequate compensation. I'm extremely grateful for all your help in this regards! But legally speaking I have to say this in case someone suggests an idea and later tries to sue me for actually using it.
- Be simple, and clear, and explain how the feature request will make the game better. "Sell" me on the idea, as in the example after this section.
- Understand that very few features will be implemented until after version 1.2 - version 1.2 is mostly about bugs, so don't kill yourselves with elaborate feature requests when bugs is what we need right now :) But if you have a cool idea, send it along
************************************
To : Lars Doucet
Subject : SEA FEATURE REQUEST : New enemy type
Hey Lars, I think you should have a new enemy type, so that you can ramp up difficulty
without having to just spawn a lot of enemies and create lag. Make a different variant
of the green zombies, that is more aggressive and has more hitpoints. Rather than focusing
on attacking landfills and nuclear dumps, it will go after defensive structures first.
This way, you can just spawn more aggressive enemies rather than three times as many normal
zombies. This will diversify the challenge, keep you from being able to build one kind of
base structure that always works, and forces you to think more. Also, it makes the game harder
because right now zombies ignore defenses for the most part and get killed in droves very easily.
Sincerely,
Bobby McTester
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