ninjabee.com

We need volunteers willing to help test the upcoming PC (Windows) version of Band of Bugs. Naturally, you guys who know the game so well are the obvious first choice.

Interested? If so, e-mail betatest@wahoo.com with this information:
* Full Name and Address
* Information about the PC you'll be using to play the game
(processor, operating system, sound card, video card)
* Information about your access to the internet
* Any other information you might want to provide on how you can help with the QA effort

Notes:

1. We'll expect you to give us useful detailed (written) feedback on problems in the game. If it crashes or has some specific problem, we'll expect you to document how you got to that error. If you're just here to play the game and not help with testing, you might want to wait until it's released.

2. We're not anxious to get a ton of game design change ideas, because we expect the game to be quite similar if not identical to the Xbox Live Arcade version, though we'll certainly consider low-impact requests.

3. We'll probably expect you to sign some simple NDA and promise not to pass the game around to friends or talk about it outside of our test group.

4. The game seems pretty solid. Ideally, this will be a short test period and everything will be fine.

5. We'll give the official beta-testers free copies of the final released game. To be clear: we are not paying the beta testers, but we could possibly come up with some other cool gift for people helping us out a lot.

Thanks!

Well, a double announcement of sorts! Sounds awesome!

I guess this is the incentive to get all my computer parts sent in for RMA. Unless you think playing it on a 128mb RAM, 64mb graphics card computer could be a good tester.

Taking advantage of Windows Live?

Possibly! I wonder how well the game will handle that... We haven't set minimum system specs yet...



We expect to, eventually, but this particular testing period won't deal with that at all.

Awesome! I was expecting to see a "No", as no XBLA game has made the jump to Windows Live. Hopefully it will, and hopefully it works on XP.

So what kind of timeframe are we looking at the game being released? A couple of months, early next year, or next summer?

EDIT: Also, any new features to this version? You say it will hopefully be identical, so does that mean it will be a direct port of BoB 360? Or will it be more of an Outpost Kaloki to OKX transition?

The current plan is that it's a direct port. We've talked about doing unique content. We're still not sure how we're handling downloadable content. We'll figure it out at some point.

Ahh, very interesting. I always was talking with you, stay, about possibly getting a testing position, so starting small with this could be the perfect opportunity. I may just have to send that e-mail.

Also, my father has a system with Vista on it that I might be able to get my hands on. How much of a help would that be?

I am interested but have moved entirely to Vista 64 for windows usage at this point, don't know how that would affect things on your end.

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That monkey is going to pay...

Hmm...interesting. I wonder what kind of specs are necessary...my laptop is very powerful, but has a built in graphics card, which sucks.

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I have a relatively powerful XP desktop, and I am MORE than interested. As I shared with AC91 yesterday on Xbox Live - I love this community and I am so happy I joined, because here I kind of feel like I am truly a part of something unlike other game communities (Bungie), where you are just one of millions and you can neither be heard or understood. And most of the members are idiots anyways (on Bungie that is).
And that's why I love NinjaBee, because for me it is cool to be able to talk to one of the game developers, to have his gamertag, to be given the opportunity to test future games and so on!

So I am interested, but I have some clarification questions:

1. Do you have to live in the USA?
2. The game beta is downloadble I hope?
3. How many testers will you have - just so I know if there is even a MINIMAL chance that I could get in?

Waiting with anticipation and crossing fingers!

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Sure, I'll like to help. I have a decent PC and should be able to run the game with full specs. It's an XP by the way.
I'm guessing you fixed everything from the patch from the x-box version? Because I never found out how to do that big score glitch .

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Haha, since it is fixed now, I believe we don't have to type it out in binary (like that helped a lot ).

You saved your game right when you started, and then loaded the saved game. That erased the time it took to complete the level, therefore adding a big number of points.

Well, I'd be interested, but my laptop is aging...so it wouldn't necessarily be amazing to use...I'll send in my app and see if I get accepted.

P.S. is it wrong or unusual to like to break stuff and give ridiculously detailed steps as to how you broke it?

"I have a bad bug that crashes the game to desktop:

First, you take the video card out of your computer (integrated does not have this issue). Then, dip it in a pot of boiling hot water for exactly 15 seconds. Take it out using heat-resistant gloves, walk ten steps to your right and throw it to the ground right there. Now, pick up the pieces and go to the nearest window as the farthest does not work, then throw the pieces exactly one at a time out, trying to get them as far as possible. Close your window when you are done and sit at your computer. Now, try and start the game and it will crash."

I think that qualifies as Psychotic User Behavior which equals "as designed"!

Come on stay - answer my questions so I know if i should e-mail or not!!! I am really excited!

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