DiMono
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1184
Registered: 09-13-2003
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Anatomy of an Excellent Bug Report

Here are some things to keep in mind when you are reporting bugs on this forum testing board:

1. Try to report on bugs in the latest build. If you report on bugs in earlier builds than the latest, there's a good chance you'll come up with problems that have already been fixed. Even if your problem has never been reported before, we will want to know if it is present in the latest build. (Check the top corner of the Title Screen to see what version of the game you are running.)

2. Your subject line should be a summary of the problem. It's hard to browse through the board messages when they all say things like "A bug", "testing", "Another bug", "Something else I found".

3. Each bug should get a separate topic on the board. Don't reply to a message about one bug, with a message describing a new bug that you found, unless you think it's a new symptom of the same bug as before. Just put your new bug in a new topic so it can be addressed on its own.

4. The bug report itself should contain not just a description of what went wrong, but what needs to be done to recreate the same problem on another computer. If we can't reproduce your bug, we likely can't fix it.

BAD: "DROD crashed."
BETTER: "DROD crashed on the title screen."
GOOD: "DROD sometimes crashes when you click on top lefthand corner of the title screen."
EXCELLENT: "Wait on the title screen until the screen begins fading to black as it changes to the demo screen. Click on the top lefthand corner. BAM! It crashes for me every time."

5. Check DROD's Data subdirectory (Windows) or your local game player data directory (e.g., "ProgramData/Caravel/drod-*" )for a file called drod.err. If it exists, please attach it to your post. DROD has spotted something that went wrong and this information might help us to fix it. If the file isn't there, then don't worry about it.

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Here are some more suggestions for submitting a bug.

* Please list the game you are playing, its version (see the top corner of the title screen), and on what OS you are playing.

* Take note of the exact steps you take to reproduce the bug, and write them down in order, in concise English. Then make sure that what you wrote is in fact what you meant to write.

This is important! If the developers cannot make the bug happen in their game, it will be harder for them to find and fix the issue you are experiencing.

* Decide what type of bug it is. Is it graphical? Is it a logic or AI bug? Is part of the game just failing to work?

* Determine whether it's reproducable. Does it happen every time you do a certain thing? Every other time? Is it random?

* Take a little time to isolate the exact cause of the bug. If it can be traced to a single element of the game, it's better for you as a tester to do this than for the coders to do it; they're busy coding.

* Decide how severe you think the bug is. Is it something cosmetic? Does it crash the game? Does it have an identifiable workaround? Is it basically trivial, but annoying nonetheless?

* In your post, include all of this information in a well organized manner. This will all make it much easier for the coders to figure out what needs to be done, which will get it done faster, which will mean more goes in to the next patch.

* Make sure it's an actual bug, and not just something you don't agree with. For instance, sometimes a Wraithwing won't attack you when it has the chance. This isn't a bug, it's a coded behaviour. If you know that it's not actually a bug, don't post it. If you're not sure, then be sure to include that in your post. A simple "is this a bug?" will do.

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Deploy the... I think it's a yellow button... it's usually flashing... it makes the engines go... WHOOSH!

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[Last edited by mrimer at 11-05-2011 04:23 PM]

Schik
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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* If possible, create the smallest possible hold that demonstrates the problem. For example, the "brained goblins not attacking" bug - if there was a one room hold that showed the problem attached to the bug report, I would have at least looked at it by now. But I haven't even tried to recreate it yet.

I'd also like to note that we know you're all testing and reporting bugs for free, and we appreciate the help. These are by no means requirements, but following these guidelines definitely would make finding and fixing the bugs easier.


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The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Could we sticky this thread, or one like unto it?

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Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White. And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

The_Red_Hawk
Level: Smitemaster
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File: Brained Goblins Bug.hold (1.8 KB)
Downloaded 143 times.
License: Other
From: Unspecified

Schik wrote:
* If possible, create the smallest possible hold that demonstrates the problem. For example, the "brained goblins not attacking" bug - if there was a one room hold that showed the problem attached to the bug report, I would have at least looked at it by now. But I haven't even tried to recreate it yet.

Moria: Balin's Tomb is probably the best example. Still, I attached a one-room hold demonstrating the bug here. (Actually, it's Deep Hold L17:Entrance, but.....)

Simply go down to the "chokepoint" and wait. There should be a few goblins waiting around the scroll. In Deep Hold, they always cluster around scrolls, but this doesn't happen in Balin's Tomb.

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Slashing, whirling, diving, twirling,
Snapping, turning, rising, swirling,
Screeching, flipping, gliding, sliding,
The red hawk's dance of death.

.....the king of the skies.....

DiMono
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1184
Registered: 09-13-2003
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This is an email that mrimer sent me re: retargetting stairs, and it occured to me that it's really something useful for everyone here to read.

[This advice is for Caravel DROD version 1.5]

When you see [a] bug has occurred, then exit DROD and overwrite your three .dat files with the .da_ files (yeah, the backup ones). This should restore DROD to the way it was before this play session. At this point you can retrace your steps to confirm that the bug happens again when you do what you did last time. When you've confirmed that, zip and email me your .da_'s and tell me what you did so I can reproduce what you've been seeing.

I need your data files because often it's necessary to reproduce the exact state of your DROD installation to see the bug you're seeing. A fresh hold import often doesn't give you the same result, unfortunately.

So there you go, a little bit of DROD bug-squishing wisdom directly from the developers.

____________________________
Deploy the... I think it's a yellow button... it's usually flashing... it makes the engines go... WHOOSH!

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[Last edited by mrimer at 11-05-2011 04:09 PM]