The Honourable Guild of Test Pilots
Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 4:24 pm
The Honourable Guild of Test Pilots
It has recently come to my attention that some OXP authors are having a little trouble finding quality test pilots for their latest creations… why this should be, I cannot really understand. The usual method of announcing a WIP and asking for testers is not always effective it seems, as I suppose these posts can easily be missed by some commanders (or perhaps it’s a case of ‘someone is bound to have volunteered already, so I don’t need to’).
What I propose is a list of commanders who are willing to help OXP authors test new missions, ships, etc. This will often entail stepping out of a player’s comfort zone, flying an unfamiliar ship, battling new enemies, getting killed repeatedly, testing exotic new weapons etc… a day in the life of a test pilot can be ‘interesting’, to say the least (although it can be very repetitive at times). Sometimes, you’ll find that you have little or no time left to just ‘play’, sometimes (though rarely) you’ll be testing stuff that may crash the game or your machine… but we all like to have shiny new OXPs, don’t we? If we have a list of available and willing commanders, then all an OXP author need do is find this thread, select one or more suitable testers, and PM them.
A simple post in this thread from anyone interested in being a serious test pilot, clearly stating such things as which OS you use, whether or not your machine is shader-capable, which particular gfx card/chip you have, have you completed all the native missions, and maybe which type of OXPs you’d be interested (or not interested) in testing, will suffice. For some OXPs, only genuinely experienced commanders with iron-assed ships will serve, but that is not always the case. You can end up with scores of slightly different savefiles that need to be well organised (one of my failings, but I tend to get too immersed… this also can be useful to OXP’ers, however). Often, an OXP WIP can change daily, or even hourly, depending on new ideas or feedback… that can be ‘fun’, but that’s the job, as they say. All commanders are welcome to apply, but bear in mind that this job usually needs the ability to edit/replace plists, scripts etc, to follow instructions to the letter, and will often require a high degree of commitment, as some major OXPs are months in the making… whereas some only require a few flights to ensure that a ship/object looks and performs as it should (and you do get to fly some great ships/missions before anyone else).
When that klaxon sounds in the ready-room, you gotta load-up and launch!
So… is this a good idea? If you think so, and you think you’ve got the ‘Right Stuff’, then add yourself to this thread.
NB: please keep your posts short and to the point… and remember:
It has recently come to my attention that some OXP authors are having a little trouble finding quality test pilots for their latest creations… why this should be, I cannot really understand. The usual method of announcing a WIP and asking for testers is not always effective it seems, as I suppose these posts can easily be missed by some commanders (or perhaps it’s a case of ‘someone is bound to have volunteered already, so I don’t need to’).
What I propose is a list of commanders who are willing to help OXP authors test new missions, ships, etc. This will often entail stepping out of a player’s comfort zone, flying an unfamiliar ship, battling new enemies, getting killed repeatedly, testing exotic new weapons etc… a day in the life of a test pilot can be ‘interesting’, to say the least (although it can be very repetitive at times). Sometimes, you’ll find that you have little or no time left to just ‘play’, sometimes (though rarely) you’ll be testing stuff that may crash the game or your machine… but we all like to have shiny new OXPs, don’t we? If we have a list of available and willing commanders, then all an OXP author need do is find this thread, select one or more suitable testers, and PM them.
A simple post in this thread from anyone interested in being a serious test pilot, clearly stating such things as which OS you use, whether or not your machine is shader-capable, which particular gfx card/chip you have, have you completed all the native missions, and maybe which type of OXPs you’d be interested (or not interested) in testing, will suffice. For some OXPs, only genuinely experienced commanders with iron-assed ships will serve, but that is not always the case. You can end up with scores of slightly different savefiles that need to be well organised (one of my failings, but I tend to get too immersed… this also can be useful to OXP’ers, however). Often, an OXP WIP can change daily, or even hourly, depending on new ideas or feedback… that can be ‘fun’, but that’s the job, as they say. All commanders are welcome to apply, but bear in mind that this job usually needs the ability to edit/replace plists, scripts etc, to follow instructions to the letter, and will often require a high degree of commitment, as some major OXPs are months in the making… whereas some only require a few flights to ensure that a ship/object looks and performs as it should (and you do get to fly some great ships/missions before anyone else).
When that klaxon sounds in the ready-room, you gotta load-up and launch!
So… is this a good idea? If you think so, and you think you’ve got the ‘Right Stuff’, then add yourself to this thread.
NB: please keep your posts short and to the point… and remember:
