Source:Petroglyph, Sega & StarDock

Now that 2007 is over it’s time for the gaming industry to take stock of what they did well and what they did poorly over the last year. A perfect place for them to start would be the use of open/closed beta’s to iron out game flaws before release day.

The vast amount of online gamers has revolutionized how game developers test their titles before release. Everything from hardware glitches, graphical bugs, AI, path finding and general balance are put through the ringer by gaming enthusiasts who, for the most part, really do all they can to make their chosen game a success.

Let’s take a look at two beta’s, one bad, one good, and see if we can’t come up with a recipe for a tasty beta shall we?

Find out which two titles have been chosen and what’s SG’s recipe for the perfect beta, after the jump!

Beta #1: Universe at War (Not so good)

I wrote an article a few months ago about the state of this beta and my woes for the success of the game itself here.

I’m sorry to say that nothing has changed. The reviews are in for Universe at War, and they are less than stunning given the vast amount of potential I envisioned while playing through the UaW beta. The game scored a 78 on Metacritic. Before you say “hey, that’s not too bad,” keep in mind most of the high scores came from questionable gaming sources like The New York Times and Cheat Code Central. Even so, IMO, this game SHOULD have ranked in the high 80’s, even low 90’s if the beta had been done right.

How could a better beta help?
Well, to be fair, most of the blame can be placed on Microsoft’s Games For Windows Live. Because of the insane amount of time it takes MS to certify any patch that includes an .EXE file, UaW’s beta did not receive one single patch during the months it was in the beta phase. They even delayed the game’s release from October to December and we still never got a patch.

It is not totally Petroglyph’s fault that their beta was a flop. That said, they are hardly in the clear. The absolute number one rule to running a successful beta is this: TALK TO YOUR COMMUNITY! In this regard, both Petroglyh and Sega failed completely.

The community forum Sega had for UaW was totally useless with nothing but conjecture and a “once in a blue moon” post from a Sega rep stating things like “We are still working on things,” or “we have no new information at this time” etc… Wow, helpful. About the only help the Sega reps gave anyone was directions to Petroglyph’s forums. While they did have a few more (just barely) posts from actually reps, they provided little information, or feedback.

Gamers, like myself, spent months playing on the same two maps with the same horrible bugs that prevented us from play testing any of the real game play. The result is a retail copy of the game with problematic path finding, horrid camera work, abysmal control scheme and a DX10 compatibility that should not even be mentioned. All of which are inexcusable given the lengthy beta UaW ran.

You’re telling me that 3+ months of beta went by and I can’t select three units and not have one get caught on something half the time? Please, that’s just insulting, lack of a patch, or not.

Now let’s flip the coin and take a look at what a good beta looks like.

Beta #2 Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor (The Good Beta)

Before anyone says “hey man, your comparing a full game to an expansion, that’s not fair”, let me just say that Twilight of the Arnor adds so much new content that it could have easily been called GC III. That said, let’s take a quick look at GC II’s track record to date, thanks in no small part to the amazing talented, beta friendly and tireless work of the crew over at Stardock. The core game, GC II: Dread Lords, scored a 86 on Metacritic, followed by a 91 for their first expansion, Dark Avatar. Both featured downright mind blowing community interaction and it shows. This trend has continued with their latest GC II endeavor, Twilight of the Arnor.

Whereas Dark Avatar was more or less just a slight expansion to the original game, adding a campaign and some other nice features, this newest expansion goes all out with an almost total revamp of the entire game. From graphics (not a requirement for a good turn based game, but a nice touch nonetheless), seriously improved AI, an overhaul of all 12 races, including new (and unique) tech trees for each race, new buildings, bigger maps, heck the list just goes on and on. To say that Stardock has their work cut out for them is an understatement.

The expansion is set to come out later this month, but for those die hard fans (like myself) who pre-purchased the game online, the beta has been available since the start of November.

What did they do right? Damn near everything. Multiple patches (i.e. beta 1a, beta 3a, 3b etc..) and constant developer/community interaction. If you posted a bug report they have not already received, you get a response thanking you and asking for specifics. The submission of save games and bug reports was a breeze and the sense that you really are a respected part of the team was awe inspiring.

Sounds like I’m in love doesn’t it? Well, you would be too because this is how a beta SHOULD be run. A post-dated update list for when we can expect patches, a detailed list of what those patches will add/change, open dialog between devs and community, honest answers to tough questions (like will we get multi-player); all come through in an honest and timely manner. All things that UaW failed to do. Oh and did I mention they openly asked the community if we wanted the game to be delayed so that the beta could be run a few weeks longer to give us a chance to really make sure the game was done right? Well they did, and the community voted an overwhelming YES, not because the game was a train wreck, but because we are all so in love with the game that we could not pass up the chance to tweak it just a little more. Twilight of the Arnor is bar none, the best beta I have ever been involved with and is definitely going to be one of the best expansions of 2008.

Ok, so what have we learned? UaW was a mess and Twilight if the Arnor looks to be a masterpiece. Here’s SG’s recipe for a good beta:

1. Start by filling your bowl with a quality forum with active moderators

2. Mix in two cups of real developers who will respond to community questions and concerns

3. Sprinkle in an update/patch schedule and try and stick to it (if not just let us know, we can take it)

4. Coat the entire thing with an in-depth list of what each update/patch entails

5. Be sure to to stir constantly… i.e. Don’t give “nothing” answers like “we can’t confirm nor deny.” For example: No Multi-player? Just say so. Don’t get our hopes up.

6. Add as much sugar as you like… i.e. Ask for our advice and when you do take a gem of an idea from the community, give them credit

7. Bake your mix at 370 for 2+ months then serve it warm and scrumptious to a delighted group of gamers

Sounds tasty doesn’t it? I liked UaW, and had high hopes for it. It still shines as one of the first RTS titles to really push race diversity and mechanics in a new way and may still turn out to be decent (if not the great game it should already be) if we get some hefty patches soon.

GC II: Twilight of the Arnor is still in its final stages, but damned if I have any serious complaints at all.

Hope you enjoyed your stay at SG’s kitchen for quality games, stop by next week as we try our hand at making a brownie that will turn your non-gaming girlfriend into a pwnage fanatic!

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