Guide to Beta Testing Project 1999

[Pyrocat]

So, you want to be a beta tester?

Good! The work put in by beta testers and the development staff are the reason this server is the closest thing to classic Everquest in existence! Beta testing is the number one way to contribute to this server, outside of donating directly, so please take some time out of your regularly scheduled entertainment and help out. The hours, minutes, and even seconds you spend beta testing and writing detailed bug reports, the less legwork P99 developers have to do, which means content gets fixed faster. Want Velious out ASAP? Beta Test! In nilbog's own words:

Originally Posted by nilbog [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If each person researched a mob and found needed classic changes, I'd spend my time implementing fixes instead of researching (content would be finished sooner).

Imagine the possibilities :P

Now I wish I could say that every bug report ever written has helped the server, but sadly, poorly written and inaccurate bug reports can end up wasting far more time than they save. There are a lot of "best practices", guidelines, and just plain common sense that people are unaware of that can really make a developers day. So if you want to see nilbog with a [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] instead of a [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] I've written this guide to help make better bug reports and hopefully make every devs job a little easier. So without further adieu,

Guide to Better Beta Testing Today

There is a method to the madness! You want your bugs to be:

• Legible!
• Reproducible!
• Well researched!

So how do you start? Well, chances are you've already run into a bug either on the Project 1999 "live" server, or the test server, which is located here:

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you haven't, go ahead and log onto the test server and start messing around until you run into one. Test out features and content that aren't live yet, level up an Iksar, do quests that you think no one else has done. Eventually you will run into something "not quite right". Either a quest turn in will break, or an NPC won't respond to hail text, or a spell won't work right, or a monster will have too little hp .etc .etc. Now that you've found a bug, what do you do about it?

1. Do a quick search to make sure no one else has posted this bug, no need to re-post something that's already been documented (or resolved!)
2. Start writing! Click that "new thread" button and write down the exact steps that someone would need to follow to recreate the bug. Be descriptive, and legible! No one wants to read a wall-of-text that is all lower case with no punctuation and no paragraphs. Wall-of-texts are otherwise encouraged, if the bug warrants it.
3. Take screenshots of everything related to the bug (and upload them!)
4. Gather locs of all the relevant NPCs, pathing beginning/ending points, and anything else that seems appropriate (type /location to get the coordinates of where your character is standing).
5. Do your research and figure out the correct behavior for whatever is wrong. This can be as simple as posting a link to the allakhazam quest or as complex as digging through decade-old forum posts to prove that a certain mechanic actually worked that way in 1999. Be wary of the 'I remember' trap! "I remember soandso from when I played on live" is not a substitute for evidence, and doesn't help as much as you might think. If you remember something, go find evidence to back it up!
6. Make sure to post it in the correct forum!

Anatomy of a Bug Report

When you create your bug report, try and follow the format of Zone - Quest/NPC name + bug summary for the thread title. For example, "LOIO - Crusader Quarg is pathing into a wall" would be a great thread title for a bug. For your copy-pasting pleasure, I've created a BBC code template that you can use for any bug report you create.

[b]Description:[/b] 

[b]Relevant NPCs:[/b] 

[b]Relevant LOCs:[/b] 

[b]Steps to reproduce bug:[/b]
[LIST=1]
[*] 
[*] 
[*] 
[/LIST]

[b]Expected behavior:[/b] 

[b]Evidence/Research:[/b] 

[b]Relevant screenshots:[/b]

Beta Testing FAQ

How do I know it's a bug?
It should be fairly obvious in most cases, as the vast majority of players on this server have played Everquest before and know what is expected and what is broken. However, there are some more subtle cases, such as a mob being easier to kill than you remember. The best thing to do in these cases is research and talk to other players.

How do I research if something was classic or not?
It just so happens that nilbog already wrote a very informative thread on this subject. I highly recommend everyone read it. Additionally, you can find old patch history for the classic era (1999 through December 2001) here:
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/history/patches.html
http://www.tski.co.jp/baldio/patch/

Where do I post?
If it's a bug from the live Project 1999 server that isn't specific to Kunark, post in the Bug Forum. If it's from the something in Kunark, post in the relevant subforum of the Kunark Forum. Quest bugs go in the Quest subforum, Pathing bugs go in the Pathing subforum .etc .etc. Use your best judgement.

How do I upload screenshots of the bug?
The Project 1999 forums support uploading images, just click the "manage attachments" button when you are creating a new thread. Otherwise, you can use a free image uploading service such as http://imageshack.us/ or http://www.yfrog.com/, either works and they are both quick to upload.

[Pyrocat]

Example Bug Report

Thread Title: Swamp of No Hope - a froglok outlander has wrong graphic

Description: a froglok outlander in swamp of no hope has the undead froglok graphic

Relevant NPCs: a froglok outlander

Relevant LOCs: a froglok outlander (+850, -2850)

Steps to reproduce bug:

1. Go to the loc specified

Expected behavior:
He should look like a normal, chain wearing froglok.

Evidence/Research:
http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/search.shtml?id=4567
Shows him as an old froglok graphic, with the chain shirt. Every other froglok in the zone looks like a live froglok, none of them are undead. No one in the allakhazam comments mentions anything about the picture being inaccurate, and nothing about an undead froglok.

Relevant screenshots:
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Extunarian]

Wow, awesome guide. Thanks for putting this together.

Could this be Stickied in both general and kunark beta bug forums?

[Gandite]

fantastic thread

[azeth]

gj Pyrocat, ty

[Pycoba_rng]

This needs to be Stickied. Great guide mate.

[fischsemmel]

Uh, when I clicked the screenshot, it tried to download a bunch of malware.

[Pyrocat]

Originally Posted by fischsemmel [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Uh, when I clicked the screenshot, it tried to download a bunch of malware.

http://img109.imageshack.us/i/eq003122.jpg/

This link? It's just imageshack.

[fischsemmel]

Originally Posted by Pyrocat [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

http://img109.imageshack.us/i/eq003122.jpg/

This link? It's just imageshack.

When I clicked the picture in the original post for the first time, one of those "hey, this looks like your virus scanner window popping up and telling you that it found a bunch of nasty stuff on your computer" windows that is actually just a popup of IE. And then I got a "lol download this FREEULTIMATEVIRUSREMOVALTOOL (that is totally NOT going to steal all your financial info and keylog you!) to fix all these problems" window.

[Pyrocat]

bump for visibility