November 17, 2008 Archives

Delayed from Nov 14.

What is an Alpha Release?

A partial draft, with some sections more or less fully complete, but whole sections left unfinished.

So, if you plan a website with a home page, four supporting pages, and a "credits" page, your alpha release might have the home page, just one supporting page, and an
incomplete "credits" page.

If you plan a game in which the character explores a three-story house, your alpha release might include one more-or-less complete floor.

The basic idea is that you need some parts complete enough that your users can actually test them usefully, but you have to be willing to change your work based on what you learn from your test users.

(A beta release is an essentially finished product - your game should have an ending, your website should be written and proofread.  Your beta-testers will identify improvements that you hadn't thought of -- synonyms you should implement in Inform 7, new sections or navigational features on web pages, etc.)

Recent Comments

Anne Williams on Alpha Testing Workshop: A blog about my thoughts so far.. http://blogs.set
Jackie Johns on G4: Alpha Reports: http://blogs.setonhill.edu/JacquelynJohns/2008/11/
Maddie Gillespie on G4: Alpha Reports: If ever you should wonder... http://blogs.setonhil
Alex Hull on Term Project: Alpha Release: It finally uploaded. Yesss! http://people.setonhil
Andy Lonigro on Term Project: Alpha Release: http://people.setonhill.edu/AndrewLoNigro/term_pro
DenamarieErcolani on Term Project: Alpha Release: my site is not uploading onto filezilla very well.
Daniella Choynowski on Alpha Testing Workshop: http://blogs.setonhill.edu/DaniellaChoynowski/2008
Daniella Choynowski on Term Project: Alpha Release: The adventure begins here: http://people.setonhil
Kevin Hinton on Alpha Testing Workshop: Progress is slow... http://blogs.setonhill.edu/Ke
Jed Fetterman on Alpha Testing Workshop: Informal progress blog the first. http://blogs.set
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