The in-development word game "Character Limit" faced testers in the last two months, but as TestFlight got underway, an unexpected game convention opportunity went especially well.
Back in early February, Character Limit had reached a good stopping point to get some testing done with real players. A lot of the work had been done, so now it was time to get some bug fixing and polishing done, and to get some real feedback.
This previously came in the form of visits to meet other game developers in Cardiff for brief sessions. But you can only go so far in terms of feedback from a kind audience.
Actual testing with real human players was needed. Thankfully, Apple had something for that.
TestFlight of the Bumblebee
TestFlight is Apple's testing framework within App Store Connect that lets developers provide their app to others and to receive feedback.
Part if it is for testing the app works on multiple different types of Apple devices. While I have two iPhones and two iPads personally on hand, it still really should be tested to work properly on as many different hardware and operating system combinations as possible.
The second benefit of TestFlight is that you can get people's opinions on what you've made.
This is a terrifying idea, since we all know that when writing feedback in an anonymous form, people don't hold back. They can be picky about the smallest thing and be very brutal in their comments, too.
Getting the game compiled prior to submission to Apple
To be fair, this is precisely the kind of feedback you actually need for a project. Your friends and family are going to blunt their criticisms so they don't hurt so much, which can get in the way of you knowing what needs fixing.
Getting tough feedback is a necessity. Even if it feels like people are doing so on purpose, that feedback is probably more truthful than you'd get from a face-to-face session.
To get going with TestFlight, I had to fix some bugs that would've ruined everything from the outset. When I was in a more stable position, I set Unity to make an iOS build and delved into App Store Connect.
I had never submitted anything to App Store Connect before, but after compiling in Xcode, I was guided by ChatGPT in creating an archive and sending it up to App Store Connect. It took a few tries, but eventually I could see an iOS build under TestFlight.
To make sure everything worked, I created an Internal Testing group, which means people within the team can install the build. For this, that team was one person: me.
It took a very short time for the App Store to validate the app before marking it as "Ready to Test" under App Store Connect. I installed it on all of my devices, and it seemed to work fine.
Getting the game ready wasn't an exactly smooth process.
However, I had to set up a second External Testing group, which could be used by anyone who installed TestFlight. While there is a public link that could support 10,000 testers, there's also the option to individually invite people to test.
Furthermore, it had to pass through a much more thorough review process before being provided to members of the public. That took a few agonizing days to complete, which felt like months.
After limiting the link to a more sensible 20, it was spread among a few Discords where I knew there would be people willing to try the game, and had a good chance of being able to test out the Welsh language version.
It turns out that it was both a poorly thought-out testing plan, and thankfully small in number.
So far, only five people have installed the game via Testflight, and of those five, one is me. This turned out to be very merciful in disguise.
It made it to TestFlight, but it took ages to pass checks.
What wasn't caught in pre-beta testing was a horrible crash when you change the language of the UI. It only happened once and never happened again, even in subsequent plays, but it was a crash nonetheless.
There was still some constructive feedback, though. There were complaints about the fonts being a bit too small on some iPhone screens, and the wish for there to be a tutorial.
I'm fine with those so far, as one is fixable and the other's on the to-do list.
At least I've now got some level of public testing I can turn to in the near future, once more bugs are worked out.
Testing in public and a surprise
While TestFlight is great for general testing needs, sometimes opportunities spring up on you.
Back in February, Emma saw a call for developers for the Indie Playground section of DreamHack Birmingham, an eSports-centric gaming event that took place at the end of March. The aim was to secure one of the 16 or so spots, so we could show off the game to as many people as possible.
Just over a week before the event, we heard that a spot had freed up, and we were next in line on the waitlist. Emma quickly accepted, leading to a week of quickly-produced stand items, including mistake-filled background posters, QR-covered business cards, and other stand decorations.
We also had to get hardware together to actually show the game at the event. Since I didn't want my Macs to be stolen by an attendee, we used the oldest desktop PC and a Windows notebook that had a completely dead battery.
The game needed a bunch of adjustments to turn it into a streamlined demo for DreamHack
Underwhelming hardware assembled, I then had to get a demo version of the game working on them. I managed to do that, creating a custom version of the main game that accelerated at a much faster pace, so a game could take about 5 to 6 minutes.
Sadly, due to animal logistics, other commitments, and the cost of travel, it was decided that I would stay at home and Emma would be at the event for the weekend. After drilling into her how the game plays and what to do with the demo in specific circumstances, she was packed off for the trip.
While our last visit to the Birmingham NEC resulted in a Fyre Festival situation, this time was the polar opposite. Emma said that there were people visiting the booth all of the time, and they were playing the game.
The stand at DreamHack Birmingham, and the award the game somehow won.
It was a good thing I stayed home, as two hours into the first day, I was told of two issues with the game. The demo was "too fast" and a bug that needed fixing.
To solve the demo's speed while trying to keep to the five-minute playtime, I adjusted the initial speed and the acceleration. The game started a little slower but reached the same conclusion in about the same timeframe.
After some careful use of Google Drive, the replacement demo game was installed. Turned out my speed changes made the demo much better.
Over the next three days, I would read messages recounting some small complaints from attendees, lots of compliments, and other notes. Occasional "it's broken" calls from Emma also took place, especially when faced with a query that she couldn't answer about the game.
Shockingly, the game did exceptionally well, even beyond our own standards. It turns out there was a People's Choice vote for the Indie Playground participants, and we managed to get third place overall.
That wasn't just an informal vote. There was a trophy too.
Yes, somehow the game has managed to get an award for something, and it's not even released yet.
This was a heap of validation that the game works. All the time working on it wasn't completely wasted, as people actually enjoyed it enough to vote for it in a very impressive crowd.
It's a weird feeling, getting validation with a physical award. But I still have to press on and get the game completed and released.
As always, that's easier said than done.
