I don’t know about this… If a game designer can articulate fun and what it means in the game, a test can assert the side effects of the system align with the game designer’s expectations.
Finding the fun, though…
Finding the fun, though…
For basic CRUD and simple business logic I see TDD work. But for example most projects I work on I have no clue what or no clue how to do it. I just write code, play around get new ideas and build upon that. It changes so frequent and is so exploratory that I can not be bothered writing any tests.
Once I "get it" I write some tests. Mostly I understand also what will need tests and what not. Personally I think this if fine.
Online everyone is writing the ideal situation. I know what to deliver, I know how to do it and this is the perfect way to do it. Mostly it is I have taken loads of assumption and figuring it out as I go. Fuck it needs to be done don't have time to "optimize" it to look perfect.
Maybe I'm just not a good developer. But I shipped enough value in my lifetime to know I'm good enough ;)
IMO I suspect we as an industry haven’t spent enough time considering the role of automated tests in video game software. I worry that it’s been written off for so long that it’s a self fulfilling prophecy. Since there isn’t tons of time spent thinking about testing whenever anyone attempts it they run into issues. When seeking help they are told tests are a waste of time. They do waste time because the “what is effective” patterns are still being discovered for as complex of software as games.
Maybe I am actually just not a good developer… But I really think there is something worth exploring.