Working for SQUAD? :-)

[Pawelk198604]

I accidentally come across to SQUAD job offers and found job offer for  "Video Game QA Engineer" i just wonder does it need to any prior coding experience? I know that Kerbal Space Program is coded in unity programming language i recently bought on udemy e-learning platform basic courses for Java, Python

Python

https://www.udemy.com/complete-python-bootcamp/

https://www.udemy.com/complete-python-3-masterclass-journey/learn/v4/overview

and few others 

 

And Unity 

https://www.udemy.com/unity-programming/learn/v4/overview

 

, Unity? Ans i enrolled for free trail on pluralsight for  Python programming language.   

 

I just wondering does is possibile to get job at Squad and they paid me for playing KSP that would be like dream come true

https://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com/en/?page_id=499

 

I hope it's nod need to move to Mexico or United States    

Edited April 18, 2018 by Pawelk198604

[MiniMatt]

https://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com/en/?page_id=499 - is likely to answer some of your questions

edit: and now I see you linked that very page, and - well - the QA engineer listing doesn't particularly include any coding requirements in the same way other positions listed there do, so I think that may answer your question

Edited April 18, 2018 by MiniMatt

[Dankgum]

KSP is written in C#, but in Unity, so you will need experience for both of them.

[invision]

1 hour ago, Dankgum said:

KSP is written in C#, but in Unity, so you will need experience for both of them.

C#.........okay

 

[klgraham1013]

I'm not sure I could play pure stock KSP for 8 hours a day.  That alone would get frustrating, let alone looking for and reporting bugs.

[Superfluous J]

QA work is not "playing the game." It's ruining through proscribed tests, sometimes over and over, for hours.

And these tests likely won't be "land on Mun." They'll be "check all mk3 parts attached in all combinations to make sure they are aerodynamic." And you'll have a long checklist.

And if you're really good at that you may graduate up to being the one who makes those lists.

[Geonovast]

http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-2415-the-ridiculous-tedious-world-video-game-testing.html

[RizzoTheRat]

I got sidetracked in to doing some software testing some years ago, honestly the most boring month of my life, although I did learn a lot about the UK laws relating to badgers

 

 

 

(software was for court services and I decided to use laws relating to badgers for my test cases where possible)

[Galileo]

I don’t think QA is what you think it is OP. It’s not a fun gig. 

[Slam_Jones]

6 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

QA work is not "playing the game." It's ruining through proscribed tests, sometimes over and over, for hours.

And these tests likely won't be "land on Mun." They'll be "check all mk3 parts attached in all combinations to make sure they are aerodynamic." And you'll have a long checklist.

And if you're really good at that you may graduate up to being the one who makes those lists.

He's right, you know. 

QA isn't about playing the fun parts of the game... it's about working through the broken and frustrating parts of the game.  It's about going through massive lists of variables, and checking each one to make sure the intended result is achieved.  It's about poking each and every part, each piece of terrain, basically everything, in order to ensure that the product works as intended, and to ensure no bugs slip through the cracks.

Chances are, you won't have fun doing QA... but the satisfaction of working with a team to fine-tune and polish a product (especially a product you enjoy) is well worth the time.

Source: I'm a former QA tested for a different video game company.  As a reference, it was a video game that I truly loved and had enjoyed for years.  After working QA for that game, I simply don't enjoy the game anymore... haven't been able to play it for more than 5 minutes at a time since. I guess it is in part from working with the broken bits for 8 hours a day, and also from seeing the engine underneath the game... those two combined can really take the magic out of a game.

So, make sure you've gotten all the joy you have out of the game, because QA is likely to take the rest and bury it (YMMV).

Edited April 18, 2018 by Slam_Jones

[Superfluous J]

34 minutes ago, Slam_Jones said:

Chances are, you won't have fun doing QA... but the satisfaction of working with a team to fine-tune and polish a product (especially a product you enjoy) is well worth the time.

He's right, you know

I've never done QA, but I have worked for decades with the QA department in my company and it can be frustrating but rewarding work. I know people who have happily worked in our QA lab for years.

[Vanamonde]

Quote

QA work is not "playing the game." It's ruining through proscribed tests, sometimes over and over, for hours. 

The interesting thing about your typo is that it also makes sense for QA testing. 

[Superfluous J]

12 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

The interesting thing about your typo is that it also makes sense for QA testing. 

Haha! I didn't even notice that. I think we have Swype + inattentiveness to blame for that one.

Also I noticed later that a lot of KSP play is testing things over and over for hours so it may seem similar to QA work, but in regular play you also get explosions.

[klgraham1013]

10 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

QA work is not "playing the game." It's ruining through proscribed tests, sometimes over and over, for hours.

And these tests likely won't be "land on Mun." They'll be "check all mk3 parts attached in all combinations to make sure they are aerodynamic." And you'll have a long checklist.

And if you're really good at that you may graduate up to being the one who makes those lists.

Maybe even something like "check that all IVAs are working" or "make sure all the fairings are the right size."

[nightingale]

1 hour ago, 5thHorseman said:

Also I noticed later that a lot of KSP play is testing things over and over for hours so it may seem similar to QA work, but in regular play you also get explosions.

Can confirm that QA testing KSP involves many explosions, but very few are the fun kind.

[Cydonian Monk]

1 hour ago, Vanamonde said:

The interesting thing about your typo is that it also makes sense for QA testing. 

My QA department only exists to ruin my code and they will gleefully use my carefully designed tests to do so, so I most heartily agree. 

[Rocket In My Pocket]

49 minutes ago, klgraham1013 said:

Maybe even something like "check that all IVAs are working" or "make sure all the fairings are the right size."

Spoiler

 

 

[ZooNamedGames]

Personally I wouldn't mind the trivial and redundant nature of being QnA Testing, but I'm confident Squad has enough QnA members for the time being.

Edited April 19, 2018 by ZooNamedGames

[klgraham1013]

28 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Personally I wouldn't mind the trivial and redundant nature of being QnA Testing, but I'm confident Squad has enough QnA members for the time being.

They're actually hiring for QA Engineers at this very moment.

[ZooNamedGames]

3 hours ago, klgraham1013 said:

They're actually hiring for QA Engineers at this very moment.

But they probably aren't looking for 20yos with rather lackluster experience (although with a colorful resume) and only now entering college. If these problems wouldn't knock me down, I'd apply in a heartbeat, no, in a planck second.

[Waxing_Kibbous]

Squad has a great QA team right here in the community that they used for 1.2 and 1.3- what better way to stress test your software than with a community who abuses the software way beyond any dev's intentions. I'm not sure why 1.4 didn't get the same treatment.

[Fearless Son]

I had considered applying, as someone who has both manual testing and SDET experience, lots of work in C# and familiarity with Unity development.

However, I am not interested in relocating at the present moment, and I only speak a handful of Spanish, so that puts a kibosh on that.

[ZooNamedGames]

2 hours ago, Waxing_Kibbous said:

Squad has a great QA team right here in the community that they used for 1.2 and 1.3- what better way to stress test your software than with a community who abuses the software way beyond any dev's intentions. I'm not sure why 1.4 didn't get the same treatment.

That may be true but you forgot the backlash such a decision had. Players don’t want to be bug testers; players want to play the game. Not find bugs.

Edited April 20, 2018 by ZooNamedGames

[Lisias]

33 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

That may be true but you forgot the backlash such a decision had. Players don’t want to be bug testers; players want to play the game. Not find bugs.

The backslash happens when the users don't know they are beta-testing. When they know, things works (almost) fine.

Netscape started this trend 20 years ago (if my memory serves), and besides some problems (users are not professional Q/C professionals), the model works. A lot of patience from the devs (and a good man in the middle to shield both sides when someone misbehave - and someone always misbehave, we're humans!) are needed, however: people willing to help and people able to help are not mutually inclusive concepts.

[ZooNamedGames]

8 minutes ago, Lisias said:

The backslash happens when the users don't know they are beta-testing. When they know, things works (almost) fine.

Netscape started this trend 20 years ago (if my memory serves), and besides some problems (users are not professional Q/C professionals), the model works. A lot of patience from the devs (and a good man in the middle to shield both sides when someone misbehave - and someone always misbehave, we're humans!) are needed, however: people willing to help and people able to help are not mutually inclusive concepts.

However it's still a practice that not all agree with. Some may permit it but from my experience with this community, the answer of "let the community bug test it" usually results in people complaining about buying a complete product to only find out it's broken.