What Exactly Does It Mean To Be "In Experimentals"?

[Kelvin Kerbin]

As the title says, when Squad announced that the 0.25 update is "in experimentals" does that mean it is in the final stage of testing? Is it like an alpha or beta or a term internal to Squad or just KSP?

I only ask because I was curious what the Squad post meant?

Thanks!

[cantab]

It's a stage in their development cycle. I think it's one of the last steps before release, when the last bugs are being found, playtesting is being done, and the media people can get their hands on the build and start streaming and youtubing.

[AmpsterMan]

A long time ago in this forum releases were made as soon as SQUAD deemed it good enough. Often times little testing was done before release and so releases were often buggy and underwhelming. At some point people started complaining loudly and vehemently against buggy releases and so we hour a Q/A Team of volunteers (they go through the preliminary steps of a release) then an Expermentals release (where a special team gets access to "KSP Experimentals" and the bug tracker) the job then is to try and break KSP as best as possible and then fix it up (balance is also tested at this time). Afterwards there is a code freeze and "Release Candidates" are released. After the final candidate, Squad decidrs on a date and it gets released.

Basically the reasoning for this is to reduce the noise-to-signal ratio; a small group of competent testers can more easily find and fix bugs than a horde of less competent testers. Furthermore, this means we all get a better product in the end.

Edited October 6, 2014 by AmpsterMan

[FleetAdmiralJ]

As the title says, when Squad announced that the 0.25 update is "in experimentals" does that mean it is in the final stage of testing? Is it like an alpha or beta or a term internal to Squad or just KSP?

I only ask because I was curious what the Squad post meant?

Thanks!

Think of it as essentially Beta testing the release, with experimental testers and media group people putting it through it's final pacing to iron out any bugs that the QA team might have missed, and to give input on whether the game mechanics make sense or are balanced.

[blizzy78]

Also, this: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/content/303-A-Peak-Behind-the-Kerosene-Curtain-All-About-QA-and-Experimentals