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kiwikipedia · 1 year

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I know that the Grand Saber is pretty much confirmed (well not confirmed confirmed but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t) to be another Arturia clone but since While technically the Grands are known as the seven strongest of an era, here are some alternatives I think might work or would be funny as shit

Musashi Miyamoto (Girl): This one’s kinda a given. She was implemented, reused, and went out in a sorta random way imo? Like. By all means her “death” was cool and she was cool until the end, but it seemed… off to me? Chaos kinda came from out of nowhere but ykwe or something. Personally I just want Musashi back

Musashi Miyamoto (Real/Male): We know he exists. He’s been eluded to multiple times with our known Musashi stating she is and isn’t “Musashi”. Musashi is also often considered to be one of the best sword masters in Japan

Sasaki Kojiro (saber): We’ve seen him once before and we all know how Fate likes to drag FSN characters for as long as they can even if the fandom is tired of them. Personally I’d like more Kojiro over more Arturia !! Like Musashi, he’s one of Japan’s most recognizable sword masters

Fiore dei Liberi: the author of one of the oldest surviving treatises on fencing is pretty notable in terms of sword wielding historical figures right? There’s not much known about him which would give Takeuchi and Nasu a good bit freedom and probably smack him with the Genderbend Laser. I think a prominent swordsman is the best for the Grand Saber if we draw from straight historical fact and not Nasu historical fact

Altera: Laser Sword go brrrr. In seriousness though, she is my number one choice for a Grand Saber. A number of the “Grand” servants have some connections to the divine, right? Solomon and Noah with the biblical God, The Old Man of the Mountain with Allah, Romulus and Orion with the Roman and Greek gods, Tezcatlipoca is a god himself… Merlin is technically an outlier, I guess but before he filled Solomon’s seat, all the Grands known were/were associated with the divine. Altera in FGO is vaguely associated by way of Mars, but in the EXTELLA line of fate, she’s just straight up a deity i believe— With her true form being that if of the Great God of Sefar. There’s some alien stuff too Granted Sefar was killed by Excalibur (somehow?? The timeline matches up not at all but WHATEVER fate like Excalibur) and her body became the Valkyrie? Brynhildr, Giants, and Altera. Sefar also shows up twice in Lostbelt Lore: Atlantis and Avalon. I’d say that’s a big calling card. (Zeus beat Sefar in Atlantis with the other gods, in Avalon she destroyed the world as per goal.) But my god. wouldn’t it be cool to see two alien gods beating the shit out of each other? Ofc I’ve gotten off topic, as Sefar and Altera are the same but not, and Sefar is more of an outer god/beast/foreign god, but using that connection and the fact that Altera is quite powerful in her own right as the Destroyer of Civilization and Attila the Hun, I think seeing her utilized as the Grand Saber would be much more interesting than Arturia. And would bring back some of her actual character instead of Bad Civilization jokes.

Peleus: I think this one is less likely as we have Achilles as a servant and Greece is pretty much over and done, but according to legend, his sword is one that grants its wielder victory in battle and when hunting. Besides, we’d have that heroic link, the divine link, and I’m ALWAYS a sucker for more of Chiron’s extended family to show up.

Perseus: Isn’t he technically a fate character already? Back on the Greek train I guess lol. Anyways, who doesn’t know Perseus? He’s a hero in his own right and his sword Harpe is referenced often in literature anyways. I think he’d be an interesting choice

Heracles: while we’re on the topic of Greeks, why not add Herc to the list? Recognized as one of if not the most well known Greek Hero of all time, He’s already also recognized as an Archer Class as per FSF, but would it be a stretch to also include Saber? Ofc, with Orion all the Greeks could be void given the shared mythology root, but Noah and Solomon exist so yk. I’m also just down to see more Heracles

Sir Agravain of Iron: this is really more of a “wouldnt it be fucking funny” choice for me, and doesn’t fit in with the greatest of all time bit, but I think it would be funny as hell. he does not want to be here and yet he is. I just think it would be funny if everything is hyped up to the max about a new Arturia except the reveal is this guy that no one likes, he also does not like anyone, he hates humans on principle, would kill his mother for less than a cornchip, but somehow in a twist of reality and lostbelt fuckery he was given Excalibur and the Crown by way of blood right and efficiency. “But but but that deviates from human history-“ that didn’t stop Romulus!! I think at this point nothing matters about the who what and when aspects. Plus? FGO is sometimes known for these hyped up and then fucking weird plot twists so I think it would just be funny personally. I cannot stress enough how much he does not want to be here.

Most of these are just ideas and thoughts, knowing Takeuchi and Nasu, we’re likely going to be getting a version of Arturia/Arthur as the Grand Saber. But it’s fun to think about.

#if you have any other ideas throw them out in the tags or RBs!! I’d love to see them lol #fate #fate go #fgo #fate grand order #Kiwiki Plays Fate #Kiwiki Speaks

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auxiliarydetective · 7 months

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The OC Halloween Challenge - Day 12

You can find the challenge here!

Today's prompt was...

The Final Girl

It’s all come down to this, the last stand. There’s two people left, or at least two important people left; the killer and the final girl. She’s fought tooth and nail, and grief has made way for rage. At first she was just another potential victim, now she’s in the killers way and she won’t go down easy. In the beginning she just wanted to survive, but like Laurie Strode now she wants revenge. Which oc becomes the monsters monster?

R.I.P. to the friends we lost along the way:

Diana, Akaito Coraline and Kassandra Hargrees

But now, without further ado:

Bára's breath was still stuck in her throat. Carefully, she scooped Jedediah and Octavius up from the ground into her shaking hands. They were barely recognizable anymore, their tiny bodies mangled and destroyed. Still, she knew it was them. There was no mistaking it. Of course, they wouldn't listen to her when she told them to run. They had always had a tendency towards the heroic, ignoring the fact that heroes often died tragically. Or maybe they did it for that exact reason, a last shower of glory. Still, Bára knew that the pain had to have swept their pride out of them. At the very least, she thought, they hadn't died alone. Not like she was going to.

Gently, she placed the two brave warriors down in the only place she saw fit: The large hole torn into the wall between the Wild West and Roman dioramas, now united, even if through horrifying events.

She could barely even feel the tears in her eyes anymore, nor the piercing ache in her heart. For all she knew, she had been crying for the last five hours without stopping even once. Not that she would have noticed if she had. Her hands were stained with blood and droplets of molten wax, and she wasn't so sure how much of it was real and how much she was imagining anymore.

In the darkened glass behind which she knew the Mayan diorama to be, Bára saw her own reflection, beaten and distraught. Her muddied, discolored boots. The clawmarks across her thigh. Her belt, heavy with familiar items. Flashlight, a set of keys. A second belt with a gun holster but no bullets left, crossed sabers stamped into the dark, once pristine leather. Animal hairs and stains across her clothes. Strings and beads woven into her hair. And atop it all, a golden headdress, governed by vines and knots, an ankh dropping down onto her forehead. He was meant to live forever. They all were supposed to live forever. But now, Bára found herself alone. She had seen Teddy be sliced in half before. No pain, nothing. He had been able to talk, breathe, act normally. But now, not only him, but all of her friends had lost their immortal lives to a creature roaming the museum. Nobody had ever fully seen it and lived. If only the tablet had been able to protect them...

The tablet! Suddenly, a spark of life lit itself within Bára's chest. If the tablet could bring Ahkmenrah to life, Ahkmenrah, who was, by human rules, long since dead, then it had to be able to do it again, didn't it? It was capable of so much, why shouldn't it be able to heal everyone? Stuck in this eternal night, the sun wouldn't doom them. Only the destruction of the tablet would. But the tablet was in the safest place it could possibly be. Bára took a deep breath, then started walking quickly and forcefully across the marble tiles. She reached the entrance hall where Rexy lay shattered on the floor. Buried beneath the bones was a saber, straight at the hilt, then curved. It was heavy in her hands and the handle too big for her, but it would do. It was an honorable weapon and, if she closed her eyes, she felt as if Attila's spirit was in it. In truth, she wasn't alone. Though their bodies may be destroyed, she could sense her friends' spirits floating around her. It was almost as if they were whispering to her, giving her strength in those familiar tones she knew so well. And there was another force, one that seemed to come straight from her blood. An ancient ancestry of warriors and seafarers, surfacing to lend her their power.

A toe-curling cry echoed from the upper floors, sending shivers down Bára's spine. But this time, she didn't run away. She ran towards it. This creature would soon find out what true monstrosity felt like.

#ohc2023 #natm oc #oc: bára heiðradóttir #fanfiction

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bottleblondefeelingconned · 1 year

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This is probably extremely weird, but I have an idea for a DSMP x Fate Holy Grail War AU

Okay, for starters for those who don't know, a Holy Grail war is when the manifestation of legends of "Heroes" are summoned (Servants), and they and their Masters compete Battle Royale style to the death. The winning Master and Servant get their wishes granted from the Holy Grail.

There are seven classes of Servants:

1. Sabers

2. Lancers

3. Archers

4. Riders

5. Casters

6. Assassins

7. Beserkers

Seven Servants and seven Masters. There's normally a Ruler Servant who oversees the Holy Grail War and makes sure non-participants.

This is how it's supposed to work in theory. It normally doesn't, for spice ✨

Feel free to look at posts I've reblogged or TV Tropes for a better understanding of the framework.

Back to the AU idea, it involves the DSMP, but in a more modern setting. Normally, the Holy Grail War is supposed to take place in Fuyuki, Japan (the OGs: Fate Stay Night, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel, but it has happened in America (Fate Strange Fake) Romania (Fate Apocrypha) and the Moon (Fate Extra) among others.

First of all, I'll begin with Tommy, because I had an epiphany as to who his servant should be. Here me out: Beserker Servant, Kriemhild.

Kriemhild (from the German Nibelungenlied) was a tragic figure. Her husband was the heroic and selfless Siegfried (slayed the dragon Fafnir with Balmung) who was murdered along with their only child Gunther due to Kriemhild and her family being betrayed by her older brother Gunther (son was named after brother to add salt into the wound) and Hagen in order to get access to the treasure (originally Fafnir's) that was rightfully Kriemhild's inheritance. Kriemhild also had a brother called Giselher who says he's on Kriemhild's side but just doesn't do anything and helps out his brother and Hagen. The vengeful window then married Etzel, the epic's Attila the Hun (a pagan when she was Christian, a Big Thing back then) and by god did she get her bloody, bloody revenge on the family who took everything from her. Back then, however, a girl turning against her family like that, despite them murdering her husband and son was despicable, and thus she went down in history as a crazed villainess. Oh, Hagen killed the son she had with Eztel too, just to add salt to the wound. Just to be clear though, Kriemhild is tragic, but she also got a lot of innocent people killed, and was the downfall of both the Burgundians and the Huns. Her story is essentially a dark exploration of the lengths one has to go to and the lines one has to cross to conduct revenge.

Moving onto why I think she should be partnered with Tommy:

Tommy is a child soldier who while looks selfish is actually super selfless (fought in L'mangburg war, lost two lives for it, gave up his discs for country's independence, fought Dream the villain, etc.), who was exiled twice by his nation and was backstabbed by his friends and family (Tubbo (under sympathetic circumstances) was forced to exile him, Wilbur hurt him while mentally ill and ultimately abandoned him to go to fucking Utah, Techno betrayed Tommy first, he offered him to Dream when he and Tommy were supposed to be friends), Tommy thought Dream was a friend until he realised how fucking evil he really was, Sam failed to rescue him from the prison, and Tubbo and Ranboo fucked off and got married when Tommy needed them (I love them but I can admit they fucked up there).

My point is: Tommy is a tragic child who was hurt and betrayed by everyone he ever loved, but holds no ill will towards them because he's that good of a person (even empathises with fucking Dream: "how do you not hurt?")

And you know who that seems similar to fate's interpretation of? SIEGFRIED

Kriemhild would see Tommy and know that a person who puts everyone's else's happiness before themselves is doomed to tragedy, just like Siegfried (and while her brother and Hagen murdered him in cold blood, she also feels guilty because she Told them Siegfried's weakness (his back, man was literally backstabbed by his brother-in-law and friend) because she Trusted her brother and it costed her Everything), and Tommy's also young enough to remind her of her innocently murdered sons Gunther and the one she had with Eztel too (points for Tommy also being murdered by Dream, a semi-older brother figure).

I think she'd feel protective of Tommy because of it. Tommy would remind her that there's still good people in the world and Kriemhild would hopefully get Tommy to stand up for himself and learn that it's okay to hate people who hurt you.

I just reckon you'd have a really interesting relationship between the two.

Other characters I'd have are:

Wilbur (returned from Utah so we get that angst)

Dream

Quackity

Techno

Sam (working with Quackity)

And someone else

I'm not too sure on all the Servants yet, but I have two ideas:

Quackity - Ushiwakamaru (Rider)

Quackity acts heartless but he's a softie at heart who is full of love but refuses to ever let him get hurt again. He was in an abusive relationship and killed his abuser before eating his heart, because he's just that metal. Quackity tortured Dream for what he did to Tommy (I personally headcanon that Quackity gave Dream the same scars that green bitch gave Tommy. Quackity would look out for Tommy, but not in an obvious way. He has his Cool Persona, after all.

Quackity needs someone loyal to him but someone who isn't afraid to be pragmatic and play dirty. That's Ushiwakamaru to a T (homegirl has killed kids before [Babylonia]). Not only would Quackity be secretly So Concerned that this kid is a Servant, but you also have Ushiwakamaru's backstory in being betrayed by her older brother Minamoto-no-Yoritomo. Fate's appeal is how different characters from across space and time interact with one another, and you have delicious parallels with Kriemhild (Ushiwakamaru loves her brother while Kriemhild fucking hates hers) as well as Tommy (his messed up pseudo brother relationship with Wilbur, Techno and even Dream), and all these characters' philosophies to it all.

My second idea is for Techno's Servant. He's obsessed with Greek mythology, so you'd think I'd pair him with someone strong like Achilles, or Hercules or Castor and Pollux. Here me out though: Jason. Jason is a slimy man whose a brilliant tactician and works best when cornered. The story of Jason and Medea is well known. We all know how Jason betrayed Medea (he did point out how terrifying a woman who murdered her innocent little brother for you is though) which lead to Medea killing their children and eventually Jason died penniless and alone, crushed by his own ship with no one to mourn. A classic greek tale of hubris. Let's make it clear though, I love both Medea and Jason (hard not to after Atlantis).

I think Jason's reaction to Kriemhild would be interesting. A homicide woman triggers his Medea Button, plus he has regrets about how he treated Medea (if Fate [Greek]) allowed it, they could have been happy together, OSP does a good video on it if you're interested), and he loved his kids. He might see a bit of them in Tommy, the only child in the Holy Grail War.

I can personally see Dream and Techno teaming up too, and Jason would be so creeped out and disgusted by Dream. I also think Kriemhild would have it out for Techno too, a backstabbing 'older brother' triggers her Gunther Button.

I'll add to this later, but tell me your ideas please I want this to be a multi-person project.

Just note, I want to include the good and bad elements of a person's character. That's what makes them interesting. Point out their flaws too.

#dream smp #dsmp #dsmp au #c!tommy #c!quackity #c!dream #c!wilbur #c!techno #c!sam #fate #fate au #kriemhild #fate Kriemhild #fate jason #jason #ushiwakamaru #fate ushiwakamaru #master oc #holy grail war au

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medianeras005 · 14 days

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I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.

en mi por finn exitoso intento de terminar the bell jar, este fragmento del libro quedó marcado bastante en mí, pero siento que también resuena contigo. a veces escuchar de la boca de otra persona como te sientes, palabra por palabra, emoción por emoción; puede ser impactante e incluso llega a ser incómodo, amenazante. aunque, a su vez, puede llegar a ser reconfortante saber que alguien se siente exactamente igual que tú

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jcmarchi · 4 months

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Vomit And Ginger Candy: Inside The VR QA Process

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/vomit-and-ginger-candy-inside-the-vr-qa-process/

Vomit And Ginger Candy: Inside The VR QA Process

Introduction

Climbing a skyscraper for the 25th time in a day quickly erodes the novelty of virtual reality.

For over three years, Attila Kardos was one of the quality assurance testers at PlayStation Liverpool, one of the testing centers of Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. During his tenure, he worked on first-party behemoths like God of War, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Detroit: Become Human. But today, heʼs talking about a different type of testing involving a headset and physically mimicking movements for multiple hours at your office desk.

In games like Blood & Truth, where you take a starring role in action movie-esque setpieces, the fun factor of virtual reality quickly makes itself apparent. However, experiences like this can be taxing. A player can stop at any time. A tester doesnʼt have that luxury. It doesnʼt take long for the monotonous physical effort to take a toll. And then they have to show up at work the next day and do it all again.

Job Simulator

“Eventually, you start feeling your shoulders,” Kardos laughs. “You feel the extra muscle pain.”

On average, he spent five to six hours a day in VR. He says it was “pretty intense,” to the extent that some colleagues asked management to swap to non-VR projects. Eventually, Kardos got acclimatized to working in virtual reality and recalls the experience fondly. However, during the first two weeks, heʼd often feel “detached from reality” whenever he moved his head around after clocking out from work.

As companies continue to iterate on past foundations or release new platforms altogether, from PlayStation to Apple, VR is constantly innovating. But the work conditions for QA folks who learn the inside out of these technologies rarely are. Game Informer spoke to testers, artists, and engineers who worked on VR games like Beat Saber, Job Simulator, Cosmonious High, Resident Evil 4 VR, and Blood & Truth about the differences with regular testing, how elements like physicality and hygiene come into play, unorthodox workarounds, and the unsung tradition of ginger candy.

Rift

Into Another Dimension

VR leaping into the mainstream meant new considerations for game development. And, as a consequence, testing. In order to understand the differences with traditional QA practices, itʼs important to look back at the technologyʼs origins to understand how impactful of a precedent it would set.

Few studios have the institutional knowledge of Owlchemy Labs. Based in Austin, Texas, the team began experimenting with the technology when the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift were only prototypes. There was no documentation or beginnerʼs manual. As promising as this empty virtual canvas was, it was a long time until the studio saw that potential materialized. “We had a very early headset that would shock you if you touched it on the wrong part of the circuit board,” says Graeme Borland, gameplay director at Owlchemy since 2013. “[It was] that level of true prototype.”

Multiple new considerations quickly came into play. Comfort, both inside and outside the headset, was paramount. As a principle, it intertwined with everything: locomotion methods, figuring out how elements like framerate and draw distances could make or break the experience, and the fact that visual bugs could lead to immediate discomfort.

Cosmonious High

During the first few years of the main headset companies, trial and error and experimentation led to different ideas. Unlike Owlchemyʼs Job Simulator, which had sold over a million copies by 2020, not every early project managed to successfully combine its ideas with this emerging technology. Such was the case of Rigs: Mechanized Combat League, developed by Guerrilla Cambridge and published by Sony.

“It was the first version of PlayStation VR, so we had resolution problems, sweaty eyes, everything was very fresh,” Kardos says. Rigs was his first project. In it, youʼre sitting in the cockpit of a mech – the movement of the robotʼs head, and as a result, your view direction, was controlled with the VR headset, while the body relied on the controller. Kardos thinks thatʼs one of the things that compromised the end result, as it was “absolutely dreadful” to run around and fight in arenas. As a fast-paced shooter with multiplayer modes, there were many things happening on screen at all times. It didnʼt take long to feel dizzy.

According to Kardos, there was a market research report dictating that “there are not many people interested in these kinds of games.” Initial feedback was fairly rough, too, pinpointing the complicated control scheme and proneness to motion sickness as weak points. Sony closed Guerilla Cambridge in 2017, a year after Rigs’ release.

Go Move

In terms of the testing itself, most of the regular QA processes are compatible. Tasks such as bug reports or running test cases – checklists of specific elements to test in different environments – largely apply to VR. The problem is that even mundane actions such as switching to a second monitor to take notes or sending a Slack message turn cumbersome.

Both Borland and Ben Hopkins, principal graphics engineer at Owlchemy, reinforce that the human experience of being inside a game is a significant factor of developing for VR. To try and mitigate constant usage of the headset, the team implemented a debug system, which essentially allows them to play the game with mouse and keyboard. “Itʼs good for a fast iteration, but there are so many things you canʼt actually understand whether they work or not unless youʼre actually in the headset,” he says.

When asking the QA testers at Owlchemy if they ever use the debug editor, they reply with laughter. “The approach is very different,” says Jessica Fly, senior QA specialist. Previously, she worked at Cloud Imperium Games testing Star Citizen. All she needed was to boot up the game on a flat screen, and she was set. The routine now involves putting on the headset and ensuring the room is set up properly to avoid tripping over anything. And thatʼs before the actual physicality of the job.

Blood & Truth

A clear example arises when doing full regression testing. During this stage, testers go through the game after an update or new version to ensure nothing is broken. In the case of Cosmonious High, one of the tasks involves testing all 18 recipes, each requiring a mixing-in-a-bowl type of movement. “Itʼs really murder on the arms,” Fly says. “Thereʼs this physical part of VR testing that is honestly one of the things that interest me.”

“Before Owlchemy, I was at Blizzard working on Hearthstone, and I canʼt think of a stronger differential between testing a fully immersive VR video game and testing a digital card game,” says Paul Henderson, QA tester 1 at Owlchemy. “You go from a game that is the most basic inputs; you drag a card to the slot, you drag it to your opponent to how can you move? Thatʼs your inputs! Go move.”

Through the Motions

Mayank Lal joined Keywords Studios in Gurgaon, India, back in early 2017. He started as a QA games tester. Almost seven years later, heʼs a quality assurance test lead. During this time, Lal witnessed VR gaining more relevance in the studioʼs portfolio. This, thankfully, led to better conditions for the 40 dedicated VR testers out of around 200 employees.

In the beginning, things were messy. It started with a partnership with Oculus back when Meta (formerly Facebook) wasnʼt involved. Testers quickly realized some issues needed to be addressed. “One of the most common things that we observed as testers in that particular time was feeling nausea in longer periods of use,” he says. “Headsets also heat up and that actually affects the skin on the face. Sometimes headsets are shared between testers, which increases the probability of getting infections.”

One of the policies that came up was about breaks. For every 20 minutes using the headset, testers are encouraged, not mandated, to take a 10-minute “break” to file any bugs, report issues, and so on. Over time, they realized the platform just isnʼt for everyone. Employees can present a doctorʼs note to HR so theyʼre no longer deployed into VR projects. Nowadays, the studio doesnʼt immediately assign a tester to VR. After six months with other platforms, theyʼre given training and, eventually, see if theyʼre comfortable with virtual reality.

Beat Saber

“People actually leave here,” Lal says. “When it comes to health, people donʼt think, ‘I will not have another opportunity,ʼ because in this company youʼre already learning things and adding them to your CV. So if they feel weʼre exerting them, theyʼd not even give a letter of resignation. Next day theyʼd call and not come back.”

During the pandemic, the studio got each tester a separate foam attachment, which mitigated the infection problem. Now, testers are back in the office – only people at a managerial level can opt for a hybrid model – where they have a floor dedicated solely to VR projects. On average, they spend half of their eight-hour shifts in the headset.

All these elements vary depending on the studioʼs internal rules or even across different branches. In the Québec, Montreal, branches of Keywords Studios, former functional QA tester Sammy Fox says you were expected to do “as much VR as you could tolerate,” as long as it didnʼt take time from actual bug reporting or assigned tasks for the day. That being said, breaks were regulated, with two paid short breaks and one unpaid but longer lunch break.

Another former tester, who requested anonymity, says even though everyone is legally an employee on file, almost all testers were on an “on-call basis.” Basically, theyʼd find out if theyʼre working the next day through email, receiving a new notice on a daily basis.

While they were lucky enough to get fairly consistent work, pay was a letdown. Doing the conversion from Canadian to American dollars, the source says they peaked at around $10.50 USD an hour, back when the local minimum wage was around $9 USD an hour. They add that, for comparison, test leads were making more than $30,000 USD a year around the same time.

During busy periods, it was common for a single tester to work on multiple projects per day. While the source didnʼt do much overtime, there were morning, afternoon, and, on occasion, so-called “graveyard” shifts that occurred overnight during the week and weekends. Employees would receive bonus pay for doing so. “The worst memory was once a stress test over the weekend, and someone projectile vomited all over a busy shared bathroom,” the source says. “It wasnʼt cleaned until Monday morning because maintenance wasnʼt available on the weekend. You could imagine the smell.”

Resident Evil 4 VR

Waving

In a 2017 report from CNN, experts say that the cause behind eye strain, headaches, and nausea is due to the way VR affects the eye-brain connection. In real life, the eyes and brain simultaneously focus on a point in space. In virtual reality, the responses arenʼt coupled together, but separated. “The way we look and interact is changed because we may be projecting onto the eyes something that looks far away, but in reality, it’s only a few centimeters from the eye,” behavioral neuroscientist Walter Greenleaf said in the report.

These conditions are aggravated when testing games still in development. While the teams try to ensure that builds are hitting a stable frame‑ rate before involving QA, often opting for excluding some assets entirely in the early stages of a project, it can be challenging.

“I remember a racing game I tested where the camera went haywire and I almost fell to the ground,” says Fox. In the office, there was always a supply of ginger and anti-nausea pills to help with motion sickness and in-game “accidents” like this. “When that happened, I would remove the headset, go ask my team lead for a Gravol, and then do desk work until nausea subsides and you feel fine enough to resume doing physical VR testing,” he adds.

Eric Kozlowsky, former senior environment artist at Armature Studio, recalls a similar tradition when working on Resident Evil 4 VR. “I get motion sickness pretty easily in real life, let alone in VR, so working with in-development software was challenging,” he says. “I did get nauseous, but that was mitigated by limited time spent in the headset and using homeopathic remedies. So if I ever got motion sick, ginger candy would help a bit.”

Even though testers usually spend the most time using headsets, the job leads them to find creative workarounds in their routines. Archie Crampton, lead QA technician at Universally Speaking and gingernut biscuit advocator, finds changing his height in-game from two to 15 feet tall, as hilarious as it is, helpful. In addition, he says most people in the studio test Beat Saber seated. As theyʼve gotten quite good at it, theyʼre able to complete levels with less movement than youʼd expect.

Hopkins says there have been many random helpful items in the Owlchemy office. This includes Bob, a mannequin head attached to the top of a camera tripod. Instead of pushing a real person in a chair, the team would put the headset on Bob and rotate it around to get different shots of a scene. “You have to be open-minded to things like that if youʼre gonna figure out solutions,” Borland adds.

Alongside sheer creativity, almost everyone I spoke to shares excitement about VRʼs future. Sure, new technologies also bring new processes – Owlchemy, in particular, found not everybody waves equally while testing hand-tracking – but also keep QA fresh.

Next time you play a VR game with comfortable controls and a lack of visual glitches, you can thank the testers. After all, theyʼre the ones who crouched, waved, mixed, and climbed a skyscraper dozens of times to ensure the best result. “Towards the end of Cosmonious High, developers would come to me as an expert on the game cause I spent so much time in there,” Fly says. “It makes me feel really good that they recognize that QA is extremely important and knowledgeable.”

This article originally appeared in Issue 360 of Game Informer

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