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Sponsored: Code flaws faced by gaming programmers

by on March 10, 2015
 

When typing code, programmers are bound to make mistakes. In fact, most of the errors made during development in games is caused by simple typos, that once discovered can be corrected more easily than one might think.

Haste causes errors

When game launches are announced, programmers are under pressure to get the game done by a specific date. If problems arise that cause delays, or if designing one aspect turns out to be more complicated than initially thought, programmers can feel the need to rush their work. This can lead to errors in code that might not be noticeable at first. This is just one example of how games are released with coding errors in them.

Correction through replication

Discovering how to replicate a bug can help lead to a solution, because if you know how to replicate it then you can begin to experiment with changes and discover which one provides an acceptable solution. It can take an extended amount of time, weeks even, to replicate conditions and find a solution. This puts considerable stress on game developers, who by that time have very likely moved on to another project and workload.

Computer upgrades not completed

Sometimes different aspects of coding software are updated and this can change the way code that was written before the update, functions after the update has been completed. This can lead to a situation where a game will only run on a computer that does not have the updates. This can be extremely frustrating and it is easy for programmers to miss what is causing the problem.

Hardware issues on gaming computers

Sometimes it seems like a problem is being caused by a bug, although it is actually the gamer’s personal computer hardware that is to blame. When tests have been performed using diagnostic software, it was determined that at least 1% of computers could have this problem. While one computer out of 100 might not seem like a big problem, with popular games such as Warcraft or Guild Wars, this can mean thousands of gamers are experiencing issues. Since this is something out of the control of the programmer, it can be impossible to fix and cost the programmer time because they are trying to track down a bug that does not exist.

Multi-player platforms make it interesting

When you have thousands of players connected through a game it can be easy for things to get complicated and make it harder to track down the root cause of a bug. The added pressure from customers leads to some long days where it can feel like nothing gets accomplished.

User made modifications

Some advanced gamers make their own modifications to games to create a unique experience. Unfortunately, even though this might be exciting it can cause problems with other aspects of a game if not done properly. Custom modifications can make it hard for programmers to discover problems that gamers might be having because they might not have the knowledge that a modification has been made.

Avoiding mistakes

If you code a lot, you will inevitably make a mistake. Sometimes these mistakes are your fault and sometimes they are not. The best you can do is to try to be as accurate as possible and check your work. Since so much code is required to create even moderately complex games, you have to learn to not get too upset when an error occurs. Being too paranoid about mistakes can cost you a lot of time when designing a game. Therefore, programmers must find a balance between being careful and efficient at the same time.

Eliminating data breeches

The Heartbleed bug attracted a lot of attention when it was first named. Fortunately, only 17% of computers were found vulnerable. However that means millions of users may be vulnerable to their private information being stolen, sold, used, or published on the internet. Heartbleed allows hackers to read the memory of your computer. They can use this to gather financial information, passwords, user names, access documents, and more. It can be impossible to know this is happening until it is too late. This means that your video game accounts and more may be used by others without your permission. This can lead to data loss or elimination, unauthorized transactions on other websites, and more. Luckily, programmers have found solutions that can help immunize computers from the Heartbleed bug. These inexpensive solutions are well worth the investment for the amount of trouble they can prevent.