Project Description

Weird west legends meet eldritch horror in BLOOD WEST, an immersive stealth FPS. Become the Undead Gunslinger, doomed to roam the barren lands until he manages to purge their curse, freeing his soul. 3 varied scenarios, perk-based character progression, and 20+ hours of gameplay await you!

Objective 1:

Building Essential Test Documentation from Scratch

  • Overview

The client’s internal QA processes were hindered by the absence of structured test documentation. As release deadlines approached, maintaining testing consistency and coverage became increasingly challenging.

  • The Challenge

Without test documentation, testers lacked a unified reference point. This made it difficult to plan, execute, and replicate tests, creating a risk of overlooked issues and longer testing cycles.

  • Our Solution

Our team analyzed the existing game design documentation and developed comprehensive test documentation tailored to the game’s unique systems and mechanics. This included clear test cases, checklists, and workflows to guide future QA efforts.

  • The Result

The new documentation streamlined testing, eliminated uncertainty among testers, and accelerated bug detection and resolution. The client gained a solid foundation for ongoing and future QA processes, ensuring better product stability and smoother development sprints.

Objective 2:

Identifying the Source of Critical AI Malfunction

  • Overview

The client faced a sudden crisis on patch release day. Enemy AI began behaving unpredictably, threatening the game’s reputation and the patch launch.

  • The Challenge

Enemy AI broke unexpectedly, leading to erratic behavior that severely impacted gameplay. The root cause wasn’t immediately apparent, leaving the development team disoriented under tight time pressure.

  • Our Solution

Understanding the urgency, we rapidly assigned our most experienced tester to investigate. We traced the issue back to the AI’s NavMesh system, which had become corrupted during recent updates.

  • The Result

Thanks to our swift action, the client’s developers implemented a focused fix, avoiding a widespread rollback of the patch.

Objective 3:

Enhancing Gameplay Through Controller Support

  • Overview

The client aimed to expand its player base by offering full controller support alongside keyboard and mouse controls. However, controller functionality was not initially implemented, limiting the game’s accessibility.

  • The Challenge

The game lacked any controller compatibility. Players plugging in controllers experienced inconsistent inputs, missing prompts, and unintuitive control schemes, all of which impacted the user experience.

  • Our Solution

Based on extensive experience with diverse gaming hardware, we collaborated closely with the development team to design an intuitive control scheme. We ensured that every in-game action translated naturally to controller inputs and verified that all keybind prompts updated dynamically when a controller was connected.

  • The Result

The game launched with robust controller support, delivering a seamless experience for players across multiple platforms. This enhanced the game’s accessibility and broadened its market reach, contributing to more positive reviews and player satisfaction.

Objective 4:

Improving Game Performance on Low-End Hardware

  • Overview

The client’s team discovered that performance dropped sharply on lower-spec machines, threatening to limit their potential player base.

  • The Challenge

Despite running well on high-end hardware, the game exhibited frame drops, stuttering, and long load times on more modest systems. Pinpointing the specific causes required targeted testing under real-world conditions.

  • Our Solution

We used a range of lower-end PCs and laptops to simulate diverse user scenarios. By monitoring detailed performance metrics and isolating problem areas, we helped the developers identify bottlenecks in rendering and memory usage.

  • The Result

The client optimized key systems, achieving smoother gameplay across hardware tiers. As a result, the game launched with broader hardware compatibility, ensuring a positive experience for a much wider audience.