How are game glitches even a thing?

[ratetankmark]

Seriously, you have all this money and you spend all this time working on a game and you can't even remove bugs or glitches?! What the hell, if a game's good enough to hit the stores it should at least have no glitches that cause you to rage quit on the damn thing.

[A Platypus Rave]

I am assuming you have never programmed anything.

[Push R Truth]

The more complicated a game (or software) is the more bugs/glitches will occur.
Add in a little bit of "humans make mistakes" and a lot of "dozens if not hundreds of people working on the same game" and it's kinda amazing you end up with anything playable.

[Curt Hawkins Fan]

Were two threads really necessary?

[ratetankmark]

Dec 5, 2013 15:48:26 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

I am assuming you have never programmed anything.

No I haven't, I'd be the worst game programmer ever, I know it's stupid to get annoyed about glitches considering they'll always be there and there ain't anything I can do about it but games like Sonic 06 for example were notorious for their glitches.

[ratetankmark]

Dec 5, 2013 15:52:30 GMT -5 Curt Hawkins Fan said:

Were two threads really necessary?

Yes one thread I was talking about a specific glitch and this one we're talking about glitches in general.

[A Platypus Rave]

Dec 5, 2013 15:53:05 GMT -5 ratetankmark said:

Dec 5, 2013 15:48:26 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

I am assuming you have never programmed anything.

No I haven't, I'd be the worst game programmer ever, I know it's stupid to get annoyed about glitches considering they'll always be there and there ain't anything I can do about it but games like Sonic 06 for example were notorious for their glitches.

Most glitches happen after a random set of variables so finding what the hell is causing it could require you scouring every last line of code to find whatever the hell is causing it and then after finally finding it coming up with a solution to the problem that doesn't result in you destroying some other part of the code... which it almost definitely will.

So the testers test as much as they can so the the coders can fix so the testers can try and find any other bugs that are completely game breaking, due to the human error in this some glitches go unreported as they never hit the million and one shot to trigger them

Furthermore, since gaming is now big business many game companies have permanent deadlines thrust upon the dev team whether the game is in any condition to ship or not from a QA stand point.

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Dec 5, 2013 15:55:22 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

Dec 5, 2013 15:53:05 GMT -5 ratetankmark said:

No I haven't, I'd be the worst game programmer ever, I know it's stupid to get annoyed about glitches considering they'll always be there and there ain't anything I can do about it but games like Sonic 06 for example were notorious for their glitches.

Most glitches happen after a random set of variables so finding what the hell is causing it could require you scouring every last line of code to find whatever the hell is causing it and then after finally finding it coming up with a solution to the problem that doesn't result in you destroying some other part of the code... which it almost definitely will.

So the testers test as much as they can so the the coders can fix so the testers can try and find any other bugs that are completely game breaking, due to the human error in this some glitches go unreported as they never hit the million and one shot to trigger them

Furthermore, since gaming is now big business many game companies have permanent deadlines thrust upon the dev team whether the game is in any condition to ship or not from a QA stand point.

Doesn't help that even if a tester does find an issue, they have to recreate it. If they can't recreate it then it was a freak occurrence and isn't really paid attention to.

[The Ichi]

Programming is hard as balls + deadlines to release a game = glitches.

[A Platypus Rave]

Dec 5, 2013 15:59:27 GMT -5 Koda, Master Crunchyroller said:

Dec 5, 2013 15:55:22 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

Most glitches happen after a random set of variables so finding what the hell is causing it could require you scouring every last line of code to find whatever the hell is causing it and then after finally finding it coming up with a solution to the problem that doesn't result in you destroying some other part of the code... which it almost definitely will.

So the testers test as much as they can so the the coders can fix so the testers can try and find any other bugs that are completely game breaking, due to the human error in this some glitches go unreported as they never hit the million and one shot to trigger them

Furthermore, since gaming is now big business many game companies have permanent deadlines thrust upon the dev team whether the game is in any condition to ship or not from a QA stand point.

Doesn't help that even if a tester does find an issue, they have to recreate it. If they can't recreate it then it was a freak occurrence and isn't really paid attention to.

Yeah, I meant to mention that too.

[BigJerichool222]

To keep my friends and I busy when we stream.

[A Platypus Rave]

Dec 5, 2013 16:02:46 GMT -5 BigJerichool222 said:

To keep my friends and I busy when we stream.

Thank you for reminding me, sometimes laziness is a factor as well.

[Blindkarevik]

I've never done any serious programming. I took a a couple classes in High School, very primitive stuff... but even then, the smallest error could f*** everything up completely. Then you'd search hundreds of lines of code for a comma, or a period, or worse.... something that looks completely normal, but is somehow f***ing shit up.

Seriously, video game programmers get my utmost respect... not just because they provide me with entertainment but because they go through pure hell to get that product to us.

['Foretold' Joker]

A good game will have a development team and a testing team as developers invariably miss things when designing cool stuff, testers if given the chance should find 99% of the issues, then it should go out on a beta test before being released. However due to release dates or an impatient business the testing process/beta test is often glossed over or ignored and out goes the product with bugs still in it.

As I am a software tester (not games) I can fully understand how a game could go out with bugs/glitches in them. honestly on some of the big games out there I am amazed we don't get more glitchy games on a level like Fallout: New Vegas than we do.

Think about a FPS map, now imagine that someone needs to check that every wall on that map can't be walked through, then repeat that scenario for each weapon the player can carry in the game, then do it again when they are on a boost (like Quad Damage) or throw a mine at it etc ...

[ratetankmark]

Okay I've just found out that it was my controller that was the problem, but the point still stands, even with some amazing games and even though it's no-one's faults, I assume you'll all agree that you've, once, been pissed off by glitches.

[Red Impact]

I've been pissed off by glitches when they've been game-breaking, like when I've fallen through the ground in Infamous and had to restart, but I understand why they happen. I'd imagine that even the smallest box of space could cause one, and as games get bigger and more elaborate, it's got to be impossible to check everything even in a simpler game, like a fighter, where you don't have huge stages.

And I bet for a game with larger stages and open world segments, I'm betting you have a collection of code that's longer than The Iliad to pour through.

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Dec 5, 2013 16:54:59 GMT -5 Red Impact said:

I've been pissed off by glitches when they've been game-breaking, like when I've fallen through the ground in Infamous and had to restart, but I understand why they happen. I'd imagine that even the smallest box of space could cause one, and as games get bigger and more elaborate, it's got to be impossible to check everything even in a simpler game, like a fighter, where you don't have huge stages.

And I bet for a game with larger stages and open world segments, I'm betting you have a collection of code that's longer than The Iliad to pour through.

Case in point Skyrim. Which is why that game has so many glitches. It is just too complex to be able to check everything.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

For plenty of reasons:


- Beta testers didn't find them. Especially common in sandbox-type games as it's nearly impossible to find them all due to the near infinite possibilities of interactions;

- Beta testers did find them but thought they were fun and advised the devs to keep them and/or turn them into a feature;

- Beta testers / developers couldn't recreate a glitch and therefore couldn't know how to fix it since they couldn't even know what was wrong;

- out of time or budget;

- fixing it would create more problems due to the way the game is programmed;

- fixing it would delay the release of the game too much (often due to the previous reason);

- the developers just couldn't find what was causing it;

- the hardware can't handle the software;

- the user messed with the files in a way they weren't supposed to;

- probably many more things that I couldn't think of.



Softwares and especially video games are insanely complicated to make and with the progress of technology it's only going to get worse. It's already very difficult to make a game that works the way you want it with something that chews most of work for you like RPG Maker so imagine when you have to build an engine from scratch. No game would ever get released if developers tried to fix absolutely every glitch.

To give you an example, Valve is notoriously slow to develop games because they're perfectionists. Half-Life 2 spent 5 years in development, Team Fortress 2 spent 9. And they both still had glitches. And keep in mind they could only afford this perfectionism because they publish their own games.

Dec 5, 2013 15:53:05 GMT -5 ratetankmark said:

Dec 5, 2013 15:48:26 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

I am assuming you have never programmed anything.

No I haven't, I'd be the worst game programmer ever, I know it's stupid to get annoyed about glitches considering they'll always be there and there ain't anything I can do about it but games like Sonic 06 for example were notorious for their glitches.

Well trainwrecks like that are different thing entirely. Usually the result of games having to be remade from scratch multiple times, drastic gameplay changes in the middle of development, a rushed release to meet a deadline and of course poor management as well as disagreements between the developers and the publishers, all that leading to extreme delays and setbacks until the developers run out of budget and someone says "f*** it, we need to release something NOW".

And of course there's also the "I don't give a shit, I'll just release some stuff and call it a game and hopefully the amount of people fooled into buying it will make me a profit" camp like Sergei Titov (Programmer of Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing and producer of Infestation: Survivor Stories a.k.a. The War Z).

[Red Impact]

Dec 5, 2013 17:04:01 GMT -5 Koda, Master Crunchyroller said:

Dec 5, 2013 16:54:59 GMT -5 Red Impact said:

I've been pissed off by glitches when they've been game-breaking, like when I've fallen through the ground in Infamous and had to restart, but I understand why they happen. I'd imagine that even the smallest box of space could cause one, and as games get bigger and more elaborate, it's got to be impossible to check everything even in a simpler game, like a fighter, where you don't have huge stages.

And I bet for a game with larger stages and open world segments, I'm betting you have a collection of code that's longer than The Iliad to pour through.

Case in point Skyrim. Which is why that game has so many glitches. It is just too complex to be able to check everything.

Yeah, I imagine finding glitches in that game would be like finding a missing comma in Russian war epic. It's astounding that some of the games we get are even playable, thb.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Dec 5, 2013 16:39:54 GMT -5 ratetankmark said:

Okay I've just found out that it was my controller that was the problem, but the point still stands, even with some amazing games and even though it's no-one's faults, I assume you'll all agree that you've, once, been pissed off by glitches.

Oh definitely, but unless it's something that actually hinders gameplay or progress, I'm too busy being impressed that there aren't more to give a crap.

Plus some can actually be fun, like when you find exploits to by pass sections of a game. It's like "ha ha! Got you, developers! I beat your system!".