Since games are made by humans, bugs are an integral part of the development process. Full testing and zero bugs are unattainable ideals. While some bugs are minor and quickly resolved, others have become widely known for their impact on gameplay and player experience. Here, we explore some of the most interesting bugs in game development history, their causes, and how to prevent them in the future.
1. The MissingNo Glitch — Pokémon Red and Blue (1996)
Details of the bug: The MissingNo glitch allowed players to encounter a bizarre pixelated creature that could duplicate items when caught. The glitch became legendary and even a requested “feature” for many players.
Cause: The bug was caused by an uninitialized memory area in the game’s code. The developers used a data structure to manage Pokédex entries, and when the game accessed invalid indexes, it generated a MissingNo.
How to avoid similar issues
- Implement safeguards to prevent out-of-bounds memory access.
- Simulate extreme cases where players might use unconventional gameplay paths.
- Use tools to detect potential memory access violations.
2. Flying Horses Bug — Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)
Bug Details: Horses disregarded the gravity principles of the game and flew into the air at random. A bug that’s simultaneously funny and annoying.
Cause: Physics inconsistency where collision calculations and gravity didn’t coordinate properly in certain scenarios.
How to avoid these bugs:
- Model complex interactions between multiple objects to ensure stability.
- Regularly update third-party physics engines to the latest versions.
- Use real-time logging to keep an eye on and address anomalous physics.
3. Game Breaking Save Corruption — Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
Bulletin Details: Save files in Fallout: New Vegas would sometimes become corrupted, causing players to lose hours of progress.
Cause: Too many files, especially minor, superfluous details, can corrupt data during saves.
Prevention:
- Effective save file design is required. Only save important data to avoid large file sizes.
- Use several current backups and autosave features to prevent data loss.
- Include save/load mechanisms in early testing.
4. The “Face Bug” — Assassin’s Creed Unity (2014)
Bulletin Details: Players reported horrific graphical glitches where characters’ faces were missing, leaving only floating eyes and teeth.
Cause: The issue is caused by missing or corrupted texture files, likely due to installation issues or poor resource management.
Prevention:
- Integrity checks are used to identify corrupted or incomplete installations.
- Ensure consistent memory management for graphics resources.
- Establish reliable updating procedures to address texture-related problems as soon as possible.
5. “The Sims Babies Gone Wrong” — The Sims 4 (2014)
Bug Details: In this infamous glitch, newborn babies in The Sims 4 stretched into grotesque, elongated shapes.
Cause: This occurred due to conflicts between animation rigs and the character model’s skeletal structure.
Prevention:
- Rigging and Animation Validation: Test character rigs across all animations to detect mismatches.
- Automated Animation Testing: Use tools to simulate all possible animations for new characters.
- Version Control: Track rigging changes meticulously to avoid introducing errors.
Lessons Learned and Future Recommendations
While these bugs are astonishing, they offer invaluable lessons for the game development industry:
- Comprehensive Testing Pipelines:
- Incorporate unit tests, integration tests, and user acceptance tests.
- Use both automated and manual QA processes to cover diverse scenarios.
- Player Feedback Loops:
- Release beta versions to a select group of players to identify unexpected issues.
- Act on feedback promptly with transparent communication.
- Collaborative Development Practices:
- Foster collaboration between developers, QA testers, and designers to ensure seamless workflows.
- Maintain up-to-date documentation for all game systems.
- Adoption of AI in QA:
- Leverage AI to predict and identify bugs based on historical data and current builds.
By reflecting on these remarkable bugs, the game development industry can continue to innovate while minimizing risks, ensuring players have the most enjoyable experiences possible.
