Welcome to the Targetware Beta Test

We want to thank all of you for volunteering your time and effort for this project.  It is our hope that the Targetware flight sim environment will provide the foundation upon which the flight sim community can finally build all the flight sims we want, whether it's early jet era (Target Korea) or WWII PTO (Target Rabaul), or anything else that people want to fly and fight in.  Nothing is finished. We aren't where we want to be. But we're well on the way. And we want you to help us get the rest of the way.

Your Role as Beta Tester

The Targetware Teams have been flying simulated planes for more than a year, but our energy is largely focused on building objects, making sure things load, and confirming that airplanes and other objects have the correct appearance.  We haven't had time to thoroughly test the performance of these airplanes vis-a-vis their real-world stats. We want you to help out by pushing the planes, really flying them, telling us what is right, what is wrong. We want the flight models to be just as accurate as we can possibly make them, but we need folks flying them and testing them. That is your main job as a beta tester.

Below are some friendly reminders and key information that we'd like you to remember.

1. Read the Documentation.

There is a growing amount of documentation on many of the various aspects and systems of Targetware.  Please read these so that you can have a better understanding of them.  And, if the documents aren't helpful, let us know!

2. Enable Logging.

Logging is enabled by default. Everytime you run Targetware, a log file is created in the /user/logs/ directory. The information contained there is often critical in discovering details on bugs. The logging system is controlled through the Config file.

We recommend that you periodically delete log files that are unremarkable.

3.  Look for Bugs.

This means playing and fighting.  The more you fight, the more likely you are to encounter a bug.  Try to break things.   Experiment with different planes and scenarios.  When you do encounter a bug or something odd, please make a note of it and tell us about it.

4.  Try to Reproduce Bugs you find.

This is of CRITICAL importance.  Take notes on bugs you find and attempt to reproduce them.  This helps gauge the severity of the bug and is immensely valuable because reproducible bugs are easier to find and fix, especially when combined with your log files.

5. Communicate with other Beta Testers.

The forums have all kinds of discussions and are a great source for linking up with other testers to arrange fights, aka 'testing sessions'.  Also, you will often get a faster response from a community member there than by emailing the developers directly.

Thanks!