Tracking bugs in Flotsam

[Dave]

Hey all, since launching Flotsam we've been getting a lot of helpful feedback. However it's been quite hard for us to track and follow up on these issues.
To help with that and to provide more transparancy on what we're working on we're opening up the tracking of bugs.

To get started, go to http://www.pajamallama.be/mantis
This will open Mantis[en.wikipedia.org] which is an open-source bug tracker. Anybody visiting our bug tracker can view which bugs have been reported, if they're being worked on or even report them.

Viewing bugs

Bugs can be viewed by clicking on the View Issue button in the left column.

On that page you can view all the open bugs.
The following info is visible:

1. The current priority to fix the bug. This the team's priority given to this issue. This is decided by a couple of factors like the severity, how many users are affected and how much time it will cost to resolve this bug. If you disagree with the priority given to an issue, scroll down to the section to voice your support for bugfixes.
   
2. The severity of the bug. This details the impact of the bug on the gameplay and ranges from low-impact such as a text error or high-impact such as a crash.
   
3. The status of the bug. There are several ones:
   * New: This bug has just been reported.
   * Acknowledged: We're aware of the bug and a developer has reviewed it.
   * Confirmed: We've been able to recreate the bug in-house. (An important step to getting the bug fixed).
   * Assigned: A developer has picked up the bug and is working on fixing it.
   * Resolved: The bug has been fixed and will be in a future patch. (Which one can be reviewed on the roadmap page.)
   
4. When the bug was last updated.

You can also filter any issues if need be by the filters above on the page.

Reporting bugs

Bugs can be viewed by clicking on the Report Issue button in the left column or in the top right.
Anybody can report bugs. However it is recommended to create an account for it. That enables us to request extra info and helps you to follow up on the bugfix.

You can update existing bugs with more info if you can provide it. If you're not sure if you're bug is the same as another, create a new issue!
We can always link bugs together, but it is a bit harder to untangle different bug reports on one bug report.

On the report page you can enter the following info:

1. Reproducibility: How easy you can recreate the issue. If you can recreate it all the time, make sure to fill in the steps to reproduce!
   
2. Profile: Your current operating system configuration.
   
3. Summary: A one sentence summary describing the bug.
   
4. Description: Provide an elaborate description of the issue here.
   
5. Steps to reproduce: If you know how to recreate it, fill in it in here. The more details you give, the easier and faster we can fix the bug.
   
6. Version: The game version where you've encountered the bug. You can find the game version in the top left of the game screen.
   
7. Upload files: Upload here any files that can help us to resolve the bug. Especially useful for us are logs and savegames (see below where to find these). But screenshots can help as well.

Saves and logs can be found in C:\Users\[username]\AppData\LocalLow\Pajama Llama Games\Flotsam
Saves are in the \Saves folder. Log is called Player.log

If you've encountered a crash, likely a crash report will be made in C:\Users\[username]\AppData\LocalLow\Pajama Llama Games\Flotsam\Crashes. These files should be added to be bug report as well.

Voice support for fixes

If you have an account, you can let us know if you want a bug to be fixed faster or care less about it.
When viewing an issue there is a section Gauge Support where can place a vote to let us know how important a bugfix is for you.

On the left you have a the Issue Support Ranking button where you can find an overview of the support for different bugfixes.