Video Game Design and Coding · PLECK lesson

PLECK lesson 140 · suggested week 28, day 5

Restore a version and bisect a regression manually

Objective. Use local checkpoints to locate when a defect appeared.

Godot Engine Standard desktop editor 4.7.2-stable, GDScript (Godot 4), Compatibility renderer. Headless Godot 4.7.2.stable.official.ed1daf0bf passed 106 assertions on the supplied scaffolds, including malformed JSON saves. Audio used the Dummy driver and a synthetic WAV, not a speaker. The visual editor, browser export, and signed-in submission were not tested. The desk still does not run a student's own upload.

About 55 minutes. The due date is chosen by a parent.

Pure functions, boundary cases, error reading and focused repair

Suggested pace: Recall and predict 5 min; Read instruction and scaffold 12 min; Build or design the assigned artifact 25 min; Run acceptance tests 8 min; Explain and checkpoint 5 min.

Materials: Godot Standard 4.7.2 desktop editor (GDScript, Compatibility renderer), Local course folder and prior checkpoint, No paid assets or public account required.

Comes after VGC-L139.

Version backups can be simple dated ZIP snapshots with short change notes. Create three small versions of a lab, deliberately break the third, then restore earlier versions into separate folders. Compare which version first fails the same reproduction. This is a manual form of narrowing the change interval. Never overwrite the only good copy. The course does not require a public repository, online account or command-line version-control tool. A backup must be restore-tested to be credible.

Worked example

A capacity function tested at below-minimum, middle and above-maximum inputs is easier to trust than one demonstrated only at a normal value. Scaffold C-TESTS — A tiny pure-function test harness Setup: Attach to Node TestLab. If using command line, create a separate SceneTree harness rather than running this Node script with --script. Run current TestLab scene in editor; assert reports a failed condition in Debugger. No external test framework or package is needed. ```gdscript extends Node func bounded_score(old_score: int, change: int) -> int: return clampi(old_score + change, 0, 999) func _ready() -> void: assert(bounded_score(10, 2) == 12) assert(bounded_score(0, -3) == 0) assert(bounded_score(998, 9) == 999) print("3 score checks passed") ```

A tiny pure-function test harness

GDScript (Godot 4, not Scratch, Python, JavaScript or C#). Scaffold C-TESTS. Copy starts from this text. The desk does not run it.

Scene and node setup

Attach to Node TestLab. If using command line, create a separate SceneTree harness rather than running this Node script with --script. Run current TestLab scene in editor; assert reports a failed condition in Debugger. No external test framework or package is needed.

extends Node
func bounded_score(old_score: int, change: int) -> int:
    return clampi(old_score + change, 0, 999)
func _ready() -> void:
    assert(bounded_score(10, 2) == 12)
    assert(bounded_score(0, -3) == 0)
    assert(bounded_score(998, 9) == 999)
    print("3 score checks passed")

Checks to run in the editor

Native Godot 4.7.2.stable.official.ed1daf0bf headless compile and representative node-tree/runtime tests passed; see native-qa-results.json. Visual UI, audible output, exports and website submission still need separate checks.

Restore a version and bisect a regression manually — evidence task

  1. 1. Create three labeled lab snapshots with one change each.
  2. 2. Identify the first failing snapshot and the responsible change.

Deliverable. Version log, three checkpoint names and regression diagnosis.

Acceptance checks

Understanding question. Why is a change note useful even with a backup filename?

Include a downloadable project ZIP with project.godot, .tscn, .gd and original asset files when code changes. A private, teacher-accessible download link to that ZIP is equivalent. Screenshots or a playthrough do not replace editable source.

If this is still shaky. Use C-TESTS and one ordinary plus two boundary cases. Keep a known-good snapshot before injecting faults. Start with the first assigned task and re-run its acceptance test before adding the remaining feature.

Optional extra. Add a property that should hold for many inputs and test a small finite range. Document one changed parameter, your prediction, and the observed effect; optional, not required for completion.

Name ____________________ Date ____________________