User blog comment:Lost Labyrinth/The Sims 4 - Gamescom Reveal/@comment-3982116-20130824192201/@comment-107.215.4.78-20130824193333

Here's a copied post from this sims 3 user at the sims 3 website. Her name is schweighsr. Here's the perfect definition from her so if you say pre-alpha as your reason to not worry. Well here you go: All steps of making a game.

Stage 1 - Planning: This is the stage where they decide what they want the game to do and look like. This stage can take anywhere from 3 months to 3 years. During this phase they decide what the game will be like - what will be included, what will be left to an EP, etc. They also have artists sketch out designs for objects, Sims, the neighborhood and so on.

Stage 2 - Programming: Programming takes 3 months to several years depending on how complex the programming is [TS4 probably took over two years while an EP probably takes 6 to 9 months]. The game is built in Modules, each of which does a different thing. There will be one Module for emotions, another for meals and a even more for each NPC. Each Module is programmed by a separate team of programmers. The game consists of dozens, if not hundreds, or modules.

'''By this time the way the game is played is set in stone. The decision whether to animate hair is made. The look of the Sims has been chosen. They are not going to change any of those things.'''

Stage 3 - Pre-Alpha/ Alpha Testing: Pre-alpha is where they start to put the modules together and see if they work. This never works the 1st time, so they have to find out which parts of which Modules conflict, then reprogram the Modules, then try again... and again... and again. There is still a lot of programming to be done in this stage. When they can run some of those Modules together [say a interactions module and an emotions module and some animations modules] they usually start releasing videos and screenshots of the game. The reason we only see a certain amount of game-play over and over is because they are the only parts of the game that work without error.

This is the phase the game is in now. 90% of the programming has been done, it is just a matter of making the separate pieces work together. All they are doing is tweaking the programming. Once they have tested the modules in groups, they will put the whole game together and test it. By the time it enters alpha-testing the game is essentially done - nothing more will be added or changed.

Stage 4 - Beta-Testing: In this phase EA hunts for bugs. They have a group of people try it out on a variety of different computers with different specs and operating systems and see what happens. Each day the testers report the bugs back to The Sims Team, who correct the problems and send the fixes back to the testers to see if the fix causes problems. This takes a MINIMUM of 6 weeks and may take longer. It takes the same amount of time for a game as for an EP. [No, you can't be a Beta-Tester - you need a degree in Computer Science to do it right. It is more than just playing the unfinished game.  ] EA is notorious for not doing this stage right. They should send it out to a reputable third party who specializes in game testing, instead they do it in-house.

Stage 5 - Manufacturing: At this point the game is completely done. They take a copy of the completed, [mostly] debugged game and send it to be copied, get the boxes and the booklets printed and have everything put together. The day it is sent to the manufacturer the game is said to have 'gone gold' [way back in the old days they used to put the finished game on a gold-colored disk]. Then the disks have to be put in the boxes along with the instructions and everything has to be shipped to the retailers. Manufacturing takes a minimum of 3 to 6 weeks for games & EPs both.