Beta
- This article is about the 2009 Beta, for information on the 2020 Beta, see Habbo 2020
Beta, or New Habbo as it sometimes called, was the largest update in Habbo's history. It was first released in late May 2009, and lasted until November of the same year. The beta was mainly used to facilitate the change the Client from Shockwave to Flash. Due to the change, the entire client had to be coded from scratch, therefore creating many bugs and inaccuracies. To find these bugs, Habbo executives decided to allow a select number of users to test the new Hotel extensively. During the BETA stage, testers could access both Old and Beta Habbo, but this was removed when the old Hotel was deleted, making New Habbo the main and official client.
History
On May 15, 2009, Habbo released a news article telling players about the Beta testing. In the newsletter, players were given the option to sign up to be an official Beta tester.
On June 5th, the first 50 Beta testers were selected by staff.
On June 16th 2009, Beta was officially open for the testers. As well as the 50 original (selected) Beta testers, 500 other Habbos, were given the privilege to access Habbo Beta also, chosen on the basis of how active the user was.
On June 23rd, 2009, invitations were introduced. Each tester was given 3 invitation codes, which could be generated, copied and pasted to friends who wanted to participate in Beta testing.
That tester was also give 3 codes, expanding the group of testers greatly. The testers were given a special Beta badge for their participation and also access to an exclusive 'Beta Testers Only' group. Here, the testers would create threads with feedback from Beta. All they had to do was report any bugs and glitches they found.
On July 15th, 2009, Habbo announced that Beta was now officially open to the public (Open Beta). A new group was created, called 'Open Beta Group'. All users still had access to the old client, as well as the new client.
On November 3rd, 2009, Habbo announced that Old Habbo was about to be removed and replaced by New Habbo (Beta). Some features included in the old client, such as the Big Hand and the Hotel View was taken away as well. A group was made for the dedication of Old Habbo in general, and memorial furniture was released to remember the old client. The client officially changed the next day.
Updates
- The most apparent update was that New Habbo was much cleaner, sleeker, and professional looking, including more 3D graphics.
- The taskbar was moved to the left side of the client (the taskbar was on the bottom in Old Habbo) and has newer, animated icons.
- The "blue question mark" which was commonly used for the Call For Help was turned yellow and featured not only the improved Call For Help system, but also a mini-FAQ and the Guide Bot caller.
- An icon was installed to allow users to leave the room and go to the hotel view (previously Habbos had to click on the room door).
- The catalogue was also improved; there were now sections for each type of furni.
- An "Inventory" icon was added which displays the player's furni, badges, and achievements.
- Furni was spearated into 3 categories; Wall furni (furni which can be placed on the wall), Floor furni (furni which can be placed on the floor), and Pets.
- Users cannot rearrange the order of their badges anymore.
- The Zoom button was added.
- In order to change room settings, owners had to be inside the room with this update.
- A picture of the player's head acts as an icon to do various things, including dance, wave, change clothes, and buy credits.
- Players can also change their clothes and buy credits inside the hotel.
- A "News" tab was also been added. The News tablet allows players to read news stories published on the website from inside the hotel.