Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

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Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Unas »

Development news
Editor preview and usability testing
True, last news I made was on April 1st and was mostly a joke. Mostly, I say, because the editor screenshot was actually authentic.
Today, I shall prove that to all of you - by releasing a live preview of the V6 editor.

Before giving the link away, there are a few precisions to make.

1. Please don't complain about the following things :-P

Keep in mind this is an early preview, and is far from complete. I upload it here in order to get feedback about the overall interface, but it's unusable at the moment.
Many features are currently missing, including :
  • Cross Examinations. The blocks are displayed but the interface is incomplete.
  • Investigations. They are currently displayed as normal frames with actions
  • Proper custom pose editor for characters (it's currently incomplete and not well designed) and multi-paged contents for evidence
  • Deleting characters or evidence
  • The Settings, Places and Audio tab aren't implemented.
  • Some default court backgrounds (typically, AA4 court) are not available yet.
  • Localisation is incomplete. Most notably, default beackgrounds, music and sounds have "weird names", and the action panel is not localised
  • And last but not least, Saving or Playtesting are not implemented. In other words, don't try to start an important trial in there, since all your data will be lost the moment you close the editor anyway...
    The good point about this is that you can try loading some of your trials and toying around with them in that V6 preview without fear of damaging them
2. Please contribute if you have time

Also, I had mentioned last February that the editor had been accepted by my teachers as part of the UI design project for my school. For this reason, I have to do some usability testing.
Therefore, I ask those of you who have the time and feel like helping to please answer the following questionnaire, before Monday May 9th if possible (my project defence is on that day).
You can answer the questionnaire here

3. Enjoy

At last, here are the instructions as to how to access the preview.

First, you should update your browser - ideally, Firefox 4 or a recent Chrome (7 or higher). Older browsers like Firefox 3.6 should work (except IE8 and less) but you'll miss out on some fancy effects (:-P) and notice a much slower execution.

Next, make sure you are logged in to AAO, and visit the following page :
http://aceattorney.sparklin.org/V6_Test/editor.html
This will display an empty trial in the V6 preview, from which you can do pretty much anything.

You can also load your current trials in V6 to see how it goes by using the following link :

Code: Select all

http://aceattorney.sparklin.org/V6_Test/editor.html?trial_id=<Trial_ID>
and replacing <Trial_ID> by the ID number of your trial.
For those who don't know, the ID number is the one that can be found at the end of the address you put in links to your trial, which looks like jeu.php?id_proces=<Trial_ID>


Hope you enjoy the update :-)
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Bad Player »

Awesome! Made a really short thing........... I wish I could play it, though xD

the two comments I have:
-Clicking on a color will change the color of the entire box, not the color of the highlighted text (like in V5)
-Having to set the alignment of the background and character for every single frame gets pretty annoying =\ I'm assuming the final version will have a default background/alignment...?


I'll do the questionnaire when I get a chance :3


EDIT: Loaded NYT up in here, one more thing... What's that place underneath the character's names? (It says 'Civil Status' for all of them) I thought that was the description, but apparently the other box is... that was confuzzling for me :x
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by SuperGanondorf »

Awesome! I had a look at it. It looks great! I'll definitely toy with it when I get the chance.
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Unas »

Bad Player wrote:Clicking on a color will change the color of the entire box, not the color of the highlighted text (like in V5)
Indeed, that's normal. I'm not sure whether I'll include the "part highlighting" in V6, and if I do it'll have to be implemented differently from V5 anyway, so...
Bad Player wrote:Having to set the alignment of the background and character for every single frame gets pretty annoying =\ I'm assuming the final version will have a default background/alignment...?
You should not always have to. Only when you change the background or the characters present on the scene.
In a conversation between the defence, prosecution and witness, you set the place, the present characters and their position once at the beginning. For all following frames, just set the sprite of the talking character, and the positioning mode of the screen ("do not move", "center on talking character" or an automatic mode by default).
Bad Player wrote:What's that place underneath the character's names?
In the official games, this field contains information like "Age :23, Gender : Male". It didn't exist in V5, but is added in V6.
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by E.D.Revolution »

I just loaded Turnabout! Part 2 on it. Here's my findings based on it.
Spoiler : Questionnaire :
Please provide one of the given answers for each question; you can also leave a more specific comment for each question if you feel the need to explain your answer.
  • Which one of these sentences describes your experience with computers and online services the best ?
    • I seldom use a computer
    • I use a computer, but seldom use online services
    • I am familiar with using online services
    • I have knowledge in programming and/or web development
  • Which one of these sentences describes you knowledge of the Ace Attorney series the best ?
    • I've never played a visual novel game before
    • I've played some visual novel games and am vaguely familiar with the gameplay
    • I've played some games of the Ace Attorney series and am familiar with the basic concepts
    • I'm a big fan of the Ace Attorney series and know about all details of its gameplay
  • Did you have any trouble figuring out how to get started on a new trial the first time you used the AAO editor ?
    • Yes
    • No
  • How much trouble did you have figuring out how to get started on a new trial in the AAOv6 editor preview ?
    • More than on V5
    • Less than on V5
    • None
  • Would you say being used to the AAOv5 editor is an inconvenience, useless, helpful or necessary to understand how the AAOv6 editor preview works ? Necessary
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is easier to understand for defining characters and pieces of evidence ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is faster to use for defining characters and pieces of evidence ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is easier to understand for setting the place of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is faster to use for setting the place of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is easier to understand for setting the displayed character of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is faster to use for setting the displayed character of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Did you understand easily how to add several characters to a frame in V6 ?
    • Yes
    • No
  • Did you understand easily position characters on the scene in a frame in V6 ?
    • Yes
    • No
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is easier to understand for setting the music and sound of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is faster to use for setting the music and sound of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is easier to understand for setting the speaker of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is faster to use for setting the speaker of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is easier to understand for setting the text of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is faster to use for setting the text of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is easier to understand for setting the music and sound of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is faster to use for setting the music and sound of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is easier to understand for setting the action of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Which of the V5 or V6 interfaces is faster to use for setting the action of a frame ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Overall, which of the V5 or V6 interfaces do you find easier to understand ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
  • Overall, which of the V5 or V6 interfaces do you find faster to use ?
    • V5 is better
    • V6 is better
    • Both are equivalent
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Meph »

Unas, you could make the questionnaire on Google Docs. :)
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Thursday »

Bad Player wrote: EDIT: Loaded NYT up in here, one more thing... What's that place underneath the character's names? (It says 'Civil Status' for all of them) I thought that was the description, but apparently the other box is... that was confuzzling for me :x
It's where "Age: " and "Gender: " are supposed to go, I think. (Or "Type: " and "Received from...")
EDIT: Argh, ninja'd.

Don't have the time to post my thoughts on the preview (though it's looking awesome :D), but I do feel the need to mention how glad I am that there's a "Hide Profile/Evidence at Start" option now.
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Unas »

Meph, thanks for the suggestion. I've set up the GDocs form, it's here : https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreads ... RzdUM0E6MQ
(I've edited the first post too)

ED, thanks for your fast answers ! Would you mind putting them on the GDocs form ? :-)
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Master Of Chaos »

I really hope you don't need to know how to use V5 to use V6. I'm utter rubbish at knowing to do anything in V5. The Trial Editor documentation was pretty vague on some parts.
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Bad Player »

Unas wrote:
Bad Player wrote:Having to set the alignment of the background and character for every single frame gets pretty annoying =\ I'm assuming the final version will have a default background/alignment...?
You should not always have to. Only when you change the background or the characters present on the scene.
In a conversation between the defence, prosecution and witness, you set the place, the present characters and their position once at the beginning. For all following frames, just set the sprite of the talking character, and the positioning mode of the screen ("do not move", "center on talking character" or an automatic mode by default).
Hmm... When I select the character, is the background panel supposed to automatically change into the Courtroom background at the right alignment, or does it just remain blank? (Cuz it's just remaining blank for me......... being able to playtest it would help, but yeah I know you're still working on that xD)
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by E.D.Revolution »

I've submitted the Google Docs survey. the answers have changed, when I mulled over the Editor more.
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Unas »

Bad Player wrote:Hmm... When I select the character, is the background panel supposed to automatically change into the Courtroom background at the right alignment, or does it just remain blank?
The background just remains blank and it only displays the selected sprite for the talking character.
Just like when, in the current V5 editor, you select "Previous picture" as talking character : the frame contains no information as to what the previous picture is, so the cell remains blank.
It's the same here : when you leave the place to "None", the editor doesn't know what the place being displayed before is (since you might reach this frame through any action), but the player will know, of course, and act accordingly.

ED : Thanks, I got it :D
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Bad Player »

Unas wrote:
Bad Player wrote:Hmm... When I select the character, is the background panel supposed to automatically change into the Courtroom background at the right alignment, or does it just remain blank?
The background just remains blank and it only displays the selected sprite for the talking character.
Just like when, in the current V5 editor, you select "Previous picture" as talking character : the frame contains no information as to what the previous picture is, so the cell remains blank.
It's the same here : when you leave the place to "None", the editor doesn't know what the place being displayed before is (since you might reach this frame through any action), but the player will know, of course, and act accordingly.
Hmm.... kk....

Will the editor chance the alignment automatically, tho, even though the background is set to 'none' and it doesn't know what it is?


Also, will it scroll (or cut?) between every single frame, or is there a way to tell it when to cut and when to scroll?
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Unas »

Bad Player wrote:Will the editor chance the alignment automatically, tho, even though the background is set to 'none' and it doesn't know what it is?
The editor doesn't chance anything. This is precisely why it doesn't display anything :-P

Again, think about how V5 works in the following situation.
In your frame, you say that Phoenix is speaking, but say "Previous picture" in the sprite selection. The editor does not display a picture, since you have defined none, and the behaviour will be determined in-game.
In game, if you reach this frame after one where Phoenix was already displayed, then Phoenix's displayed sprite will be synchronised with the speech.
But, if you reach this frame after one where Edgeworth was displayed, then Edgeworth will stay (Phoenix will not be displayed) and won't be synchronised with the speech.
In other words, the exact behaviour of a frame depends on how you reach it, and is determined by the player at run-time.

Same here for the way V6 manages places. If you define a place for a frame, then you have access to plenty of settings to precisely determine the frame's content (setting the characters, the screen position, etc).
However, if you set the place to none, you can only set some "generic behaviour" rules : screen position can only be "center on talking character" or "stay as is", and setting the sprite of the talking character but (without knowing or setting his position), etc.
Things that suffice for the player to know what to do at run-time, even though the editor does not know beforehand.

And for most of these choices, I will provide an "Automatic mode" by default so that trial authors will only have to worry about this in very specific situations; this automatic mode being managed by the player, at run-time.
Also, will it scroll (or cut?) between every single frame, or is there a way to tell it when to cut and when to scroll?
Currently, it always scrolls as long as you're in the same place, but I will include a setting to choose that later.
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Re: Development news: Editor preview and usability testing

Post by Bad Player »

Unas wrote:
Bad Player wrote:Will the editor chance the alignment automatically, tho, even though the background is set to 'none' and it doesn't know what it is?
The editor doesn't chance anything. This is precisely why it doesn't display anything :-P

Again, think about how V5 works in the following situation.
In your frame, you say that Phoenix is speaking, but say "Previous picture" in the sprite selection. The editor does not display a picture, since you have defined none, and the behaviour will be determined in-game.
In game, if you reach this frame after one where Phoenix was already displayed, then Phoenix's displayed sprite will be synchronised with the speech.
But, if you reach this frame after one where Edgeworth was displayed, then Edgeworth will stay (Phoenix will not be displayed) and won't be synchronised with the speech.
In other words, the exact behaviour of a frame depends on how you reach it, and is determined by the player at run-time.

Same here for the way V6 manages places. If you define a place for a frame, then you have access to plenty of settings to precisely determine the frame's content (setting the characters, the screen position, etc).
However, if you set the place to none, you can only set some "generic behaviour" rules : screen position can only be "center on talking character" or "stay as is", and setting the sprite of the talking character but (without knowing or setting his position), etc.
Things that suffice for the player to know what to do at run-time, even though the editor does not know beforehand.

And for most of these choices, I will provide an "Automatic mode" by default so that trial authors will only have to worry about this in very specific situations; this automatic mode being managed by the player, at run-time.
I... think I'll wait until you work in playtesting before commenting upon this further .__.
(Although it seems like you have it all under control, so :P)
Also, will it scroll (or cut?) between every single frame, or is there a way to tell it when to cut and when to scroll?
Currently, it always scrolls as long as you're in the same place, but I will include a setting to choose that later.
kk ^_^


EDIT: Did the questionnaire
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