[Suggestion][✓] Playtesting by section

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Mr. Onizuka
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[Suggestion][✓] Playtesting by section

Post by Mr. Onizuka »

Greetings, AAO community. I'm new here, so no doubt, you haven't heard from me before this. I recently joined these forums, and having watched the AAO v6 editor (and reading through several tutorials) I must say that I'm impressed by the power of the tool (really, it allows a mere user to do incredible things). I'm curently toying with a test case, as a guide suggest, in order to get familiar with the interface, learn how to create smooth transitions between frames, the use of sounds, etc... and I've playtested it, too.

Playtesting is, as many of you have already said, a matter of utmost importance when creating a case. I noticed, however, that as the number of frames in my dummy case increases, the more time it takes me to get to the point I want to playtest. I'm sure this discourages some people, as for long trials, it takes way too much time to playtest further sections.

So, here's the idea: enable a playtest option which allows you to, uh, test particular sections of the trial. How? My idea would be for the playtesting tool to ask you from which frame do you want to start the test (and possibly at which do you want to finish, though this is not important). Maybe it's possible to have a "variable manager", for you to define the values of the variables you've been working on your trial, and have them set for the moment you start playtesting.

Has this been suggested before? I looked, but couldn't find any thread like this. Please, let me know if you think this would be helpful.
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Re: [Suggestion] Playtesting by section

Post by E.D.Revolution »

Welcome! Glad you're taking the time to test out your case. It seems like you're referencing one of my guides for v6. It's good to have a newbie read the guides as he's going along.

So you're looking for a "playtest by section". Well, the engine has something like that. There is something called the "debugger". You may or may not have read it in my comprehensive guide. That guide covers what you need under playtesting. In fact, it's the last thing before the summary. But I'll copy-pasta here for brevity's sake.
AAO's Truly Comprehensive Guide wrote:For advanced users, you should try to test your trial as you go. If you remember from the previous section, you should take your trial one checkpoint at a time, right? Well, after each checkpoint, do a playtest. At later playtests, you may want to take advantage of some advanced functions, all in the debugger. Let's say you want to test out a cross examination sequence, but you don't want to play through the beginning. The debugger will help you skip the crap you've already done and get to where you need to be. If you have collaborators, you need to teach them how to use the debugger.
Here are the things in the debugger you need to know:
  • Player status. This will help you quickly locate the frame that needs fixing. Now there is ID# and Index. Do NOT confuse the two. The Frame ID# is the actual frame number in the Editor. The Frame Index is the position of the frame in the whole sequence, if it were to be played in order. For v5 users, the Index is the TRUE frame ID#. So you can have a Frame ID of 25 but its index listed at 69. That means that frame 25 is the 69th frame to be played, if played thoroughly.
  • Variables. Unless you're doing some variable work, don't touch this. But if you are doing variables, you can define variables before the frame defines them for you. And if you don't, once you get to that frame, the debugger will print out the variable and its value. However, once it is already printed, do NOT touch it. This is the buggiest part of the debugger, ironically.
  • Court Record. This part of the debugger toggles evidence and profiles on and off depending on the situation. Arguably the second most useful debugger function after player status. So when you need to skip to a certain section, you can toggle all the evidence/profiles that are supposed to be revealed had you played from the beginning.
  • Scenes. If you have an investigation going on (have investigation blocks), you can toggle locations that one can travel to. You can also toggle conversations on and off. Conversations toggled on can be read by the player and vice versa.
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Enthalpy
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Re: [Suggestion] Playtesting by section

Post by Enthalpy »

To access the debugger, open your trial in the editor, and then hit the "Playtest" button.
[D]isordered speech is not so much injury to the lips that give it forth, as to the disproportion and incoherence of things in themselves, so negligently expressed. ~ Ben Jonson
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Mr. Onizuka
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Re: [Suggestion] Playtesting by section

Post by Mr. Onizuka »

Oops, totally didn't read that part. However, you are right: it's your guide that I'm currently reading. Good to know it already exists, thanks for your answers! If a mod sees this, please close this thread.
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Re: [Suggestion] Playtesting by section

Post by Enthalpy »

Suggestion topics aren't locked, in case somebody else has something else to contribute/ask on the same topic.
[D]isordered speech is not so much injury to the lips that give it forth, as to the disproportion and incoherence of things in themselves, so negligently expressed. ~ Ben Jonson
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Re: [Suggestion] Playtesting by section

Post by E.D.Revolution »

Well, you have the power to lock your own topics. But yeah, what Enthalpy said.
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