Usability report for RC2a...

[Chris Lemon]

Big steps forward here, I think, but I tested the tiebreak this time, and there are some problems there. Here's the buglist as I see it:

FRONT GAME:

* The algorithm that centers categories on the game board could still use some improvement.
* It's still possible to pass on the last item of a round. If there's a compelling programmatical or usability reason why this is the case, let me know. It just seems to make more sense to deactivate the "P" key on the seventh item of a round, so the host/op doesn't have to think about it.

TIEBREAKER (Here are the biggies):

* Instead of "Tie Game Question 1 & 2", would it be possible to post the subjects, such as "Words Starting With "M""? Maybe it could be a field in the Tie Question File, in case for some reason the user does not want to do letter tiebreakers like they did on the show.
* I noticed that the tiebreaker items were not loading up right. I think it kept the same set of items it loaded for the last category I picked in a game.
* In 1st game tiebreaker, when the left team starts tiebreaker, the right team's desk is shown. When switching to other side, the left desk is shown, and the score moves from left team to right team.
(And when the right team starts, all of that is reversed.)
* In 2nd game tiebreaker, when left team starts, it's the correct desk, but when switching to other side, the scoring arrow does not move to the right team, although the right desk is shown.
*When switching from one side to the other in a tie, the clock is immediately superimposed. It would be better as well as in line with the rest of the game to switch, then PgDn to superimpose the clock (as in "Let's put up your clock - <cue> - you'll have 22 seconds to get seven out of seven. Ready...and...go!", then PgDn to start.
* Clock does not stop when second team gets 7 of 7. Op must Home to start winner animation. I understand Homing, but the clock should at least disappear upon resolving the last answer. (Unless this is for silent backward answers?)

WINNER'S CIRCLE:

* Same centering problem as in front game.
* Clock should not be on screen at start of round. Bonus should start same way front game round does - one PgDn for "Here is your first subject!", which rotates $50 trilon and superimposes clock (and control diagram) and second PgDn for "Go!" to start the clock. (Repeat from last report...I know we discussed it, just reminding that it's still there.)
* It is possible (though unlikely to happen in practice), to score trilons so fast that some do not turn, although they are scored as if they were.
* Winning amount does not flash upon win in second WC.

CREDITS:

* "Game Show Forum" misspelled in credits.

We're so close I can smell it!

[Todd Robinson]

Hey Chris. Thanks for your post. I'll try to answer your points:

- I haven't even began to wrestle with centering the text yet. You know Flash doesn't vertically align text so it's something I'll have to eventually figure out. I have some ideas in mind.

-I finally figured out what you meant about passing on the last category. That's on my to-do list now!

- GREAT idea about the tiebreaker prompt! It shouldn't be any problem to add that at all.

- The tiebreaker items aren't working, I think, because the text file doesn't have all the necessary ampersands. The same thing happened to the game 2, category 1 text file.

- I'll look at the table switcharoo problem for tie games

- I haven't thought about the clock cue for the 2nd tie game category. It seems like it was already on the screen in my episode copy but I'll double-check it and see.

- I like your idea about the Winner's Circle clock. I'll have to work on that.



Actually, the Winner's Circle is a lot simplier than I originally intended. I was going to actually include the shot of the two chairs facing the multi-pyramid background with the timer on top and the active superimposed trilon on the botton, then switch to a shot of the game board when moving up the Pyramid. While this would have looked cool, I thought it would be much more functional to give the "giving" player a still shot of the game board at all times.

Anyways, thanks for the write up, Chris. The tips are helping out a lot!

[Hiro Nakano]

Chris said:

* Clock should not be on screen at start of round. Bonus should start same way front game round does - one PgDn for "Here is your first subject!", which rotates $50 trilon and superimposes clock (and control diagram) and second PgDn for "Go!" to start the clock. (Repeat from last report...I know we discussed it, just reminding that it's still there.)

If I remember correctly, the clock appeared on the screen when Dick Clark said "here's your first subject" as did the unrevealed $50 trilon, and then it rotated and the clock started when he said "go," though again, I might be going off a later episode of the show. I'll have to find an episode on tape so that I can confirm this, so don't hold me to this until I have, but I think that's how it went.

EDIT: I was correct in saying this; first the clock appears on-screen, then Dick says "here's your first subject, after which the trilon starts moving, and once the category is revealed, Dick says "go," and the clock starts.

[Todd Robinson]

I fixed this today. It works just the way Chris described it now.

[bklier]

Outstanding work on the $100,000 Pyramid, Todd. It was well worth the wait!

[Chris Lemon]

Todd said:

- I haven't even began to wrestle with centering the text yet. You know Flash doesn't vertically align text so it's something I'll have to eventually figure out. I have some ideas in mind.

Right, I figured that was the shortcoming. What I had in mind was leaving it to the user. It appears what you have going now is a three-line template. Have it center each line horizontally, but allow the user to decide what appears on what line.

- I haven't thought about the clock cue for the 2nd tie game category. It seems like it was already on the screen in my episode copy but I'll double-check it and see.

It varies from show to show...it's not the same meter as the other clocks....usually Dick says something like "You did that in 22 seconds <take to other desk>, so we'll put that time up for the other team <cue super>, you must get 7 out of 7 in LESS than 22 seconds for the try at the 10,000. Words beginning with "F". Ready...and..go! <cue start round>"

I thought it would be much more functional to give the "giving" player a still shot of the game board at all times.

Yes, it's FAR better this way. Let the verite be created in real life here. I plan to arrange tables so we have a Winner's...um, well, it'll prolly be closer to a rhombus...for the players to sit in.

Anyways, thanks for the write up, Chris. The tips are helping out a lot!

I am truly glad to be helping. This is shaping up to be a great piece of work. I was also surprised and honored to find my name in the credits (and properly spelled)...thanks for that, too!

[Todd Robinson]

To Chris and to all:

I set up the tie games so the timer prompts as it does for the main game categories. It makes the game much more uniform.

About cenering the text, there's GOT to be a way to make it look better. This comment is geared more towards Chris: If I had a fixed-width font, I could set each white-sided trilon up as a three-frame movie with each frame set up as a one, two, or three line text placeholder, count the characters, and have the scene the trilons are in point to the correct frame for the right number of text lines. I did something similar with the Feud panels when it goes from using the wider font to the narrower font. That may not be that bad of an idea to try here.

[Joe Lourenco]

Some more notes for RC2a:

- When time runs out in the front game, you can still use the "P" and "X" keys to scroll through the remaining clues.

- The clue should disappear after the buzzer sounds.

- If you accidentally press Home on the table screen before the game is finished, you are taken back to the game board screen. I imagine this would be harder to fix than anything else.

Joe

[Chris Lemon]

JoeLo said:

- If you accidentally press Home on the table screen before the game is finished, you are taken back to the game board screen. I imagine this would be harder to fix than anything else.

I think this may be intentional, though I agree that in the first five categories there isn't much point to it. It's there for the sixth, though to either end the game prematurely or allow the subject to be played out in the event the last category is a special.

[ekrueger24]

I was thinking...

Would it be possible to reveal the categories in the front game one at a time as in the show?

Just something I thought would look nice.

Great job on the game!

[whoserman]

That actually wasn't done on Clark Pyramid. Only Osmond Pyramid.

[TonicBH]

I have a crystal-clear quality of the Pyramid "cuckoo" that was actually used on the show (got it from Jay Lewis' site, with a few tweaks).

Also, IIRC, the beginning of the Pyramid theme played only once before going into the middle segue (it's kinda hard to describe). The beginning is only played twice in case of a WC win.

Also, this "middle segue" is played during Main Game-to-WC transition. As well as after a bonus round loss, going to commercial, but that won't matter much.

[Chris Lemon]

TonicBH said:

I have a crystal-clear quality of the Pyramid "cuckoo" that was actually used on the show (got it from Jay Lewis' site, with a few tweaks).

Also, IIRC, the beginning of the Pyramid theme played only once before going into the middle segue (it's kinda hard to describe). The beginning is only played twice in case of a WC win.

Also, this "middle segue" is played during Main Game-to-WC transition. As well as after a bonus round loss, going to commercial, but that won't matter much.

Excellent points all, TonicBH. Prolly pretty easy to edit, too. Todd, if you need help with this, lemme know, (and email me the MP3, 'cuz my copy is on my machine at work and I don't go in until Monday) and I'd be happy to make the cuts.

Thanks for offering the cuckoo, too!

[Todd Robinson]

I'm interested in any sound effects that sound closer to the show than what I have. So if you want to contribute them, please send them to me. The [e-mail] account will be fine. If I use your sound effect, I'll add you to the credits list along with your web site name or other information like it.

In the case of the "cuckoo," I downloaded that sound from some odd wav site. It had a struck chime that played with the cuckoo sound that I removed. What's left is just the cuckoo. I felt it was better to use something than nothing at all since I wasn't aware of the existance of the one mentioned in this thread.

The music does need work. I should have mentioned this: I just put in that one theme song just to have something in there that works while keeping the file size down. I knew I would probably have to rerelease this thing a few times with tweaks here and there.

A note about the Home key: yes, I realize you can use it to escape in the middle of a team playing a category. This was done for a few reasons, one of them being it's great for testing if you want to blow through a round quickly.

This has been a very productive thread. Thanks, everyone!

[whoserman]

I emailed you edits for the opening music and the commercial bumpers. Hope it helps!