[ANDROID] Zaccaria Pinball update v1.1

[mikehg]

Personally I think the most useful change for the camera menu would be labelling the buttons at the bottom: "Camera 4", "Camera 5" etc.

Once you know each button corresponds to a camera view, it's at least possible to work the rest out by experimentation. Before Baron explained that to me, I had no idea what anything was doing, and experimenting didn't seem to have any effect.

 

[SilverBalls]

I actually think for what the cam editor allows you to do, it is a pretty good design. The problem is the labels which are confusing. To start of the four camera boxes should be numbered Cams: 4, 5, 6, 7 the numbers being under each tick box. Until Barons guide I didn't even realise I was defining those cameras. It also needs a Reset to default button that resets the ticked camera. The slider and dead zone labels need renaming, plus a helpscreen or link to a guide.

A few simple changes and it should be all good.

 

[SilverBalls]

Looks like mikehg and I said the exact same thing at the same time about the cameras, so there you go

 

[mikehg]

^^

Also, what he said

 

[Baron Rubik]

I think the cam editor is just fantastic, but with a little re labeling, couple of layout tweaks, and the addition of a pan lock/disable, it could be even better.

I'll try and use my poor photoshop skills to show how I'd redesign it.

Additionally - Ask would be perfectly welcome to use the guide I did.
I'll happily depersonalise it for them, and they are free to mod it and use it how they wish unconditionally and without reference or credit.
I really appreciate this app and would be happy to help.

 

[Heretic]

well the thing about ask is they will happily give credit where its due, and since it applies to both mobile versions i think theyd happy host it for you and link it via the app

edit - also experienced users might be kids in a sweetie shop but good docs are needed for the new guys.

 

[Baron Rubik]

Gave up on photoshop and went old school...
This is how I'd redo the Cam Editor interface personally.

Same controls but better, more logical grouping and labelling.
Rename 'Deadzone' to 'Horiz Pan', and maybe 'Camera Slide' to 'Cam Transition'.
Most importantly - number the camera views.

 

[jaredmorgs]

Gave up on photoshop and went old school...
This is how I'd redo the Cam Editor interface personally.

Same controls but better, more logical grouping and labelling.
Rename 'Deadzone' to 'Horiz Pan', and maybe 'Camera Slide' to 'Cam Transition'.
Most importantly - number the camera views.

This would make things much more intuitive. The labels are the confusing part for users who aren't used to camera view technology.

"Dumbing it down" to user speak is the right approach here. And the groupings appear logical to me.
[MENTION=2322]Zsolt[/MENTION] this should be something added to the issue tracker.

 

[mikehg]

I like those suggestions a lot Baron...

Only thing I'd contest is you've written "Disable top view (no pan)", while you're using pan to refer to horizontal movement on the "Global settings" bit. I'd call them 'pan' and 'tilt', or just 'x movement' and 'y movement', but whatever it is make sure they're distinct and consistent.

 

[mpad]

Ugh! thanks! Just found the guide baron did in the other thread.
Very enlightening!

Never would have imagined those possibilities

And yes please ask, make this better!!!

 

[Baron Rubik]

I like those suggestions a lot Baron...

Only thing I'd contest is you've written "Disable top view (no pan)", while you're using pan to refer to horizontal movement on the "Global settings" bit. I'd call them 'pan' and 'tilt', or just 'x movement' and 'y movement', but whatever it is make sure they're distinct and consistent.

Thanks.
I use CAD software for a living, and in that context, pan means move view in any direction without zoom change. It covers horizontal and vertical movement, and a mix of the two simultaneously.

Is this not universal terminology? (sorry - I assumed it was)

'Tilt' in a pinball app would just get confusing.

 

[mikehg]

...
'Tilt' in a pinball app would just get confusing.

Good point

I'm not an expert or anything, but AIUI for physical cameras, it's typical to refer to X and Y movement as pan and tilt respectively.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt_(camera)

Strictly speaking I suppose these aren't either... Maybe they're dollys? But that's more obscure.

Maybe 'Camera X movement' and 'Camera Y movement' are least ambiguous.

 

[Zsolt]

New gfx effect is under development / testing, although it needs a lot of hardware resources.

 

[Baron Rubik]

New gfx effect is under development / testing, although it needs a lot of hardware resources.

Looks great! - the realism you're achieving is amazing. Nice work.

 

[smbhax]

These glow effects can make everything look a bit blurry if overused, but so far it looks okay.

 

[jaredmorgs]

I've got a Tegra K1 SOC. Bring it on! Make it cook!

 

[night]

This glow is great but I would personally tone-down the lightmap force in the graphic settings, as the lights looks overblown in the examples, especially on the bumpers. In real life our eyes have a much wider dynamic range where we can see more details in light and shadows, this is difficult to reproduce digitally (think about HDR photography). That's why the graphic settings are so great, we can tweak it to perfection and get back those details. I would love to see this glow coming our way, it all adds to the realism that makes Zaccaria feel so real.

 

[Zsolt]

Here is a video footage that shows that the lights are effected to flippers and balls as well.

 

[night]

Here is a video footage that shows that the lights are effected to flippers and balls as well.

It almost looks like real footage, amazing.

 

[IGoFirstIndy]

Honestly, without Baron's guide this menu is ultra confusing. It's probably the only weakness in what is a polished app offering.

The Zacc guys should think about doing some UX work on this feature:

* some official videos about how to use it, and link to them from within the app.
* embed a tutorial in-app to help folks who don't know about this menu.
* link to Baron's guide post thread from their app description.

Any of these things would help users understand how cameras work, and allow users to fully exploit this great feature.

Wish TPA had this...

Agreed I didn't really understand the camera editor till baron's guide.