Post #2 - Moble App

In week 2 we were required to review a mobile app. I always talk about a website that I use literally all of the time when I have free time - which is usually every single night while I'm at work. The app that I chose to talk about was Episode Interactive. This app is accompanied by a website that you can find here, and is very easy to use once you practice around with it for a little bit!

The app at first can be very hard to write with. There are animations and codes you have to learn to be able to use the application. As an example, one of the codes is "@CHARACTER enters from left to screen left in 5". This is how you get the character to enter in the screen. Each code can be paired with an "AND" code to make the characters to specific things. As another example, I will pair the code up with a full animation. @CHARACTER enters from left to screen left in 5 AND CHARACTER faces left AND CHARACTER is walk_neutral. This makes the character walk backwards, but depending on the style of animation you use there is no animation for walking backwards so it's just a bit funky to do.

Once you get the coding down, at least to the basics of it, the rest is just a learning curve. Some of the features that are given to authors are the "Directing helpers" as well as the "Guidebox". To keep it short, I will briefly explain these features.

Directing Helpers:

The directing helpers are listed as followed:

• Spot Placement
• This is so that characters can be different heights or stand in the background of the story. It's also used for when you need all characters to be in one specific area of the screen and need to be able to shrink them down so you can fit more characters onto the screen at once.
• Zoom Helper
• This is self explanatory. If you want to zoom in on background areas or different parts of the screen, it will show you the code so that you can  zoom in on the scene.
• Speechbubbles
• Yes, I mean for that to be mispelled. It's the way that the app uses it.
• Basically put, this is so you can rearrange the speechbubbles on screen so that the speechbubble is facing the correct character. This is important, not only for just being correct, but because a lot of animations that people use as reaction animations that are actually talking animations and you have to be able to determine who is actually talking.
• As an example, a lot of people will use the animation code talk_startled instead of the animation code startled_surprised because it looks a lot better.
• HSL Filters
• This one is an extra thing. You don't have to play with them but if you can figure out how to use them correctly they are fun to look at in the story. Basically it lets you play with the lighting in the story or the overall color aspect so that you can use it to make the story better

All of these directing helpers make the story, and you have to use at least the first three of them to make a semi-decent story, though some people don't mind the speechbubbles being all out of place.

My story My Alpha 2: Worlds Collide. The right panel, under Show Helpers, is where the directing commands are found.

Guidebox:

This part I stress about so much when it comes to writing. It was added about a year ago and helps authors when they're writing so that all screens can see what's happening in the story. Episode decided that, instead of adjusting their resolutions per device, they would just make a one size fits all version and allow the authors to work with it. Because of this, what my Apple iPad sees is only 2/3 of what my Apple iPhone sees, as the cell phone is the way that most people read stories so it's primarily made exactly for that type of reader.

Sometimes a character can look like they're floating if you edit the story on a tablet and then read it on a phone, and sometimes speechbubbles or characters are unvisible if you edit on a phone and read it on a tablet. Using the Guidebox, you can make sure that all readers are able to read what happens on screen no matter what device they read your story with.

Ever since our assignment that we did, a couple things changed. I had said that my recommendations to continue the app growth would be different body types - such as children bodies -, more non-binary character outfits, and less guildeines.

Recetly, they added a Plus Size female option, and they added new face shapes suitable for children in the last update of character details. The male body type has also gotten some new dresses and skirts, and the female body type has the more tom boyish looks so that they can make transgender or cross-dressing characters! Overall, the app has gotten just that little bit better within the last few weeks!