Russell’s Weblog

so ive done my final website its a combination of flash and html. it looks very slick i must admit and am very happy with the outcome. the idea was to sell my product so it had to look very professional as i saw some of the other students website and to be honest it just doesnt sell the product which i took into account when creating mine.

the flash header was very tricky as numerous problems came up but nothing my sister or tutorials couldnt fix. learnt a lot of html. w3schools is a life saver. although my friends all used notepad. dreamweaver is just the biggest time saver ever. it makes html so simple. so glad its all over

so here it is triple 3 presents ACES HIGH …

http://people.arch.usyd.edu.au/~rlee6809/index-1.html

so ive done my final website its a combination of flash and html. it looks very slick i must admit and am very happy with the outcome. the idea was to sell my product so it had to look very professional as i saw some of the other students website and to be honest it just doesnt sell the product which i took into account when creating mine.

the flash header was very tricky as numerous problems came up but nothing my sister or tutorials couldnt fix. learnt a lot of html. w3schools is a life saver. although my friends all used notepad. dreamweaver is just the biggest time saver ever. it makes html so simple. so glad its all over

so here it is triple 3 presents ACES HIGH …

http://people.arch.usyd.edu.au/~rlee6809/index-1.html

so did my presentation 2 today and it went well. not many people had come to class which was a good thing because that meant less questions. not too many problems with my idea to far so now its time to work on my my 3D modelling for a while then ill get back to my final website.

presentation2.ppt

so after doing some photoshop today and yesterday i have improved my UI and will show a few pics here.

just basically added some new buttons and actual real photos. going to figure out what to say in my presentation. fingers crossed all goes well.

ok so i just found out i am in the first week of presentations. i guess its good as i will get it out of the way early and be free to work on my final website. so basically this week will be working on the website 2. i will need to improve my UI for this and just basically talk people through what is happening. time to do some more photoshopping.

here is what i handed in for minisite 2

http://people.arch.usyd.edu.au/~rlee6809/iteration2.swf

basically while i was sick i was able to revise my prototype, get feedback and improve my UI which will all be shown here.

Changes
From the feedback I received from iteration 1 certain changes needed to be made in order to fulfill my audience’s expectations.
Age restriction
As gambling is strictly for ages over 18 in Australia an age restriction has been impilcated when signing up to the website. Game rooms are also monitored by officials who act much like supervisors do in real casinos. So obviously when a suspicious underage player is in the room supervisors have the authority to “kick” players.
Interface
Certain options I had missed during the first prototype have now been fixed such as the option to go “all in”.
Website and Tournaments
A website to keep track of profiles and point systems is needed where the introduction of the “MVP” (most valuable player) system is done. At the end of the month MVP’s are players with the most accumulated points over a month and receive certain prizes. Also tournaments are going to be introduced, from novelty tournaments such as “All-Star” and “International” to more normal monthly ones.

NEW UI

Feedback
The following feedback was recorded from the revised design idea.
Age Restriction
It was suggested that a credit card is needed in order to play to further restrict children from accessing the application. So when players sign up to the website credit card details are taken. Although it was suggested that underage people can take their parents cards in order to play the room supervisors can battle this problem as they are monitoring game rooms.
Etiquette
Some poker players I had interviewed were concerned about “bad losers” who abuse other players because of a loss or use inappropriate language. It was suggested that a reporting system should be put in place where players who have been improper during proceedings should be reported and “kicked” out of the room after a three strikes system. As there are supervisors who have the ability to “kick” players the three strike system can be established. In extreme circumstances player’s acconts can be suspended or cancelled.
Interface
The interface in the opinion of interviewees was quite clear and concise.

been sick for the past 2 weeks and havent been able to come into uni and have fallen a bit behind as minisite 2 is due at the end of this week. im basically just going to do the same layout as minisite 1 but with new content obviously. also going to add in the new feedback ive received from minisite 1.

so just adding text to my minisite 1 here is what i have…

the website will open with this page

Online poker with a difference

Poker is the international language that can be spoken by all people no matter what part of the globe you are from. One of the most strategic forms of gambling this game is played by many. With the recent boom of the online poker industry this
particular application aims at bringing a more personal view to online players. The ability to read players facial gestures is arguably one of the most predominant features missing from online poker and many of the great professional players use
this ability as a stepping stone to victory, so why take it away? With the emergence of 3G phones the iPhone must introduce conference calls into their later models where I plan to take advantage of this as people will be able to use their camera phone’s to conduct reading of players through facial expressions. The game will be of the same rules as Texas Hold ‘em and through camera’s will able to display portraits of other players much like a 5-way video conference where communication through voice is available. Utilizing the iPhone’s Wi-Fi system participants are able to engage with individuals from around the world. Also the game makes use of the iPhone’s accelerometers where the rotation of the phone enables users to change view.

then wen users click on prototype the following will come up

-The front menu shows the different casino’s available and each casino offers a different environment. (figure 1)
-The top left box presents players with the current community cards. The box on the top right shows your own face to illustrate how you are presenting yourself to other players.
Finally the last box is showing what cards you are currently holding and the options of check/fold, all and raise are available with the touch of the pad. (figure 2)
-Lastly the rotation of the iPhone signals the accelerometers where a different view will be shown to users. This view shows portraits of all other players who are currently playing with you and also there is a full view of the table to check who is dealer, big blind, small blind, etc. A space for statistics is also accessible. (figure 3)

then feedback…

Feedback

The majority of people I had interviewed and demonstrated my idea too were quite enthusiastic about such a feature as they realised the importance of reading facial expressions. Although they were worried about the following:
- bandwidth, howcan the application support so many people?
- no camera phone on the front of iPhone. have to use a mirror device which people would not buy just to use the poker application. wouldnt use it until next iPhone came out
-no website to check scores, prize give aways etc
-want a real dealer not a computerised one.
I had to keep reminding them that this was the 1st iteration and many proposed ideas will improve over time. Also that this is proposed for later versions of the iPhone so short term use of this application will be quite frustrating with slow
bandwidth and such. After seeing these problems I have now added a website to keep leaderboards and such which requires a free registration. Also to propose that a real dealer handles the cards. Unfortunately there is nothing i can do about bandwidth and other iPhone related issues but to combat this i have offered to sell the Huckleberry (mirror contraption) in a package with the application for short term concerns.

so getting on with my website nicely. had to ask my sister about a few things in flash and a few tutorials as well. but now i have my layout and am going to add my content tomorrow. im pretty happy with it just a little small is all.