Digital Workshop

Yikes, I mispelled "Queen." Sorry guys...

I'll take a look. Really not a lot to look at, as I use sometimes downright silly images in order to keep the SMEs from saying "I think we need more detail in that" or whatever instead of paying attention to the structure and logic, which is all I am trying to represent here. If you are not familiar with L3 or L4 simulations by definition, L4 is sort of like Duke Nukem where the individual has complete freedom to shoot themselves or anything else or walk off a cliff. You either win or die and nobody interferes until the end. L3 is the same, execept for more limited actions, movement, and the presence of remediation if they get too far off the path you want them on. Obviously, neither of these forms lend themselves to scripting, which is inherently linear. So, I use Opus to develop a working version of the complex branching logic flowcharts complete with logic and scoring. Every possible branch or consequence is there as in the real sim, but no motion or real graphics, just static placekeepers with text descriptions of the actions taking place and occasional audio cues or fx. In other words, a functional flowchart.

If you have the bandwidth and your ISP (and those between us) permit, I'd be happy to send you the whole thing. It's several meg even though there is no video or much audio. From what I've seen of your Opus mastery level, I could use your input from time to time.

Hmmm.... I guess all that is more than you asked for, but I am in a jolly, expansive mood after getting that complete!

Best regards,
Dave

I am going to use this existing thread and hope it gets noticed, since it is still pretty much basic stuff.

>After further tests, I found an issue with both Firefox and IE. One of the features of my pub is that if you pass the cursor over one of the landmines, it explodes and you go to a remedial page. This happens properly in both browsers, but neither returns to to the previous page as it should after 10 seconds. They just sit.

>For test purposes, I switched to "Opus Professional" as pub type and tested some output from another publication published with the "Web Publication" (no Io plugin required) option. It seems this still requires a plugin, which IE downloaded quickly and without a prompt. However, Firefox can't seem to find it either auto or manually.

Dave

I assume this functionality is working when you published to a standalone executable (by selecting Create a Standalone Publication option in the Publish Wizard)? Are you using a Go To Page <Previous> action to return to the previous page, or some other method?

If you are unable to identify the cause of this problem, please forward me your publication .imp file (not the published version) and I will see if I can reproduce the error and offer a solution.



If you selected the Create a web publication upon publishing, the resulting web publication does require iO-plugin to be installed. The only kinds of web publications which do not require the iO-plugin are those published in Opus Flex mode (which instead require the Macromedia Flash Player to be installed).

Kind regards,

Yes, it works fine in standalone, and yes, I am using go to page <previous> after a wait. Is this an Opus standalone function only? How would I know this?

As to the plugin thing, I gotcha. Not too sure whether this is clear on the publish options, though. As I recall, ILM had a "publish to html" option, so I guess assumed this was it for Opus.

Dave

The Go To Page <Previous> action should work in a web publication (I have just tested this on a couple of different configurations), so something else must be triggering this problem.

Would it be possible to send your publication .imp file to support@digitalworkshop.com and I will see if I can isolate the cause and recommend a workaround?

Many thanks,

Attached
Dave

Hi,

Thank you for the publication file.

I have tried to reproduce the issues you describe, but the web publication appears to be behaving in a similar fashion to the published executable. Could you please point out on which page of the publication you observed problems displaying the previous page?

The only problem I have been able to identify is the Exit action on your SCORE page. It is not possible to exit out of a web publication in this way as this would result in the user's browser being closed (which contravenes the HTML specification). The only way a web publication can be 'closed' is for the user to physically close the browser or to click the Back button to return to the previously-visited site.

Kind regards,

Actually, without the images, you may not have triggered the issue. Hadn't thought about that. I'll send the pix for the page in question when I get to work in a little while. There is a mine in the lower left of many of the pages that, it you pass the cursor over it, explodes. That takes you to a remediation page which displays for 10 seconds, then returns to previous. That is the issue. On the web pub, it never returns, though on the Opus pub, it does so properly.

Dave

I realized sending you the BF wouldn't help without all widgets, etc. So, here is a workaround, I assume:

The mine to the far left will detonate if passed over by the cursor. Of course, you can't see it, since you don't have the images. It is located, according to Opus, and grid 101, 664. The problem, to repeat for convenience, is that the return to previous page command works on the Opus pub, but not on the web pub.

Dave

Your publication is quite large and I am having difficulties finding the object to which you are referring. Could you please confirm the page on which this object appears and the name of the object in question and I will investigate further?

Kind regards,

It actually occurs on many of the pages at the same location referenced in the last message, but the first occurance is page "STOP" which is the one you go to when you hit the BEGIN button.

Dave

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.

I'm afraid that I am still experiencing problems reproducing the issue you describe. I loaded your publication in Opus Pro 04, opened the STOP page and located the left-most Image object on the page (Image 2 (12)). I gave this object a red background to allow me to easily identify it when previewed.

I previewed the publication, navigated to the STOP page and moved the cursor over the red image. The ExplosionMINE page was then displayed for 10 seconds, before returning to the STOP page.

I then published the project as a web publication, navigated to the STOP page and moved the cursor over the red image. The ExplosionMINE page was displayed for 10 seconds, before returning to the STOP page.

Although I have not been able to reproduce the issue you describe, I have noticed a couple of oddities which may be contributing to the problem...

It appears that your Go To Page <Previous> action is actually set on a timeline on the STOP page. Timelines are not strictly designed to be used in this way and are better suited for controlling actions on the current page.

I would recommend deleting the timeline which features the Go To Page <Previous> and adding the following actions to the ExplosionMINE page:



The publication should still behave in exactly the same way, but should also run correctly in the browser.

I also noticed that many of your mine images appear to have duplicate actions applied. For example, the Image 2 (12) image has the following actions:



Although this does not appear to be adversely affecting the publication, I would recommend deleting these duplicate Play Sound and Go To Page actions as they appear to have no effect.

I hope this helps. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further queries.

Kind regards,

I could not locate nor do I recall a timeline on the STOP page dealing with the goto page <previous> issue. There are three timelines on that page, all dealing with actions a student must take within a specified time in order to stop the timeline from progressing to a detonation. I don't know of another way to accomplish this.

I fixed the mine 2 (12) issues, as it was redundant in the sense that I originally had it set to detonate on a click, but changed it to mouse over and failed to delete the click action.

I am going to re-compile for web now and see if it works here. I'll let you know.

Best regards, and thanks,
Dave

Well, I checked most functions on a new compilation in IE, and it was working normally. I've not checked Firefox yet. I also intend to take it in to the office later (I am working at my residence at the moment) and check it on the machine there, which was the one it was stalling on the remediation page.

I'll let you know if anything untoward happens.

Dave