Prototyping is essential to help your team create the best product possible. It's a chance to experiment with ideas and turn them into something tangible that you can test and build upon. When you fail with your prototype, you land softly — there's always the chance to iterate and improve.
The team behind Adobe's new prototyping tool Experience Design (Adobe XD) uses prototyping as a method to test new features before they make it into the program. Being a product manager on the Adobe XD team, I'll share some insights into how the team uses prototyping to build and improve Adobe XD, and make prototyping more efficient for designers.
Also, don't run the script with the sh command - just use./mac.sh (you may need to make it executable with chmod +x mac.sh). – Gordon Davisson Dec 7 '13 at 20:59 Thanks @GordonDavisson you were right, I have DOS-style line endings so I just tried writing it down again on OS X to get rid of them and the:command not found errors disappeared. PROTIP: This command is useful to see the lastest entries appended to the end of a large log file. Expose spaces at end of lines by showing at end of every line $ end-of-line characters that are otherwise not shown. For example, in a file on every macOS: cat -vet /etc/hosts Edit the hosts file on a Mac using the Atom text editor: atom /etc/hosts.
Further Reading on SmashingMag:
So Why Do We Build Prototypes?
Prototypes are about communication and hypothesis testing. They give teams a way to experiment something that's tangible, shortening the psychological distance between the user and the solution.
'A prototype is worth a thousand meetings.' — an IDEO saying.
We build prototypes to learn, solve conflicting ideas, start conversations, and manage the building process. It helps teams to build empathy, to collaborate, to explore options (and barriers) that only become visible when you build something, to test and to be inspired.
There's research to support the theories that you can 'build to think' or 'write longhand to remember', which means that if you use your hands, more neurons are utilized to process the task in your brain, making you 'think better' or 'remember more'.
The biggest benefit always goes back to risk. The sooner we 'fail' and the faster we learn, the greater the chances are for success.
It's cheaper to fail early in order to validate things that work and things that don't. That's why we build prototypes for every major product feature. We test with pre-release users and key customers very early on and definitely before we get to implementation. And yes, we do 'fail' a lot, which is great! It's great because we learn a ton in the process and minimize the risk of failure in the long run. In the end, we tackle real customer needs, with empathy, in an innovative way.
Can Prototyping Be Fun And Engaging?
Absolutely! One of the fun prototyping exercises I use to warm design teams up is called 'Dark Horse'. From your Design Thinking brainstorm, pick the craziest idea, the one that's almost impossible to become a reality; and as a team, build a prototype for it.
Warning: crazy and funny things WILL happen!
You can guarantee oxytocin will be released; team members will bond and connect more.
Building Adobe XD
Not too long ago, a small group of very talented designers, engineers, and product managers got together, to prototype what a new solution for designers trying to communicate their message could be. After many different brainstorming sessions, instead of starting from scratch, they used bits of existing prototypes to string together a foundation to explore and experiment with new tools and approaches in a design tool.
This initial prototype grew and new tools were created, validated, fine-tuned and validated again to become Project Comet. In 2016, with a much larger team that includes designers, engineers, product managers, program manager and interns, we came together and met with leading agencies and up and coming designers to focus on solving the UX challenges of today and tomorrow.
As soon as the first prototype was validated, then changed and validated again, we started developing Adobe XD as a native application. First for Mac OS and later for Windows. Additionally, we're working on a companion app for iOS and Android, for designers to preview their designs in real-time.
Design With Data Prototype
In October 2015, at Adobe MAX, Anirudh Sasikumar, an engineer working on Adobe XD, demoed a prototype where designers could use the tool to feed designs with real data coming from different sources, such as the Finder and Web, for text and imagery. His Medium post covers the features in details.
I spoke with Anirudh recently, asking how he came up with it and how the prototype helped him validate the approach.
According to him, it's very common for developers to bind systems to data. Something that's not true for designers, always needing to use fake data to simulate how the design would behave in the real world.
Anirudh explained the catalyst for designing with real data was the Repeat Grid tool. As soon as we finished building it, it was natural to start thinking about bringing more data in. The design community had already expressed interest in 'Designing with data' and numerous workarounds in achieving the same using plugins/extensions.
Thanks to a delay on Caltrain, he started coding the functionality. Having some of the use cases in mind, implementation was easy. By the end of the trip, he had a working version of it. Not polished, but enough to show promise and to be validated.
The magic of prototyping is being able to see all the possibilities and edge cases around it. It's not in your head anymore, it's there, closer to reality. You can see so much more!
You can also see walls, problems that never surface before you actually build it. For instance, connecting with Google Sheets was tricky.
Phase 1 is complete and available for Mac OS, where designers can drag text files from Finder, to feed a Repeat Grid. The next phase will focus on sample data and bringing content from the Web.
If you want the feature in Adobe XD, feel free to upvote here.
Deciding Whether To Include Layers Or Not
Let me start with the same question we asked hundreds of designers:
Do you need layers?
Initially, we started with the assumption that people didn't need layers, especially the way layers were presented for so many years in Photoshop or Illustrator. It was a big challenge, because a big number of experienced designers took years to build those mental models.
At Adobe XD, in order to deliver innovation, we challenge existing mental models frequently.
Based on that initial research, Talin Wadsworth, the lead designer for XD, came up with the concept of local layers. To validate the concept, we worked together to set the context and test the prototype with prerelease users and key customers.
After a long research and validation process using a prototype to drive conversations, and after multiple adjustments, we confirmed that our customers need layers for exporting and to organize complex designs.
We have started the work to implement this new mental model.
Soon, designers from all over the world will tell us if we got it right. Fingers crossed!
In Conclusion
Since day one, we build and test prototypes of every major feature before we implement them. A prototype is an extremely powerful tool to help teams 'see' more, experience more, 'fail' more, learn more and, in the end, pivot faster to where the secret for success is.
A quote from the book Zero to One sums up the benefit of prototyping well:
'It's like the world is full of secrets for disruptive success, just waiting for someone to find them'.
Who is going to create the next Uber, or the next Facebook, or even the next Pokemon Go app? Building and testing prototypes can help you get there, faster!
As a suggestion, please remember that Adobe XD can support you and your team when building prototypes for websites or mobile applications. Have you tried it? It's free: http://xd.adobe.com. What are you waiting for? Start building prototypes now!
If you'd like to support our preservation efforts (and this wasn't cheap), please consider donating or supporting us on Patreon. Thank you!
This page details one or more prototype versions of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Windows, Mac OS Classic, Mac OS X).
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets prototype is a rather unfinished build of the game, even though the build date is September 6th 2002, which is about two months before the final release. There are a lot of softlocking cutscenes, many voice clips are missing or are placed wrong, the HUD is completely different and of course there are lots of graphics, music and maps that are either completely different or absent from the final game. Pressing 'Start' doesn't actually start the game, instead you have to select a level from the debug menu. The proto also includes the original Unreal Editor the developers used.
| This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes. |
| To do: Check EVERYTHING, there is a lot in here: maps, music, sounds, tools, scripts, cutscenes, etc. |
- 2Interface and Menus
- 3Original Final Game Levels
- 4Unused Levels
- 5Cutscenes
- 10Developer Tools
Sub-Pages
| Unused Dialog Dialog voice clips cut from the final game. |
Interface and Menus
Main Menu
The most notable difference is that the HUD was completely remade between this build and the final game.
Prototype| Final |
|---|
The menu functions exactly the same in the prototype. The second owl at the bottom left is for the credits, available as well in the final game when debug mode is activated. The final game also completely hides the paused gameplay with a static background. There is also no music.
Prototype| Final |
|---|
In the prototype build, there is a difficulty selection and the default is set on easy (normal in the final game but can't be changed unless debug mode is active). Moving while casting was also a selectable option, but there is no input option for the map, skipping cutscenes and the quidditch action button. The default button for drinking a potion is also set to Q instead of SpaceBar.
Prototype| Final |
|---|
The artwork resembles more of the previous game's style.
Pre-Load Menu
Prototype| Final |
|---|
The differences are subtle, but in the prototype, the logo is off-center, the background is slightly different and the instructions at the bottom are in a white box. There are also no sounds at all when a button is clicked.
Prototype| Final |
|---|
In the prototype, the save file icons were supposed to be dynamically taken at a save book. There's also an arrow (<) on the back button.
Prototype| Final |
|---|
The video options open in another window in the prototype. There are also options to run the game in windowed mode and a toggle for 3D hardware acceleration graphic cards.
Prototype| Final |
|---|
Just like the video options, the sound options open in another window. There is an option to toggle 3D sound hardware.
Debug Menus
The debug menus are mostly the same as in the final game except the bookmarks menu which works in the proto with different bookmarks for each level.
Old Dev Menu
This shows the old dev menu when first running the game. This menu is commented out within the code so is not shown by default in the proto but can be shown by uncommenting the code. Clicking on an option loads the appropriate map while the start button still does nothing. The menu on the right shows the HP1 style dialog box was used when pressing Exit or Esc to quit.
Original Final Game Levels
Levels that are in the final game but are different in the proto. Differences in all the levels:
- Harry has two voices (the temp and final voice actor).
- Uses HP1 climbing.
- Beans come out of chests like in HP1.
- Chocolate frogs jump further away from you than in the final game .
- More save books spread throughout levels and some in different places than the final game.
- More wiggentree bark and flobberworm mucus by potion cauldrons than in the final game.
- No sound is played when a card comes out of a chest or is picked up.
- Levels are automatically saved when first loaded.
Adv1Willow.unr
This map has small roots that attack you by the Whomping Willow as well as the big ones, the small roots were removed in the final game. The music is slightly different, a dialog line is broken, camera angles in cutscenes are different, one of the root keeps going up and down during the cutscene Ron gets freed, the walls opacity doesn't change correctly after casting Lumos by the stairs and Rons patrol points are not programmed correctly towards the end of the level.
Adv12Chamber.unr
This level is quite buggy compared to the final game as shown in the video by blizmed. The snake was also originally going to have an eye beam and would exhale smoke in the 2nd phase of the battle but these are cut in the proto. It is impossible to kill the snake using the sword. blizmed has also implemented these cut features into the level.
Also in the 1st stage of the fight the first eye spell state was going to have a spell shoot from the Basilisk's eyes before it got replaced with the beams. The eye spell kills Harry in one hit. In this state the basilisk is bugged and its health can't reach 0 without changing the original code.
The basilisk also has three working unused states. These are statePodiumAttack, stateLungeFromHole and stateLookAround which are shown in the video below.
Unused Levels
Most of these levels don't have default music. If there is music in the level, it will be specified in the description.
AdvFlyingFord.unr
The flying Ford cutscene was originally going to be a playable level where the player would have controlled the car and avoid being seen by Muggles but got cut due to the devs not being able to program the level correctly. In the proto the level is unplayable but a user called blizmed has managed to make the level somewhat playable.
Adv4GreenhouseOld.unr
Just as the map name says, it's an old version of the greenhouse adventure map. The greenhouse itself is very big compared to the final game's version. There are a few interactible objects, such as a climbing block and a Flipendo switch.
Adv10Hermione.unr
One of the few levels present in the subfolder 'Oldfiles'. It's big and pretty empty, but the interesting thing is that some statues trigger some platforms once hit with Lumos, which is a mechanic from the first game.
AOLDemo.unr
This is the map used in the game's demo, however, some of the objects are missing some interactions, such as the Lockhart statues not doing anything. This map has music triggers.
Calibration.unr
A L shaped hallway with a small empty room on one side and an early potions classroom on the other. Based on the map name this was used for calibration.
ChadHallWarnHighCel2.unr
A room with a small empty hallway at the top of an elevated platform with a set of stairs on each side of the platform.
Charms+Practice.unr
An early charms classroom with another room separated by a hallway. The gates have no collision and this room would have presumably been used for practice. There are also unused windows outside of the map.
courtyard1_cv.unr
The same map as courtyard1_snow_cv but without the snow.
courtyard1_snow_cv.unr
A very small but beautiful map. This map blueprint is used in the diffindo challenge in the final game.
Curvedhalls_stairway.unr
A map with two curved hallways that have stairs. There are doors at the top and bottom of each hallway.
CV.unr
A small test level that mainly checks ectoplasm, music toggle systems and features some odd challenge star models that are not seen anywhere in the proto or the final. This map has a music trigger.
Dada.unr
An early map of the DADA classroom. There is a small circular room at the start of the map, a placeholder with the text 'placeholder' mirrored and a room past the door upstairs with another door placed in the room.
Dumbledore_Office.unr
An early map of Dumbledores office. There is a door where the archway normally is, the Sorting Hat and Fawkes stand are not present, there are stairs that take you to the upstairs level with small rooms after the first 2 set of stairs, the layout is slightly different and there are objects outside the map.
DungeonHallway.unr
An early map of the dungeon hallway. The layout of each part of the hallway is different, textures & lighting are different and the Slytherin Common Room door automatically opens when walking in & out of that part of the map.
Entrancehall_new.unr
Despite the name this is an early map of the entrance hall and is a WIP of the final map. The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor symbols are on the wall next to the stairs, the Skurge and Spongify challenge doors are not present, statues and secret areas are not present, there is an empty room where the Rictusempra challenge door hallway normally is, the bean bonus room is not set up and there are some minor differences such as placeholder textures on the ceiling, placeholders for portraits and a placeholder for the grand staircase door. Touching the black part on the stairs kills you instantly.
EntryCV1.unr
Another early map of the entrance hall. This is the HP1 entrance hall that has minor changes with added placeholders for the hallways and rooms that need to be set up. There are placeholders for hallways and/or rooms next to both the Rictusempra challenge and bean bonus room placeholders which are not set up in the final game or the Entrancehall_new map. There are placeholders for the portraits and the knights have been removed. There are also two placeholders outside of the map.
grandstairben.unr
A very early version of the grand staircase. Only the first set of stairs work.
Grounds.unr
A very early version of the grounds hub. Hagrid's hut still uses the design from the previous game with the fences and most new textures are missing. The greenhouse is also being built, literally.
TestLevel.unr
This is a simple level used to test various game functions and mechanics. Some are even absent from the final game.
Prototype differences for this level:
- Owl statues were used
- Room lighting triggers
- Effect triggers
- Multi-triggers for single action
- Hold triggers
- Expeliarmus and Mimblewimble spell icons
- No animation once 10 silver cards collected
- Object existance triggers
- Old HP1 climbing
- 8-directionnal moving blocks (technically used but since all blocks in the final game are in closed tracks, it is not used
- Old 'follow and remove points' script for Snape
Triggers.unr
A test map based on TestLevel.unr used to check various triggers.
workroom_HP2.unr
A very small map with no interactible objects. There are 3 black cubes behind the non-textured door that are very hard to see. The default spawn point is out of bounds, so to load, it has to be moved with an editor.
| To do: Add all unused levels. |
Cutscenes
Cutscenes that were either removed or changed in the proto and are different to the original proto cutscenes. These cutscenes are either unused text documents scattered in different folders and/or commented out cutscene code in the original proto cutscene files.
00001PrivetIntroOld
The EA and WB screens were originally going to be shown at the start of the Privet Drive cutscene instead of when launching the game. Only the first 30 seconds of this cutscene is shown because the rest is the same as the original proto cutscene. The WB screen is also dated from 2001 which means the WB screen is from HP1.
FlyFordIntroOLD
This is the cutscene after Harry and Ron leave Diagon Alley and before crashing into the Whomping Willow. The camera moves to the end of the map with the flying car travelling in a straight line towards the camera and the camera eventually following the car towards the end of the cutscene.
00020FlyingFordEnd & 00030WhompCrash
These cutscenes refer to the flying car crashing into the Whomping Willow and Harry waking up after the crash with Ron trapped by the Whomping Willow respectively. In the first cutscene Harry says 'Watch out for that tree!' before the car crashes and the camera pans away from the tree after the crash followed by music playing for a few seconds which are not present in the original proto and final game cutscene. The second cutscene is mainly the same except for slightly different camera angles and some unfinished animations.
04070FollowVoiceB
End Of File: Prototype() Mac Os Download
The cutscene where Harry, Ron and Hermione find Mrs Norris petrified. Character movement is not smooth and when the trio walk down the 2nd floor corridor the camera travels really fast and goes through the wall at the end of the corridor along with other small differences such as only some of the students present in the cutscene compared to the final game and Dumbledore spawning on the opposite side. There are flags above Mrs Norris as placeholders for the writing on the wall which are present in game throughout the whole proto. The cutscene also ends abruptly.
10060DumbEnter
The cutscene where Dumbledore enters his office while Harry is waiting for him after Nearly Headless Nick is petrified. In the proto this cutscene is set to be skipped without showing anything (probably because it is unfinished) but changing the cutscene settings in the editor makes it watchable. The temp Harry voice actor says Harrys 1st line, some voice files don't match up with the text at the bottom correctly such as Dumbledore repeating the line 'Professor, I just want you to know that it wasn't me. I'm not the attacker.', Ron says a line after Hermione while Harry is thinking whether to tell Dumbledore if anything is bothering him which is not seen in the final game and the camera releasing is not smooth when the cutscene ends.
12060GoyleBackToHarry
The cutscene where 'Goyle' turns back into Harry. This is the same as the final game except there are particle effects for when he turns back into Harry.
15060Adv9bLairOLD
As the file name suggests this is the old cutscene where Harry meets Aragog. At the very start Aragog is already facing Harry and says 'Bite him my children!' before the large spider says 'Aragog, a human is here!'. The rest of the cutscene is similar to the proto and final game cutscene except for slightly different camera angles, the camera pointing to Aragogs webs towards the end without Harry saying anything and Harry staying above instead of jumping down like in the final game.
15065Adv9bHarryWins
//stalactites fall
The cutscene after Harry destroys all the webs holding up Aragogs big web which causes Aragog to fall down and start the fight with Harry. The comment in the cutscene shown above shows the stalactites above Aragog were meant to fall with the big web but there is no code implementing this and is not seen in the final game.
15070RonRescue
//Harry animate celebrate
//add wizard card spawning here
End Of File: Prototype() Mac Os X
The cutscene after Harry defeats Aragog. The code and comment in the cutscene shown above show that Harry was going to do the celebrate animation he does after completing a spell challenge and a wizard card was going to spawn after Aragog falls into the pit but the camera doesn't show Harry doing the celebration, there is no code implementing the wizard card being spawn and both are not seen in the final game.
17150BasiliskIntroV2
This is similar to the proto cutscene when Harry is about the fight the basilisk except for a song played at times which isn't present in the final game, broken dialog along with unfinished dialog lines, some unfinished animations and Ginny standing up and lying back down which happens all the time throughout the level in the proto.
17180VictoryV2
Despite the name this is an unfinished cutscene after defeating the basilisk. Tom Riddle is shown in the actor room screaming 'Nooooooooooooo!' followed by Ginny talking while still on the floor with Harry comforting her before fading out. This could only be viewed by replacing the 17150BasiliskIntroV2 cutscene in the editor with this cutscene due to killing the basilisk being impossible and therefore not show this cutscene.
18040HouseCup
An original proto cutscene but added due to how unfinished the house cup ceremony cutscene is. The camera stays in one place the whole time, there are little animations, not all the students and staff are present, Hermione says a line at the end which is removed in the final game and some students run around the map with some bumping into Harry, Ron and Hermione without saying anything if they do. Music is also played in this cutscene which isn't present in the final game cutscene.
This also shows all the commented out dialogue in the house cup ceremony cutscene and is played in the order they are commented out. The final game was used to play these dialogue lines because the proto cutscene is too unfinished.
Music
| To do: Add music. |
Sounds
| To do: Add sounds. |
Textures
| To do: Add textures. |
Dialog Lines
Dialog lines that were written but not recorded
'Now climb the ladder beside the cauldron. Try not to fall in, I don't want it contaminated.' This refers to the wiggenweld healing potion class with Professor Snape and indicates the cauldron was originally going to be quite big, probably the big cauldron in the middle of Professor Snapes class from HP1 was imported into the game but got deleted early on.
'I'd better hide in the shadows and sneak out. If they spot me in here…who knows what might happen?' Harry talking about escaping the Slytherin common room after the polyjuice potion has worn off. Harry was originally meant to sneak past prefects in the common room as shown in the image below but this got changed in the final game and had only recently been removed in the proto due to how unfinished the changed escape is.
'Clear your mind of everything else and focus intently on the symbol in front of you. Don't be distracted by my charisma.' An unused Professor Lockhart line from the Spongify spell learning lesson. Was replaced with 'Concentrate on the symbol before you. Don't let my good looks distract you!'
'Somehow, I need to get these pigs to locked stalls on the other side of the barn, so that I can then sneak up to Goyle and pluck a hair.' Refers to the level you have to get Goyles hair for the polyjuice potion. Originally you were meant to sneak up on Goyle in the barn without waking him up. This line suggests you would have had to not alert Goyle by putting the pigs in the barn into the stalls (probably using the food Goyle had dropped throughout the level) and then sneak up to him. Ultimately none of this was implemented in the final game or the proto.
'That's a phoenix…'(Just here for reference, Repeat of PC_Tmr_VoldRevealedV2_01 DO NOT RECORD THIS) As said in the dialog line, this is just a reference for the Phoenix in Dumbledores office and wasn't meant to be recorded. This is removed in the final game's files.
'Brilliant!' yelled some students. 'Inspired!' yelled others, or ' What an entrance! People'll be talking about that one for years.' An unused dialog line in the transition cutscene after entering the dorm.
'Well, well, well, I heard a crash and what do I find? Mr. Harry La-Di-Da Potter and a broken, irreplaceable, antique vase.' An unused Filch dialog line before going to DADA for the first time when Harry 'breaks' the vase. Was replaced with 'Well, well, well, I heard a crash and what do I find? Mr. Harry Potter and a broken, irreplaceable, antique vase.'
'Diffindo can be used as a weapon against certain organic creatures.' An unrecorded Professor Sprout line in Diffindo.
'You can use the top of the Horklump Mushroom as a weapon. Once you have separated it from its stem, you can pick it up and throw it' An unused Professor Sprout line in Diffindo. Was replaced with just 'Once you have separated it from its stem, you can pick it up and throw it'.
'You can use the tops of the Spiky Prickly Plants as a weapon too. Once it is separated from its stem, you can pick it up and throw it.' An unrecorded Professor Sprout line in Diffindo. The tops of Spiky Prickly Plants get destroyed in the proto and final game.
'Imps are vicious little creatures that like to eat little boys. Don't let them get near you, as their bites are deadly! Like gnomes, you use Flipendo to knock them back, then you can pick them up and throw them into a gnomehole to get rid of them.' An unused Professor Lockhart line in Spongify. Was replaced with 'Imps are vicious little creatures. Don't let them get near you, as their bites are deadly! Like gnomes, you use Flipendo to knock them back, then you can pick them up and throw them into a hole to get rid of them.'
Developer Tools
GestureDrawingTool
| Download GestureDrawingTool |
This program is used to draw and view new spell symbols, but it's most likely a leftover tool from the previous game, as all the .hpg files (Harry Potter Gestures) are from there too. It lets you draw a dot cluster graph and save it as a .hpg file. There are a few options, such as Flip, Center and Reflect, which makes the spell creation a bit easier. The files can also be opened with the GestureComp tool, but it seems that there are unmentionned requirements for it to be valid, like the number of points and start/end points.
GestureComp
| Download GestureComp File:HPCoSPC-GestureComp.zip (18KB) (info) |
This is a complementary tool that uses the files created by GestureDrawingTool and opens them to test the spell lessons from the last game. It reads mouse cursor location per frame when LMB is held down and once it is released, a window indicates the number of correct spots, errors and percentage based on a float number from the dot cluster. There are 3 complexity options that reduce the margin of error depending on the level.
UDebugger
A debugger called 'UnrealScript Debugger'. When pressed the debugger and game both open at the same time. This was used to debug and test the code with the game running. Unfortunately pressing any button in the debugger causes the debugger to crash and close.
A small splash screen is also loaded when opening the debugger.
When the game is running with the debugger on the name of the game at the top says ''
When debugging the game the two windows were probably placed side by side like this.
