Pretest Protocol

Port of Mars Pretesting Protocol

Follow these steps to try out the software on our staging server.

1. Go to https://staging.portofmars.asu.edu using Chrome or Firefox. Our web app does not currently work on Safari.

2. Click on the checkbox to Enable Test Mode. After you have enabled tested mode, enter a username you'd expect to be reasonably unique into the text field. If this username has been previously used, it may have data associated with it, i.e., finished the tutorial or completed some games. For a "clean" user experience, you may need to make your selected username more unique.

3. After signing in with a new user, you should be directed to watch the Port of Mars Tutorial video.

4. When you've completed the tutorial you will be redirected to a player dashboard where you will be able to join the waiting lobby to participate in a game. Click on the green Ready to Launch - Join the Waiting Lobby button when you are ready to join a game.

5. We recommend that you join the waiting lobby after coordinating with your pretesting group (e.g., via Zoom) to ensure that you get into a game with your group and that you don't accidentally time out or disconnect from the lobby. If you join the lobby too soon you may need to refresh your browser periodically to ensure that you are still properly connected. Once 5 or more players are connected a game will automatically start.

6. IMPORTANT: Do NOT click on the buttons on the bottom of the page. The Join game button immediately starts a game regardless of how many players are connected for development / testing purposes. You will probably end up in a game with mostly or all bots instead of real players if you do this.