Attorney Investigations Online
Help
The Client
After you start the game, this will be the first thing you'll see. This is the server list menu.
1. The server list
This is the list of available servers you can join. Click a server to show information about it in the description.
2. Description
This text at the right of the window is a description of the server you've selected. It usually describes what kind of server it is, and non-vanilla servers put links to their custom content here. It's always a good habit to check the description before joining those (especially in AO).
3. Refresh/All servers/Favorites list/News/Join IP address
Refresh
Click this to update the server list.
All servers/Favorites list/tabs
Click one of these to switch between your favorite servers, the game's public servers, and news about the game.
Join IP address...
Click this button to manually enter the "IP address" of the server you wish to join. This is normally for advanced users.
4. Add to favorites/Connect
Click on either of these to add the selected server to your favorites list, or to join it.
5. Settings icon
Opens the settings dialog where you can change certain aspects of the game.
Choosing a character
This will be the first thing that you'll see after you join a server. All you have to do is click the character of your preference, or click "Disconnect" to return to the server list.
In-Game
Once you pick your character, you're ready to hop in on the fun. Here's a quick overview of the controls: Use the W, A, S and D keys, or the arrow keys to move, and the SHIFT key to run.
However, on the game settings (located in the lobby), you are allowed to customize these controls if you wish.
Now, let's analyze what we have here...
1. Game Screen
The game screen is basically where all the action happens in the game and player sprites are visible, as well as the game camera following your character.
Clicking somewhere on the game screen will make your character look at that direction.
2. Chat box
This little transparent box below the game screen is the chat box. It is where messages sent by other players (or you) appear. It works just like on AO: One message will appear after another, and will be recorded on the Chat History. (4)
3. Music list
A scroll-able list that shows the songs you can play on the server. The music list on AIO works just exactly as the music list on AO, so you should feel right at home.
4. Chat History
This is where all the messages that appear on the game chat are recorded.
5. Court Record button
Click this button to toggle the Court Record, where the evidence for the current zone you are in is saved. You can add, edit, delete or present evidence from within this menu.
6. OOC chat
This gray box is called the Out-Of-Character, or short for OOC, chat. You can chat with other players without interrupting ongoing cases, or use server commands. Some common server commands are shown below.
7. Volume sliders
They adjust the volume for the three elements in the game: Music, sounds, and chat blips.
8. Walk/Run animations
You can adjust what animations your character plays when walking or running.
9. WT/CE/Verdict buttons and penalty bars
These buttons serve to make a more immersive Ace Attorney gameplay by allowing you to play Witness Testimony animations, verdict animations, or give the defense/prosecutor penalties.
The Emotion Bar
This is the most important thing to know, especially on AO. There are a few key things you should know about it:
1. Emote Buttons
If you've played AO, you might already know what these do, except there's a catch. If you haven't played AO, go play it first I'll explain in detail what it is. Basically, these tiny rectangles with faces all over them are called the Emote Buttons. On AO, you click one of those rectangles to set your player's "expression" to go along with your chat message. The difference in AIO's Emote Buttons is that the emote plays instantly the moment you click it.
However, if you right-click the emote button, you can choose to play that emote along with your chat message, just like in AO.
2. Page buttons, color & exclamation button
The page buttons, located on the left and right corners of the Emotion Bar, are basically to switch between emotion pages. If your character has more than 24 emote buttons, you can use these to find more emotes. The button with three multi-colored "A"'s, right next to the Left Page button, can be used to switch your chat color that will be displayed on the Chat box. You can switch between white, green, red, orange, blue, yellow, rainbow, cyan and pink.
The white color is used for general talking. The green color, in AAI, is for key facts to keep in mind (Logic, from AAI) and cross-examination (Rebuttal, in AAI's case) text. Orange is used to talk about important key facts (no, it was never red, it was actually orange) and testimony (or "Argument" in AAI) titles. Red is used for very important key facts, even though it's usually locked as an admin-only color to express authority or something. Blue is for thinking, and yellow is used when robots are talking. Rainbow, cyan and pink are colors from AO 2.6.
The exclamation mark button allows you to play between one of two sounds when you send a chat message, as a realization or surprise expression.
3. Move/Switch/Examine
To change your character, or disconnect from the server, simply click the Switch button to go back to the character selection screen. Thus, the emotion bar will be closed and you'll be able to pick another character of your preference, or disconnect.
As for the "Move" button, if you've ever played the AA games, you know what these do: simply click it to move to another location. A menu will pop up when you click it, showing several "zones" you can move to. (The zone list depends on which server you join.) Simply click one of the pop-up buttons to move to said zone.
The "Examine" button is a special case. Click it, and when you move your mouse around the Game Screen, a familiar blue rectangle-cross will show up. Click anywhere on the game screen to "Examine" that spot, or click the Examine button to turn it off.
The Music List
The music list in AIO works exactly as the AO music list; You scroll through the music collection, and double click the song you want to play for everyone to hear.
Chatting
The chat input line
This white rectangle just below the chat box and game screen is the Chat input line (where it says "Click here to chat"). This is where you actually write your chat message, then hold ENTER to send it.
Next to it, you also have the "showname" box, where you can enter a custom name for the game chat to differentiate between players.
The OOC
The OOC, if you've played Attorney Online, works exactly the same as its' counterpart.
The list of available commands is as follows:
/cmdlist
Show all commands available on the server.
/login <password>
Enter the RCON (remote console) password to become an admin. If you're hosting a server, The password is located on the "server\base.ini" text file, on the "rcon=" line. If it isn't there, you can create one. If you type this password incorrectly too many times, you will be kicked off the server. Never give this password to strangers!
/g <message>
This command sends a broadcast global message to all players on the server, no matter on which zone they're in. It's basically the same command from tsuserver3.
/need <text>
The same thing as tsuserver3, this sends a broadcast to all zones on the server specifying what you need.
/status
See some data from all online players, such as their PID (player ID), character name, the zone ID they're at, and their IP address. This command only works if you're an admin.
/kick <PID> [reason]
If you're an admin, and someone is breaking the rules, use this to kick them off the server. To view player IDs, see the above command. Specifying the reason is not necessary, but it's recommended to always do so.
/ban <PID> <time format> [reason]
Kicks a player away from the server and prevents them from joining until the specified amount of time has passed.
The time format can be expressed like this:
5 or 5m = 5 minutes
1h = 1 hour
1d = 1 day
0 = permanent ban (be careful with this!)
/play <filename>
Admin only command. Plays song "filename" on your current area.
/warn <PID> <message>
Admin only command. Sends a warning to the specified player with the given message.
The amount of commands available on the server may vary.