Mental Map-Preserving Visualization through a Genetic Algorithm

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors present a method to display time-varying graphs to convey data relations over time. To maximize readability, nodes are arranged by considering several criteria such as even space, fewer edge crossings, and small changes between consecutive time points. Overall, I like the method, and the results are convincing.

However, on the negative side, the writing can be improved. There are some typos and grammar errors. The descriptions are wordy as well. I also suggest the authors focusing on the algorithm since their method was not designed to reveal insights in a specific dataset. The first sentence in the abstract is not appropriate. Otherwise, the authors have to tell readers what they found in the dataset.

Author Response

Many thanks for your suggestion.

The manuscript has been rewritten or revised. We have revised the WHOLE manuscript carefully and tried to avoid any grammar or syntax errors. Those changes have been marked in green. We hope you find the revised version suitable for publication.

We added some details about our algorithm and visualization system. (Page 4-Line 110, L134; Page 5-L162; Page 8-L259; Page 9-L301)

The first sentence has been rewritten, and also more details about what we found in our database are explained. (Page 15, Line408)

Reviewer 2 Report

Research in this article focuses on producing an animation of aesthetically pleasing two-dimensional undirected graphs based on PC video game datasets which are further analyzed for developing a web-based application giving users the ability to control and create the animation of a graph. To make it easier to understand the animation of a graph, the changes between the displays of the previous and the following period should be as least as possible, allowing a user to grasp the differences of the graph’s structure faster. 

My comments to the article are as follows:

- The English language used in the article requires moderation.

- As part of the Introduction, please refer to mental maps at their source, i.e. the issue of analysis, acquisition and archiving of data from the brain. For example, I recommend that you refer to: Methods of Acquisition, Archiving and Biomedical Data Analysis of Brain Functioning, Biomedical Engineering And Neuroscience, Book Series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, Springer from 2018. This will expand the background of the article. From the level of games, it is worth referring to the fact that more and more solutions are created at the meeting point of new technologies, for example BCI technology. I propose to quote: Computer Game in UNITY Environment for BCI Technology, Analysis and classification of eeg signals for brain-computer interfaces, Book Series: Studies in Computational Intelligence, Springer from 2020. The bibliography in the article is quite narrow. Adding a reference will expand it.

- Please specify on what basis exactly such and not a different date range was chosen for the selection of games?

- Please justify the choice of technology / programming languages ​​used for research purposes.

- Conclusions are missing from the article. Please complete them. This should be a separate section after Discusions.

- Please format the bibliography in accordance with the MDPI format. The number of papers is narrow and often old.

Author Response

Many thanks for your suggestion.
     1. The manuscript has been rewritten or revised. We have revised the WHOLE      manuscript carefully and tried to avoid any grammar or syntax errors. Those        changes have been marked in green. We hope you find the revised version          suitable for publication.

2. The suggested references have been added and used in our manuscripts. (references No.12, and 20).
3. We have modified the Table 1 and added some more details. The time periods were just used as examples to show our ability to preserve mental maps. As long as there are some overlappings among periods, preserving mental maps will be important.
4. We have added some more details about different data for the selected game database and visualizing them in the manuscript. Also, we add more details about what we observed in our database. (Page 4-Line 110; Page 11, Line345; Page 15, Line408)
5. We added the Conclusion section in the manuscript. (Page 16-Line445)

      6. The format of the bibliography has been made in accordance with the       EndNote MDPI format. (Page 16-Line469)

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors, 

Thank you for answering all my questions.

Indeed, the article has been largely revised according to my suggestions.

However, the Bibliography lacks the names of journals for specific literature items. For example, item 12 should read: Methods of Acquisition, Archiving and Biomedical Data Analysis of Brain Functioning, Biomedical Engineering And Neuroscience, Book Series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, Springer, Cham, 2018, pp: 158-171. For item 20 it should be completed: Computer Game in UNITY Environment for BCI Technology, Analysis and classification of eeg signals for brain-computer interfaces, Book Series: Studies in Computational Intelligence, Springer, Cham, 2020, pp: 101-110.

Also, I propose to extend the plans for the future regarding Conclusions. One sentence in this regard is definitely not enough.

Author Response

Many thanks for your suggestion.

We have revised format of referenced following your instructions. (No.12 and 20)

Regarding future works, new sentences have been added in the conclusion. (Page 15, Line 472)