GUI's

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    • RE: GUI's

      UI is usually a pretty game-specific topic. A minimap may be appropriate in some games and not in others, for example. What style of game are you talking about?

      In general, I prefer simple, unobtrusive UI. A minimal of clicks required to do any action is also a good goal. Look at the psi powers of Bioshock vs System Shock 2; it's a pain to use psi powers in System Shock 2.

      -Rez

    • Ok, basically I've been playing as many different RPG's and adventure games as i can (from start to finish), and if there is a series of games, then I've been playing them in order, I'm noting down the incremental changes between the user interface's of "X 1" and "X 2 - The return.(or whatever!)". Eventually, i will hopefully find an interface that i like, thats my favorite and one that i would use on a game if i released one, But, thats my personal tastes for an interface, so I'm asking a wider audience, a more experienced audience of game programmers, what works and what doesn't, what does makes a good interface, name your favorite RPG or Adventure game interface, and why?, what made it so good?
      One thing that I've found, is that although i didn't mind having to move the screen by putting mouse against the edge of the screen/interface in games like Baldurs Gate and Icewinddale (as the characters aren't that fast at walking) the same method of moving the screen in games where the characters travel/move a lot faster across the screen 'Its a terrible idea'(in my opinion!) and its much better to move the screen/interface with keys (like wasd or arrow keys).
      Do you like mini maps in RPG's ? If so should they be built in to interface and constantly visible or only seen when requested?

      The post was edited 1 time, last by draco ().

    • For any game where exploration is a key part of the gameplay, a minimap is crucial. This would include pretty much all RPG's and many adventure games. Also, open-ended with many objectives benefit from a minimap because you can fill it up with objective locations, allowing the player to easily head to whichever one he wants. That's why we have one in Ratrace. It's a pretty small world, but the minimap makes it easy for the player to track all the objectives and side tasks you can get in the game.

      As for your question to whether or not it should be removable, well, the rule of thumb is that if you're asking the question, you should probably put an option in the Options menu to turn it off. You can have it on by default.

      Personally, I don't mind complicated interfaces for RPG's as long as I can get to the relevant information quickly and easily. Planescape Torment (and I think most of the Bauldur's Gate style games) had a good mix of complexity and ease of use. Conversely, I found Fable to have a somewhat clunky interface because I felt like I had to keep drilling into menu after menu to find what I was looking for.

      UI is a tough thing to get just right. Like many things in engineering, it's 1 part science and 3 parts art. I've found that you can only do so much planning until you really need to start implementing something so you can play around with it and see if it feels right. I've rewritten the minimap code for Ratrace at least three times because what we thought would work ended up being clunky.

      Hope that helps. UI design isn't easy.

      -Rez

    • Cheers Rez, you've given me a few things to think about there, I don't work for a game company and have never published a game[yet!], so i value and respect the input of those that have.
      I to quite like the Baldur's Gate UI, i prefer the Icewinddale interface though (ICWND1 not ICWND2), i found the ICWND2 interface to be to menu'ish, to many pages of settings and info, and i agree with the Fable interface being pretty poor, i really hate having to press ESC and go all through the menu to the right bit, just to drink a potion or eat some food while your fighting for your life and trying not to die,(in a bad battle you might have to do this several times) it would be much easier to click a 'Quick use' button at the bottom of the screen or push the space bar or something.
      I'm in the process of starting to design and develop an interface for a game project of my own at the moment, (hence the questions) I'm gathering info on the best way to implement things, and just as much info/intel as i can get. Some of my favorite game UI's are the newer 'SpiderWeb Software' games, so I'm thinking of taking the best bits/things i like from ICWND1 and the 'SpiderWeb' designs, and coming up with something of my own.