Well then, it's that time again where I rant a little bit to myself while sitting at the PC and hope that some of my thoughts make it coherently into this post. I've been thinking a bit lately about User Interfaces, specifically user interfaces in video games. Honestly, they bother me. At least usually they do. What I am referring to as a user interface in this case is data that is displayed on the screen during game-play that is unmarried from the game-play itself. Examples of this would consist of, say, an ammo counter that is displayed in some static location, players health levels are often also in this category. And while I do understand the importance of a static health bar in some genres, fighting games, for example certainly rely on them as a primary mechanic, I can't help but wonder why more of these historically static UI elements aren't being phased out more? You actually see this a good deal in some of the newer shooters, in Gears of war you have no continuous health measurement, your health level is only ever displayed right after you take damage, though the giant emblem that they superimpose over the center of the screen is ever so annoying. But other games have done the same with simple screen glow, and in the case of nonregenerating health, even with player speed reduction and even simulated limping when at lower health levels, not only does this add realism to the game but it removes an unnecessary UI element! hooray, more screen real estate for the actual game!
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| Redundant ammo counter is redundant. |
Ammo counters are being married with the guns they belong to more and more as well, I am all for this, and was about to add this halo 1 screen as a good example before I realized that there is a second ammo counter on the top left....well anyway they almost got it right, and hey the other one also tells them how many grenades they have.
In any case folks, all that I am really saying is that I think there are a lot of ways available to developers to display information to the player that can HELP immerse the player with the game, as opposed to simply printing out boring alphanumeric data that is not a part of the game world itself.
awesome post!
ReplyDelete+followed
There was an RPG I played awhile ago, it wasn't very good so I obviously forgot what it was called. It had a health system like in Gears of war, except rather than making your screen turn red it made your character get bloody.
ReplyDeleteBut it also had a healthbar, still - I think making your character also show how wounded he is can be very useful. Especially for games which try to blatantly try to steal WoW's UI and put your tiny little health bar in the top-left corner.
I cannot understand why MMO's take UI placement from World of Warcraft. A massive percentage of their player base (especially healers) have addons to move and change the UI placement, and there is almost a running consistency of player/target health centralized at the bottom, with party laid out in rows above that.
But hang on, I am going off topic.
Interesting concept. I've yet to see the data displayed well, so I'm fine with the way games such as Half-Life present health and whatnot.
ReplyDeleteHmm, what do you think of the AA3 (Americas Army 3) HUD? I think it's great, because it shows you the affected body part, and non-relevant details fade off of the screen.
ReplyDeleteMeaning, normally the HUD will only appear when you take out a grenade, so then you see how many grenades you have left and the HUD fades to transparent shortly after it is no longer relevant.
Of course the server you're playing on may restrict what the HUD will show you, so keep that in mind if you're trying to analyze the HUD features.
AA3 is free, and is the official game of the U.S. Army, you can download it from: http://www.americasarmy.com/ and once you get it, you should message me or something so we can game!
I would also like to discuss GUIs for applications that I write, if you would be interested.
AA3 also has a bar indicator for accuracy, it may be labelled something different, like "stamina" or something--but it determines how accurate your fire will be. I think it's worth checking out too, I like it particularly.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you didn't mention Dead Space for an example of an non-static HUD with it's health/power bar and ammo read out being on the person or gun. The only trouble for me was that the menu and transmission stuff sort of broke the immersion for me, but it was only when I stop and think about it!
ReplyDeleteAnd, in all honesty, I'm not a fan of the overlay to show health. In most cases than not, it makes it hard to see what you need to hide from and what exactly is shoot at you.
I never noticed that with the Halo game. I think all Halo games are like that actually.
ReplyDeleteI agree that user interfaces like the ones you describe take away from the realism of the game play.... however not all games are going for realism so its not necessarily a bad thing. just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI feel as you do in that the modern UI needs to be reduced, or at least toned down. i was rather impressed with the system the metroids used, there was still alot of data, but it felt fluid and natural. and not as redundant as 2 ammo counters and a useless compass. can anyone tell me where titan is?
ReplyDeleteGood post! Followed!
ReplyDeleteshoting gamis, i love it!
ReplyDeleteI like it when the amount of ammo left is displayed on the gun itself. like the predator guns in the alien vs predator games.
ReplyDeleteSome game could use more realism but I don't know if it is necessary for all games.
ReplyDeleteIt's true, this area don't have the attention it deserves.
ReplyDeleteBut I hate autoregenerating.
Right, this does sound outta date. Like a guy above, Half Life's health bar is a nicer new-gen version.
ReplyDeleteThe FPS games with flashing red screens when hit are also experimenting with new hp viewing
amazing game i cant wait to get it
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Followed
ReplyDeletenice dude,followed
ReplyDeleteIt really doesn't effect me how the UI is :/
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am lazy and just play without noticing things most of the time,
people always skip over UI, all about less is more!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite games is still Dark Corners of the Earth for being a first person shooter with a realistic lack of UI. Though in the more typical shooter that probably doesn't fit as well, it helped that game wonderfully.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting blog by the way, definitely followed.
I think ammo counters should be done away with and that player should have to count their shots in their heads.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with most of the post, I think that health bars are important for most games. Speed reduction and limping would be kind of difficult to read, and I think would just frustrate the player.
ReplyDeleteIt gets on my nerves when they add far too much shit on the screen. Zelda is getting worse about it.
ReplyDeleteooh wow, I would call it a awesome post. A nice Blog so I following and went on your advertisement
ReplyDeleteSome games actually don't want immersion and I think halos one of them. I can't fathom why a lot of the time but somehow once you add team death-match they trow out all ideas of immersion.
ReplyDeleteNice post, I think I'll follow.
Agree with the floating characters in the games.
ReplyDeleteI dislike the "bloody/red screen" effect since it mostly comes tied to regenerating health. I'm not a fan of regaining health after sitting behind a crate for a minute. If you are shot, you are shot.
ReplyDeleteI hate the bloody screen CoD and BC2 use, I prefer a normal health bar. Seems much nicer to me.
ReplyDeleteBut furthermore I don't really pay much attention to the HUD, it just needs to be clear, and show me what I want it to show.
Good blog, followed.
Half-Life 2 did it best.
ReplyDelete@astaroth agree :)
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