Mock-ups for Zombie Runner

The following JPEGs are mock-ups for the Zombie Runner game. Included are designs for an in-game read-out, an inventory screen and a start screen. To provide a taste of what the game might look like, all backgrounds are taken from the game Mirror's Edge. The images have been de-saturated to create a look closer to the idea of the game.

In-Game

Inventory

Title Screen

Note: Selections in the start menu hi-light when moused over or picked by the player's directional keys. In this sample, START is selected.

Thumbnails for Zombie Runner

The following are thumbnails for the theoretical game mentioned in the second game pitch. Thumbnails covered possible layouts and designs for in game indicators, a start screen and a game over screen.

In-Game

Start Screen

Game Over

Final Interface Samples

As per instructions, I have added certain tweaks to the mock interface samples I submitted last week. The three samples below, which I will label, are game interface ideas for the mock game's shooting combat mode, item shopping and inventory.

Item Shop

Shooter

Inventory

Game Design Doccument no. 2

Game Design Document

Game Pitch in one sentence:

Mirror’s Edge meets Resident Evil

Game Summary:

After an outbreak of virulent plague that swept the world and changed anyone unlucky enough to be infected into predatory mutants, society is finally making a comeback. The military has begun taking back land previously claimed by the mutants and the human population has begun to climb. With the rise in population comes a rise in the demand for supplies. A group organizations known as Scavengers sweep through the ruins of the old cities in search of any goods they can find: medicine, food, fresh water. You are one of the Scavengers newest runners. Tasked with high-speed resource retrieval on foot, your job is to scout out now virtually abandoned urban environments, locate resources and then escape before you are caught, eaten or turned by the mutants that may be hiding inside. Humanity may be making a comeback but you’re limited with what you can work with. All you have are the supplies you find and the less you return with back to the checkpoint, the more you risk termination and the unemployed don’t last very long out in the ruins.

General Genre: Action/Horror

Game Genre: First person platforming

Gameplay:

Most of the game play revolves around navigating around the environment in search of resources. Part of the game play involves keeping a sharp eye out for supplies, but a mission briefing and updates via an earpiece the character wears will inform the player on the general area where supplies are located as well as key caches of supplies are. In addition to these key objectives, the player is encouraged to explore to find more items to bring back to the checkpoint. For example, let’s say a player is tasked with scouting out a hospital building. They are told to search the fourteenth floor for a specific item. This item will likely be mandatory for level completion but the player is free to search other floors or areas in the building for extra items, provided they don’t violate a time limit (when applicable) or get themselves killed.

Item searching will involve light puzzle elements, such as figuring out how to clear a pathway, but most of the game play will involve navigation. To use the aforementioned Mirror’s Edge as an example, in that game, many of the puzzles involved figuring out how to use the environment in clever ways in order to get to the next goal. The same will be done within this game. The rest of the game play centers around avoiding and evading monsters the player will encounter. Being spotted by a monster or horde will cause a game play shift; instead of focusing on carefully scanning the area for clues, the player will have to think quickly to find a way out of the situation while choosing paths that will slow the persuit of their chasers. More than likely, there will be scripted events within the game wherein a player will have to outrun a large group of monsters/zombies to make it to the checkpoint, all the while a count-down timer is announcing how long it will be before the zone becomes too hot and the player’s rescue has to abandon the mission.

Systems:

I

tem Location

Evasion/Escape

Game Modes:

Item Location

            Exploration

                        Primary goals

                        Optional resources

            Navigation puzzles

            Enemy avoidance

                        Stealth

                        Alternate route finding

            Timed events

Evasion/Escape

            Enemy avoidance

                        Stealth

                        Alternate route finding

            Navigation puzzles

            Timed events

            Enemy evasion

Interface Notes:

General Game Play:

At all times of the game, there will need to be an indicator of the player’s health, the player’s stamina (if the system is used within the game and if it is used, stamina will factor into special moves and sprint moves), direction of the mission goals and, when applicable, a timer element.

Item Location:

Items of interest will be hi-lighted by a special glow similar to the one used in Left 4 Dead. Item glow will not penetrate walls. Care will need to be taken when deciding how intense the item glow is; too intense and item location will be too obvious to the player, whereas a glow that’s not bright enough will be too difficult to see from a reasonable distance.

Navigation:

Some additional navigation element should be considered to aid the player in advising them where to go. Chances are that the level designer could use subtle lighting clues to cue the player to the appropriate direction. However, this approach would only really work best when the player is in a dark or dimly lit area. As part of this game will no doubt occur in the daytime, there will need to be some sort of alternate visual cue. The easiest way to do this is to make the level more linear. The trouble with this approach, though, is that Zombie Runner is supposed to be relatively non-linear, with optional paths and supplies to gather. Therefore, a balance between the linearity of the level and the freedom afforded the player through exploration will need to be struck. There is also a chance that an element similar to Mirror’s Edge could be employed, with key path elements changing a bright red when the player is close to cue the player into where to go. The trouble with this approach, though, is that it has been done before and as this game is already likely a first-person parkourt-driven platformer, further similarities should probably be avoided.

Evasion/Escape:

The player will need to be notified if she is spotted by a monster. This notification will more than likely come in the form of an audio cue, although some sort of a visual cue might work as well. Maybe there could be some kind of screen flash or shake when the player is spotted or a horde event occurs. Furthermore, perhaps there could be some kind of audio or visual notification for approaching hordes or monsters.

General:

As with any game, this game will require a main menu screen, save and load game screens, option screens and a game over screen. The motif currently under consideration is that of an urban street-sign style, probably involving many simple but effective pictographs and liberal use of yellow and black.

Finished concepts

The following pictures are finished concepts for the last assignment, barring pending critiques. The reason you only see two concepts here is because I decided one inventory concept worked a bit better than the other and I wasn't sure what else to add to the shooter interface.

Inventory

Item Shop

Mock Game Interface Samples

Here are samples of the interface previews in progress. Some of them are in various stages of completion because some of the interface samples took minimal time to rough out while others took a little longer. With the ones that took less time to rough out, I wanted to add a bit more detail.

Inventory (Version A)

Inventory (Version B)

Item Shop

 Combat: Shooting

Thumbnails for action game

Here are a set of thumbnails I created while brainstorming possible interface setups for the theoretical game. In these, I covered the Attack sequences and navigation (attack and navigation are grouped into one since chances are they would overlap within game), player inventory and shopping menus.

Attack/Navigation

Player Inventory

Shop Menu

Design document for mock game

Design Document

Game Pitch in one sentence:

Red Dead Redemption meets Star Wars, or Firefly with more sword fights.

Game Summary:

On a far away copper colored planet, a totalitarian regime holds sway over a civilization scattered throughout the budding world’s surface. The rich and affluent are well cared for by the advanced technology and extensive defense force of the council; the less fortunate are left to fend for themselves, fighting over the gradually dwindling resources, societies in squalor in comparison to the lavish palaces built alongside them. Some look on the lavish palaces and the massive castle builder ships that construct them with awe at the power of the council. Some with hope of what they might one day have, if they are one day judged worthy. Some look on in envy of something they know they will never have. To Logan Wyverne, the castles are a symbol of his past and every reason he abandoned his old life. Resigned from the royal guard, Logan roams the wastes in search of any work he can find to eek out a living. He’s a vagrant. He’s a mercenary. He’s not a hero. But events have been set in motion that may change that. No one has ever resigned from the royal guard and Logan is about to find out exactly why.

General Genre: Action Sci-fi

Game Genre: Third-person action/exploration

Game play:

The game is primarily action based, combing sword-driven melee combat with gun play. The main characters weapon reflects this, with a gun built into the hilt of the character’s sword. Logan’s sword isn’t one of a kind, though, and is standard issue to the royal guard, one of the harder characters Logan will have to fight for this game, so enemies will be able to counter Logan’s ability to switch combat paradigms with their own. Players will be able to take cover, run and gun and hack and slash their enemies as they see fit.

Within the action of the game, the player will also be able to upgrade their weapon and acquire equipment to help their character that may also be subsequently upgraded. This is done through shopping in local stores on the towns the player visits. The player will need to do odd jobs in order to earn extra cash to pay for upgrades.

In addition to rpg elements, there is a degree of exploration within this game. The game is set over several different towns, with a sometimes barren, sometimes lush wilderness set in between. Players will often visit the wilderness to fulfill side-missions but may also explore for minerals and other resources they can either sell or use to upgrade their equipment.

Systems:

Combat

Character Interaction

Exploration

Game Modes:

Combat

            Shooting

                        Standard shots

                        Upgraded ammunition (rapid fire, charged shots)

            Cover mechanic

            Melee mechanic

            Brawling

            Healing/Recovering health

Character Interaction:

            Shopping

                        Upgrades

                        Items

            Side-Missions

                        Acquiring side missions

                        Speaking to other people to resolve side missions

Exploration

            Navigation

                        On foot

                        Vehicular

General Interface Notes:

The game’s interface will be a mix of gritty science fiction elements and organic displays. Think some of the read-outs from Fallout, with a lot of the displays looking as though they were lit with old-fashioned LED screens, mixed with some of the elements of Dead Space, where some displays and warnings occur organically on the character. Things such as the aiming reticule for the gun mode, the player’s health and enemy positions will be part of the science fiction display, whereas things like ammunition, weapon condition and sustained injuries would be part of more organic feedback. Alternatively, some of this information, such as ammunition, may be available on both fronts, with a count-down display or bar decreasing at the same time as an on-character indicator.

Breakdowns on modes and systems:

Combat:

At any given time, a player should be able to switch between sword combat and gunplay. This might require some kind of indicator informing the player which button to press to make the switch. May also want to consider button reminders on move sets, although this is not required as some games have proven you don’t need to list what the buttons do at all times. For example, whereas Assassin’s Creed has a button layout explaining what each button does at all times, games such as Devil May Cry 3, which have extensive melee combat and combination systems, don’t really list which buttons do what.

Either at the start of the game or through unlocking upgrades, the player should also be aided in their ability to spot enemies by the interface, be given a map, a system that shows unique perks about the environment (strategic positions, breakable items) and possibly a system that gives extra feedback on the enemy (how much ammunition they have left, their melee combat skill, etc).

There is a chance that the player will acquire shields, armor or else an extra way to protect himself. This upgrade and the condition thereof could either be indicated by its own separate meter or else incorporated into the standard health feedback.

Since the game is going to involve shooting weapons, there will no doubt need to be some kind of aiming reticule to assist the player. Depending on weapon upgrades, there may need to be the option to zoom, though this might come standard via an extra aim option. Perhaps there’s a run and gun mode where the player can move quicker and aim in wider arcs but still hit enemies considerably well while there’s also a mode that allows the player to zero-in on specific parts of the enemy’s body at the cost of quicker movement. In addition, movement should also make aiming more difficult, which may cause the reticule to grow or else shake a little instead of staying at its current position.

Different weapon or ammunition upgrades will need to come with their own tweaks to the interface. Perhaps an upgrade allows for more accurate or specific shooting, shrinking the reticule. Rapid-fire ammunition would need to cause the reticule to expand or else show sings that the player isn’t able to aim as accurately while the gun kicks back. Any kind of animation that allows the player to charge a shot should also have some sort of specific indicator, be it organic or on the readout.

The player will need feedback on his health. This could be done either through a separate meter or incorporated into anther portion of the interface, such as the reticule.

Ammunition remaining will either be indicated by a separate numerical read-out or meter, an on character indicator, such as a light display on the character’s shoulder, or patched into another interface element, such as the reticule.

The displays should change at least slightly when in the different modes: Brawling, Sword and Gun. Feedback on health will need to be present in all. Feedback on weapon condition will factor mainly into the sword mode, although it might have its place in the weapon mode.

Character Interaction:

The player will have to interact with other characters within the game in order to purchase items, gather information or receive/complete side-missions. This interaction will require its own menu that covers dialog choices afforded to the player. Ideally, the system will be streamlined so that it doesn’t take up too much of the screen. Something akin to the dialog interface BioWare has used with the Mass Effect series might be the best choice, though there probably won’t be as many branching options within the game.

Item purchasing should require two separate interfaces; the first an interface similar to the standard character interaction interface while the second interface has to do specifically with purchasing items. This will be a mixture of pure interface elements as well as organic, in-environment elements. For example, weapon upgrades will be depicted on a hologram situated inside an upgrade shop while specifics on these upgrades will appear on a side bar that’s pure interface. In addition, an item shop will have the items it’s selling displayed on shelves behind the vendor. When the player engages the vendor to shop for an item, the camera will pan to show the entire shelf and specifics on the items will appear as an interface element.

Exploration:

As stated with combat, there will be an in-game map system. This system will be even more important in the exploration aspects of this game as knowing where the player is and where the next checkpoint for a goal are vital. Natrually, player position and key points of interest will need to have their own graphics on a map. The mini-map could be minimalist, as it is with Skyrim, or have a larger display more common among games that have this feature. Since the technology is futuristic and since it could allow for more scenery dressing, as of currently the mini-map will be designed with a minimalist layout in mind. The game will allow a full-fold out map that covers the terrain in detail for the player’s reference.

General:

Notes will need to be given to players on what the player is and isn’t able to interact with. This could be in the form of auras, tool-tips telling the player which button to press to enact a certain action, or some combination of both. Perhaps this could vary depending on what play mode the player is currently in.

As organic elements are interwoven in between pure interface elements, there will need to be specific animations which will play when the player enters into different modes. The player’s avatar will need to pull out holograms to project maps, sheathe his sword when entering into brawling or shooting mode and interact with a kiosk when purchasing an item.

Flo-Chart: Mass Effect

The following is a flow chart I constructed for the game Mass Effect.

Simulation Analysis: The Sims 2

The Sims 2 might be difficult to categorize as just a sim. Some would argue that it’s as much a strategy game as anything else. Still, as with Bastion, The Sims is a game I am able to reference and so I am going to examine a few of the aspects of the interface.

The bulk of the interface within The Sims 2 is clustered in a hub at the bottom left corner of the screen. Different buttons on this hub allow the player to fold out sub-menus that allow for either analyzing the situation, building or purchasing items for the house, as well as a fold-out that opens up a standard options menu. In this hub, there are also navigation buttons, clustered on their own smaller wheel within the interface, that the player can use to navigate around the game environment instead of the keyboard and mouse shortcuts. Mousing over anything in the hub displays it’s name in case the individual symbol over each button isn’t enough of a clue what the button does. At all times to the right of the hub are a smaller set of buttons that allow purchases and building moves to be undone and re-done and a few other keys specific to the building process.

As sim games are, as their name implies, simulations, it may be at times difficult to figure out what the set objective, if any, of the simulation is. In vehicle sims, the objective typically seems to either be set by the individual player or by parameters the game sets out. The original Sims allowed the player to more or less set their own goals for their characters but, perhaps in an effort to be more of a game, The Sims 2 seeks to narrow focus by way of a new aspirations system in addition to the standard character needs (more on this later). There are buttons that appear on the right side of the hub when a character is selected. Clicking on the aspiration button (located just above a meter that displays a sim’s overall satisfaction) causes the menu to fold out in a small display that shows the player what a given character’s aspirations and fears are. Aspirations are color-coded with a green background, denoting the positive effects of attaining them, and fears are color-coded with red backgrounds, denoting negative effects. Each aspiration or fear has a specific design on it, much like everything else, but mousing over one will reveal a text which explains what it means.

A player can also select menu fold-outs that show a sim’s needs. This fold out presents each need as an indicator bar. Full portions of the bar display green while depleted portions display yellow. As a bar fills, a green arrow will display on the right side of the bar. The more green arrows, the more easily a certain need is being met.

As stated before, there are specific fold-out menus assigned to customizing a living space. These are grouped into the building and buying menus. The buying menu can group different items by room, category or art style. These three selections appear right next to the hub when the buy button is selected and lead to a fold out that displays further sub-menus that, when clicked, display the given items in the category. Clicking on an item and leaving the cursor there will cause a fold-out to appear giving an item description, stats on how much of an effect the item will have (aesthetic value to the sims, how much it helps with food preparation, etc) and, in some cases, a set of buttons that allow the player to further customize the look of the item from several presets. When an item is chosen to be placed within the house, it’s location can be chosen based on where the player drags his cursor. Placement is indicated by both the position of the item and the base bellow it. A red base means that the item cannot be placed while a green base indicates the item can. The item can also be rotated but it seems that once it is rotated it is placed in the environment as the only way to do this is to hold shift and left click. Left-clicking in the environment causes an item to be purchased, thus why the item appears.

There is a similar menu for building items. Items are sorted by category and tend to have sub-sections within those. For example, flooring is a category but within flooring are smaller categories pertaining to outside pavement, interior carpet and tile, etc. Interaction with this menu is much the same as with the buy menu; a player clicks on a button displaying a small image of the given item and that item is selected for placement in the environment. Unlike the buy menu, however, the player typically clicks and drags selections for building, unless the given item is a door or a window. Single items, just like with the buy menu items, will display a red base if they cannot be placed and a green base when they can.

The simplest remaining button is the play button. Clicking on this returns the game to real time and gets rid of the red box display and pause symbol that rims the screen when action is paused. The bulk of the game’s action occurs in this mode, with most of the feedback that doesn’t occur on the character menu coming from floating displays over a Sim’s head. The characters speak jibberish, so these visuals are what the player has to rely on more, although it’s very evident, thought character body language as well as tone of voice, if the character is upset.

The player issues commands to a sim by having a given sim selected (selection is denoted by a green rim around a sim’s picture, displayed just above the hub and to the left) and clicking on an item or person. Things that can be interacted with will hi-light slightly. After clicking, picture of the sim’s head will appear, surrounded by a list of different options. The sim’s head will turn to look when these options are moused-over. Some options lead to further menus while others simply initiate an action.

Interacting with an item or a character will typically cause some sort of display to appear over the character during the action and when the action ends. In the case of items, it might be a gradually filling skill display that tells the player how close a character is to achieving a skill point, an indicator within the game at how skilled a character is in a certain category (for example, cooking can increase a cooking skill, rehearsing a speech in front of a mirror can increase a charisma skill, etc). Finishing the action will cause a pop-up informing the player that a sim’s skill his increased.

Pictures will display when characters are engaged in conversation as well in order to denote what the character is talking about. When the conversation concludes, a small picture appears showing how the characters have changed in social standing with whomever they were interacting. Specifically, if two characters finish talking and red minus symbols display over their heads, they have started to dislike each other, whereas green plus symbols denote affinity. Like with the arrow displays in the needs bars, the more minuses or plusses at a given time, the greater the effect of the interaction.

There is another button that opens a menu dedicated to stories. Players are able to take pictures of their sims and write descriptions of the events occurring. They can also choose between different families by clicking on their respective buttons in this window. Each button is denoted by a picture of the family along with a tool-tip that displays their name when moused-over.

Lastly, there is, at the bottom of the wheel, a button that opens a fold out which display’s a standard option menu. Mousing-over each icon gives what the icon does and clicking on the button brings up the corresponding menu.

My experience with the interface in The Sims 2 reveals that it is pretty efficient. Everything is clustered in one place, alleviating the need to navigate through many sub-menus to find something. The interface itself is a bit on the large side and there were some navigation difficulties I experienced while trying to place an item; the bar was in the way of where I wanted to place the item and I had to juggle the camera around a bit. Regardless, the interface mostly manages to stay out of the way, though perhaps a smaller interface could be made. Some of the icons could be made more situational, freeing up real estate. Perhaps some other icons could be shrunk, though I’m reluctant to suggest that since visibility is key. The best suggestion I can come up with, though, is affording the player the option of disabling the navigation buttons in the bottom left corner, much like a user is able to do with the view cube within an Autodesk program. Though these buttons can allow for steady navigation, it’s mostly faster to use keyboard and mouse navigation and so not that necessary to have those buttons there if a player doesn’t need them.

RPG Analysis: Dragon Age: Origins

For analyzing an RPG interface, I’m going to take a look at the interface for Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age is something of a game between an RPG and a real time strategy. The game can be played in real time, but the player is afforded the option to pause the action and have time to make strategic calls.

Much like with many other games, one of the most important stats that merits feedback is player and character health. In an rpg, this is especially important because a lot of strategy can revolve around keeping characters alive/conscious. Depending on the game, a character falling to 0 Hit-points can cause anything from needing to waste a turn to revive a character to the character becoming inaccessible for the duration of battle. In the worst case scenario, a specific character becoming knocked out could result in a game over. In the case of Dragon Age, a game over only occurs when all of the characters on the field are knocked out. However, unlike many other games, there are little to no options afforded to the player to revive team mates, so feedback on player health is vital. In battle, character health appears alongside an avatar of the specific character. The bar is color-coded red and depletes down the side of the curved health bar when a character takes damage. Characters in game tend to give off certain sound cues if they take damage or are near death. However, one of the drawbacks this interface system experiences is that it’s not always readily apparent how near death a character is. This isn’t to say that the health bar isn’t a good indicator of how likely a character is to fall (although my personal experience with the game has shown that there are a fair share of monsters within it that are capable of killing a character when they are at half-full health) but that there are few warnings when a character is at low health. Because of the chaos of battle, it’s difficult to always hear characters give off their sound cues amidst all the noise of fighting. The visual cues for characters near death also leave something to be desired. Character avatars will blink red when taking damage but the effect isn’t always eye-catching and since health indicators are far away from where the talent bar is located, the player needs to be able to divide attention between monitoring health and deciding what talents to use. Perhaps if there were some other form of alert message when a character were near death or if one of the other cues, such as the character audio or the blinking red avatars, were more obvious to the player.

Talents and magic within the game are reliant off of their own point system. The amount of talent/magic points a character has remaining is indicated alongside their health indicator, taking up space on the left side of the character avatar instead of the right. As with the health indicator, this bar will deplete as the points are depleted, though the bar only depletes when talents or magic are used. Some spells and talents within the game require that a certain amount of talent/magic points be sacrificed for the duration of the talent/spell’s activation. When this happens, a corresponding section of the talent/magic points bar fills with a transparent, glowing white indicator beyond which the character’s talent/magic points do not increase until the spell/talent causing the effect is de-activated.

A fair amount of strategy in Dragon Age relies on the placement of a player’s party. Members of the party tend to be denoted not only by a slight aura around them but also by a glowing, round base bellow them. Also, thanks to unique designs, it’s difficult if not impossible to lose a party character amidst the melee within the game, even though the screen tends to become very crowded from time to time with enemy monsters. Mousing over a player to switch play to or a monster to attack will hi-light them with a slight glow, telling the player what he’s about to select. Character control can also be switched by means of selecting the character’s avatar at the upper left side of the screen, alleviating the need to scan the battlefield for characters who might be far away from each other or who the player may have a difficult time selecting thanks to enemies crowding around him.

Much of the gameplay revolves around talents. In addition to simply attacking enemy characters, a player is afforded the option of having a character use a talent, provided that they currently have enough talent/magic points to use it. There is a bar located at the bottom of the screen that houses character talents for quick selection, rather than the much more cumbersome method of opening up the game’s stat book and selecting the talent from there. A player can choose what talents to place in the talent bar, thought the game tends to initially automatically assign talents to the bar as they are made available to the player. The player is also afforded the option of assigning items to the talent bar, allowing them to use stat buffing potions, health items or offensively-used poisons. Mousing over the talents hi-lights them, much like with characters, and the talents can be used either by clicking them or by hitting the number key on the keyboard corresponding with the item’s slot. For example, if the talent or item is situated seventh from the right on the talent bar, hitting the seven key on the keyboard will activate the talent. Many talents tend to have a required cooldown, which is indicated to the player by the given talent turning dark and gradually illuminating in a brief animation. If there aren’t enough talent/magic points for a given talent/spell to be used, the spell/talent will be grayed out.

A key element in any rpg is character customization and “leveling up”. Dragon Age has players customize their main character from the start, jumping off to a customization menu when the new game option is selected. There, the player can select their character’s gender, race, combat class (magician, warrior or rogue) and back story. All of this is illustrated with buttons with designs that fit well within the universe, typically made out to look like stained glass window designs. In addition to the feedback in the form of highlighted buttons, a character model appears off to the side to show the player what their character currently looks like due to their customization. The player is afforded the option of controlling a character’s physical appearance as well by the way of various toggles and sliding bars, though there isn’t much allowance for customizing the character’s clothes as much of this is reliant on in-game selection of armor and equipment.

Advancement is handled via a level up screen. When a character is ready to level up, a particle effect and shine animates over the character, followed by a quick music cue. After this, an icon appears on the character’s avatar where the player can click to enter into a screen to level the character up. The player puts a given number of points into different attributes by way of an arrow toggle that allows them to increase or decrease an attribute, though not past the current number of points (For example, if a character’s Defense score was 6 and the player added 2 of his available points to the attribute, the player would be afforded the option to take back 1 or 2 of those points before moving on, but wouldn’t be allowed to reduce the character’s defense score back to 5 in order to gain an extra point for spending on other skills). Mousing over an attribute will tell the player what the attribute controls. At a certain point in the game, the player is allowed to choose an extra specialization, providing the player has met the right people in order to unlock the specialization. The screen will transition over to a page where a player can select what talent or spell they want to learn. Mousing over the talent or skill reveals what is needed for the player to learn it, since a character might need to have a certain attribute score or a certain skill level. On certain occasions, the menu will navigate over to a page housing skill progression. The player can choose which skill to upgrade provided he meets the criteria. Once again, mousing over reveals what is needed for the skill.

Navigation is typically handled via an in-game map. There are two varieties in Dragon Age; a large scale map contained within the larger menu where most other player information is displayed and the smaller in-game map situated at a corner of the screen. Different icons on the map help to denote landmarks and areas of interest. Typically, if someone is a trigger for a quest, they will appear within the game world with an icon floating above their head.

The bulk of the rest of the interface is situated on an unobtrusive bar at the top of the screen. This menu set mostly consists of feedback information in the form of player stats. Unique icons are situated in this bar corresponding to character stats, skills, talents, inventory/equipment and AI behavior, along with a section detailing collected parts of the world’s fiction, written documents and quest findings and objectives. Sections such as the skill lists can’t much be interacted out of outside of looking at the stat or mousing-over to see what the skill/spell/talent does or what a given stat controls.

The inventory/equipment screen allows players to interact with their character’s equipment. The character is displayed as they currently are in a window on the left, with equipment slots situated around the character in corresponding positions (for example, a chest armor slot will be near the character’s chest, foot armor slot near the feet, etc.). The player is able to interact with the character’s equipment by way of clicking on the equipment and selecting from a small drop down menu whether to equip, examine or throw away the equipment in question (or sell/purchase if the player is in a shop window) or dragging the equipment over to the corresponding slot. The player can also use the arrows above the picture of the charcter to scroll through different character’s equipment, in addition to choosing from a drop down menu that provides the names of all in the party.

The AI customization screen, called Tactics, allows the player to set individual character behavior by way of drop-down menus and key phrases. For example, a player can assign a behavior to a character to automatically use a healing item once they fall bellow a certain percentage of health or to always attack enemy characters with a certain talent/spell while under a certain condition. The system is pretty intuitive if a bit overwhelming at first thanks to the extensive language. The player can also cycle through some pre-set behavior by way of another drop down menu. This menu seems to control general behavior, such as if a character will run off to chase an enemy or stick back near the player during a battle.

The party selection screen is only accessible when the character is outside of a building and not in battle. Clicking on the corresponding button brings the player to a scene in which the entire available party is gathered, with a grouping of round character slots situated on a menu element beneath them. Mousing over individual characters will hi-light them and clicking on them will add them to your party. Characters in a player’s party will not only display in one of the slots bellow the scene but also strike an action pose. Taking a player off the selected team triggers an animation wherein the selected character typically sounds disappointed/angry whereas clicking a character to put them in the party triggers an animation wherein the character sounds excited, happy or ready to fight.

The codex screen sorts different kinds of information into different groups and allows the player to open folders to view different records. It’s light on extra bells and whistles but still follows the games aesthetic.

Lastly, there’s the typical pause menu where the player can save or load their game, adjust settings or exit. This interface isn’t as detailed as the in-game interface but there are little flourishes that show that it belongs within the game.

All in all, I would rate this interface as very good, aside from some feedback complaints addressed earlier and an occasional tendency for the interface to look a bit too polished for the environment in which the game takes place.

Action Game Analysis: Bastion

I might be cheating a little since Bastion is an action RPG, but it’s elements lean more towards that of an action game than an RPG and it’s a game I have played recently, thus it makes it much easier to write about it. Within an action game, the most important feedback elements tend to relate to damage, namely how much damage the player has taken, when the player takes damage, how much damage the player can take before being knocked out or killed. These same elements need to be applied to enemy characters. The player should know when they’re causing damage, how much damage their attacks are causing and when an enemy is causing damage on the player.

Bastion solves the problem of player health feedback much like other action games; by way of a health bar. The health bar will decrease when the player takes damage as well as change color when the player’s health decreases past certain levels. It looks like there is also a bit of a screen blur effect if the player’s health gets very low. The bar increases when the player drinks a potion. Both damage and potion drinking have corresponding sound effects. There is also controller feedback in the way of vibration when the player takes damage. An enemy’s health is displayed in a circular health bar that stays on the ground beneath the enemy. The health bar decreases block by block while the player attacks the enemy. There are also corresponding sound effects, plus a visual effect in the way of the monster character blinking and glowing red when badly damaged.

In most action games and any game in which there is a fair amount of combat, the player needs to know what weapon he is using. Bastion not only lets the player know what weapons he has equipped by way of an icon that appears next to the health bar but also tells the player to which button he has mapped the weapon by way of a button icon appearing directly next to the weapon icon. Because there are ranged weapons with ammunition in Bastion and because feedback with any kind of ammunition-based weapon needs to be in place in order for the player to manage his ammunition, there are weapon-specific ammunition displays for each weapon concerned. Some weapons are either single-shot weapons or else can be thrown but have a cool-down timer before they can be used again. In these cases, a weapon-specific cool-down bar appears when the weapon is fired or thrown, indicating how long the player has until the weapon can be used again. A similar cool-down display appears when the player is reloading, accompanied by a small “reloading” message hovering over the player avatar.

How Bastion displays navigation is a bit different from other action games in that there is no map. It’s tempting to write this off as an oversight and say that some kind of in-game map should have been provided, but in reality this does less to make the game more needlessly difficult and more to add to the immersion. The world in which Bastion takes place is a floating wasteland, the very earth having crumbled away beneath the survivors. One of the character’s abilities, granted to him by an artifact he carries, involves tiles of land forming up in front of him as he walks around. In this way, almost immediate feedback for where the player should go by way of the tiles forming up in front of him, the player knows where to go. Also, thanks to the level design, it’s usually pretty easy to figure out where you’re supposed to go, though there are some problems encountered when pathways branch off as it’s sometimes difficult to determine whether you’re going off to a secret path or advancing the level to the point where you won’t be able to go back and explore.

In any game where there are items which can be picked up or interacted with (read: almost every game created in the history of gaming ever) it needs to be made clear which assets can be interacted with and which are there for just decoration. Bastion does this by way of having items that can be picked up give off a sparkling particle effect and levitate off of the ground. Items which can be interacted with typically display an arrow floating above them signifying that the player needs to press a button in order to advance. In rare cases where there might not be an arrow (I can’t remember any but there might have been one or two, particularly in the trial levels where the player is afforded the option of re-starting a trial by way of pressing a reset button), an in-game pop up will display over the button telling the player what button on the controller to press to interact and what the interaction will do.

Lastly, in an action game as well as an rpg, the player needs to be given feedback on what he has equipped and what skills are available to him. In most roleplaying games or action games, finding this out is as simple as dropping into a pause menu. In Bastion, it’s a bit different. Skills in Bastion are set by way of spirits. As a player levels up, slots for spirits are unlocked in the distillery in the Bastion, the game’s main hub. The player is able to equip spirits to different slots by moving over to a slot, hitting the selection button and choosing a spirit to be placed in the slot. Each spirit has a short explanation on what it does to help the player, the effects ranging from special abilities to increased attributes. As stated before, a player’s equipped weapons are displayed on the screen during gameplay. In order for the player to equip new weapons and weapon-specific abilities, however, the player needs to enter into an armory, either in the game world or at the Bastion. This environment is similar to the distillery, with certain aesthetic changes. Slots for each of the two weapons a player can have on him at the time, plus the third slot for a special ability, are displayed while in the armory. Selecting a slot lets a player pick a weapon or skill to place in that slot. In addition to these areas that allow for weapon and buff selections, there is also a smithy where a player can increase weapons, each weapon having several slots and different upgrades to switch back and forth from, a lost and found where the player can purchase items, a foundation where the player can claim awards for in-game achievements and challenges, and a pantheon where the player can choose added challenges to gameplay while at the same time boosting his exp and money gain.

All in all, the interface for Bastion is very successful and easy to use. There are no movement bugs where the player can get stuck and it’s very easy to tell what everything does without needing to look at a play manual. If I could make any change to the design, it would be that perhaps there should be some way to tell what kinds of spirits the player has equipped without going to the distillery. I feel, however, that there doesn’t need to be an option to swap out weapon and skill sets while in game as part of the idea behind Bastion is to plan ahead with weapon and skill combinations. The drawback, though, in a game like Bastion is that it’s not always apparent what is going to be in an area the player is going to enter into, so a player could pick a combination of weapons that doesn’t suit the enemies in a given level. Because of this, it might be nice if the game provided some hints as to what kind of enemies a player could expect in a given area. Care would have to be given, though, in not spoiling any surprises. Part of the thrill of any game that has multiple enemies with different behaviors (read the aforementioned almost any game ever created) is encountering a new enemy type and trying to figure out how to battle against it.

Amnesia Interface Re-work

As per instructions, I have re-worked my interface idea for Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Here's an explanation on the elements of the interface...

I was not entirely sure about the lighting in this first version, so I created a second version with darker lighting.

Interface Modification.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

*Note that all images save my mockup are taken from the game Amnesia: The Dark Descent. I assume no ownership over original images.

Much of the interface in Amnesia: The Dark Descent, is very organic. There is a small aiming reticule in the center of the screen, but it’s only just visible to give the player a guideline for where their cursor is currently pointing. The cursor changes images depending on whether the player is hi-lighting an object that can be picked up or interacted with.

The two attributes the player needs to keep track of in the game are the player’s Sanity and Health. Health is self-explanatory; if it depletes all of the way, the player will die. Sanity is a measure of how stable the player is. Depletions in Sanity make navigation more difficult as the screen will blur and shift more. It can also make avoiding monsters more difficult as the player is more likely to give himself away if his sanity deteriorates to dangerous levels. Depletions in health are indicated by impact markings on the screen whereas depletions in sanity are indicated by an effect that makes it look as though the screen is swaying from side to side while the sound of teeth grinding together plays in the background.

The problem with Amnesia’s interface, in my opinion, lies in how the inventory operates. The inventory is standard fair for anyone who’s ever played a video game, but that’s the problem; Amnesia is meant to be more of an experience and less of a game. With a game where most of the feedback is so organic and integrated into the game, without needing to take a break, a paused menu takes away from the experience. To be fair, the interface fits will with the visual aesthetic of the game. The fonts used and flourishes in the design are indicative of the medieval and Lovecraft-ian atmosphere of the castle the player has to navigate. The design almost appears bone-like. Likewise, the design of the icons in the inventory displaying what the player is carrying follow the game’s overall visual aesthetic. It’s this paused-screen layout that I take issue with.

What I would propose for a change would be something along the lines of the layout of Dead Space, where inventory screens are in real time and, for the most part, take place from a first person perspective. Instead of going over to another menu, perhaps pressing the TAB key causes the player to look down at the satchel he is carrying. A brief animation would show the player glancing down and opening their bag. Because it would be difficult to model out all of the specific pieces the player might be carrying, there would need to be a bit of a cheat in that a fade-in menu would display while looking at the inventory.

(From game, not a mockup by me)

Notes and journals would be accessible through clicking on the journal within the bag, which would be visible at all times. Doing this would pause the game and cause the standard journal menu to appear. Though this does drop away some emersion, I feel it’s an allowable break. The journal entries are often accompanied by a voiceover and background noise could make listening to this voiceover difficult if everything took place directly in real time. Bioshock did use a similar method, playing found info tapes in real time, but a key problem I found with this is that dialog would be lost by enemies attacking and background noise unless the player just stood still in one place.

Health and sanity displays are a bit trickier. I would say that damage and decreased sanity could be indicated by the player’s hands as they look at the bag. Mousing-over the hands could display the same kind of tool-tip that displays when the player mouses over the brain and heart icons in the old menu setup for a clearer indication of how hurt the player is.

All other parts of the interface I would leave alone. I had briefly thought of suggesting the inclusion of an animation of the player picking up found notes, but again there is the problem of the voiceover that plays when most notes are found.

(Once more, from game, not me)

Left 4 Dead 2 interface design

All screen shots in this post are from Left 4 Dead 2, created by Valve Software. I assume no ownership over original images.
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While the game play in Left 4 Dead 2 is by no means simple, the interface for the game is somewhat minimalist. At any given time, the player can discern their health, the health of their team mates and the items they currently have equipped.

The player’s health appears in the bottom right corner of the screen. The more damage the player takes, the more the bar depletes. Direction damage is coming from is indicated by red arrows which appear on the screen if the player is being attacked from behind or a direction they are not currently facing. In addition, the health bar will change colors to reflect the amount of damage the player has taken and how close they are to being knocked over or killed. Green means good condition, yellow is slightly worse though not yet critical and red means dangerous condition. In addition to the visual representation, a character tends to move slower when his or her health is in the red. If the player uses a med pack, an item that permanently refills health, then the bar replenishes normally and remains solid. However, if the player uses items such as the pain pills or adrenaline shots, the bar will fill transparently. The color tends to change to either green or yellow, but the bar will gradually deplete over time. This coupled with the transparent filling signal the player that the health boost is only temporary. These same rules apply to the player’s squad mates’ health at any given time, though these health indicators are a tiny bit smaller on the display than the player’s. Also, some of the equipment the other players currently have is displayed over their health bars. If a player reaches critical conditions, where being knocked down again means death, the color on their layout will de-saturate and, depending on how close to death they are, a heart beat sound effect will play. Conversely, when the player is under the influence of adrenaline, the sound will mute and the edges of the display will blur to reflect the slightly dazed, super-powered state the player is now temporarily in.

To the left side of the screen is a display showing what the player has equipped along with empty item slots. On the PC version, they are layered vertically corresponding to the order they will be equipped while using the mouse wheel to select an item. On the XBOX, they are set out in a pattern that represents the hotkey layout on the directional pad. All of the item slots have a default icon indicating what might be equipped there, save the primary weapons slot which is entirely invisible until the player picks up one of the primary weapons, such as the shotgun or the sub-machine gun. In addition, weapons that function off of ammunition will have numbers next to their icons indicating how much ammunition the player has.

Much of the rest of in-game feedback comes organically, in the way that enemies deform when shot, rather than having health meters, from the game’s music, which gives cues based on which boss-type enemies are nearby and if a hoard is about to rush the party’s current position, or in the form of tool-tips or quick overlays. Regarding the lattermost, if a player is knocked down, a tool tip will appear on the screen notifying the player that a team mate has been knocked down and needs help. In addition to this, the player’s model will gain a yellow outline visible through walls so that other players can find their way to them. At other moments in the game, certain objectives will appear in the form of tool tips for the player, such as instructions to hold a position until rescue arrives or press a button to move forward. In addition to these tool tips, the characters will often have dialog that reflects the current objective, such as signifying which way to go or what item to interact with. Furthermore, times players have “saved” one another (prevented another player from taking damage by killing an attacking enemy before they could hit) or killed special infected are noted at the right of the screen.

The interface aesthetics for L4D2 is, again, a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, much of the information the player needs to know is told organically, adding to the immersion of the game and the feel of being in a survival situation. The player avatars, health bars and menu screens all have a gritty, film-grain look to them which in turns adds to the game’s atmosphere as well as hearkens back to old school horror films. Certain elements, though, such as tool-tips, some sound effects used while navigating menus or notifying players and glowing hi-lights around the characters or items can draw attention to the fact that the entire experience is taking place in a video game. The flip-side is that all of these cues make it much easier for the player to notice what is going on in the chaos while still forcing the player to pay attention by not doing all of the player’s work for him. What’s more, there is a game setting for the game that, while it doesn’t disable the computer game-ish sound effects, does disable tool tips and the glow around items and characters in order to make the experience more challenging and emphasize player to player communication.