Designing a clear method of communication between the game and the user, whether hardware or software.
27
votes
9answers
2k views
Why should I choose to design a health bar rather than heart containers?
When designing any hero-based game, be it adventure, RPG, brawler, or similar, you eventually need to decide on your health system. Barring any regenerative systems with zero UI (like Call of Duty), ...
19
votes
7answers
1k views
Interfaces 101: Making it Pretty
I've made a few games which I've actually released into the wild. There's one particular issue I run into over and over, and that's the issue of the interface/theme of the game.
How can you make ...
16
votes
5answers
2k views
Given a RGB color x, how to find the most contrasting color y? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Making a symbol appear on any colour
I have to mark a certain item in a way that will make it stick-out in the background. I need it to be surrounded with the color that ...
11
votes
3answers
820 views
Why is forward=down mouse orientation commonly called “inverted”?
If you look at 3D games that allow you to control the camera using the mouse--most notably first-person and third-person shooter style games--you'll usually find two specific details:
By default, ...
11
votes
2answers
698 views
What is “streamlined” user interface?
I have come across this term "streamlined" user interface, and I wonder how is it different from other user interface type? What is the different between "streamlined" and "non-streamlined" user ...
8
votes
2answers
671 views
Representing feelings such as temperature, pain, smell, taste, hunger, and thirst immersively
In a totally immersive, simulation-type role-playing game, the player should not look at bars or numbers to keep track of his or her stats, so another method of showing these stats is needed. For ...
7
votes
7answers
280 views
Ergonomics studies on choosing keys on a keyboard?
I have the following problem:
My game supports multiple powers, that you can use when you want, or even mix them, I currently assigned them to the numbers on the top of the keyboard.
After so much ...
6
votes
1answer
359 views
How can I refactor “attack cooldown” into “attack speed”?
I'm building a game where the player's character can attack bad guys and vice versa. I built this with the concept of an "attack cooldown" because I don't want units to be able to attack each other ...
6
votes
2answers
748 views
Graphical Interface Design
I have the following problem: Although I know some of color theory, and the interface design ideals (about how it must be usable, and etc...), my interfaces are REALLY ugly. fugly, eye bleed material, ...
4
votes
1answer
175 views
Draw “vision cone” / targetting element onto game world
I'm wanting to indicate various things using a "pie slice" sort of shape as below. Similar to vision cones in stealth game minimaps, or targetting indicators in RTS type games for frontal area ...
4
votes
1answer
326 views
Confusion with Libgdx UI
I've started with Libgdx and am currently stumbling about trying to understand how to set up the interface. I have generated the base projects in Eclipse ( < proj-name >,< proj-name >-android, ...
3
votes
2answers
397 views
UI of a city-building game
I'm completely new to gamedev and want to learn how to design good UI for a city-building game (like SimCity).
What books and other materials can I read in order to learn it?
3
votes
3answers
220 views
Score vs. Kills in a casual game
I am making a simple phone game and having a conceptual argument with my partner. The argument might end up being inconsequential, but I would like to hear some opinions from actual devs who are ...
3
votes
2answers
917 views
UI design examples?
I am not asking the theory of UI design, or how to do one, I am asking for examples and resources, like... How to draw this fiddly stuff, or how to code another circular thing, or a gallery of game ...
2
votes
4answers
310 views
Is “forcing the user” to accept the terms an acceptable design in a smartphone/iPhone game?
I am about to release my first iPhone game, has been a long project and I involved several people. My lawyer strongly recommended me to add a "terms and conditions" page at the beginning of the app ...
