Lecture : Navigation & Interfaces
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OVERVIEW
▸ Navigation and interfaces
▸ Guides for the player
▸ Languages
▸ Interface design
▸ GUI & HUD
▸ Spatial relationship
▸ Different types of screens
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LEARNING OUTCOMES
▸ Explain the concept of navigation & interfaces
▸ Design the potential navigation & interfaces
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DESIRABLE PROPERTIES OF GAME USER INTERFACE DESIGN
▸ Fun, creative, challenging, interesting, enjoyable
- e.g. quality of graphics, sound, animation etc
▸ Usability
- How easy is it learn?
- How easy is it to use?
- Related to “playability”
▸ Games are not fun unless some difficulty is involved
- The user is seeking the thrill of accomplishment
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NAVIGATION & INTERFACES
▸ Designing navigation refers to guiding players through
the game
▸ The player interacts with the game through a series of
interfaces: clickable menus, elements such as inventory,
points, maps and so on
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GUIDES FOR THE PLAYER
▸ Guiding players through games is fairly standard and for good
reason
▸ If navigation screens are too unique or unusual, most players
won’t stick around to figure them out
▸ These screens such as the splash screen and main menu, are
an integral part of any game design
▸ Players purposely look foe these screen to help them get
started
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GUIDES FOR THE PLAYER (CONT)
▸ Developer need to take care to figure out how much
information and how many interactive elements to add to
each screen
▸ Some screen carry a great deal of information (depends on
the complexity of the game) or are broken into sequences
of screens
▸ Good visual communicates the look and feel of the game –
use words, color and graphics to appeal audience
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LANGUAGES
▸ All the screens for the game need to be checked for typos, and the
complexity of the words and grammar should align with the audience
▸ The game maker needs to know if the game will be translated for the
following reasons:
▸ Space for areas that hold text may need be enlarged
▸ Colors may need to be adjusted due to cultural influence
▸ Characters or environments may need to be designed and then
swapped out to make the game more appealing to other audiences
▸ Usually, games are translated into other languages after their completion
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FUNCTIONALITY OF INTERFACES
▸ An interface can be any of the following:
▸ Sign-in screen
▸ Options page
▸ Toolbar
▸ Maps
▸ Navigation panes
▸ Inventory panes
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INTERFACE DESIGN
▸ Game makers continue to improve graphics, animation, sound
and gameplay in an effort to engage the player more and
more
▸ There are a few different forms of interactivity:
1. User-to-technology interactivity
▸ Occur when someone accesses a website like an online
dictionary. E.g. user can type in a word, and the website
returns information to the user
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INTERFACE DESIGN (CONT)
2. Player-to-technology interactivity
▸ This is the type of interactivity generally found in a game,
where the player can pick up an object or turn something
on that affects the gameplay
3. Player-to-player interactivity
▸ Social games and massively multiplayer online games
(MMOGs) offer this type of interactivity, where players can
interact with each other in game
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INTERFACE DESIGN (CONT)
▸ The ability of the player to interact with a game occurs through interactive
screens.
▸ These screens known as interfaces or the user interface (UI), tend to fall under
two main categories:
1. Dispensing information
▸ These tend to tell the player things such as how much money they
have, how much life they have left, and so on
2. Allowing for action
▸ These aspects of a screen allow the player to do something in the
game such as pick up an object, fire a weapon, jump and so on
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GUI & HUD
▸ Type of interfaces:
1. Graphical User Interface (GUI)
▸ User can see and click on something
2. Head-Up Display (HUD)
▸ Created for fighter pilot - user will able to see critical information displayed
as transparent images on the visors of their helmets or windshields so they
could access that information and also maintain visual contact with what
was in the area
▸ For gamers, HUD can appear as pop-ups in the center of the screen – allow
them to quickly see the information without losing sight of what they’re
doing in the game
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCREENS
▸ Games usually provide the following screens:
1. Licences
▸ End-user license agreement (EULA) provides the copyrights or
permissions
2. Splash (or title) screen
▸ Often become the signature look for the product
3. Loading screen
▸ Animated graphic indicating that the player need to wait for a few
moments while the game loads
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCREENS (CONT)
▸ Games usually provide the following screens:
4. Main menu
➤ Main menu typically contains all or some of the following:
➤ Choose or create player name
➤ Continue or change player
➤ Log in
➤ Exit
➤ Splash art
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCREENS (CONT)
▸ Games usually provide the following screens:
5. Instructions
➤ Designers need to make gameplay clear without boring the
player with too many detail
➤ Instructions can come in the form of tutorials at the
beginning of the game
➤ Instructions can be either static images with words describing
what the player needs to do or movies explaining how to play
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCREENS (CONT)
▸ Games usually provide the following screens:
6. Options
➤ Options screens for games can include the following:
➤ Adjust sound
➤ Adjust playing speeds to help performance for slower machines
➤ Adjust performance
➤ Restart or reset the game
➤ Change playing modes
➤ Change players
➤ Access other levels that may be saved and are in progress, or start a new level
➤ Access the tutorial
➤ Exit
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCREENS (CONT)
▸ Games usually provide the following screens:
7. Toolbar
➤ The toolbar is a navigation aid that can appear as soon as gameplay starts and remain
in place as long as the game is open
➤ Designer may provide an option to hide the toolbar
➤ Toolbar usually contain:
➤ Inventory items that are needed quickly and often during gameplay such as
weapon, equipment, maps and saved items
➤ Options – clicking this takes the player to the options screen
➤ Help screen
➤ Exit – is the player wants to leave the game
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCREENS (CONT)
▸ Games usually provide the following screens:
8. Scores
➤ Scores can use any type of denomination that fits the game – they
don’t have to be sequential numbers
➤ Scores can also include number of extra lives acquired, quests
completed, levels bested and so on
➤ Basically, any type of measurement can be used to tally a score
➤ Don’t be afraid to be creative or unique – but do be clear and
understandable
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCREENS (CONT)
▸ Games usually provide the following screens:
9. Exit
➤ Exit features, as part of navigation
➤ If you place the exit feature in an awkward area or use poop
design, players may accidentally click the button and exit before
they want to frustration
10. Pop-ups
➤ Can be little message that pop onto the screen with help, advise,
timers, clues, rewards
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SUMMARY
➤ Good navigation design requires an appreciation for
logic and creating art and animation that fit the game’s
look and feel
➤ Technological changes will continue to affect the design
and creation of games
