This article is a brief overview of the book Game interface design by author Brent Fox. For me, this book was interesting from the point of view of a programmer who develops games as a hobby alone. Here I will describe how useful it has been for me and my hobby.
This review will help you decide whether it is worth spending your resources on it. In the comments, you may find references to other useful books on the topic of game interfaces from more competent and kind colleagues.
Topicality
The book was published in 2004. Therefore, there are obviously outdated descriptions and recommendations. For example, a PC resolution of 1024x768 is referred to as "very high resolution". The author also suggests using Flash to create interactive interface layouts. Although Flash has already ceased to be a popular technology, it is still a good solution for quickly creating layouts.
A Brief History of Adobe Flash []
The main ideas and advice in the book still look just as relevant and the materials can be considered useful. It was nice to see the now unpopular rigorous approach of minimizing graphical data so that the game fits on a DVD (or even CD) disc, and does not weigh under 60 GB.
Due to the distance of years, the book cannot be called Must Have. Nevertheless, it can be useful, for me it was.
The target audience
The book is mainly aimed at novice game designers - interface developers, working in a team with programmers, artists, management and customers / publishers. For experienced designers, it will probably be of little use (including judging by the reviews in online stores). Consoles are considered the main development platform, and then PC. Smartphones (and especially VR) are not considered, because. before the start of their explosive popularity with the release of the iPhone, there were still 3 years left.
For minimal indie teams, the tips will also be very interesting. The book is written in an easy and entertaining way. I read it in English and did not find intricate inappropriate phrases - everything is simple and to the point. It took 16 hours to read and note. The last two chapters cover the basics of working in Photoshop and Macromedia Flash, but they can be skipped.
Outlined ideas from the book
Now, while reading books, I write out separately brief excerpts from the proposed instructions and advice. In total, I have identified 63 pomace for myself here. Here are a few of these excerpts.
14. If you have a super cool and creative idea for a game interface, then you should carefully consider it (this includes ways to control the game). Perhaps they have already tried to implement it, but there were very good reasons to refuse it. And it’s not a fact that now it will be possible to solve them (and indeed, is it worth it?). The new interface and controls can become a feature of the game, but it can also make it uncomfortable and incomprehensible.
18. An unblurred look. In order to take a fresh look at your work, you need to change the way you “receive” it. For example: on another device; replace texts with rectangles; change scale; turn over; move away from the table away or to the side.
21. Indents between figures are visually different from real distances. Rectangular shapes require more spacing than round shapes to make them look "equidistant" from each other.
Cognitive distortions in user interfaces. [] This article covers the topic in more detail, although it is more geared towards web designers.
The point is that the actual distances between symbols/shapes may be the same, but the perceived distances may be noticeably distorted.
24. Movement effect. Even static elements can convey a sense of movement. For example, diagonal lines leaving with a perspective into the distance.
Vertical and horizontal lines, on the contrary, give stability and stability to the picture.
32. Intersection of objects. Objects must either be adjacent or noticeably intersect.
With a slight overlay, it looks as if the designer tried to align them end-to-end, but he did not succeed, but a crooked overlay came out.
46. Animations in the interface should be fast, usually no more than a second. Moreover, it should be possible to completely skip it for an instant transition to the next screen or control. Cool animation is only interesting the first couple of times, and then it becomes uninteresting. If it is too long, it will only annoy. If it turns out to be short, then it will simply become invisible, which for the interface is more of an advantage than a disadvantage.
49-51. About icons. Buttons and indicators in the form of icons are much faster for the player to perceive than text and numbers. Therefore, it is recommended to select understandable icons as often as possible.
Icons can be grouped according to their purpose. For example, make attack buttons red, settings buttons (sound, resolution) blue, construction buttons silver... This will allow the player to quickly find the right button, instantly cutting off unnecessary groups from the search area.
Icons should support the principle of uniformity. For example, if in one place a red pentagon or circle is used for the Stop sign, then you should not use a black square from audio players in another place. When color grouping, you should also use this principle. You should not change the colors of the same icons in different menu windows.
As with any graphics, you need to be wary of copyright issues with icons. Therefore, it is more reliable to make your own versions of icons “following the example” of another game. But there can be problems with that too.
For example, the use of a red cross on a white background in first aid kits (and other items) is prohibited and you may well be “politely sued”. This is periodically done by the Red Cross organization, more in the article "An unexpected reaction: the Red Cross demands to remove its symbolism from the Prison Architect game" []
55. Dynamic elements in the HUD (in-game, "always" active interface). It is necessary to analyze the need to show all information in the HUD - should it really always be visible and available, maybe only in a certain state? For example, strategies often hide health bars on completely healthy characters, and only show them when they are injured.
In some cases, they can also hide incomplete health bars and display them only for a couple of seconds immediately after its change (healing or injury). Or show life bars only in combat mode, hiding them in wander mode and searching for a battle trigger.
About the Developer
Brent Fox. At the time of writing, he has worked in the gaming industry for 7 years as a project manager and art director (then he was 34 years old). Worked/managed teams of up to 27 people and also worked on very budget games. Developed games for various consoles. Worked in studios: Bla-Dam Studios, Furious Games. []
Now the author of the book works as an art director at Wahoo Studios []. They mainly develop games on the console under a contract with Microsoft and Electronic Arts.
Conclusion
My opinion is that the book can be very useful. However, we must not forget about a significant number of negative reviews - the book is criticized for being too basic / simplified approach without narrow professional subtleties. Well, she's gotten a lot older. It would be great if, in the comments, more experienced readers would recommend other books on this topic: better and / or more relevant.
Links to sources and additional literature
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Source: habr.com