It's time for the second ever weekly discussion topic, everyone! Before we continue, I'd like to thank everyone for all the interesting engagement we got on the last post. I was unsure if anyone would even comment at all, so seeing it be so active was really nice. Anyway, let's get to it; this week's discussion topic is Game UIs.
A UI (User Interface) is something that everyone should be familiar with nowadays; It is the visual and tangible way that we interact with computers, whether that be games or other programs. Specifically in relation to gaming, the UI represents the HUD (Heads-Up Display), the menus, and other things like status bars and dialogue boxes which all fall under the general term "UI". (This discussion was actually originally just going to be about HUDs, as it is the UI element you will be seeing the most in a lot of cases, but I thought to expand it to encompass all elements as they often go hand in hand.) UIs can range from minimalistic to works of art in their own right, depending on the type of game and the design philosophies of the UI developers. A good UI should be easily navigable for the player; ease of selecting different options, clear display of critical information, and minimal confusion as to what any given button or toggle will do. The amount of information that must be displayed by the UI can range from minimal in a puzzle or traditional FPS game to massive in a simulation or a strategy game. It is an aspect of games we play that many don't give a second thought to, but is very important for both accessibility and style.
Here are some questions and subtopics that I encourage people to discuss:
- What games have you favorite UIs? What about specifically favorite HUD, or favorite main menu?
- Do you prefer more stylish UIs or more utilitarian ones? What games have a good union of form and function when it comes to this?
- How much do you value the customization of the UI? Do you often find yourself fine-tuning the HUD and other elements in games that allow it?
- Do you prefer maximum information conveyed by the UI, even if it's at the cost of easy readability?
- When toggling subtitles, should the options for it be under Audio Settings or Video Settings, or its own category? (This single specific question has been a raging debate for many years in gaming circles.)
Also feel free to bring up anything you like related to the topic! If you have suggestions for future discussion topics, leave them in the suggestion thread.
Additional Resources
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Game UI Database, a resource for browsing different game's UIs
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Interface In Game, another resource for browsing different game's UIs (also contains additional information and articles)
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~~List of all Weekly Discussion Topics~~ (still being a bit lazy, I'll have this up later today or tomorrow (feel free to kick me awake if I haven't done it by then))
(Screenshots taken from the Interface in Game site, here: https://interfaceingame.com/games/team-fortress-2/)
I wanna talk about the game I'm currently absorbed with, Team Fortress 2. TF2, being rather old, allows total customization of the UI, from the HUD to the menus. The default UI is clear, but also dated in places; you can really see where they slapped on new elements that clash a bit with existing ones, like the medals on the scoreboard compared to other elements, or the loading screen for a map, which has the very old Source infobox in the bottom right, a stylized background and panel taking up most of the screen, and a well integrated but still a bit off info bar at the top that was added more recently. The most glaring example is probably the community server browser compared to the newer slide-out tabs and menus for navigating play options. If Valve was still doing major work on this game, I'd say they need a good UI unification art pass.
When browsing TF2 custom HUDs on a site like this, there's quite a few different styles to choose from, ranging from those that attempt to refine the vanilla HUD to those that make it something entirely different. Many competitive players prefer minimalistic HUDs that put pertinent information like health and ammo count closer to the center of the screen, so that one doesn't need to divide their attention while fighting. Still others will pick a HUD that is a different style but still "complete" and fleshed out; even others still will fill their UI with memes (which I never understood, but to each their own).
Sometimes you just have to appreciate the little touches, though, like the animations and presentation on a map's video tutorial and the class select screen. It oozes a particular aesthetic that the game has deviated from, over time.