G33X Nexus Entertainment > Precursors

New HUD in Development

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Morgul:
Hey, it's me again... I'm working on the New, Improved HUD for the game. The current one, however versitile it is (with resolution changes)... it's not done int the style I'm planning on doing the GUI in for the game... and I don't like it as much. So, I figured I'd show you a "Work-In-Progress HUD"...

Here it is: (Warning, it's 800x600)




The bottom isn't done, as I'm sure you can tell. I plan on making it resemble the current one...

--Chris

Morgul:
Here is an updated one, with all the main elements added:



--Chris

contingencyplan:
I like the style in general - I'm a big fan of blue ;-).

However, I do think we may need something that is more see-through.  I know that the HUD is translucent, but that can still interfere with the Player's view and can sometimes make it worse - the Player can see that something's there, but they still have to move their ship to see it.  This can distract the Player from what they are trying to concentrate on (e.g., an enemy ship shooting at them).

I have played a little Freespace 2 (the stripped-down, OEM version that came with my joystick).  I like their HUD - it tells you what you need to know in an intuitive fashion, but it is completely clear.  No boxes or anything - if it doesn't have anything important to display, then it doesn't display anything at all (yes, I'm paraphrasing Thumper.  Got a problem with that? :-P)

I also think a good idea is to have a data-driven display, likely using an XML format.  It would be possible, I think, to give the Players the opportunity to create their own HUD displays - they could even share (perhaps even create an entire in-game market for them...  Players create their own HUDs and sell them for credits....  ah, the possibilities).  If nothing else, it would likely make it easier on us to modify huds without having to recompile the game - data driven design at its best.

~Brian

whitelynx:
I love the XML HUD def idea... not necessarily use entities for it, but simply write a parsing class that would put up the HUD for the player. It may even make sense to make the class a CEL property class so you attach it to the player's ship or vehicle, or the player himself. Basically it would be the same idea as per-ship keymaps... different vehicles will have different methods of control, and a good number of them in the game's time will be configurable... You may even be able to store interface definitions on your player's datapad, and transfer them to other ships with the same type of controls... oooh.

Dave

Morgul:
Fine smarty pants.... :-p (I like both posts, actually. XML == t3hr0kz0rz)

But, what does the player need to see while he's fighting? What information CANNOT be in a menu, or something a few click away. We should come up with a default that contains the basics the player will want. I don't care if they can customize it, we need to figure out what we want there by default....

So, thoughts?

--Chris

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