Topic: Main Menu concept

[MayorPhill]

[ryguy_1617]

Wow. I'm impressed. I really like it, the only thing that I would say could be done to add a little to it is on the left side, where it is like a light-grayish color, maybe you could fill that in with a metal-like taxture to make it look more futuristic-like.  But this is very nice  :o  

[contingencyplan]

Rather than having the left side be grey or metal, I'd say have the whole thing be spacelike. Maybe even animated (like Scrapland's intro). Having the one planet all by itself doesn't convey, to me, the vastness of space (and thus of this game).

[Morgul]

Wow. I love the concept, and the thought put into the effect. I'll admit, it's unique and as soon as I saw it, I was like, "Bingo. That's the main menu!"

Now, there are a couple comments. First, the font you used it nice, however fonts are something you need to be careful with. If you wouldn't mind, can you check the licenese on the font, and make sure it's free for use in commercial projects? It's something I really don't want to get in trouble for, and trust me, you can.

Second thing. the left hand side does need some sort of texture, or some detail, or something. It's a tad to bland.

When this is implimented, I would love to see the viewport actually be translucent (only containing the reflection), and have a 3D rendered scene (which changes randomly) so you see things moving behind the glass.

Final comment: that picture looks to me like it's the cargo bay from star trek. (am I right?) It would need to be your own work there, honestly. If you would like, however, we could do up some nice sketches of a room for you so you're not doing everything by scratch. However, that can eb doen latter.

Actually, I had a minor thought. Maybe you could border the entire thing like it's being displayed on a console, or a terminal... Not sure. Just a random thought.

Also... planning on entering the HUD contest? :P

--Chris

[MayorPhill]

Thanks for the great comments folks!  I'll do my best to keep refining this.  Just a few things....

I wouldn't know how to make this thing animated.  I don't know flash or any other animation programs unless I were to animate it in Max or FormZ (and even then it would take me a few hours to learn).  So if anyone has any suggestions on how to help me animate it then that would be great!  I'll look into the copywrite protection of the font, I can definately appreciate the legal perspective on this matter.  And also, the photo reflected in the glass is just some radom spacy photo I got off google just to help the effect.  A rendered image would be great, but we can just keep the photo for a place holder in the mean time.

Morgul, I'm not sure if I understand you regarding the viewport.  Do you want the reflection on the glass or the space beyone be randomly changing?  Having both would be neat, maybe see a person walking in the background and asteriods or craft flying by, but again I wouldn't know how to do this.

One thing I would like to see is the icon next to the menu selection spinning on a rotated axis, just a neat effect.  Maybe this little icon could be repeated throughout menu type screens.  I know as an architect major, repition of certain elements brings things together.

Also, another idea I have is to have a different and random menu screen appear every time you start the game representing the inside of a ship from each of the different races.  It would just be a simple task of creating some sort of desing language for each species, but that shouldn't be too hard since exterior ship designs will need to be made.

Finally, I hope to enter the HUD contest, but from what I was reading a menu screen had to be one of the entries, and I noticed that no one had submitted one yet.  I thought I would tackle that.  Anyway, keep the comments coming, and I should have something within the next few days.

Make it a good day!

[contingencyplan]

Quickie post: As far as the animation thing, I wasn't saying that YOU had to do it. I was just saying that it would be a long-term ideal. Don't worry about the fancy stuff yet. Just work on solid ideas - this is definitely a good start.

[Morgul]

Don't worry about the animation. We'd handle that.. we'd render it behind the menu... much the same as how we're planning on doing the hud.

[MayorPhill]

Ok, cool:)  You guys had me worried:)

[ryguy_1617]

Wow. I love the concept, and the thought put into the effect. I'll admit, it's unique and as soon as I saw it, I was like, "Bingo. That's the main menu!"

Now, there are a couple comments. First, the font you used it nice, however fonts are something you need to be careful with. If you wouldn't mind, can you check the licenese on the font, and make sure it's free for use in commercial projects? It's something I really don't want to get in trouble for, and trust me, you can.

Second thing. the left hand side does need some sort of texture, or some detail, or something. It's a tad to bland.

When this is implimented, I would love to see the viewport actually be translucent (only containing the reflection), and have a 3D rendered scene (which changes randomly) so you see things moving behind the glass.

Final comment: that picture looks to me like it's the cargo bay from star trek. (am I right?) It would need to be your own work there, honestly. If you would like, however, we could do up some nice sketches of a room for you so you're not doing everything by scratch. However, that can eb doen latter.

Actually, I had a minor thought. Maybe you could border the entire thing like it's being displayed on a console, or a terminal... Not sure. Just a random thought.

Also... planning on entering the HUD contest? :P

--Chris

yeah, thats kinda what I felt about the left side...but I really do think this is the main menu; after a few touch-ups.  But I do like the idea of the treansparent part to where you would be able to see into space. 
So, will you guys be using scenes from the game in the background...or will you need additional models for that?