Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
realism of the experience and gives your avatar a chance to interact with several highly scripted mechanisms
in a visual way.
Even though this list could go on, you probably get the point. HUDs and their functionality are only
limited by their creators' imaginations.
15.3 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
There is nothing in virtual worlds with the potential to be more useful than a well-designed HUD, and there
is also nothing that can be more annoying when it is poorly designed. Given the popularity of HUDs, most
avatars would probably feel naked and vulnerable if they did not have them on, and yet, they can block
your view. At their worst, they make you feel disconnected by constantly reminding you of that monitor
screen between you and the virtual environment. Since the early 2000s, video games have made some
interesting developments in HUD design. Two major factors—the desire for increased immersion and the
desire for more customization—are driving this evolution of the screen design. Since virtual worlds have
the screen interface in common with video games, some of this video game HUD design development has
a useful application in our virtual world HUDs. The next section asks some questions that help you design
a better HUD.
15.3.1 d
esign
Q
uesTions
r
egarding
i
mmersion
What kind of immersion do I seek for my visitor/player/user, and how does my HUD design contribute
to that? For instance, consider the minimized use of a HUD in games like Peter Jackson's King Kong by
Ubisoft (Xbox 360) [2]. For much of this game, the HUD is not visible or is much reduced, purposely con-
tributing to the “cinematic” feel by putting you in the movie within the game.
In Call of Duty 2 by Ininity Ward and Konami (Xbox 360), the health bar that is so ubiquitous in video
games has been replaced by a simple effect in the viewing frame [1]. As your player's health declines to
dangerously low levels, the screen frame pulses red around the periphery, an elegant yet obvious symbol of
impending death for your player if you do not seek aid. These are but two examples of the recent thinking
in how HUDs can be designed and used. Increasingly, the video gaming world is giving its players options
in how their HUDs look and what elements they can contain. World of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment
has been a leader in HUD customization [3]. As the player accumulates prizes, inishes quests, and acquires
powers, the player also collects elements that can be arranged graphically into a custom HUD. This is an
interesting idea to contemplate when it comes to designing HUDs for virtual worlds. Suppose your avatars
could collect various parts of a HUD as they travel around the Metaverse? It is possible the avatar could accu-
mulate the virtual equivalent of a passport, complete with different stamps that give them different powers,
from each world visited? Perhaps the avatar would have to display them to return to that place or could trade
them for other virtual goods.
15.3.2 d
esign
Q
uesTions
r
egarding
f
loW
How can my HUD be designed so that it contributes to Flow, and increases the likelihood of Flow, each time
the player returns to the game? Let's suppose you could see the mind mechanism of a game player or an ava-
tar inhabiting the virtual world. If they are performing a complex task with a matching level of competency,
you will probably ind that they have entered a state called
Flow
[4].
Perhaps you have experienced this sensation yourself. To be totally immersed in the world, focused on the
task at hand, not cognizant of the time passing or even of your surroundings is to be in the state of Flow. Here,
we ind an optimal mental environment for performance, learning, and creative expression. In Figure 15.6,
