Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
COLOR
You can always double the amount of data shown in a numeric indicator by having
the color of the indicator itself represent a second value. You might, for example,
represent the speed of an engine with a needle gauge, and the temperature of that
engine by changing the color of the needle from black to red as it gets hotter.
Colors work best to display information that falls into broad categories and doesn't
require precision within those categories. Consider the green/yellow/red spectrum
used for safety/caution/danger: It doesn't display a precise level of safety but con-
veys the general level at a glance. (Note the warnings about color-blind players in
Appendix A, “Designing to Appeal to Particular Groups.”)
Colors are also very useful for differentiating groups of opponents, however, and
you can apply them to uniforms and other insignia. This is especially handy if the
shapes or images of the actual units are identical regardless of which side they're
on… as any chess player knows!
You can also use color as a feedback element by placing a transparent color filter
over the entire screen. Some first-person shooters turn the whole screen reddish for
a few frames to indicate that the avatar has been hit.
Character Portraits
A
character portrait
, normally appearing in a small window, displays the face of
someone in the game world—either the avatar, a member of the player's party in a
party-based game, or a character the player speaks to. If the main view uses an aer-
ial perspective, it's hard for the player to see the faces of characters in the game, so
a character portrait gives the player a better idea of the person he's dealing with.
Use character portraits to build identification between your player and his avatar or
party members and to convey more about the personalities of nonplayer characters.
An animated portrait can also function as a feedback element to give the player
information;
Doom
famously uses a portrait of the avatar as a feedback element,
signaling declining health by appearing bloodier and bloodier. This portrait also
allows the player to see his avatar even though he is playing a first-person shooter.
Screen Buttons and Menus
Screen buttons and menus enable the player to control processes too complex to
manage with controller buttons alone. They work best with the mouse as a point-
ing device but can also be used with a D-pad or joystick. Because a console doesn't
have a mouse, console games make less use of screen buttons and menus than do
PC games, one of several reasons why console games tend to be less complex than
PC games.
Screen buttons and menus should be so familiar to you from your experience with
personal computers that there is no need to discuss them in detail here, though
you should keep a couple of key issues in mind. First, putting too many buttons
