User Interface Design

I love seeing an awesome UI, that's one of the most important points for me. I simply wouldn't buy the game because of the perspective and the oldschool RPG look :/

 

Not sure if you're asking for feedback on the UI or the graphics in general. As a developer myself my worry would regarding your interface would be that some of those buttons seem awfully small for an iPhone interface.

Generally, I find that "bigger is better" when it comes to on-screen targets for the iDevices. Have you actually tried/prototyped your interface on the device yet? I suggest doing this a lot during the early stages to avoid finding that the interface needs major rework when you approach the end of development.

 

It seems like kind of a nightmare. Sorry to be blunt, but you are asking for feedback, so...

1) There are 17 icons on screen in the third screenshot, including a few locked ones. I don't have any idea what a single one of them does. That is a big warning sign, and would probably dissuade me from buying the game.

2) All icons are exactly the same size, which is bad. The ones that are part of the static UI (along the bottom) should be different than the ones in the menu system (in the middle)

3) The fonts are ugly. Not only that, but the logotype exactly matches the UI fonts in the menu system. Another big mistake. Using a consistent typeface isn't necessarily a bad thing (although the typeface you're using now is terrible), but the styling should still be significantly different between the logo and the UI.

4) The flat baby blue and light green backgrounds on UI elements don't really go with anything. Something subtly textured and styled would be much better, if you're really dead-set on going with this UI.

5) No matter what UI style you decide to go with, you should put a lot of effort into making sure it feels good. Animations, drop shadows, multiple button states (pressed, clicked) - that type of thing goes a long way. Don't half-ass this part - it is going to be your players' first exposure to the game, and you should get them started in the right frame of mind.

 

im with km on this.

chris.

 

I don't know if you are asking about the design in terms of the layout, or in terms of the art itself.

If talking about the art -- yes, it would put me off. I don't think it needs to be ornate, but the layout here definitely needs work. Two things are off putting to me -- the color scheme and the font. I don't really like the thick black borders either. I think this is fine for placeholder art, but needs a visual upgrade to be interesting from a player standpoint.

The layout itself is fine I guess, though I do agree the one shot with ~15-20 buttons is a little busy. One suggestion here since the buttons at the bottom probably aren't needed is to employ a UI design called a 'lightbox', where you have some sort of dark transparent mask over the UI except over the active part -- in this case, the skill/inventory/status screen. This brings the attention to the UI elements that are immediately relevant.

I don't know if these are mock-ups or if you've implemented this already. If the former, great. If not, try mocking up the UI in Photoshop (or your favorite graphics app) first so that you can iterate faster.

EDIT: I realized I pretty much wrote exactly what kmacleod wrote.

 

Hey, JGary (you are the one from GS, right? Just checking...)! Welcome to TA. Anyways, not gonna repeat what the others said, just gonna point out a couple things that caught my eye.

That little T-thing down on the middle there. It's kinda awkward. Is it for scoring and/or wave number? Maybe putting it on a top corner would look better? And in the third screenshot, you might wanna slightly differentiate the static HUD from the selection menu.

 

I think a dark UI is fine. I don't think it matters too much for dark vs. light, to be honest. Be careful with textures. I've seen a lot of indie RPGs that get carried away. Nothing looks cheesier than a simple 'rock' texture (poorly) tiled across the whole UI. In addition to black and gray, red (hell, fire) or green (sickly, undead) are good highlight colors for an 'evil' interface, IMO.

Also, please reevaluate the font. I think Stencil is a bad look for this kind of game. I don't know about the legality/licensing issues with using these fonts, but I always like to browse 1001 free fonts and dafont. If you do pick a font from here, don't go with a font based off a well-known font, or it looks cheesy. Whatever you do, make sure it's readable, especially the small text. If you can't tell, have someone else tell you if it's readable that hasn't seen your game before.

 

I understand your contentions. I also prefer simplicity over busy or “ornate” as you put it, but the bottom line here is tasteful design.

Stray away from clutter, crude typefaces and be mindful when using bold outlines. I like the concept just work on the presentation. Goodluck!

 

A lot of people would say that if you want an evil interface you should just copy Microsoft. All kidding aside, dark/light doesn't make much difference. First of all it should be coherent, easy to navigate and as intuitive as possible.

When it comes to the actual art-direction it is really up to you. What do you want to convey, what's your take on the genre. If you feel dark fits your vision, then by all means go dark...

 

Have you read the iPhone Human Interface Guidelines? That's really helpful. I'd also suggest that you buy some games with a really fantastic UI - Labyrinth 2 comes to mind - and try and learn something from them. Study their composition, the feedback when you touch a button, the font, etc.

 

I agree with the last two comments. It's not so much what colors we like or dislike, it's about what kind of look and feel do you want. But again keep it tasteful. Look at good UIs out there and check out that book, as mentioned in the previous post.

 

I'm not really the best person to comment on this because I agreed with you on some of the things people disliked but the font is very unique. All the buttons look tapable. It's clean the background texture is nice. Doesn't have an evil feel but an ancient feel. Looks nice and profesional from my viewpoint. The font is a nice touch. From reading this thread I guess I have to redesign my interface too. Also I think interface does count. Look at a great game sir revs alot. Has a simple main menu (actually better then my games menu) but it has great gfx and is a really quality game. Yet it doesn't do well (or at least I don't think it does).

 

Love the font and I have a hard time to even fathom the level of improvements both when it comes to the quality of the graphics and the general readability of the information. Frankly I find it difficult to understand that the two versions are created by the same person!