Game Critique 4 & Weekly Contribution

For this week, I continuously work on the alpha code and try to fix bugs and codes that were present in the alpha. There are not many forward movements yet except for the narrative and the puzzle difficulty. Since we decided to increase the age of our target audience range, we had to modify some aspects of the puzzle and narrative, so that it would not be as boring to read all the chat. Thus this week I kept on trying to fix the chatbox size and font size in perspective to camera, and some other bugs such as collision and movement.

Game Critique 4HUD and Interface Design Critique

Skyrim

On Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the HUD and interface design is a hybrid type where they kept only the important HUDs diagetic. Most of the general game related displays such as health, mana, energy or item lists are all non-diagetic.

Diagetics

Let us take a look at what I meant by the most important HUD, your equipped weapon or spell and armor. This game provides both first person camera mode and third person camera mode. The benefits of each are subjective, however in my view point, first person view is only useful when bows are equipped because the trajectory of the arrow is very visible and the mechanics of archery is actually quite astonishing in this game. Back to the point, players can easily notice what spell or what weapon they are equipping just by looking at what is embedded as their own hands in the camera of first person. In third person, they can view what armor they are equipped with.

Another example of a semi-diagetic interface is the activation information that appears in the middle of the screen. This appears diagetic because players can quickly notice that they are able to interact with the object differently than other dead objects.
Once selected, a different menu appears on what that activation actually does. Lastly, some puzzles are also solved with both diagetic and non-diagetic interface. A puzzle where the trick in solving requires players to search an item in their inventory and read the answers, and actually solving them in the game.

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Another example of a slightly imposed diagetic UI is how the players should navigate. Such as the picture with the activation stone up above, players have a mini compass they can always use to see where their objective is. However, the actual design of the dungeons provide a more detailed view once they actually arrive. The picture below is an example where the player has reached the end of the dungeon to an altar where their objective is. The altar is shone by light from above, clearly differentiating the place because it is more focused by the light, directing the player that there is something interesting and something to do at that location.

Non-Diagetics

When we open the menu, the first thing that popped up is this interface. Everything else we saw is paused in time and blurred, and this cross-shaped interface popped up. This interface works very well for both joystick and mouse controllers. Joystick players move their analogs to a direction of options they choose, and mouse controllers move their mouse to a direction of choice as well. Then, a menu pops up and then a more typical inventory interface is seen. A more in depth list of items that we collected, using a column tab information such as apple (Mac OSX) styled folder browsing.











Another example of a non-diagetic UI is the health, mana, energy, and enemy health bar. This UI is interestingly done because it only appears when combat starts, or when any environment objects are affecting them. Otherwise, they fade out of the screen, giving a more realistic view of the world without any on-screen HUDs.

Skyrim Summary

In summary, the HUDs and interfaces of Skyrim is clearly made so that the view of the world is somewhat visible from any kind of menu the players are in. Skyrim successfully managed to keep players immersed by keeping only what is needed in a specific task. The interface is designed for intermediate users because it needed to be learned and experimented with trial and error before the player masters it. However, with the length of the gameplay that are both intended and provided, the controls will eventually become intuitive.

In respect to the rule of functionality preservation, I think Skyrim balances their visual quality with its functionality. By having an aesthetically designed UI to match the overall game design, they reduced the efficiency of expert users trying to navigate through the menu. This opinion will be clearer once we read through the summary of Recettear's UI critique.

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale

On Reccetear, the interface and HUD is mostly non-diagetic with a small aspect of diagetic interface. The interface style and control scheme of Recettear is a typical design for games with similar visual aesthetics. The game expected players to be familiar with a similar styled games even though it is not very popular in the Western society.

Non-Diagetics

Let's start with the menu operations.
The controls that are designed for this styled game are the "Z, X, C, V + arrow keys".
This control scheme are mainly used for Japanese and Korean original game control schemes such as Touhou series or Getamped. Z key is the accept button, X key is the cancel, C and V can be for various functions. Arrow keys are natural for players to navigate the menu from a previous standard of control. However for Recettear, since there are a bargaining element involved, and an option menu to be accessed, the number keys and the esc button provides these accessibility. The reason why I claimed that ZXCV key styles are Japanese and Korean visual aesthetics are because these games are limited in their key configurations. They have the players use these keys without giving them options to change or switch the keys to the player's preferences.



Some HUDs are obvious through standard, however some HUDs are also new to players from the game's own design. For example, the yes and no option with the mickey mouse glove pointing is a traditionally used style of option choosing.

However, also in the next picture, the book that is opened is showing what menu is being selected, and this can only be learned through trying to press the buttons. Eventually, players will get used to the interface and control, but it is definitely not something that players understand just by seeing and watching.









Another example of a learned UI is the bargaining menu. We can control the price we want to sell either by inputting a price number, or by using the highlighted area and pressing up or down arrow key to adjust the numbers similar to a padlock.

Diagetics

Now let us look at some example of the few diagetic UIs that Recettear provide. There are two examples that I found as an example of diagetic UIs in the shop. Two other examples for the dungeon part of the gameplay as Diagetic UIs.

In the shop, Recette put items to be sold in the shop, and the items are shown in the display of the shop, instead of a normal list. This is what makes Recettear's shop system unique. Customers actually browse the shop and not our inventory. And when they purchased a certain item, the related item is removed from the display. Like the necklace near the window, that necklace has been put into a display and ready to be sold if a customer wishes to when we open the shop. Now for opening the shop, there is an exclamation mark on top of Recette's head noting that she can interact with something which in this case is opening the shop.

In the dungeon, There are two examples of diagetic UIs. First is the experience gaining system. When we defeat a monster, they drop crystals which is magnetically sucked to the hunter, increasing their exp bar. This is Recettear's attempt to create a more diagetic UI experience gain system more than just displaying a text of "200 exp gained" for example.
The crystals differ in color and size corresponding to how much experience they give to the hunter. In this same picture, a semi-diagetic UI is shown when we attack enemies either from the side or from behind. It tells us that we attacked the monster from the side or behind, thus giving more damage to them with each single attack. Another example is when the hunter is doing a critical strike attack to the enemy. The game time pauses a little and the hunter's weapon is given shining effects














Last but not least, a semi-diagetic warning interface for players to know when a trap is about to be unleashed to them. The large yellow exclamation driving sign that is a familiar convention to humans that something dangerous is up ahead. Warns players that they are about to face a trap that they activated.

Recettear Summary

In summary, the control scheme of Recettear is made from the Japanese and Korean style indie game convention. The HUD, Interface, and control scheme is designed for an expert system where players have to learn through trial and error much more than an intermediate system would. The quality can be evaluated subjectively with each gamer's experience in their gaming. One thing for sure is that the Recettear system or program provide player with capabilities of moving through menus quickly, accessing items and objectives that they want quickly, with less animations and loading time the menu can be navigated - astonishing new players of the game with the time expert players can navigate.

In respect to the rule of functionality preservation, Recettear designed the interfaces and HUDs to a more expert player where they have to learn the game's own conventions to a certain extent first before they navigate through them easily. However, through the learning curve, Recettear designed a more functional interface in respect to efficiency more then the visual aesthetics of the game.

Overall Summary

There are many more interfaces in those games that I haven't covered. I only wanted to cover what I thought was a bit more unusual to other games. When judging which is the better interface, subjective of opinions comes into factor. Some players prefer a more aesthetically pleasing interface with clearer and easier to learn functions. Some other players wishes to navigate the menu quickly once they learn the basics of the menu.

For both games, I think that the control scheme and the HUDs can be intuitive once the player are used to seeing it and playing the game to an extent of time. I have played both games over 10 hours each (a lot lot more for Skyrim), and I think that both interfaces can be adapted easily. So the design isn't bad, it comes to a personal preference. Both are hybrid interfaces, which I think is a quite usual style for present designed games as they try different styles to create a more immersive environment based on their game style.

Resources:
I took all the Recettear screenshots from the game (I own it)
For Skyrim, I stopped playing a while ago, thus I took screenshots from a YouTube gameplay video from this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSL-r9AIEEU