July 12, 2019 at 07:17Game Interface Design. Brent Fox What is this book about?
This article is a short review of the book Game interface design by Brent Fox. For me, this book was interesting from the point of view of a programmer who develops games as a hobby alone. Here I will describe how useful she found herself for me and my hobby.
This review will help you decide whether to spend your resources on it. In the comments, you may find references to other useful books on the topic of gaming interfaces from more competent and kind colleagues.
The book was published in 2004. Therefore, there are clearly outdated descriptions and recommendations. For example, a PC resolution of 1024x768 is called "very high resolution." Also, to create interactive interface layouts, the author suggests using Flash. Although Flash has already ceased to be a popular technology, perhaps it’s still a good solution to quickly create layouts.
A Brief History of Adobe Flash [ 1 ]
The main ideas and tips in the book still look the same and the materials can be considered useful. It was nice to meet the now-unpopular scrupulous approach to minimizing graphic data, so that the game fit onto a DVD (or even CD) disc rather than weighing under 60 GB.
Due to the range of years, the book cannot be called Must Have. Nevertheless, it can be useful, for me it was.
The book is mainly aimed at beginner game designers - interface developers, working in a team with programmers, artists, management and customers / publishers. For experienced designers, it will probably be of little use (including judging by the reviews in online stores). The main development platform is considered the console, and then the PC. Smartphones (and especially VR) are not considered, because 3 years remained before the start of their explosive popularity with the release of the iPhone.
For minimal indie teams, the tips will also prove to be very interesting. The book is written easy and fun. I read it in English and did not find the catchy inappropriate phrases - everything is simple and to the point. Reading and taking notes took 16 hours. The last two chapters describe the basics of working in Photoshope and Macromedia Flash, but you can skip them.
Now, while reading books, I write separately brief extracts from the proposed instructions and tips. In total, here I have allocated 63 squeezes for myself. The following is a few of these squeezes.
14. If you have a super cool and creative idea for the game interface, then you should carefully consider it (this includes the ways to control the game). Perhaps they have already tried to implement it, but there were very good reasons to abandon it. And not the fact that they will now be able to solve them (and indeed, is it worth it?). The new interface and control can become a feature of the game, but it can also make it uncomfortable and incomprehensible.
18. An unclouded look. In order to take a fresh look at your work, you need to change the way you get it. For example: on another device; Replace texts with rectangles change the scale; flip; move away from the table away or from the side.
21. The indentations between the figures visually differ from the actual distances. Rectangular figures require more distance than round ones so that they look “at equal” distance from each other.
Cognitive distortion in user interfaces. [ 2 ] This article reveals the topic in more detail, although it focuses more on web designers.
The point is that the real distances between the characters / figures can be the same, but the perceived distance can be noticeably distorted.
24. The effect of movement. Even static elements can convey a sense of movement. For example, diagonal lines extending into the distance with a perspective.
Vertical and horizontal lines on the contrary give stability and stability to the picture.
32. Intersection of objects. Objects must either adjoin, or intersect noticeably.
With a small overlay, it looks as if the designer tried to align them end-to-end, but he did not succeed, but a crooked overlay came out.
46. Animations in the interface should be fast, usually no more than a second. Moreover, it should be possible to completely skip it for instant transition to the next screen or control. Cool animation is only interesting for the first couple of times, and then it becomes uninteresting. If it is too long, it will only annoy. If it turns out to be short, then it will simply become invisible, which is an advantage rather than a disadvantage for an interface.
49-51. About the icons. Buttons and indicators in the form of icons are much faster perceived by the player than text and numbers. Therefore, it is recommended to select clear icons as often as possible.
Icons can be grouped according to their purpose. For example, make attack buttons red, settings buttons (sound, resolution) blue, construction buttons silver ... This will allow the player to quickly find the desired button, instantly cutting off unnecessary groups from the search area.
Icons should support uniformity. For example, if a red pentagon or circle is used in one place for the Stop sign, then you should not use a black square from audio players in another place. When color grouping, this principle should also be used. Do not change the colors of the same icons in different menu windows.
As with any graphics, icons need to beware of copyright issues. Therefore, it is more reliable to make your own versions of the icons “following the example” of another game. But this can be a problem.
For example, the use of a red cross on a white background in first-aid kits (and other items) is prohibited and you may well be “politely condemned”. This is done periodically by the Red Cross organization, for more details in the article “Unexpected reaction:“ The Red Cross ”requires removing your own symbols from the game Prison Architect” [ 3 ]
55. Dynamic elements in the HUD (in-game, “always” active interface). Need to analyze the need to display all the information in the HUD - should it really always be visible and accessible, maybe only in a certain state? For example, strategies often hide health strips in completely healthy characters, and show them only if they are injured.
In some cases, incomplete health strips can be hidden and displayed only for a couple of seconds immediately after its change (treatment or injury). Or show life strips only in combat mode, hiding them in the wandering mode and search for the battle trigger.
Brent Fox At the time of writing, he worked in the gaming industry for 7 years as a project manager and art director (then he was 34 years old). He worked / managed teams of up to 27 people, and also worked with very budget games. Developed games on a variety of consoles. Worked in studios: Bla-Dam Studios, Furious Games. [ 4 ]
Now the author of the book works as an art director at Wahoo Studios [ 5 ]. They mainly develop games on the console under a contract with Microsoft and Electronic Arts.
My opinion is that the book can be very useful. However, one should not forget about the significant number of negative reviews - the book is criticized for being too basic / simplified approach without highly professional subtleties. Well, she managed to noticeably become outdated. It would be great if in the comments more experienced readers recommended other books on this topic: better and / or more relevant.
1. A Brief History of Adobe Flash
2. Cognitive distortion in user interfaces
3. Unexpected reaction: Red Cross requires removing its own symbols from Prison Architect
4. Game interface design - Brent Fox on Amazon
5. Wahoo Studios - Games
This review will help you decide whether to spend your resources on it. In the comments, you may find references to other useful books on the topic of gaming interfaces from more competent and kind colleagues.
Relevance
The book was published in 2004. Therefore, there are clearly outdated descriptions and recommendations. For example, a PC resolution of 1024x768 is called "very high resolution." Also, to create interactive interface layouts, the author suggests using Flash. Although Flash has already ceased to be a popular technology, perhaps it’s still a good solution to quickly create layouts.
A Brief History of Adobe Flash [ 1 ]
The main ideas and tips in the book still look the same and the materials can be considered useful. It was nice to meet the now-unpopular scrupulous approach to minimizing graphic data, so that the game fit onto a DVD (or even CD) disc rather than weighing under 60 GB.
Due to the range of years, the book cannot be called Must Have. Nevertheless, it can be useful, for me it was.
The target audience
The book is mainly aimed at beginner game designers - interface developers, working in a team with programmers, artists, management and customers / publishers. For experienced designers, it will probably be of little use (including judging by the reviews in online stores). The main development platform is considered the console, and then the PC. Smartphones (and especially VR) are not considered, because 3 years remained before the start of their explosive popularity with the release of the iPhone.
For minimal indie teams, the tips will also prove to be very interesting. The book is written easy and fun. I read it in English and did not find the catchy inappropriate phrases - everything is simple and to the point. Reading and taking notes took 16 hours. The last two chapters describe the basics of working in Photoshope and Macromedia Flash, but you can skip them.
Outlined Ideas from a Book
Now, while reading books, I write separately brief extracts from the proposed instructions and tips. In total, here I have allocated 63 squeezes for myself. The following is a few of these squeezes.
14. If you have a super cool and creative idea for the game interface, then you should carefully consider it (this includes the ways to control the game). Perhaps they have already tried to implement it, but there were very good reasons to abandon it. And not the fact that they will now be able to solve them (and indeed, is it worth it?). The new interface and control can become a feature of the game, but it can also make it uncomfortable and incomprehensible.
18. An unclouded look. In order to take a fresh look at your work, you need to change the way you get it. For example: on another device; Replace texts with rectangles change the scale; flip; move away from the table away or from the side.
21. The indentations between the figures visually differ from the actual distances. Rectangular figures require more distance than round ones so that they look “at equal” distance from each other.
Cognitive distortion in user interfaces. [ 2 ] This article reveals the topic in more detail, although it focuses more on web designers.
The point is that the real distances between the characters / figures can be the same, but the perceived distance can be noticeably distorted.
24. The effect of movement. Even static elements can convey a sense of movement. For example, diagonal lines extending into the distance with a perspective.
Vertical and horizontal lines on the contrary give stability and stability to the picture.
32. Intersection of objects. Objects must either adjoin, or intersect noticeably.
With a small overlay, it looks as if the designer tried to align them end-to-end, but he did not succeed, but a crooked overlay came out.
46. Animations in the interface should be fast, usually no more than a second. Moreover, it should be possible to completely skip it for instant transition to the next screen or control. Cool animation is only interesting for the first couple of times, and then it becomes uninteresting. If it is too long, it will only annoy. If it turns out to be short, then it will simply become invisible, which is an advantage rather than a disadvantage for an interface.
49-51. About the icons. Buttons and indicators in the form of icons are much faster perceived by the player than text and numbers. Therefore, it is recommended to select clear icons as often as possible.
Icons can be grouped according to their purpose. For example, make attack buttons red, settings buttons (sound, resolution) blue, construction buttons silver ... This will allow the player to quickly find the desired button, instantly cutting off unnecessary groups from the search area.
Icons should support uniformity. For example, if a red pentagon or circle is used in one place for the Stop sign, then you should not use a black square from audio players in another place. When color grouping, this principle should also be used. Do not change the colors of the same icons in different menu windows.
As with any graphics, icons need to beware of copyright issues. Therefore, it is more reliable to make your own versions of the icons “following the example” of another game. But this can be a problem.
For example, the use of a red cross on a white background in first-aid kits (and other items) is prohibited and you may well be “politely condemned”. This is done periodically by the Red Cross organization, for more details in the article “Unexpected reaction:“ The Red Cross ”requires removing your own symbols from the game Prison Architect” [ 3 ]
55. Dynamic elements in the HUD (in-game, “always” active interface). Need to analyze the need to display all the information in the HUD - should it really always be visible and accessible, maybe only in a certain state? For example, strategies often hide health strips in completely healthy characters, and show them only if they are injured.
In some cases, incomplete health strips can be hidden and displayed only for a couple of seconds immediately after its change (treatment or injury). Or show life strips only in combat mode, hiding them in the wandering mode and search for the battle trigger.
about the author
Brent Fox At the time of writing, he worked in the gaming industry for 7 years as a project manager and art director (then he was 34 years old). He worked / managed teams of up to 27 people, and also worked with very budget games. Developed games on a variety of consoles. Worked in studios: Bla-Dam Studios, Furious Games. [ 4 ]
Now the author of the book works as an art director at Wahoo Studios [ 5 ]. They mainly develop games on the console under a contract with Microsoft and Electronic Arts.
Conclusion
My opinion is that the book can be very useful. However, one should not forget about the significant number of negative reviews - the book is criticized for being too basic / simplified approach without highly professional subtleties. Well, she managed to noticeably become outdated. It would be great if in the comments more experienced readers recommended other books on this topic: better and / or more relevant.
References to sources and additional literature
1. A Brief History of Adobe Flash
2. Cognitive distortion in user interfaces
3. Unexpected reaction: Red Cross requires removing its own symbols from Prison Architect
4. Game interface design - Brent Fox on Amazon
5. Wahoo Studios - Games
