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Hello, I’m working on a concept interface for a game (that is set to be on played on a console) and I would like some advice on how to improve it. In the game youplay as a man who has been possessed by a demon and is able to harness the powers of the demon within him. [/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

His powers are used to aid the government in top secret missions that the military cannot handle. Throughout the game you have the ability to use your gift for good or evil. The game’s genre is a 3[/font][sup][font="'Book Antiqua"]

rd[/font][/sup][font="'Book Antiqua"]

person action adventure game.

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Gameplay Interface[/font]

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An [/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

objective box[/font]

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in the top right corner so that the user knows what they’re missing. It will have a transparent background so that it won’t obstruct the player’s view. By pressing up or downon the D – Pad the objective list can be scrolled.[/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

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The [/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

health bar[/font]

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is located in the top left corner of the screen but will disappear if the player hasn’t been attacked for a certain length of time. Health in the game can also regenerate.[/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

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To access the [/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

energy meter[/font]

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(similar to magic bar) I was thinking of making it be an analog press. When the analog is pressed the bar will appear in the bottom middle of the screen and when it’s released the energy bar will go away. [/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

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When it comes to the [/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

inventory[/font]

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I thoughtit would be cool to have the gamer navigate through pockets inside of a trench coat (that the player wears) with each pocket meaning a certain thing like weapons, potions, collected items, etc.[/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

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By pressing a button the [/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

map[/font]

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can be displayed[/font][font="'Book Antiqua"]

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Any feedback would be [/font]

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greatly appreciated[/font]

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n the game youplay as a man who has been possessed by a demon and is able to harness the powers of the demon within him. His powers are used to aid the government in top secret missions that the military cannot handle. Throughout the game you have the ability to use your gift for good or evil.[/quote]

Basically I would change all of that, completely.

n the game youplay as a man who has been possessed by a demon and is able to harness the powers of the demon within him. His powers are used to aid the government in top secret missions that the military cannot handle. Throughout the game you have the ability to use your gift for good or evil.

Basically I would change all of that, completely.


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Do you mean reword the statement so that it sounds more appealing or change the whole premise of the story in general?

[quote name='MeshGearFox' timestamp='1305164438' post='4809625']

n the game youplay as a man who has been possessed by a demon and is able to harness the powers of the demon within him. His powers are used to aid the government in top secret missions that the military cannot handle. Throughout the game you have the ability to use your gift for good or evil.

Basically I would change all of that, completely.


[/quote]

Do you mean reword the statement so that it sounds more appealing or change the whole premise of the story in general?
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he probably meant to say... "someone already made that, I already played that", Nothing original, not really interesting.

and everything else you have in your post has nothing to do with your game, but rather to do with how you want to lay out the HUD... which is really a trivial aspect of a game.

[quote name='SPLITTA' timestamp='1305168263' post='4809643']
[quote name='MeshGearFox' timestamp='1305164438' post='4809625']

n the game youplay as a man who has been possessed by a demon and is able to harness the powers of the demon within him. His powers are used to aid the government in top secret missions that the military cannot handle. Throughout the game you have the ability to use your gift for good or evil.

Basically I would change all of that, completely.


[/quote]

Do you mean reword the statement so that it sounds more appealing or change the whole premise of the story in general?
[/quote]

he probably meant to say... "someone already made that, I already played that", Nothing original, not really interesting.

and everything else you have in your post has nothing to do with your game, but rather to do with how you want to lay out the HUD... which is really a trivial aspect of a game.
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Oh okay. Thanks for the info

he probably meant to say... "someone already made that, I already played that", Nothing original, not really interesting.[/quote]

I've actually never played another game like that. What's informative is that there is a reason that I've never played another game like that.

I've actually never played another game like that. What's informative is that there is a reason that I've never played another game like that.

So because you've never played that type of game, the only reasonable advice is to redo all of it, completely? Because it wouldn't attract you as a customer? That sounds next to useless, especially without some more information on why that's the case.

Tons of games have these concepts, though perhaps not quite in that combination. Persona games have a similar demon mechanic, and The Darkness featured an even more similar premise, though really any game with a player character that has special powers will play in a similar way. Even more games have the player cast as an elite commando who handles the jobs no one else can, from SOCOM to Metal Gear Solid. So you either don't like action or adventure games in general or there's something peculiar to this combination that turns you off. The reason why this is the case might be interesting. That it is the case for you is not.

To the OP, your HUD sounds fine to me, but I'll have to qualify that a bit. The display's purpose is to show the player information needed to navigate the game. You covered the big ones, like HP, but the only reason I would have the energy bar be normally hidden (and very awkward to access, via an analog press that would almost certainly interfere with other control needs in the course of the game) would be if the player is not going to use powers all that often. And even then, having access to that information would probably influence my decision to use a power at any given time, so I would still want it displayed. Tons of games have HP and energy displayed simultaneously, and it seems to work ok-- is there any particular reason that you have laid it out the way that you have?

Finally, the suitability of the display will depend a lot on gameplay itself and visual design. You've covered the basics of what I would expect to see in a generic action/adventure game display, but I don't really know if that covers the needs of a person playing your specific game. And even a useful display can be poorly designed, with the result being unattractive or awkward or irritating. But as freeworld mentioned, it's not an especially difficult thing to fiddle with, so you can adjust it as your needs dictate.