Interface Ideas for Suukou Faita? in Off Topic

ID:110394
 
Mar 5 2011, 5:49 am (Edited on Mar 6 2011, 3:44 pm)
I'm kind of in a pinch right now. I'm up real late, got a few beers... hoping to plan out a really unique, and original interface design for Suukou Faita. If anyone has any ideas to throw into the open, please do. I'll consider each serious idea, and build upon it. Not only do I need to think up a color scheme easy on the eyes, but also what to put into the design graphically. I don't wish to use Photoshop at all, but I do wish to make the interface 100% pixel art. I know right now that I want the interface to consist of a Japanese-like theme. Thanks!

Link to test interface: http://files.byondhome.com/Branks/pixel%20art/ interface_test.jpg
#1 Mar 5 2011, 10:15 am
Well, i was racking my brains trying to think, but i'm kind of blank- as usual.

I think the interface and general colour scheme could do well with matching your current banner image, all that old style Japanese buildings with white, light brown and light yellowy seems fitting.

I would like the game to have a large-ish screen, and most of the tabs to be more like buttons which u can press and pop up onto a certain amount of the game screen and i'd like text to go on the game screen as well in a transparent chat box lol

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/8125/suukou.jpg <--- this masterpiece took me a while !

Lol ok, i'm terrible you probably won't like this look anyway, kind of looked worse and worse the more i made it.

So you can completely ignore what i have just said, but at least it's an idea, it seem pretty hard to think up a decent interface without much information.4
#2 Mar 5 2011, 12:24 pm
It's good to find a nice looking square shape for your windows. Since your game revolved around martial arts schools, it would probably look good using the brown border and white window shape of dojo walls.

Another idea is backing whatever screen text you'll have with a soft paper texture, and having the text look hand-written. Maybe you could mix the two ideas, since dojo walls' centers are white.

It's really hard to come up with an artistic setting for a fighting game, lol. You may even be best off keeping the interface simple and out of the way and letting the beautiful atmosphere provided by the map art speak for itself


#3 Mar 5 2011, 12:34 pm
Yut Put wrote:
You may even be best off keeping the interface simple and out of the way and letting the beautiful atmosphere provided by the map art speak for itself

I would only recommend doing this if you're confident your game can speak for itself without having to add tons of bells and whistles to the interface.



#4 Mar 5 2011, 1:45 pm
Yut Put, thanks for the awesome ideas! If what you suggested doesn't work out, I'll just keep the game screen as-is, and add minimal buttons. The only buttons I'd see in this game would be:

Status / Skills / Item Pouch.

Then have the Quick-Slot bars along the bottom (#1 - #9). Fit the chat section somewhere. I'll discuss more with Lige. Thanks once again!
#5 Mar 5 2011, 2:14 pm
Well by default the chat is best off in one of the corners. I tend to use the bottom ones, but the top works too in some cases like Decadence.

The buttons for status/skills/item can be put in a pop-out menu connected to one small "Character" button on the screen. You could have this connected to a mugshot/character name part wherever health would be displayed. On each button label could be the hotkey name, so that players can easily access it without having to click the character button each time.

The the quickslot bars could work well if you had it work like the dock on a mac; mousing over the general bottom area of the screen pulls them up and vice versa.

#6 Mar 5 2011, 2:43 pm
It would be nice if you made like 5 different bases that were different sizes like 32 by 40 and stuff, but just the south states.
#7 Mar 5 2011, 2:54 pm
OrangeWeapons wrote:
It would be nice if you made like 5 different bases that were different sizes like 32 by 40 and stuff, but just the south states.

For what purpose?
#8 Mar 5 2011, 11:13 pm
Interesting game.
#9 Mar 6 2011, 3:42 pm
Meh, so I updated the post with a screen of a test interface mockup. Really... I rather have just the map displayed. But the chat is my only concern....

(Note: Don't worry about any of the graphics for the HUD stuff, I'm trying to find a layout before making the actual graphics).
#10 Mar 6 2011, 4:12 pm
xD maybe i should make those little boxes for you. xD

Or i can design the entire interface for you for 5 bucks.
#11 Mar 6 2011, 4:13 pm
I don't need anyone to design anything for me. I'm trying to figure out a good layout, then I can begin the real graphical work.
#12 Mar 6 2011, 4:18 pm
I still kind of think you should take the three buttons at the bottom left and merge them into one "menu" window containing those buttons and other stats