GUI Reflection

What did you do?
I created an animated GUI by using buttons that perform an action when the user hovers their cursor over it. Most of my GUI is based around a point and click game where the player uses the cursor to click on various elements of the environment.
Original Intentions
My final result does meet my original intentions somewhat the overall design is similar but the intended genre is not. The GUI was originally intended for a first person game in which the character controls the character. But ended up turning into a point and click due to the nature of the interactive objects via cursor. Other than that the design and placement of the onscreen elements remain the same to my original concept sketch.

Here are the concept designs I made. I liked the first one the best, and chose to do that one in Photoshop.  As you can see it still bares the basic similarities to my final design.








Self Evaluation
Overall I managed to manage my time quite effectively, unlike some of the other projects. I decided on my design relatively fast something that often caused problems for me in the past. If I had more time, I would have liked to use the frames from 3D Max to make an animation activate in Flash. I did not know how to do this nor have enough time remaining.
What did you struggle with?
One thing I did struggle with in this project was getting to grips with Flash again. We haven't used Flash much this year and don't know how to use it as well as 3D-Max or Photoshop. In fact we had to be re-instructed by Chris on how to make buttons, which we did in Year 1.
What did you find easy?
I found actually creating the various elements of my GUI the easiest due, to its rather simple straightforward design. A simple red and yellow bar for health and stamina, basic round mini map etc. Most of it was already created in Photoshop when we had to flesh out our initial concept sketch. Porting things from the PSD file and converting them into buttons was a relatively easy process.          
Comparison to Professional work
I think that some students in this class made the mistake of not thinking how their GUI was going to be used in a game including me. At first my GUI was intended for a first person shooter which was then changed to a point and click browser game due to the nature of the pop up notes. Professional GUI's are made my player usability in mind, not how many common GUI elements you can cram in at once. No point and click I have seen has a Health bar, Stamina, or even a mini map. Because of this I don't think my GUI compares well to a professional one. As it is not player friendly or genre specific.
What do others think?
Most of the feedback I received stated that it was compact, out of the way, overall a good design for an FPS game. Though l'm still unsure whether it is an FPS game for the sake of my original intention lets say it is. During this time I listened to what other students thought they did wrong the most common one was. The GUI taking up too much space, too cluttered etc. I was careful to keep the design as simple and out of the way as possible but still serve its purpose as an on screen status update.
What could you improve upon?
-Keep genre in mind
-Animated more bits to add interest
-Look more aesthetically pleasing


I have already discussed the issue about genre and the lack of time to animate. Another thing I would have liked to improve on was to make it look nicer. Make the design unique with various shapes to make it fit the theme. Since my environment was inspired by the steam punk style it would have made sense to add steampunk elements into my GUI. Such as brass, cogs, steam things to make it more unique.

Here is an example of a steam punk GUI. Note it is made out of wood to give it a more classical, Victorian feel with various forms of metal like the clock. This is what I would have liked to achieve, to create a unique GUI that fits the theme and style of the game it was intended for.

If I could do it again? 

If I could do this project again I would spend more time into the initial idea to make it as previously mentioned. 

"more unique"

I would add various steam punk elements like brass, clocks etc. To emphasize the theme the game itself has. Also have a definite genre in mind and design the interface for ease of use for that particular type of game.