Game Design 2 (2013): Immersion Through Game UI
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This document discusses game user interface (UI) design and immersion. It provides case studies of Far Cry 2, Dead Space, and Team Fortress 2. Far Cry 2 aimed for a fully diegetic UI but struggled with balancing immersion and functionality. Dead Space used diegetic holograms and player avatars to render interfaces atypically while preserving functionality. Team Fortress 2 mixes UI styles without a consistent theme but largely succeeds through prioritizing information delivery over immersion. The document advocates balancing immersion and functionality, as diegetic interfaces can reinforce fiction but are difficult to design properly.
Game Design 2 (2013): Immersion Through Game UI
- 1. 2013 Game Design 2 Lecture 7: Immersion through UI http://gcugd2.com Sunday, 3 November 13 [email protected]
- 2. Reading • Anthony Stonehouse http://bit.ly/9isY6D • Erik Fagerhold & Magnus Lorentzon (2009) http://bit.ly/d0HfcW • Gamasutra (Marcus Andrews @ EA:DICE) http://bit.ly/9H6xuL • SlideShare presentation from Fagerhold http://slidesha.re/bjxr4I Sunday, 3 November 13
- 3. Immersive UI • Trend towards minimal HUD • UI as transparent as possible to not distract player Sunday, 3 November 13
- 4. Terminology • Diegetic: Interface included in the game world • Non-diegetic: Interface rendered outside game world • Spatial: UI Elements resented in game’s 3D space but not be an actual in-game entity • Meta: Representations can be in game but aren’t necessarily visualised spatially for player Sunday, 3 November 13
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- 12. Case Study: Far Cry 2 • Goes to great lengths to make UI diegetic • especially hard for FPS games • Uses in-game gadgets perform traditional HUD roles • map • time • weapon condition Sunday, 3 November 13
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- 15. What works? • Novelty factor • diging bullets out of arm • Ubisoft promoting UI in marketing • Interaction with NPCs • you can see what that character is doing • injury rescue Sunday, 3 November 13
- 16. What doesn’t work? • UI seems conflicted • there are traditional non-diegetic HUD elements such as: ammo; interaction opportunities; health etc Sunday, 3 November 13
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- 19. • The non-diegetic elements fade in and out • Some elements of the UI don’t provide the player with enough information Sunday, 3 November 13
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- 21. What does it mean? • The struggles of FC2 show that it is nearly hopeless for (realistic FPS) games to be playable and 100% diegetic • If you make a late decision to compliment your diegetic components with nondiegetic, the design will suffer - best to plan Sunday, 3 November 13
- 22. Case Study: Dead Space • Fully diegetic interface. • Unlike most games, they had an explicit direction that all UI elements be ‘in the game world’ • Fairly traditional HUD system with a twist • all rendered as in-game holograms Sunday, 3 November 13
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- 24. • in addition to the holograms, Dead Space also draws interface on the actual player avatar Sunday, 3 November 13
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- 26. What works? • Sci-Fi Fiction lends itself to diegetic UI • “typical UI, rendered atypically” • Perspective • Using player avatar as a canvas is a great way to promote immersion • largely depending on setting & 3rd person camera • Preserving Functionality • preserves functionality but adds style Sunday, 3 November 13
- 27. What doesn’t work? • Functionality breakdown • the holographic 3D map failed to aid player navigation leading to the implementation of another, complimentary feature - the ‘locator’ that has a completely new diegetic spatial method Sunday, 3 November 13
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- 29. What does it mean? • Fairly traditional interface rendered in novel fashion. • May be unrealised potential benefit of diegetic & innovative UI • Whilst the UI may have helped in the marketing (& sales?) its benefit to the gameplay is subjective Sunday, 3 November 13
- 30. Case Study: TF 2 • Uses mixed methods to communicate • very much a “whatever works” approach Sunday, 3 November 13
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- 34. What works? • Mix of UI elements from each of the categories provides for lots of info without a cluttered HUD • shows that UI components don’t need to have an immediately obvious theme or be immersive to work Sunday, 3 November 13
- 35. What doesn’t work • the mix of styles can be perceived as a bit messy • inconsistencies can require more cognition from the player Sunday, 3 November 13
- 36. What does it mean? • TF2 has hardly any diegetic qualities but largely succeeds in UI design. • Shows that players will tolerate mixing styles in an interface Sunday, 3 November 13
- 37. Summary • Diegetic interface elements can help to reinforce the fiction of a game and can help keep the player immersed. • Diegetic elements are harder to design and integrate than non-diegetic elements especially in FPS games like Far Cry 2 • When there is a trade off between immersion and functionality - functionality must be given priority Sunday, 3 November 13