Help with 320X56 GUI

[sergiocornaga]

I really like the way the background of the middle piece looks now. I think the new colour scheme is much better.

[CaptainBinky]

Hi,

I agree with everyone else that the new colour scheme is much nicer - much more "police-y". Personally, I would do something more like this...



...for the "look" icon though, to make it more consistent with the other icons.

Cheers,

Cap'n Binky

edit: Just noticed... have you swapped the direction of the arrows for the "open" and "close" icons? They're a bit confusing to me now... I'm not sure whether the first icon is an open box which can be "closed" and the second box a closed box to be "opened" or whether it's the other way round. It was clearer to me (but it may just be me ) the way it was before. My head wants the open verb to be before the closed verb, but that's not how I read it. If the first icon is "close" perhaps just swapping them round would make it all alright.

[Nacho]

Capt: For me makes sense that "Open" must be done in a "closed" box... And vice-versa. But I agree, that adventre game players are more used to see first "open", than "close". Freudian thing? Too used to Lucasarts? Dunno, but I flipped it...

[i k a r i]

I dont like the badges in the middle very much, I think they draw too much attention to be that insignificant to the game itself.

You could add something more original, I dont know, maybe a police radio (like in Syberia where you clicked in the mobile icon to make calls and other stuff) or the main character face so we can see his expressions as he talks or do something, etc.

Well those are not very original maybe...

Great GUI by the way.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Someone gave me some good advice once:  if you have to tell the player what an icon is then you might as well not use an icon.  Why have arrows if the image can adequately (and should) describe what the icon is doing?  I did an example edit to show you what I mean.

1.  Made the gui more reflective like polished metal.
2.  Removed the arrows as they were redundant.
3.  Changed some of the icons to make their use more obvious.
4.  Added some shading to the gui using existing colors and to make the design consistent.





Hopefully you will see what I'm talking about.  Hope this helps.

[EagerMind]

I think ProgZmax nailed it. Nice work! (I'm sure you're tired of hearing how great you are! )

You still might want to work on the "pick up" icon a little. Right now it looks more like "hold". My first thought is to rotate the hand 90 degrees (so it's reaching down from the top) and add a floor. You could have the hand just about to pick up the object (which is still sitting on the floor).

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Right now it looks more like "hold"

I'm not sure this is an issue since simply holding something wouldn't be a useful game icon (unless you're able to wield weapons and such, hence why I made the pickup object a generic sphere and not something specific).

[EagerMind]

I'm not sure this is an issue ...

Yeah, it's just a minor comment. If you leave it the way it is I think it will be fine. Either way ....

[sergiocornaga]

Actually I just now understood how the person was in the pickup icon Maybe it could have something in his händ that he's picking up?

Actually, I have to agree here. A little more work is needed to clarify the icons (ProgZmax's doesn't quite do it for me). I think the open and close ones need a rethink too.

[CaptainBinky]

Why have arrows if the image can adequately (and should) describe what the icon is doing?

I don't have a problem with the arrows in principle. To me, having arrows is not really any different to putting speed lines on a cartoon panel. They just indicate movement or the direction of interaction. Without the arrow, the "open" icon just looks like a brick and relies on the "close" icon next to it to give it any sort of context.

In fact, most icon standards will include arrows and other symbolic overlays to add meaning to the icons. XP (like it or loathe it) uses arrows for move, open, refresh, etc and in most cases the icon wouldn't make any sense without them. I don't think using this sort of principle is a bad thing at all. I do however agree with this statement:

if you have to tell the player what an icon is then you might as well not use an icon.

in that if you require a textual description to go alongside an icon, then the icon is largely redundant.

Cap'n Binky

[Peder 🚀]

hmm, why not have the open and close icon animated?

open, a closed box opening (when mouse is over it offcourse)
and close, a open box closing.

anyway, when I see the box I think of the open box for opening and the closed to close.

I really liked Progz edit as it gives it a bit more "life".

for example push and pull look alot better his way.

[i k a r i]

OK, Im not an edit genious as you can see xD
But I did this in order to show my idea of changing the badges for a close-up of the character face showing expressions as he talks or something happens, I also tried to make the GUI more metallic :S



Sorry I know is a bit rough =P