Game Usability

Sometimes, a review will have a section for user interface. But not often. Definitely not as often as "sound" or "graphics." Perhaps the User Interface is thrown into a section on "Presentation" or "Controls". You notice a bad one. A good one feels natural and non-intrusive. So in the first of what I hope is a recurring theme of the blog, I ask "What is a good UI?"

I'll start by trying to call out the many elements.

Look: The user interface art is the heart.

Windows, buttons, and menus: This is the bit I tend to focus on as a programmer. The widgets must behave as you expect with a clean and consistent look. Anytime the user needs to fight with the UI, they have stopped playing the game.

Controls: How you play the game is definitely part of the "human computer interface." This includes mouse/joystick keypad. Movement. Keymappings. The game controls are what make the user interface invisible or challenging.

Camera: I'm not one to really consider this part of the user interface, but if you include "controls" you must include the camera. As these two elements are linked almost enough for me to combine them. But the camera is important enough to break out though. A bad camera can ruin a game. Examples?

Game elements: The UI is meant to allow the user to interact with the game. Many of the feedback mechansism can be considered UI. Names over characters. Health bars. Glow. Targetting. Different things for different genres.

Sound: Everyone tries to make their interface look good, but audio feedback is just as important. This element can make a virtual system feel as responsive as a physical device.

Text: Can you read it? Does it match the game? Did they just use Arial...

Options: The ability to customize the user interface to work for different players is important. Consoles may only let you change a few properties. Some PC games may let you build your own user interface (scripting includes.) A balance is important here. In most cases, fewer is better. Definitely hide that advanced button if you can.

In summary, I think that a good UI is invisible to the user with a high degree of polish. The problem is that defining that is as simple as saying "make the game fun." But that's what I'm here to explore.