Any Suggestions for my HUD?

I'm working on my HUD and I'm just not feeling it.

Does anyone have some suggestions on how I can improve it?


I'd like to display:
-health
-armor
-2 grenade types
-8 weapons
-a grapple icon with 4 charges
-a dash with 4 charges
-a crosshair
-enemy life bars
-a compass

I can't quite put my finger on what I don't like about my HUD so far.

Maybe the colors are too distracting.

Maybe it doesn't have good symmetry.

What suggestions do you all have?

 

It's functional, but I see what you mean.

What are your ideas on integrating the HUD's art with the style of the rest of the game? Dead Island 2's HUD has a rough, bloody theme:



Destiny 2's HUD, in comparison, has a clean, futuristic theme:



The HUD elements are also larger than your current HUD, pushed in more toward the center, and very often context-sensitive. Some of them will only appear when you need to see them. For example, what if you only show the weapon icons when you're changing/scrolling through weapons? There's no need to show the current weapon because the weapon itself is already visible in the player's hands. This way you can also share the same ammo count UI element for all weapons.

 

Yeah, I think you're right. I do need to make them bigger and more towards the center.

And clearing it out when not need is a good idea.

I'm not 100% on my game's theme, but I guess sci-fi meets cosmic horror.

Like Doom with Lovecraft-esq enemies.

I'm also starting to think that I may want to do a 3d HUD, but I also don't want to lose the retro aesthetic.

 

That sounds like it has lots of great potential for theming the UI! I can really see that in a retro aesthetic.

 

Being a Metroidvania I really have to cull back what is on screen.

I suppose I can only have grapple and dash Displayed when they are not fully charged.

I can have that row of weapons pop Up while selecting, and also have them partially shaded depending on how much total ammo they have.

I’m debating if I should have ammo displayed at all times, or just show it for the weapon that you’re holding.

Enemy life bars just display if your cursor is on them, or if you hit them.

and I definitely want an indicator around the Crosshair when you get the grappling beam That lights up when a target within range (and if it’s bigger or smaller than the player).

The whole thing makes me dizzy thinking about it.

 

Since you're going for a retro aesthetic, what do you think of solid textures instead of partial shading?

What are the pro's and con's of showing all ammo vs. only the weapon you're holding? I think I'd prefer a cleaner screen rather than constant ammo display of all weapons.

 

Well, being a Metroidvania resource management is a big part of the game.

I want the player to pick and chose their moments to use the big guns (flame thrower, plasma/bfg, rocket launcher, and my own weapon design id rather not share atm).

So having the 7 ammo types always on display makes picking those moments easier.

And hopefully, having save rooms completely replenish the player will encourage not to avoid it all together.

 

Here are some suggestions

• As already mentioned, increase the size and push it at least a bit inward
• Work on contrast. The shield/health blends in too much with the background. You need to have it readable against both light and dark backgrounds. Outlines or a semitransparent background can help with this.
• Maybe its easier to know when you play the game but the health/armor being 100 by just looking at it does not tell me if i'm in good shape or if im soon to be dead. Is it 100 percent? I'm guessing you've considered using healthbars but decided against it.
• Does the elevated items in the weapon-wheel display which item is selected? For me it feels too subtle, maybe increase the size too.
• The icons look very samey, could be hard to pick the right one even if you know which one you want
• I can't make out what the background for each weapon represents. Some cooldown until you can use the weapon again?
• What does the numbers above the weapons represent? Is the 16/20 bullets? Use an icon for bullets. What is 77?

This is just from looking at the pic though, maybe it's easier in motion.

 

77 is the total ammo, 16/70 is 16 bullets in a 20 bullet clip.

yeah, all good tips.

and I so intend to do a lifebar.

I sort of stopped when I realized I was making an ugly turd and came here for tips.

The player is going to start with 100 health and 100 armor, but will unlock +10 pots for both totaling 200 if they get all ten of each.

Also, they can find 10 damage dampeners that permanently reduce all damage by 1 each pickup.

Only one enemy will do 10 damage that can be completely nullified, but they are also very specific to the game.

The idea is that you can access the area theyre in early, but need to get enough damage dampeners (and the right weapon) to make it through their area. Then at the end of it you’ll fight a boss that will drop an item that turns them friendly and allows you to use them as a weapon.

Think of them as snarks from half-life, but a little different.

 

My problem would be that the gun icons don't really read for me. At a quick glance they all look like thick backslashes with greebles. I'd have to memorize the hot keys and I'd just ignore the icons.

I think the health and sheild are hard to see also.

 

If there are hotkeys then I would probably also just remember each one, but that depends on the target platform. If its for PC then yeah, but for consoles doesn't really work.

Alright if you're going for a lifebar then that would clear that up. The grapple/dash could probably also use bars like the screenshot from dead island 2 that tony li posted (the bar in the upper left corner).

I don't know if it would be messy but you could consider moving health/shield to the same side as weapons, they look a bit lonely there, but that depends on how/where you want to display the dash/grapple/compass.

Is the loading incremental, or can you increase the size of the clips? If not, you might want to consider not showing how large the clip is and just show bullets left and the total that you can reload. If you need to display the clip size, because the player need to take that in consideration, try and do something visual. Again, look at the ammo visual for the dead island 2 posted by tony li, they use a half circle that represents how much bullets are left from a full clip (i'm guessing that's what it is, haven't played the game)

 

Too hard to see for me.

I think with weapon selection that large a radial menu would work better.

 

I will definitely not be doing a wheel selection.

I’m glad some people like them, but I personally hate them and want a more classic feel.