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Icon for hunger/satiation

Discussion in 'Game Design' started by Shack_Man, May 19, 2019.

  1. Shack_Man

    Shack_Man

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    Jun 7, 2017
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    372
    Something I come across quite often in my games is that I need an icon for how hungry a character is, like a little icon I can show next to a bar. E. G for health that would be a heart, for mood a smiley face - everyone knows what it means, but is there anything similar for hunger/satiation?
    I guess a knife and fork might work, though I actually need one that applies to animals. I don't play that many games and can't think of anything obvious.
     
  2. TonyLi

    TonyLi

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    Apr 10, 2012
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    What about a different icon for each type of animal? For example, bamboo for a panda, grass for a cow, a haunch of meat for a lion, etc. If the bar is consistently the same color across all animals, I think it wouldn't be confusing.

    Otherwise what about a mouth icon?
     
    Kiwasi likes this.
  3. Shack_Man

    Shack_Man

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    That's a good idea, I hadn't thought of it. In my current game one creature eats the next, so it would be pretty confusing, but it could definitely work for other games, especially if it is like in the examples you mentioned. It is common knowledge that cows eat grass etc.
    I just remembered the game Don't starve, they use an icon for stomach, which isn't near;y as common as a heart for health but I think it could work.
     
  4. TonyLi

    TonyLi

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    I think an open mouth is more intuitive than a stomach, but that's just my opinion.
     
  5. SparrowGS

    SparrowGS

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    How about a generic piece of meat for carnivores and a leaf for herbivorous?

    A knife and fork is pretty universal, and if you want it to be the only way to know what the bar is (IE no toolbar that says "This is the hunger bar, eat more *insert food* to increase.*) this is the safest bet as the player probably does use a knife and fork (or is atleast aware of them) and this will be the most intuitive to indicate what it is.

    having an icon of the other animal that needs to be eaten could be confusing, but you could place it on the toolbar if you have one.

    a screen shot of the UI will be very useful for answering this question.
     
    BrandyStarbrite and halley like this.
  6. palex-nx

    palex-nx

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    Jul 23, 2018
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    Bread and Wine.