DevDiary #8: Glory of the UI

Cryospace - survival horror in space

You are not a soldier. Not a fighter. Just an ordinary maintenance guy. Yet you have to fight. And you are forced to run. But chiefly: you must help the frozen crew survive on a spaceship. You are the only one who can save others. You are made a hero against your will. You become a leader. A slayer.

We all know that a user interface (UI) is “the space” where interactions between humans and games occur. HUD, on the other hand, that’s a head-up display: a transparent display that presents data without distracting gamers. [b]We have been working on it for several days[/b]. Where on screen and how to show the valuable information. What kind of “resources” should be on HUD? What color and style should it have? [h2]Check out a few of our ideas![/h2] We took inspiration from [b]classical hack n slash games, like Diablo, and also classical survival horrors like Resident Evil[/b]. We make some tweaks and then look for space designated for NPCs, because [b]sometimes our hero will have some company[/b]. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39210276/5b8722873705fcbfbf1d9916ebb7394cfc6aead4.png[/img] In terms of style, we are looking for [b]something really simple and useful[/b]. That’s why not many colors and a few elements. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39210276/15248b5faad01e865a29744c8e66edccc2b4c087.png[/img] If you look closely, you will find [b]some inspirations from famous movie series we all love and admire[/b]. You surely know what we have in mind - Alien(s), of course. ‘Cause [i]in space, no one can hear you scream[/i]. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39210276/3aa3652c12fa40f82cf56931b72ae706815ec251.png[/img] That [b]retro-sf look[/b] can be found also in the equipment window. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39210276/5692d067bf678d33d2b7b017cba9b6e9e16001e2.png[/img] Of course, we still have a lot of other work to do. There are some enemies that we are still preparing for you - [b]how they look, how they fight, and how they will die…[/b] [previewyoutube=EijQGIBjSEg;leftthumb][/previewyoutube] [h2]What’s next?[/h2] [b]Demo of course.[/b] That means that we have to face our own fears and start to balance all elements - weapons, enemies, oxygen and batteries, etc. - because the conglomerate of all that will create [b]the true survival horror experience[/b] we are looking for. All that and of course, the story, atmosphere, sounds, music, and animations :) [b]After all, [i]you don’t wanna leave Earth to be safe[/i], right?[/b] CryoSpace team