Options, Options, Options

So, here were are, the minimal finale. I'm won't waste time. Here's the screenshot:

Ok, the top option is sound. We can see that sound is on because is says "SOUND: ON". The graphics level is high as we can tell by the button text, the same with the control layout. It says "CONTROLS: 1" so we know we're using control layout 1. But what is control layout 1? What are the controls! Well those massive rectangles either side of the menu options are my minimal representations of the mouse controls for both layouts. On the left, control layout 1 and on the right, control layout 2.

As layout 1 is selected, the left mouse image is white whereas the right one is grey.

And BOOM! That's all. I know it's been short but that's what happens when you develop a tiny game with a minimalistic HCI. Have fun.

Ashton

The Game

Well, I can officially announce that you have just lost the game! Anyway, I've finished the game itself, the main part of the game. I've added a minimalist HUD which contains lives, health bar, and the player's score. Take a look:

As you can see, it's definitely minimal. But that's not all to note. Take a look at the cross in the screenshot. I didn't like the generic mouse graphics so I made my own basic crosshair. There's quite a few things to talk about here. First, the player is the white triangle which in the above screenshot, is almost in the center of the game area. Next up are the enemies, they're the little green rectangles making their way towards the player.

Oh, before I forget, I've got a very simple pause screen. Well it's not a separate screen but it's definitely simple. Here, observe:

Yeah, simple. I also added a bit of text just to inform the user of why the game stopped. Unfortunately, I'm this project is small and is now coming to a close. Next time, I'll be showing you my implementation of the options screen. Come back soon!

Ashton

The Loading Screen

Hey again! I've implemented a nifty lil' loading screen to my game. If uses random numbers to simulate a real loading screen. You know how loading bars sometimes freeze for a few seconds before continuing loading? I've achieved that effect but my loading screen is fake, just for show. Anyway, here's the screenshot:

That nice lil' white bar is the loading bar. I've also added the text "LOADING" just so players know what's going on. When this loading screen is finished, the game will load. But that's for another time.

Ashton

The Main Menu

After a bit of the ol' programming, I finally got the menu up. Here's a quick screenshot:

The menu itself is nothing special. I decided to be minimalist because not only is it usually better (less is more) but it also adheres to the "Aesthetic and Minimalist Design" heuristic.

The menu works on a hover-and-click basis. When you hover over a menu option, it will turn grey (so that you know it's selected) and when you left click on a button, it's respective event is invoked and action is taken.

So what if the user, hypothetically, chose the exit option. Would the game end? No. the user would be presented with another section of the menu as shown below:

As you can see, the user can choose between actually quitting, backing out, or even restarting the game. This is part of the "User Control and Freedom" heuristic.

That's all for now, keep checking back for updates!

Ashton

A Lil' Intro

Hey, I'm Ashton and I'm going to developing a lil' HCI for a game. The HCI that I'm goona develop will include the following:

Main Menu
Loading Screen
Editable Controls
Player Health Bar
Player Lives
Player Score
Error Prevention

I may decide to add some other features as time goes by but as of now, this is all I plan to implement for my HCI.

Ashton