Tomb of Atkemba

Project Overview

The tomb of Atkemba is about a treasure hunter entering into a trap-filled dungeon in search of lost Egyptian gold.

Role: UIUX Designer, Implementor

Project length: 3 months

Team size: 1 person

Tools Used: Unity, Photoshop

Design Pillars

The key design pillar for this game is discovery, that would be the main driving force for the player. The intrigue of exploring a lost tomb. The secondary design pillar for the game would be avoidance, as the player traverses through this Tomb, it would be laced with tons of booby traps. Thus being able to avoid these traps would be one of the key elements for this game.

Player Fantasy

The fantasy that I wanted to go for would a an adventurer venturing into a tomb laced with booby traps. I took inspiration from shows like Indiana jones and Games like tomb raider. One of the key inspirations I had in mind was the experience I had with the revenge of the mummy at Universal Studios.

Landscapes Exploration

For this game, we started the level design with an exploration of various landscapes and how each landscape would evoke certain emotions. I started off the game with the desert because the desert evokes the feeling of vastness and isolation, it helps the player to have feelings of solitude or introspection. While the arid environment might also convey a sense of hardship or resilience.

When encountering the tomb, the stark beauty of the tomb would then inspire awe and wonder for the player. This would then be followed by a flight of stairs that gets darker, this represents the descent into the darkness as the intrigue of the tomb overpowers the player's need for comfort and safety.

As the traverses through the tomb they would encounter various booby traps which triggers a sense of adrenaline and suspense. This area of uncertainty creates a sense of paranoia for the players as they become hyper vigilant of the things that occur in the tomb. I hope to evoke a sense of determination within the players as they move past the

The final room of Gold gives the player a sense of Awe and wonder which rewards the player for taking such a perilous journey. But all beauty comes at a cost because at the end of the level, the tomb starts to crumble this provides a climatic moment for the player as their lives are now at stake, and the player has to quickly get out of the tomb and traverse past the booby traps all over again to survive.

Competitor Analysis and UI Exploration

 For this research, I would be looking through 3 games which include The Elders Scrolls V: Skyrim, God of War (2018) and Far Cry 2. I would be looking at the in-game HUDs and Pause Menus to give me an insight into how I could go implementing the HUD into the game. I would also be including a style guide for the UI that would be implemented into the game at the end of the research as well.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action role-playing game that has been developed by Bethesda Game Studios. Published in November 2011. The game takes place in a fantastical world named Skyrim where the player explores the lands of skyrim and receive numerous quests along the way. The reason why I picked The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is due to its immersive game world which I feel could benefit the HUD in Ruins.

Loading Screen

When players start the game, they are immediately greeted with the loading screen. The loading screens are important because it is a space where the designers can design a certain game feel even before the game starts. In Skyrim, the designers wanted to create a grand fantasy feel. This is achieved by featuring a highly detailed dragon monument which allows the players to zoom in and out of. This attention to detail in the monuments intrigues the player to want to know more about the world. It also features a short randomized flavor text to immerse the player into the magic

circle of the game world as it exposes them to the expanded lore that might not be experienced or found in the game.

Non-Diegetic Texts (Texts not viewable by in game characters)

The In-Game HUD is minimalist so that it does not intrude on the immersiveness of the game. Non-Diegetic texts are minimal so that they do not break the immersion of the game. They only appear when the player encounters a creature or object about the name and how to interact with it. They serve as a medium of important information transfer from the game to the player and I feel this would be a good addition to the game.

Lockpicking UI

When attempting to open locked doors, the players would then be able to enter into a diegetic screen where it shows the player attempting to break the lock. This could be their attempt to deepen the immersion for the player and considering the number of gates that Ruins have, I think this would add a UI addition when the player attempts to open the locked gates in the game.

Pause Menu

The pause menu in Skyrim uses a modern approach due to its use of sans serif. San Serif fonts are good fonts to use for UI due to the fact that they are easy to read which hastens the navigation process dramatically. The Pause menu is split into 3 distinct parts, the quests, stats and systems. I think this separation of different elements in the Main Menu can actually focus the UI and help the player understand what is the need for certain UI.

Health Bars

When the player enters into combat, health bars of the player would be shown at the bottom of the screen. The health bar of the enemy would be at the top of the enemy creature as well. This allows the player to know the change in tone and by using. Although there is no combat in the Ruins, I think I can implement the health bars when the player is damaged and fades away after a while.

Compass Bar and Cursor

Two ways that Skyrim helps the player navigate and to know what they are interacting with is through the non-diegetic compass bar situated at the top and the cursor found at the centre. The compass bar moves with the player to let the player know what is in front of them and the cursor acts like a mouse cursor to show the player what they are interacting with. These HUD elements are minimal and help to make the game feel interactable thus I feel it would a good addition to Ruins as well.

God of War (2018)

God of War (2018) is the 8th instalment of the God of War series. It is an action adventure game developed by Santa Monica and released in April 2018. It follows Kratos and his son Atreus following the dream of his late wife to climb to the peak of the 9 realms. This game is loosely based in Greek Mythology and more grounded in Norse Mythology. The reason why I chose this was due to its immersive gameplay that is similar to the game feel I want to create for Ruins.

Item Popups

When Collecting items, God of War introduces the item in a non-diegetic pop up menu with the icon and a symbol describing the item with options to look at the item or continue with the game. I think this would be good for Ruins because of the small number of important items in the game and having a non-diegetic popup for items gives the player a sense of accomplishment.

Journals

During the game, as the player encounters new locations and quests, the son of Kratos, Atreous writes observational logs in the journal which the players can read about to expand the lore and further pull the player into the immersion of the game. I feel that adding this into the UI of the game would help to flesh out the ruins of Ruins as the player explores the tomb

Far Cry 2

Far cry 2 is a first person shooter developed and published by Ubisoft in 2008. The game takes place in an open ended sandbox world, however the player would soon find themselves in the crossfire of 2 opposing factions. I chose Far Cry to be part of the research because it is the first player (like Ruins), has good insights into HUD and features which i feel might benefit the game.

Minimal HUD

The HUD in Far Cry 2 is minimal. It focuses mainly on immersive gameplay. However whenever the player reaches into combat, the health bar appears on the lower left corner on the screen and the amount of ammo and bombs is located on the lower right. The progression of the player is also shown at the top centre of the screen to affirm the player that they are doing the right thing.

Diegetic Maps

Far cry utilizes a diegetic map which shows the player the important locations that the player has to know. It tries to be as simplified as possible because the player has to try to look at the map while navigating the situation around them.

Visual Effects

When the player dies, the screen will slowly fade to monotone and a reddish overlay would appear to further emphasize on the fact that the player had died. I think this reddish visual would be good for Ruins when the player is damaged. It would be good if the visual effects get more saturated to indicate the seriousness of the damage that the player has taken. It would also be a good alternative to a blood stained screen effect due to the restrictions in digipen.

Pause Menu

The Pause Menu used in Far Cry is Diegetic, by using a book as the player explores the lands. It uses various items associated with paper like notepads, paper clips and book bindings to make the pause menu stick out. I think this would be great for ruins because I was planning to add a Journal already, maybe by making the entire journal the pause menu might be a good way to tie in the exploration aspect of the game with the game.

Items Menu

The Items Menu is part of the pause menu in Far Cry 2. What is interesting about this inventory menu is that the objects take up spaces according to the size of the object, this causes the player to strategize what they would like to keep and what to discard. It also colour codes the type of items into different colours. For example green is used for disposable items, blue is used for weapons.

Final Look and feel

UI flow

New Game/Continue Game

Instructions

Settings

Quit Confirmation

Loading Screen

Elements to use: 3D Model of Artifacts, Flavour text and Loading Text

Trigger: When the World takes more than 1 second to load

Staple HUDs

Elements to use: Compass bar, Cursor, Notepad (Square), Minimap

Trigger: when the game is being played

Location Found

Elements to Use: Notepad Popup, Location Name Text

Trigger: When the player is within 5m from the region they are entering

Objective Completed

Elements to Use: Notepad (Rectangle), Objective Completed Text, Name of Objective Text

Trigger: When the player completes an Objective.

Item Found

Elements To Use: Notepad Popup(Square), Object Icon, Header Text, Flavour Text,

Instructions, Highlight Object

Trigger: Highlight when the player is 3m from Object, Pop Up with Icon, Header and Flavour text when player clicks on Highlighted Object.

New Objective

Elements To Use: Notepad Popup(Rectangle), New Objective Text, Objective Text

Trigger: When the player clears the previous objective or receives a new objective.

Instructional texts

Elements To Use: Notepad Popup(Rectangle), Tip Text

Trigger: When the player enters an area where they need to learn something new

Pause Menu

Elements to Use: Book Marks,Big Square Buttons, Small Rectangle Buttons, Big Header

Text, Small Header text, Slider Bars, Book UI

Trigger: When ESC is pressed.

Quest Menu

Elements to Use: Bookmarks, Book UI, Rectangle Buttons, Triangle Navigational Buttons,

Header Texts, Checkboxes, Notepad(Square)

Trigger: When the Quest Bookmark is pressed

Items Menu

Elements to Use: Bookmarks, Book UI, Medium Rectangle Buttons, Big Header Text, Medium

Header Texts, Flavour Text. Inventory Square UI, Object Icons

Trigger: When the Inventory Bookmark is pressed

Journal Menu

Elements To Use: Bookmarks, Book UI, Medium Rectangle Buttons, Big Header Text, Medium

Header Texts, Triangular Navigational Buttons Flavour Text. Tape UI, Image of Entry

Trigger: When the Journal Bookmark is pressed

Map Menu

Elements to Use: Book UI, Notepad(Square), Bookmark, Map elements, X Button

Trigger: When the Map Bookmark is pressed or when M is pressed.

Locking UI

Elements to Use: Lock 3d Model, Notepad (Square)

Trigger: When the Player interacts with the Gates/Locked Doors

Injured HUD

Elements to Use: Red glowing border, health bar

Trigger: When the Player gets hit by traps

Game Over

Elements to Use: Red Glowing Border, You died text, Flavour text, notepad(square)

Trigger: When the Player dies

Underwater HUD

Elements to Use: blue glowing border, oxygen bar

Trigger: When the Player falls into water