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[MrProg]

I would like any feedback on my GUI compared to the old versions. Any suggestions are welcome

First GUI:
http://i.imgur.com/JubJwow.png


Second GUI:
http://i.imgur.com/x9yFSuU.png

Third GUI:
http://i.imgur.com/UfYq0J8.png

I've been working on a similar, darker version that I am now using.

Fourth GUI:
http://i.imgur.com/6okJf9E.png

EDIT:

This one is a revision on #2
Fifth(Current) GUI:
http://i.imgur.com/MS1Toff.png

Also here is what the numbers mean going off of the fifth GUI:
- White numbers next to green dollar sign: Coin Amount
- Number next to green A box thing: Ammo Count
- Set of numbers above green bar: Current Health / Max Health
- White/Black Icon in the center: Current Weapon
- Yellow number underneath in the center: Current Level
- Set of numbers above blue bar: Current Experience / Max Experience
- White numbers at the right next to the clock: Amount of time the game has been running

I would love to hear any opinions. Thank you.

[DanglinBob]

Based on not knowing anything about the game or what is required, I actually prefer #1 the best. Assuming you NEVER need to see what is below your character (if that is not the case, disregard this).

Simply put that area of your screen is already wasted by the ground, so why not make the most use of it by placing as much information as close to the center of your vision (which is, I assume, your character in the center) as possible.

Basically you want to keep as much data as possible as close to where you are looking as possible, else the information will be lost whenever there is action.

That's my 2 cents.

[oahda]

I prefer #1 too. All of them are good in the way that they're not in front of anything in the "actual" game, so to say.

The biggest issue with #2 as opposed to #1 is that it's so close to the bottom of the screen. #1 has a much better margin.

Speaking of margins, #1 does have problems too. I don't like how the numbers besides the clock icon are licking said clock without even a pixel in between them. You should add a margin of a few pixels (and by that I mean upscaled pixels) there. Also the margins between money icon and its numbers, A icon and its numbers and clock icon and its number are inconsistent with each other. You should make them the same for all of them (preferably at least one full upscaled pixel; it looks like it's less than one upscaled pixel besides the money icon which looks weird).

#3 and #4 both have a lot of problems with inconsistent line thicknesses in various ways.

So #1 is mostly perfect, but your entire game seems to have a problem of inconsistently upscaled pixels. You are upscaling them to different sizes in different places and allowing yourself to "cheat" by making the "pixels" smaller in some places than others, and I think that makes it look pretty inconsistent.

So just fix that, and I think it looks good! And I vote for #1 with the margins fixed.

 

[Jordgubben]

Which one is most important to always know the current status of? Which ever it is should probably take up most space.

(I'm going to make the assumption that the numbers in the GUI are ammo, money, health and mana.)

[xier]

I'm a fan of #4, as I like minimal UI designs, however Prinsessa does bring up some good points and things to consider

[eyeliner]

I like #4. Simple, clean and modern. Deal with the pixel sizes and it's perfect.

[Saithir]

#1 is probably the best, though I see a problem with it (apart from what others already wrote) - it's not clear what the center "1" means.

Is it an ammo count for the weapon above it? But you have ammo count near the clip on the left, but then on #2 you have the "1" in a box with the item, so maybe it's not a weapon but some sort of a key that you can have more than one? But then based on the #3 and #4 versions 20 would in fact be the ammo count, so that's out. There aren't any "1"s on #3 at all, and there's something like an exp bar with level 6 on #4. So I'm guessing that's the player's level after all.

Anyway, that's really too much guessing for something that could (and should) be much more intuitive.

[MrProg]

Sorry for not replying at all so far, I've been working on the game almost non-stop. But I see that most of you favor the first GUI because it's focused and large. The problems with 3 and 4 are their pixel sizes between the outlines and borders. Now after I posted this topic I went back to #2 as a got a lot of feedback from another forum saying they like two. So that's mainly why I didn't go back to improve #1. I don't really like the GUI background of 1 as I feel the pixels are too upscale which is why I wanted to gain support for #2.

So I tried centering #2 a lot more by decreasing the box size and moving the health/experience text above the GUI. This picture is kind of a bad example because of how much ground their is but basically the ground will always be high enough to keep the GUI away from the main game.

What I'm going to do with #3/#4 is put them into the splitscreen co-op mode instead as they save space by a lot. So I'll fix those as well.

So basically, I'm trying to fix #2 instead with the advantages that #1 had.
Newest GUI: http://i.imgur.com/MS1Toff.png  

[Hitrison]

It looks pretty good.

[guille]

I honestly don't think any of them is very effective. Information is too cramped in the same place. My advice would be to look at other games and see how they display all this information.

Problems I see:

1.- you are mixing resolutions! the numbers in your GUI are low res (I can see big pixels here), however the bushes and grass in the game are of higher resolution (pixels much smaller, maybe 1/4 of the GUI number pixels). Why are you doing this? This isn't a good practice, and the only instance this is acceptable is when you use that "higher" resolution to display smaller and sharper letters and numbers to make them more readable (you are doing the opposite).

2.- Do you really need to see all this information all the time? Maybe you can only show money when you take more money or you are gonna use money. It all depends on how your game works and how often these counters update. Display bars or numbers, not both, seldom times it is really necessary. Like I said, depending on how your game works display one or the other.

3.- Why is the ammo counter so separated from the weapon icon when they are so closely related? They should be next to each other. The level indicator of your weapon can be more integrated, maybe small squares to indicate level instead of a number (images are easier to read than numbers and words, that's why bars are better).

4.- You can place the timer in a totally different place, like the top-right corner of the screen, if all the info is cramped into the same place I'll have a very hard time reading all the data. If you choose to display money all the time it can go in the top-left corner of the screen. By doing this the player will get used to look at certain parts of the screen to see the stat he's interested in. This is effective, fast and accurate.

3rd GUI is the one I think it's closer to being optimal. Work on it a little bit and you will have a winner.

[MrProg]

I see what you're getting at. Now that you mention it, it's blindly obvious too. I'm going to start with a fresh design the optimization in mind.

It'll probably be a while before I update this post but if anyone else has any more suggestions/opinions than be sure to post as I'll still be visiting this topic. Thank you 

[FarellSus]

You can check out the designs of well optimized games, please check out some here: casinator.com.

[Bluebutton]

The pixel sizes are a problem, I prefer #4 and here's why.

In general when designing a UI my philosphy is that it should be as close to invisible as possible, until the player needs it. A quick scan of the screen should provide all the information required but it shouldn't be intrusive or detract from the core gameplay.

Reducing it to the bare essentials is a good call too, if there's anything you can show contextually then do that.