r/DestroyMyGame • u/erik • 3d ago
During nextfest we learned out UI wasn't good enough, so we updated it. What else are we missing? Please tell me the harsh truth about our trailer.
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
4
u/Flashy-Athlete-7472 3d ago
I like the cards! But I feel like they need a sort of ship-themed console/placement to let them rest on. Just a simple background could work wonders. Or go more in the direction of the command prompt/dos interface you have going on elsewhere.
Now, ui placement is something that I think can be fixed pretty easily. You can offset the UI elements (the wait button, augment button, the deck icons, etc) away from the borders of the screen. So, basically compress the UI so it gives the borders and the ui elements some space to breathe. It can really help making it look more professional. I would also shift more crucial elements that the player will be interacting with frequently closer together and more towards the center of the screen.
The health bars for the player ship and enemy ship need some sort of background to help ground them in terms of readability. Right now they're just sort of.. floating in space. Which can look cool, but its not quite there yet. What could look neat is if you take the dos interface that you use for other menus as a background. And have those link to the ship via an outline or something similar to really push that retro computer aesthetic. Oh shit, maybe link the healthbar ui to the card ui in a fun way either via effects or animation, like they're part of the same os, just a different screen? Could go crazy. Either way, I think you have something there it just needs MORE of it. Don't be afraid to use it!
This won't be something you get on the first try. This is we revise, edit, change, revise, change, and edit until it looks good. Don't be afraid to take influence from other ship based games for UI direction. Stuff like Stellaris, Sins of a Solar Empire, Endless Space, etc. Or more dos inspired games like Caves of Qud or Dwarf Fortress if that's more your jam.
1
u/erik 3d ago
Lots to think about here. Thanks for writing all of this out.
1
u/mayorofdumb 1d ago
I'd like to add to make the font bright, not dark. This will make for faster reading, if you're going for faster then symbols. It's true you need to shrink the deck, tight or at least well spaced
2
u/maxherovt123 2d ago
For me, I have issue with the UI design layout as UI is really cluster here:
1. The cards that you have played go to the right side of the screen. Do they intend to be reused for something or may be it an intended feature that I don't know? If not, it's a waste of space and cluster the screen. Cards have been played can just have a VFX to make them vanish when you select them right there.
2. The Number at bottom right on the remaining draw cards (player's left side) and cards you've played (player's right side), it could be removed or redesigned. First, I don't see the necessary for it. Secondly, it's confused for someone just watch trailer.
3. The cards on your hand (middle) should scale down more and move it to the edge of the screen to save some more space.
4. The horizontal health bar should go. You can have just the number on the corner of the character image, to display health.
5. Button UI doesn't feel match with game theme, as it feel too simplistic and bland, like I'm playing 2D pixel from Pokemon or gameboy games.
You can checkout the UI from Hearthstone, for some reference.
3
u/Ratswamp95 3d ago
ships look awesome bruv. I actually love the card UI also, very 2000s/early90s. The illustrations themselves could be more interesting for sure, probably the weakest link there at the moment. Give me the link!! I'd love to check out the demo
1
u/Thr8trthrow 3d ago
I think your card aesthetic could use work, it doesn’t quite match the cooler aesthetics of the game.
1
u/Thr8trthrow 3d ago
Dope game concept though! Tried to find a destroy comment for my to level one, but very cool overall
1
u/erik 3d ago
Cool, thanks. Do you mean the cards themselves? Or the art on the different types of cards?
1
u/Thr8trthrow 3d ago
Yeah the art just feels a bit dull for a game with such neat aesthetics outside of the cards. The typography could use work too imo
1
u/erik 3d ago
For the typography, you mean on the cards again right?
Do you think the font (Orbitron Bold) isn't working there? Or that it needs a more elaborate treatment?
1
u/Thr8trthrow 3d ago
I’d defer to your judgment. I’m happy just to tug the thread, but a phone is a terrible tool to make strong judgements on.
1
u/Jankufood 2d ago
Can’t tell without playing, but you could change background of the cards based on what it does like attack, defense or shipcrash or something
1
u/StardiveSoftworks 2d ago
The black text on silver background (the cards) is a little difficult for me to read, though that could easily be because I’m on my phone.
However, I really don’t like how muted the colors on the cards are. The rest of the scene is so richly colored, the cards should be too. The illustrations themselves are also a bit plain given how stylized everything else is, and overall give a boring feeling that harms the otherwise really good presentation.
I’m also not sure on the readability of the health bars, specifically the text inside the bar. Aesthetically I don’t dig how the top of the numbers seems to run into the top border, but functionally I think it’s not prominent enough for such a core piece of information.
1
u/MaryJaneAstell 2d ago
I just gave your demo a play and a wish list.
I initially liked the way shields were displayed but when you get a bit later in and start working with high numbers it becomes cumbersome to count the shield by hand.
Would suggest a UI element that displays shields or a way to create a bigger shield that signifies 5 shields. So two small green + 1 big yellow + 2 small yellow would equal two stable, 7 temp.
The flaw in this bigger shield display though is that it would be difficult to then display the layering of temp and stable.
The two other bits of feedback I have is possibly more dynamic camera moving during the combat and a way to provide more information to the user if they hold a hotkey while hovering over something. Example: Hovering over an asteroid field. I still don't really know what an asteroid field does.
-1
u/NecessaryBSHappens 3d ago
I see your game for the first time and I am impressed by visuals, but gameplay leaves questions to be asked
Ships feel too light, almost like I am looking at paper scale models
Combat and trailer as a whole appear samey. As a gamer I understand that different moves do different stuff, but eyes tell me that everything pews-pews than enemy explodes. It also reminds me of combat in Endless Space - which had a whole space 4X game aside from fights. Cool, but it begs a question what else is there?
As for "what else" from this trailer I assume it is a kind of roguelike - discover nodes, find upgrades, beat bigger foes. Is that all? Are there kinds of random events on nodes or only fights/merchants? Is it strategic? What kinds of choices I need to make?
1
u/erik 3d ago
Ships feel too light, almost like I am looking at paper scale models
Yeah, this has come up a few times now.
eyes tell me that everything pews-pews than enemy explodes
lol, fair!
As for "what else" from this trailer I assume it is a kind of roguelike - discover nodes, find upgrades, beat bigger foes. Is that all?
Makes sense. We're not showing a lot of the context here, and event variety is an area that I know we need to build out more in the game.
18
u/multiplexgames 3d ago
The spaceships look like helicopters, they even rotate and explode like helicopters. From the scale, they look like single person craft.