Wargame UIs deserve more attention!
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2024 11:48 am
Game workflow and UI are among the most important aspects of a game. However, wargame designers often neglect this part. Please consider:
There is a hierarchy of how often during the typical gameplay
1) Certain information must be accessed.
2) Certain interactions with the game must be performed.
The highest items on the information list must be always visible on the screen. The highest priority actions should be a single left/right click or simple one key shortcuts grouped closely together around the WASD region.
Also make sure that the information GUI and the action UI are attuned to each other. What is the key action or information changes if you are ordering air strikes instead of moving ground units and the UI should adapt accordingly.
The button for action X and all relevant information for action X should be grouped together and visible at once without opening different windows.
For a positive reference example, consider unit movement workflow of Gary Grigsby's WitE1. Move, attack, set unit state are all single click actions with all relevant information available on the map at one glance and simple, intuitive shortcuts.
But some games hide routine actions such as setting the unit state in sub-sub menus without any shortcuts or use shortcuts such as Ctrl-K for this, which require a piano education to use comfortably.
There is a hierarchy of how often during the typical gameplay
1) Certain information must be accessed.
2) Certain interactions with the game must be performed.
The highest items on the information list must be always visible on the screen. The highest priority actions should be a single left/right click or simple one key shortcuts grouped closely together around the WASD region.
Also make sure that the information GUI and the action UI are attuned to each other. What is the key action or information changes if you are ordering air strikes instead of moving ground units and the UI should adapt accordingly.
The button for action X and all relevant information for action X should be grouped together and visible at once without opening different windows.
For a positive reference example, consider unit movement workflow of Gary Grigsby's WitE1. Move, attack, set unit state are all single click actions with all relevant information available on the map at one glance and simple, intuitive shortcuts.
But some games hide routine actions such as setting the unit state in sub-sub menus without any shortcuts or use shortcuts such as Ctrl-K for this, which require a piano education to use comfortably.
