UDK

Today we learnt the basics of the Unreal development kit. these include creating cubes and adding textures to them, adding static meshes and adding actors.

www.youtube.com/user/TGW121

GUI research

For this project i will be making an interface for a non-existent game. This is where my research will go for the development. I'm basing the interface on my game narrative project.

My inspiration on the interface comes from World of Warcraft, Mass Effect and to a lesser extent, Diablo.

World of Warcraft's map is one thing i have drawn inspiration from mainly because of its usefulness and its position on screen. It is something the player can just glance at. The squad control from Mass Effect is used as a method to give team-mates commands without directly controlling them. This is something i have incorporated into my GUI since the game features two playable characters and i wanted a way for controlling them both. Finally, for Diablo i have drawn inspiration from the health and mana display, since this game uses both these elements in its UI.

In respects toward the theoretical game-play, my inspirations come from Ratchet & Clank, Skyrim and, again, World of Warcraft. In R&C's case i have drawn inspiration from the dynamic of two completely different characters drawn together under strange circumstances and forced to co-operate to save the galaxy.  The exploration aspect of Skyrim is another game i have been inspired by mainly because the world my narrative is set in should be explored. Finally, the dragons from World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons have been another source of inspiration.

Below is the interface.

Before i go into detail of the interface i will give some background of the games' story. The game revolves around two characters named Daurin; a 17 year-old guard and Kaiden; a young gold dragon. Both characters have to go on an epic quest to search for the lost fragments of an ancient sword, imbued with the power to stop the darkness from sweeping across Keltaria, homeland of the Humans. both characters are playable in the games' structure.

I have divided the GUI into 4 sections to make it easier to explain.

1. This is the commands that the player can give to one of the two characters. Simply put, if the player is controlling one character and needs to instruct the other character to help solve a problem or puzzle then this would make it easier to do so. The game, theoretically will allow the player to switch between the two characters at a touch of a button, these commands allow for basic control of the other character at all times.

2. This is where the main characters' health and magic bars will be. It also displays the currently equipped weapon at the current moment.

3. This is where the mini-map is displayed. It shows where both the characters are and landmarks such as towns and paths to aid with navigation. The map also shows north, east, south and west directions.

4. This is where the second characters' health, magic and currently equipped weapon or ability will be displayed. It also includes an image of Kaiden's head, this will alternate depending on which character the player is controlling.

Unity

In Unity i have created an island with a surrounding ocean.

First i added a plane to use for terrain, next i added a skybox by going into the render tab in edit. Then i created a point light by going into the gameobject tab, afterwards i added a first-person player control from the project window at the bottom. Using the terrain, i adjusted the terrain height to create two islands and finally i added water using the basic water tool in the project window.

The image is below.

Interfaces, what do?

What is an interface?

The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the machine which aids the operator in making operational decisions. Examples of this broad concept of user interfaces include the interactive aspects of computer operating systems, hand tools, heavy machinery operator controls, and process controls. The design considerations applicable when creating user interfaces are related to or involve such disciplines as ergonomics and psychology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface

General interfaces

An interface isn't only restricted to computers and machinery, it can also apply to everyday objects and interactions. For everyday objects, washing machines have an interface that involves buttons and knobs, pepper grinders require twisting in order to sprinkle, and toasters use a sliding button to put the toast in. Pubs are an interface for human interaction and so restaurants or cafes.

Game interfaces

Below are some screen caps of Internet games and their interfaces.

The last castle

This is a strategy defense game in which you control a wizard, ranger and a warrior. You have to defend the castle from all sorts of nasty. The image above is at the start of the game where you assign skill points to your team. the UI is very easy to understand thanks to the image representations of commands instead of text which complements the art style.

Ultimate Down

Aside from the hilarious grammar, this game has a terrible interface. There is barely anything there besides the health bar and everything else is just text and numbers all in default font. 


Below is my re-working of the health bar i made in flash. it is a lot smoother looking than the original and it includes an icon resembling a first-aid symbol. i also added text such as percentage of health left.

Weather interfaces research

For this project i have to create an interface to display weather information received from an Ecoid device. An Ecoid is a small transmitter which broadcasts raw information to a receiver. It is set-up at a Primary School in Devon and is recording temperature, humidity, light, and basic wind speed, information is transmitted every 20 minutes. 

http://www.i-dat.org/eco-os-workshop-ecoid-prototype/

These are weather interfaces i have researched.

This is from the Sky News website.

This is where the ecoid is stationed.

Iterative Design

Ubiquitous Computing and the internet of things


Ubiquitous computing is a method of human-computer interaction that allows the user to interact with objects  or activities that are in-built with an information processor. In other words, it is machines that fit into the human environments such as the home, cafes and other places that are, intuitive to use and can be activated without the user noticing.

The internet of things refers to objects and their representative copies in an internet structure, this term was used by Kevin Ashton in 1999.  Its basic meaning is objects that can all be fitted with small pieces of technology to be identified through computers, just like the internet.

History of GUI


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_graphical_user_interface#Apple_Lisa_and_Macintosh_.28and_later.2C_the_Apple_IIgs.29

Mind map

Current design

This is the current design of my ecoid interface. The panels from left to right represents the light, heat, wind speed and humidity. They change according to the readings given from the ecoid receiver.