UI - UX help needed | GameMaker Kitchen | Page 1

blissful atlas Dec 3, 2022, 2:26 PM

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@sonic patio needs some help! https://twitter.com/elskwhite/status/1599045195546255360?s=20&t=cPTSwTbSBogQSmH4AJwoIw

ugh okay i'm gonna throw this out to the internet because it's weighing me down: would someone with UI/UX experience, especially in menu-heavy games, be willing to give me some hopefully quick advice? i absolutely cannot pay, you would just be doing a small sad dev a big favor

sonic patio Dec 3, 2022, 2:27 PM

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oh thank you juju ;~;

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i can write and edit things as a labour trade but i have no moneys

blissful atlas Dec 3, 2022, 2:27 PM

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i'd do it myself but i am no UI/UX designer

sonic patio Dec 3, 2022, 2:27 PM

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i guess maybe ill just post it here ...? in a lil bit

blissful atlas Dec 3, 2022, 2:28 PM

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please

sonic patio Dec 3, 2022, 2:32 PM

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alrightly, lessee if i have a screenshot handy...

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here we go. so I need to communicate to the player that they need to:

choose an item from the left hand list. this brings up the top dialogue bubble.
they can then either select a different piece of evidence to look at, or "lock" that evidence in and open the second dialogue bubble to choose a second piece of evidence to combine with the first. if you've played the Ace Attorney Investigations game, it's similar to the Logic mechanic from that.
what people get confused about is the second part, which is understandable, but i'm too deep in the sauce to figure out how to fix it. i can reposition text and graphical elements pretty easily.

violet dove Dec 3, 2022, 2:42 PM

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sonic patio here we go. so I need to communicate to the player that they need to: 1. choose ...

I would maybe add a '+ 'or an downward arrow in between your dialogue bubbles

sonic patio Dec 3, 2022, 2:42 PM

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ooh 🤔

violet dove Dec 3, 2022, 2:44 PM

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you could also add a "placeholder" bubble once your first piece of evidence is locked in, where your character says 'what other element could I connect this too ?" or some other form of hidden player instruction. Once the second piece is selected, it replaces that placeholder bubble

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generally you want to add visual cues that help the player understand the flow of the system, what's the next step the player should take

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If you've not played tangle towers, it's a good exemple of mechanics onboarding through the UX (which for me would combine the affordance of the UI and these narrative cues the protagonist gives the player by thinking out loud)

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hope that's helpful 😊

#UI - UX help needed