New Jumpgate dev journal on MMORPG.com
NetDevil's Steve Hartmeyer penned a new entry for the Jumpgate Evolution developer journal on MMORPG.com. Today's topic deals with the "make or break" functionality of a game's User Interface (UI). While rarely something that actually "makes" a game, if not done properly, it can certainly break it. There really is nothing worse than a clumsy, annoying UI to wreck an otherwise beautiful game.
As Steve says, if a UI doesn't work players will simply go play something else. And he's right. It's ironic how this major component seems to get completely overlooked by developers. There are a lot of games that simply have wretched interfaces. Take for instance EVE Online. Over this past weekend I spent several hours in game for the first time. It's simply not my cup of tea, yet I know it is for a great many people. Perhaps it's the enormous amount of micromanagement that must be done, but to me the UI was very confusing and annoying. Which brings up another point. What may be wretched to me isn't at all to someone else. So the big question for the developers becomes: with a myriad of presentation options (and an endless number of different gamers to please), how do you build the right user interface?
Thankfully, the gang at NetDevil take this question very seriously, understand that it is important, and are hard at work to make the displays and controls accessible and easy to use. This is evident by this quote from Steve in his entry: Key choices must be practically self-evident. Frustration must be minimized, especially in the first fifteen minutes of play, when the new player is deciding whether the game is interesting or not.
If anyone is planning on attending the Jumpgate - Stratics COH chat tonight, be sure to drill Steve on the UI. I'm sure he'll appreciate it!
