Read below or download via this link, Summary of Competitor Evaluation & Analysis
Introduction
For the best chance to create an engaging and responsive user interface initial research was conducted by evaluating 5 games with regards to the 14 chosen heuristics, as well as evaluating how each of these games localize their content. I have chosen a mix of PC and Mobile games. As well as heuristically evaluating these games, I’ve analysed each of their features and have created two spreadsheets containing the sum of my research. Each of the five games researched, reside in the same genre as our own, an Isometric shooter. Below I have summarised my research to make it easier and clearer for my team and myself to view. I have highlighted aspects of their interfaces where we should not follow and aspects which we should use for inspiration.
Hatred (PC)
It’s obvious that Hatred had the biggest production budget out of all the games. The games menu’s options and the interface in general are very professional and consists of all the features you would expect from a high calibre game, including;
- In depth fully customizable graphics parameters to cater to various different players using different types of systems
- A fully integrated tutorial which is consistent with the story and flow of the game.
- Fully customizable control scheme
- A range of difficulty options compared to the rest.
- A number of language options for the game (8 languages)
However, there are some very questionable decisions the designers of Hatred have made, which I would think for our game, we should shy away from, including;
- No scoring system
- Unspecified settings
- Health and other UI components at the bottom of the screen (illogical?)
- Tips giving wrong info
- Tutorial inaccessible unless you restart entire game
- Language selection hidden in menus
Overall the interface is very usable and the game is very playable. The usability problems I found are very minor, except for the UI components being at the bottom of the screen, which is very hard to focus on when you’re shooting at enemies at the top of the screen, and the lack of a scoring system which is there to flatter the player and motivate them, however this may be due to the style of the game (not arcade game).
Minigore 2 (Mobile)
Minigore 2 was chosen because it’s an improvement on the earlier title, Minigore 1. Both games have the same amount of review stars (4.5/5) on the apple app store, and has strong reviews from big organizations such as the Guardian newspaper, IGN and GameTrailers. With over 6 million recorded players worldwide it’s clear that Minigore is an example of a very successful action game on mobile. Features I feel which we can incorporate or take inspiration from include;
- Camera customization
- Integrated tutorial. Consistent with story and flow of game
- Main menu is the shop, level select and play screen (innovative menu)
- Objectives in the pause menu
Areas where the interface and game is lacking in, include;
- Entrances to locations can be easily misinterpreted
- Enemies/Allies can be misinterpreted
- Menus, icons and type are not consistent in colour
- Unspecified options
Overall, Minigore is an extremely well made and incredibly fun game. The controls are very simple with the option to customize them. The interface is easy to navigate however confusing at the start as there is no real ‘Main menu’, however after a few minutes of playing it becomes natural and feels quicker than other games I have evaluated. The game is very fast paced and with no real ‘main’ menu, as a player I could navigate between levels extremely quickly and access a variety of the games features seamlessly. One of the best features I found was the visibility of objectives in the pause menu, motivating the player to play the game to receive rewards.
12 is better than 6 (PC)
12 is better than 6 was chosen because the game fits into the genre of ‘Top down’ shooter, which doesn’t stick with the genre of Isometric, however it is very close. The game is extremely original and innovative in terms of the visuals, the difficulty and the style of the game. Because of the game’s novelty, I feel it would be wise to seek inspiration from it for our own project. Features I feel which we can take inspiration from include;
- Language selection at the very start of the game (Localization)
- Customization of resolution
- Customizable camera
- Graphics customization
- Tutorial at the very start of the game and consistent with story and flow.
- Level select feature
- Perks shown in the menu
- Excellent feedback to player regarding health and ammo count
Areas where the interface is lacking, include;
- Interactive objects aren’t immediately visible (motivates search and explore?)
- Enemies are easily misinterpreted
- No visual feedback in different character states (stealth)
- Unavailable perks, no description how to achieve
- No mini-map
- No error prevention when exiting game or level
Overall, this indie game is very usable and novel to it’s genre. With innovative game play features, regarding the reloading, the difficulty and art style, the value for money is excellent. The interface is very simple and easy to navigate. I didn’t find any major problems with the UI, only a few minor problems. I think the main things to take away from this game are the perks shown in the pause menu, which could be partnered with objectives, referring to Minigore 2. Also the animations in the interface provide amazing feedback to the player, e.g., revolver chamber spinning when firing and bullets animating into it when reloading. Also with regards to localization the game provides language selection and the beginning of the game, eliminating frustrations of searching for your native language through incomprehensible words.
Zombiewood
Zombiewood was chosen because of its similarities to our own game. Zombiewood is an isometric survival game, much like Minigore 2.Also similar to Minigore, Zombiewood has consistently received 4-5 star reviews. The game has a very arcade style feel like Minigore 2 and our own game DND, but it has a stronger focus on the story, which I feel we could learn from and incorporate into our own game. Not an indie game, but rather it was created by the well renowned game developer, Gameloft. Features to take inspiration from include;
- Language selection at the very start of the game (Localization)
- Tutorial integrated into the main game and consistent with story and flow
- Great sound and visual feedback (e.g. Health, Pickups etc)
- Tutorial is completely graphical
- Enemies/Pickups etc and very visible.
- Good error prevention
Areas in which not to follow include;
- UI not consistent in colour
- Tips are easily missed
- Redundant UI components
- Layout of icons make it hard to actually tap on some of them
- Inconsistent UI visuals
Overall Zombiewood has a very usable interface and the in game interface itself is responsive. However I can’t help but compare it to Minigore 2, which I feel did a better job in terms of the UI. Both games have very very similar features however the consistency of the visual style in Minigore 2 and the general simplicity and layout make it the more enjoyable out of the two. In any case Zombiewood has provided me with some good guidelines on creating the UI for our project, in terms of what to include and what not to include.
Exanima
Exanima was chosen as it fits into the genre specifications and because of its originality and novelty in the genre. Exanima is a very accomplished and successful game and has received very high reviews on Steam (720 positive to 156 negative). The game can be compared to games such as Dark souls and Bloodborne. These, and Exanima are very hardcore games where the player is rewarded minimally and punished significantly. Because of its hardcore nature some of the usability faults may be implemented with that in mind, as to create a more realistic and harder experience. This will be taken into account. Features I believe we could take inspiration from include;
- In depth graphical customization
- Controllable camera
- Tips
- Customizable controls
- Good feedback (being hit, attacking, etc)
- In game UI layout (only critical info is displayed)
- Drag and drop item selection
Areas in which I believe we should not follow include;
- Pickups are easily missed
- No tutorial, just a huge block of text
- Unspecified game mode
- No instructions or tips how to navigate and control character customization screen
- Level design must be remembered (no mini-map – Hardcore)
In general, playing Exanima is an enjoyable experience, however it has some major flaws in the design and UI which I feel can’t be overlooked. Even though the game is meant to be difficult, it should not be difficult to understand and navigate through its menus. I think there is a lot to learn from Exanima, from their successes and their mistakes.
Conclusion
All of the games studied have things they do well, and things they don’t do well or leave out. I tried to choose games that stuck within our genre, however are completely different in the way they play and their styles, visually and in the way they play.
After experiencing all of the above games and evaluating and analysing them I feel I’ve come across a good number of good and bad points from which I can design a responsive and intuitive user interface. I feel this summary document will help myself and the team as we can refer to this quickly, without the need to look through my spreadsheets.
The findings to take inspiration from and to use from each game above should relate identically to the heuristics I have chosen for the evaluations, therefore I believe it more necessary, helpful and relevant to include a list of summarised ‘bad’ findings below, as well as the features to possibly include. As we can refer to the end column of my spreadsheets or directly to the heuristics to create good features in the design of the UI. I feel we need to summarise all the bad points so we can refer to them and compare them with the heuristics I’ve chosen to have a list of things to do, and a list of things to not do. Therefore below I have summarised the findings in which we should make sure to not include in our project.
Summary of findings and features to include in DND;
- customizable graphics
- tutorial which is consistent with the story and flow of the game
- customizable control
- range of difficulty options
- A number of language/regional options at the very start of the game (Localization)
- Camera customization
- Objectives in the pause menu (If we will have objectives – Tech lead/Game des)
- Level select feature
- Perks shown in the menu (If we will have perks – Tech lead/Game des)
- Visual feedback (e.g. Health, Pickups, ammo, etc)
- Audible feedback (e.g. Health, Pickups, ammo, etc)
- Tutorial is completely graphical (Localization)
- Enemies/Allies/Pickups etc and very visible.
- Good error prevention
- Tips
- In game UI layout (only critical info is displayed)
- Scoring system
Summary of findings and features not to include in DND;
- Unspecified settings
- Health and other UI components at the bottom of the screen (illogical?)
- Tips giving wrong info
- Language selection hidden in menus
- Entrances to locations can be easily misinterpreted
- Menus, icons and type are not consistent in colour
- Interactive objects aren’t immediately visible
- Redundant UI components
- Layout of icons make it hard to actually tap on some of them
- Pickups are easily missed
- No tutorial, just a huge block of text
- Unspecified game mode
Download Link here:
dsphero6.wordpress.com 