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Off With Their HUDS!
Gamasutra has a piece looking at the move to unite player and gameworld by removing the HUD from the gameplay space. From the article: "Many elements found on a typical HUD are there not out of necessity, but out of convention; they represent a sort of 'info overkill' that, for the vast majority of players, has no impact on gameplay at all. For every piece of information you offer the player, ask, 'Is this information essential to the game experience?' In doing so, you might find that you don't need to bombard the player with quite as much data as you once thought you did."
I think the Half-Life series very well understands this...
-You get a weapons menu when you try to scroll through weapons but otherwise it's not there
-You get the flashlight in the top right
-You get health, armor and ammo
Then you have games like Deus Ex: Invisible War.
-Half the stinkin screen is HUD. To make matters worse, the HUD is elyptical so it creates this circle in the center of your screen that is the only useful part of your video display...
Nuff said.
Would it be too much to ask to make HUDS in games customizeable. Make it scriptable and also include a graphical means to create the HUD setup you like akin to the idea of customizeable home pages where you can add and remove "boxes", drag them around, and even choose what information is shown in each box.
$sys$droids
The riddick game actually does this quite well. Without combat, there's no hud, in hand-to-hand there's an abstract health meter only, and when reloading a weapon it shows a count of remaining clips. Ammo readout is on the gun itself, there's no other hud.
I am one of many. My idea is not unique, nor do I expect my voice alone to sway you. I speak in a chorus of opinion.
undergarmets!
Really, the question of whether HUD is more/less realistic depends on what the game is designed to do.
from TFA:
However, nothing screams "this is just a game" louder than an old-fashioned HUD.
Not so! If the game is a FPS, then having a HUD might greatly increase the 'immersion factor' (a factor which I don't necessarily think is part of good gaming...that's another post). A soldier of the future might very well have a helmet w/ an HUD.
another thing, HUD doesn't have to be intrusive. It could be modified to take up mere millimeters of space around the edge of the screen. Most games have options like this. (i'd give examples but I haven't played much recently...i still know a good game when i see it tho)
Thank you Dave Raggett
I find it interesting that they refer to the rise of the casual gamer as a reason to go hud-less. From what I've seen, game companies try very very hard to create immersive games that don't have much to offer the casual gamer.
There are 11 types of people. Those who understand binary, those who don't and those who are sick of this lame joke.
I know I've always liked an interface where everything is visible, even if not strictly needed to play the game.
Goldeneye/Perfect Dark on the N64 could be set up to show nothing at all on the screen, plus you could only ever see your health by getting hit or pausing (which caused its own set of problems in GE).
This one is a no-brainer.
The article isn't just talking about removing HUDs, they want alternative methods of conveying the same information.
Anywho, reading the conclusion gives you a good idea of what the rest of TFA is about
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
I agree. Now we just have to explain it to CNN Headline News and MTV.
How many times do I see articles that might as well be talking about Red Orchestra. They basically have removed all crosshairs, ammo counts, and health stastics.
All information is through visual, sound, or textual cues.
Example1: If you are low on stamina, your guy breathes heavy.
Example2: To find out how much ammo you have, reload and you'll get a message that says, your clip is heavy etc.
Example3: You don't get cross hairs. If you want to aim, you hit ironsites and it brings you guy up to your eyelevel and you use the 3d model to aim.
Very fun... Very realistic... Prolly the best WWII sim out there and these guys are an indie company.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
The reasons that HUD displays exist is that they do their job quite well. They convey information to the player very directly and very simply.
If you were to try to make a fighting game without a health meter, you would have to convey the state of health of the player in a different manner. This could probably be done through modifying the character animations, and by changing certain key textures. But this solution will require custom art assets for every player in the game, and it would need to be quite detailed. This will add months of development time to what should be an otherwise very quick job. On top of that, while the efforts to remove HUD Elements to increase immersiveness can be very effective, such efforts do not deliver the most bang for the buck in terms of improving a game.
Using the above fighting game example, I would much prefer to have the developers add extra characters, or more combat moves.
END COMMUNICATION
buzzword: a word or phrase that is popular in use, but not as popularly understood as a concept
I used to be in broadcast journalism, and from my def. above, 'information clutter' is mostly used as a buzzword in TFA. Yes, information clutter exists, but not when the user, receiver has control...
you may reply that TV news like CNN, etc. have crawls and graphics all over the place that are not changable...indeed they do, but it's not the USE of the crawl that is bad, it is what is put on the crawl, and also, the quality of graphics.
I agree that TV news graphics suck in general, but they are theoretically a step forward in the evolution of visual communication.
Digital graphcis are severely UNDERUTILIZED in TV news, that doesn't mean we should get rid of it...we just need to learn how to use it better. Don't throw the baby out w/ the bathwater.
Thank you Dave Raggett
The AC series are about the only games I've ever played where you needed access to all of the information that you could get through the HUD. And while I haven't played any released in the last 2 or 3 years, on the PS2, they've also always had the best options for the HUD. You can customize it to display any of about 20 different items, including next to none at all. Sort of makes things more interesting if you can't see your ammo remaining. :)
Request: ECM unit, 1000 km fullerene cable, 1 tactical nuclear weapon. Reason: Birthday party for foreign dignitary.
I'd just be happy if the HUD in America's Army let you up the font size in the chat window. Note to game developers: You can't read 8 point text on a 1680x1050 monitor without shoving your face right up to the screen, and you can't do that without getting shot in the game.
The small font size makes the "Report Location" button useless... I hear the beep, but I can't read the location.
Comment of the year
"Cycling colors or animated textures can also invigorate a lifeless HUD while decreasing the threat of burn-in."
Aaargh! I HATE gratitious animation in programs. Things should NOT attract my attention unless they are important!
The other problem is that fundementally computer games are running on a computer. They are not real life - thus, a HUD showing "your" health is just part of the connection between you and the game-world. In real life, you would already know how you were feeling.
I have always turned off most of the HUDs on my FPS games. The only HUD that I want/need to keep is the crosshair, without it I find that I usually cok my head to the side and try to look down the barrel of the gun (and end-up missing the target because the gun never actually points at where the crosshairs go.)
I actually take it ever further, I will remove the gun too. I find I am a better player if I only have the crosshairs.
My point: make them an option that you can turn on/off. OBTW, what the hell are some of these people thinking by not including an option to invert the mouse axis?!?!?!
I can only play with an "airplane" style Y-axis (you push the mouse forward; and the plane dives down/FPS gun points toward the ground), I will admit that I am probable in the minority but for the love of all that is decent in the world, LET ME CHOOSE if I want an inverted mouse!
It seems like this trend is getting popular.
"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
The HUD in Metroid Prime had a lot of useless decoration but it also added a lot to the experience.
Similarly, The Prince is always in the bottom right corner of the screen in Katamari Damacy. He's a swell looking little fellow and fun to watch even if he doesn't convey much information to the player. I think it adds a lot to the aesthetics of the game.
This may sound foreign to a lot of nerds, but most people like to use things that look nice. The interface of a game is no exception, a neat looking HUD will improve the game as long as it's not intrusive.
Make a 3D display like the ones in the .Hack TV series. Or at least make effective add-ons so you can have a wristwatch that has a compass on it, or a vest that turns red depending on how much your character's bleeding, stuff like that.
But I'd rather go to the 3D glasses, because I really hate not being able to shoot backwards while looking forward. All that fast scrolling gives me migraines and nausea X-(
I personally hate HUDs. I wish games had a less obtrusive manner of letting us know our health, or ammo count. I feel any sort of HUD detracts from the experience itself. I want to feel like I'm in a movie or actually experiencing what I'm doing, and I can't do that with a HUD. I want to check my ammo count by weighing the magazine in my hands - I want to know how hurt I am by looking at my wounds.
Then again, I'm a fan of realism games :)
"Better to be vulgar than non-existent" -Bev Henson
The Getaway for PS2 lacked any HUD and I have to say it was a mixed result.
The good: Definitely helps for immersion. No health meter, you just watch your character stagger around with bloodier and bloodier clothes, breathing heavily.
The bad: When you're driving, there is no map. You have to watch your character as he signals left or right, and turn in the direction he is indicating. The problem with this is that you have no idea where you are going, but your character does, but you're the one driving, not the character. Interesting but frustrating.
They had a very good thing going with some of the weapons showing the remaining ammo on the weapon itself, but imo the incosistency of some weapons that were -not- having that ability limited them in still sicking with a GUI for the ammo.
I don't get it why they didn't totally drop the GUI in favor of models with the ammo displayed on it.
A non-GUI thing, but a bit related: I -do- think that it was a very good decision of them to drop the 'use'-button in favor of point-and-clicking at items/objects within reach.
I can't even remember the last time I saw a HUD shown in screenshots of any games on high-profile gaming websites.
Of course, the screenshots they show usually are 10 times better than what you actually get when you buy the game.
Some games HAVE done away with the HUD. In Hostile Intent, a mod for HL1, it's not used to add to the realism. You have to keep count of how many rounds you have left, and you have to aim down the sight of your weapon (no crosshair to speak of).
$ whatis themeaningoflife
themeaningoflife: not found
I can't imagine playing the Thief series of games without the light (visibility) gem.
Trolling is a art,
To me the question of HUD design really depends on the game.
Some titles really lend themselves to a simplified HUD. Something beautiful, elegant, and unobtrusive. For instance, Red Orchestra (as mentioned by another thread on this news posting) has all of three persistant elements: A paper doll, a clip count, and a pocket watch. Gorgeous HUD, awesome game.
On the other hand, some games DO lend themselves to detailed HUDs. Unfortunatly the only poignant example I can think of is a personal one, and that would be the custom interfaces in World of Warcraft. I've pieced together my own setup that not a lot of people seem to like (though i'm not suprised). During full raid-mode it's disgusting... to some, in the sense of filth... but to me, the only disgusting thing is just how much information I have. I'm an officer in my guild, so one of my duties is keeping things organized during raids. This means status indicators on all 40 players, multiple chat boxes, indicators of what the monsters are doing, etc, etc etc. A good 3/4ths of my screen is partially obscured by something.... and y'know what? I love it! I equate it to landing an aircraft by instrument (which, I guess, would be another example: flight sims). It may not look 'pretty' but in terms of control, precision, and raw data, its unrivaled by anything one could ever dream of with a spartan HUD.
So while I do enjoy the slimmed down or integrated HUDs we're seeing in more and more games, I still think a good solid HUD isn't something a developer (or player!) should shy away from in all situations. Sometimes half the fun of a game is being swept away in an avalanche of input, and then deciding how to act on it!
How about minimalist HUDs or customizable (as mentioned above a few times) HUDs rather than getting rid of them? Look at the HUD for Prey. It doesn't take up the whole screen, but it gives all the information the player needs in a (semi)creative format. How about Jet Force Gemini (N64)? The weapons indicator is always present, showing your current weapon/ammo, and expands to show more weapons when you change weapons. The health is only present when your health increases or decreases, and fades away after that.
Wake me when the REAL innovators return to development.
Simple: Some weapons made sense with the HUD on them, some didn't. And they were designing the HUD to the game, not the other way around.
Where would you put the display on the pistol?
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
I agree with the ammo... People manage to keep track in real life and the movies fine without any HUD telling them how much ammo they have. Or, they lose track and it makes it more dramatic... I mean, Dirty Harry just wouldn't be as cool with a little ammo gauge on his gun.
Well, do ya, punk?
The client UI for the Dark Age of Camelot MMORPG is defined in XML and is highly customizable. I'm not sure if the license explicitly allows redistribution, but there are numerous sites distributing mods, and I've never heard of Mythic going after any of them.
Read the citation only if you wish to see how horrible drone-journalism it is. Otherwise just look at the highlight:
It is only recently that console developers have begun to address the hi-def revolution taking place in living rooms around the globe. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, over 12 million high-definition televisions (HDTVs) were sold in the United States between 1998 and 2004, and the market continues to grow rapidly; research firm Strategy Analytics has predicted HDTVs in almost 30 million American homes by 2008. With the advent of a new generation of consoles, developers are finally taking advantage of the ultra-sharp screen resolutions and theater quality sound offered by these increasingly common home entertainment systems. However, millions of high-definition televisions have an Achilles heel that can hinder developers as well: burn-in.
Coming Next to Slashdot: Fanless PCs, because PC fans contribute to drafts in your room and may cause cold, flu etc.
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
The HUD in the Metroid Prime games is actually really well done. Of course, in that game it has a reason to be there...since you're walking around in a really high tech powered armorsuit. It's okay to have a HUD if it's believable in the context of the game and isn't excessive.
"A screaming display flashes up on the goggles informing him that the millimeter-wave radar notices a steam of bullets heded in hi direction an would like to know where they came from, Sir?...He tuns off all the techno-shit in his goggles. All it does is confuse him; he stands there reading statices about his own death even has its happening to him. Very Post-Modern. Time tp get immersed in Reality, like the people around him" Neal Stephenson
Mikey
I've always been the kinda guy to fall for the girl dressed like an eskimo.
The recent Xbox game Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth does both these things. When you're in-game, there is no HUD. Additionally, instead of just a "Health Bar", it has a model of you with various injurable spots. Get shot in the leg, you walk slow. Shot in the arm, your aim is off. Lose too much blood, your vision drains of color. It's definately one of the more immersive games I've played lately.
That game was 80% HUD, but it felt leet watching your mech boot up, and looking at all the pretty radars and switches and shit. Hell, look at the controller. Man I want that game..
Next week, Google will unveil its new gHUD technology. gHUD allows the player to immerse themselves within a game without information overload. Rival Yahoo's HUD currently only lets players see 1/4 of their screen.
Im not sure if it was ever used this way but the Dreamcast VMS had the potential to be used as a stats display, and certainly the bottom screen on the DS is used like this, to great effect I think.
I dont think any of the current or next gen of consoles are offering anything like this, but a separate lcd display on either the console or the controller could be used as compromise between the info rich but obtrusive HUD and a cool looking but confusing displayless gaming environment.
If you think about the real life user interface of a car or just about any powered vehicle, information is displayed on separate gauges away from the main feild of view of the user. I know aircraft and I think some cars use HUDs, but these are as a suplement to the rest of the dials and gauges. Im sure a HUD showing all the instruments of a plane would be very intrusive.
This kind of display is something most people are going to be used to and will presumably find intuitive, Mario Kart DS has a minimap on the lower screen and it's very handy. As well as the normal fairly uncluttered display on the top screen, you've also got a very easy way to check the positions and see whats coming next with hardly and disruption to the flow of the game.
First thing the article summary (DNRTFA) made me think of was one of the coolest unlockables for SF3: Third Strike for Dreamcast. In the Extra Options menu you could actually make it so you couldn't see your life bar (it was either greyed out or completely removed, I forget which). That made for some pretty interesting fights, because it was hard to tell (unless it was one-sided) who was winning at any given point in time until the round suddenly ended.
I'm not sure I've ever seen that option in any other fighting game I've ever played. I wish that was a standard option in most games, though. I loved it.
As far as FPS games go, I tend to forget to pick up health packs if I don't have a flashing health percentage somewhere on the screen. They'd have to at least indicate that you were hurting somehow.
Heh, it'd be cool if someone made a game where the character's hud is in a contact lens, and a la "The Diamond Age" at one point the HUD is hacked. Then again maybe not.
without all of that "useless" HUD info. Ya, I know the writer is thinking more about games that are meant to be more of a cinematic experience than a game - but personally, I think games like the Ace Combat series, Armored Core, the Battlefield series, and a LOT of others achieve a cinematic effect through plot lines and making the player THINK about where they are in absolute space compared to, say the ground they could smash into, and their relative position to the enemy they are combating.
Personally (keep in mind that this might be just me here), I don't give a shit about the HUD getting in my way - I like it there, if I cant see my speed, altitude, radar, angle, ammo count (how much I have total and how long it'll take to reload) I'll go crazy from information deprivation.
If the game's designers cant tell me the story during gameplay when I'm pulling 3 or 4 g's via the radio chatter (or about to breach a room in a house to house clearing in a FPS with my squadmates talking to me) and a mix of cutscenes/cinematics (depending on how far back you wanna go - include FMV's) - the game designers and story writers need to rethink their methods before I play a game by their design house again.
I used to both love and hate this about the Silent Hill series of action/survival games, as well as Resident Evil. You didn't have a number for health/armor, you just had an EKG meter that went from a stable, bright green display (full HP) to jittery red to represent near-death. You had to gauge how badly hurt you were from the relative color/heart rate and choose which medicine to use to maximize healing without waste. Should I use a small ointment/herb or a full-blown medkit ?
Much different from the FPS genre where each item is worth N health, such as Quake 3/4 where you just camp out the armor shards and build yourself up to 200. It marks the difference between realism and arcade-like simplicity. In Quake you don't want to have to guess, it's more of a sport than a horror experience.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
The problem I have with it is that, even when you can see you're getting demolished, you're still just guessing how close you are to hitting the mat. It was definitely immersive, but as a gamer, I like having concrete information to play by. Especially in close matches against tough AI: losing a dozen rounds of a story mode match without seeing whether you're making any headway might be "Real," but it doesn't sound "Fun."
The article really hits hard on the fact that HUDs can cause Burn-In. It neglects though that almost every game it praises for not having a HUD, has static elements. People frequency forget that elements of their screen never move. For example, in a first person shooter, your gun rarely moves. It is typically perched in the center of the screen while all of the other elements around it, move. Third-person action games (Platformers) typically keep their main character near the same place on the screen.
While those elements aren't as pronounced as a HUD, they can still force the same problem.
Reloading at every break in the action is pretty much standard training for all close quarters battle. It avoids the unpleasant sensation of pointing a gun at an enemy and going click.
Just because the programmer was too lazy to support an inventory, you're forced into an choose between equally bad options: waste half a magazine, or risk running out at the wrong time.
Rainbow Six handled this very well (on the PC anyway; never played it on a console, so I can't speak for them). When you reloaded, the old magazine went into inventory, and the game automatically used the most full magazine left. So, at the start, reloads always give a full magazine. Later in the mission, a partially-used magazine may be all you have left, so a reload might only be half a magazine, or less. Some games I'd have 4 magazines left...and the most full had 4 shots in it.
Of course, Rainbow Six had its own problems. For example, you were not allowed to pick up anything...not ammo, not guns. The rationale was that a highly trained special ops dude would never trust an enemy's weapon. That's nice, but when you are completely out of ammo, why not pick up a gun off a teammate? Dumb.