[WIP] Equipment Screen

[Zizka]

Hello guys  ,

I'm working on the equipment screen for my game. A paper doll system to be more precise, sort of like this:


Grimrock


Baldur's Gate

I'm aiming for something more like Grimrock as the equipment won't show up on the actual doll.

Here's a general rough idea:


The thing is that I have only have 6 slots for equipment: head (armor), torso (main armor), left hand & right hand, foot/legs. The missing slot is misc. (ring, amulet, etc...). So I'm wondering if I use a paper doll in the first place, or one that is that big at least.

So I could just go for something simple like: or using a smaller "doll": I'm just not sure a paper doll is warranted.

There's also the ultima alternative where equipment isn't on the actual body part (like in Grimrock) but rather assigned to a "line":


I'd like suggestions and wips if possible!

Thanks!

[eishiya]

I don't think a big "doll" is warranted, I think you could use a smaller one (though perhaps not as small as your example). For only a few slots, the human-shaped arrangement isn't necessary, but I do think having some sort of spatial arrangement is better than relying solely on text or symbols to identify the slots. Plan the arrangement first, then draw the doll to fit, if you want one. Think of the doll as a unified set of labels for the slots; players will be ignoring it when they get used to the equipment screen.

[Zizka]

Thanks!

Would this work ok?:

[eishiya]

It's a fine arrangement, but it gets lost against the noise of the environment behind it. I'd put it in a window so that there's a solid background behind the icons.

[Zizka]

Ok, here it is again:



Any better?

[eishiya]

It's easier to read, and I like that all the stats are there too, but now you have a lot of distance between the inventory and the equipment slots that the player will have to cover every time they change gear if they want to drag-and-drop. Maybe have smaller margins in the book? Or have a scroll? Or have the inventory on the same page as the equip slots and the stats+character art on the opposite page.

If the inventory is drawn on the page, why is it still in a backpack? Bit of a confused metaphor.
If you like the bag metaphor, what if the inventory screen is drawn on a flap from the bag (maybe the bag opens sideways?), or is a scroll coming out from behind the bag?

[yrizoud]

Be careful to plan for enough space to comfortably handle what happens throughout the game : 3x3 cells in the backpack looks  nice, but if the player has to scroll through 10 pages with the tiny arrow buttons, it's not fun.

The "book" idea is an opportunity to make some very artistic things, especially if it handles many menus like "character" "inventory" "magic", "log" etc.
A google image search for "spellbook UI" provides many examples.

Note that the silhouette "doll" can let you provide some information, for example about character gender, or class. It's helpful if there are items restrictions, or character designs that don't clearly show the class.

[Zizka]

@eishiya: I don't think having a scroll sliding from the side of the backpack would make sense. Having information on the flap is a good idea but since that would include some more unrelated things (like statistics) I find it would be out of place. I agree that the backpack in the book doesn't make sense either.

So I decided to expand on yrizoud's comment regarding the book. I've added three bookmarkers: one for inventory (it's longer now because the inventory is selected), one for spells and skills (on the left) and the one on the right for options.



I've added icons on the separation lines, the backpack for inventory and the magnifying glass which gives you info about whatever is selected by the cursor. Items are now close to the character inventory, which is something you guys mentioned before.

I've also added the four characters on top of the left page. The idea is that clicking on each character will shift to each character's individual inventory.

The book is bigger so that the information fits neatly. That's about it I think.

Good?

[eishiya]

It's weird that the item descriptions aren't on the same page as the inventory. The character sprites at the top also seem out of place.
How about having the different characters be additional bookmarks (perhaps on the side of the book, or at the top on the right) instead of having them take up space on the page. That'll fit the book theme more, too.

Unrelated nitpick: the folded-up corners of the pages are way bigger than they would be, and are apparently cup-shaped xP

[Zizka]

Ok so:



I removed the four characters and replaced them as bookmarks on the right side. I put the equipment description on the same page as the rest of the equipment.

The stats are now on the right. I want to put the skills on the rest of the page on the right as I don't have any ideas as to what I could put there anyway.

I removed the magnifying glass, I felt like it was too much.

As for the page corners, I don't understand the cup thing?

I'd like to have an icon on the line but I don't know what to put. What icon would represent skills? A star? Feels too cartoony. I did a google image search for "skill" but couldn't find something convincing which would fit the dark fantasy theme of the game. Any ideas?