BrandFeelsGood » Aquaria http://brandfeelsgood.com It's the little things that count! Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:22:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 AquariaWhich Menu Screen is Selected? http://brandfeelsgood.com/2008/use_visual_hints_in_game_menus/ http://brandfeelsgood.com/2008/use_visual_hints_in_game_menus/#comments Sun, 20 Jan 2008 04:22:29 +0000 Chris http://brandfeelsgood.com/blog/?p=7 Update! This problem has been addressed in the new version of Aquaria 1.1.0. A small glow effect now indicates which menu icon is selected. A definite improvement.

Aquaria menu buttons with a soft glow effect

Menu button highlighted with a soft glow effect

Summary:
When designing menu screens, use visual hints to indicate the current menu.

Aquaria recipe screen

Recipe screen from Aquaria

Problem: When searching for a menu button it’s easy to choose the same menu button twice, the button currently selected is not clearly indicated.

Aquaria uses a tab like menu system divided into four menu screens, each screen is similar to the others.

Aquaria menu screens

Menu screens

Solution: When the gamer clicks on the menu button, display a visual hint on or beside it. The hint remains visible until a different menu button is clicked on.

Buttons without visual hint

Menu buttons without visual hint

Buttons with visual hint

Menu buttons with visual hint to indicate selected menu

Aquaria menu screens with hints

Menu screens with visual hints

Aquaria is a beautiful game with beautiful artwork, however, beautiful artwork will not guarantee that a game feels beautiful to play. A menu system that is unpredictable removes that happy shiny feeling a gamer gets when playing a game.

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