[CBSection31]

Hi everyone,

I'm working on the user interface for my upcoming game, Stonewall Penitentiary, and I'm hoping to get an idea of which of the following two formats people prefer.

Please note that Stonewall Penitentiary will be a realtime 3D game, which means that you can walk around freely as you would in first person shooters and some roleplaying games, although Stonewall Penitentiary will remain solely an adventure.

There are two screenshots, each representing one of the interfaces I am considering. Please let me know which you prefer. Warning: the screenshots are very large!

Example 1
In this example, when you target an object that you can interact with, the object's name appears above the target icon. Right-clicking will examine the object and left-clicking will interact with the object, if an interaction is possible. This is good in that it tells you what hte object is, but it is bad in that it doesn't tell you whether or not you can interact with it, plus the text can get in the way of what you are looking at.

Example 2
In this example, when you target an object that you can interact with, there is no object name. Instead, there are two gray circles always present above the target (to the left and to the right). When you target an object that can be examined, the right circle turns green (pictured in this example). If the object can be interacted with, as well, then the left circle will turn red. This way, you know whether or not an object can be interacted with, instead of having to guess. But the downside is that you won't always know what the object is.

I am posting this poll on other adventure sites, as well, so if you check multiple ones, please only vote on your preference once. If you have any questions or need clarification, just let me know.

Thanks, everyone, for helping me make this a better game!

[QFG]

I voted for the first for this simple reason: the text. You worry about it getting in the way, but I think simply naming objects is an underrated plus. So many times I've moused over some strange object, and have NO IDEA what the heck it is. The text option removes this confusion, and allows one to immediately identify and logically place an object.

[bysmitty]

I put other. I would rather see an interactive object glow when you get close to it or something like that rather than an arbitrary interface or text popping up. This keeps the player immersed in the game world and not taken out of the game by an interface. If there is any confusion as to what the object is, that can be cleared up when the user right clicks on it to examine it. If there is no action that can take place when left clicked, just let the player know though text or speech.

The interface as I am imagining it:
Approach telephone: Object brightness is increased to draw the player’s attention.
Right click telephone: “Wow, an old fashion rotary telephone. I haven’t seen one of these in years. I wonder if it still works.” (Delivered through text or speech)
Left click telephone: “Great, a dial tone. Now, time to get some help.” or “Damn, the line has been cut.” (delivered through text or speech)

Even if no interaction is possible, I would still make sure to let the player know why. Sometimes it may seem redundant to not let you "use" a picture but in the case of a garbage can or something else, it may be a natural reaction. Just a simple line of "I don't need to use the picture" is still more satisfying than clicking and getting nothing or a red light denying the player action.

If this is not feasible, I would opt for example 1.

...bysmitty

P.S. -I thoroughly enjoyed LifeStream and Shady Brook and am eagerly awaiting SP. Best of luck through the rest of development.

[CBSection31]

Thank you for the suggestion! I'll see if I can somehow implement object glowing...that might be difficult with the engine as I've made it so far, but that would be a good third option.

[Nexic]

Defintely the first one, I think the two buttons thing is overly complicated and it will take some time for people to understand it. Plus text is nice.