KHI makes a KH game! Discussion #3: Art Direction and Interface Design

[Oracle Spockanort]

I have an idea: no more information bar. Instead party members shout the relevant info during.

I rather like that idea. We can have party members talking during the battle rather than hearing them grunt. "We've got 'em where we want 'em!" "Dodge!" and whatnot. I think the objective should be seen when you pause, though...And definitely no Navigation character like Mitsuru Kirijo and Fuuka Yamagishi (Persona 3) or Teddy and Rise Kujikawa (Persona 4)...or Dr. Blank in T3B. They make for awesome characters, but I'd rather have the characters in our party speak.



This doesn't have to do with the interface, but in a way it does. We should also have character dialogue while running around (like how it is in XIII-2) and we should see appear at the bottom of the screen as the dialogue is told.

 

[Delsan]

I have an idea: no more information bar. Instead party members shout the relevant info during.

Like disneyfreak said, we should just let the party members talk during cutscenes. That'd be really annoying if that happened.

I rather like that idea. We can have party members talking during the battle rather than hearing them grunt. "We've got 'em where we want 'em!" "Dodge!" and whatnot. I think the objective should be seen when you pause, though...And definitely no Navigation character like Mitsuru Kirijo and Fuuka Yamagishi (Persona 3) or Teddy and Rise Kujikawa (Persona 4)...or Dr. Blank in T3B. They make for awesome characters, but I'd rather have the characters in our party speak.

There's really no reason party members could just stick to battle grunts. If we have low HP, the bar should just flash because we don't need an annoying sound to tell us we're low on HP.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Like disneyfreak said, we should just let the party members talk during cutscenes. That'd be really annoying if that happened.

There's really no reason party members could just stick to battle grunts. If we have low HP, the bar should just flash because we don't need an annoying sound to tell us we're low on HP.

You just disagreed with MATGSY's post then agree that "there is no reason party members could just stick to battle grunts" Which one do you want, man!

 

[Delsan]

You just disagreed with MATGSY's post then agree that "there is no reason party members could just stick to battle grunts" Which one do you want, man!

Ah, I must've worded it wrong. Didn't know how to word it lol

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I honestly think by allowing the party to talk during battle (even if minimal) it gives a more realistic feel and make it a bit more strategic because you'll have to listen to your party for good tips. People do complain that KH has too much "mindless button mashing". And during team combat, communication with your teammates is key to success.

 

[Delsan]

I honestly think by allowing the party to talk during battle (even if minimal) it gives a more realistic feel and make it a bit more strategic because you'll have to listen to your party for good tips. People do complain that KH has too much "mindless button mashing". And during team combat, communication with your teammates is key to success.

I wouldn't mind if party members talk during exposition and all that, BUT if they talk during battle, like when your HP is low and donald or goofy says, "Sora, drink a potion!" or whatever every five minutes it'll just be plain annoying. When they talk during exposition I want it to be like in Uncharted when the characters talk about past events during gameplay.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I wouldn't mind if party members talk during exposition and all that, BUT if they talk during battle, like when your HP is low and donald or goofy says, "Sora, drink a potion!" or whatever every five minutes it'll just be plain annoying. When they talk during exposition I want it to be like in Uncharted when the characters talk about past events during gameplay.

Well, that is fine. I mentioned that while they move around they should also talk.

And it isn't like you wouldn't get the option to turn the battle chat off. Most games let you turn it off when they have battle dialogue, anyways. And they don't have to always shout it. If they automatically use their potions, they are fine...but when they run out then they should say it.

 

[Tanner22]

@dicekiller- Apparently you weren't active in the first thread, or you would have seen the outcome. People get all butt hurt when you show the problems in their stories, then needless arguments start, and people form "alliances." There is no point in moving to far ahead, it isn't organized at all. Seriously, we may think we have a story, so someone goes and designs characters, then a different story gets voted in, and people wasted all of their time. It isn't a bad idea to brainstorm, just don't let people get ahead of everyone else. You are a fine point of needless arguments by the way. The way you replied was not called for, so calm down could ya?

 

[riku's_artist7]

I kinda like the set up of how FFXIII was, like the set up of the health and such like how it told u how much health u had
Not really talking about the battle system tho, I like the fast action of kh

Also like the idea of them talking during battle or when they're traveling (again, like how it was in FFXIII)

 

[Professor Ven]

Original Worlds, please; get some dark gothic cathedrals up in this and the gargoyles are actually or turn out to be neoshadow Heartless holy bonk they just came from nowhere *turns and slices with cutscene button command in all its movie-esque glory (similar to Bourne Conspiracy but not mashing triangle button)

Just some dark scary nightmarish worlds to make it more srs then toss some Disney in there with FF and hallelujah it is done. Also, have Mickey laughing while ripping apart a Darkside with his laughter alone would be epic

Also, some badass Keyblades, make them 360 viewable in the interface. Make it less window-switching.

 

[riku's_artist7]

Original Worlds, please; get some dark gothic cathedrals up in this and the gargoyles are actually or turn out to be neoshadow Heartless holy bonk they just came from nowhere *turns and slices with cutscene button command in all its movie-esque glory (similar to Bourne Conspiracy but not mashing triangle button)

Just some dark scary nightmarish worlds to make it more srs then toss some Disney in there with FF and hallelujah it is done. Also, have Mickey laughing while ripping apart a Darkside with his laughter alone would be epic

Also, some badass Keyblades, make them 360 viewable in the interface. Make it less window-switching.

Haha omg idk why this made me LOL (esp the mickey laughing part)

Hmm maybe hunchback of Notre Dam? Not an original but a potential world? Idk I'm sure someone will come up with some dark world.

Edit: also thought Anastasia (sp?) Was always a good potential world/story too, but if were thinking of original worlds this is completely useless, just a thought tho

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

While trying to come up with a very basic layout for the battle HUD, I realized that it ended up being pretty much the same as the KH1 HUD. This is just for enemy/boss fights for right now. I might add on later the elements involving environmental interactions.

Dear God, forgive me for the most basic of basic designs, but I needed some sort of visual representation and this is mainly to show how I would like the positioning to be something like T-T

Yellow - Command Bar (or whatever name we come up for it)

Green - Health Bar/Magic Bar/Character Portrait/Any meter we decide to add

Red - Enemy Health Bar + Enemy Portrait(?) + Lock-On status (around the portrait if
using portrait, underneath the health bar if not)

Blue - Ally's Health Bar/Magic Bar/Character Portrait/Any meter we decide to add

Purple - Where the timer would go if any time-based fights occurred


I wanted to start with the position of the command menu since it's going to be the most used object on the HUD, so it would be best for it to be located in the "center" of the enemy's health bar and your health bar. My reason for this is that it should be easier on the eyes like this. The command menu requires the most focus (besides the actual gameplay of course), so any shift of attention away from the command menu should be as smooth as possible, meaning nothing on the HUD worth glancing at during a fight should be located diagonally from the command menu, where you would have to cross through any action at the center of the screen. There's usually no reason to be looking between your's and the enemies health bars too often, so it doesn't matter if they are diagonal to each other.

Having said that, maybe I should consider moving the timer to the bottom, but the timer seems like something that would only be used occasionally, and I like the timer at the top, so idk...

Anyways, any sort of comments are welcome.

DDD The positions look great to me. The timer at the bottom would be too odd. I rarely look at the bottom of the screen during combat. (My peripheral vision is what I use to check my HP and I usually make shortcuts for my attacks/organize the command deck so I know what is coming next without looking)

 

[Delsan]

I like what sham said before. We should come up with the menu ideas ourselves, not use pre-existing ideas.

 

[DiceKiller]

@dicekiller- Apparently you weren't active in the first thread, or you would have seen the outcome. People get all butt hurt when you show the problems in their stories, then needless arguments start, and people form "alliances." There is no point in moving to far ahead, it isn't organized at all. Seriously, we may think we have a story, so someone goes and designs characters, then a different story gets voted in, and people wasted all of their time. It isn't a bad idea to brainstorm, just don't let people get ahead of everyone else. You are a fine point of needless arguments by the way. The way you replied was not called for, so calm down could ya?

Needless arguments, weren't those the things you were accused of starting in the other threads? Also from what I saw, the only one who got upset was you when you somehow felt attacked and ganged up on just because people agreed with the ideas they liked. If you have a problem with them, take it up with them, stop complaining about it here.

Also, I think a simple questioned put in a slightly annoyed tone, followed by arguments against you're points was perfectly called for. Maybe even a little kind, considering how frequently and openly you like to express even your slightest of concerns (had to word it nicely for you). There's no use in telling you anything more, since it's probably already been told to you.

Anyways, for the HP/MP display, I was also wondering if there could be another bar added somehow? I was thinking about a AP meter being added that would limit the amount of times you could do certain abilities, like dodge roll, double jump, or glide to help against spamming those abilities. Not sure how to add it to the display without making it look awkward.

DDD The positions look great to me. The timer at the bottom would be too odd. I rarely look at the bottom of the screen during combat. (My peripheral vision is what I use to check my HP and I usually make shortcuts for my attacks/organize the command deck so I know what is coming next without looking)

Thanks ^^ I felt the same way about the timer, but wasn't sure if it went against the idea of being easier for the eyes.

 

[riku's_artist7]

I like what sham said before. We should come up with the menu ideas ourselves, not use pre-existing ideas.

Hmm maybe instead of the opening menu being an image of the character(s), it should be clips of cutscenes from the game (that is if the game was created) like fading in and then out into another different cutscene (accompanied by music)
Hopefully people git whut I'm saying, I can't really explain it well

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Hmm maybe instead of the opening menu being an image of the character(s), it should be clips of cutscenes from the game (that is if the game was created) like fading in and then out into another different cutscene (accompanied by music)
Hopefully people git whut I'm saying, I can't really explain it well

I get you. It would be sorta like in FFXII where during the opening movie you can press a button and see the selection menu, but still have the movie playing in the background?

Anyways, for the HP/MP display, I was also wondering if there could be another bar added somehow? I was thinking about a AP meter being added that would limit the amount of times you could do certain abilities, like dodge roll, double jump, or glide to help against spamming those abilities. Not sure how to add it to the display without making it look awkward.

An AP meter? You'd put it with the HP/MP bar. I think that puts a bit too much limitation on the battle. If you can't use dodge roll, then that takes away that one part of strategy where you should time when to dodge. Of course, there will be spamming, but I think a limit on special attacks would be better. Like Ragnarok or Trinity Limit.

Thanks ^^ I felt the same way about the timer, but wasn't sure if it went against the idea of being easier for the eyes.

No problem. Lol yeah, having it at the bottom of the screen makes it harder to pay attention to the battle. On smaller screens like the DS it is fine but if you are playing on a tv, your eyes are everywhere else.

 

[Delsan]

Maybe for 3D all the info bars are gonna be on the bottom screen.

 

[DiceKiller]

An AP meter? You'd put it with the HP/MP bar. I think that puts a bit too much limitation on the battle. If you can't use dodge roll, then that takes away that one part of strategy where you should time when to dodge. Of course, there will be spamming, but I think a limit on special attacks would be better. Like Ragnarok or Trinity Limit.

Hmm, maybe it might be. I got the idea from Crisis Core, and I don't remember it being to limiting in that game, especially since it constantly replenished, albeit at a slow rate. Although, there would probably be a lot of abilities that would drain it pretty quickly in this game, so..

Oh well, I think I'll try to come up with basic ideas for some other things, maybe the party menu design next.

 

[quiteMAD]

I really disagree with the 3D thing (discluding the pause menu). There's a reason 3D games take so long to make FOR PROFESSIONALS. We're just a group of amateurs. I've seen groups of amateurs try to make a fully functioning 3D game, and they never make it beyond building one level with one model to run around in it. Plus we've got plenty of sprite artists on this site. Were they willing to lend a hand, we'd have a mighty team to animate a 2D game.

I honestly think by allowing the party to talk during battle (even if minimal) it gives a more realistic feel and make it a bit more strategic because you'll have to listen to your party for good tips. People do complain that KH has too much "mindless button mashing". And during team combat, communication with your teammates is key to success.

Programing that would be rather complicated wouldn't it? Having them comment while idle would be much easier, since you can just put a set of phrases to say when they've been idle for so and so minutes...or comment on something when they walk over a specific spot. But battle talk would be annoying. A simple "COME ON!" or "I GOT IT" works well enough, imo, that we can leave it alone.

Anyways, for the HP/MP display, I was also wondering if there could be another bar added somehow? I was thinking about a AP meter being added that would limit the amount of times you could do certain abilities, like dodge roll, double jump, or glide to help against spamming those abilities. Not sure how to add it to the display without making it look awkward.

I don't know about limiting abilities, but I think an EXP bar would be awesome. I love seeing how close/far I am from leveling up.

 

[disneyfreaksXIII]

since we've been talking about actually making the game why cant we do both 2d and 3d just split into 2 teams when we deem the story and everything else ready