Interphase Interface Maunderings

So, with the first storyboarding session with Jasper down and noted, I have a few ideas in mind for how this thing will look.

First, the toolbars. In order to make a interface that appeals to all, we've chosen to make each button have a pretty self-explanatory icon. To deal with the mining and competitive aspect of the game, I'll look at the different Warcrafts and Starcraft, to see how they compartmentalized the task of managing and upgrading resources mining teams. I doubt the game will reach the extent that Warcraft manages all these things, but making them easy to navigate is a huge priority in our project, so observing the more complicated thing will be a help.

Second, the overall style of the art in the game must be considered. As I was sketching ideas up on the whiteboard, it occurred to me that a lot of what I was envisioning was influenced by the Japanese game Katamari Damacy. Katamari Damacy is a game that looks like it was designed with a younger audience in mind, yet is so zany and hilarious in both gameplay and style that it appeals to the older generation as well. With a simple objective of picking up objects and a simple interface and control scheme, it could match our game concept quite nicely. It certainly bears more looking into, and dragging Jasper over to play it so he knows what I'm talking about.

As for more interface ideas, I plan on browsing the local bookstores, and maybe ordering a few books off of Amazon, to research more into what goes into the thought process of creating an interface. I think I will also post a request to the pool for people to share interfaces and game styles that they like, hopefully to gather a large sampling of what people around our age find interesting or easy to use.