Also, asking non-rhetorically, if I keep redesigning my game’s aesthetic, does it mean i have early onset schizophrenia? I really hope this is my last “new vision”, but probably won’t be.
Country Architect’s brief UI history:
Find it on: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4136240/Country_Architect
I don’t know what else to say rn, I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.
I like it, but I don’t think your serif font fits with the very clean aesthetic around it. That’s kind of throwing off the whole look.
The font there is called Space Mono, but I don’t know anything about fonts 😭
So, I’m not any kind of font expert, but at the basic level you have serif and sans-serif, and mono-spaced or freely spaced fonts.
Mono spaced fonts have every character occupy an identical amount of space. Freely spaced fonts (I think there’s a more correct term for this) don’t; the space occupied on the line by each character can vary, meaning you don’t get awkward gaps. Mono spaced fonts are going to give a very “Old school typewriter / computer text” kind of feel that’s rather at odds with this clean, modern looking UI, though they are more readable.
Serif fonts have those little, kind of, cross pieces on the end of every line. Think “Times New Roman” and “Courier.” (Times New Roman is a freely spaced font, Courier is monospaced). Sans serif fonts don’t. Think “Arial”. Given that everything else in your design is extremely clean and minimal, serifs, in my opinion, add a kind of business to the look that detracts from it. They also tend to, again, look old-school, or even archaic. Courier is basically the classic old fashioned typewriter font, so if you’re evoking that (and a monospaced serif font is definitely going to evoke that) then you’re kind of mashing steampunk into the middle of your Apple store.
I’m not nearly well versed enough to offer any deep cut recommendations here, but the Ubuntu font is FOSS and has a nice rounded look that could probably work well here, at least as a placeholder. Noto and Roboto are also FOSS (if I recall correctly) and both have a nice clean look.
Edit to add:
Second edit:
With the rounded look of everything, a rounded font might also play well. Not sure on the licensing on these, but they’ll serve as examples of what I’m talking about.
why is exit in the middle? why is there a cancel button in a menu? what in the world???
Comparing the 3 stages of the UI design, feels more like a refining, specially with the contrast on the middle one was kinda bad, so making the most recent rework feel like a big improvement. =)
tysm :)
Love the glass effect better than what apples done
Looks like you’re just dialing in the visibility, your contrast choices got better over time. Looks good! I’ll check it out
Thank you for the well wishes.
A recent study performed on the large batch of one person revealed that pure black used as menu button colour is unlikely to draw out a positive emotion. When asked for more details, the study participants suggested having a more colourful UI would make it more visually pleasing and subtly influence the player’s perception of the game itself.
However, the colour pallet should not be in conflict with the rest of the game or its theme, but rather to complement it.Both the study participant and I wish you well on your journey.
Thanks for the very interesting study. It’s still very new to me as well to see the drawbacks, but feedback so far has been positive. And for the well wishes! Same to you. :)
I like the buttons real dark. Either just give them very slight brightness increase or leave em as is imo.
just my opinion but i think i find the translucency distracting. If it were me i’d go back to an opaque menu, but with a less gemotric pattern and slightly lighter color so the menu buttons are easier to see.
